Voices in My Head

About an hour later they sat in his locker room, bent over plates of food. It hadn’t gone lost on her that he kept looking at the time and she tried hard not to let it bug her. They both knew the time line of the Meet & Greet and as long as they’d stay inside these 4 walls and behind this door, all would go over well.

“Who are you matched up against tonight?”

Ana asked as she chewed on some chicken in her stir-fry. She knew the answer, but she had to try and cut the tension down, it was almost suffocating her.

“AJ, but I have a feeling Steph and Shane will mix shit up seen that it’s her last night here. Wanna try some of my beef?”

He angled a fork loaded with beef and pasta towards her face and she laughed, accepting the food into her mouth.
He swallowed the last bite of his food and shoved his half empty plate away from him, pulling his large hands over his shaved head; she could feel him bounce his leg beneath the table.

“Tell me: what would you do if you’d meet him in the hallway later tonight. With no one else around, just you two.”

His features hardened at her question but as soon as their eyes connected, he softened again.

“I would remember the promise I’ve made you and be on my way.”

She shook her head and threw her fork onto her plate and pushed it away from her as well, locking eyes with him again.

“I know you better than this Orton. We both know that you would not walk away from it if it was just the two of you.”

He smirked and got up, pulling her by the arm to follow him to the small sofa across from the TV that they had switched off in order not to see the broadcast of the Meet & Greet.

“That’s because you’re fucking smart, more so than most people here.”

As soon as he had pulled her down on top of him, he kissed her mouth and wrapped his arms around her middle.

“I would ask him if you were the only one who pretends that he didn’t do anything wrong or if there were more women out there pretending that what he did to them was forgivable.”

Ana pushed her flat hands against his torso and looked down into his eyes. She knew he was telling the truth; there was no space for a lie in his eyes. He pulled her closer again and began to softly kiss her collarbone.

“What would you do if you met him tonight? I assume you would smile and shake his hand and pretend nothing was wrong?”

He whispered, fastening his hold on her as she was trying to sit up to look at him again.

“I told you before: we’ve met since and he didn’t even remember me. What’s the point of bringing it up again when I can just shake his hand and keep on walking. It’s the past. It shaped me and I have never become close to anyone on tour again…until I met you.”

He released his hold and clasped her face softly with his hands, searching her eyes.

“Is he the reason we haven’t had sex yet? Don’t tell me stories, just tell me if I’m right.”

She answered with a throaty laugh, placing her hands atop his shoulders.

“Babe, the only reason we haven’t had sex yet is that I don’t just jump into bed with someone after a few weeks of dating. That and the fine print in my contract about not getting involved with ‘the talent’ while I work on this tour. You know I could get fired if anyone found out we were sleeping together.”

He looked stunned; it was so adorable that she kissed his big, soft lips immediately. He pulled away after a while and stared at her with scrunched up brows.

“What do you mean with ‘the fine print’? Do you actually have a clause prohibiting you from getting involved with me?”

Ana bit her lip and nodded her head at his comment.

“Everyone working behind the scenes has this clause. I am amazed that neither Steph nor your friend Shane has so far said anything. It’s probably because they still think it’s just some sort of infatuation that’ll pass and because we haven’t actually shown any PDA around the hallways.”

“So even with your new contract-“

Ana interrupted him with another small kiss.

“Even with my new contract. The changes were only made for onscreen appearances.”

She could see the small wheels moving inside his head as he was processing what she was telling him: she couldn’t be his girlfriend, at least not openly. He would not fucking hide her away like he was ashamed of her!

He pulled her closer again to kiss her lips and pushed his tongue through, enjoying the shiver he would feel going down her back as his fingers were slipping beneath her shirt.
She responded to the kiss by rolling her hips against his in appreciation causing him to drive his fingers into her long hair and holding her face close to his as he moaned into their kiss as she repeated the movement once again.

“Fuck, this just won’t do.”

He grabbed her hips and lifted her off his lap, rubbing his face in agitation as he paced the floor. She had seen this pacing before, months ago.

“Randy…?”

He turned his head over his shoulder just as he was about to open the door.

“I agreed to staying away from the Meet & Greet with the band, but I will not try and hide the fact that I am falling fucking hard for someone working with me, especially since they put us in a story line together knowing very well that we like each other. We bowed to their wishes for tonight but I will not fucking sneak around with you when I want to take this fucking public and it could get you fired.”

He pushed the door handle down only to be stopped by her stern voice.

“Orton! Think before you turn into the usual prick you do when you’re on a mission!”

He could feel her hand on his shoulder and turned around to face her, leaning back against the door with a huff of tension.

“Have you even thought about asking me what I want? You want to go public, well what about me? We haven’t even put a name to what we are just yet and here you go making assumptions.”

He was deflated by her comment. They had hung out together, shared beds and some kisses…he’d assumed they’d be on the same page.

“So you’re telling me that you don’t want to be with me? I’m confused.”

He was about to rub his head again when her hands enclosed his face to force him to look at her.

“I want to be with you. You make me feel good most of the time and I appreciate that you’re looking out for me. But putting that aside: you have kids. You have a huge global fan base. Me…I am just me. As much as I would love to be your girl, don’t you think there are things we both need to talk about before we just ’go public’ as you call it? I agree that we have to try and talk to management, but not now. “

He got lost in her eyes and understood where she was coming from. She was right: this was more than just your regular boyfriend/girlfriend scenario. He lowered his head to connect his forehead to hers.

“Why are you always making so much sense?”

He connected his lips to hers without giving her a chance to respond, making full use of surprising her by grabbing her legs and lifting her up to have her wrap her legs around him. Just as he was placing her on the sofa and hovered over her she smirked back at him with a devilish smirk:

“Because I’m obviously the brain when you’re only the brawn.”

She used his shocked expression to bite his bottom lip before pulling his head down to intensify the kiss.