Love Rivals

A little push

* * *
Roman

I looked through the spyhole and, just as I suspected, it was Seth, standing there bold as brass. I turned to look at Esme. "It's Seth." 

Her face paled. "I can't face him right now"

I opened the door and shoved Seth backwards off the porch step. "You're trespassing. You can either leave now or I can call the cops"

"Please bro, I just need to speak to her" Seth begged. "I know she's here-"

"First" I interrupted "You don't get to call me bro, not after everything you've done and second I don't give a damn what you need" 

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Seth asked as moved closer to me. "You've always liked her and now you've got her right where you want her, haven't you?''

Esme sat on the couch listening to what was going on and was shocked to hear what Seth had just said. Roman liked her! Everything suddenly made sense. When Roman told her he liked someone but feared telling her because he didn't want to ruin what they had, he was talking about her. He'd tried to warn her about Seth because he cared about her.

"Don't turn this around on me Seth" Roman retaliated. "She told me what you did." 

"And I bet you were more than happy to offer her a shoulder to cry on, weren't you?" Seth retorted.

Roman was so done with this conversation "Esme doesn't want to speak to you and I'm not about to invite you in so why don't you do us both a favour a get your bitch ass outta here"  

"You haven't heard the last of this" Seth warned as he made his way back to his car

"I'll be waiting" Roman replied as he watched until Seth's car was out of sight

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Roman made his way back to Esme, sitting down beside her. "He's gone"

"Is it true?" Esme asked "What Seth said about you liking me?" 

"You heard that?" Roman was nervous all of a sudden

"Yeah. I heard everything" Esme confirmed.

"Would it make any difference if it was?" Roman asked

"Yes, it would" Esme replied "I've always liked you but i couldn't say anything"

"So can you understand why I said nothing, then?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, I understand" Esme replied "I took a chance with Seth without really thinking it because I had nothing to lose, but I care about you too much to lose you too."

"So what happens now?" Roman asked 

"I'm not sure" Esme responded "I think we could be good together but after everything that's happened I think I need to be single for a while"

"I understand" Roman said. "I won't pressure you into anything. When you're ready, I'll be here"

A few weeks passed and Esme had been doing a lot of thinking since she left Roman's house. Dean had apologized to her for (in his words) acting like an asshole and she'd confided in Natalya (who was the mother figure of the women's locker room) and it had felt good to talk to someone outside of her close circle. Natalya had never given up on befriending Esme, despite her isolating herself. In fact, she had taken it upon herself to guide her in any way she could. She had become a mentor to her and Natalya's wisdom and friendship had helped Esme find her place within the women's division. She had actually encouraged Esme to take a chance with Roman, but Esme wasn't sure it was the right time. 

"I still can't believe he actually showed up at Roman's house!!" Dean mumbled. "Ro's a better man than me. I would have knocked his ass out." 

Dean and Esme were hanging out backstage and Esme laughed as she imagined Seth falling on his ass. "Seth accused Roman of taking advantage of me." 

''Ha. That's rich coming from him!" 

"Yeah. That's what Roman said" Esme excused herself to get a bottle of water and she didn't notice Natalya rushing into Dean's locker as soon as she was far enough away. 

* * *
Dean

I jumped as I heard someone say my name. I turned around to find Natalya standing in front of me.

"When did you come in?"

"It doesn't matter. Where did Esme go?" She asked.

"Catering" I answered "Why?"

"We haven't got long, so try to pay attention" Natalya ordered. "Did she tell you about what happened with Roman?"

I was so confused. "Yeah...why what's going on?" 

"You know about the part where Roman admitted he liked her!?" Nattie asked

"No, she didn't tell me about that." Now I was really confused

"Well, they admitted they like each other but Esme's reluctant to take things any further because of what's happened between her and Seth" she explained 

"Ok...so you're telling me this because?" I asked.

"Because I think they need a little push in the right direction" Nattie declared