Chapter 7
"Actually," John called from the bathroom. "I also think about how much I love you and need you. And occasionally, what it would be like if we took our honeymoon in Spain..."
Randy shook his head, pulling a cigarette from his half empty pack and slipped it between his lips, lighting up. "And you're marrying him why?" He murmured, piercing her with his stare.
"Because I love him." She murmured quietly, eyes locking with his, and felt her heart lodge in her throat by how intense his stare was. "You know we've already talked about the honeymoon, John. Australia is where I want to go."
It was her dream as she walked past Randy, bag on the other side of the room, brushing him and felt another shot of electricity rush through her. Austin took a deep breath as she pulled out a pair of blue jeans and white tank top, knowing they would be trying all kinds of tuxedos on. Her dress fitting wouldn't be until she made a decision, which hadn't happened yet.
"Yeah I know, I'm just picking on you baby. I want to go to Australia too, the whole kangaroo thing and whatnot." John laughed, shutting the bathroom door all the way.
"You know...my wife could have joined us today." Randy said thoughtfully, watching Austin intently for a reaction, wondering if she felt any regret at all for leaving him the way she had. "She would love to meet you, I'm sure."
Austin tried her damnest not to tense, but it wasn't happening as she gripped her clothes tightly, closing her eyes firmly shut for a brief moment, back to Randy so he couldn't tell what she was doing. "That would be nice." She finally forced out with a strained smile, turning around to face him, heart pounding a furious tattoo against her chest. Why did John have to shave NOW? She couldn't dress in front of Randy and sighed before walking over, sitting back down on the bed, taking another bite out of breakfast. Even though food was the last thing on her mind, her clothes sat to the side. "I'm sure John would love that too."
"Yeah he would, he thinks Sam's interesting." Randy smirked, tapping the ash off his cigarette into John's empty cereal bowl, the dregs of milk putting it out instantly. "She's heard a lot about you." He added in a soft undertone, watching her again, seeing her tense, for the second time. "But then again, with John's big mouth, we all have."
"I can imagine he's forever talking about me." Austin refused to look up at him as she took another bite, moving her hair over one shoulder and sighed heavily. She wasn't hungry and put her fork down, shoving the tray away before letting out another yawn. 'I'm not worth talking about, I'm not worth anything.' She thought with a heavy sigh, leaning back against the headboard and suddenly needed a cigarette, lighting up, glad John got a smoking room. He hated it, but sacrificed it for her happiness, something Austin loved even more about him. "So when are you bringing your wife on the road?"
"In a week or so." Randy shrugged, looking somewhat uncomfortable as he remembered his almost rushed conversation with his wife last night. How she had almost hesitated at saying she loved him back and then shrugged it away, flashing a disarming smile. "Why? Can't wait to meet her?"
"Well you keep bringing her up and I wouldn't mind meeting the woman who made you an honest man." Austin half-joked, standing up from the bed and put the tray on the cart, taking a drag of her cigarette as she walked back and forth.
She felt Randy's hand wrap around her wrist, their eyes locking, and that rush of heat ran through her body like a damn sauna. Knowing why he was doing this, Austin slowly pulled her wrist out of his grasp and slowly shook her head. She hadn't told John about them and never would, unless Randy decided to open his mouth. It made her wonder why Randy hadn't, wondering if he still had feelings for her as much as she apparently did him.
"You haven't told him yet." Randy said softly, hearing John rapping loudly to himself, and rolled his eyes in spite of himself. That man was a moron in a goofy, funny sort of way. "Why is that, Aus?" He hadn't said anything simply because he wanted to see what she would do. That and when he finally did spring it on John, John was going to have a lot of questions…such as, why the hell wasn't he told sooner?
"I told you, I'm not telling him. It'll only complicate things." She whispered, not wanting John overhearing this conversation. "Why haven't you told him yet?" Austin decided to turn it around on him, arching an eyebrow and watched as he took a slow drag of his smoke, same as her, their eyes locking again. Damn it, why did he have to hypnotize and torment her like this? "If you're so worried about it, tell him." She shrugged nonchalantly, green eyes unreadable.
"I will, I just wanted to know why you hadn't...and let time build up." Randy shrugged; his own vivid blues just as unreadable as they both tried sizing each other up. "That and when he does find out, he's going to be awfully damn curious why you didn't mention it to begin with. Best friend, fiancée, interesting little- Cena, you look like shit, go shave that pubic hair off your chin."
"Tell you mother to stop using my razors."
Austin shot a glare back at Randy, back to John, and flashed a smile before grabbing her clothes from the bed, putting her cigarette out. "My turn." She winked; kissing John's lips softly and ran her thumb across his chin. "You look perfect as always."
Laughing when he slapped her ass and reciprocated it, Austin's green eyes sparkled before she shut the door, pressing her back against it. What did Randy mean by time building? She felt sick to her stomach and set the clothes on the sink before turning the shower sprays on, stripping and stepped into them, needing to clear her mind.
"Your fiancée is something else."
"Isn't she though?"
It almost made Randy hurl, seeing the sparkle that came into John's blue eyes at the mere thought of Austin. 'I have a wife.' He mentally reminded himself, forcing a smile to his face. Austin had left HIM, not the other way around.
Twenty minutes later, Austin stepped out of the bathroom with blue eyeliner and clear gloss on her lips, hair pulled up in a tight messy bun with a few tendrils framing her face delicately. She smiled as John stood and took her hand, spinning her around once to admire her, blushing.
"John, you have company." Austin reminded him, smacking his arm playfully. The white tank top hugged her curves to perfection along with the jeans that were tight, flaring at the ends, her feet still bare. "So what time is your appointment and do you want me to go with you?"
"Don't you have to go try on your wedding dress?" John asked curiously, shaking his head when she shot him a look and held up his hands; laughing, knowing her gown was off limits for him until their wedding day. "Nah, you don't need to go, I can't see you, you can't see me."
"I don't know…I trust her taste more than I do yours. I'd like a beautiful woman's opinion."
"You have quite the charmer for a Best Man." She quipped with a grin, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I haven't made a decision on my dress yet. I don't know which one to pick and, no, I'm not letting you see any of them. It's bad luck." Austin narrowed her eyes when Randy snorted, rolling her eyes before looking back at John. "I'm going to get Kiersten's final opinion and then make my decision then." She'd already tried on all three dresses, but now the hard part was picking one out. "Just remember the tux's have to be midnight blue with silver shirts underneath. I guess I could go check on the flowers and the band..."
"Nah, you can come with us. Randy has worse taste than me." John said with a smirk, wrapping an arm around Austin's shoulders and squeezed gently. "Besides, we have the whole day, so…I want to spend time with you."
Randy cleared his throat, not needing to be a witness to some mushy moment.
"Oh I'm sorry; I know how jealous you get." John looked down at Austin and grinned. "Randy has a man crush on me."
"A man crush?" Austin couldn't stop giggling; already knowing Randy was as straight as an arrow, though she'd never admit that to John. "You sure you want me to come with?" A soft sigh escaped her when his lips pressed against hers; giving her his answer and took the flower he handed her, twirling it around. "Okay, I was going to anyway because I want to make sure you get the tuxes right." She smirked when he groaned, winking and laughed when he lifted her up over his shoulder, kicking her bare feet. "Jonathan Felix-Anthony Cena!"
"Yes my love?" John laughed, reaching up to get a squeeze of her firm ass, groaning loudly. "Mmm-Mmm, home grown." He teased, feeling her smacking his back, and yawned. "Damn annoying bugs..."
Randy could only watch; blue eyes narrowing with every second that passed, cigarette was nothing but a pole of ash by now.
Smirking, Austin squeezed his bicep, nails digging into it and found the pressure point, laughing as he dropped her right on Randy. Austin grunted and rolled off of him to the floor, biting her bottom lip innocently while John groaned at her. "That's what you get for not putting me down. Sorry about that Randy." She slowly stood up and dusted herself off before walking over to grab her white tennis shoes. "Enough horseplay, it's time to get down to business. The wedding is only months away and there's a lot of planning to do. Not to mention these tux's have to be handmade due to your sizes."
"She's saying we're big boys." John said while Randy just nodded, trying to get his suddenly burning out of control body back UNDER control, frowning as he watched her. "Okay, so no more horseplay and, uh, we're running late honey."
"When AREN'T we running late?" She demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest and watched as John looked sheepish, a smile playing on her lips.
Austin finished tying her shoes, body burning from touching Randy when she landed on him, and knew some cool air would fix it. Taking a deep breath, Austin grabbed her purse as all three of them headed out, smiling when John grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together, glancing back at Randy. He didn't look happy, who could blame him? She hurt him badly and was now marrying his best friend. At the same time though, he did give her an ultimatum and she walked away of her own free will…so it wasn't like she left him surprised.
"So, Randy...when's Sammy coming on the road?" John asked as they headed for the car, glancing back at his friend, smiling when Randy shot him back a smile.
"I'm planning on asking her to come sometime in the next few days." He had told Austin in a week or so, but...He suddenly had a lot of frustration to vent.
Austin didn't comment, really not looking forward to meeting this Samantha woman, but knew she would have no other choice. No doubt she would be at her wedding, another thing Austin wasn't looking forward too. She kept that smile on her face and slid in the passenger seat after offering it to Randy, who simply told her to take it; even shoving her forward a little with his hands on her shoulders. It was a good thing that Austin brought a bottle of water because, not only was it warm outside, her body was lit on fire as she downed half of the bottle. Ignoring John's look, Austin smiled at him as she pulled it back finally.
"What? I'm thirsty." She buckled up and set the bottle in the holder.
"I can see that." John said, arching an eyebrow. "Should we make a stop at a reservoir and get you a refill?" He teased gently, reaching over the seat to grab her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Just a few months until we're married, baby." He murmured, the love and happiness radiating from him with every word, face lit up in a content smile.
"I know."
She smiled back at him and watched as he brought her hand up to brush his lips on top of it, biting her bottom lip before turning to stare out the window. She could see in the rearview mirror the scowl on Randy's face, their eyes locking together briefly before turning away to stare out the window, taking a deep breath. She was playing it off as if she was nervous, but really, Austin was wondering what she was going to do after she was married to John.
Quit the WWE so she'd be away from Randy? Randy was his BEST friend so he would always be in her life. The thought made her rub her temples, a headache forming, not wanting to think about it. She rolled the window down, letting her hair down as the wind blew through it, blasting Rascal Flatts.
Randy stared out the window as well, his mind in turmoil. John was his best friend and, obviously, he was happy with Austin. He was MORE than happy with her. He loved the woman that much was clear. He had never seen John this way before. He was actually LESS annoying, hard as it was to believe. What he and Austin had was in the past, where it needed to stay. He nodded to himself, as if confirming it; knowing thinking it was a lot easier than doing.
There's a Mountain Dew can with lipstick on it
Rollin' round his truck bed.
He just leaves it back there,
one of the things he still has left of her
When he drives into the late day sun
You can see a set of footprints.
He ain't going to clean that windshield,
He'd rather just live with the hurt.
He's holdin' on to the wheel
To the way she made him feel.
To the shifter
To the pictures
Every precious moment with her
Like the left behind colors in the sky
When the sun is gone
He's holdin' on
Oh, he's holdin' on
There's that voicemail on his cell phone
He don't dare erase.
She ended with I love you,
And he saves it just in case
It might still be true
No he ain't through
He's holdin' on to the wheel
To the way she made him feel.
To the shifter
To the pictures
Every precious moment with her
Like the left behind colors in the sky
When the sun is gone
He's holdin' on
Oh, he's holdin' on
To the past
To the last time he held her
The breath on his neck
The three words she said
Oh oh oh
He's holdin' on to the wheel
To the way she made him feel.
To the shifter, to the pictures.
Every precious moment with her.
He's holdin' on
Yeah, he's holdin' on
He's holdin' on
He's holdin on
Singing along with the radio, closing her eyes as she did, the lyrics hitting her worse than anything possible as the tears threatened to sting her eyes, Austin held them back. She loved this song; she loved this band and she wished to god Randy wasn't in this car, sitting right behind her, because she felt broken and more confused than ever.
Oh the irony was killing him! Randy listened to every word intently, this song had just described how he felt when she had left him, described him right down to the letter. He folded his arms over his chest, looking down at his lap, unable to keep the pain from his features.
