Wicked Game

Chapter 3

As much as Judgment Day were presented as a group of badasses, they acted more like a bunch of dysfunctional siblings. Rhea and Damian had been close since their NXT days and he had been the first person on the roster she told about her relationship with Liv. Talk about a fucking mistake, she thought as she repacked her bag. Normally after an event—whether it was a house show, a TV taping, or a PLE—most of Judgment Day would hang out afterwards, but Rhea had taken off early. Luckily she had caught up with Seth and Becky and asked if she could hang out with Roux for a bit. They had been surprised by the offer, but since they didn't get a lot of alone time on the road, they welcomed the chance to have a couple hours together. Hanging out with a little kid full of energy and ideas was just the distraction Rhea needed to get her mind off things.

But then she had woken up in a lonely bed, which wasn't far from her road norm these days, but after seeing Liv all adorably rumpled the day before, it stung more. She missed the bright pops of colour from Liv's underwear on her floor, the fan of long hair across her pillow, even the soft snores that Liv resolutely denied every single time Rhea bought up the subject. "Stop it," she told herself sharply as she stepped out of the shower and towelled her hair.

Even though she knew she needed the company, Rhea was considering skipping Judgment Day's group breakfast when her phone pinged. Breakfast in my suite, Finn had written in the group chat. 9:00. Be clothed. The last was a warning started because Damian had once staggered in late and in his bathrobe—not something Rhea wanted to repeat.

She tapped Finn's number and let her phone ring. "Hey," she said. "I'm not feeling great, so I think I'm going to skip breakfast and just grab something at the airport. I don't want to make anyone sick."

"What? No." Finn's voice warmed with concern. "No, come join us, Rhea. If you've come down with something, we've probably got the same thing. We were on the road all weekend together. Besides, we have to talk about Dom's bachelor party, remember?"

Dom's bachelor party. Rhea sighed. Dom was getting married, JD was getting traction on RAW, and Damian... well, he was banging Liv. She was the only one who wasn't making big strides anymore and it rankled her a bit. The women's division was in an annoying stasis and there was only so much the big names like her and Becky could do to galvanize it. She really wasn't in the mood to be surrounded by other people's happiness, but Dom deserved a good party. "Right. Sorry. I forgot. Okay, I'll be there."

"Good. Do you want your regular?" Finn asked.

"Sure. Thanks." Rhea agreed simply to save time. "See you soon." After she disconnected, she tossed her phone on her bed and picked out what she wanted to wear. Then she layered on jewellery and make-up like armour, thick purple eyeshadow to hide the fact that she didn't sleep and thicker silver rings so she had something to fidget with while she listened to the others talk. Normally the process of getting ready was something she found almost meditative, but that morning everything was reminding her of Liv: how Liv would tease her hair into place or try on all her rings and Rhea would add steps to her process just because it meant their morning time together would last just a little bit longer.

After she had repacked her bag and double-checked it and done three circuits of her room to make sure she hadn't missed anything, Rhea glanced at her phone and saw that it was close enough to nine that she didn't have to keep wasting time. "Go and get it over with," she told herself. How difficult could arranging a bachelor party be? There were strippers in every city. The biggest issue would be finding a restaurant that Dominik would like.

Rhea grabbed her room card and her phone and headed out, narrowly avoiding having her foot run over as Becky and Seth came around a corner. Roux immediately ran over for a hug. "Thank you for playing yesterday!" she said as Rhea picked her up.