Flames

Fala Amo, part 2

Sex and Seth were both wonderful distractions from her worries, but Becky had discovered another: house shows. The overall results were still dictated by management, but since the matches weren't televised, the wrestlers often had more freedom. Not only that, but the fans at the house shows didn't seem as jaded as the ones at taped events could be. The signs they brought were for the wrestlers to see, not the cameras. They cheered and booed for whoever they liked, knowing it couldn't be dubbed over to fit a certain narrative. Becky had discovered her love for wrestling at house shows and Seth had as well, and they were happy to give those so-called lesser crowds some special moments they alone would get to see.

Dark matches were almost as good. They were still within the confines of the show and there were still official cameras present, but the energy changed as soon as the televised version was done. That night, Becky had a dark match against Lacey—surprise, surprise—and Seth was still making his way up the ramp as her music hit. She stopped in front of him and hoisted her belt high, smiling broadly. His birthday was tomorrow, so she had several plans in play.

She didn't realize until the next day, when someone had posted fan footage, that he had watched her walk down the ramp, winking at the audience. It made her smile, so she saved it in a randomly named folder on her laptop, full of footage of their moments. Whenever she felt down or had doubts, she could browse through there and remind herself that amongst all the uncertainty, she truly was having the time of her life. Main-eventing Wrestlemania, being one of the top performers in the company, and having a boyfriend that seemed to love every facet of her: what more could she ask for?

She had scheduled a birthday post for him on Instagram days ago and even forgot about it until he nudged her awake late the next morning. "What's this?" he asked.

Becky shoved hair out of her eyes and took a moment just to admire him. He was stretched out beside her, leaning back against the headboard as he checked his phone. He already had his hair in a bun, to her dismay; she liked when he left it loose, even if he hated how unruly his curls could be. "Happy birthday," she murmured, sitting up so she could kiss him. She didn't even pause to laugh at how instinctively his gaze dropped to her breasts.

"Thank you." Seth gave her another kiss before leaning back. "Now answer my question before I claim an extra half an hour. . . ."

Laughing, Becky snuggled up beside him. "It's your birthday, Rollins. I was planning on letting you have the whole night." When she saw how high his eyebrows rose, she shook her head. "But if you just want half an hour, that's fine too. I mean, I'm sure Roman will want to hang out with you at some point today and—"

Seth grabbed a handful of her hair and kissed her until she was breathless. "You said a whole night, so I'm claiming a whole night." Once she was clear-eyed again, he showed her his phone once more. "When did you post this? That time stamp can't be right, because I know what we were doing then, and your hands were not on your phone."

It was the picture taken before Money in the Bank, when they were sitting up in the stands and the photographer had approached. It was one of her favourite shots of them, reminding her of how he could calm her down, smooth out the rough edges of her moods to make things bearable. "You're not the only one who can post pictures, you know," she replied vaguely, setting his phone aside so she could straddle him. "I thought you might appreciate it more than that pun I made on Twitter a few years back. . . ."

He quickly wrestled her over onto her back, pinning her just hard enough that she gasped. "Uh-uh. It's my birthday, remember?"

Being eclipsed by him always made Becky feel a bit giddy. Most of her previous boyfriends hadn't been strong enough to dominate her unless she let them. "I said you could have a whole night," she reminded, arching up against him when he slid a knee between her legs.