Chapter 13
Shannon Moore arrived at Wilmington/Douglas airport a little after 4 pm. After much protest from Matt, Shannon had taken Jeff's phone, found Chase's number and asked her to come to Cameron for Jeff's 30th birthday party.
"You're his birthday present." Shannon had told her, "He doesn't know you're comin'."
She was so excited to be a part of the surprise, it was all she could do not to call Jeff and tell him. After all, Jeff's gift to her, the angel painting, had meant so much to her. She was all too happy to share in his.
The last time she saw him was in Miami. They had so much fun in the two days they were together. She talked Jeff into letting her cut his hair; it now hung just below his shoulder blades. He even let her color the ends pink, which was her favorite color. He had even gone with Chase to get her first tattoo. She had been so excited about getting a tiara on her waistline, but when the moment of truth came she started to chicken out.
"I'll hold your hand." Jeff said pulling her up and onto the tattoo artist's chair.
When the tattoo guy asked her where she wanted it, she looked over at Jeff. She was more afraid to pull her pants down in front of him than she was for this complete stranger. Jeff could tell she was nervous, so he turned his head. Chase unbuttoned her pants and pulled her underwear down just above her groin.
Once she was up on the table and clinging to Jeff's hand, he looked over at her. He could see part of her pink cotton panties as she laid on the table. He couldn't get the image out of his head. She was so different then those other girls that wore the lacey thongy types that seemed to always be after him. Cotton panties were just as sexy to him, because they were unassuming, they reminded him of her; they were natural.
Although they did nothing more than hold hands that entire weekend; it was everything they had both hoped it would be.
Chase remembered Britain's face when her Dad asked her was it necessary for her to house sit, while she was in London. Britain was pissed. After she lied to Dave again, she pulled Chase aside.
"Don't do that to me again. I don't like lying to your dad." It would have one thing if Chase would have talked to her about it first, but being put on the spot was something completely different. "I don't have a problem with you seeing him. I say go for it; but leave me out of it. I helped you out once, and you used me to see him in Miami...if you're going to be a grown up and sneak around, then you have to do without my help." Britain said firmly. Chase felt bad for putting her in the middle, but until she left for school in a few days, Britain was her only way.
So now, here she was in the airport soon to be in Cameron; her dad thinking she was in Miami and Jeff not knowing she was coming.
Shannon recognized Chase immediately from the photos she and Jeff took in a booth at South Beach. "Chase?"
"Shannon?" She extended her hand.
"You got more bags? We need to hurry if we're going to make your grand entrance on time. It's about an hour drive to Cameron from here." He explained while taking her carry on.
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Hunter Hearst Helmsley sat across from his wife at the dinner table. It had been a long time since they were both home at the same time. The familiarity of being away from each other was all too apparent. Both of them sat quietly, now use to being without the other, widening the gap between them.
He had finished his meal before she did and without thinking, he arose from the table to discard of his plate.
Stephanie sat at the table alone, staring at his empty chair. "So much for talking." It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were suppose to be together this weekend, reconnecting. Between his traveling schedule with Raw and in the Creative Department at the home office, they had lost touch.
He watched her from the kitchen, the way she put her hands to her face to try to hide the fact that she was crying. He watched as her shoulders shuttered, as she tried to keep her sobs from getting out of hand. He wanted nothing more than to go to her and hold her, but he didn't know how. It had been too long since he was around to comfort her; he didn't know if his touching her would make it better or worse.
This was her father's plan, to keep them apart. He had been against their marriage from the beginning. Vince may not have been able to stop their love, but he could definitely put distance between them. Not only miles of distance, but endless storylines of him with other women, changing his room assignments so he would end up with Divas, strategically telling Stephanie where he would be so she would find him in the company of countless women. His marriage was falling apart just as Vince had wanted.
He rounded the table without touching her and returned to his seat. He looked over at her, shielding her face from his gaze. While no words he could find would comfort her, he had to find a way to reach her. "What's wrong?" The question came out as annoyance, but it wasn't that he was annoyed with her, it was with himself.
She looked up at him. He should know damn well what the problem was. Here they were seeing each other again for the first time in two months. Two months without seeing your spouse and they had managed to speak a total of two sentences to each other. There greeting was nothing more than a casual hello as they both entered the room, not a passionate kiss or a warm embrace as either of them had hoped.
Besides having marital woes, she was now faced with her father's demands to bring up ratings. How did he expect her to concentrate on work, when her world was crumbling around her? She had let the story lines lag on purpose, in hopes that Vince would replace her, so she could be with Hunter.
Despite her better judgment, she loved him. He was an arrogant asshole, but he was her arrogant asshole. It was the cocky attitude that drew her in to begin with. Finally, she had met a man that was willing to stand up to her father; a man that didn't take no for an answer.
She looked at him through her tears. How could she tell him that she was so unhappy, how should she say that she wanted a divorce? "Work. Dad wants me to bring up the ratings. I've gotta go to OVW to try to find some new talent." It was better than the whole truth.
If he couldn't comfort her physically, the least he could do was make things better for her. Seeing her cry tore his heart out. "You should bring Dave back to Raw. That will drive up ratings."
She looked at her husband and smiled. After all this time, he still cared enough to try to help. He was good at that; fixing her problems for her. As long as the problem wasn't him, there wasn't anything he couldn't find a solution for. "Why?"
"Think about it. The whole DX thing didn't go over quite as we hoped, because Shawn's whole God thing. If we give the crowd what they want, an Evolution reunion, maybe that will be a bigger sell." His solution was not without selfish merit.
The look he had seen in Jeff Hardy's eyes that night with Chase reminded him of how he use to look at Stephanie. It hurt him to see someone that happy with the prospect of new love. He hated the fact that Jeff Hardy disregarded his warnings about Dave's daughter. It reminded him all too well of how things were before with him and Vince.
He had been cocky and fearless once too. He did everything in his power to defy Vince and fall in love with Stephanie and look where it got him; married to a woman he hardly knew anymore. No, he would not be miserable in love by himself. He had to make Jeff see that being with her was no good for him, just the way that someone should have made him see.
"It could work, but what about the other show. Dave's our top attraction there." Talking about business was the last thing she wanted to do, but at least now they were talking.
"Edge and Lita. Put them on Smackdown and bring up that whole feud with them and Matt and Ashley. That way those fans have something to sink their teeth into and we get Dave back. It's a win win situation." He was proud that he could come up with a solution so quickly. At least with Dave back, he could make sure that Hardy knew what he was getting himself into.
Stephanie smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile in months. He reached across the table to take her hand. She withdrew it placing it on her lap. She couldn't let him touch her, because she knew what that would lead to. She had made up her mind; their marriage was going to end.
"I'm going to bed." She said standing up from the table. "I made up the guest room for you."
He turned and watched her walk up the stairs, wondering how he let his misery consume him. He poured himself another drink. "Fuck 'em all."
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Chase found Shannon amusing. He told her all of these stories about Jeff that made their hour trip seem like only minutes.
"So how long you known him?" She asked.
"Since I was 7. We played on the same baseball team together. I lived one county over from them, so I grew up with him and Matt." He turned the corner and headed up a long road. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that he was taking her to some deserted place to do lord knows what to her. There was so much wooded area that it looked like there wasn't another person around for miles. "Him and Matt live near their dad. It's kinda back a ways, but it's real cool. Wait 'til you see his house, it's sick!" Shannon laughed.
"You don't think he'll be mad do you? I mean I am crashing his party and all." She said suddenly getting nervous about seeing him. Before it has just been them, but now she was going to see him with his friends. What if he was a dick to her around them?
"Hell no. He was so busy whining about having a party. All he kept sayin' was I can't drink... I gotta watch everybody else have fun...I don't want a party. He was gettin' on my fuckin' nerves." Shannon said shaking his head. "Here we are."
They stopped in front of a massive aluminum sculpture that housed a mailbox. "This is his house?" She asked in shock.
There was a large lawn that stretched for at least an acre covered in sculptures, a life size painting of him, statues and everything else under the rainbow. As they drove up the driveway, she noticed a kennel with several dogs inside. The kennel also had paneling and several murals. Finally past the statues of bakers, Charlie Chaplin and some other characters she couldn't name, she noticed the blue house in the back.
Shannon parked the car and helped Chase with her bag. "I'll take this inside, everyone else is around back." He was back in a few minutes and walked with Chase to Jeff's back yard.
Part of his yard held an ATV course, complete with bridges and jumps that Jeff had designed and decorated. Beyond the course there were woods and a bonfire. They walked for what seemed like an eternity when she finally heard the music and people laughing. As they started into the woods, there were pavilions, kegs of beer, a buffet table and people a plenty. Jeff had to have had a least 60 people at his party. She and Shannon scanned the crowd for him, then Shannon pointed.
Jeff was sitting at a table talking to a man that looked like an older version of him. She assumed that was his father. She and Shannon approached without making a sound.
"So when you turn that camera on, it's like that light is taking the memory. You don't even realize it, but that's a memory that you'll never get back." He told his father, who didn't have the faintest idea what Jeff was talking about.
"Hey old man." Shannon said smiling.
Jeff looked up and his mouth dropped. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked beautiful in a green and pink stripped polo shirt and denim skirt that landed in the middle of her thighs. The wind blew her waist length blonde hair, which she had left down. She looked so innocent, like an angel.
"That her?" His father asked.
Jeff nodded, he wanted to say something, but he couldn't find any words. He stood up and slowly walked over to her.
She smiled and her dimples made him blush. She reached out and hugged him tightly, closing her eyes. "Happy birthday." She whispered.
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Dave Batista stood in the airport with Britain, saying goodbye. She was on her way to England for three days for a fashion show. They stood wrapped in each other's arms, neither one wanting to be the first to let go. He was interrupted from whispering to her when his cell phone rang. "This is Dave." His voice instantly changing back to the firm professional tone, unlike the softer soothing one he was using only moments before in Britain's ear.
"Got some good news." Hunter said on the other end. He wanted to be the first to tell Dave. If his plan was going to work, he had to be the one in control.
"What's up? I'm in the middle of something." Dave pulled away from Britain and stuck his finger in his other ear to try to hear him.
Hunter smiled as he picked up a pen and started to doodle. "You're coming back to Raw. Steph needs you for the ratings."
A smile tickled Dave's face. He had always loved being on Raw. Having his matches taped live made him work hard, it kept him on top of his game. "You're shitting me...when?" He could hardly contain himself as he reached out and grabbed Britain's hand.
"Next Monday. Be ready to make your grand entrance...as Evolution Revisited." Hunter let out a chuckle. It would be good to have his friends back at his side.
"Evolution...how...why?" If Dave could have jumped up and down in the airport, he would have. Evolution had been the best time he'd had in the WWE. Traveling with his friends was almost as good as having Britain with him. At least now, he would have people to hang out with after the match. He had a few people he was close to on Smackdown, but nothing was better than having his best friends with him; especially Ric.
Hunter looked over at the notes he had written for the contract. He was going to give it to Stephanie in the morning and he knew she would agree. "I'll give you the details tomorrow. Steph will have everything over nighted to you. Just be ready to be in Denver by then." When he ended the call, he looked at the paper. He smiled when he saw what he had written: Gotcha!
Dave hugged Britain. "Evolution, huh? That means you'll be back with your stupid friends again." She laughed and returned his hug. Seeing him happy is what she lived for. He was such a big child. "Just keep Hunter away from me. I don't want to have to kick his ass."
They both heard the call for her flight and he sighed. "This never gets easier...three days right?" He rubbed his hands down her arms.
She looked up at him, meeting his dark eyes. He mouthed the words, I love you, before kissing her softly and turning away. He could never watch her leave him. It hurt too much. It was only three days, but three days could be an eternity when you're in love.
"I love you too." She said loud enough to see him turn around and smile.
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Jeff and Chase danced and talked with his father before going into his house. "I want to see your art studio." She announced as he showed her every other room in the house.
He took her down to the basement and into a small room that was literally covered from floor to ceiling in photographs. There were magazine pictures of women in swim suits, some of just women's breasts, pictures of he and Matt, pictures from wrestling magazines; all kinds of pictures.
Chase walked in and looked around. She stopped in front of a centerfold from some skin magazine and looked at Jeff.
He blushed. "What? I am a man." It was more of a statement of fact than a defense, but he couldn't stop blushing.
She walked over to him and stood in front of him for a moment. Without warning, she titled her head toward his, and he moved down to hers. She let her lips brush over his, softly. She felt his hands touch her face and only slowly drag down her neck until that hand grasped the back of her neck. She put her arm around his back and held him as he kissed her.
The kiss was agonizingly slow, only fueling the want in both of them. He tasted her lips with the tip of his tongue and was pleased when she opened her mouth to accept it. Her kiss was intoxicating. It was just as sweet as he thought it would be. His lips burned since that day she brushed them with hers in LA. He couldn't tell her that he had wanted to kiss her again; he had to let her do things on her own time. But this was more than he could ask for.
He heard a small moan escape her as he trailed one hand down her back and rested it on her backside. He felt her kiss intensify as he moved his hand lower, now touching her thigh as he slowly moved her skirt up. His hand touched the bare skin on the back of her thigh and left a trail of heat on her that scared her.
She pulled away from his kiss and looked at the floor. Although he knew that he had gone too far, he noticed a smile on her face.
"I'm sorry." He couldn't stand it if she was mad at him, but she was just so beautiful and he wanted her so much.
"Hey Jeff, people are startin' to leave. You need to say goodnight." Matt said walking into the studio. He saw how they were holding each other and was thankful he came when he did.
Jeff excused himself and went upstairs.
The way Matt looked at Chase made her uncomfortable. "You don't like me do you?" She held his gaze.
"I love my brother." He said walking further into the room and sitting on the couch. "Jeff's a great guy, but you don't know him, Chase. He went through hell to get here, and I don't want to see him go through that again."
Chase was confused. Why was being with her going to be hell for him?
"You don't see it do you? He's in love with you... I don't want to see him get hurt. Because if he does, I don't know what it'll do." He looked over at her. She had no idea. "Jeff doesn't handle things real well. Like when our mom died, he all into these extreme sports. It was like he was tryin' to kill himself too. I started just so I could watch out for him, but I never did it as hard as he did. Then when my dad got sick and I left college to take care of him, he started drinkin'." He rubbed the side of his face. "He had a few setbacks with the WWE and that's when he started takin' pills. He don't need no more setbacks. He can't take it."
Chase walked over and sat next to Matt. "Why would I be a setback?"
"Because of who you are...who your dad is. Jeff don't back down from nothin'. But if you ain't strong enough to stand up to your father, then leave him alone. Because once you cave, his world is gonna come crashin' down." Matt shook his head. This little girl had no idea what could happen if she decided she was tired of Jeff. He'd come too far to let her or anyone else take Jeff back down that path he was once headed.
"I really don't think it's as bad as you think. We're friends Matt." She tried to sound convincing. She wanted to be more than friends with Jeff too, but right now that's what they had to settle for.
"You don't see how he is when he talks about you or how he smiles when he's on his damn computer with you. He's in love." Matt sighed. He had tried to prevent this from happening, but it was bigger than him.
"He is?" Was she that naive? How come she couldn't see love when it was right in her face. "I mean I know how I feel about him, but I never thought that he would feel that way about me. I mean, you said it yourself, look who my dad is."
"The challenge is what he likes the most, I think. The fact that he's not supposed to have you makes him want you more. If you care about him at all, you'll end it now before he gets in too deep." Matt looked up at Jeff who was standing in the doorway.
"Jesus, Matt. You don't know shit about me and Chase. You need to mind your damn business." Jeff snapped.
Matt stood up and walked to Jeff. "Just lookin' out for you Jeffro. Like I always do."
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"Chase?" Jeff ducked his head out behind a tree, with his gun held by his side. "I know you're around here."
Chase crouched low to the ground, crawling on her stomach, her heart racing. She could see him from where was lay, but she couldn't make a sound.
"I'm gonna find you Chase. And when I do..." He turned toward the sound of breaking branches.
She had a choice to make; kill or be killed. She titled her gun up and cocked it. The sound made Jeff turn around. Before she knew what happened, a sharp pain hit her leg.
"Bang, you're dead" He smiled blowing his gun.
"Damn it." She laughed rubbing her leg, bringing her hand up to see the purple paint. "I didn't think paintballs would sting so bad."
He walked over to her and helped her up. He put her arm around his shoulder and walked her back to his porch. "The object is not to get hit at all." He pointed to her overalls that were now decorated with the purple, green and red paint. "Looks like Matt and Shannon got you pretty good too."
She laughed. She had never been good at things like this. She spent more time hiding than trying to find her targets. Now she was covered in paint and her leg was starting to bruise.
"We're goin' to Shannon's to go swimmin'. You comin'?" Matt asked taking off his goggles.
Jeff declined. He wanted to spend some time with Chase before she left. She would be leaving soon and he didn't want to have to share her with anyone.
With Matt and Shannon gone, he helped her into his house.
He sat on the couch with an ice pack, waiting for Chase to come back downstairs from changing her clothes. "Let me look at your leg." He said to her when she returned.
She sat next to him and put her leg over his. A small blue bruise was starting to develop in the spot that he had shot her. He put the ice pack on her and sat quietly. "Thanks. I think it looks worse than it is." She said leaning back on the couch and closing her eyes.
Just seeing her sitting, with her leg on him, her bare foot resting comfortably in his hand, he couldn't resist the urge to touch her. He let his hand slowly move from the ice pack, causing it to fall on the floor. He trailed his hand up her smooth leg, to her thigh, then he leaned over and kissed her.
Her breath caught in her throat as he touched her. A trail of heat was left in the wake of his warm fingers. His kiss was gentle, barely touching her lips. She wanted to taste more of his mouth. She wrapped her hands in his hair and pulled him in deeper.
He couldn't stop himself from adjusting on the couch so that he now lay on top of her. His hands slowly moved up her sides. He broke the kiss and looked at her lips, he dipped his head lower and kissed her throat taking the time to leave a trail of wetness as he moved over to her neck. Involuntarily, he settled his pelvis between her thighs which he had nudged open with his knee.
She could feel his length, hard and firm against her thigh, as he slowly grinded into her leg. "Jeff..." Her voice was gone; it had been overtaken by the heavy breathing caused by her racing heart. "Please... stop." Although she barely heard herself, he heard her loud and clear.
He looked up at her wide blue eyes, so full of want and something more...fear. "I ca..."
He placed his finger over her lips to silence her. "You don't have to do anythin' you don't wanna do." His whisper was soothing. Did she know what she was doing to him? He never wanted anybody so badly in his life. "I wanna be with you Chase...but when you're ready. I want your first time to be special."
She held his face in her hands. "I'm sorry." She felt stupid, here she had done all of this sneaking around to see him, relentless flirting with him over the phone and web-cam; and now when it came to it, she couldn't do it. Not that she didn't want to, but she really didn't see her first time being on his couch. She had imagined it differently; romantic words and candles.
"Don't be. I'll wait...I'll wait as long you need me to." His smile was genuine. He wanted to tell her right then that he loved her, but this was already too much for her. He pushed his feelings aside and sat up.
She could see that his breath was still ragged, by the way his chest moved up and down. She watched as he put his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. He's trying to get it back down she told herself. She was excited at the thought that she could make him feel that way. She sat up next to him and smiled when he rolled his head and barely opened his eyes at her. She played with her bottom lip. "Jeff?" She turned to face him.
He noticed the determined look in her eye; how her eyebrows came together in question. "Hmm?" His breathing was slowly coming back to normal.
"Can I...can I touch it?" She knew she sounded juvenile, but she had never seen, much less touched a man's groin before. If she was going to sleep with him, then why shouldn't she see what exactly she was in store for? She looked at him half expecting him to be in shock or pissed because she was teasing him. But he didn't look like that, his face still held the same look of defeat but he let a small smirk cross his face as he nodded.
She reached over and put her hand on his thigh. She slowly moved her hand up to feel the tip of his length through his cotton pants. She let her fingers roam down his length until she touched his body. She could judge by touching him, just how long it was, but not how big. His pants prevented her from feeling all of him. She swallowed hard and trailed her hands up to his stomach.
He watched her face as she tried to study him. The feeling of her hand on his bare stomach made his groin jump. He hooked his thumb in his waistband and held it out for her. He wasn't going to force her to touch him, although he wanted her to. He closed his eyes and left that up to her.
She slid her hand down his stomach until she felt soft curls beneath it. Her fingers touched the base and slowly made there way back up to the top. She wrapped her hand around his length and gently started to move her hand. She stopped when she heard him gasp. "Am I doing it wrong?" She asked half panicked. She didn't know what she was doing, but she had heard enough of her friends talk about hand jobs that she guessed this was how it worked.
"No." He said trying to catch is breath. "You sure you wanna do that?" His voice was thick with want and need for her to continue.
She kissed his neck and made her way to his ear, while still gently stroking him. "Show me how to do this." She whispered against his ear.
He turned his head to kiss her. His kiss caused her to grip him tighter. He put his hand in his pants and met hers. He wrapped his hand over hers and moved it along his length, urging her to grip him even tighter. His hand moved faster as his hips started to buck against their hands.
She disengaged from his kissed and looked at his crotch. She could see their hands moving from the outside of his pants, but she could not bring herself to look inside to look at him. His grip on her hand loosened and she let it travel down to feel what lay beneath. She felt the soft hair on his testicles as she curiously cupped them in her hand. His moan, made her release them.
Hurriedly, he put her hand back on his length. He looked down in his pants to see her small hand stroking him. The feeling of her squeezing him brought him close. He wanted, he needed, he had to release it. "Mmmm." He whined, his breathing was more hurried then ever. He reached for the back of her neck with his other hand and pulled her in for a harsh kiss. "Chase...I'm gonna...oh shit...I can't...Chase..." He squeaked out as his orgasm hit. His body jerked with each release.
She felt it on her hand; hot and sticky. She watched in amazement as his body, moved on its own dumping his essence out of him. When he was finished, she continued to hold it, lightly rubbing her thumb against the head. She noticed, he was not softening. "Why won't it go down? I didn't do it right?" She looked into his eyes for some sign of approval.
"You did it right." His breathing was still deep, but evening out. "It won't go down because...I want you. I want more than your hand on me." He turned his head away from her. He didn't want to ruin what just happened by saying to much to her. He couldn't tell her that he wanted to strip her clothes off and take her right there in the living room and he certainly couldn't tell her that he wanted her to put her mouth where her hand was.
She removed her hand from his pants and looked at it; it still glistened from him. She watched him get up silently and go to the kitchen. She waited for him as he came back with a wet paper towel. He knelt before her and wiped her hand clean. He put her hand over his lips and kissed it. "You have the most amazin' hands." He smiled kissing her palm again.
She smiled too. She was pleased; she had made him feel that way and she brought him to release afterward. She wondered if it was as amazing to him as it had been for her to watch. "I promise I won't make you wait much longer." She heard herself say as she stroked the hair on his head that rested on her lap.
"I'll wait as long as you need." He said pulling her close.