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Adam Copeland gritted his teeth as he sound-checked his guitar for his band's little rehearsal later on. He grimaced at the sound that came out of his Gibson Flying V.
"Everything all right, Edge?"
At the sound of his stage name, the tall blond man looked up from where he was seated on the small, low stage and saw Stephanie McMahon watching him.
"Yeah," he said. "Just that my guitar is horribly out of tune. Should've known better than to let Christian touch it."
"Well, yeah!" the pretty brunette said with a grin. "Especially seeing as he's a drummer...He wouldn't know one end of a guitar from the other if one fell out of Jimi Hendrix's hands up in heaven!"
He smirked, then laughed aloud at the young woman's crack. He liked Stephanie. Along with Ric Flair, she was half-owner of the club, which was dubbed In The Raw. Adam thought it was a bit of a silly name, but the brunette's brother, Shane, had come up with it... Well, what else could you expect from an accountant?
As he fiddled around with the tuners on his guitar, the blond man listened to Stephanie's chatter.
"So, you must be excited that you guys got a replacement for Test so soon, huh?"
"Yeah," he replied, running a hand through his long blond hair. "Though I wish I could have been around for his audition."
"Too bad Test left, though," the brunette said. "He was so dreamy..." Her blue eyes took on a faraway look.
Edge rolled his eyes and snorted at that. "'Dreamy,' huh? Well, I don't know about that."
"Well, he was!" Steph insisted as she swatted him on the arm. "Not to say you aren't also." She smiled broadly.
"Yeah, yeah...you're just saying that and you know it, Miss Stephanie McMahon." He feigned hurt.
Stephanie laughed. "You know, I always wondered why you guys chose the name 'Sweet Misery' for your band...I mean, you, Test, Christian and Chris - the 'Sweet' makes plenty of sense, but the 'Misery'...?"
Before Adam could reply, Chris Jericho came out from the small backstage room, his B.C. Rich Warlock bass guitar in hand. Stephanie rolled her eyes. "On second though, I know where - or rather, who - the word 'Misery' came from..."
The man heard the comment and smirked as he stared at the brunette. "What's the matter, Princess? Someone else claim the street corner you usually work?"
Edge raised his eyes heavenward, groaning as he waited for the woman's response. These two always did this - they thrived on trading off insults, and the way they so relished it, one would think they truly despised one another. However, in reality, it was all just tongue-in-cheek. Chris and Stephanie actually got along great.
The brunette finally cracked a smile, unable to hold it back. "Ooh, you got me - that was a good one."
Jericho laughed, winking at her. "Come on, Steph...Why don't we go grab a bite to eat? How's the diner right next door?"
"Sounds good. Let me just grab my purse, and we'll go."
"Groovy." When the young woman was gone, Chris sat down beside his bandmate, who couldn't help wondering why in God's name Jericho and Stephanie hadn't become an item yet. They were so obviously into each other, and neither was attached.
"Hey, man...We should be back soon, but if our new guitar player shows up while I'm gone, feel free to introduce yourself."
"Sure...I think I can handle that okay, Chris," the taller man said sarcastically.
"Great...oh, Steph is ready," Jericho noted, and Edge followed his friend's gaze and saw the young woman standing across the club floor, her purse slung over one shoulder as she gazed their way. "See you later."
"Later, Chris," Edge replied. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
The other man turned back and gave him a wink and a thumb up.