Good luck charm 2: Rhea Ripley x Solo Sikoa
Summary: what happens the rest of Mania weekend after Rhea and Solo hookup?
Warnings: No smut, degrading language, drama, still lots is fluff and cuteness through out.
ANs: This fic is 14513 words… I have never wrote anything this long before. I hope y’all like it 🖤🖤🖤 and once again if Jey & Jaida is going to make you upset then don’t read this
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“A headlock?” Liv leaned over the table, the mugs of coffee and juice shaking as she slapped her hand on the table. “That motherfucker put you in a headlock?”
“After I asked.” She clarified, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a mischievous smile that pulled at the corner of her lips, as Damian shook his head like a disappointed father at the two gossiping women.
“Ooh, I know that dick was good.”
“Better than good, I mean—” Rhea looked around their table, trying to find something that somewhat resembled the Samoan. “See this pepper shaker.” She picked up the pepper mill off the table, watching Liv’s face shift into a shocked but intrigued -and slightly jealous- look.
“My god, Rips.” Damian stretched his hand over his face, sighed behind it with a soft laugh slipping through.
“What? I didn’t have a ruler on me.” She quipped, biting the tip of her tongue. “And he knew just how to use that shit, same with his mouth.”
Damian threw up in his mouth for the fifth time this morning, making both the women laugh at his performance of disgust, like he didn’t want to hear all the dirt, too.
“I thought you were just looking for sex? What happened to that?” Damian asked while Liv took a bite of her toast with scrambled eggs on top.
Rhea’s eyebrows furrowed, and her lips stuck out a little as confusion washed over her. “How do you- what makes you say that?”
She hadn't gotten to the part where she and Solo decided they really enjoyed each other’s company last night, and didn’t want to stop. She was way too excited to tell them all the dirty details of her amazing night.
“The pic he posted earlier this morning. He ain’t tell you about it?”
Damian asked, his deep voice rumbling in his chest as worry filled it by the lost look on Rhea’s face.
“What picture? He posted a picture of me?”
Liv scrambled to pull her phone out of her purse and pull up the picture that was only a couple of hours old. Rhea grabbed Liv’s phone from her, bringing it closer to her face to make sure she was seeing it correctly.
It was probably wrong, but her stomach started to flutter again, stronger than before with Solo. Taking her bottom lip between her teeth to hold back her smile.
She and Solo had just hooked up last night- and though it was more than that, they both knew it was something they could feel; it was all she felt with him. It’s been less than 24 hours, and he was already posting her, publicly, claiming her, so no one else could even mistake her for a single woman this weekend.
She and Jey dated for 3 years, and it took him 8 months to post her. She had to beg him to do it the first time and every time after that. She was a bloody idiot; she should've known sooner than she did, all the signs were there, she was just blinded by all the love.
But now that was over, and she had Solo. And it made her want to kick her feet and giggle like a schoolgirl.
She guessed she had been staring at the picture for longer than she thought as Damian cleaned his throat, breaking her out of her daze.
“Huh? Yeah?” She looked up with a doe-eyed look, hanging Liv’s phone back to her. “Guess, that’s what he meant this morning when he told him about us.”
“Oh, you missed the show,” Liv said, still stuffing her face, “Dumb and dumber were down here earlier arguing about you.” She used her fork to point at her, a cheeky smile stretching across her face. “He seemed pretty upset, way too upset for a cheating bastard, but her bird ass seemed more mad over your fine ass getting some good dick and a good man all in one night.”
Rhea laughed, but was still stuck on the way Solo was so quick he was to tell the world she was his.
Was that the only reason tho?
The thought popped into her head like a zit, annoying and at the most inconvenient time.
Was she being used? There was no way, she felt it. There was no mistaking the tension that filled the air between them (love was a dangerous word this early on, but she would be lying if she wasn’t falling incredibly harder for Solo). What she felt last night was not just some get back at his older brother. There was passion. But the thought lingered in her mind like a bad taste.
“So what? Y’all together now?”
Damian said, getting back to his previous question.
“Ummmm,” Rhea’s cheeks turned a rosy color as she thought about it, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m sure we’ll have sex again, but I don’t know if we’re together.”
Rhea pushed and poked at her bowl of oatmeal; she could get Solo out of her head. Their night, earlier this morning, was it crazy that she already missed him?
She didn’t have a chance to ask her embarrassing questions before Liv kicked her under the table.
“Ow! What was that for?” She reached down, grabbing her shin. “Look.” Liv pointed past her, and she looked, seeing the man she was just missing.
“I’ll be right back.” She quickly mumbled before scooting her chair back, practically skipping over to her not boyfriend, boyfriend.
“Hi.” Her feet hit the floor at the same time as next to him, already seeing Solo smiling as he grabbed a plate. “Hey, La'u manamea.” His words rolled off his tongue, making her blush. “You done braggin’ ‘bout me?”
“Yeah,” She crossed her arms over her chest -that was only covered with a black take top, leaving very little to the imagination- Solo already starting to undress her with his eyes, and having no shame in doing so.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“I can’t help it.” He said, putting two warm biscuits on his plate. “Yo’ look too good.”
“Did I look this good this morning?” She said, causing him to glance at her out of the corner of his eyes, “I didn’t know we were posting pictures already.”
“I didn’t think it was a problem, you upset?”
“I mean, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you did it just so he saw it, and you could one-up him.”
Solo set his plate down on the small edge of the bar full of food that made both of them want to break their Mania diet.
She didn’t even let him get another word out before grabbing his arm, dragging him into a long, empty hallway where they could talk without eyes on them.
“Did you just use me to get back at him?”
Rhea blurted out as soon as they rounded the corner, releasing her tight grip on his forearm.
“What?” Solo said his words, coming out with his breath as his back hit the wall.
“Did you flash that ridiculously cute smile at me to get back at him? Am I just some prawn in y’all’s twisted bloody minds? Some slut that will open her legs at the first look of a Samoan?”
Old feelings bubbled up along with insecurities and doubts that weren’t Solo’s fault in the slightest, but she couldn’t stop them from boiling over once she heard about what had happened in the breakfast hall before she arrived.
Rhea wrapped her arms back around her rising chest; this time, like armor to protect herself from the words that could come out of his mouth. Looking at him with a harsh expression, but her eyes still had that tender spark in them that wouldn’t go away when she looked at him.
“Rhea, if I just wanted to use you for sex, I wouldn’t have stayed the night, and I wouldn’t have posted that picture in the morning.” He moved towards her, and Rhea took a step backward, but he didn’t let her get very far away, grabbing both of her arms right above her elbows so she couldn’t run away.
“And if it was all just about sex, then I wouldn’t have asked you to keep doing whatever we’re doing, Rhea. I really like you.” Solo started managing to grab one of her hands as she dropped her arms down to her sides. “Like an embarrassing amount for us to have just hooked up last night.” Rhea softly snorted in response as her face turned calmer, a slight smile pulling at her mouth.
“I didn’t post that picture to get back at him or anything like that. I did it because I was… happy it wasn’t all some dream.”
He admitted sheepishly, a light blush covering his face as his thumb rubbed against the skin on top of her hand so gently it would’ve gone unnoticed if it didn’t make her heart rate spike.
“Yeah, I wanted him to see it. I posted it; I wanted everybody to see it. But I didn’t sleep with you just because you're his ex, or to get back at him for the shit he did.”
Solo pulled her closer by her hand and she didn’t even try to stop him; she was feeling like a complete idiot now for biting his head off for no reason, letting her insecurities take over, immediately began to question everything despite what had happened in the last 24 hours that told her differently.
“I don’t want to hide the fact that I like you. You don’t deserve to be hidden away like some dirty secret, or that this is wrong.” He motioned between them with his empty hand, “He cheated. He lost you the minute he did that. Now we’re together, and if he wants to be mad about it then, oh well, I don’t care how he feels.” He squeezed her hand as he held it; her eyes had completely softened as she looked into his eyes. Closing the gap between them by pulling on her hand, her foot moving under her before she could even think about it.
“I only care ‘bout how you feel. And I’m sorry if I made you feel like some pawn or that last night was just some random hookup because I promise you it wasn’t.”
It felt like all the air had been knocked out of her lungs, leaving her breathless, and a hot chill went through her body. It felt so good to have someone care so much for her in such a short amount of time.
It made her wonder if he liked her longer than she first thought.
“I’m sorry, I just… I got… scared, I guess.” She ran her fingers through the front of her hair with an awkward smile, glancing away from him. “Jey never posted me online unless I made him, and you just did it.”
Rhea took the inside of her bottom lip between her teeth nervously, feeling a warm wave consuming her, spreading out from her chest.
“Because I want to be seen with you. I want people to know we’re together. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first.”
“It’s okay, I-i just got it in my head about it.” She pushed up on the tips of her toes to kiss him. His empty hand grabbed her waist, pulling her against his chest.
She felt the same spark she felt last night that spread through her body like a roaring river. It was a euphoric feeling that she wished never had to end.
But of course, it eventually had to end when they finally had to pull apart for air. Making them both laugh at their flushed faces from the lack of oxygen and the abundance of passion.
“I can ask next time if you want me to," Solo whispered, holding her close, not ready to let go yet. “No, it’s okay, it just surprised me. Before I got in my head about it, I really liked it.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw it.” Just thinking about it made her smile so big her cheeks hurt.
“Well, when you beat Jade tomorrow, I’ll post a bunch more pictures of you and your new title.”
His hands wrapped around her waist, where her new title would go if she already had it. “Do you and the guys already have a table?” She asked, looking up at him as her smile grew bigger. “No, why?”
“Come eat with us. We got a big table, you guys can eat with us, it’s not like we’re hiding anything.”
Solo looked a little shocked, but his shock was quickly replaced by a smile before he said. “I’ll tell the boys, let me finish gettin’ my food, and I’ll be over there.”
She nodded her head, giving him a peck on the lips before she pulled away, walking back towards her friends that were mocking her, Damian making kissing noises, his arms wrapped around his back in a classic make-out style, while Liv grabbed her boobs with one hand and had her other hand under the table mimicking head with the silent faces she was making from across the room.
“I hate both of you," Rhea said, sitting back down in her chair at their round table. “You love us.” Liv corrected. Damian shook his head to himself; he didn’t think their breakfast breakdowns could get more chaotic, but here they were.
“She doesn’t seem upset, whatever it was about," Liv added, laughing into her coffee cup. “Fuck you.” There was no bite behind her words as she watched Solo and Tama talking; she wasn’t one hundred percent sure they were talking about her until Tama turned around and looked right at her, with a friendly smile.
“I just invited a few friends to eat breakfast with us.”
She said coyly, twirling her hair like some high schooler. Before Talla Tonga joined them at their table next to Liv, forcing Liv to move her hoodie that she had just tossed to the side.
It didn’t even take a minute before Solo and Talla sat down, putting her between them both.
Their table became very full very fast with the huge plates that the two Tongan’s and the Samoan had made and she wasn’t even sure if that would be all they ate for breakfast this morning.
“How’s y’all’s mornin’?” Tama spoke up first, cutting his waffle with the edge of his fork.
“Well, I know two people who had a really good morning," Liv murmured under her breath, earning herself a bruised shin. “Shut up," Rhea said through gritted teeth, hearing Solo chuckle next to her.
“I’m sorry, she’s… she’s Liv.” She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. Liv was Liv; an unfiltered ball of chaos that she loved having in her life.
“I mean, we did have a good morning… and night.”
His words showed on her crimson face.
She looked down at the ground between her feet, trying to calm down. Solo’s hand was grabbing her knee, making her blush even harder.
Rhea was sitting up in her box suite, leaning her head on Solo's shoulder, watching as Jey and Jimmy walked down the ramp with a confidence and swagger only the twins could.
Damian was sitting a few seats away from them with Lola next to him, taking pictures of herself in her “Love Bites” shirt that she cut the neckline of so it showed off her shoulders.
Talla and Tama were behind them, watching silently, proud of their play cousins making it to Mania once again. But glanced at each other once they saw Rhea lift her own beer to her lips.
Rhea washed the bad taste in her mouth.
She hadn’t seen Jey since they broke up in mid February, just in time for her to move to SmackDown and not have to see his cheating ass anymore, but having to see him standing in the middle of the ring made the wound she spent so long healing rip back open, feeling fresh all over again.
“Rips, you alright?” Damian called out, getting her attention. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She lied, there were too many fans around to be honest. Solo slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it softly, making her look up at him, humming in response.
“Yeah.” She took another drink to help numb the pain in her chest.
Jey and Jimmy climbed into the ring, the crowd roaring with excitement and “Yeeting” completely off beat. They climbed on the ropes, and Rhea felt the tear in her heart grow as Jey looked at her.
His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, but she felt it. A cold shiver went down her spine as a wide, toothy grin spread across his face; one full of hate and anger that just filled her with painful memories of what that smile used to mean.
His eyes used to light up when he spotted her in the crowd, blowing a kiss to her instead of the crowd. It was cheesy but cute nonetheless. The act made her want to throw up in her mouth now.
Solo squeezed her hand again. “You wanna take a walk?” “… yeah.”
Rhea put her drink back down in her cup holder with trembling hands before standing up; Rhea couldn’t get out of there fast enough, letting Solo tell them all they’ll be right back. Damian gave him a nod that said, “Take care of her.” Solo nodded back, then followed Rhea out of their box.
Rhea pulled her hoodie up over her head so no one would see her as she made her way towards the elevator, hearing his heavy footsteps behind her.
He didn’t catch up until they made it inside the elevator.
“Hey, hey, Rhea, it’s fine.”
“I’m sorry, I-i just- I can’t watch him right now.”
The Aussie was facing the corner of the elevator wall with her arms wrapped around herself, covering her bare arms with her tremble.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize, Rhea.”
Solo placed his hand on her shoulder. His touch was an invitation for her to fall into his open arms, her forehead resting against his sternum.
He brushed his hand up and down her arm. “What do yo’ want to do instead?” She didn’t answer him so he started listing off some options of what they could do.
“We could get some food or go check on Liv or something to drink… or we could just go if you want?”
Sikoa gently combed his fingers through her hair, feeling her warm breath through his shirt.
“I want a drink. A good drink, not a nasty beer.” She picked her head up, staring back at him.
“I got you, La u manamea.” He pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head before pulling back. “Come on, I know a place we can get a good, strong drink.”
Rhea followed him out of the unmoved elevator, her heavy Vans stomping down the concrete as Solo pulled her down the hallway to an unknown place.
She giggled like a child as she and Solo rushed around the arena, getting a quick glimpse inside the other skyboxes as they ran past.
They stopped just short of one of the skyboxes, loud cheers and some scattered booses coming from it as she spotted a plaque that read “Fatu”
“Solo.” She called out his name, firmly making him turn around.
Rhea was staring at him with wide eyes, like he was crazy because he was. Why the hell would she want to go into a room full of her exs and now new… something family?
“I’m not going in there; your family barely liked me before. I’m not gonna get called a homie hopper to my face by your auntie’s.”
Solo froze, scratching his eyebrow, realizing his mistake, clearly not thinking this all the way through.
“Ummm, shit, you want to go somewhere else then?”
“I mean,” Rhea wrapped her arms around herself, still craving that stiff drink. “You can go in there and get me a drink, I’m just not going in there.”
“Ok, stay here.” He pecked a kiss on her cheek before walking into the skybox. More cheers erupted as soon as Solo walked inside.
She could hear the laughter and warm welcomes from outside, and her stomach was still turning even without Jey’s presence.
She cared for Solo, she enjoyed his company, but the messiness of how they came together and the very public declaration of “ownership” left a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew the internet was calling her everything but a child of god because she decided to pick up the pieces Jey broke with his little brother.
It wasn’t revenge- ok, maybe it was a little about revenge in the beginning, but she truly liked Solo, and even if he wasn’t a Fatu she would’ve still fallen for him.
Who cared if she was a “slut” or a “gold digger” or even saying that she cheated first, defending Jey’s action, adjusted with any other unclever name they could come up with for her.
How did she get cheated on and end up the bad guy?
She could already hear the birds' chirping in her ears.
It didn’t take long for Solo to walk out with Dirty Shirley in his hands, shouting, “Alright, I’ll see y’all later!” As he came out with a smile on his face.
“Here, Sweetheart, I had them make it extra strong.”
“Thank you.” She took the red drink out of his hand and took a sip; it tasted as good as it tasted last night. The memory of how his grenadine-dyed tongue explored her mouth made her cheeks match her drink. “No problem. Yo’ tryin’ to go see Liv now?”
“Yeah, she texted me while you were getting our drinks.”
By the time Rhea and Solo made it down to the ground floor and found Liv and Dominik, the big triple tag match was over, and Jacob’s and Drew’s match was starting.
“Ugh! That shit is strong, dude, why are you drinkin’ that, you ain’t even won nothing yet.”
Dominik wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while the three of them laughed.
“It’s a pre-celebrate drink for when I kick Jade’s ass tomorrow night.” Rhea was starting to feel the alcohol flowing through her body, Solo’s large arms draped over her chest, holding her back against his chest from behind.
“Hell right you are!” Liv said with enthusiasm on the floor, stretching herself out. “And then we’ll fight at Crown Jewel.”
“And I’ll beat your ass.”
“Oh, ok!” Liv huffed out a laugh, “May I remind you who was the first ever Crown Jewel champion?”
“Doesn’t matter, Mami doesn’t lose, especially to you.” She pointed her finger at the blonde, sticking her neck out in the same manner.
As the group laughed -Dominik taking another drink of her Dirty Shirley despite saying it was too strong, they heard an overly loud squeal followed by a grunt, making them all turn their heads to see who it was.
She had jumped into his arms, having no shame in how much PDA they were doing. Jey’s hands were placed firmly on her ass while her legs were locked around his waist, kissing like he had won the title and not just some celebrity match with a Twitch streamer.
Rhea wished it didn’t bother her as much as it did.
Her body felt hot taking a big chunk of her drink to cool it down. All of them tried not to look at her, but she could feel the sense of concern that washed over the group.
“She was just accusing him of fuckin’ other bitches, they're so fake it’s funny.” Liv said, trying to shift the vibes back to what they were.
A distant slapping sound caught their attention again. Jey grabbed the back of his head as Jimmy stood beside the couple. “Don’t be an asshole, Uce, take that shit somewhere else.”
“Man, whatever.” He waved him off, putting his arm around Jaida’s waist. “Yo’ gonna be mad at him too or just me?” Jey pointed back at them, but didn’t look at them. Jaida did, though.
She and Rhea made eye contact. An ugly grin stretched across her face, her hands grabbing onto his shoulder like she owned him.
You can’t own a stray dog. No matter how many times you fix the broken fence, it’s gonna find its way outside on the streets to the bitches no matter what.
“I’m not finna do this with y’alls goofy asses right now. You did that shit to yourself, now deal with that shit and shut up ‘bout it.”
None of them had a good look at Jey’s face, but they could hear how irritated he was by what he said next.
“Clearly she fine ‘cause she out here fuckin’ our brother so who cares.”
Jimmy grumbled just barely under his breath as he pushed past his twin and his girl. Catching the four of them staring, they all immediately turned around as he got closer.
Jimmy surprisingly didn’t say anything despite being known for having such a big ass -not as known for putting his foot in it like Jey- he gave Solo a quick nod and couldn’t help up glance back at her with a faint smile.
Jimmy was one of the people she was scared to lose when she had the proof Jey was cheating on her, she didn’t know how much his brothers knew or if they did.
But after everything blew up, Jimmy texted her after she ignored his and Naomi’s calls, telling her that they didn’t know and that she’s still his sister and if he needs anything at all, please let him know.
She jokingly asked him to beat Jey’s ass for her, and he said he gladly would if that’s what she really wanted.
It wasn’t. But it was nice to know someone else had her back other than Damian.
A brand new day, and she hoped there wouldn’t be any extra drama or stress other than the usual that came from such a big day.
“I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS GONNA POST IT!” Rhea shouted in her hotel’s bedroom while Naomi was at home nursing her baby, upset that nobody told her all the tea about what was going on in the sin city.
“You could‘ve told me before! Or in the morning, Liv told me she knew before and got all the details in the morning!"
Naomi got as upset as she could with her little bundle of joy in her arms.
“I didn’t think you wanted to hear about all the nasty things your brother-in-law did to me!” She tried to explain herself, putting her hands up in defense. “No matter how hot and sexy it was.”
“So are you really, “his," or did he just say that to get under you know who’s skin?”
“I don’t know if I’m his per se, but he meant it. He doesn’t want to hide me like a secret, he said fuck you know who’s feelings because he clearly never gave a fuck about mine.”
Naomi nodded his head with a smile, “That sounds like Solo, he’s always been sweet like that. Especially when it comes to you.”
Her face turned a bright red color immediately. “What?” She wasn’t really asking; she was more in disbelief, but Naomi answered anyway. “He was eyeing you for the moment he got called up to the main roster. You should’ve seen him when Jey brought you home. He was crushed. Guess good things come to those who wait.”
Rhea never had a feeling that Solo liked her before now. He was always nice to her, giving her a ride if she needed one, he spotted her at the gym once because Jey was late, and he always checked on her if he knew Jey was too busy with “work” -not that he knew either what he was really busy doing- making sure she ate and bringing her something if she hadn’t.
But she never got the vibes that he was doing any of that for any other reason than to be nice.
She looked at her play sister from a moment before snapping out of it, saying.
“Guess they do.” Rhea sipped on her coffee, smiling into her disposable cup. “It just took us 3 years with a shitty boyfriend to realize we liked each other.”
“Better now than never, right?” The woman on her phone screen pulled up her tank top, and a sweet babble of nonsense left the baby’s mouth before Naomi started burping him. “I know your auntie is smitten already, and I know your uncle is too. We're gonna call him later and get the tea.”
“I don’t think you're gonna get any details out of him.”
“I don’t need to, the bite mark on his arm says enough, ooh, and he’s flexin’ it like a piece of jewelry? Oh, girl, you got him feelin’ himself, whatever y’all did- that you won’t tell me,” Naomi was going to bully Rhea into telling her. “Was good as fuck, he’s never been one to show people what happens behind closed doors.”
“Well you don’t get called a slut for having a bad pussy, Nai, why do you think Mr Hannah Montana is still talking about me? Talk about your bitch, not me.” She pointed at herself with her long, white and silver nails, her eyes narrowing and jaw tightening as she looked at the camera with a dirty look.
Naomi brought her thumb and her pointer finger together. “Clock it, because he sure keeps tryin’ to ask ‘bout you in a roundabout way when we talk, it pisses me off.”
She rolled her eyes, tossing her compression socks into her suitcase. “Tell his ass if he wants to know them, ask me. I’ll tell him all about how his little brother’s dick is better and bigger than his. I don’t care, what is he gonna do?”
Nothing. The correct answer was nothing.
Jey definitely had a few screws loose, but he learned very quickly that his brothers weren’t on his side in the breakup, and weren’t gonna let him talk out the side of his neck to her when she didn’t do anything.
“Exactly.” She pointed at the screen as she grabbed a few pairs of fishnets, just in case one of them ripped and threw them into her suitcase. “You can tell him and that cunt he’s with.”
She didn’t want to dwell on the past- yesterday, but while she was trying to sleep last night she couldn’t stop picturing Jaida’s smug face.
She was- or thought she was past the sitting up at night thinking about Jey part. Replaying every moment of their relationship in her head, trying to find the exact moment he stopped loving her.
And the thought of Jaida hurt her more. How she seemed to have no shame and no regrets about getting with a taken man.
But of course she wasn’t going to let anyone see how her heart was still hurting, being stitched together to hopefully help it heal faster as it ached to see them together, as fake as it may be.
“Good luck, La’u manamea, I’ll be waiting for you by Gorilla with my spys lol 🍒”
Rhea couldn’t stop smiling at the sight of the piece of metal and gems in her lap.
The WWE Women's Champion.
She took a bumpy ride on a golf cart to Gorilla, chugging a bottle of water as she rode down the wide hallway, swinging her feet off the back of it.
She couldn’t contain her excitement. Yes, she and Jade had their issues with each other, but as soon as the bell rang and they were standing in the ring, everything went out the window. And they had an amazing match.
What made it even more was that she won. She had the cold yet hot feeling of heavy metal in her hands again, that shined under the bright stadium lights like stars in the sky. It may be one of the most prized possessions you could win in their business, but I became the most
most prized and powerful possession when she held it, just like all the gold she ever held did.
Rhea twisted her body around as she approached Gorilla, seeing all her friends standing around for her, breaking out into cheers once they saw her.
“There’s our new champion!”
She shook her head at their antics as she jumped off the golf cart, thanking the driver before rushing towards them, gathering in a big group hug, they jumped up and down in a circle. Liv, Dom, and Damian yelled and cheered for her, the sound of metal clanging around inside the circle.
Rhea broke away, pushing her hair back out of her face, a few small strands of her hair sticking to her sweaty face. Her lipstick was slightly smudged from the corner of her mouth.
“You did fucking great, Rips, just like I told you you would.” Damian pulled her under his arm, giving her another hug. “Congratulations bitch.”
Liv and Rhea bumped their titles together before she dappled the younger Mysterio, who was still in his gear. “I could’ve sworn you were gonna hit her forreal, but good job, I guess.”
“Yeah, you didn’t do that bad yourself.” They both grinned at each other with a look of pride in their eyes.
Rhea started looking around while Priest’s arm was wrapped around her neck. She was about to ask where Solo was when she spotted him.
He walked with Tama and Talla by his side, holding a thoughtful-sized bouquet of Night Rider lilies and other smaller flowers that were all a beautiful plum color, all wrapped up in black paper and a ribbon to match.
She broke away from her friends to meet her… something halfway down the hall.
“Congratulations, Manamea.”
Solo just got his words out before the force of the Australian pushed him back a few steps; sniggering, falling out of the two super spies beside him.
“I saw you this morning, you already missin’ me?” He teased, grabbing her waist with his empty hand.
“I always miss you,” She kissed his cheek, noticing the flowers in his hand. “Oooo, are these mine?”
“Whose else?" He handed them over to her, stealing a kiss from her lips before she lifted the bouquet to smell them. “Thank you, Baby.” She gave him another kiss, “You like my new title?”
Rhea raised her championship up in front of his face, her smile as bright as the gems that covered it.
“I love it, looks good on yo’, I’ll take some pictures of you with it later.”
“What kind?” She asked, moving back into his orbit, his hand finding her waist again. “Mmm, the kind you can take on a party bus.”
Her eyes open wider, a gasp falling from her lips.
“I got you a party bus. But yeah, it’s for you and whoever you want to celebrate your big win with.”
She was shocked. Jey would’ve just taken her to the club and called it a night, but Solo bought her a bus. A bus! They had only been in this weird relationship limbo, and he was already treating her better than she had been treated in a 3-year relationship.
“I can’t believe you did that. We were just gonna go back to the hotel and eat some pizza, but partying with you sounds a lot better.”
He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he looked her up and down, the grip he had on her waist tightening.
“You can still eat some pizza, or I could eat something, whatever works for you, Sweetheart.”
It seemed like Solo had missed her just as much as she did. When she wasn’t thinking about the past, she was thinking about Solo. The ghost of his hands and body was the only thing that pushed the rest out of her mind; her own fingers had to satisfy the itch.
“Mmm, where was your hungry ass last night?” She giggled, her left hand creeping up the back of his neck.
“You should’ve called, would’ve been there in a heartbeat.”
As they made all their friends either aww at their sappiness or gag in disgust. The air in the tunnel was sucked out as Ms Parker walked down the hallway, as she owed it. Her long black ponytail swung back and forth as her high-heeled boots thudded across the floor.
Nothing but trouble follows her.
“Congratulations, Rhea, happy to see nothing changed, the writers must loovvve to see you.”
Rhea tried not to let the slick comments get to her, but she didn’t just work as hard as she did this entire feud to STILL get told she didn’t earn her place on the team.
“At least I win titles, what do you win?”
The group of people all turned to look at the two women who were starting to argue. Solo’s hands were not leaving her hips as Rhea turned around to look at the NXT rookie.
“I won him. I beat Mami without even havin’ to get in a ring with her. I got in her bed, her house, her fuckin’ head.” Jaida tapped the side of her skull as she stalked towards her. “I have a man to hold me at night, I don’t need some hunk of metal to keep me warm.”
She blinked blankly at her, then looked down at the hands firmly planted on her waist, Solo only a few inches away from her. Rhea huffed out a laugh.
“I have someone to keep me warm at night. The whole bloody night, so you have fun with your sleepless nights worrying about who your boyfriend's with.”
It was Jaida’s turn to laugh now, but it was malicious. A grin curled up on her lips; the look in her eyes didn't match the cocky expression on her face.
“Phfff, I don’t know what yo’ were doin’ wrong, Babe, but he’s exactly where he wants to be. Without your high-maintenance ass buggin’ him.”
She flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder, the light catching her hand just right where the ring on her finger sparkled like the hunk of metal tossed over her shoulder.
It was pretty big, with smaller diamonds spread across the band of the marquise-cut ring. It was undeniably the type of ring that came with some sort of vow attached.
They all noticed it, but it only made Rhea’s stomach turn.
She was with him for 3 almost 4 years, and she never got a pillow talk promise of getting a ring in the future during their entire relationship, and he gave her a ring just after a year? And most of them were when he was still with her.
Was she really that bad of a girlfriend?
She threw the thought out of her mind, breaking the eye contact that she didn’t realize she had made with the rock on the other woman’s hand.
“Oh!” Jaida lifted her hand back up, showing off her ring again. “You like it? He gave it to me…” She took a second to think about it. “A little after you threw your little hissy fits.”
Her getting fed up with Jey’s lies and throwing his stuff on the front lawn for the whole neighborhood to witness, telling him to get out of her house, was her “throwing a hissy fit”.
Solo moved to the side of her, keeping one of his hands around her lower back as he was starting to wonder if he should break this up before the digs got too deep.
Rhea quickly composed herself; she wouldn’t dare let Jaida get the reaction she was looking for.
“It’s nice, I got lots of gifts too, you know, before… you.” She shrugged with the fakest smile she could muster.
“Is it real? I know you have low standards.”
A quiet “damn” came from behind her, followed by a few chuckles. Her cockiness flickered off. Jaida was obviously peeved by Rhea’s comment.
“Well, bitch you dated him first.”
“Well, bitch you upgraded from his side chick to his main chick. I don’t know what you think gonna happen, once a cheater, always a cheater. That’s why y’all were screaming about me during breakfast yesterday, right? He still likes my picture on his burner account, or did he moan my name again?” Rhea pointed to herself, a real smile starting to form on her face at the sight of the irritated woman. “If y’all are already having problems in the honeymoon phase, girl, I don’t think y’all are going to make it to the summer.”
That really got under the woman’s skin, but like clockwork, that’s when Jey appeared.
As soon as they heard him coming, Solo leaned forward to look at her, quietly telling her they should go.
He and Rhea hadn’t done anything wrong, but Solo was told last night to “check his personal life at the door," given the situation.
He wasn’t trying to get himself or Rhea in trouble because his brother and his new girlfriend wanted to pick a fight.
“Sup, Mama, everything alright?” Jey wrapped his arm around Jaida’s shoulder, her dumb smirk immediately stretching back across her face.
“Yup, everything's fine.” Damian chimed in, making himself look bigger like an animal does. “Yeah, just get your girl and go, Uce.”
Solo said, which made Jey’s eyes shift to him.
“Or what?” He let out an airy chuckle that showed he wasn’t taking any of them seriously. “You gonna beat my ass over her? You don’t want her, Uce, trust me.”
Jey looked at her when the words came out of his mouth, and it hurt a little to see him look at her with such disgust and hate; you would’ve thought she was the one to cheat by the look in his eyes.
“She’s a liar, you can’t believe shit that comes out of her mouth.”
“Like you?” Liv took a step closer to her best friend, taking her hand, seeing how she was pale under the ghostly makeup she had on.
“She’s a power-hungry bitch, that’s why she picked yo’, she couldn’t get in any of the other family's pants. Yo’ think yo’ special, Uce? You ain’t nothing but a notch on her belt to show off to her fuckin’ friends.”
Rhea was about done taking all this disrespect on such a big day for her.
“Notches on MY BELT? Who went shopping at the PC for a new bitch who’s ok with your bullshit. At least my ass got a belt to put notches in, where’s yours? Oh, yeah, your cousin’s out there fighting for it right now because you couldn’t handle the weight, and neither can your little girlfriend. That's why all she’s good at is lying flat on her fucking back.”
Everything quickly turned into chaos, yelling, screaming, not-so-empty threats getting thrown around in all directions. It all stopped when TJ came out of Gorilla, telling them all to shut up and leave before he called security on all of them.
Liv pulled Rhea out of Solo’s grip; he tried to go after her, but Priest stopped him with a firm hand on the chest.
“Just give her a moment. I’m sure she’ll call you later.”
The Samoan looked at him with a worried look, “I couldn’t just let him talk about her like that, what was I supposed to do?”
“Nothing. You did the right thing, Rhea’s just… Rhea.” Dominki smiled and shrugged. “She’s okay, she’ll be laughing about it by tomorrow.”
Damian clapped his hand down on the other man’s shoulder. “She likes you a lot, Solo.” Dom put his hands up with a large space between them to show him. “She’ll let you defend her every now and then, but she’s a big girl, so don’t get used to it.”
He smiled before they both walked away in the same direction as the girls, leaving Solo with his MFTs.
“Well, we almost got a mania match.” Tama joked, getting a laugh from his road brother. “Would‘ve been better than that main event yesterday," Talla added, making the other chuckle.
“Y’all two are pitterful,” Solo rubbed his hand over his face, trying to hold in his laughter, “Fucking pitterful.”
“Oh, come on, Romeo, we've got a bus to stock before the night is over, because it looks like we all need some drinks tonight.”
Rhea had every dress that was in her suitcase tossed across her bed while she stood in her underwear at the front of the messy bed.
“Ugh, I have nothing to bloody wear!”
She fell back into the pile of mostly black fabric.
She was doing her best not to think about what had happened earlier, but it was impossible not to.
Did Jey always think of her like that? Some power-hungry bitch? He wanted her first, she remembered a time when Jey just had to have her, but now she was just a Samoan slut. It was insane.
No, what was insane was that she was thinking about her shitty ex instead of her new… friend? She really needed to ask him what they were, because this wasn’t working.
A knock at the house made her spring off the bed and rush to the door.
Liv corrected, wearing a short tan dress covered in rhinestones and strappy heels. Pulling her suitcase behind her.
“Are you gonna cover up?”
“No, I worked hard for my body, I look good, besides all the bits are covered.” She gestured to herself, doing a little spin on the heels of her feet.
“Barely.” Liv snickered as she laid her suitcase on the ground, unzipping it to reveal a bunch of dresses. “I got long ones, short ones, I bought you one black one because I love you, but I know you have a newfound love of cheetah print things sooooo.”
Liv bent down, picking up a long cheetah print dress that looked see-through just in her hands.
“Since you worked so hard for your body.” She tossed the dress at her before grabbing another one. “This one’s also a little see-through, but just your legs.”
Rhea held them both up, tossing one of them in the pile of other dresses and kept the other to put on. She walked over to the large foot-length mirror, lifting the tight dress above her head.
“Have you talked to Solo since earlier?”
Liv moved to sit on the edge of the bed, watching the black-haired woman.
“No, what is there to talk about? He's an ass and so is his girlfriend, wow, shocker.”
“The girlfriend to whom he gave a ring, not that long after you kicked him out of the house.”
The image of the diamond ring flashed back through her mind, and she hated it. She didn’t want to think about when he gave her that ring or how he did it; all she wanted to do was have a fun night out. She wasn’t going to let them ruin her night.
“She can have her, "here damn," ring, I don’t want that shit.”
Liv opened her mouth to say something else, but Rhea walked out of the room to grab one of her Night Rider lilies and stick it in her hair, standing back in front of the long mirror.
Rhea got the fabric over her hips, letting it fall to her ankles. Her black panties could be seen under the cheetah print, the cowl neckline helped hide her bra with the extra layers, and showed off the leaves across her collarbones. She turned around, seeing how it was another backless dress, the ends of her hair tickling the middle of her back
She turned around to face Liv, giving her a little shimmy.
“Solo’s not gonna be able to keep his hands off of you in that. And in these.”
Liv popped off the bed, going back to her suitcase, digging around for a second before pulling out a pair of gold heels that were sculpted to look like tiger teeth.
“These will have you walking to the nearest drug store for a plan B in the morning.” A cheeky grin formed on Liv’s face as she handed them to her.
“Why would I be the one walking?” She gave her best friend a confused look before it cracked into a smile as she sat on the edge of the bed to put them on. “Period.”
Her heels clicked on the ground as she moved back in front of the mirror to admire herself once again, and God damn did she look good.
Her dress hugged the curves of her body, her tattoos faintly peeking through, getting partly lost in the patterns. The bottom of her dress spilled over the top of her heels, but didn’t cover the focus point, which was the teeth. Her bracelet rattled on her wrist as she reached up into her wavy hair, exposing her back that had a few marks and scratches along her pale skin.
Another knock on the door rang through the suite, making both women look at each other with confusion.
“Is he coming to get you?”
“No, we’re supposed to meet him downstairs.”
They walked out of the bedroom together to the door. Rhea peeked through the peephole, a smile forming on her face as she pulled open the door. Talla and Tama are standing behind it.
“There’s a swarm of fans downstairs, so we got a way out the back," Talla said taking off the sunglasses he regretted wearing, seeing the smile on her face grow, knowing what was about to come out of her mouth.
“Do you guys have cool spy names or just you just spy one, and he’s spy two?”
The two men rolled their eyes with an amused expression.
“Y’all really? Everybody’s alright on the bus pourin’ up.”
Tama moved to lean back against the door so Rhea could let go of it and grab hers and Liv’s purse.
They rode the elevator all the way down. Thankfully, it was tucked away in an alcove that the employees did a good job of keeping clear. They walked out an exit-only door that locked behind the four of them.
A tall black bus was parked in front of them, where they could faintly hear music coming from it.
Tama opened the door for them to step onto the bus.
There were leather seats along all the walls, there were two cubes in the seats full of alcohol that were sitting in buckets of ice, purple neon lights covered the ceiling,
and underneath the seats, casting everything in a purple hue. The windows were darkly tinted so nobody could see inside, but they could see out.
Two poles were bolted in the middle of the floor, ready to support any of their amateur stripper dreams.
Their friends erupted into screams as soon as they stepped on.
Damian and Lola sat on the right side together, Lola leaning against his broad shoulder. Dominki was sitting on the left side along -where it seemed like Talla and Tama had been sitting before they came to get them- holding a flute glass full of who knows what. Solo was sitting with his legs spread wide across the backside. She had never seen him out of a suit; he had on some lightly distressed green cast jeans that were pulled tight around his thighs and had a few pockets on the front. His two gold chains danced under the purple lights against his plaid black t-shirt, a matching diamond bracelet on his right wrist and his gold watch on the left.
Rhea quickly moved down the aisle, avoiding the two metal poles in her way to get to the man who was looking at her, absolutely gobsmacked.
“Hi, baby.” She spoke softly as she sat down next to him, kissing him out of his daze.
“Hey, Manamea, you look gorgeous.” He leaned in for another kiss, he couldn’t get enough of her.
As he pulled back, he noticed the flower in her hair, bringing his hand up to gently touch the dark petals, letting his fingers drip into her hair, brushing it back behind her ear.
A heat crept up her skin as he pushed her hair back.
“You really know how to help a girl's ego.” She giggled, making him lean back into the leather seats. “Was your ego bruised?” He scrunched his face up with a confused expression. He laughed, but Rhea wasn’t.
Her shoulders tensed up next to him, her fingers clutching the loose fabric of her dress in her lap.
The bus lurched forward as they took off, and everyone else around her cheered. The distinctive sound of a champagne bottle popping echoed through the large metal van.
But Rhea and Solo were in their own bubble in the backseat.
“Are you okay? I know it’s been a long weekend and that stuff earlier was kind of a lot.”
He scooted closer to her, putting his hand over her. Rhea flips her hand over to hold his.
“For the past three months, people have been telling me I don’t deserve my spot, and I guess it just hurts a little more coming from someone I used to care about.”
She chose her words carefully, not wanting to say “loved” or even say Jey’s name; she had given him too much of herself tonight, and she was tired of feeling like she did something wrong.
“You know how hard you’ve worked in this company, Rhea. You don’t have to defend yourself to anyone. The match you put on to win that title shows just how hard you work. They both said that because they knew it would hurt you.”
She appreciated Solo’s kind words; it was true Jey and Jaida were just trying to get under her skin, and it worked. She reminded her of what she told herself back in the hotel and shook a smile onto her face.
“I don’t want to talk about them anymore. I’m with you, who cares about them?"
She pulled him closer by their entwined hands into their third kiss of the night that definitely wouldn’t be their last one.
“Can you guys stop being all in love and shit for five minutes and take a shot with us."
Damian said, causing both their faces to turn red with embarrassment.
“Sorry," Rhea said sheepishly, giggling when locking eyes with the man next to her.
“Woooo, shots!” Liv shouted as she downed her now third shot of Wheatley.
After many shots later, Rhea had forgotten all about everything that happened at the Arena and was too busy singing and dancing to Megan Thee Stallion to give herself the chance to remember.
Rhea held onto the stripper pole with one of her hands as she twerked back into Lola, who was grinding back on Liv behind her. They were lined up like dominoes between the two poles, dancing like their respective boyfriends weren’t there watching.
Lola cackled as she waved her hand over the Aussie’s ass like she was spanking the air, gripping her hips.
“Yeah, shake that shit, Mami!”
Her dress allowed her bum to move like a strong wave in the ocean. She was bent over with her ass in the air, one hand on the ground, with the other grabbing the pole so she didn’t fall into it.
The bus rocked as they drove down the busy Las Vegas road.
Solo sat back with a drink in his hand and a smirk curling up on his lips as he watched Rhea twerk with her friends.
Rhea’s hair whipped back like she was a mermaid as she stood up, her laughter getting lost along the way to Solo’s ears in the music. But he could see the joy in her face. She was glowing underneath the LED lights like an angel, whatever angelic powers she had causing him to be entranced by the way she tossed her hair around in girlish glee.
Solo took a big gulp of his drink to briefly hide the strong feelings that could be seen through his eyes without even trying hard.
His feelings for Rhea were one of the worst-kept secrets in his family. Everyone knew, and if you didn’t, someone was quick to let you know like it was an harmless inside joke instead of an embarrassing unrequited crush he had for years from the first time he met her at the PC, training in the ring with Damian.
It was nothing but a quick handshake and a simple hello, but he looked back on that moment until he met her again when he debuted on the main roster.
But back then, he was different. He was quiet and awkward, the “only spoke when spoken to" type, and still, he didn’t have much to say. By the time Jimmy helped him gain the confidence to ask her out with the perfect (in his older brother's words) fit to match, the goth woman had set her sights on someone else in the Fatu family.
Rhea fell into his lap, letting out a loud, screaming laugh as her back hit the top of his thighs.
“Sorry, baby.” The end of her words slurred a bit as she adjusted her position so she was sitting nicely in his lap.
“Yo’ good. Now I can enjoy how fine yo’ look.”
He grabbed the side of her thigh, his other hand snaking around her waist. Rhea leaned closer to him, catching the scent of his woodsy and citrusy cologne.
“Shit, I’ll chase yo’ down any damn day.”
“Yeah? I don’t think you would catch me, though.”
“I beg to differ, you can’t run that fast in them shoes.”
She scoffed playfully, hitting him on the chest. “I can run in heels, I can do a moonsault in a pair of six-inch heels.” She looked at him proudly, shrugging gently.
“Forreal? I’m gonna need to see some proof of that moonsault, Manamea.”
“You should come to my house and watch me do it then, got my own gym, I’ll put on some new pretty gear for you.” She crept her fingers up his arm, feeling how his muscles flexed under her fingertips, giving her a knowing grin as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “You already invitin' me to your house? Don’t you think we’re movin’ kind of fast, Rhea?" Solo teased.
“You’ve been inside of me, I think you can be inside of my house.” She explained, making him laugh. “True, true. Ok, I’ll move some shit around if you're serious.”
“Hell yeah, I’m serious. I like spending time with you, I wanna see you without our nosy friends watching us.”
They looked over her shoulder, catching Liv and Tama quickly glancing to the other side of the bus, acting like they were admiring one of the speakers.
Solo laughed again before taking a sip of his drink, then offered it to her, which she happily drank from.
“Alright, it’s a date. Let me know when your schedule opens up.”
“Will do, now dance with me.”
Solo didn’t argue with her. Rhea was feeling her buzz growing as she took a sip out of his cup, starting to swing her hips side to side against Solo’s front. His hands held onto her waist, moving in tandem with hers.
Rhea danced seductively, but the amount of alcohol in her body made her balance a little off-center, pulling drunken giggles out of both of them.
Everyone else in the bus could feel the heavy tension between the pair; they acted like the rest of them weren’t even there.
“Babe, don’t do that.” Dom nudged his girlfriend, who had already pulled out her phone to record the cute couple. “Why? They are cute, they should see how dumb in love they already look.”
“What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas," Talla said with a hefty chuckle that shook his whole chest.
“We'd better hope we don’t pass a drive-through chapel, they might make us stop.” Tama chimed in, looking at the couple through the Jersey woman’s phone. “That would be funny to watch, tho.”
“It would, it would,” He laughed, “Then we really have to beat that piece of shit’s ass.”
“I’m sure there’ll be a next time.” They all sadly knew that this wasn’t going to be the end of the chronicles knock off Latto and 21 Savage.
“Ooooo, guys, come here, let’s take a picture!”
Her high-pitched voice caught the attention of the four other people around them. Liv handed her phone to Talla as the rest of them got closer, squishing together on one side of the bus to fit into the frame.
Lola sat on Liv’s lap while Dom sat on her right side, Tama next to him, sitting on the edge of the seat. Damian had to bend his knees a little to completely fit inside the frame next to Rhea. whose hips were still in Solo’s clutches. Talla sat on the farthest side holding Liv’s phone as high as he could.
None of them knew how much time had passed, but two more bottles were popped and used to spray down Dominik, who they all somehow managed to get to dance on one of the poles to “Come get her.” By Swae Lee.
It was beautifully ungraceful. Dom managed not to drop himself on his head as he attempted and succeeded in spinning upside down with his legs spread like a Y.
Dominik fell back onto one of the benches longways, his head landing in Liv’s lap as everyone else cheered for him, still throwing money at him.
“Alright, Dirty D!” Damian leaned over and shook his tired friend's leg. “If you ever get let go, you've got a backup plan now.”
“Now imagine it in some little ass trunks.”
“Ooooo, and some heels!” Lola blurted out, cutting off Tama. She was sitting next to Damian, holding her side that hurt from laughing too hard at Dom’s performance.
Dominik made a face at the idea of him in stripper heels, but Liv almost screamed at the thought.
“Oh my god, you would look soooooo fucking hot!”
The rest of them laughed at Morgan’s bold comment, while she shrugged, having no shame; the tips of Dominik’s ears turned pink.
Rhea and Solo were back in their own world, her fingers twisting in his chains, watching how they sparked under the neon lights as she played with them, stretching them across his collarbone.
“Fuck, I missed you last night," Rhea admitted, her slurring worsened, but it made Solo smile. He couldn’t help but smile when he was with her.
“I know you did.” His hands moved up her slender hips as she reclaimed her seat in his lap. “I miss having somebody in my bed. The other night was really nice. Even after the sex.” She badly whispered the last part, but no one else was paying attention, trying to figure out their own stripper name.
“I’m sorry about tonight, I didn’t mean to make you upset. You don’t deserve to be called out your name for anything, but especially for some shit my brother did.”
Solo wasn’t as drunk as she wanted to be aware just in case, but not sober enough to stop the truth from spilling out of his mouth.
“No, no, no, it’s fine, I don’t care, it’s… it’s the norm now.”
It’s not a good thing, but it wasn’t the first time, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last time. Being a bitch didn’t hurt her anymore; what hurt was everything else.
“That’s not a good thing, Rhea.”
“Never said it was just that it’s the norm.”
She drank from the cup they were sharing, pushing down the metaphoric vomit stuck in her throat.
She forgot how good it felt to drink; her body would hate her for it tomorrow when she had to take multiple bumps, but tonight she was happy, having fun on a weekend for the first time in a while.
And she had Solo to thank for that.
Her job may suck, her ex may suck, and a whole lot in her life may suck right now, but Solo didn’t suck. He was probably one of the best people in her life right now, and it’s only the weekend of them being something together.
“It ain’t gonna be the norm, tho. If you stick with us, we’ll make sure it’s not, Manamea.”
Rhea’s face twisted in confusion, staring at Solo like he had asked her some riddle her brain couldn’t comprehend right now.
“Are you asking me to join your bloodline?”
He laughed, covering his mouth with his fist, trying to avoid the confused pouty look on the goth woman's face sitting in his lap with her legs sideways, her feet swinging towards the ground.
“No, Manamea, forget about it, we’ll talk about it when you're sober.” He tucked her hand back behind her ear, the Night Rider Lilie that was in her hair lost a few petals in her dancing; Solo took the time to fix the flower too.
“Do I look pretty?” She snapped into a pose, putting her hand under her chin, slightly smiling. “Of course.”
He fished his phone out of his pocket before opening his camera app and taking a picture of her. She looked just as pretty in the picture as she did if he were to glance over.
He pushed his lips out, and Rhea captured them in a kiss. One of her hands stayed on his chest while the other traveled to the side of his neck.
She heard the camera click a few times, making her smile against his plump lips, but didn’t stop.
They kissed for what felt like minutes to them, but in actuality, it was just a few seconds. They came apart with a wet smacking sound that got lost in the background.
Rhea looked at him with a tiny smile, her hand unmoved from the back of his head.
“Is it bad that I enjoy kissing you so much?”
“Nope, cause bet I enjoy it even more.”
He pecked another kiss on her lips, and while he did that, she yanked his phone out of his hand. “Hey!” She quickly shushed him with a finger pressed against his lips. The black-haired woman dragged her hand down his arm until she felt the index finger she had left in his skin two days ago. Solo hummed, letting his head slip back against the headrest as her fingertips ghosted over the spot.
“I’m gonna be sad when that shit fades, I like it.”
“Then I'll bite you again.” A smirk stretched out over her cheeks. Raising the phone above his arm, her other hand was still wrapped around, taking another picture.
Her thumb was resting on the bite mark, the tips of her white nails sticking out from the other side as she held onto his tribal tattoo-covered forearm.
She loved how detailed his tattoos were; they were beautiful. She has caught herself looking at them a few times before now, always feeling guilty afterwards because that was her boyfriend’s brother.
She could stare all she wanted now.
“You really like my arms, huh?” He teased, forcing her to move her gaze back up to his. Her face was dimly lit, but he could see the soft pink color on her face turn a deeper shade of pink. “I’m strong, I have to have a man just as strong who can pick me up. I liked to be picked up, and you’re very strong.” She squeezed his forearm as the words just rolled out of her mouth with a thought.
“Oh, I’m your man now?” His grin grew. The realization took a few seconds to hit her, but when it did, she froze.
Her eyes widened slightly as her mouth fell agape, staring at him, praying that he was just messing with her drunk ass.
“No I didn't, you're… you’re insane.”
Her plan was to deny, deny, deny.
He nodded his head with a smug expression. “Yes, you did. You said your man.”
“You're insane, have you been sneakin’ sips?" She took the cup out of his hand. “You're crazy, I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah, you're insane, you're hearing voices or some shit.”
Rhea pulled herself off of his lap with the help of the metal pole, taking a few wobbly steps towards her girlfriend on the other side of the bus.
Solo was unapologetically watching the way her butt jiggled in her dress as she moved.
She wanted him to be her man… she said it, he heard it. No one else had, but he did. And he wasn’t drunk enough to forget -not that he would even if he was- she was already thinking about him being her boyfriend.
He covered the joyous smile that filled his face with his hand as the woman who had made him so happy took his drink with her.
It was looking like they both hit big tonight.
Drunk giggles fell out of her mouth as Solo dropped her down onto the bed. Her purse clattered against the floor as it rolled off the bed.
“Your room’s a mess." He said as he started taking some of the forgotten clothes and moving them onto the chair by the window.
“I was struggling to find something, so I had to borrow some clothes from Liv.”
She slurred out her words, following him with her eyes.
“I'm not struggling to get out of them, though.” She spread her legs, bending her knees up towards the ceiling, looking at the Samoan with lust in her droopy eyes.
Solo walked back over to the bed and closed her legs.
“You're drunk, Rhea. I’m not having sex with you.”
“You're drunk too.” She whined, throwing her head back into the soft pillows. “I’m tipsy, you're drunk.” He corrected her. “I had to carry you up here.”
“I could’ve walked, but you didn’t let me.” She lifted her right leg, resting her foot on his shoulder, wiggling her toes in the flexible golden shoe. “You couldn’t walk straight, Manamea.” He smiled softly at her as his hands caressed her leg, slowly moving up her leg to the buckle of her heel.
“You keep calling me that. I hope it means something good.”
“It does.” Solo slipped her heel off her foot, tossing the heel next to her on the bed, before starting to take off her other shoe. “You never heard Samoan before? You’ve been to loads of family barbecues, the elders always talk in Samoan, I know you met them.”
“They don’t like me, tho’. I’m too “alternative” for them.” She put big air quotes around the word alternative, Solo knowing exactly what she meant.
He snickered, remembering hearing his brother complain about that to him before. Guess he got tired of hearing it every time they went home for something.
“Yeah, they're stuck in their old ass ways.”
“Welp, they're gonna be really surprised when you show up with me on your arm at the next cookout.” She giggled while taking the flowers out of her hair.
His flushed face smirked down at her before laying her leg back down on the bed, putting her shoes on the floor next to the bed.
Once he laid her legs back down, she rolled over onto her stomach, her dress twisting around her legs as she did so to set the flower on the nightstand, before she sat up, running her fingers through her hair, already feeling the wave of sleep coming. “Will you get me a shirt out of my suitcase, please?"
Solo turned around and started looking through her suitcase. “What does it look like?”
“You’ll know it when you see it.” He could hear her sinister but sweet grin evident in her voice.
He looked through the pile of clothes, trying his best to ignore the lace panties that he kept stumbling upon in his searches.
Solo turned around, holding an oversized MFT shirt up in front of him.
“No, silly.” She crawled to the side of the bed, Solo closing the gap between them by taking a few steps. “Dom gave it to me yesterday; it should’ve been you who gave it to me.”
“I didn’t know you wanted one. I would've made it smell like me and everything.” He handed her the shirt, Rhea took it, and then swiftly started undressing. Pulling the straps down her pale, ink-soaked shoulders, the front of her cheetah print dress fell down so the top of her bra was showing.
“You can give me one of yours tomorrow.”
“I got you. Umm, you want me to turn around?”
She huffed through her nose, letting the rest of her dress slip down, not caring about how he fondled her with his eyes.
“Solo, do I have to remind you how you had me in this room? You need to stop being awkward about my boobs. Look at them, their good ass boobs, I want you to look at them, that’s why I pierced ‘em. Will you help me, please?”
Rhea lifted her hair up off her neck before she turned the top half of her body sideways so he could unclip her bra.
“I mean, I ain’t gonna argue with yo’ they are some good boobs.”
“So stare at them, Baby, stare at them all you want.”
Her black bra fell onto the jumbled comforter in front of her knees, “Mmm, thank god!” Rhea scratched her sides above her ribs, letting out small moans of pleasure, finally getting to satisfy the itch she didn’t even know was bothering her until right now.
“I’m-I’m gonna go get you some water.”
She laughed while picking her shirt back up.“I’m not the thirsty one.”
Solo walked out of her bedroom. She could hear the deep breath he let out once he turned her back to her, making her chuckle.
Rhea changed out of her dress into the oversized t-shirt that still didn’t even cover the bottom of her, well, her bottom.
“Fuck, where’s my phone?” She looked around the room, looking for her purse that had her phone in it. “Baby, did you grab my purse!?" She fell to the side off her butt and knees, throwing her legs out in front of her to step off the bed. “I think it’s on the dresser!” He yelled back.
She struggled to put her right foot in front of her left one, her balance off-center, feeling like she was still walking in her heels.
Rhea stumbled over towards the dresser, seeing her black clutch lying on top of the wooden surface. She took a particularly unsteady step, sending her into the dresser.
Her side slammed into the corner of the dresser, her body folding in half along the edge of it, her head thumping against the hard top.
Solo heard the hollow bang from the kitchen, and he rushed toward the bedroom.
“Rhea! Rhea yo’ alright?!”
He whipped around the corner like a dog hearing a knock on the front door.
Seeing Rhea on the ground. Laughing.
Rhea was cackling on the floor, clutching her side while simultaneously holding her head. Her legs froze in the air like a cartoon character, her shirt scrunched up around her waist.
“I fell!” She cried out through her shrieks. Solo tried to cover his mouth, but his laughter slipped through before he could. “Nah, yo’ drunk ass busted your ass.”
“SHUT UP!” She covered her face in embarrassment.
Solo grabbed onto the dresser to brace himself so he didn’t end up joining her on the floor.
Their laughter combined could be heard from three rooms down. They were horrible people to be next to in a hotel, but which one would you rather hear at almost four in the morning, laughing or moaning?
Solo helped her off the floor after a while to catch their breath, sitting her back on the bed, and handed her a bottle of water.
“Thank you, Baby.” She was still tickled by the whole situation. “No problem, yo’ need that shit, can’t have the new champion breakin’ her tailbone.”
“Mhm, that’s my baby, they're gonna have to rip it out of my cold, dead hands.” She plopped back into the fluffy pillows behind her, the bright twinkling grin still causing his stomach to fill with butterflies.
“I’m hungry, oooo, I wonder if my mum left that pizza.”
She sat back up, taking the cup of water with her, Solo following behind her, ready to catch her just in case.
They walked towards the kitchenette, opening up the mini fridge and saw a sideways tilted box inside.
“Ooooh, she did!” Rhea ripped the box out of the fridge and set it on the counter, flipping the flat box open. The smell of spicy pepperoni pizza filled their noses.
Rhea grabbed a slice out of the box and started stuffing it into her mouth.
“You're just gonna eat it cold?” Solo looked at her in disgust, leaning back against the counter in front of her while she hopped up to sit on the other side.
“Yeah, cold pizza is the best, I’m also too tired to warm it up so. Besides, I know you're not looking at me like that when I know you eat your pizza with mayonnaise.”
“Nah, that’s good. Why would I want to eat cold pizza voluntarily? That’s nasty.” He grabbed a paper plate off the counter that was most likely left for the pizza.
“You dipping your pizza in mayonnaise is bloody nasty.”
She corrected, happily swinging her feet.
He sucked his teeth whilst he put his plate in the microwave, reaching over and started rubbing her knee.
“Don’t knock it until you try it.”
She let out a breathy laugh, almost choking on her bite.
“I will never ever RUIN my pizza like that.” She leaned forward, stopping itches away from his face, pointing at her own slice of pie. “Ruin is a strong word, Manamea”
Solo said teasely making the Australian woman scrunch up her lip towards the tip of her nose.
He pecked the annoyance on her face away. That swiftly turned into a real kiss, her empty hand grabbing his shoulder as his hand slowly started moving on her thigh.
They pulled away at the sound of the microwave beeping, Rhea’s face as red as the pizza sauce that was sticking out from underneath the cheese.
She grabbed her bottle of water to cool herself down as he took a bite of his pizza.
“Mmm, a little dry, you know what it needs?” He turned to her with a mischievous smile. He didn’t even have to say it; she already knew what he was about to say.
“I think I got some in my backpack.”
“Forreal? You just carryin’ around mayo in your backpack?” He snickered, but wasn’t complaining.
She shrugged her shoulders that felt too heavy to lift.
“Just never took them out, I guess.”
Solo quickly realized his mistake and walked away to the bedroom to get her backpack, giving her a second.
Rhea watched him leave, feeling the air get a little thick. Fuck did she ruin the moment? They were having fun, and then she had to go and mess it up. She took another bite of her pizza knowing it wasn’t going to work, but she tried to push the messy feelings down with her food.
It only took a short moment before Solo came back with three small mayonnaise packets in his fist. A guilty look plastered across his face.
“I’m sorry.” Were the first words to leave his mouth as he stepped back in front of the counter. “It’s fine, it’s… he’s always gonna be one of the ghosts that haunts me, us. But you know fuck him. Fuck the past. I like it here with you.”
Solo chewed on the inside of his lip, thinking about what he was gonna say before he said it; trying to gauge if she had sobered up enough for his question.
“Is that why you called me your man earlier?”
She sighed, straightening her back up, then flipped her hair over her shoulder.
He held his arms in front of him, his hands clutched down by his belt buckle.
“That’s not what I said. I’m… yes, I mean it, but I’m not sure I really wanted to say it yet.”
Her hands gravitated to the hum of her shirt, pitching the fabric between her fingers.
“What do you mean? Did you mean it or not?”
“I’m not really for another boyfriend or even anything serious yet, but I really like you, like an embarrassing amount.” She avoided his gaze by looking at the polished white and gray tile. “So I meant it, but I’m not ready to keep calling you that.”
She heard his steps before seeing her appearance ahead of her, moving between her legs, laying his hands over top of hers, turning them over in his palms.
“This can move as slowly as you want to, Rhea. No strings, no relationship, not if you're not ready. We can keep it casual.”
He immediately saw the expression on her face shift to a hesitant one. Pulling her hands away.
“Casual? Like, as in seeing other people?”
“No, no, no, no.” Solo squeezed her hands. “No, I mean just no labels. If this relationship consists of us having sex and eating leftover pizza together, that's cool with me. Shit, I’m havin’ a good night right now. If you're not ready for another boyfriend, that’s okay, as long as I’m kickin’ it with yo’ I’m good.”
He dropped one of his hands down to the side of her thigh, watching the corner of her lips curled up into a tiny smile.”
“So we’ll just kickin’ it.”
“Yeah, we’ll kickin’ it.”
Rhea tried her hardest to act like a teenager when they got their first boyfriend; she whipped her head to the side to try to make sure he didn’t see the rosiness that bloomed on her cheeks.
“Eat your nasty ass food.”
She shoved him back with a hand firmly on his chest, knocking him back into the short island.
“You eat your cold ass food.”
Solo dipped the tip of his pizza into the swirl of mayo on his plate, looking at her while he took a bite. Her face changed to disgust before it looked like a lightbulb went off in her head.
“Ooooo, let me see your phone!” Rhea extended her arm out, waving frantically at him. “Why?” He asked, pulling it out of his pocket to hand it over to her.
“Let’s ask the people.” She hopped down off the counter, going to lean forward on the island with her arms lying across the white countertop.
They took a picture together; Solo holding up his mayonnaise-covered pizza in the palm of his hand while Rhea had her completely normal half-eaten piece of pizza hanging out of her mouth.
She added a poll to the picture asking their fans what was better, cold pizza or hot pizza with mayo.
They could hear her phone ping in the other room with a notification from Instagram saying Solo Sikoa added to his story.
“There, we'll see who’s right tomorrow.” She slid his phone back to him. “Yo’ know you're gonna win.”
“Then we’ll see how right I am tomorrow.” Her voice had a playfulness to it that danced around his head like a string of smoke as she nibbled on the puffy crust.
If Jimmy were here, he would call him a simp and laugh at how hard he had fallen for her. But she was just that great to be around, who would fall for her? Half the interview -people who don’t even watch wrestling- had a crush on her because, well, look at her!
Rhea’s back was curved inwards as she leaned over the bar, her butt sticking out from under her black shirt with his face on it, which was draped over, the lace trim of her underwear peeking out from under the hem. Her long, strong legs crossed over the other, taking a moment to adore the tattoos that wrapped her legs like a car vinyl. He loved them; his favorite was the demonic-looking moose-like animal that was something you saw in the woods at 3 am when nobody else was around, stalking on the outside of her thigh.
He thought it was cool, unique. It spoke to who Rhea was without even having to speak with her.
All of her thick hair was swept to the side over her shoulders, with a few small wisps of her hair in front of her bare face.
Rhea was fucking stunning even in just a t-shirt and messy hair.
He moved before thinking, opening his phone to take another picture of her eating the last of her crust.
The second one had her still image of her flipping him and the camera off, making him huff out a chuckle.
A notification for his recently posted story fell down from the top of his screen, one that made him laugh.
He mumbled, “He’s such an asshole.” Under his breath, which he thought was quite enough, but clearly wasn’t by the way Rhea turned to look at him.
“You good?” She laughed out the two words, twisting her body to face him.
“Yeah, it’s all good, you want some more pizza?”
“Yes, please, still cold.”
“I figured.” He moved off the bar, grabbed the whole box of Twisted Sourdough Pizza, and set it between them. “Can I post some of the other pictures we took tonight? Figure I ask so you don’t yell at me at breakfast again.”
“Whatever.” An embarrassing smirk curled on her face that was quickly followed by a groan that made him laugh. “And I thought I was weird and awkward.”
“Fuck you.” She tried to wipe the look off her face, but to no avail.
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