Chapter 16

Lexi boiled with anger as she worked the knot from Seth's trapezius muscle. "This is bullshit." She glanced up at Roman who sat on the end of Dean's bed. "You guys are suffering because of this stupid storyline. I have friends that are worried and are constantly calling my cell phone begging me to let them know I'm all right. This has gotten completely out of hand."

"I agree, but what are we supposed to do? We're the new guys." Seth flinched beneath her hand and let out a yelp. "God, that hurts."

"Yeah," Dean added. "Seth's right. As far as management is concerned, we should just be happy to be here. It's not as if we have any opinions."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I can't complain." She moved to straddle Seth's legs, leaned forward and pressed an elbow against his back muscle. "As soon as I'm done tending to you guys I'm gonna call Hunter. This needs to stop."

Dean grinned. "That's one naughty looking position, Lexi."

She glanced down, then over to Roman, who simply rolled his eyes in response.

She glanced down, then over to Logan, who simply rolled his eyes in response.

"You know," Dean continued. "I thought I'd heard screams coming from your bedroom last night." He tapped his finger to his chin. "Though maybe I was just dreaming."

Instant heat filled every inch of her body. She'd known last night she'd been loud, but deep down, she'd hoped they hadn't heard. Apparently they had, and it appeared that Dean wasn't going to let it pass without comment.

"What about you, Seth?' Dean asked. "Did you hear Lexi screaming last night?"

"Sure did," Seth replied. "Sounded pretty hot and heavy if you ask me."

Dean nodded. "I agree. Guess Roman won't have to rub one out in the shower anymore, huh?"

Her flesh felt as if she'd been set on fire as embarrassment engulfed her from head to toe, and she struggled to ignore their teasing. She should have known they wouldn't let her slip go by without comment, but knowing that didn't make her feel any less embarrassed.

"Not when he now has Lexi to do it for him," Seth joked.

Desperate to end their razzing, she pressed harder into Seth's back. "Why don't you two grow up?" she snapped. Maybe if they thought she was getting angry, they'd back off.

"Fuck! Damn, Lexi you trying to kill me?" Seth yelled.

Yep, her plan worked just as she'd hoped. Now to keep them off track. "Stop being a baby," she ordered. "I'm doing the best I can, but you really need a deep tissue massage." She shook her head, lifted up and leaned back on her heels. "This is crazy. You guys should have showers and massages before you ever left the ring last night. I'm not qualified to give you proper massages."

She looked at Roman. "Instead of calling Hunter, I'm going with you tonight when you tape Smackdown."

Roman's eyes widened. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"This..." She motioned to the room and them. "This is no longer a good idea. No storyline. No single person is work risking injury to others"

She climbed off Seth and stepped in front of where Roman sat. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to him. "What's running through that devious mind of yours?"

"I'm coming out with you guys tonight for your match. I have something to say and by God people are going to hear it."

Lexi checked her appearance in the mirror. Dressed in camo cargo pants, a black woman's T-shirt and black boots she looked as if she belonged in The Shield. She pulled long curls up into a ponytail, careful to leave the hair around her still healing wound loose.

She stepped out of the tiny bathroom, into the larger room where the men waited.

At the sight of her, Roman stood up and slowly stalked toward her a predatory gleam in his eye.

"Damn, Lexi, you look like the female version of The Shield." Dean grinned.

"Yeah, you look great." Seth offered.

Roman stopped directly in front of her and she looked up at him. "Well? What do you think about my outfit?"

He lifted a hand to her jaw holding her in place as he lowered his head and captured her lips. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sank into the kiss.

"Ahum!"

She pulled back slightly and smiled at Roman, then glanced over his shoulder. Dean and Seth stood shoulder to shoulder, their arms across folded across their chests, grins on their faces. "Not that we mind the show," Seth offered.

"But unless you're planning to share, you might want to save that for later," Dean added.

She looked back at Roman her grin widened. "So should we share?"

Amusement lit in Roman's eyes. "How could I not share with my best friends?"

He released her and she strolled over to where Dean and Seth stood. Without a word she stepped closed and pressed a soft kiss to Dean's lips. Then she turned to Seth and repeated the kiss.

She stepped back and enjoying their stunned expression said, "Okay, Roman; your turn to share the love."

Roman took a step forward and Lexi laughed as Dean and Seth's shock turned to horror at the realization of what Roman intended to do.

"Whoa!" Dean held out a hand in front of him. "Um...that's okay, we don't need you sharing. Right, Seth?"

"Right." Seth took a full step back. "You can just forget we asked."

Roman grinned and grabbed Lexi by the waist. "So no sharing after all, huh?"

She looked up at him to find love staring back. "Only with you," she replied, then rose up on her toes to kiss him.

Just then, the door flew open and an angry Hunter stormed inside. "What in the hell are you doing here, Lexi? You're supposed to be at the hotel."

She pulled away from Roman and turned to stand her ground. "I'm here to set the record straight tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how this storyline has put giant targets on the backs of these men." She took a step forward going toe to toe with a man who stood nearly a foot taller. "I'm talking about how you're risking injury to them by denying them all the services that keeps this roving circus performing night after night. It's not fair and it needs to stop."

Hunter's anger seemed to deflate right in front of her. He let out a heavy sigh and raked a hand across his short hair. "I'll admit that none of us expected such a violent reaction from members of the roster. Our decision to whisk them out of here after their match was made to protect them from further injury."

"Well, you of all people should have realized that without access to the company's wellness program they're no better off than if they'd suffered a real beat down."

"You're right," Hunter replied.

"So you're going to do something about it, right?" Lexi challenged.

"All right." Hunter nodded. "Let me go talk to the writers and see what we can come up with. Just don't do anything until you hear from me."

"Then you had better have something for me before their match," Lexi replied.

Hunter looked from her to the men, then without a word he turned and walked out.

"Holy Shit," Seth exclaimed. "I haven't known Hunter all that long, but in the few months we've been here I've never seen him bow to anyone."

"Me either," Dean agreed. "You're one tough chick, Lexi."

She waved a dismissive hand at them. "It has nothing to do with me being tough and everything to do with Vince's promise to my father."

Roman's brow knit in confusion. "I don't follow."

She rested a hip on the table "It's simple. Part of Vince's recompense to my father for what happened all those years ago was not only that he agree to give me a place in the company and but to watch over me." She shook her head. "It may not have appeared like it when you saw him, but my Dad isn't happy with Vince about me getting hurt. As you've seen, he's very opinionated and outspoken and he'd have no problem going to the press with all this."

Seth arched a brow. "Ahh...I get it. The fallout from bad press surrounding you would fall squarely on Hunter's shoulders."

Lexi gave a nod. "Exactly. I like Hunter and consider him a friend, but he and creative are wrong this time and they need to fix it."

"Why not just walk out of here and head backstage?" Dean asked. "I mean, if you suddenly showed up, they wouldn't be able to say we kidnapped you then."

"Sure they would," Lexi corrected. "How would I explain the fact that I haven't answered my cell phone for the last week? How would I explain where I'd been? You actually think they'll believe that this was all a big ruse? Especially coming from me?"

"Lexi's right," Roman added. "They'll chalk it up to her escaping and trying to protect us by making up some lie about it all being part of the storyline." He shook his head. "This has to come from management to be legit; otherwise we'll still end up with targets on our backs."