Once they're through the curtain Skylar is whisked off to shoot a quick segment with Kurt Angle. The camera rolls with Kurt talking on his cell phone to Stephanie McMahon. Skylar bursts into his quaint office, startling him into hanging up the phone with his boss.
"Skylar..." Kurt starts but is promptly cut off.
"Save it Kurt," she snaps. "Alexa interfered in that match. Finn would have won if she hadn't stuck her nose into his business. He deserves a rematch."
Kurt nods, "She definitely did interfere. You're right. I'll see what I can do for Finn, but I can't make any promises. With the Royal Rumble coming up everyone is a little on edge."
Skylar huffs, "Then give me Alexa."
Kurt chuckles, "Skylar... This is your first day here. You can't just walk in and expect a match with the Raw Women's Champion."
Gallows and Anderson step in behind Skylar as she folds her arms over her chest and raises and eyebrow. "She's not asking for a title match Kurt," Karl states.
"I'm more than willing to earn my title shot in two weeks at the first ever Women's Royal Rumble," Skylar explains. "But someone needs to teach Alexa Bliss a lesson before that."
"And we'll make sure no one interferes," Gallows pipes in.
Kurt looks from Skylar to the two muscular men behind her. "Fine," he throws his arms into the air in frustration. "You've got a non-title match with Alexa Bliss next week on Raw."
"Thanks Kurt," Skylar grins like the cat that ate the canary. "You won't regret this."
The trio steps off camera leaving Kurt staring off screen. The producer yells "cut" and smiles before sending the footage off to the production truck to air later in the show. Moments later Skylar is swept off to take some promotional shots in her new gear while the Good Brothers prepare for a run in spot in The Revival's match. She catches Seth watching her photo shoot from the corner of the hallway. She shoots him a smile as she hits a few more poses before the photographer lets her know that he has enough material. She saunters across the open floor feeling significantly better after getting out in front of the crowd.
"You look... Amazing," the Kingslayer says with his mouth agape. "Those eight by tens are going to sell like hot cakes."
Stepping closer to him she wraps her arms around his neck, "Do we even sell eight by tens here?"
He laughs at her quizzical look, "No, not really. We give them out at signings. Rarely do we sell them anywhere anymore."
"Oh, I forgot about autograph signings," she admits. "Are you on soon?"
"Yeah I've got about ten minutes," he nods.
"Then you've got time to kiss me before you go," she says with a coy smirk.
A big grin spreads across his face, "I think I could work that into my very... very... busy... schedule."
Their lips meet tenderly at first. Skylar pushes him back against the cool painted brick wall and cups a hand to his cheek kissing him again. One more kiss makes him groan almost inaudibly.
"Okay, if we don't stop now I'll definitely be late," he whispers short of breath.
Sky giggles softly, "Let me at least get the lipstick off your face before you go out there."
"Are you guys staying in town or driving out tonight?" He asks as he attempts to compose himself.
"Staying," she tells him as her finger swipes the remnants of her dark lipstick from his lower lip. "Tomorrow's show is only an hour or two away."
"So what'll it take to get you to my room after the show tonight?" He attempts to convince her with a truly sad set of puppy dog eyes.
She can't help but smile at his efforts, "If you can promise there will be more of that, then I'm there."
"I was hoping you'd say that," he admits with relief. He takes her hand into his and kisses the back of it to avoid anymore makeup mishaps. "Let me get out there. I'll catch up with you after the show."
She smiles to herself as the familiar butterflies flit and flutter about inside of her. Her whole body still tingling from his touch. She heads back to the locker room and gets cleaned up so she can meet with Finn and the boys to get to the hotel. Once they're all piled into the car Skylar feels all of their prying eyes on her.
Her gaze bounces back and forth between the three of them," What?"
"You know exactly what missy," Gallows barks in his best Dad voice.
She attempts to hide her blushing cheeks in the shadows of the back seat.
"Seth Rollins private locker room huh?" Finn gives her a prickly look.
She shrugs, "I got into a fight with some of the girls. He offered me his sanctuary."
"I'm sure that's not all he offered!" Gallows bellows.
Karl laughs and too sweets the big man before continuing the interrogation, "Uhh... so you and Rollins huh? For real this time!"
"You know you're too good for him right?" Finn cuts him off sternly. "He's a scoundrel."
Skylar rolls her eyes, "He's been nothing but good to me."
Gallows snickers, "Of course he has Hoot. Brother knows the hottest girl on the roster when he sees her!"
"Oh hell yeah!" Karl hollers in his Stone Cold voice.
"You two are awful," Skylar groans. "It's barely even a thing."
"Sure it isn't," Finn grumbles while folding his arms over his chest.
"Don't give me that!" She sasses the Irishman.
"You could have ANY guy you want. And you choose Seth.. freakin.. Rollins," Finns onslaught continues. "De guy who cheated on his fiancé wit his coworker and had his nudes leaked all over the Internet... And you tink dis is a good idea?"
"We've been over this," she says shortly. "How long are you going to harp on this guy's mistake?"
Gruffly he responds, "It's not like it was just a teeny little mistake, Sky. Cheating like that is kind of a big deal."
"Oh you really shouldn't talk," she glares at her ex. "You're acting like it's impossible for him to learn from his mistakes. That he can't change. We both know that's not true."
"Uh-oh," Karl turns around and faces forward. "I'm not getting into this one."
"Uh-uh," Gallows adds in his Stone Cold voice. "Not me!"
Finn's silence is deafening as the rest of the commute is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Luckily the ride to the hotel is over quickly. Skylar is out of the car before it even stops rolling. She yanks her bag from the trunk and heads straight for her room, avoiding Finn and the Good Brothers. She dumps her things in the corner of her room and flops down on the king size bed. A quick call to Kenny, leaving out any details about the Kingslayer or her tiff with Finn and she feels a bit better. The call ends when she gets a text from Seth letting her know what room he's in. She checks her makeup and grabs her Nintendo Switch before heading down the hall to his room.
The wide corridor is quiet as she walks barefoot down the nicely carpeted hallway. Her knuckles wrap lightly on the metal doorframe of room 215. The heavy door opens a few seconds later with Seth's smiling face there to greet her. She steps inside the doorway and listens for the click of the latch behind her. The architect holds an arm out gesturing for her to make her way into his simple hotel room. Skylar sets her Switch case on the dresser and turns back to face him. His long dark hair is tied up into a bun on the top of his head still damp from a recent shower. She makes the first move by grabbing a fist full of the fabric in the center of his chest and pulls him closer to her. Standing up on the tips of her toes she plants a soft kiss on his lips.
"I've been waiting all day for that," he sighs contently.
She smiles, letting him kiss her again, "Me too."
They settle in a few minutes later and start their evening by innocently playing some Mario Kart. Kenny joins them for some online races, beating them handily. When they're sick of being schooled by her brother they turn off the game and put on a movie. Though they barely pay attention to the TV, their brains and lips are preoccupied with each other. By three in the morning Skylar bids Seth farewell, promising to see him the next day.
They repeat their evening make out sessions every night for the remainder of the house show loop. Neither of them is happy about spending two days away from each other for their last days off before the Royal Rumble pay per view. But before they know it they're back on the road.
"Come on Hoot, we've gotta meet Gallows to get the car," Karl says to her a few days later as they lift their bags from the carousel at baggage claim.
"Are we picking up Finn?" Skylar asks knowing her and Finn hadn't been seeing eye to eye as of late.
Karl shakes his head much to her relief, "Brother had an appearance. He'll meet us at the hotel tonight."
Relieved, she nods and leads her friend to the rental counter where Gallows is finalizing the paperwork for their vehicle.
"What took you Hoots so long?" Gallows jokes.
Karl takes the opportunity to pull out his Stone Cold impression, "This one over here was busy Lollygaggin.."
"What?" Gallows buys into the gimmick immediately.
"She was procrastinating," Stone Cold Karl says.
Gallows winks, "What?"
"She stopped to smell the roses."
"What?"
"Dilly dallying"
"What!?"
"Dragging her feet!"
"What?!"
"I said she was taking her time, Hoot!" Karl tries not to laugh.
"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Gallows dead pans then turns to Skylar. "Well what the hell for?"
Skylar beams, "Oh you know, just waiting for you to do all the hard work and pay for the rental."
Karl snickers, "Too sweet me on that one!"
Gallows rolls his eyes as his friends Too Sweet. "You guys are a bunch of assholes," he proclaims in one of his ridiculous voices.
The ride to the hotel is filled with more silly banter between the trio while Skylar attempts to avoid any questions about her and Seth. She's relieved to answer a phone call from Matt Jackson as they pull into the parking lot, allowing her to dodge any further interrogation. She chats briefly with the Young Buck until his brother arrives at his house to film some Being The Elite skits, cutting their conversation short.
She drags her gear bag into the lobby and parks herself at the end of the check in que. After waiting for what seems like a long time the line slowly dissipates. Finally it's her turn to check in. Sore from her flight she does her best to put on a cheerful expression for the desk clerk.
"Hi, I'm just checking in," Skylar smiles.
"Of course," the handsome blonde receptionist nods. "Name?"
"Skylar Omega," she tells him as she pulls her drivers license and credit card from her wallet.
"Just one moment," the younger gentleman clicks away at a keyboard just out of sight from Skylar. A few moments later he looks back across the counter. "I'm sorry. I don't have a reservation under that name."