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Dave stared hard at the two still on the state, his dark brown eyes sharp. He wanted nothing more than to just bark at *him*, but Lita was there as well and she didn't deserve his wrath. Lord knew, he acknowledged, he had put her through enough in their past.
The redhead seemed oblivious as she halted her playing and merely stood and stared as Edge played a few melodic licks on his own guitar. He seemed so concentrated, so focused that even he at first didn't notice Batista.
"That's pretty," Lita said, a lovely smile brightening her entire face. "I've never heard that before. What is it?"
"New song I've been writing," the tall blond guitarist replied. He smiled easily at her, thoughts of her contributing with her own licks running through his head. They hadn't really written any songs together yet, as Lita hadn't been an active part of Sweet Misery for very long. However, Edge loved her playing and couldn't wait to compose songs with her. He was sure it would be just as great as doing certain other things with her.
"Sounds awesome," she said, her hazel eyes raising from his guitar and fingers to meet his gaze. It was then that they both became aware of Batista as he cleared his throat, and they shifted their gazes to him.
"Dave..."
"I hate to piss on your parade," the big, tattooed man said, "but *we* need the stage now."
Edge eyed the other man, not at all happy. But he knew Batista had a point, as Evolution were playing first that night and they needed time to practice and warm up.
"All yours," he muttered. What in hell had Lita ever seen in this man? For the life of him, he couldn't figured it out. Then again, he knew the very overused cliche saying - love was blind.
Lita was the first to vacate the stage, her guitar still strapped on.
"All yours," she said, echoing her counterpart.
Edge didn't say another word as he followed her. He dared to look directly into Dave's dark eyes, however, not at all surprised by the malice he saw in them. At the same time, he was of course reminded of the stupid thing he'd done in letting Torrie go down on him. It disgusted even himself, and the blond man wondered if he would ever be able to just forget about it. Damn it, if only he hadn't been so suspicious of Lita's true relationship with Sean O'Haire.
Oddly, and as though on cue with his thoughts, the platinum blonde suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She passed directly by Edge, on his left. She grinned largely and brightly, looking him directly in the eye as she did so.
The tall blond man frowned. Somehow, the woman had gone completely unnoticed by Lita as she headed for the backstage room. It was damned strange.
However, she didn't go unnoticed by her huge, burly boyfriend. Batista's eyes narrowed as he kept his suspicious gaze on Torrie. Although he really hadn't vented his fury out on her that night, he was pretty pissed, and his patience was beginning to wear thin.
She headed toward the stage just as Dave had climbed down, forgetting his guitar for the moment. Torrie let out a tiny yelp as her boyfriend grabbed her by the upper arm - not forcibly in any way - and her eyes met his.
"What are you doing?" he asked, no traces of amusement showing on his face. Instead, he looked serious, his dark brown eyes kind of hard. It wasn't what she'd expected at all.
"I'm not doing anything, honey," she replied, feigning innocence and smiling winningly at him. She supposed that tactic would be better than any other. "Unless you *want* me to."
Batista's eyes narrowed with more suspicion.
"Do me a favor, huh, babe? Stay right *here* until my set is over." They were directly in front of the stage, by the center of it.
The tall blond grinned. Aha, this was more like it! He wanted her right *here*, right where he could see her during his band's entire set. God, he was cute... But she didn't plan for one second to oblige him, as she liked to roam and wander, explore. Besides, if she simply stood rooted to this spot the entire time, how would she be able to make him jealous?
She planted a hearty kiss on his cheek, her left hand reaching up to stroke his short hair.
"Dave, you're jealous!" Torrie said in a loud whisper. "Aww, that's so cute!"
Before Batista could respond, and judging by the look on his face, the blonde could see he was about to protest, she began to nibble on his earlobe. Luckily, that shut him up in a hurry, and she smiled in satisfaction as she felt his arm encircle her waist.