Jeff rolled his eyes, knowing deep down Matt was right. Sooner or later he'd have to move on. He was planning on making it later. Maybe Jeff was developing some little crush on Hope. So what? It was harmless, like he was back in kindergarten. Things would fine in the end. All Jeff had to do was get through the training with Hope. She didn't seem to have any feelings for him anyway. Jeff played it off like he didn't care. But did he really care? Matt was sure he did.
After six months of training, Hope and Jeff had grown extremely close. Finally, Hope had her debut match. In Greenwich, Connecticut, Triple H's hometown. She'd gone over her contract with Vince McMahon and William Regal the previous day. Originally, Regal wanted Hope to be a valet for Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Vince wouldn't have that. He liked the brunette's no-nonsense attitude. He knew she'd do better as a regular diva. Hope's first match was against Melina. Jeff was feuding with Santino Marella this week and they had a match tonight as well. Jeff would be backstage, showing Hope the ropes, when Santino and Melina show up. Santino and Jeff have a few words about their upcoming match. Melina then calls Hope a 'silly little child' and Hope is supposed to respond slapping the taste out of Melina's mouth.
The brunette was more than happy to oblige that. She'd always been an avid wrestling fan and Melina had never been her favorite diva. Hope sat in her hotel room changing into her wrestling attire, which consisted of dark-washed jeans shorts and a tight black racer-back tank top. She usually wore actual colors, but this tank happened to be her favorite.
"You nervous, Hope?"
Hope stopped lacing up her boots, smiling at the familiar Southern accent. It was Jeff. He'd been so kind to her over the last six months. She still got those fluttery feelings when she heard his accent. It made her melt. The slender brunette stood up and strode over to Jeff, pulling him into a hug.
"Nah, I'm not nervous," she said. "I'm excited. I've always wanted to bitch-slap Melina."
"You're twisted," Jeff laughed.
Hope laughed as well. She crossed over to the bed and sat down. Even though they were staying in a hotel, the bed was surprisingly comfortable. Jeff sat down on the bed next to her. His gorgeous green eyes stared right into her chocolate brown ones. As Hope turned away, Jeff let a grin cross his lips.
"This is for good luck," he said.
Jeff leaned in to kiss Hope on the cheek just as she turned around. Inadvertently, their lips locked. Neither one rushed to pull away. To Hope, it felt like gravity was pulling her closer to Jeff. When the two finally pulled away, Matt strode in. He stopped and examined the looks on both Jeff's and Hope's faces. He knew something was up.
"Did I interrupt something?" Matt asked. "If I did, I'll just leave."
As he spoke, he started to head back towards the door. Jeff quickly got off the bed, walking over to his brother.
"No, no. You didn't interrupt anything," he answered. "I was just wishing Hope good luck."
"Ah," Matt said. "So you're the infamous Hope."
Hope grinned, good-naturedly. "Yep, that's me."
Matt gave his brother a thumbs up sign when Hope wasn't looking. Jeff rolled his eyes, shoving his older brother. He'd gone a whole five minutes without thinking about Hope that way. Leave it to Matt to stir up those thoughts again. Jeff let out a sigh, wondering if Hope's heart was fluttering too. She kept playing it off like it was nothing. But, did she really feel something? It was hard to tell with Hope.
"You almost ready Hope?" Jeff asked. "We need to start heading to the arena."
"Yeah, sure. Just gimme a minute," Hope replied.
Twenty minutes later, Hope, Jeff and Matt were backstage at the Monday Night Raw arena. Vince had asked to see Hope one last time, just to make sure she understood the night's storyline. On her way out, Hope bumped into Melina. Melina eyed Hope, sizing her up. Naturally, Hope did the same, rolling her eyes at Melina's glare.
"Just so you know," Melina sneered. "I don't like you; in character and out of character."
"Well, that's good to know, Melina." Hope held back her laughter.
Melina shot her a dirty glare and shoved past her. When she was gone, Hope couldn't help but laugh. Did Melina expect her to be intimidated and cry? Sure, Hope knew Melina was a hell of a lot more experienced than her. But, that didn't mean she was better. Hope had to admit, however, some of the Divas did intimidate her. Not that she'd ever admit that. Firstly, Hope never admitted that she was intimidated. She didn't like to show weakness. Lastly, showing a weakness was like suicide in WWE. Hope started walking to the Diva's locker room when she bumped into Matt.
"Oh, hey Matt," she said, a smile crossing her lips.
"Hey," Matt replied. "Damn, you don't look nervous at all."
"Melina just tried to intimidate me," Hope said. "It was kinda funny, actually."
"Well, be careful. Melina's vicious with rookies. No offense."
"None taken, darling."