Her eyes were on Dean, strutting around the center of the ring with his freshly-polished championship draped on his shoulder, but her mind was someplace else. Ireland, specifically.

Arden's encounter with Finn shook her core so violently that she spent half of the night replaying it repeatedly. She could still feel the strange warmth from his breath on her nose, even though he was hardly any taller than she was. His eyes were still so vibrant that she couldn't misplace them.

She raked a hand through her hair as she remembered Finn's eyes. They were familiar in an unrecognizable way. It was as if she had seen his eyes a thousand times before, but for some reason in that moment, they looked different. There was a different emotion hiding behind them that she felt as if only she could see.

His soul was trapped within the barrier of his skin, but she could grab a glimpse of it through those eyes. Those blue, blue eyes.

Returning her eyes to the screen above her, Arden watched as Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon called various Superstars into the ring. She wondered just how many bodies needed to stand on the ring's apron in order for the ring to collapse. The image of each Superstar falling as the ring caved in brought a visible smile to Arden's thin lips, but there was nobody around to spot the twisted expression.

Dean was so charismatic that her stomach burned. He walked around that ring like a god, but she knew that with the snap of a finger he would be on his knees for her. It was such a shame that nobody else could see how quick he transitioned from powerful to weak once he laid eyes on her. She was sure that witnesses were needed in order for it to make any sense; nobody would expect Dean to be the kind of person to switch things up like that. Nobody would believe her.

Her thoughts blurred her eyesight until she didn't see the figures moving across the screen, so she didn't notice when the segment ended and the screen faded to black.

"Who do you think it'll come down to?"

Arden jerked her head up at the voice. She forced a half-smile and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear for comfort. "Uh, I'm leaning towards Ziggler. AJ has a good chance, though. I think you two would put on a good show."

"Who cares about the show?" Dean adjusted his championship over his shoulder as if he wanted to make sure people across the hall could see how important he was. "I just want someone to get in that ring with me who can keep up."

"You act like you've never had a solid match before."

"Solid? I'm always solid when I'm in that ring. It's this new roster I'm worried about."

Arden nodded and glanced around. She watched various members of the SmackDown roster walk past them, some staring in awe and others rolling their eyes, and she crossed her arms. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly so nervous.

"Arden?"

She looked back up at him when she realized how long she'd been staring off into the distance. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm just a little distracted today."

Dean sent her a concerned look, which took the both of them by surprise. "Are you sick or something?"

"Or something, probably."

"Have you seen a medic?"

"It's not that serious, Dean. I'm fine." She took a deep breath as if she spent her energy trying to convince herself. Her mind was so muddled with random thoughts that she couldn't remember what had gotten her off on this thought-tangent.

He didn't believe her, but he didn't push it.

She cleared her throat again, straining it just a bit. "Are you busy tonight?"

"After the show?"

"No, right now." She spared him the sarcastic glance. "Yes, after the show."

"Most likely," he answered. He checked to make sure their conversation was private before leaning in slightly to further hide his words. "The other night wasn't enough for you, or something?"

"Or something," she repeated.

Dean nodded. He didn't mind some more action. "Meet me at the hotel."

"Aren't you supposed to catch a flight out of here tonight?"

Her question was answered with his shrug. "I'll get out of here eventually. I'm the champ. They can't put on a show without me." He winked at her before walking off and merging into a small crowd of people who were headed towards the catering section.

Arden watched Dean disappear behind a corner before she turned back to the monitor, which was showing a recap of what occurred the previous night on RAW. It started with a few clips showing the random wrestlers that stood on the stage before the show really began. Everything was slow-paced and backed with a dramatic soundtrack. She shook her head in embarrassment as she worked for a company that did everything they could to make their most important moments appear cheesy and just...well, just bad.

It wasn't until the blue-eyed savior stepped out from behind the crowd of superstars that Arden's thoughts changed.

Finn's stance was one of royalty. He didn't tower over the other men behind him, but if you weren't paying attention to height and only minding their confidence then you would never be able to tell. Her eyes trailed down his body, which was only covered by an open leather jacket that couldn't have possibly fit him any better than it did. Her mouth watering, she bit her bottom lip.

Once she realized how pathetic she looked - staring at a screen and not the real Finn - Arden walked away quickly. She wanted to save herself from being scolded by a pacing crew member who was too into his or her job to realize that not every little thing was a case for the bosses. The absolute last thing she wanted was for some part-time employee to watch her swoon in the halls and then word get back to Stephanie or - God forbid - Vince. It was completely unprofessional for someone to get, for lack of a better term, heated at work.

As long as all was kept PG - which Arden was definitely not - nobody would care. That's how she wanted to keep it.


Arden sighed as Dean leaned over and pressed his mouth to her neck. She felt his hand dip down just below her hip bone and caress her inner thigh, causing her to shiver. As his hand moved closer and closer to her center, Arden wrapped her hand around his and guided him.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked, surprised.

She looked at his lips as she spoke. "Helping out."

"I think I can do this on my own."

"As could I - but since we're both here, why don't we just work together?"

Despite his verbal confusion, he allowed her to lie back. Draping his body next to hers, he propped himself up with one elbow and rubbed his other hand against her womanhood - still being guided by Arden's fingers. Their eyes were locked together and they hardly blinked just so they didn't have to miss anything.

Arden was the first to blink, but as soon as her eyelids touched, she kept them closed. Her mind was gone, running through various fields of elements that weren't easy to think of without getting distracted. She didn't realize how hard she had begun biting her lip as she remembered Finn's appearance on the RAW recap until a slight tingling began under her bottom lip.

Her breathing became heavier and she methodically took over Dean's job. She couldn't help herself; Dean didn't know what she was thinking about. For all he knew, she was thinking about him - which she often did when she touched herself - but her conscience wouldn't let her allow him to touch her while he wasn't on her mind.

In her mind, her fingers were actually Finn's. He was in place of Dean on the bed. His breath was hovering over her skin, leaving goosebumps in its path. When she opened her eyes and looked into Dean's eyes, they were Finn's. That's when she realized why Finn's eyes were so familiar.

With one hand circling around her womanhood, Arden grasped Dean's bicep with her free hand. Pulling herself up, Arden ceased her masturbation and took calming breaths. Why did she feel so guilty? It wasn't as if Dean knew of her dirty deeds.

"What happened to working together?"


Arden sat inside the cold restaurant alone, waiting for Logan to show up. After they bumped into each other backstage at RAW, they kept in touch long enough to schedule a friendly luncheon at their favorite local - well, local in comparison to the arena they were performing at - burger joint.

Swirling her straw around her icy water, Arden scratched the back of her neck. She was uncomfortable. It wasn't because of Logan. Logan was one of her friends and had been since they met in NXT. It was because of Dean. She couldn't go more than three seconds without thinking about the heart-eating guilt that she couldn't wrap her mind around. They weren't dating and they weren't in love, but she didn't like the regret she felt from kissing him while tasting Finn's lips.

Oh how she wished she knew what Finn's lips tasted like.

Before her cheeks could grow any redder, a warm hand gently squeezed her shoulder. She looked up and smiled. "Hey."

"Expecting someone particular?"

Arden rolled her eyes and tossed a menu at Logan once he seated himself. "I'm just waiting for some lame ass wrestling friend of mine. He's nothing special."

Logan smirked and placed the menu down on the table. He ran a hand through his beard. "I'm sure he isn't that bad."

"You have no idea, man."

A handful of chatty conversations and placement of their individual orders later, both Arden and Logan were sitting in silence while they awaited the arrival of their meals. Arden, in spite of her discomfort, was the first to speak.

"When are you planning on wreaking havoc up in the main roster?"

Her question brought a hefty chuckle out of Logan. "I could ask the same to you. You were up there until you nearly snapped your hand off of your wrist."

Arden twirled her wrist around, displaying the successful healing. "I'm all patched up. I'm just weighing my options now."

"RAW has the championship and Lana. I'm surprised you didn't jump out on stage on Monday just to stand with that woman."

"That woman has already given me an earful of reasons on why I should accept a spot with the red roster. But, I hear that Daniel and Shane are planning to create their own women's championship over there for the blue."

Logan nodded and leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table. "So, put championships aside then. What's your reason for wanting to go blue?"

She couldn't tell him. They were friends, but Lana came first. If she didn't have the guts to reveal her affairs with Dean to Lana then there was no way she would be able to roll the words off her lips for Logan's ears. It wasn't possible.

"There's no reason," she lied. She stared at her half-empty glass of water and avoided looking back up at the man in front of her. "Maybe I just want to compete with the girls over on the other side. It's something different. I'm sure that Lana would understand that."

Logan shrugged and smoothed his hand over his hair, which was casually tightened in a ponytail. "Speaking of Lana... We didn't really get to talk on Monday. How is she?"

Arden jerked her head up and noticed the sparkle in his pure eyes. "She's good. Why do you ask?" She knew why he was asking.

"I'm a gentleman," he promised. He could tell that her mind was misplaced, but he didn't say more.

Just as she was about to push the subject, their waiter brought over a round tray that held their food. She watched his eyes continue to sparkle through the steam coming off of their food, and without fail, they continued. Repressing a smile, Arden opted not to mention the dangerous twinkle.