Dirty Deeds

CH 23: Brunch

       I'm running late. Check out time may be noon, but I was supposed to meet Matt in the lobby at ten. It's ten after ten, and I'm still in the room. Matt's on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry," I tell him. "The wake up call never came in this morning. If you hadn't called me, I'd still be asleep."

I hear him sigh. "I'm going to go ahead to the restaurant," he tells me. "Try not to take too long, okay?"

"Sure," I say. "See you in a bit." We hang up and, despite the stress, I manage to smile.

Surprisingly, it takes me maybe ten minutes, make up and all, to get ready. The restaurant is next door to the hotel, which is good because otherwise I'd have to beg Layla for a ride and outside of the ring, we're not speaking. I'd feel shunned if I weren't so happy.

Stepping into the restaurant, I see Punk and Matt almost immediately. They're leaning across the table to one another, deep in conversation. Punk's speaking, Matt's nodding, and no one is trying to kill anyone else. I stand at the entrance for a long moment, savoring the sight. The hostess comes over to help me, and I say, "I'm all right here for a minute. I see my party." She shrugs and walks away.

Matt sees me first. His gaze breaks from Punk's and he smiles and waves, causing Punk to pause and look my way. I head to the table, strangely reluctant to break up their conversation. "McCool," Punk says with a nod.

"Sorry I'm late. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation. It looked intense." I sit down next to Matt, and he slips his arm over my shoulder.

"It was," Matt says.

I look between the two of them. "Oh? What were you discussing?"

Punk shakes his head. "It's not important."

The little alarm in my head is going off now. "Why don't I believe you, Cuddle Monkey?"

Matt snickers. Punk says, "I really wish you'd quit calling me that in public places. Especially since your boyfriend finds it so amusing."

Matt's the one who answers. "Punk was threatening to kill me." He says it in such a matter of fact way that it actually takes me a moment to register what the words mean.

"Oh." Then my brain decodes the words. "Wait, what?"

Matt grins. Punk rolls his eyes and says, "Not outright kill him! I'd make it look like an accident."

I'm stunned. "But why would you be sitting here discussing that?"

"Relax, Michelle," Matt says. "We're kidding. Mostly."

"Though if you break her heart, you'll see how serious I am," Punk says mildly before taking a sip of his orange juice.

None of this seems to phase Matt, which makes me wonder if they had, in fact, gone over this. "Okay then," I mutter.

Punk pushes a menu toward me. "Better figure out what you want before too much longer, McCool." He smirks. Just as I'm about to ask him what he means by that, he says, "The waitress is coming over here."

"Oh." I stare at the menu thoughtfully.

The waitress comes and we place our orders. When she leaves again, Punk asks, "So who are you riding with today, McCool?"

Both of them are watching me. "I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. I usually ride with Layla..."

"I think she left already," Punk says.

I blink. "Really? Huh. I guess I ought to call her." Luckily, I brought my phone for once. I try to call Layla, but it rings twice, then goes to voicemail. Frowning, I send her a text: "Where are you?"

Matt and Punk start to discuss something. I'm not sure what; my entire focus is on my phone. Their voices are pleasant background noise. When the phone beeps, I push the button to read the text. "Leave me alone."

I frown and push the phone away. "Problem?" Punk asks, interrupting Matt mid-sentence.

"You tell me," I say to Punk. "You seem to know much more about my best friend than I do right now."

Punk sighs and pulls out his phone. "Give me a minute." He digs through the recent calls, finds Layla's number, and dials. "It's ringing," he tells me, and then he says into the phone, "Layla?" I can hear her from across the table. Her voice is loud and strident. Matt pulls me closer to him. "Uh huh. She is." Punk pauses, eyeing me. "I think she wants to know whether you're riding together today." Pause. "Well, there's no need for that kind of language!" He smirks. "Okay, sure. I'll tell her. Yep, goodbye." He hangs up, then says, "Looks like you need a ride to the next show. Probably wouldn't hurt to book a room, too. Unless you two are planning to share?"

My face feels hot. "We just started dating. I don't think we should rush into anything that's going to make things more complicated right now."

"Good thinking," Punk says. "So... how are you getting to the next show?"

As I was considering it, Matt says, "You can ride with me again."

"That sounds great," I say, relieved.

"Great!" Punk says, smiling. "Oh, and er... while we're on the subject, do you guys think I could catch a ride?"

I turned to stare at him. "We don't need a chaperone, Punk."

"I'm not suggesting you do. But last week, when I fell asleep in the backseat of the car, I woke up to Luke and Serena whispering about something. They stopped as soon as I sat up. It's making me nervous."

Suddenly, his earlier comments about Gallows made more sense to me. I look at Matt, who's frowning. "How are you going to get out of riding with them?" I ask. "They're going to be suspicious if you suddenly say that you're riding with us."

Punk sighs. "Serena made a not so subtle suggestion this morning that I might want to make other arrangements. She said that Gallows was still ticked that I flew in early yesterday and didn't tell them until they were already here. He's been shooting me dirty looks the last two days."

Matt finally speaks up. "I don't know. My girlfriend seems to think you're okay, but I'm not convinced. You're not going to try and talk us into going straightedge the entire drive, are you?"

"Of course not, Hardy," Punk says. "I know a lost cause when I see one."

I wince. Matt chuckles. "What do you think, Michelle? Should we let him tag along?"

"Why not? It's only four hours," I say.

Matt says, "Okay, Punk. You can ride with us. Don't make me regret it."