Chapter 6
The next day came, and it was more of the same thing for Steph. She hung around Chris, Ty, Amy, Shane, and C-Dawg throughout the day, and she always had the occasional run-in with Trish. It quickly became a sort of routine, and before she even noticed, the first week of school had passed and it was Friday afternoon.
"Mom, do you remember what we talked about?" Steph asked. She, along with Shane and her mom, were sitting at the table having their daily talk. That was a routine for them. They always had a talk after school. Linda felt like her children were growing up so fast, and she didn't want to miss a single second...
"Refresh my memory, dear," Linda said. "Because we talk about a lot of things, and I can't remember every single one of them."
"Remember when I asked you if I could have a sleepover?" Steph reminded her. "It was Wednesday when I asked you."
"Oh, right, Wednesday. The sleepover. Yes, I remember," Linda said.
"A sleepover?" Shane scoffed, flipping through a magazine. "I thought you quit that in middle school."
"If you must know, sleepovers are very popular among high school females," Steph said petulantly. "I bet a lot of girls at our school have sleepovers, like, all the time."
"So, Steph," Linda said, interrupting them so an argument wouldn't start. "When did you want to have this sleepover again?"
"Mom, it's tonight, remember? You said I could have it tonight," Steph said. "You forgot?"
"Tonight? No way," Shane cut in, putting his magazine down. "Because Dad said I could have some friends over tonight."
"Nuh uh! You and I can't both have friends over tonight!" Steph said. "Your friends will crash my slumber party."
"I thought it was a sleepover," Shane said.
"Same thing," Steph said, narrowing her eyes at him.
The two siblings glared at each other across the table. Linda looked at each one of them, then spoke. "You know, you two could just compromise. You can both have friends over tonight."
"Mom, I don't think that's going to work. Steph and her friends will come drooling over my friends, especially..." His voice trailed off as he looked at his sister. "Especially since Chris is coming over."
"Chris? Chris is coming over?" Steph asked, sitting up a little straighter in her seat.
"Yeah, but he's coming over to hang out with me," Shane replied. "You know, I've barely had a chance to see him this week. If he's not hanging out with you, he's hanging out with Trish..."
"Whatever. It's not my fault," Steph argued. "Maybe he's just sick of-"
"Children!" Linda said in a loud voice. They both got quiet and looked at her. "You two never argue this much. Here's the deal. You can both have two friends over, just two. Remember, I have to go out of town to be with your dad this evening," she reminded them.
"What? I don't remember you mentioning that," Shane said.
"Yeah, me neither," Steph said, frowning.
"I guess I just forgot to tell you," Linda said, looking thoughtful. "But maybe that's a good thing, because now you don't have the time to plan any big parties."
"Oh, Mom," Shane said with a laugh. "I could plan a huge party in ten minutes..."
"Is that so?" Linda asked. Shane nodded. "Well I guess I don't need to leave you two alone this weekend like I planned... I guess I'll just call over Moolah so she can baby-sit you two."
"Moolah?" both teens said, looking at each other with wide eyes.
"Moolah," Linda confirmed, nodding emphatically. "She is fabulous."
"That would be cruel and unusual punishment," Shane said.
"I agree with Shane, Mom," Steph said immediately. "We'll be perfectly fine by ourselves this weekend, and Shane won't plan any huge parties."
"That's what I thought," Linda said, smiling. She stood up. "I'm about to go pack, but let me just say this. I'm trusting you two. If things don't go well this weekend then I won't ever leave the two of you alone together again."
"Can we still each have two friends over?" Shane asked.
"Well, I did promise, and I don't go back on promises," Linda said. "So, yes. Now I'm going to go pack. My flight leaves tonight around eight or so."
"Ok, Mom. Tell Daddy hi for us," Steph said, watching her mother walk away. When her mother was out of her sight, she turned to Shane. "So Chris is coming over?"
"Yeah, both Chris and C-Dawg are coming over," Shane said, leaning back in his chair. "Who are you inviting over?"
"Amy and Ty, of course," she replied, studying his face when she mentioned Amy's name.
"Oh, so Ames is coming over?" he asked curiously. She nodded. "And how long is she staying?"
"I was thinking that she would stay until Sunday or maybe even Monday."
"School's Monday."
"Well, obviously. But this way, it would save you some gas."
"Right. Because all of a sudden I'm a chauffeur, taking you and your friends everywhere."
"Like you really mind," Steph said, standing up and walking around the table to where he was standing.
Shane looked up at her as she stood next to him. "Um, Steph? What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm giving you a hug, silly! You've been great this week," she replied, leaning down and giving him a hug. She kissed him on the cheek. "You don't have to take me and my friends where we want to go, but you take us anyway. You're the best big brother in the world."
"Aw, I don't mind taking you guys around," he said, blushing. "I'm going to go upstairs and look for some stuff."
"Later," she called after him as he left the room. She snickered to herself. "The best big brother in the world... That line always works like a charm..."
Later That Evening
"And remember what I told you. No parties," Linda said for the third time.
"We remember, Mom. No parties," Shane said. "You can totally trust us."
"I hope so," Linda said as she headed for the door.
"You really can, Mom," Steph assured her. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, then smiled. "You better leave now if you want to make your flight."
"You're right. Be good, kids," Linda said, and then she disappeared out the door.
"Finally, we have the house to ourselves!" Shane said excitedly. He looked at Steph. "And when are your friends getting here?"
"See, that's the problem... They don't exactly have a ride here," she said. "I was kind of hoping that maybe you could pick them up for me..."
"And when were you going to tell me this?" he demanded.
"Sometime soon," she replied. She stuck out her bottom lip and started pouting. "So will you pick them up?"
"I have to pick C-Dawg up, too, so sure," he said, giving in. "But you have to stay here in case Chris shows up."
"Not a problem," she said, smiling.
"Great. So if Chris shows up while I'm gone, well, just let him in. He knows his way around this place," he said, walking into the den to grab his keys. He had left them on the coffee table in the den earlier.
"Oh, one more thing," she said. "Could you stop by the store and pick this stuff up for me?" From her back pocket, she pulled out a small list and a fifty dollar bill.
"What? Ok, so now I'm going grocery shopping, too?"
"Pleeeease?" she pleaded. "I'll let you keep the change," she offered, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.
"Whatever, Steph, I'll do all this stuff for you," he said finally, taking the list and the money. He looked over the list and scowled. "But you owe me big time."
"I'll make it up to you, bro," she said, sitting down on the couch. She watched him leave, then picked up the phone. She called Amy and Ty and told them that Shane would pick them up soon, then got off the phone and went to take a shower. She was in the middle of taking her shower when she heard the doorbell ring.
Great, she thought to herself as she stepped out of the shower. I'm in the middle of taking a shower, and someone decides to show up... She wrapped a towel around herself, wrapped her hair in a towel, slipped on some slides, then made her way downstairs and to the front door. When she peeked through the peephole, her stomach tied itself in knots. It was Chris... All of a sudden, she wished she had put on more clothes, or really, any clothes at all. The towel wasn't going to leave anything to his imagination...
"Hey," she said, finally opening the door. "Hurry up and come inside. I was in the middle of my shower..."
"I see," Chris said, stepping inside the house. He pushed the door shut behind himself and locked it, then leaned against it and looked at her. "So are you making a fashion statement? Is the fluffy towel the new fashion craze?"
"Not exactly," she replied, looking down at the towel that was thrown around her. "But if you'll excuse me, I really need to go and finish my shower."
"Ok... Where's Shane?" he asked.
"He went to run some errands for me. He should be back within the next hour," she said, pulling the towel tighter around her. For some reason, a remark Shane had made on the first day of school ran through her mind... Maybe it's the sex. And all of a sudden, she felt like she needed to get out of Chris's sight, because if Chris was sleeping with Trish, then he would've seen her naked plenty times, and Steph's body, while nice and slender, couldn't even begin to compare with Trish's.
"You have your brother whipped," he said, smirking a little. "I've never seen a girl have her older brother in the palm of her hand like you have Shane."
"What can I say? I guess he just loves me," she said, smiling. "I mean, really, do you think he could resist loving me?"
"I don't think so. I can't," he said in a low voice.
"What?" She looked at him, eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"
"Steph, Steph, Steph..." His voice trailed off as he looked into her eyes. He sighed. "Go finish your shower."
"But you said-" she started.
"Shhh," he said, putting a finger to her lips to silence her. The finger stayed there for a minute, and then he moved it and cupped her face in one hand, his thumb gently rubbing against her lips. "Do you know what Shane would think if he happened to walk in here right now?"
"He'd think the worst," she breathed, reaching up to touch the hand he was cupping her face with. His hand felt warm and strong, and she couldn't believe she actually had her hand on his.
"Right. And we can't let him think that, because then he'd be really pissed at me," he went on, now bringing his other hand up to touch the other side of her face.
"Yeah, he'd be pissed," she echoed, wondering what he would do next. She was practically shivering as she noticed him leaning closer...and closer...
"You know, I'm gonna go put my stuff in a guest bedroom," he said, abruptly pulling away from her. His lips had been just inches, INCHES away from hers. "You go finish your shower, and then you can show me how your dad remodeled the old playroom."
"Um, ok," she agreed. She turned around and hurried away, but she could feel his eyes on her the whole time...
Twenty Minutes Later
"There you are," Steph said, walking into the den downstairs and spotting Chris sitting on the couch. "Ready for that tour of the old playroom?"
Chris looked up at her and his mouth dropped. He quickly closed his mouth as he took in what she was wearing, which wasn't really much. A shirt. Some short shorts. Some flip flops... "Uh, yeah," he said, swallowing hard as he stood up. "Yeah, let's do this tour."
They walked in silence up to the old playroom, which was in the attic. The entire attic had once been filled with every single toy a young child could want, every single toy that was on the market, it seemed. Chris had been right. All the kids had wanted to come to the McMahon mansion, if only just to get in the playroom. They walked up to the third floor, then up the smaller staircase leading to the attic. They stopped at the top of the small flight of stairs.
Steph put one hand on the doorknob. "Are you ready to be amazed?" she asked in a voice that made her sound like a game show host.
"Steph, I'm already amazed," Chris teased. "You never cease to amaze me."
She smiled at him. "I'll take that as a yes." She opened the door and stepped inside the dark attic, and he followed. She flipped on the light. "Tada!"
"Wow," he said, looking around. "It's so different from the way it used to be!"
"Different in a good way or a bad way?" she asked.
"A good way," he answered. "I mean, you can't go wrong with a plasma TV."
"I know. It's great up here," she agreed. "So, um, look around or whatever."
She watched him walk slowly around the room, observing all the different things that was in there. "Oh, a Karaoke machine. I think we'll have fun with this," he said, more to himself than to her. He kept walking, and pretty soon, he came to some thick padded mats in the corner of the room. "What are these for?" he asked her, gesturing towards the mats.
"Oh, those," she said, walking over to him. "Those are for when we want to wrestle... Or pretend to wrestle, anyway."
"You don't wrestle, do you?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
"It's in my blood. Of course I wrestle," she countered. "Why? You don't think I do?"
"I can't imagine you wrestling," he said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine what your moves would be like."
"You perv, you just wanna see my moves," she joked, feeling extremely bold all of a sudden. "But that's ok. I'll show you... Wrestle me, right now."
"You can't be serious," he said in an amused voice. "You do know that I'm the captain of our school's wrestling team, right?"
"So?" she asked. "I'll beat you."
"You don't really want any of this, Stephanie McMahon," he said, taking his t-shirt off and throwing it aside.
She had to force herself not to drool at the sight of his muscular upper body. She found herself staring...hard. "You have a really nice body, Chris," she said softly.
"Thanks," he said. "So do you."
She shook her head to somehow clear her mind, then said, "So? Are we wrestling or not?"
"I have the unfair advantage. I weigh more than you," he said. "I could pin you easily."
"I doubt that..."
"You doubt the great Chris Irvine? See, now we have a problem..."
And with that, he put his arms around her and they started wrestling. They weren't serious at all. They were just playing around.
"You put up a good fight, Miss McMahon, but I see I got you on your back," he said about five minutes later. And indeed, he was right. He leaned over her as she laid on her back, looking up at him. Both of them were breathing hard.
"I guess you're right," she said. "You got me on my back... But I'm sure I'm not the first girl you've done that to."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just something I was wondering about, that's all."
"Well tell me. What was that comment for?" he asked.
"Are you sleeping with Trish?" she blurted out. Immediately, she felt herself blushing. She couldn't believe she'd just come out and asked him that.
He looked at her for a minute, then laughed softly. "No," he replied, touching her cheek. "Why?"
"Shane seems to think so."
"Shane's wrong. I'm saving myself for the right girl...and that girl isn't Trish."
"Wow," she said, feeling relieved. It felt like a heavy weight that had been pinning her down since Monday afternoon was finally lifted. "Who's the lucky girl?"
"See, I can't tell you," he said, leaning down until his lips were about two inches away from hers. "No one else knows, so if I told you, I'd have to kill you."
"Oh..." She gazed up into his blue eyes, then looked at his lips, those lips she dreamed about kissing.
"You're a bold girl, Steph. I like that," he whispered, lips coming ever closer. Just one more inch, just one, and his lips would be on hers...
"STEPH? CHRIS? Where are you guys hiding at?" came a loud voice. Shane.
Chris sighed and pulled away from Steph. "We're up here in the old playroom," he called as Steph sat up and looked at him.
"Then get down here!" C-Dawg called in a playful tone. "Before you force me to come up there and kick some ass!"
Steph stood up, and so did Chris. They both looked at each other for a minute, then headed for the door. But before they left, she touched his arm, and he turned around to look at her.
"You're really not sleeping with her?" she asked.
"No, I'm not. Believe it or not, I'm a virgin," he said proudly. "And I'm saving myself for someone special... But don't tell your brother, because he'd never stop teasing me about it."
"I wouldn't dream of telling him," she said, smiling at him. "It'll be our little secret."
"Our little secret," he agreed.
He smiled back at her, and then they left the playroom and headed downstairs where their friends were waiting...
A/N: I am so surprised at the reactions I'm getting for this story! But I love it, and I love writing this story. Thanks for the support...