Chapter 2
"What?" Dave's voice was groggy as he grabbed the receiver of the telephone.
"Mr. Batista, this your wake up call, it's 8:30."
"I'm up, thanks," he said and fumbled to hang it up.
"How you feeling?" he asked gently nudging her awake. "
Like shit," she said, her voice deep.
"You got a hang over?" he asked smiling.
"No, I think I'm still drunk," she answered pulling the blanket over her head.
As much as he would have liked to stay in bed and comfort her, over and over again, he had things to do. Today was the big press conference for the upcoming Pay-Per-View in Tampa, FL. He had to go to the gym, a signing and then finally he would be able to spend some time alone with her. It was a busy day, but if he stayed on schedule, he would be all hers by 5 pm.
"You know, drinking brings out the worst in you." He rubbed her back still trying to get her to wake up.
"How so?"
"You came in and attacked me. You started asking me to do all this stuff to you, like pin you down and shit. You don't remember that?" He was failing miserably at hiding his disappointment. That was in fact his best work ever and the fact that she didn't remember, hurt his feelings.
"Not much. I remember you going down on me, I remember screaming your name, but I thought I was dreaming that." It was pointless. All of the events of last night were a blur. The only thing she could concentrate on now was the gentle rocking in her intestines. Slowly, churning and bubbling, she knew that what ever she did last night was not going to sit well with her this morning.
"Well maybe I'll have to give you a replay later," he said kissing her head. "Come on, it's time to get you up."
Reluctantly she sat up. The sun was just too bright, the room's colors were too colorful, the bed was too soft, and the flowers were too strong. Everything in that room threatened to make her sick. She stood up in an attempt to run to the bathroom, just in case she needed to empty her stomach.
She laid in the tub, half trying to remember the events of last night and half convincing her stomach that she had control over the situation and she refused to get sick. But when she jumped as he knocked on the door, her stomach told her that there was no power struggle. She knew immediately who was in charge.
"Babe, I got to be down stairs for this press thing in an hour. You wanna grab some breakfast first?" he asked while softly knocking on the door.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." As tired and as sick as she felt, she didn't want to have breakfast. But she wanted to be the supportive girlfriend and be there for him. She brushed her wet hair into a ponytail and came out of the bathroom. She dressed quietly as he watched her.
"You ok?" he asked again.
"Not feeling so hot," she moaned slipping on her shoes.
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The hotel had a nice family restaurant located just pass the elevator, across from the lobby. When they walked into the establishment, they were greeted by a standing ovation from his friends.
Confused, he looked at Ric who was beaming. "What's that for?"
"Way to wake up the whole floor. You gathered quite a crowd at your door this morning." Ric continued to smile.
He turned around and hugged her, trying to keep his blush to himself. He knew he had heard clapping; but were they that loud?
All she could do was cover her face. She didn't even remember a few hours ago and now she was being told about it, from his friends no less. All she wanted to do was crawl back up to bed and stay there.
"Well, I aim to please." He kissed her on the head and tried to keep his embarrassment to himself.
"Shut it," she said slapping his chest.
He laughed pulling out her seat for her to sit down. "You hungry.
The idea of food right now made her want to throw up. "I'll just have hot chocolate," she said trying to convince her stomach that it just needed a little milk to settle it.
Hunter looked at her strangely. "It's the middle of July, why the hell do you want hot chocolate?"
"I need caffeine," she explained.
"But it's too hot out for that," he said shaking his head.
She wasn't in the mood to deal with him; especially not right now. She had to concentrate on keeping her stomach from moving into her mouth. "You're coffee is hot, no? Well, I don't like coffee," she said quietly, taking little breaths to sooth the taste creeping up into her mouth.
She didn't like Hunter. It was something in the arrogant way he carried himself that bothered her. He was just so big and scary looking. The way her looked at her gave her the chills. They all knew how much she hated him too, not that she gave a rat's ass about it.
When the food arrived, one might have thought that Dave was a starved man. Two plates of pancakes, a bowl of fruit, a plate of sausage, 4 eggs, a bowl of creamed chipped beef, hash browns and orange juice to wash it down. Just looking at it, made her feel worse.
"Damn, are you pregnant?" Cena asked looking at the mountain of food in front of him.
Pouring the syrup on his pancakes he chuckled. "What? I'm fucking hungry."
"I guess so," Ric said smiling while putting his cup to his lips.
"I eat like this every day," Dave defended stuffing a healthy fork full into his mouth.
"So why aren't you eating? You should have worked up an appetite too. Or did you get your fill this morning?" Hunter asked her smiling.
She rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of melon from Dave's bowl. I hate that guy. With every ounce of energy she had, she made herself bite the melon. It didn't come back up, so maybe that meant she was on the road to recovery.
"She's hung over," Dave said in between bites of food.
"No, I'm not," she said giving "the look". He knew how much she hated when he told them things about her. That's all I need is for Hunter to make fun of me right now. She hadn't been there a full 24 hours yet and she could tell they would have an argument before this day was through.
"Oh, I forgot, you're still drunk," he said smiling.
She flipped him the bird and he laughed. "Later," he said grabbing his juice.
"You promise?" she smiled at him weakly. She was not going to give Hunter the satisfaction of seeing her get sick right in the middle of that table.
"Cross my heart."
Everyone at the table watched them. It seemed when they were together, they didn't notice anyone else there with them. Ric especially thought it was funny how she had this incredible power over him. Since he had come to the WWE 5 years ago, Ric had taken him under his wing. He seen him through a pretty bad divorce, a couple of girlfriends, some really wild partying and now to see her with him was like looking at a different man. Ric had to agree when he first met her he liked her instantly, although he was concerned at how young she was. But, she was really down to earth, really easy to get along with, funny and most of all she was head over heels about Dave.
"Ok, you're going to make me vomit," Orton said watching them make eyes and smile at each other.
You're not the only one. "Sorry Randy, you jealous?" she asked kissing Randy on the cheek.
"That's better," he said smiling. "So why were you getting smashed last night?"
"It was my friend Christina's birthday. We went out to celebrate," she explained blowing on her cocoa. If she could just sip it, everything would be better. She was never much of a drinker and if she had any sense she would know that milk and fruit do not make a hang over better, it only adds to the problem.
"Where'd you go?" he asked getting his hand slapped by Dave as he reached for a piece of sausage. "You got enough, you can share." Randy argued grabbing the sausage and stuffing it into his mouth.
"I don't remember. All I remember was dancing on the bar and losing my top," she said praying they would shut up and leave her to die in peace.
"Damn, that's sexy. Next time why don't you call me when you go out?" Orton said looking at her.
She couldn't help but to laugh. That's all he thought about, getting laid. She knew plenty of girls who were up for the idea too. But if wanted her friends to remain her friends, that wouldn't be such a good idea.
"Christina, is that the blonde that was at your birthday party?" John asked looking at Dave. "Man, I'd like to break off in that. She's hot!"
"You're a pig," she shot out before standing up. She excused herself and went to the ladies room.
As she walked away from the table, they all watched her.
"Damn, she's fine!" Cena yelled out, "B, you are one lucky s.o.b."
Dave smiled. "Yes I am," he admitted watching her ass wondering how she stuffed it into her low rise jeans.
That was as graceful as she could possibly be, for once she was out of visual range of the table, and she high tailed it to the bathroom.
Randy leaned in closer, "So what the fuck was that this morning? It sounded like Freddie vs. Jason up there. All we heard was bumping and screaming and shit. What the fuck did you do to her, bro?"
Dave laughed out loud, almost chocking on fruit. "You got that the other way around. What the fuck did she do to me?"
"Damn." Cena said dragging the word out for emphasis, "I gotta find me a girl to lay that shit on me like that."
"So come on Dave, tell us blow by blow," Hunter said with a wicked grin. Dave's face grew impatient with Hunter. Normally, he just let whatever came out of his mouth roll off him; but he could be a prick sometime.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells." Ric answered quickly sensing his irritation.
"Wasn't nothing gentle about that shit, Ric," Cena said laughing.
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Jeff Hardy sat hunched over the table with his legs folded in the seat under him. For the last ten minutes he had desperately tried to capture the look in the girl's eye. Switching the color of his chalk, he picked up the grey to shade the color closet to her iris. He would have had a better view of those beautiful blue-grey eyes, if it weren't for the extremely large frame of one Mr. Dave Batista. Frustrated, he leaned across the table to try to see around Dave's shoulder to try to get a better look at the girl that sat only one table away from him.
"You're gonna get your ass kicked." He heard Matt say from somewhere deep in his concentration. Looking up at his brother, he smiled dryly. "All you need is for Dave to notice you lookin' at his girl. I bet Hunter would kick your ass for him." Matt rounded the table and stood so that he blocked Jeff's view.
"Thanks. Glad to know you got my back." Jeff rolled his eyes at his brother and turned his attention back to his sketch pad.
Matt sat down across from Jeff and looked over at the book. "What the hell are you doing?" Matt never really understood Jeff's art. Although he admired Jeff's artistic ability, he could never really understand why Jeff chose to draw some of the things he did.
"Eyes," Jeff said, placing the grey chalk down and grabbing the blue. "I'm in my eyes phase." Jeff happened to look at Matt, who stared back at him in puzzlement.
Jeff was glad to be back at WWE, the past three years had been hard for him. But, he worked hard, managed to stay clean and now he had his spot back on the roster. Jeff's newly found sobriety did not come without a price, though. Not only was he desperately bored and unfamiliar with most of the new talent, but he found that all of his muses had gone away. At least when Jeff was high, he could create, but trying it sober proved a difficult challenge.
He adjusted in his seat once more, not only did he have to look around Dave, but now he had Matt's curly mop in his way. "This is fuckin' useless, Matt. I'm bored." Throwing down his chalk, he ripped out the page of the girl's eye and balled it up. Matt's sympathetic smile did little to ease his giddiness.
Jeff had only been back at WWE for three weeks and was scheduled to make his first appearance at the Super Show in two days. He had to find something to do with himself before he jumped out of his skin. Being back was not like how it was in the old days. Jeff use to love to be at work, it was a non-stop party. Not only did he have Matt to hang out with, but there was Amy, Matt's girlfriend, Jay, Adam and his best friends Shane and Shannon. But now, Matt and Amy were no longer on speaking terms because she dumped him for Adam; which meant that he could not talk to Adam either. Jay and Shannon both left and went to TNA, so he was forced to hang out with Matt, who was on Smackdown and Shane, if he were ever around.
Matt was worried about Jeff. He would randomly knock on Jeff's door at all hours of the night just to check on him. He knew how badly Jeff had struggled with his addictions and how horrible his recoveries had been. Being on the road was hard, and when Jeff got bored, Jeff got high. Taking care of Jeff was his responsibility; it's what he had always done. Now was no different. Jeff use to appreciate how Matt put his life on hold to make sure he was ok, but now he resented it.
"Come on. I'll let you make a mold of my face, if you want." Matt hated the idea of having the cold plaster on his face, again. But, if it kept Jeff occupied then he would try.
Although he thought the offer was tempting, Jeff declined. "Think I'll just walk around or somethin'. Maybe, I could find some more eyes to draw." He tucked his sketch pad under his arm and grabbed his chalks off the table. "Maybe, I'll change my hair color…I don't know."
Matt sat back in his seat and watched as Jeff walked out of the restaurant and toward the hotel's elevator. He really hoped that Jeff would find something to occupy his time, before he found himself doing something he would regret.
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The hideous odor of the garden flower scented air freshener set to disperse every 5 minutes, caught in the back of her throat as soon as she walked in the bathroom. Even the soft mauve suede colored walls and the plush deep purple leather couches that rested in the waiting area, which made the room look tranquil, couldn't make up for the awful smell wafting throughout. The sickening sweet smell of the room, made her stomach turn. She could feel every ounce of screw drivers and whatever the hell else she drank, slowly make the trek back up her stomach and threatened to enter her throat.
Running, she flung herself into the nearest stall and kicked the door shut. Before she could stop the sea of nausea that swept over her, she made a deal with God. If you spare me, I swear I'll never drink again. God must have known she was lying, because before she could cement her deal, the contents of her stomach emptied. As if it weren't bad enough to be praying to the porcelain gods, she was doing it in a public bathroom, no less. She faintly heard the clicking of heels over her heaving. Never being one to enjoy listening to some hurl in the bathroom, she didn't have time to feel sorry for whoever just came in; she had to worry about keeping her spleen from coming up along with everything else she'd drank last night.
She heard a gentle knock on the stall door and before she could open her mouth to answer, her stomach did it for her. The door swung open and she felt a hand gently caress her back.
"You ok honey?" The voice asked, while gently making circular motions on her back. She looked up at Kristal Marshal who was smiling gently at her.
She tried to answer but found it that she needed to try to resist the spasm in her stomach instead.
Kristal nodded her head sympathetically. The memory of her praying to those same porcelain gods the day before was still quite fresh in her head. She had just flown in for the WWE Super Show, which featured both Raw and Smackdown Superstars at the same venue. It was all too easy for the Divas from Raw to convince the Smackdown Divas to go out and reek some serious havoc in LA. Sure she enjoyed the partying, but the next morning she regretted it. In fact, she regretted all morning, afternoon and most of the night.
If she could have unhitched the toilet from the wall and taken it to his press conference with her, she would have felt more comfortable. But for now, it seemed that the nausea had ceased and she once again could stand. Slowly, as not to rock her intestines in any way, she made her way to her feet and very carefully dragged her self toward the sink.
Kristal was already at the sink and was wetting a paper towel for her. She took the paper towel and dabbed her face, praying that the cool feel of the water would some how will her stomach to settle once and for all.
"I don't think we've ever really been introduced," Kristal said taking the wet paper towel away from her and tossing it in the trash can. "I'm Kristal. You're Dave's girlfriend, right?"
She tried her best to smile or nod at Kristal in acknowledgement, but the pounding in her head made her smile look anything but pleasant. "Britain, I'm Britain."
"Oh, so you do have a name? If you let Dave tell it, your name is, Babe. That's all I ever hear him say, when he's on the phone with you. Babe this and babe that."
Britain couldn't help but to smile at the thought of how he hardly ever used her government name. Kristal was exactly right; he always just referred to her as Babe. "Well, you know those muscle bound types. One syllable words and all…" Kristal smiled hoping that Britain didn't think she was actually implying that Dave was a muscle bond idiot. She thought she had better change subject before the inebriated girl hauled off and popped her for talking about her man. "You gonna be ok?"
"I think so. No more partying for a while, that I know for sure." Britain responded bending down to place her head on her hands. "Thanks." She felt Kristal pat her on the back just before hearing the click of her shoes and the bathroom door open again.
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Dave sat the table happily finishing the rest of his enormous breakfast, trying his best to ignore the conversation between Hunter and Ric. Some how, their argument reverted back to whether or not it was appropriate for Dave to be discussing his sexual escapades at breakfast. He watched the two of them go at it, as one would watch a ball fly across the net at a tennis match. Hunter arguing the point, that guys sit around and talk about the girls they nail, and Ric arguing that if they were in high school it might be appropriate.
"Yo. I'm out." John announced as he stood up from the table. He walked around to where Dave was sitting and patted him on the shoulder. Dave absently waved his hand over his shoulder to acknowledge John's leaving, without turning around.
He was truly getting dizzy from trying to follow the conversation between his two friends. He let his eyes fall over to Randy, who was enjoying the argument a little too much. Randy looked like a kid in a candy store, he happily watched as Ric's face turned bright red and the veins in his neck popped out in annoyance. They knew that Hunter was goading him on. Hunter liked nothing better than to piss somebody off. It was pretty sad actually, he was just one of those people who fit the old saying, 'misery loves company'.
When Dave's cell phone went off, he could not have been happier. Finally, he had an excuse to disengage himself from an argument that was about him, although he wasn't quite sure how he had gotten in the middle to begin with. He checked the number on the caller id, and saw that it was his oldest daughter, Chase. Dave was the proud father of three girls. The oldest was, Chase, was not actually his daughter by blood, although he would never admit that.
Emily, his first ex-wife, had been a single mother when he first met her. Although he and Emily had a pretty good relationship, what sealed the deal for him was 2 year old Chase. He had never dated a woman that had children, but was strangely amazed how quickly he grew to love her. She was the reason that he proposed in the first place. If the truth be told, he married Emily, so that Chase would have a father more so than for her to have a husband. The first "official" thing he did after marring Emily was to legally adopt Chase.
No matter how much he loved his girls, six years was a long time to be trapped in a loveless marriage, but he did for the sake of Chase, and his other daughters that soon followed; 16 year old Madison and 14 year old Allin. The day it all came crashing down was the day that Chase in all of her infinite wisdom sat him down and asked him if she was the reason he was so unhappy.
He could still remember the modest town house they rented in Montgomery County, Maryland. The way the screen door banged every time the wind blew, the smell of the charcoal grill filling the house, because it had been set up too close to the open window. He remembered that Emily had taken the other girls with her to market so they could get icing and candles for Chase's 8th birthday cake, and would be home soon so they could actually start Chase's birthday cookout.
He sat on the couch, absently watching the first pre-season game for the Washington Redskins, when Chase sat down beside him.
"Daddy, we need to talk." He couldn't help but admire the way her deep blue eyes narrowed in on him to alert him that she was serious.
He stroked her blonde hair softly and smiled. "What's up Princess?" He asked now focusing all of his attention on her. For added measure she grabbed the remote control and turned off his game.
"Are you mad at me?" She had rehearsed all day, how she would bring up the subject of his unhappiness. Although she was afraid that his answer would be yes, she had to do it. Her Daddy was the center of the universe and if he were mad, she would do everything in her power to fix what ever it was that she had done wrong. He laughed and shook his head. "Because, you seem so sad. I know I'm the oldest and I try to keep Maddy and Alli from getting on your nerves, but I can't stop them. I know that every time we ask you for something, Mommy gets mad because you give it us. Then you two always start fighting about money and stuff. "
He was floored. Could she really tell that he was that miserable being married to her mother? He always put on a brave face for his girls, never once did he let them know that he was unhappy. But somehow this wonderful child had seen through his mass of hugs, kisses and genuine happiness to be around his daughters. "Princess, I'm not mad at you. I promise. Mommy and I argue, but that has nothing to do with the three of you."
She had cupped his large hand in her much smaller hands, and looked him square in the eye. "Well is it because I'm not yours?" His brows instantly came together and the look of puzzlement crossed his face. She could sense that he did not understand, so she proceeded to explain. "I heard Ms. Foster say, that she could tell I'm not yours because Maddy and Alli look like you and I don't."
He could feel his neck stiffen immediately. What the hell was Ms. Foster's problem and how dare she say something like to or about his daughter! He checked his temper, before he blurted out that Ms. Foster needed to mind her own damn business. "Princess, you are mine. I don't care what anyone else says or thinks. You know and I know that you are my little princess and I don't care if you look like me, mom or the milk man or if you had green hair and one eye in the middle of your head. Got it?" He touched the end of her nose which made her giggle.
"Got it. I just want you to be happy Daddy." She threw her little arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. He felt his heart drop with her hug. All he wanted to do was to be a good father to his kids and if she could feel how unhappy he was, he was not doing such a good job. That was the night that he talked to Emily about a separation, which ultimately lead to their divorce two months later.
By the third ring he had opened his phone and heard the most horrific music coming out. "Hey Princess." He yelled over the sound of her car radio.
"Hey Daddy, just checking that you will be picking me up at the airport in the morning." Chase asked trying to turn down her radio so she would not have to struggle to hear him talk.
"Airport? I thought you weren't coming until the 30th." He struggled to try to remember why he was supposed to be picking her up tomorrow. Britain had just gotten there and he thought that they would have a little time together alone before she was coming out.
"Tomorrow is the 30th. Damn Daddy, you're not that old yet." She laughed thinking about how bad he was with dates. She was glad that he usually traveled with his friends because they at least remembered what day it was.
"What your mouth, young lady. What time does your flight get here?" He did not know how he was going to tell Britain that his daughter was coming, especially since she made the trip here from Milan to spend two weeks with him, alone. He had to think of something fast, like where Chase was going to sleep. He didn't trust having his 19 year old daughter have a hotel room all to herself. He could see if the hotel had any suites left, which he doubted because of the magnitude of the Super Show.
"Um, it should be there by ten. Then I have to be school by two for registration and to get my books. And I want to see my new apartment. Sherry already moved in, I just wanna check out that she didn't take the room I wanted."
He couldn't help his cheeks from turning red as he thought about the argument he and Emily had over whether it was safe to have a nineteen year old, living alone in LA while she attended college. He was dead set against it. He thought that it would be in her best interest if she stayed on campus at UCLA, at least until her junior year. But Chase had convinced Emily that she was growing up, she would be twenty in a few months, and she could handle living on her own. After weeks of arguing, he caved against every sane thought in his head, reluctantly he agreed to let his oldest move on her own.
"Sure, I'll be at the airport at 10 and we'll go to school and swing by your new digs. You're staying with me while you're here, right?" He held his breath and secretly hoped that she would opt to stay in her new place for the two days she would be in California before her classes started.
"Of course. I don't to see you enough as it is. I'm only there for two days. I don't think you'll get on my nerves that bad." She laughed heartily in his ear. When he did not respond to her joke, she knew something was wrong. "Daddy, that was joke. What's up, you ok? Oh…she's there isn't she?" she asked regretting that she had made it sound like Britain was poison.
"Yeah. I completely forgot that 30th was this week, when she made her flight arrangements." One more check in the worst father of the year column.
"No problem. I can stay at my apartment. It's no big deal." She said trying to mask her disappointment. But it was a big deal. She was so excited to have two full days of hanging out with the old man that she didn't know what to do, plus she would get to hang out with his cute friends, especially John, who she had been harboring a crush on for a while.
"Nope. You're staying with me. I'll get us a suite and you'll just have your own room. Ok." He hoped that he sounded convincing, although he did not know if he could actually pull that one off.
"How about we just play it by ear?" she suggested.
He couldn't deny it, she was a smart girl. She knew that he wanted some alone time with Britain, but on the same time that he wanted some much needed family bonding time with her.
"I'll see you at 10." She said. He nodded his head, as if she could see him. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too." He said before he closed his phone.
He had noticed that sometime during his conversation, Ric had stormed out of the restaurant before he had to kill Hunter. When Dave finally closed his phone, he could hear the shrieking laughs between Randy and Hunter over how red Ric's face had gotten. Before he could even ask, exactly how Hunter had managed to piss Ric off this time, he noticed Britain walking back to the table.
"You ok?" Dave asked looking up at her.
"I just don't feel that well," she said sitting down and resting her head in her hands.
"You wanna go up to the room and lay down?" For a woman to be as beautiful as she was, she looked horrible. He couldn't help but to smile to himself, because even horrible looked good on her.
Dave stood up and walked over to where she was sitting so he could talk to her without Hunter being down his throat. "You sure you don't want to go back upstairs?"
"No, I wanna be here for your press conference," she said rubbing his face.
Now was as good a time as any to tell her about his mix up. He took in a deep breath and prepared for the worst. "Babe, I forgot that Chase is coming tomorrow. I gotta take her to school for registration. She's going to be here for two days." He sat rigid, expecting her to let him know actually how disappointed she was.
"We need a bigger room." She actually liked the idea that Chase was coming. They got along pretty well and quite frankly, she would have someone else to hang out with besides his stupid friends.
"That's it? No protest, no argument? You really must feel like shit right now." He laughed kissing her on the cheek.
"Go see if you can get a bigger room, goof ball." She said popping him on the back of the head. He kissed her on the cheek happy that there would not be a big battle for his attention between her and his daughter. He handed her his credit card so that she could pay for his tab and headed for the front desk.
Great. It's just me, Hunter and Randy. I know that bastard is going to have something smart to say. Why can't I have the urge to throw up now, on him? She looked up to see his smug grin all over his face.
"So, what did you do to Dave?" Hunter asked. Although their relationship had never amicable, he still couldn't resist the urge to get under her skin. Finding a way to piss her off became a game to him. His hopes of one day just getting her to go away and never come back seemed to fuel that arrogant side of him.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to him," She clinched her abs tightly in hopes that she could actually make herself vomit. The thought made her smile to herself.
"He's all giggly now. What did you do, work some voodoo on him or something? Or did what's between your legs get his nose open?" He asked, letting a thin smile cross his lips.
"Excuse me?" He's suck a fucking pig. I don't know why in the world Dave is friends with him. She had asked Dave over and over again what he saw in Hunter. Why would anyone willing be in any kind of relationship with him, be it friendship or otherwise, she would never understand.
"I'm just saying he needs to keep that edge to sell tickets. You got him fucking skipping around here like a little school girl." His gaze became intense, letting her know that there was more to just the back hand comment. He meant every word he had said to her. Dave was losing his edge; she was making him soft, which could mean a loss of profit for him and his family.
"Dude, leave her alone. Dave's just happy, he's in love," Randy said putting his arm around her shoulder. She patted Randy's arm and shot Hunter a look. He smirked made a kiss face at her, finding that extra touch twisted the knife even more.
When Dave came back to the table he noticed the smug grin on Hunter's face. "You're not being a dick are you?" Hunter held up his hands and stood up. He patted Dave on the shoulder and walked away.