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"Okay. I give up." Liv dropped her bags to the hotel room floor so suddenly that Rhea almost tripped over them. "What's wrong? If I did something wrong, tell me."
Rhea sidestepped Liv's bag and headed to the balcony window, opening the curtains and staring out at the ocean view. She should have been enjoying herself—there was a beach on their doorstep and since WWE had rented the entire private resort, they didn't have to worry about kayfabe or fans snapping pictures. But the tension in her shoulders wouldn't go away and, as petty as she knew it was, she couldn't shake her annoyance. "It hurt when I saw you with Raquel."
"With… Raquel?" Liv shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean? We're tag team partners now. Of course we're going to spend time together. She was just asking me about a theme for our next set of gear." She went over to Rhea and hugged her from behind. "We're just friends."
"Just friends," Rhea echoed. "That's what we used to tell people too, remember?"
Liv squeezed a bit harder until Rhea grumbled. "You're the one who decided to join the local goth gang, not me. Being in a tag team at least gets me match time. And Raquel's dating Braun. You know that. Besides, she's not my type anyway."
Rhea turned around as much as she could manage in the circle of Liv's arms. "And did you always know I was your type?"
"Yes." Liv went up on tiptoe and kissed her. "Because you scared me."
It made Rhea laugh, at least, and she caved a bit, wrapping her arms around Liv. "I scared you?"
"Yeah. I mean, in a good way. Mostly." Liv ran her hands up and down Rhea's back as she gazed up at her. "I mean, you're just so… together. You're so young—"
"I'm only three years younger than you," Rhea interjected. "You're hardly an old hag."
"Listen, would you?" Liv pouted until Rhea rolled her eyes and nodded. "You're so young and you've already accomplished so much, but more than that, you always had this... confidence. You carried yourself like a champion. When I was in Riott Squad, I was always sort of the extra. Ruby was the leader and Sarah was the strength and I was the third, basically. Inside the ring, outside the ring, I didn't know who I was. But you—it feels like you've always known exactly who you are."
"Nah. I haven't. It was more a fake it til you make it deal." Then Rhea stopped. "Wait. You said I scared you. Past tense. I don't anymore?"
Liv started walking backwards, pulling Rhea to the bed. "I was getting there. Honestly." She kissed Rhea again and reached for the zipper on her jeans. "If you just want to fuck, though, we can do that instead...."
Rhea almost never turned down the chance to have sex with Liv, but now her curiosity was piqued. "Okay, okay. I'll behave. Shutting up now."
"Good. Then sit." Liv gestured to the headboard and watched as Rhea took off her shoes and crawled up to the top of the bed. Then she kicked off her sandals and straddled Rhea's lap, hooking a pinkie finger through Rhea's left lobe plug. "As I was saying—it was obvious that you were going to be a star. It made me feel like I was missing something. I've always loved wrestling, but no one ever said to me, You're going to be the one who makes it, kid. It's... it's not about competition or taking someone's spot, but you were such a great fit already. It made me feel like I missed a step or I wasn't cut out for this or something like that."
Rhea pressed her lips together so she wouldn't interrupt, but Liv gave her a small nod of assent. "So what changed?" she asked softly.
"I watched you—not like that!" Liv laughed, sliding her finger free of Rhea's tunnel piercing so she could swat her shoulder. "In the gym, in the locker room, in the ring. I saw how much work you put in. I saw you talking to everyone from Shawn to Damian to Beth. You were always moving, always learning. Yes, you were absolutely a star—but you made yourself shine. No one was handing you victories and opportunities. It helped remind me that even though there's only so much I can do, I can always put in the work. I can be the one who comes in early and helps out and stays late and talks to everyone who will listen. Once I started doing more, I started getting more in return."
When she thought Liv was done, Rhea cleared her throat. "Everyone's path is different. Everyone's timeline is different. We're both here, right?" She ran her hands up Liv's thighs, stopping just under the hem of her cut-off shorts. "Don't forget, it was different for me from the start. Coming from Australia, it's that much harder to get noticed anywhere. I knew I was going to have to work hard and I just kept... working hard. Now it's habit. I want to make sure everyone knows I've earned it and I continue to earn it every fucking day."
"I know," Liv said softly, kissing her with equal tenderness. "That's why I'm so proud of you. And in awe of you. And yes, I'm still a little bit scared of you, because if you've done all this before you're thirty... I mean, what's next?"
"We've been together for months now," Rhea said, sounding slightly baffled. "How can I still scare you?"
"In different ways." Liv traced Rhea's jawline with her fingertips. "Because you're so amazing and I'm worried I can't keep up. Because I fell for you faster than I've fallen for anyone before. Because you make me feel... braver, I guess, and then I'll do things I never dreamed of and then I'll be shocked. Because I never really knew what I wanted and now that I do, I'm afraid of losing it or screwing it up."
"I'm not going anywhere," Rhea murmured. "A rather cute girl is making sure of that." After pulling Liv closer for a kiss, she sighed. "So does that mean you're not scared of Raquel?"
Liv shook her head. "I mean, she's scary tall, so there's that. But she's... I don't know. More like a sister. When I look at her, I don't feel all... fluttery, like my heart's about to launch into orbit."
"Sweet talker," Rhea laughed. "Well, if I don't have anything to worry about from Raquel—"
"From anyone," Liv interjected. When Rhea looked surprised at the interruption, she stuck out her tongue. "You kept stopping me. It's fair game."
"Yeah, yeah. Well, then, if we're all good...?" Rhea looked up at her expectantly.
Liv nodded, wrapping her arms around Rhea's shoulders. "All good," she confirmed.
"Then I believe you mentioned something earlier about fucking." Rhea drew her legs up and wrestled Liv to the mattress. "Unless that scares you too? You do scream a lot...."
"Make me," Liv grinned, wrapping her legs around Rhea's waist.
"I was planning on it."