Chapter 10: On the Mat

"You warmed up?" Finn wandered to her in the gym, rubbing a towel on the back of his neck. She released the deep stretch and glanced up at him. He always liked to start his training with intense cardio like he used to, so sweat was had begun to break out across his forehead.

"Yeah let's go. Enjoy your run?"

"Ah it was beautiful." They laughed and held the ropes open for her before then climbing into the ring himself. The wrestling gym was a short drive from Portland. Finn had been calling places for weeks, trying to find somewhere to work on his moveset. He always had to keep working.

"Aiight, what do ya wanna do today?" he asked, pulling off his t-shirt and throwing it off to the side to train.

She bit her lip. It had been almost a moth since she'd agreed to the arrangement with The Demon. Once a week or so, The Demon would break through and pull her to a bedroom. Sometimes it was because Finn was dancing around a flirtatious comment, other times because his eyes had been wandering, or just because she'd said something sweet to him. They'd work fast and he'd leave her breathless, kissing her cheek as he rushed to pull on his underwear and find something to preoccupy Finn when he woke.

For what it was, it was a lot of fun. But today she'd only been home since the morning, after not having seen him for a week. The idea of being close to him again, without that context, made her heart beat faster.

"What do ya think, coach?"

He smiled slightly, he loved it when she called him that. "Supplexes. When you're up against girls like Nia, ya need more power. If you can get her off her feet you're set."

"Come on," she nodded, circling him. The animalistic look returned to his face, the way it always did when he wrestled. "Go," she said suddenly, locking arms with him to his surprise.

"Oof," he grabbed her arm, turning her back towards him, "trying to usurp your ring general?"

"Well how 'bout it?" the hair was standing up on her neck as she fought to stay focused on the chain wrestling. He warned her of the bump before knocking her onto her back.

"Ahh." She looked up to him reaching a hand down to her.

"You aiight?"

"Ya know what Hunter says," she let him pull her back up to her feet. "You don' hit anyone as hard as ya hit your best friend."

He smiled and they worked for a few more minutes. Every touch was taunting, but most of all when he had his arms around her. Their eyes met every few moments, and she was afraid he could just feel what she was thinking.

"Right, I'll be Nia." He stepped into position with his back facing her.

"Nia with a beard?"

He ignored her. She took a deep breath and moved closer to him, his backside brushing up against her. Wrapping her arms around her waist she bent her knees and threw him over her head, falling to the mat herself.

His landing was rough, but he shook it off quickly.

"That was good," he sat up, rolling his neck. "But not powerful enough to get Nia all the way over here."

"Well that's all I got, Balor."

"No, it's not," he offered her a hand and they pulled each other up. "It's all from your core and your legs. Here,"

He positioned himself behind her, and she could feel his breath on her neck. His hands wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Don't forget about your grip, it's your foundation." He squeezed tighter, and she let out a sharp gasp.

"Then ya really got to activate your core. I know ya can throw most girls over your head without even thinkin' about it, but with Nia, you have to stay focused. Gimme your hand," she did reluctantly, as he pressed it against his tightly held abs. "See how engaged I am?"

"Uh huh…" she murmured, pulling her hand away quickly.

"Aiight, then you'll need to fully commit. Ready?"

She nodded. He tossed her over his head and she landed hard on the mat.

"Ahh." Her eyes refocused on him standing over that. Pushing herself up she said, "just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Got it," she let him pull her back onto her feet and wrapped her arms around him again.

"Tighter," he said. "You can't give her any room or leverage."

So she held tighter, her eyes finding themselves on the tiny birthmark on his ear. She took another deep breath, and bending her knees she flung him over her head again. The impact was harder than usual.

He groaned but then said, "Ah, excellent." He pushed himself on to his feet and met her in the middle of the mat. "You were perfect."

"I need to be better than perfect."

He rolled his eyes, "don't gimme that. Can we work on something?"

She stood with her back to him again as he fidgeted around with a new hold. He twisted her arms back and forth, murmuring to himself in her ear while she tried to control her breathing.

"Thanks for bein' a good sport," she could hear the smile in his voice as held her closer.

"Anything, mate."

"Can you try to fight outta this for me?"

She struggled against the force of his arms, his grip was always so tight. Eventually, she found some leverage from moving her shoulder forward, and started to push her way out. He was quick to take his right hand and wrapped it around the front of her chest, connecting with her arm and squeezing her back into position. Her heart rate was getting faster as she felt him push in as close as possible. Finn was so laser focused on his hold, he didn't notice when his lips brushed up against her ear.

"Ahh excellent," he said, his breath hot on her skin. "You are fantastic." It was partially his fault, the slow way he'd murmured in her ear and rubbed her arm with his thumb. Despite her best efforts, she felt a weak moan escape her lips.

Finn dropped his hands quickly and she realized what had just happened. He backed up and the blood started rising to her face. It's over.

"Oh my god…"

"We can call this a day," he said hurriedly, rolling out of the ring.

"Finn, I…" she followed him out of the ring.

"Do ya wanna stop for dinner on the way home?"

"I don' know what came over me."

"I could go for that Tex-Mex place we passed on the highway."

"I am so sorry."

He stopped and looked at her, equally flustered. "Don't be. Never happened."

The running water of the shower was the first sound in what felt like hours. They'd ridden in silence all the way back, and ate their burritos without banter. Finn's face never quite reached a shade bellow pink, and he had suddenly announced he was going to take a shower the moment he'd finished dinner.

Becky had pealed the sweaty athletic pants and sports bra off in exchange for patterned boxer shorts and a slouchy pullover sweatshirt. Collapsing on her bed, she tried to stretch out the kinks in her legs, to no avail. Normally she didn't feel this desperate to get back to work, but maybe by the time she returned next week he'd have forgotten the whole thing. She thumbed through the pages of a softcover book, trying to get her mind off of the day, but found herself glancing towards the ajar bathroom door every few minutes.

The water stopped and she buried her face in the book, resisting the temptation to look up as she heard the door open. His footsteps passed his own room on the left and kept on forward. She read the same line over and over again, her mind trying to decipher if he was walking right passed he door or stopping. It was the second. He paused for a moment, and she could feel his eyes on her.

"You lookin' for me love?"

He was leaning against the doorframe, with a towel low on his waist, and smirking. She shook her head and looked back to her book.

"Oh don' be embarrassed," he wandered over to the edge of her bed, "I'd have saved ya' there, but I gotta let Finn work some o' this out on his own."

She pursed her lips together, and he leaned in to kiss them lightly. She closed her eyes, melting into it.

"See, patience." She felt his lips turning up in a sly smile. She pulled away to meet his eyes.

"He onto us?"

"I think ya managed to distract him actually." His eyes started to twinkle again, "Now I had planned to get ya alone and make it worth your wait but… Finn decided to take care of matters himself back there."

"Don't tease me," she shot him an angry look, "I don't 'preciate that."

"Told ya I would never lie, an' I meant it. Ya must've lit a little fire in 'im. Wouldn't be the first time." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe one of these days he'll wise up and wanna know what …this feels like."

He leaned in and kissed her deeply, his tumb rubbing her exposed shoulder. She lifted her hands to his face, pulling him in closer. In those moments, with his lips against hers, it was enough.