Indi could not take her eyes off Dexter as he effortlessly carried her down the small flight of stairs directly behind the NXT stage. He kept sneaking glances at her as well with every few steps. So unlike him, yet so tantalizing to Indi. She felt her heart skip nearly every time he did so.
They were nearing the locker room now and Indi wondered at what point Dexter would volunteer to sit her down. Would he ever? Did she want him to? She peeled her eyes from him to see him approaching her locker room door. Realizing this Indi shook her head. She had no desire to walk in and face her family at this moment.
Dexter stopped in his tracks and cocked his head slightly at her. She nodded for him to continue on. After a second of scanning her face with wandering eyes, he eventually settled them straight ahead and continued walking.
Indi glanced up to see him leading them past a few more locker rooms, including a larger communal one shared by many of the Talent. He rounded a corner and approached a grey door at the end of the hallway. Indi was sure she had never even been in this part of the building before. She felt Dex shift his arms slightly so he could hold her with one arm and open the door with the other.
Indi was gonna offer to let him put her down, but before she could say a word he had moved them swiftly through the doorway and down a little hallway that curved to the right. Once they rounded that it was obvious to Indi what this area was. It was a very tiny locker room. It looked like originally it was designed to just be a restroom but had at some point been converted.
Indi glanced over to see a gym bag sitting on a small bench located right up next to a sink. She recognized it as Dexter's as she glanced around to see more evidence of him. Some of his trademark boots lined neatly under the sink and gloves piled neatly on the back of the porcelain.
Dexter walked her over to stand in front of the bench and gently lowered her to her feet. She was still glancing around the small room and noticed at the far end of the room was a shower stall with a crude makeshift curtain halfway pulled in front of it. She barely noticed Dexter had moved over and retrieved the bag off the floor.
Indi watched as he shuffled into the bag to retrieve a black tank top and a neatly folded light blue pair of jeans. He studied the clothing in his hands momentarily before gently draping them over the edge of an empty shelf on the wall next to the sink. He then went about removing his gloves.
Indi was mesmerized by him. She honestly felt a little drunk from the events that had just transpired. Her heartbeat was still readily noticeable as it thumped much more rapidly than usual inside of her chest. She sat down on the bench behind her to collect herself.
Just a few short minutes ago Indi had chosen to defy the stipulation of the "Love Her or Lose Her" match. Defy might have been an understatement as she felt her cheeks flush red as images of Dexter beneath her began to flood her mind. She was smiling at the thought and barely noticed Dexter was now standing in front of her slightly bending over to get her attention.
"Hey..." Indi said after she managed to clear her throat and find her voice. His facial expression lightened considerably at the sound of her voice.
She watched as he lifted an arm and pointed in the direction of the shower and then gestured down to his still bare chest. That was where her eyes caught as she tried to read his gestures. After a moment she understood.
"Oh... do you want me to give you some privacy?" Indi asked. She watched as Dexter walked over and tugged gently at the curtain in front of the shower and shrugged his shoulders. She understood that to mean he was fine with her staying. She nodded. He held her gaze for just the briefest of seconds before disappearing behind the curtain.
Indi's gaze was transfixed on the curtain as she heard the water start and the slightest bit of steam rose over the top of the blue fabric. She felt a smile forming on her face as she considered her current predicament.
She never knew Dexter had his own little makeshift locker room tucked away in the recesses of the building, and she could never imagine she would now be sitting alone with him inside of it. She lowered her eyes for a moment with a sheepish smile coming over her face. She raised her eyes again when she saw the curtain rustle ever so slightly.
A muscular and tattooed arm emerged from behind the curtain as it gestured to the wall across from where Indi sat. She followed the point and saw a bottle of shampoo sitting on the shelf. Instantly she understood what was happening and hopped up to grab the bottle. She started to approach the outstretched hand, fast at first but then the butterflies in her stomach began to feel so heavy they were weighing her down.
Indi's breathing had become slow and a bit shallow as she tentatively reached out the bottle to Dexter's outstretched hand. It touched his fingers and he fumbled slightly trying to understand how to grip it. She took her other hand and used it to gently help him with his dilemma. She gripped the bottle and she found it even harder to unclasp her hands from his.
Indi finally untangled herself from him and her line of sight followed his arm as it disappeared behind the curtain. She caught the briefest glimpse of his eyes looking back out at her before the gap in the curtain closed completely. She almost couldn't stop the happy laugh that came out of her as she turned and walked over to examine herself in the mirror in front of the sink.
Indi went about tightening the band on her hair and fluffing it out a little as she leaned in and studied her lipstick. She was pleasantly surprised to find very little smudging despite the events previous in the evening. She locked eyes with herself in the mirror and felt a wave of happiness wash over her.
Despite the uncertainty of what her decision might lead to. Indi knew she had made the right choice. The expression staring back at her indicated very clearly to her this was the case.
The noise of the curtain moving back got Indi's full attention as she turned to see Dexter stepping out having fully dressed behind the curtain sans his tanktop. She smiled at his still-wet hair. She had never seen Dexter with his hair, not in its usual style. It was longer than she had imagined. His slipping of the shirt over his head broke her gaze.
Dexter approached her slowly and she felt her pulse quicken again. Her eyes were darting back and forth searching in his blue pools to garner his intentions. He stopped mere inches from her. She tentatively placed her hand over his own heart to feel it too was beating just as fast as hers... in fact, it seemed to beat in time with hers.
They stood that way for several moments, neither willing to break the eye contact until finally, Dexter gestured behind her to the mirror. She glanced back and then to him as he reached up and tousled his hair a little. The gesture made her laugh, and to her delight, the corner of his mouth crept into a smile. She stepped aside and allowed him to move in front of the mirror. He reached into his bag for the materials needs to fix his hair in its trademark style.
Indi was lost in her thoughts again as he concentrated on his task. It was here she began to wonder about everything. She was sure she had made the right decision. The only thing she wasn't sure about is what the decision actually was... if that made any sense. A shrug of her shoulders proceeded her leaning back on the wall so she could watch Dexter work through the reflection in the mirror.
Indi knew at some point she would have to face Johnny and Candice. At some point, people would want to ask her questions. She was pretty sure her phone was already blowing up tucked away in her bag in her locker room. She almost didn't care if she even looked at it until she could understand everything that was happening.
Indi had chosen to run to Dexter. In fact, there was no real choice to be made. When she saw how valiantly he fought for her. How he only lost the match at all because of showing concern for her. And most of all the look on his face when she was being ushered away from him. No, it wasn't really even a choice, her body just naturally pushed her to him. Into his arms. It was physically hurting her to move farther up the ramp from him.
Indi lowered her head but kept her gaze on Dexter as her thoughts continue to whirl in her head. She caught him glancing at her through the mirror and she straightened up again. She was the one cocking her head slightly now as she studied his features and expression.
Dexter was an enigma. A mystery. No one could deny that, not even her. Yet somehow none of that ever scared her. None of that seemed forbidden, even when to others his life seemed to come with a perpetual "Danger" sign hanging across his neck. She never saw that. No, to her Dexter wasn't a question. He was an answer. He wasn't a caution sign. He was inviting.
Dexter straightened up and cocked turned his head from side to side in the mirror to examine his hair. He glanced back at Indi and raised his eyebrows.
"It looks good," Indi answered, understanding completely what he was looking for. She always somehow knew. She didn't even know how she knew. She couldn't explain it if she tried.
She watched as he went about neatly placing everything back in his bag and lifting it with one hand and turning to her. He held that position directly opposite her for a few seconds before walking over to the door and pushing it open. He turned back to her.
Indi closed the distance between them and followed him close out the door. He started to walk slowly in front of her and she glanced down at his free hand. She did a little hop step to close the distance and placed her hand directly into his. The action prompted him to slow down considerably as he turned his head to see her smiling back at him.
He returned the smile and they walked hand and hand down the hallway, past the locker rooms, until they reached hers. She gently tugged at his hand to get him to stop. He did so and turned to her.
"I better get my phone," Indi stated, gesturing to the door. He nodded and stepped out of the Way. Indi crinkled her nose at the thought of an angry Johnny and Candice on the other side of the door. She took a deep breath, glanced up at Dexter who seemed to understand. She then pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"WHAT was that?!" Johnny's voice immediately filled the room and Indi cringed. He was standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips. He clearly hadn't even showered and had probably been pacing the room the whole time. Candice was sitting behind him looking dejected.
"Listen... I..." Indi started to speak.
"What are you thinking?" Johnny interrupted her with outstretched hands.
"Johnny... I just..." Indi searched her thoughts for an answer. "I just had to."
"Had to?!" Johnny shook his head back as if he had just been shocked. One of his usual dramatic flares. "You didn't have to do anything."
"You wouldn't understand," Indi replied.
"No... no... clearly I am not cuckoo bananas so I don't understand how you could..." Johnny began.
"Stop, Johnny," Candice's voice came from behind Johnny prompting him to turn to her. Indi's eyebrows raised upon hearing her.
"What...?" Johnny was confused.
"Let's just not do this now, not tonight," Candice shrugged moving her eyes from Johnny over to Indi.
"We can talk some other time?" Indi suggested.
"Yes, some other time," Candice agreed as she implored Johnny with her eyes to let it go.
"Fine, I gotta shower," Johnny threw his hands up and walked away.
Indi walked over to her bag that was sitting on the bench next to Candice. She reached inside for her phone, it was all she needed currently. Candice's hand on her wrist prompted her to turn to her mother figure.
"Just be careful, we really just want what is best for you," Candice's words were quiet.
"I will..." Indi replied with a nod as she grabbed her phone and backed up and out of the room.
She turned to see Dexter was waiting patiently for her seemingly deep in thought. She smiled at his profile as he glanced at her out of his side-eye. He turned his head fully to her and nodded toward her locker room door.
"They will come around... I hope," Indi replied with a shrug before she found his hand again with hers and they continued to make their way out of the hallway to the locker rooms and into the larger common area. It was there she saw many of her colleagues going their various ways. Many stopped and took notice of the two holding hands. Many smiled, which made Indi happy and blush slightly.
She glanced up to see Dexter paying them no mind as he led them toward the exit and out into the warm night air. He held the door for her and then they walked in step to the parking lot. They reached his car and stopped.
Dexter watched Indi expectantly as she moved to stand directly in front of him. She glanced over her shoulder at her car at the end of the lot before turning back to face him.
"I um... I don't really want the night to end," Indi confessed honestly. He cocked his head slightly at her before glancing up at the sky for a moment and then to his car.
A slight pat on the hood of his car was enough.
"I'd love to," Indi replied as she hurriedly made her way over to the passenger side of his car and hopped in. Soon he was seated next to her. He was clearly waiting for her instructions. "Take me home?"
Dexter raised his eyes slightly as if the words were almost foreign to him. Maybe they were, Indi considered. She leaned closer to him. And he turned to face her more.
"Is that okay?" Indi asked. She studied him for a response. At first, he was stoic, before finally raising a hand and gently caressing the side of her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into it. She opened them to see him nodding at her before moving in and placing a kiss on her forehead.
Indi had made the right choice, indeed.
