The Warmth

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Lita and Jeff rode back to the hotel in relative silence.

The two friends were each consumed by their own thoughts over what had happened earlier that night on RAW... A new pact, a new faction, had been formed. They, along with Edge and Trish, had decided to call their little group 'The Clique' - and they'd united as a result of taking a stand against injustic - and for the 'little guy,' so to speak.

"We should convince Bubba and D'Von to join us..." Lita suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

Jeff turned his colorful head to eye his friend with surprise. He wondered why he hadn't even thought of such a thing.

Lita continued steering the rental car, her eyes focused on the road ahead as she went on.

"They're sick of listening to Bischoff and Morley - I know it, Jeff...Their actions tonight spoke volumes louder than their words when I overheard their conversation with Eric and Chief Morley..."

"Li - those guys are scared to death of risking their jobs - they probably had a momentary slipup, if you will..." the younger Hardy brother said. "How the heck are we gonna convince them to join up with us?"

"Oh, I don't think they'll need too much convincing..." the redhead stated confidently, a grin now taking residence on her lovely face. "Did you see the way they stepped past Bischoff and Morley when you and Trish came out to help Edge and me?"

"Well...yeah," Jeff admitted.

"Yeah - and when the two jerks were on my case when I stepped in to defend them, Bubba and D'Von wanted to stay and help me..."

"But Li, they didn't..."

"No, but they turned to look back..." the redhead pointed out. "That's something..."

"Okay...I'll give you that..." the rainbow-headed young man agreed.

There was a comfortable silence between the two friends for awhile as each thought about their current situations - and about their counterparts, Edge and Trish.

Lita smiled as she thought about the tall, handsome blond Canadian. He really did care... Just when she'd gotten into a pickle of trouble with Bischoff and Morley, Edge had come through for her. He'd rescued her... And she was so grateful toward him.

Jeff smiled as he gazed out the passenger's side window, the beautiful Trish consuming his thoughts. In his humble opinion, they made quite the team as of late. Just... if only he could garner up the nerve to tell her how he really felt. What was truly in his heart was her... He wanted in the worst way to tell her that Torrie Wilson had never meant a damn thing to him - how, when the trashy blonde had been all over him two years earlier, he'd never kissed her back - had no intention of kissing her back. Jeff knew that Trish liked him - perhaps even a lot... So, why did he find it so difficult to tell her the truth about how he felt toward her?

He was suddenly roused from his reverie as a tiny chuckle escaped Lita.

"What?"

"Nothing..." the redhead replied. "I was just thinking about Edge..."

"Is that so?" Jeff asked, one eyebrow cocked as he eyed her. A tiny, almost sly smile spread across his face.

"Yeah...same as you were just thinking about Trish..."

The colorful-haired man gave a look of surprise. He'd forgotten how good the redhead was at reading his mind.

Grinning, he reached over to give her a playful nudge...






Part 17

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