Indi smiled as she read the text message on her phone. She quickly returned a neutral look on her face as she saw Johnny looking at her from across the room. She glanced around to see both Austin and Candice also looking at her expectantly
"Were you even listening?" Johnny asked gesturing with his hands. Indi froze momentarily. She had been when he first started talking but had zoned out after getting the buzz in her back pocket. She remembered what he had been talking about.
"Right... retaining the titles... I am listening," Indi replied as confidently as she could. Austin leaned in next to her.
"Who is it? Austin asked as he tried to eye her phone. She quickly shoved the phone back into her pocket and rolled her eyes at him.
"So I was saying... I think if Raquel and Dakota are your opponents..." Johnny began again but Indi started zoning him out. She felt another buzz in her pocket and quickly pulled it out to see another message from him.
"Can we meet?"
"Tell me where."
Indi cleared her throat, stopping Johnny mid-speech.
"Um... Mr. Regal wants to see me," Indi fibbed.
"Regal?" Johnny furrowed his brow in confusion. "What does he want with you?"
"No clue," Indi said as she started backing toward the locker room door. "I should probably go see."
"Wait, I should come too," Candice stood up and started to follow her.
"No!" Indi inwardly cringed as her volume was louder than she wanted it to be. Candice stopped and raised her eyebrows.
"He said he wanted to see me... if he wants you too I will text you," Indi scrambled to support her lie. Candice nodded slowly.
"Okay... yeah... you do that," Candice stated before gesturing for her to continue on.
Indi smiled at her and then quickly turned to exit the room. She made her way down a small hallway and to a door in the back. She pushed the door open and stuck her head in. It was dark.
"Dexter?" Indi whispered. No response. "Are you in here?"
She felt a gloved hand on hers and she smiled. She allowed herself to be led into the room. Her eyes adjusted to the room with just a small bit of light coming from another door halfway open on the other side of the storage area. She saw his silhouette as he moved them into the light.
"I can't stay long... I had to tell them that Regal wanted to see me," Indi explained. She saw the corner of his mouth curve into a small smile.
She intertwined her fingers in his.
"This is risky... they are just down the hall," Indi's voice was not much above a whisper. "And there are a lot of people..."
Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in. She felt like her heart was gonna jump out of her chest. She moved in to match him and their lips met for the first time.
Indi was sure if someone asked her to describe what she was feeling there was no way she could put it into words. She had nothing to compare this to, at least nothing that made her feel the way she was. The slight tickle of his mustache on her top lip made her smile even more into the kiss. His arms embracing her tightly around her waist prompted her to instinctively wrap her arms over his shoulders to pull him even more into her.
Indi was so lost in the moment she barely registered the overhead light coming on a voice saying her name. It was Dexter's moving back from her that jarred her back into reality. She saw his eyes widen and turned to see Austin looking at them from the doorway with his hand on his head with his mouth slightly open.
"Austin!" Indi's voice finally caught up with her awareness. She reluctantly broke from Dexter's arms and spun to face her "brother."
"Umm..." Austin it seemed was still processing what he was witnessing.
"It... uh... this isn't..." Indi was struggling. She felt Dexter step closer behind her. "Oh... you can't tell Johnny and Candice okay?"
"Tell... Papa John?" Austin's eyes finally returned to their normal size as he furrowed his brow.
"Yes... you have to... keep our secret," Indi glanced behind her at Dexter whose eyes moved from Austin to meet hers. She found it hard to break his gaze to turn back around.
"I can't keep secrets from them... family doesn't do that," Austin shook his head. Indi stepped closer to him.
"Right... but you know that they don't like when you talk about Dexter," Indi changed tactics. Austin cocked his head. "They always shut you down when you mention him."
"Yeah," Austin agreed quietly. It always bothered him that they didn't want to hear what a nice time he had with Dexter.
"So... if you try to tell them they will just get upset," Indi nodded.
"Yeah... yeah, they will..." Austin agreed.
"So you won't say anything about what you saw?" Indi asked. Austin moved his eyes from her back to Dexter. He stuck his hand up in greeting Dexter who nodded slightly in response. Austin smiled.
"No... cause I don't want them to get mad at me," Austin replied. Indi let out a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing back here anyway?" Indi asked.
"Oh... they sent me to see if you were still with Regal," Austin answered.
"Regal's office is the other way," Indi informed him.
"Yeah... I thought this didn't look familiar," Austin shrugged. He turned and started to leave.
"Wait for me in the hall okay?" Indi asked him.
"Sure thing," Austin responded turning to her and smiling. He glanced back at Dexter one more time before exiting the room.
Indi turned back to Dexter who had started to walk toward the other exit.
"Hey..." Indi's voice stopped him and he turned around. She closed the distance between them and initiated the kiss this time. It was quick but passionate. She smiled as she broke away from him. "I had to get one more."
There it was. The half-smile again. She wondered if he knew how even just that drove her crazy?
"I'd better go and make sure Austin doesn't you know..." Indi gestured behind her as she started walking back slowly.
He nodded.
"I hope I "run into" you again," Indi replied with a sly tone. He nodded again.
Indi reluctantly exited the room to find Austin wandering down the hallway. She quickly ran up to him and walked beside him. She felt a buzz in her pocket and pulled her phone out.
"I hope to "run into" you too."
Indi smiled and pressed the phone against her chest. She glanced at Austin who was looking at her phone.
"Who is it?" He asked. Indi let out a small laugh at his cluelessness.
"Come on," Indi shook her head and picked up her speed, and motioned for him to do the same.
