before he cheats | a.cole

six

Adam and I make small talk in the car. I tell him a bit about my favorite movie and tv show. He talks to me about his love for video games.

"I'd love to maybe have you on the stream one day," he says. "We could play anything you wanted."

I turn into the parking lot of my apartment complex and I say, "Britt would have to be out for me to come to the house."

Adam laughs and says, "I'd be able to sneak you in. Do you know how many times I've had to sneak the guys in because she didn't want anyone over? Too many times but I've learned all the cool tricks."

I laugh and pull into my spot. I park the car and turn it off. Adam and I get out and grab our things from the trunk before he closes it and I lock my car. We walk inside and take the elevator to my floor.

The elevator doors open and I grab my key. I unlock the door and walk inside. I turn a light on and say, "Sorry it's kind of a mess. I really wasn't expecting anyone over and I've been busy so I haven't had time to clean."

Adam walks in and closes the door behind him, locking it. He says, "It's fine. If I didn't live with Britt, my place would probably look like this too."

If I'm being completely honest, the apartment isn't that messy. I have a coffee cup on the living room table and a few dishes in the sink that I haven't gotten to washing yet. A few papers are scattered on my dining room table because I use that more for work than I do for eating.

I look at Adam and say, "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I have lots of snacks and drinks. I'm gonna go put my things away really quick."

Adam nods and I walk down the small hallway to my bedroom. I unpack the makeup from the suitcase and put it back in the makeup area I have in the corner of the room. I put my ring gear back in my closet and I take the ripped fishnet tights and throw them out.

I try to put my suitcase back on the top shelf of my closet before I slip and fall to the ground. The suitcase hits my shoulder before hitting the ground with a thud and I cry out in a bit of pain. I grab my shoulder and massage it gently.

Adam's head appears in the doorway and asks, "I heard a loud noise. What happened?"

I start to get up and say, "Nothing. Everything's fine. I just slipped and fell trying to put the suitcase back."

I grab it and successfully put it back in my closet. I turn and look at Adam, who leans against the doorway of my bedroom. He asks, "Are you okay? It sounded pretty bad."

I rub my shoulder a little bit and move it around. "Yeah," I say. "All good."

Adam walks into my room and says, "It didn't sound good. Let me check help you with your shoulder."

I let go of my shoulder and his hand replaces mine. He stands in front of me. I never noticed how tall he was until right now. He's almost a whole head taller than me. I'm eye level with his shoulders.

"Your shoulder is really tense," he says. "Is it always like this?"

I nod and say, "Yeah but it's no big deal. I do everything I can to keep it loose."

Adam walks around me and stands behind me. His other hand goes to my other shoulder and he laughs. "You need to relax your shoulders a bit. It's not healthy," he says.

I say, "I know that." I smile.

Out of nowhere, Adam begins to massage my shoulders. I raise my eyebrows but let out a soft sigh. "Jesus," I say. "Maybe you should have gone into the massage world instead of professional wrestling."