Rebellion

" You hooked Me up" Cassie said dragging Joe into her suite. "You can see the whole skyline from here and the strip. The bathroom has a hot tub. Plus the stuff in the mini bar is the good expensive stuff. I have never experienced anything like it before". Joe was watching her with a smile "I wanted to spoil you a little " he admitted. " A little? There isp actual gold plating around the toilet". He laughed at her enthusiasm. " well we are all on this floor , i am right next door and the boys down the hall.". Cassie nodded staring again out the window " So what are we doing today?". "Well, Trin wants to go shopping if you want to join her, me and the boys were going to hit up the race car track and drive some cars. Then meet later for dinner?". "Cool, sounds like a plan, I have never went shopping in Vegas before , this is so exciting". She was so happy and excited it made Joe just as happy. " OK ill see you at dinner then". Takeshia and Trinity were waiting patiently for her in the lobby, they were all fast becoming close friends and they showed Cassie such love , she always felt like she belonged. They hit the shops at Caesars first , a shoppers paradise. Most things were well out of Cassie's budget but for Trinity and Takeshia , they were used to that kind of life , the boys made good money from WWE. They admired shoes and bags , two of Cassies weaknesses in life . Trinity was trying on a pair of shoes and watched Cassie admire a cross body Marc Jacobs Bag. " That's gorgeous" she commented to Cassie." I know right?" she picked up the tag and immediately put the bag down "But it costs the same as two months mortgage. I just signed for a new house last week , I am not sure if I told you that. So right now thats my priority". Trinity stood in the new shoes and gave her a hug "congratulations - your own place? How is Paul taking that?". Cassie laughed " not well , he is trying to bribe Aubrey to get me to stay. But at some point I gotta stand on my own two feet, plus I want to teach Aubrey the importance of being independent and making her way". Trinity rubbed her back affectionately " That's great Cassie you are an amazing mom".

They waited outside for Trinity to pay , she had decided on two pairs of shoes. When she came out Cassie noticed she had three bags. She handed one to her. Cassie looked at it in confusion " What's this?". " The Marc Jacobs Bag you were wanting" was her response. " But this was really expensive, Trinity I cant accept this from you its too much ". Takeshia giggled " Girl, Trinity loves you and all but she didn't pay for that". Cassie was beyond confused. " Thank Joe , he gave me his gold card girl , told me to buy you what you want, no expense spared. Didn't even give me a budget. Now let's go buy you a dress to match that bag". Cassie pulled back " No, I can't accept this. Its way too much he already did this trip". Takeshia glared at her " Cassie if it wasn't for you all them boys would be sitting where they always were in WWE. You came in and now they are on top of the brand , they are the storyline. They owe you especially Joe. Jey says he keeps talking about the impact you have made in his career , he wants to thank you for all that. I say let him girl". Cassie pondered what she had said. It was a gorgeous bag , " OK then , where is the best dress shop".

Dinner was booked for 7pm sharp in a private dining space at Caesars. They boys were already at the table waiting on the ladies who they had not seen since their shopping trip. Joe and his cousins had enjoyed a great day, he loved them so much and it was rare they just hung out outside of work the sound of heels approaching told them the ladies were here. Joe was pretty sure his jaw dropped when Cassie walked in. She was wearing a short red dress , that showed off long legs and an amazing body. It was moulded onto her body , her hair was down and curled and she wore black pumps on her feet. She was impossibly sexy, he was pretty sure his dick was hard. As she made her way to the chair next to him, he took a breath to regain his composure. She sat and smiled sweetly at him " Damn, you look hot Cass". She blushed a little " I hope so , you paid a lot for this outfit". He studied her " Is that OK? I didn't know if you would accept the gift or come up in here throwing a glass in my face". He knew her well and her stubborn nature. " I accepted it, I am not used to any man treating me or spoiling me like that Travis never really did, I haven't been in a relationship like that. Not that you and I are in a relationship, like we are just friends , thats what we agreed I'm babbling sorry. Thanks for the gift". Cassie paused and Joe wasn't sure what to say. " I'm glad you like it , it's the least you deserve. I've said it before and I will say it again Travis didn't do you right. You should have someone who appreciates what they got". It felt like there was a hidden meaning to his words but his expression never changed. So she probably imagined it, he couldn't have been talking about himself because they had agreed to be friends.

The dinner had been amazing and then they decided to hit the club. Once again it was private table with services and bar included. It was RnB night so the music was right up their street. Jimmy and Jey were on form and straight up to dance, their ladies right there with them. " I just realised I haven't ever seen you dance" Cassie said flopping down next to Joe. He sipped his drink with a smirk " I bust it out when the time is right " he said non committal. " Or when you have a few more of those you mean" she said pointing at his drink. " Maybe" he said with a wink. He looked really good tonight Cassie thought looking at the tight black button down shirt and dark Jeans. Stop she instructed herself before she went down that line of thinking. " what are you thinking about?" Joe asked interrupting her thoughts causing her to blush. " Nothing at all" she said with a smile. " You look a little pink in the cheeks there baby girl, anything you want to share?". " Not with you" she said sweetly. " Actually, Joe" she went to say just as a voice cried out " Joe , Hey". She turned to see a very attractive brunette standing there with a friend " I thought that was you" the girl said. Joe gave her a charming smile " Amber , nice to see you again. In town for business or pleasure?". " Business , just finished a shoot today in the grand canyon. What brings you to town". Joe gestured to the table " Cutting loose with family and friends ". Cassie felt stung by his description of friend, she wasn't sure why. She didn't like the way Joe was looking at Amber , all smiley and familiar. " Oh, this is Cassie.". He didn't add anything else to his statement. The girls shook hands " Are you part of Joe's family?" Amber asked . " No, I'm one of his friends" Cassie said nicely . " I just need to go to the restroom , be right back". She needed to get away from the situation. She was feeling anger towards Joe and she didn't know why. In the bathroom she took some deep breaths , the reality was that even though they had agreed to be friends , none of them had really Moved on romantically since that conversation. And now with Brad on the scene and perhaps Amber , they had to take that next step. But she wasn't ready for it. She had meant every word Six months ago , their careers were so important and they couldn't mix work and pleasure but she hadn't expected to feel like this.

Amber had joined them at the table with her friend when Cassie got back. She was talking to Joe who seemed happy in her company " Hey Takeshia, wanna try the dance floor?" she asked her friend who agreed. They made their way to the middle of the crowd and started to bump and grind to the beats . "This is so much fun" Cassie said downing a shot and tuning into the music . When Takeshia wanted to go back Cassie told her she would follow she was having too much fun. She made it two more songs before she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Joe " What are you doing out here alone come back to the table". Cassie rolled her eyes " It's fine Joe, I am having a good time". Joe looked around at the four guys who were blatantly checking Cassie out as she continued to dance and grind. " I am sure you are but you can dance at the table too". She pushed his hand off of her " I don't need a chaperone" she said, and before she could say anything else he had lifted her off her feet and off the dance floor . She was shocked into silence for a minute before she found her voice " Put me down now" she said in a tone so serious that he set her down just off the dance floor. " I do what I want Joe , you don't get to tell me what to do". " I wasn't Cass, there were a lot of sketchy dudes checking you out I just wanted to be sure you were safe ,I couldn't see you from the table that's all". Her anger at him was bubbling up now " Why do you care anyway?" . He looked incredulous " What kind of a question is that?". , she could see him starting to get a little riled up now. " I am my own person , in fact I might go back out to that dance floor right now and find myself some company for the night.". She went to walk by him " No you don't, those guys are creeps". Listen Joe "We're friends right, that's what you told your little fuck buddy Amber over there. So that means I can have sex with who I like and it is none of your business". Joe had the nerve to smile " So thats what this is about Amber ?". " Don't flatter yourself Joe, I mean you clearly slept with her , right?". His eyes gave her the answer. " Exactly so I don't get involved with who you fuck, so stay out of my business". He rounded on her " Careful Cass , you are beginning to sound a little jealous". It was like a red rag to a bull, he immediately regretted it. " Fuck you Joe" she said before storming away.

Cassie woke with a pounding headache and let out a groan. She lifted her head off the pillow and immediately put it back down again. She froze as all the memories came running back. The bar , the guy, bringing him back to her room , having sex with him. And Joe , the look on his face when he had stormed into her room only to see she had company in her bed. He had been looking for her for hours he had said , searched the whole strip. He had been pissed with her. Cassie felt the tears come , all she could see was Joe and his disappointed face. As she lay in bed she heard a soft knock on the door , she dragged herself from the bed wearing shorts and a vest and peeked out through the keyhole. Trinity. She opened the door sheepishly " Hey" she said meekly. Cassie burst into tears and Trinity went in for the hug . " I'm sorry Trin, everyone must be so mad at me" Trinity was great at lifting people up " Girl, no one in this group can say a thing , I seen them all drunk, hollering and ain't none of them virgins either. But what the hell happened , you and Joe usually get on so well". Even hearing his name hurt her heart " Honestly I don't know". Trinity was gentle " I think when Amber showed up things took a bit of a turn. Cassie your my girl so I'm going to be real with you. Is there any possibility that there is some unfinished business going on with you and Joe after y'all were together. Y'all seemed to come through it great these last few months". Cassie nodded in agreement " I thought all that stuff was behind us but maybe not. I mean Joe and I agreed just to be friends and he has never given me any reason since then to think otherwise". Trinity looked at her as if she was mad " yeah cause everyone spends thousands of dollars on taking their friend away for a weekend , and talks about them all the time". Cassie was shocked "OK we clearly need to talk".

Joe was pissed off. She infuriated him, always had since the day they met. It had been a lovely day until Amber showed up. Cassie knew he had fucked a lot of people in the past, he didn't understand why she was so mad about this girl he went ahead introduced her as his friend because they had agreed that was what they are . Why , after all this time was this suddenly an issue. He couldn't get the image of that guy in her bed out of his mind , he wanted to cling him to the wall there and then and tell him to keep his hands off of her. The thought of her kissing him made him sick . But why, if they were just friends. They had one more day left in Vegas and this trip was supposed to be about thanking her. He just didn't know where to start . He was about to go to her room when he heard a knock on his own door. He opened it and his heart broke , she looked so sad. She wore an oversized hoody and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She had been crying, he could tell. " Can I come in?" she asked . He stood back and she came in sitting on the couch in his room. He sat opposite. " I just wanted to apologise , I am so sorry Joe that I put you through all of that". He didn't answer for a second and she could tell he was choosing his words carefully " I was worried sick Cass , what if something had happened to you. I don't care if you're mad at me , but shutting me out and not telling me where you were . And then coming back here , with that guy . It just seems out of character for you". Cassie was done with the back and forth. " I was jealous" she said simply. Joe didn't seem surprised to hear her say that, but was surprised she was just saying it out straight. " So storming off and getting with that guy was what , payback , to make me jealous?" he asked. " I don't know" she said honestly. " All I know is when you introduced me to Amber as a friend it got to me and I reacted badly . You and I have been fine these last six months and I don't want to ruin that with you". Joe sat back and let out a long sigh . " Can we put a pin in this for now , I am not avoiding the conversation but I need time to process all of this too?". Cassies eyes filled with tears " OK, I don't want to lose you as a friend Joe, I am so sorry". " That one is going to take some time to figure out I'm afraid". Cassie wiped a tear from her face " Why? Can't we just go back to how it was?. She didn't like the idea of what they had changing too much. " Maybe we can. But i got to get my head around why I wanted to kill that guy who was in your bed last night , because it seems you are not the only one who got jealous. "