one night, in the hotel (Roode/Styles)
February 2011
Reaction was over. He'd laid low as they told him and played his position. AJ was oblivious. James Storm wasn't, but that was a different story...
Despite what they showed on TV, he and James weren't best friends. They rarely hung out together outside of meet and greets; while they got on well enough, James had his friends and Bobby had his. Still, from time to time, they did hang out and throw a couple beers back together. One night, down in Macon, Bobby called it an early night and went back to his room with a bottle of Forty Creek Barrel Select. Things were getting to him, and he felt like drinking alone.
The last two months had been difficult. AJ was still around, and they were still in a stable together. Yet Bobby needed to be so hyperaware every time they met on camera that he just tended to stand to the opposite side of where AJ was. Half the time he crashed into Kazarian or Gunner in his eagerness to get away, and Gunner had let him know he didn't appreciate Bobby stepping on his shoes. For once, he was glad that they did all the tapings in bunches; two or three nights trying to stand with yet avoid AJ, and then he was fine on his own for a few weeks.
He spun the cap off the whiskey and took a long drink, and thinking again of AJ, absently rubbed the top of the bottle. Maybe he'd finish off the whole thing tonight...it would be worth it for some peace. Too bad the phone rang right after he finished the thought. It was Storm.
"Hey, Bobby, what's up man? Went upstairs all early with your grumpy ass. What's UP MAN? WHY'D YOU LEAVE?" James bellowed. "It's like SIX people asking around about you. You all right?"
"James, don't take this personally, but-"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, SPEAK UP!"
"I SAID I'M BUSY WITH SOMETHING."
"The hell is wrong with you, being all loud in my ear? I can't hear shit with you yelling all the time! I'm coming up there!" *click*
The problem with James was that you never knew if he was joking, fucking with you, or dead serious. Bobby decided to just go with it and deal with whatever happened, because it was better than refusing to answer the door and having to listen to James complain the entire next day. It didn't take long for a knock to come - three, one right after the other, and then three bangs. Bobby opened it and James almost fell sideways.
"All slow," grumbled James. "Okay, seriously, what's up man? You've been looking like some shit the dog drug in for the last three days. This run is the same as any other run. I mean, I know your boys ain't here, but damn man, smile or something. What's UP? Shit! Oh shit, is that whiskey? Start talking before I drink it all." James made a grab for the bottle but Bobby held it out of reach.
"Nah, James, I need this tonight."
"Now, I know something is going on, because you haven't said that in months. Sit down, man. Let's talk this shit over." James sat on the other bed and took his boots off, settling in his six pack down carefully first. Bobby sat down on his bed, but on the edge, and reluctantly so.
"James, you know, there are some things that I can't talk about. Don't get me wrong, we're cool and everything, but this is like...this is something major that I can't talk with anyone else over."
"Is it about how you're avoiding AJ lately after sniffing his ass for like three months straight?"
"What the - what the hell is sniffing someone's ass? what is that?"
"It means you were running around here after AJ acting like the sun shined out his asshole. Making goo goo eyes at him and then getting all embarrassed. Sitting next to him and turning red when he passed you the salt. I ain't mad at ya, AJ's got a nice ass."
Bobby flushed a deep red. James only grinned a little, and then opened the first beer of what he knew to be a twelve pack night. "Now before you start stuttering and shit, let me tell you now it wasn't that obvious. Just every once in a while, you could see it, if you were looking for it." He paused for a sip. "It's like one of those games where if you see a pattern, you see things that match that pattern. Ain't no thing though, ain't like I'm gonna go around telling everybody your business, especially since you covered for me a time or six."
For a couple of minutes they sat and drank together. James finished off his first beer of the night (of the beers he didn't drink at the bar) and Bobby lowered the level of the whiskey about an inch. Truth be told the liquor was burning his stomach a little. He eyed the rest of James' beers but he knew better than to go down that road. Instead, he turned on the radio and tried to fiddle with it, but the tuning button was broken and the radio was stuck on a soul station. The Isley Brothers' "Harvest for the World" came trickling out, and the song made Bobby want to start talking again.
"Look, James, I...I know I can't be obvious about this. It just sucks that I had to crush on AJ of all people. You weren't there when he was talking to Orlando about all he needed was the love of Jesus to turn his life around. Like he needed to change. He didn't need to do shit. AJ was the one who should have backed off on that. And knowing how he is, how fucking backward he is, it's like, when I see him I burn inside. Why does it have to be him that I want? Of all the people to fall for, I had to fall for the Jesus freak. Fucking bad ass luck, James."
"Yeah, I know the feeling."
Silence. The radio had moved on to "Everybody Plays The Fool."
"Hey, Bobby, is this like, a secret between us or does your wife know?"
"She basically knows. She doesn't know I like AJ, but she knows I'm bi. I've been with a few guys before. We don't have an open relationship right now, but I would be okay bringing it up to her so we could discuss it."
"That's cool. You're lucky."
"Yeah, I couldn't ask for better. She's great."
"It's almost a shame AJ is all closed off, I mean, shit, getting some on the road would help with some of these runs. Ain't nothing like getting all up in some ass after a long hard match, you know?" They laughed together. "Hey, Bobby, you remember that time I got with that girl in Spring Hill and her ex-boyfriend dumped a can of Pepsi on me? Motherfucker slit my tires too. I had to walk back to my hotel and the gnats jumped me 'til I looked like a fucking carpet!"
"Hahahaha, yeah, I remember that. You came in that shitty little motel all red, black and blue from slapping yourself."
Bobby and James traded a few more war stories back and forth. The phone rang. Bobby picked it up and to his shock, it was AJ on the phone looking for James.
"Hey Bobby, is James up there with you?"
"Yeah, he's here."
"Alright, I'm coming up for a minute, I just need to talk to him real quick before I get to bed. See ya." AJ hung up.
Bobby immediately got nervous again, and James noticed. "What?"
"AJ's coming up."
"Alright, alright, stop twitching, damnit. He ain't gonna be but a minute. You want me to talk to him outside? It's just something dumb about our match tomorrow."
"No, it's cool."
It only took a little bit for AJ to come up. He knocked on the door, James answered, and AJ came in and sat on the bed. James offered him a beer, but AJ said he'd had enough for the night and launched straight into a new spot he'd thought of. Bobby laid down on his own bed and listened to their chatter blend in with the radio. He couldn't make out the song at first, but after a bit, he realized it was "Slippin' Into Darkness" and sang along a little.
"Bobby, we hear you whoo oooo ooo ing over here, " said James. "You couldn't carry a tune with six pallbearers."
"Huh," said AJ, "that sounds like a Kaz line."
"Kaz is funny, motherfucker, unlike your noncomedic ass. The day you come up with a good joke is the day I fart cheese and crackers out of my asshole. If I ever smell like cheddar, I know exactly who to blame," retorted James, and they all cracked up.
"Yeah, well, on that note I've got to go. Asheville tomorrow, y'all," said AJ, as he stood up. "Bobby, take it easy on that bottle, man. That whiskey is gonna bite you in the ass."
"I'm good. Don't worry."
AJ walked towards the door and looked down at Bobby, who was laid out with the bottle between his thighs. "Alright then." Right then, Bobby would have sworn that AJ was checking out his legs. He shifted nervously and AJ met his eyes...and for a few seconds, Bobby wondered if AJ had just made an excuse to come up.
"You be careful, Bobby. Wouldn't want you getting all wobbly leg on me."
"Uh, right."
AJ left then, closing the door behind him.
James opened another beer and said, "Mmmm-hmm, I saw that. Maybe things ain't the way you think they are."
"Maybe you're right, James. Maybe you're right."