Under The Flame

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Amy stepped tentatively out into the hallway, her heart thundering. It was two in the morning, and she was headed for Adam's hotel room.

Since the couple had decided they were going to carry out the facade of having broken up, they had laid down the groundwork - and one of the plans was to book separate hotel rooms. It was the same old ploy they'd used back when they had kept their relationship a secret from everyone but four people.

"Come on, please?"

The redhead's eyes widened at the sound of the voice, and she crept back into the shadows of the corridor. She managed to keep herself pressed against the wall in a corner as light from the room filtered out into the hallway. She recognized the voice and cursed inside her head. She'd know that voice anywhere, and it belonged to the one person from whom she was trying to hide the truth...

... Matt Hardy.

But who was he talking to? She rolled her eyes as she kept to the shadows, figuring he had most likely picked up some chick at a club and had brought her back here. Maybe she'd had a change of heart and refused to sleep with him. And judging by the infection of his voice, she would have bet that was the case.

"No, I... I can't. I'm sorry."

Amy's jaw dropped as she recognized the voice belonging to the responder as well. It was indeed a woman, but definitely not a stranger. What the hell was she doing in Matt's room at this hour of the night?

"C'mon, Torrie," she heart Matt slur. He sounded drunk. "C'mon and give me some of that hot body of yours. You and me... just like that other night."

The redhead raised a hand to cover her mouth. She was in utter shock. Matt and Torrie? They were sleeping together? And then, she grew angry as she realized that their situation was exactly as hers and Adam's had been - because, as far as she could tell, no one even knew about them. She knew Jeff would have told her if he knew.

Then, another realization struck her... What if Matt had set Torrie up to hitting on Adam? The platinum blonde had already done that and tried to cause trouble for them. Was it possible that she'd done that of her own volition? Or had Matt asked her to do it? Amy knew how the darker Hardy brother was, and how badly he mistrusted Adam.

She frowned, growing more angry still as she thought about it. Matt Hardy was the kind of person who would put someone else up to scheming and doing his dirty work for him. A year earlier, she would have doubted that until the cows came home, but now? Well, now she wasn't so sure.

"No, Matt... I really have to go," Torrie was saying. "It's late and I need some sleep. Goodnight."

Amy kept herself concealed as she realized the blonde had stepped out into the hallway. She dared to peek just beyond the confines of the corner to watch the other woman retreat down the hallway to the elevators before slipping out from her hiding place.

Matt was nowhere to be seen. He had given up and closed the door to his hotel room, most likely to crash in his drunken state.

Amy scowled, shaking her head as she continued on to Adam's hotel room. Damn Matt and Torrie Wilson for whatever little foolish scheme they had cooked up, and especially for infringing upon her time with the man she loved. She was certain the blond man was sitting up, wondering what had kept her.

She had a keycard and swiped herself in. Sure enough, her boyfriend was sitting at the desk in the room, in his underwear, looking anxious.

Adam rose in an instant as Amy came over. He pulled her into his embrace, kissing her.

"What happened? Got held up?"

The redhead nodded.

"I have to talk to you."

He gave her an odd look, noting how serious her facial expression appeared. Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good. He sighed.

"All right... You might as well let me know now." He took her by the hand and led her to the bed, sitting on its edge and pulling her onto his lap.

The redhead placed her hands in his hair, gently playing with it a bit as she gazed down into his concerned green eyes. She despised those two at that very moment. This time was supposed to be happy, and for them to let it all loose. They were supposed to be having a passion-filled night, but instead, they were going to have a discussion about two people who'd given them nothing but grief.

"Something's up with Matt," she revealed. "He's up to something."

The blond man cocked his head as he gazed into his girlfriend's eyes.

"Is that so?" he muttered.

She nodded.

"Yeah. I just caught him with Torrie coming out of his room," she elaborated. "From the sound of it, they've got something going on."

Adam's brows rose in surprise. This news was not something he'd been expecting to hear.

"I would bet any amount of money that he asked Torrie to fuck with us."

"Oh, really?" The blond man couldn't help but clench his right hand into a fist. This made him so angry. So, Hardy was behind that? There was seriously something wrong with the man. At this point, Adam couldn't care less if Matt no longer wanted to be his friend. But he would be damned if he let the guy make Amy unhappy. No one was getting away with that if he had anything to say about it.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" he finally asked. He fingered her satin robe, toying with its sash to undo it.

Amy allowed the robe to slide down her body so that she only wore her black lace teddy. Her hazel eyes locked with his green. She dipped her head closer.

"Nothing at this very moment," she replied in a husky voice before lowering her lips on his.
 
 
 

Part 20

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