Guilt Trips and Underhanded Tactics

"I don't get it." Punk was frowning slightly; gaze trained on the monitor where the divas match had just taken place. Legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles and already in his ring attire, he was waiting for his own match.

"Don't get what?" Dolph asked from beside him. He was faced towards Punk just slightly, elbows on his knees and phone out. He hadn't been paying attention to the show.

"I don't get why they even have the divas matches anymore if they're going to do it this way."

Dolph frowned, and looked up at him. "Don't tell me you're sexist?"

Punk rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? I love women. I'm just saying, this kind of crap is why nobody takes them seriously anymore."

"Yeah, well. I doubt that's going to change anytime soon. It hasn't so far anyway. And you love women?"

"I've dated women," Punk pointed out, "and I'm still friends with a few of them."

"Eh, women don't really do it for me."

Punk raised an eyebrow. "You mean except for Vickie?"

"That's a business arrangement," Dolph said with a glare.

"I'm sure it is," Punk answered dryly.

"It is," Dolph insisted. "I come out and call myself her boyfriend, she helps me."

"So you and Vickie aren't…?" He waved a hand.

"No," Dolph said immediately. "It's all business. We don't even speak outside of the arena. I keep her on television and keep everyone thinking that we are together and she's happy."

"And you get to cheat your way to the top."

"Don't even lecture me about that or I might start bringing up Nexus," Dolph countered.

Punk only grinned and conceded the point with a nod. "Why would you tell me that? If you agreed not to tell anyone for her?"

Dolph shrugged. "I'd like to be honest to the people that I…like." He grinned.

"You mean you think it'll make it easier to get into my pants?" He ignored the fact that he was a bit relieved that Dolph and Vickie weren't actually together. That led to dangerous thinking.

Dolph shook his head. "There's nothing easy about you. But, I do enjoy a challenge."

"You know this isn't going to end the way you want it to," Punk stated after a moment, feeling like he should after what Dolph had just told him and with the realization that they had just had a real conversation.

"Don't be so sure," Dolph said with a smirk.

Punk rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of Dolph's face to get the man's attention away from his phone. "I'm serious. I don't do one night stands. I don't do casual sex."

Dolph paused and that did seem to grab his attention. "Ever?"

"Nope."

Dolph frowned for the first time. "Maybe that's not all I want."

"Don't start lying now, Ziggler."

Xxxxxxxx

Dolph didn't reply but his eyes narrowed and he was unsure of why he felt a bit of anger at what Punk was saying. After all, Punk was right, anyway. Dolph had made that bet with Randy because he thought Punk was hot and he enjoyed a challenge. But, he did usually get bored after the challenge was over.

"This 'no casual sex' stuff a part of the straight edge thing?" He asked a little curiously.

"Yes, it's a part of the straight edge thing," Punk answered, his gaze back on the monitor.

Dolph fell silent at that answer. This would be an even bigger challenge than he'd imagined and he squirmed a little when he thought about it. He was an asshole and a show off, he admitted that freely but even he had his limits.

Tricking another person into bed with him with lies about what might happen after that was something he simply didn't do. It complicated things way too much and, Dolph didn't have much of a conscious about most things, but hurting another person in that way had always seemed pretty pointless, especially when he never needed to do something like that.

Plus, doing that only led to lots of crying and anger. It led to slashed tires and phone calls he definitely didn't want. With Punk, it would probably lead to a few stiff kicks to the head…

He weighed his options for a moment. He could not lose this bet. He and Randy had set the terms pretty clear and losing just wasn't an option for him.

"What if I prove it?" He finally asked, drawing Punk's attention once again.

"Prove what?"

"That it's not just about sex."

Punk raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How are you going to do that?"

"I'll think of something." Dolph grinned, even as he felt a bit bad for saying it. But he'd made his decision. Losing wasn't an option.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Leaning against the wall in the hallway, Dolph watched Orton and Cena interact. It seemed Orton was a couple of steps ahead of him in the game and Dolph scowled at that. The conversation with Punk had put him in a bit of a bad mood to begin with, anyway.

He waited until Cena left and Orton was alone before he approached the man. "You know you're delusional, right?"

"What?" Orton turned a glare on him.

"You're delusional if you think this is going to work," Dolph said slowly.

"What the hell are you talking about, Ziggler?" Orton started down the hallway but Dolph didn't let him get away, walking beside him.

"I see the way you look at Cena. This is about more than just sex for you. What do you think is going to happen when he finds out this started because of our bet?"

"He's not going to find out," Orton protested stubbornly.

"He will find out and then he'll dump your ass," Dolph declared.

"Yeah? And what happens when Punk finds out?"

Dolph shrugged. "I don't do relationships, Orton. You're the one who's genuinely falling for your target."

Randy stopped at that and actually looked troubled for a moment before his expression cleared. "You're just trying to get me to back out of it."

Dolph shrugged. Orton wasn't wrong. "I'm just saying. He will hate you for it." He patted Randy on the shoulder before walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Rolling his sore shoulder, Punk groaned a little as he made it into the locker room. His match had gotten a bit brutal and long and his muscles were aching already. He really wanted a shower and was hoping he could catch a couple of hours of sleep.

He was just digging into his bag to find some clothes when something was shoved into his face and he looked up.

"Seriously?" He asked incredulously, staring at Dolph as if he were crazy.

"Seriously," Dolph answered, holding out the gift. Punk didn't take it right away; instead he put his hands on his hips and eyed it skeptically.

"Pink flowers? Do I look like a twelve year old girl to you?"

Dolph grinned. "Just take them. You're going to hurt my feelings if you don't."

"I don't think that's possible," Punk grumbled but he took them anyway, hoped Dolph had only gotten them as a joke but this was the man who went out to the ring with pink shirts tucked into his trunks.

"So, you have to go out with me now," Dolph declared.

"What makes you think that?" Punk set the flowers down so he could pull his clothes out.

"You took the flowers, didn't you? And I went to all that trouble to get them. Which means that we should go out now."

"I can give them back if you want," Punk offered, started unwrapping his wrist tape.

"Come on, I told you I'd prove it to you. You should give me the opportunity to try."

"I told you, I'm not-"

"I'm just asking to go out," Dolph interrupted him with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not asking you to come back to my hotel room…yet."

Punk eyed him warily. "I'm not going out tonight."

"Tomorrow then," Dolph suggested with a shrug. "You know I'm not going to leave you alone until you say yes."

"This how you always get dates? Bug the shit out of someone until they give in?"

"Are you kidding? Look at me. I don't usually have to work so hard to get a date."

Punk almost smiled at that. "Alright, fine."

Dolph's smile brightened considerably at his answer.