Chapter 6
Austin felt a pair of soft lips against hers, still dreaming, her hand coming up to cup Randy's cheek. They were under the stars in the back of his truck he'd bought when he was seventeen, his first car. She smiled and slowly pulled back.
"I missed you." Austin murmured, eyes fluttering open and stared back into John's face, heart instantly sinking again, but she didn't show it. "Hey handsome." She whispered, stretching her body out. "You don't look too worse for wear."
"Nah, you should see Adam." John grinned, completely unaware his fiancée had just been dreaming of another man. Ignorance was indeed bliss, in John's case a blessing, since the other man happened to also be his best friend. "You still look tired." He commented, running a finger down the side of her face. "Jetlag?" He knew this lifestyle would take some getting used too on her part and was determined to do whatever he could to make it easier on her. "Let's go back to the hotel and I'll draw you a bath."
"Alright." She whispered softly, kissing him again and stood up from the couch, her things already packed. "You're the greatest." Austin murmured taking his hand as their fingers laced together, leaning her head against his arm. Austin needed to cry, but knew she couldn't right now; instead, she yawned to hide them as her eyes watered a bit. "Damn you wear me out." She giggled, seeing John grin down at her, feeling sick to her stomach. She'd just dreamt of Randy; Austin didn't deserve John and she knew it, which made this harder.
She really was tired. John watched as tears formed in her eyes, knowing a yawn could bring that on, and felt bad for her. Here he was thinking with his dick and his beautiful fiancée was dead on her feet.
"I'm sorry." He murmured apologetically, kissing the top of her head. "I'm being inconsiderate. A bath, while you're in there I'll order food, and then bed, how's that sound, baby?"
"That sounds wonderful." She murmured as he lead her out to the rental and slid inside the passenger seat, leaning back against it and seen an orange dot in the distance.
Randy.
There was no mistake about it and Austin had to close her eyes to keep the tears in, forcing another yawn while John put the bags in the backseat. A single tear slid down her cheek, quickly wiping it away and wondered how the hell she was going to get through this. Why was she suddenly having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to John?
No! He loved her and she loved him; there was no second guessing. This was the right thing to do, the right decision, and Austin wasn't backing out of it. She wasn't running away from another love of her life; John was too important to her to let him slip through her fingers.
John quietly played country music for her, cracked the window, and even passed her the almost full pack of cigarettes she had pulled from her back pocket to set in the cup holder. "You seem like you could use one." He said quietly to her startled look, frowning and reached over to take her hand, squeezing gently. "Rough night, baby?" It hadn't seemed like it, but then again, he had found her laying on the couch sound asleep.
"Yeah, you could say that." John had no idea just HOW rough it'd been for her and Austin was hoping she'd wake up with this all being a bad dream. She'd cried three times tonight and didn't want to do it anymore, but knew it would happen. John could never find out about her and Randy's past. He just couldn't. It would complicate things, not to mention Randy was John's Best Man in their wedding. 'Oh my god, this is fucked up.' She thought, suddenly needing a cigarette and smiled apologetically at her fiancé before lighting up, letting the nicotine work its way through her system, calming down.
"No problem, baby." Hell, he had been the one to offer them to her now hadn't he? "You just need to adjust." He said finally, wondering, hoping that was it. John still couldn't believe she had fainted in front of Legacy, wondering what THAT was about as well. "This will work out, Austin." He said confidently, shooting her a smile. "You'll see, baby."
Austin smiled back at him, squeezing his hand and took another long drag as she blew the smoke out the window, flicking ash. The rest of the ride to the hotel was made in silence, both in their own thoughts. Austin about Randy and John probably wondering why she fainted in front of his Best Man. She knew he would question her about it later, but at the moment, he was more worried about her than anything. That just made her feel even more horrible.
Randy was stuck between a figurative rock and a hard place. On one hand, his ex-girlfriend, the former love of his life, had suddenly made a reappearance in his life after nine years; after walking out on him. And then he had his best friend in John. What to do, what to do. He paced the parking lot, smoking yet again while Cody and Ted stood look out; both refused to let him smoke in the rental car.
"What do you think he's thinking about?"
"I don't know; think it has anything to do with that Austin chick?"
Ted snorted. "He's married, why would he be interested in her? Not to mention that's John's woman, his best friend."
Cody nodded, knowing Ted had a point and sighed. "Randy, we going or what, man?" He called out the window, ready to get back to the hotel for some sleep.
Ted sighed when Randy just shot both of them icy glares.
"Let me finish this, damn." Randy grunted, knowing he was pushing his friends' patience and sighed, taking one last hit off the cigarette before flicking it aside. "Let's-"
"Come here you little bastard!"
"Time to go!"
"NOW!"
"SHIT!" Ted peeled out of there before Randy even had the door shut, Cody in the backseat, not believing how personal Paul was taking this feud.
"That man has a fucking screw loose!"
"PAUL!" Stephanie shrieked as she stormed up to her husband, crossing her arms in front of her chest, blue eyes blazing. "ENOUGH! He's just doing his damn job! Get in the car NOW before you're sleeping in the HALLWAY tonight!"
"You ENJOYED it, didn't you, little miss script writer!" Paul shouted before realizing what he had done.
He stared down into his wife's icy blue eyes and inwardly cringed. He was the Game, a man that was usually feared and respected…until Stephanie had come into his life. Now his balls were firmly tucked away in her cute little five hundred dollar purse.
"Damn..."
"He really doesn't like you."
At least it had proved to be a distraction.
Stripping out of her clothes, Austin sank into the hot bubble bath John drew for her, leaning back against it and closed her eyes. He promised he wouldn't bother her and Austin had to turn the faucet on before finally letting the sobs overtake her. Randy. He was back in her life and there was no way out of this. She couldn't leave John; she loved him too much and they were getting married in October! What the hell kind of sick, twisted game was fate playing on her? Austin cried for a good half an hour, silently, before finally washing up, knowing John had ordered food for them. She didn't want hers getting cold.
John was bouncing around in just a pair of boxer shorts and socks, singing along to the Guitar Hero commercial on the television. "Duh duh duh da- Hey baby." He greeted her with a grin. "I'm missing the white shirt, I know."
Austin giggled back at him as she walked over in nothing except a towel, kissing him softly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you." She whispered and suddenly pulled him against her, jumping in his arms as he caught her, legs wrapping around his waist.
The food could wait; everything else could wait, nothing else mattered except this moment with her fiancé. Austin was going to prove to herself that they belonged together; their chemistry was perfect as John fell back on the bed. Her kiss poured every ounce of love, feeling; the whole shot, not holding back and felt him remove her towel. She wasn't taking no for an answer, knowing he wanted her, and Austin needed him. To forget about Randy coming back in her life, about everything else except them.
"Wow..." John said with a slight grin, blue eyes a little bit confused, but otherwise sparkling.
She had seemed so tired and exhausted when she trudged into the bathroom and now...He rested his hands on her curvy hips, staring at her with a raised eyebrow. That kiss having left him mostly breathless, John was really glad he wasn't standing.
When they were done, several hours later, Austin lay snuggled up against her fiancé, who instantly fell asleep from the three sessions with her and his match earlier that night. Austin exhausted him, which is what she wanted, though she was more awake than ever. Slowly extracting herself from his arms, Austin pulled her robe on, wearing a silver nightgown that went to her mid-thigh. It was spaghetti strapped as she headed over to stare out of the window.
Why couldn't she get Randy out of her mind? Granted, during her love making with John she hadn't thought about him, but now Randy was on the forefront again. She missed him, had missed him, and probably always would. Without even realizing it, tears poured down her face and Austin pressed her forehead against the cool glass, ring sparkling under the moonlight.
Why was fate so cruel?
Why was Randy brought back into her life after nine long years?
Randy was sitting out on the balcony of the suite he was sharing with Cody and Ted, smirking as he enjoyed a cigarette and a beer. He had gotten a phone call from Stephanie, who apologized for her 'moron husband'. Though now with nothing else to distract him, his mind turned to Austin, wondering why the hell the universe was out to get him.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" John sang, having already ordered her favorite breakfast along with a vase with her favorite flower in it. "Honey I love you, but we got to get up." He crawled over Austin, taking in her face and ran a loving finger down the side of her cheek, catching a tendril of hair and watched as it curled around his digit. "I love you."
Her green eyes slowly fluttered open, staring back at her hyper and happy fiancé, smiling softly, letting out a long yawn. "Mmm I love you too." She whispered, feeling him kiss her lips. "What time is it?" It'd been a week since Austin came on the road with John and became his personal assistant.
Things with Randy weren't as tense as she thought, though she hardly spoke a word to him. Today they were going for their fittings for the wedding. Austin wasn't looking forward to it. Ever since Randy had come back into her life a week ago, she could do nothing but dream of him. That and she STILL hadn't picked out a dress.
"It is ten A.M. on the dot, give or take five or ten minutes." John grinned, knowing Randy would be arriving shortly, riding with them to be fitted. "So you have time to eat, join me in the -well, no, I already had a shower, but shower then dress. Rando-" He heard a knock on the door and grinned. "Is here." He bounced over to open the door.
"Am I early?"
Austin slowly sat up in bed, red hair tousled, hanging over her shoulders and down her back in waves. Yawning as she stretched her arms in the air, Austin wore a pair of black cotton shorts and matching tank top. "Mmm French toast, you know exactly what I like." She giggled softly, running a hand through her hair, and looked up when Randy walked in. "Morning Randy." She greeted softly and took the flower from the vase, bringing it to her nose and inhaled, sighing in contentment before taking a bite of her breakfast. They were in Boston, Massachusetts for Raw that night, but during the day it was wedding preparations.
"Morning Austin." Randy greeted, exchanging high fives with John. "You are getting married, can't believe it." He laughed, hugging John back when the excited groom-to-be all but jumped on him. Looking at Austin, his eyes devoured her whole before looking away.
"Hey, I WANT to be married, bro."
"One big kid, I swear." Austin giggled, holding out a fork full of French toast, smiling as John took it and rolled her eyes when he tried making it seductive. "Is sex all you ever think about?"
She laughed when he nodded, shaking her head, standing up and walking over as she stretched her arms above her head. Her skin was nicely tanned, legs long and part of her stomach was showing since the tank top rode up, hair going to the middle of her back. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining bright, but on the inside Austin felt like dying, hearing John messing around in the bathroom with something.
She was officially in hell.
