A/N: Sorry for the hiatus, life has been crazy and WrestleMania consumes all. We're back with Deanne now.
XXX
In the morning, she pulled on an oversized sweatshirt and fixed her hair, trying desperately to will away the pink in her cheeks. Sighing, she gave up and hoped he wouldn't notice.
Dean was already awake, cooking eggs in sweatpants and a black tank top. She pulled her eyes off of him, trying not to think about the way his arms held onto her last night. The heat of his body, his calloused hands on her hips, his lips just missing her neck…it all made her shiver.
He turned around as she made her way into the kitchen.
"Hey,"
"Morning," she sunk into a chair at the kitchen table.
"Made coffee, and these are almost ready…sunny side up, right?"
She couldn't help but smile a little bit, "that's right. You want a cup?"
"Sure."
Renee stood up, her head groaning, and pulled out two mugs from the cabinet above the coffee maker. His eyes were on her, she could feel how they made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It gave her flashes of the night before, had she be imagining the heat in his eyes as she danced against him? He was a warm-blooded man, it might actually be weird if he hadn't been at least a little turned on from her pressing herself against him. That was the goal, right? She tried to push that away, she was just trying to help him have a good time. He'd been so bummed out the past few days, he deserved a little fun. A little hands-wandering, hips grinding fun. Right? Who cared if it made her heart beat out of her chest to do that with him? It wasn't about her, it wasn't about sex. It was just dancing. It was just fun. He wouldn't be mad about it, would he? That she teased him like that? After all, he had her right in his grasp, if he had turned her around and kissed her square on the lips, she would've kissed back. He had to have known that. Still, she couldn't shake the guilt that she had taken him for a bit of a ride. Finally, she had to say something.
"Look, I'm sorry about last night," she said as she placed his mug down next to him.
"Sorry?" his head snapped.
"For pushing you to go out and drink, probably was a bad idea from the start."
"Oh." His brow furrowed, he shook his head, "no, no, that's alright."
"You feeling better?"
"Uh yeah," a little smirk came onto his face, "much better."
"What?"
"What?"
"What's that look for?" she sipped her coffee and it burned her mouth a tiny bit.
"What look?"
"The dopey ass smile look."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he slid her eggs onto a plate and handed it over, his eyes still twinkling. "I had a good time though before my head started hurting."
"Yeah? Me too."
He nodded and led the way back to the living room, she tried not to let her eyes follow as his low-slung sweatpants and thin tank top showed off every muscle in his back. It wasn't going well.
Sitting down across the couch from him, he looked over, a little smile still painted on his lips. "Plans today?"
"Just chores, shopping, the usual."
"No work?"
"Nah we're on hiatus with the podcast…until future notice."
"Oh, well, I was planning on doing a whole lot of nothing today," he smirked, "if you wanted to join me. Maybe order take out later?"
She laughed, flipping around the channels "sounds great,"
"Yeah," he said softly, "it does."
"You really should rest though."
"Sorry, is this not restful enough for you?" he kicked his feet up on the table and leaned back with his coffee.
"I'm setting you a nap time."
Dean snickered, biting his lip like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.
"Whatever you say."
XXX
"Hey, Nikki, what's up?" Renee answered the phone nervously, she wasn't sure she could handle talking to her best friend after the night she had.
"I HAVE to tell you something," Nicole's voice was ecstatically chirpy.
"Hang on," she looked over at Dean, half asleep on the couch, "I'll be back,"
"I'll be here," he mumbled.
"Who was that?" Nicole pressed as she made her way back to her room.
"Just Dean."
"Why does he sound like he's in bed?"
"No way you heard him that well," she sat down on her bed, looking out to Penn's Landing. "And because he has a concussion, remember?"
"Right, how is he?"
"He's doing okay I think, all things cons-"
"That's great," Nicole cut her off, "Brie's GETTING ENGAGED!"
"What!" Renee grinned. They all loved Daniel.
"I know! I had to tell someone it's been driving me insane for weeks and I think John is tired of hearing about it."
"When?"
"Tonight. They're going for a hike. Typical, right?"
"Very. Aw, I'm so happy for her."
"I know, I can't wait. Alana doesn't know yet, though, so don't tell her."
"Trust me, I won't. Hey, am I gonna be the only single bridesmaid?'
"'fraid so, babe."
"Ugggh it's gonna be a nightmare. Everyone's gonna be setting me up all night long."
"You could bring a date."
"I don't have a date to bring," she laughed, "those guys I see aren't exactly 'let's go to a wedding' dates."
"What about Dean?"
"Dean? What about him?" A lump caught in her throat.
"He'll be there anyway, just tell Brie to add him to your table and he can fend off weirdos for you."
"Why would he do that? He's not my boyfriend."
"Whoa, defensive, I thought you two were becoming good friends. He talks about you constantly at work."
"He does?"
"Someone sounds excited."
"Just surprised, that's all," she cleared her throat. "Dean sorta does his own thing and I do mine."
"And you don't do each other?"
"Nikki!"
Nicole burst out laughing, "oh god, I'm messing with you 'Ne. Why so hot and bothered?"
"I'm not."
"Okay. If you say you haven't slept with him yet, I believe you."
"Yet?"
"Well," she could hear Nicole smirking on the other end, "I get to hang onto some hope, don't I? You guys seem so in sync, he loves the stuff you love, you've got the same sense of humor no one else gets,"
"This is a really backhanded matchmaker attempt."
"You've clearly got tension of the sexual nature."
"Oh, we do not."
"Oh, you do too. I can hear you blushing."
Renee sighed, "alright, can I tell you something?"
Nikki gasped, "did you sleep with him?"
"No! Not…not yet…"
"HA!"
"We just went dancing," she dropped her voice low despite this place being huge and him probably asleep on the other end of it. "And it got heated. It felt like he came really close to making a move."
"Probably did. What happened?"
"He said he felt sick and we left."
"Sick? Sure, Ambrose, sure."
"What do I do?"
"I usually go for tight dresses, no underwear."
"Nikki. I'm being serious."
"Me too! You want him? Go get him."
"I never said that. I don't want things to get weird between us, I actually really like this arrangement."
"Living in a penthouse with a hot guy? Yeah, it's pretty great huh?"
"I made it really clear I wasn't exchanging this for sex. Going back on that now is just…cheap."
"What if you're not doing it because of the low rent, what if you're just doing it because you want to?"
Renee sighed again, "I don't know how to draw that line."
"Well. If it makes you feel better, he's not trolling for girls across America. So if you decide you want him, I think he'll be right there."
"Thanks, Nik,"
"Anytime."
"Give Brie and Daniel my love."
"Will do. Give Dean yours,"
"Oh shut up," Renee laughed.
"Bye now."
Renee hung up the phone and closed the door behind her, returning to her spot on the couch. Dean's head leaned against a pillow, his eyes fluttering open and closed. He sat up and squinted as sat down.
"That Nikki Bella?"
"The one and only," she snickered, "um, don't say anything, but Brie and Daniel are getting engaged."
"Who would I tell? I'm stuck here."
"Right well, tonight, apparently."
"Wow, nice. Tell me when she calls you, I'll text him."
"You gonna go?"
"Go?" his brow furrowed.
"To the wedding?"
"Don't know if I'll be invited."
"I thought you guys were close."
"We're friendly. Don't know if I'd say we're friends."
"Oh, Nikki made it sound like...never mind."
"Ah, you know how she is. I'll go, y'know, if they invite me."
"Yeah?"
"Hey, open bar."
She laughed and shook her head. It was a dumb idea anyway, thinking he'd come along as her date. What was he gonna do, hold her hand and dance with her? It was silly.
"Alright, you wanna go shopping or are you headed up for a nap?"
"Naw, naw, I'll get dressed, hang on."
He rubbed his eyes as he stood and ran his hands through his hair.
"It'll be fun," he said before he hit the stairs to the master suite.
"What will?"
"The wedding, we'll have a good time."
"Oh," she smiled lightly, "yeah I think so too."