Well, that happened, Tessa thought, looking around the trashed hotel room that belonged to Adam Cole. She had just sat up in the bed, her head pounding because of a hangover.

Despite the amount of beer she had put away at the club, and the resulting headache that was now forcing her to squint her eyes against the sunlight streaming through a gap in the curtains, she could remember pretty much every detail of the fiery hot sex she'd had with Adam Cole. The room had come out of it worse for wear.

Tessa looked at the desk in the corner of the room. The tea and coffee tray had been knocked off it to the floor while he had been fucking her on it. She looked across at the couch near the window. He had fucked her there, too. The sex had been amazing, not that she was going to tell Cole that. His ego needed absolutely no boosting.

The sound of a toilet flushing came from the bathroom. A moment later, Cole came walking slowly around the corner, obviously struggling with his own hangover. He stopped and squinted at her for a moment before passing his verdict. "You look like crap."

"Not as bad as you, I'd be willing to bet."

"I don't know about that. I look good even when I'm hanging," he said, making his way over to the bed and flopping onto it, lying face down.

"No, you really don't," Tessa assured him. "No one does when they're hung over. This is why I never drink beer. I hate the stuff."

"Didn't look like you hated it last night," he said, his voice muffled by the bed cover.

"Blame Clementine and Nikki. They were really going for it. I kind of got dragged along with them."

Cole didn't respond. Neither of them said anything for a minute until he finally spoke, not lifting his head. "You know any good hangover cures?"

"Yeah," Tessa said, not elaborating.

Cole looked up, expecting more information.

"Sex."

Cole made a point of considering it as if it was a serious remedy she had suggested. "I suppose I'm willing to give it a try."

Adam Cole did have some manners to offset his arrogance, Tessa had learned. After they'd had sex twice more, he had ordered them a room service breakfast – an actual hangover cure.

By the time Tessa had to make what she thought of as her walk of shame back to her room, it was mid morning.

"I'm glad I'm not on Raw," she said, walking towards the room's door with Cole just behind her. "I don't think I could wrestle tonight feeling like this."

"You sure? I could wrestle tonight," Cole said, making it obvious that it was a sexual innuendo.

Reaching the door, Tessa turned to face him. "You mean you want to do this again?"

"You mean you don't?" Cole said with another of those smug looks on his face that made Tessa feel weak.

"I didn't say that," she replied, managing to keep her cool. "But when am I going to get to see you again?"

Cole smiled. "Friday. The Undisputed Era are debuting on Smackdown this week. That's why I dropped the title Saturday night at Takeover."

"Friday night then," Tessa said simply. With that, she turned and opened the door, finding it oddly important that she had the last word. Something told her that he would think about it over the coming days. Good, she thought.

Sure that she looked a very long way from her best, Tessa wanted to get back to her room as quick as she could, where a shower and more coffee would be top priorities. She reached the elevators and pressed the button to call one. While she waited, she adjusted her leather jacket so that it sat properly on her shoulders and checked her pockets to make sure she hadn't left anything in Cole's room. She hadn't.

An elevator arrived on her floor. Tessa smiled when she was greeted by one of the best sights in the world: an empty car. Getting in, she pressed the button for the floor that her room was on. It was only two floors down, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

The elevator reached Tessa's floor and she stepped out into the hallway. As soon as she turned in the direction of her room, she sighed inwardly. How typical of her luck. Of course Sonya and Mandy were coming the other way with their travel cases.

"Look who it is!" Sonya called out.

"Hi, guys," Tessa said as they got closer to her. "Where are your hangovers?"

"We didn't drink as much as you," Mandy said, reaching her. "I guess you ended up leaving with Adam?"

"Yeah, but don't go broadcasting it, will you?" Tessa said. It hadn't actually been a request.

"Of course not, we're your friends," Sonya said. "So, did you, uh...?" she asked suggestively.

"Yes. A bunch of times last night, and twice this morning. Apparently he's on Smackdown as of now, so I told him I'd see him again Friday."

"Sounds hot," Mandy said. "Does this mean no more threesomes?"

"I never said that," Tessa replied quickly, momentarily picturing Sonya as Daria. "I slept with the guy, I didn't marry him."

"Good point," Sonya chuckled. "We're about to Uber it to the airport. Do you want us to wait for you?"

"Thanks, but no. I need a shower and stuff. I'll meet you there in a bit. There's still loads if time left before our flight."

"Okay, catch you later," Mandy said, and they parted ways.

A minute later, Tessa was walking into her room. It dawned on her that she hadn't checked her phone all morning, and hadn't heard a peep out of it. Taking it out of her pocket, she soon learned why. The battery was dead.

She went over to sit on the bed and connected the phone to her charger, which was already plugged into the wall. When the phone booted up, several messages came through. The first line of one in particular caught her attention among her notifications, drawing her to open that message first.

Tessa, this is Lucy Thorne. Save this number. I was very impressed with the match you and Seth put on last night. You have chemistry in the ring. I'm going to put you in a program with each other over the Intercontinental title.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Tessa groaned. Seth Rollins, the prick of the year, had won the Intercontinental Championship tournament the previous night. She was going to be his first rivalry as champion, meaning that she had to work with the one person in the company who she actively wanted to avoid.

"Why do I feel she's doing this specifically because we have issues?" Maybe she was being overly suspicious, but that was how it seemed to Tessa. Not happy about it, she decided to message TJ Wilson before replying to the boss.

Lucy wants to put me in a program with Rollins, even after how he was acting yesterday.

Thankfully, she received a reply almost immediately. She knew TJ was never far from his phone. Always being contactable was probably one of the things that made him a popular agent.

TJ: I know, I was going to message you. Have you said anything to Lucy? What do you think of the idea?

"What do I think of the idea?" Tessa muttered incredulously. "I'd rather hold my tits against a belt sander than work with him again, that's what I think." She considered it best not to make that her reply. After a moment, she typed out something a tiny bit more diplomatic.

I can't stand the guy. He's sexist, and an asshole. Why would I want to work with him?

TJ: I understand why you feel that way. The counter argument is that the two of you put on a great match last night. Plus, some of the best rivalries in wrestling have been between people who didn't like each other. And there's one other reason.

Tessa narrowed her eyes at the cryptic end to his message.

Which is?

TJ: Seth doesn't think you're good enough to wrestle men. Make him admit he was wrong and apologise to you.

That appealed to Tessa immediately. How satisfying it would be to make Rollins swallow his sexist bullshit and admit that, yes, she was more than good enough to wrestle men. It was a goal she could aim towards while working a program with him. She made a decision, and sent a reply to TJ.

Fine, I'll do it.

Then she went back to Lucy Thorne's message and replied to that.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Lucy would probably assume she meant the opportunity to be in the title picture, but she actually meant the opportunity to put Rollins in his place.

An hour later, Tessa found Sonya and Mandy sitting in the waiting area at the gate for their flight. There was still plenty of time to go before boarding.

"That's cute," Tessa said genuinely, looking at Mandy resting her head on Sonya's shoulder as she approached them.

"Oh, hi," Mandy said, sitting up immediately.

"Hey," Sonya said. "You look better now."

"Thanks. So, I got news," Tessa said, sitting down next to Sonya.

"What news?" Sonya and Mandy asked simultaneously.

"I hate it when you guys do that," Tessa groaned.

"We know," they said simultaneously.

"Alright, enough. You're doing it on purpose now," Tessa cringed. "Thorne is putting me in my first program, with Seth Rollins."

"Eww," Mandy said, aware of what had happened prior to Money in the Bank.

"How do you feel about it?" Sonya said.

"Initially, I wasn't happy about it. But then I realised this is a chance to show him that a woman can be every bit as good as him in the ring. I'm going to make him respect me."

"Yes, girl," Sonya said, offering and receiving a fist bump.

"You're going to make a great Intercontinental Champion," Mandy said.

Tessa laughed dismissively. "I think maybe you're jumping just a little bit too far ahead." She noticed Sonya giving her the side eye. "What?"

"You really think they're not going to put that title on you? I'll make a bet that you have it within three months."

Tessa grunted another laugh. "I'll take that bet. Fifty bucks."

Sonya nodded. "Fifty bucks."

A/N: Many thanks to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.

What do you think will happen when Tessa sees Adam Cole next?

How do you think Seth has taken the news about Tessa being his first rival as champion?