Playing With Fire

Part 6

She and Finn met up the next day to essentially coordinate their idea. So far they'd had it fairly easy. Everything they'd had to do that required coordination like the parts of their combined entrances had just come easily. True they'd played around with ideas all the way back in NXT and they'd always seemed to be on the same wavelength anyway, but she'd been surprised at just how easy it had been. The last time they'd called each other, Mella had talked about having to work really hard with Truth to get everything together, but honestly she and Finn really hadn't had to do that. Other than bouncing ideas off of each other, most of their 'practice' time had been spent goofing off, and this was the first time they'd really had to do something.

The morning had started off well. Her trainer had hooked them up with a gym that met their needs. They wanted their idea to be a surprise that night, so they hadn't talked about it with many people, and they were trying to avoid being accidently seen by the public. A normal crossfit box wouldn't work, and they couldn't wait until they had access to the venue, but the private training room they were shown to was perfect. It still felt like they were playing around more than working, but they'd managed to coordinate their idea so they knew what they wanted to do. The problem became apparent however when they practiced him picking her up and lifting her for the assisted drop kicks. She'd been more than a little disturbed by her body's reaction to having him so close, and she couldn't get it off her mind for the rest of the day.

She'd never felt this way with him before. Why was she feeling so out of sorts? Why did his hands on her make her suddenly hyper aware of him? Why did him touching her make her feel breathless and jittery? She knew what the feeling was even if she didn't want to admit it, but why now? Why after four years did a friendship that had always felt so comfortable suddenly make her feel like she was going to jump out of her own skin. He didn't need another girl drooling over him, he had more than enough, and she had never wanted to be that girl anyway. He deserved to be treated like a person, not a sex object, and he was such a good person too. She'd always been determined to be a real friend to him.

Not to mention she was fucking engaged! Granted she was about as pissed off and fed up as she could be with her relationship right now, but still, it was not okay for her to suddenly be feeling all hot and bothered by Finn. It had been a long time, years in fact since she'd felt anything more than a passing physical attraction to another man, and that fact alone was just as disturbing as the butterflies and tingling under her skin.

She'd known things were off with her fiance, but this wasn't the first time she'd ever been mad at him. It normally blew over after a couple of days, and things would return to normal. She'd never started having feelings for someone else because of it. God, she really was admitting it. She was having feelings for Finn. And they were already such good friends that this new awareness of him became all tangled up in the warmth, appreciation, and love she already felt for him, and she didn't know what she was going to do.

If her fiance knew, he'd absolutely blow a gasket. He'd always harbored jealousy towards Finn. He'd never trusted her with him, and it had always made her so angry, of course now all she could think was had he seen something that she'd been blind to all along? If she could feel something for him now, then obviously the potential had always been there. What did that say though? If the possibility had always been there, then what did it mean that she could suddenly see it, feel it now?

She was so confused and feeling like she was going to lose her mind. It didn't improve that night either. She thought she was doing well. She pushed it to the back of mind and just focused on doing her job, and she was excited when they were given the go ahead to try out their move with Jinder and Alicia. They pulled it off beautifully, but then when they were celebrating in the ring he hugged her and pulled her in close to talk to her. She had to hold herself back from reacting to the feel of his face brushing hers, his warm breath on her ear. She barely caught what he said. She was too caught up in how he felt, how that made her feel, and completely entranced by the way he was looking at her. His words were simple praise, but his eyes told a different story.

Was he feeling something too? She had to be imagining it, but something inside of her was telling her that that look in his eyes was not that of someone who saw her as just a friend. It felt for a moment like he'd wanted to kiss her. But that was impossible.

When they got back to gorilla he'd immediately started talking. He was so excited they'd pulled off their move, and happy to have yet another win. He'd asked her to celebrate with him that night since they'd never got around to doing that before, and she'd been caught up in his excitement and agreed without really thinking about it. It hit her while she was changing that maybe agreeing to have a few drinks with a guy that she'd just realized she had feelings for might not be the best idea. She couldn't back out now though. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, and she didn't think she could get out of it without doing so.

...

A few hours later and she decided she didnt know why she'd been so worried. They met up at the hotel bar for a few beers and the alcohol had helped loosen her up and let go of some of the anxiety she'd been feeling. She was surprised to find that she was having a great time reminiscing and laughing with him. His good mood was contagious and she couldn't help but be happy in his presence.

When they decided they wanted to watch something other than what was on the TV in the bar, they moved to his room instead, ordering their drinks from room service. They got comfortable stretched out on his bed, and she thought the worst that could happen was she'd end up falling asleep here again. In fact she did doze off at one point. When she woke up she saw him sleeping fitfully next to her. She gently shook his arm to try and wake him from the dream that was bothering him, but when he woke he didn't even seem to see her there. He got up and stumbled to the bathroom. When he came back out he ran a hand over his face and yawned before looking up. When he saw her, his reaction surprised her.

"You again?"

"Huh?"

"You know it's bad enough you're all I see when I'm awake, but now you've got to invade my dreams too?"

"What?" she asked completely confused and starting to feel a little hurt, she knew it must have shown in her face because the next thing he said was,

"Hey, I can't even catch a break in a fucking dream. Don't look at me like that love. You know I can't take it," he walked the rest of the way to the bed, sat down facing her and cupped the side of her face in his hand, "You are so damn beautiful, did you know that? He doesn't tell you that nearly often enough."

She was still in shock, starting to catch on, but also still in a haze of confusion, and all she managed to get out was, "Finn?"

"I know. I know. I shouldn't say things like that, but it's so hard to see the way he treats you and not do anything about it. She was right about one thing you know. When I first started seeing her, it really was a distraction from the constant reminder that I couldn't have you. I thought I was over it though. Thought I'd moved on and put that behind me, but these last few weeks, well I guess not, huh? I was just fooling myself. Back to square one. Back to watching that douchebag treat you like an inconvenience one minute and a coveted posession the next, and I can't do a damn thing about it.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to go back, to have met you before he did. So many things would be different. For damn sure, if you'd been wearing my ring on your finger that long, you would have already had my last name to go with it. He's a fucking idiot. Not that I'm complaining really. At least I can still have the delusion that someday you'll wake up and see what's in front of you."

She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't imagining it. That she wasn't the one dreaming. He heart was in her throat, her ears were ringing and she felt faint. Her instinct earlier had been right, and yet so very wrong. He wasn't starting to feel the same thing she was, he'd felt that way all along. For years. How could she have missed that?

"Can I hold you for a little bit love? At least let me pretend for a moment that I'm not going to wake up to a cold bed?" She probably should have pulled away, but she couldn't. He pulled her in against him, wrapping her up in his embrace, and inevitably, despite the shock of the revelation, she could feel herself drifting off in the warmth of his arms.