chapter seven

March 30, 2012

The bubbly brunette plugged her cell phone into the wall, grinning as she flopped back on the enormous King-sized bed in her equally gigantic hotel room in Milwaukee. She could barely contain the joy that she felt at seeing him ask if he could share a room with her. If that wasn't a positive step in the right direction she didn't know what was. Her cell phone buzzed where she'd set it on the nightstand, and she quickly rolled over to grab it, checking the message. Of all the people in the world, it was actually advice coming from Carter Montgomery— a guy she'd hated until after they'd both left that travesty of a wrestling promotion in Colorado. Now, he was almost a friend, although she still found him a bit creepy. Right now he was trying to give her relationship advice, telling her that she shouldn't settle for someone who wasn't willing to make her number one.

Rolling her eyes, she fired off a quick reply and then shut down the Twitter app, already growing antsy. The butterflies in her stomach were going insane and she hoped and prayed that she wouldn't end up barfing all over the place when he got here like she had backstage before her only other title match in her entire professional career.

Her wait was a rather short one actually, from setting up the late night meeting to him actually showing up. A little rap on the door, and a peek through the peephole showed it was him. Who else would show up at 2am after all? His hair a bit disheveled looking like a bad case of bed head; he had a duffel bag over his shoulder and one suitcase. When he told her he traveled light, he really wasn't kidding.

She threw the door open and then stepped aside, not even caring if anyone saw her letting him in even though she was dressed for bed and didn't have a speck of makeup on her face. "Hi, Kyle," she tried to play it cool, but that grin of hers gave her away.

"Hey there, good looking! You know, I don't normally go to a girl's hotel room at 2am, but for you...I'll make an exception." He gave her a wink as he stepped in, tossing his bag to the floor and kicking the door back shut with his foot. Arms outstretched, he waved her forward. "What's a guy gotta do to get a little affection around here?"

She almost flew into his arms, hugging him tight and kissing him on the cheek a few times. "Sorry," she giggled, nuzzling his neck, "I guess I need more training."

He nodded in agreement, scooping her up off the ground and then deciding to take a kiss or two for himself, pressing his lips to hers. "I'm glad you invited me. I have no other reason to be here in Milwaukee except to see you. I came to town, figuring I'd call you tomorrow and surprise you. But you beat me to it."

"You let it slip," she said, "you said you were going to come to Chaos Theory and I was like 'no way, is he coming to see me'?! And then I got even more freaked out because I don't wanna lose when you're watching."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it. You could go on a horrendous losing streak, and I'd still be here cheering for you. I would have been here sooner, but I had a phone call from one of the SVW reporters. She apparently landed an interview with Nick, and was all excited about it." Still holding her, he carried her towards the rather spacious bed and plopped down and then sat her on his lap. "So how ready are you to end Sophie's record, and be the new Television Champion?"

"Shhhhh!" She hissed, putting a finger to his lips, "no egos or bragging. That's the worst way to jinx it!" She winked though, "but between you and me, that would be the second most awesome thing that could happen in Milwaukee!"

He had a feeling he already knew the first answer, but he wanted to hear it anyway. "Second, huh? Well enlighten me and tell me what the first would be." With a wry smile on his face, he pressed a kiss to her neck. "I hope it's not that married Alaskan dude coming to see you, too." He was obviously kidding as he continued to lavish her neck with attention.

"GROSS!" She almost shrieked the word, although it turned into another giggle as she squirmed when he hit the spot under her ear that was ticklish. "No, silly... the first thing was you being here. If Carter was coming here, I'd probably pretend I was dead or something."

"If Carter was here, I'd pretend I was dead too. I've seen his picture on Twitter, he looks like he doesn't mind giving or receiving to me." He responded, tearing himself away from her neck and then returning to her lips for another kiss. "You sure it's alright if I stay the rest of the time here with you?"

"Why would I mind?" She frowned, clearly puzzled, "I lov-" she bit her lip, catching herself before she said that dreaded l-word, "uh, love hanging out with you. I mean... I wouldn't have said you could come over if it was gonna be an issue, you know?"

"Good, just checking." He managed to break in between kisses. "Besides I think I promised you something. Do you remember our last conversation? Well our last fully clothed conversation?" He asked with a grin.

"Yeah," she nodded, feeling those butterflies in her guts again, "I remember. You mean the one where you told me that you needed some time to figure things out, right?" She bit her lip, suddenly looking scared as if she expected the worst.

"Well guess what? I want you to know that I appreciate you giving me that time. I only told you because...I didn't want you to think I was leading you on or just trying to get in your panties. You know? I'm not that kind of guy." He responded, slipping his arms around her waist and hugging her against him as he spoke.

"I know you're not, Kyle," she whispered, "but you know what? Even if you were, that'd be okay, too. I really like you and if that's all you want... I'd be fine with that."

He shook his head at that. "No, I wouldn't do that. Not to you. Anyway, the point is....I had my time to think. And I made my decision." He tugged at her top gently, pressing a kiss to her chin. "You're the one I want. So if you still want a boyfriend....I'm still interested in the position."

She was stunned silent, mouth dropping open in a near-comical way. "Please tell me you're not joking right now... ohmygod, you're not joking... I can tell!" Her lips pressed against his as she stole the sweetest kiss she'd ever shared with him before pulling back. "So you're mine? I get you all to myself?"

"Yeah, I'm yours. First thing in the morning, I got to make a couple phone calls and tell someone not to expect me. Not that it was much of a competition, but.....I realized I couldn't do any better than you. And as far as I'm concerned, there wasn't any better." He flashed that smile to her as he said it, watching her reaction.

She grinned back at him, melting at the sight of his smile. "I don't know what to say... I'm so happy right now I could just explode or something!" Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Now the hard part is gonna be leaving this room in the morning to go work out and stuff. I just wanna tie you to the bedpost and rock your world for the next twelve hours or so." She was joking, but there was a hint of truth there. She was completely and utterly addicted to the man.

"Well you could do that, but you wouldn't be ready for any title match, I don't think." He squinted a bit, as though he were trying to decide something. "But I'll tell you what. I'm going to go run us a bath, and we can celebrate by getting clean....alot? What do you think?"

"I think that's the best idea yet. The tub has those jets in it and it's big enough for a whole football team!" She was clearly excited at the prospect.

"I can't simulate a football team, but I'll do my best." He winked, placing her on the bed and getting up to his feet. "I'll call you when it's ready." He stole another kiss before he headed off towards the bathroom. Closing the door, he started the water and pulled out his phone. He began to type a text message very quickly, looking over his shoulder.

'It's done. And I quit.'

He tossed the phone onto the counter before a chime signified that he got a response. He pulled it back to him, looking down at it.

'That is NOT an option, Kyle.'

Hanging his head, he closed it and nearly threw it across the room. Stopping himself, he responded in kind.

'Watch me make it one.'