Betting on the Zebra Chapter 12

Just a few quick words to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and very safe New Year. May you receive all that you could wish for.

hugs, Lisa

CHAPTER 12

Rubbing her hand over her eyes wearily Lenny tried to hold back a yawn. She had only managed to get a few hours sleep by the time that she got to her hotel here in San Diego. It felt like she had been here in the arena for hours ... well she had been but it felt like she had been here so much longer. This was turning into a long day and she had no real idea why. Maybe it was because she had made the mistake of calling her mother before she left for work. It had been nice to hear her mother’s voice and what was going on with the family and some of their closest friends but then she had had to listen to it. An almost hour long lecture. Of course her mother played with some serious strategy and you could never say that it was a lecture.

She set her daughter up and let her walk right into the trap. It had all started so innocently. As part of the family news her mother had dropped the fact that her cousin was getting married. Of course the fact that she had said that Lindsay was finally getting married should have clued Lenny in to what was still to come but she had just been so shocked at this news that all the warning signs had slipped by unnoticed.

Lindsay was getting married. Her one ally was finally taking the long walk. For a few moments she hadn’t been able to hear her mother’s voice at all. Yeah she knew that her cousin had been with the guy that she was living with for years but that had just been something else that made her think that she would never get married, that she would never feel the need to. She had lost count of the amount of drunken nights that they had spent saying that a piece of paper meant nothing. If you loved someone that you shouldn’t feel the need to fall in line with an old tradition just because everyone else expected you to. Plus there was also the fact that she hated the guy that Lindsay was getting married to with a passion.

She had hated the guy from day one but had never said anything to her cousin at all. Lenny knew that Lindsay wasn’t stupid and probably knew her feelings about Marcus. She and Marcus had had enough screaming fights with each other for someone on the other side of the world to know exactly how they felt about each other. But she had learned to bite her tongue and try to keep her temper reined in as much as she could for the sake of a quiet life. The two of them had now been together for years and Lenny thought that she was pretty good at hiding how she really felt about the jackass. Of course it went without saying that Marcus and her brother got on like a house on fire.

By the time that she had snapped back to the decidedly one-sided conversation that her mother was still having the older woman was definitely well into her stride. Going on about how wonderful it was to be having another wedding in the family and perhaps soon Lindsay’s family would be expanding. The hints that she dropped about wanting to be the mother of the bride herself just had to be heard to be believed. Lenny was sure that her mother was a lot of things but subtlety never had been her strong point.

It had been on the tip of her tongue to say something pointed but in the end she had just kept her lips well and truly buttoned. She didn’t need to say anything; her mother could easily have this conversation on her own. Hell she didn’t think that her mother really expected her to say anything anyway. And then had come the deathblow. She had been informed that Lindsay was waiting to hear from her because she wanted her to be her only bridesmaid. Arrangements had to be made.

As soon as Lenny had heard that she had felt her heart sink to her shoes. Another family event when she would be turning up without a date. Although there was a part of her that didn’t care about all of that bullshit, hell most of her didn’t care about that bullshit, there was also the part that knew that having someone there with her to lean on would be the most wonderful thing ever. It would be like a shield, someone to hide behind, and someone else that could deal with all of her family’s craziness. On her own she just made to tempting a target. All of her aunts and mother’s friends would be patting her shoulder reassuringly and telling her not to worry ... that surely she would be next. She often wondered what they would do if she just gave in to temptation and screamed at them all that she didn’t want to be next!

When she had finally managed to get off of the phone to her mother she had called Lindsay almost immediately. They had laughed and joked their way through the call and she took all of the wedding details assuring her cousin that she would get back to her as soon as possible to confirm if she could make it. The childish side of her wanted nothing more than to just say no ... that she couldn’t get time off work to attend so Lindsay would have to find someone else to drag down that aisle behind her looking like one of life’s runners up. But there was no way that she could or would do that to her. She loved her cousin too much to even attempt to hurt her that way. If Lindsay wanted her to be there then she would break every bone in her body to at least try. She had tried to see Earl Hebner earlier but he had been in with Vince. Oh well at least he knew that she wanted to see him.

“You feeling ok?”

Turning her head to the side Lenny resisted the urge to just groan out loud when she saw who was talking to her. Well from the second that she had heard the deep voice she had known who it was but thought that perhaps she was imagining things. She did seem to be thinking about him just a little too much lately. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She answered easily and found herself smiling at him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know.” Kevin stated as he turned to lean his shoulder on the wall and just look at her. “Maybe because you look like you’re ready to fall asleep on your feet.” Then he grinned his naughty little boy grin at her. “Let me guess. You spent so long last night just dreaming about me and my seductive ways that any sleep that you got was just restless and useless.”

She laughed out loud. “Oh my god! You know me so well Nash, you got me.” She told him then pulled a face. “If you appeared in my dreams at any time I think that would be enough to qualify them for nightmare status.” She added but at the same time she was kind of surprised. With all the headspace that this guy was taking up in her brain she was actually surprised that she hadn’t been dreaming about him.

“Ouch.” He faked being mortally wounded. “But hey ... even a nightmare can get interesting from time to time. If I ever do appear in your dreams I want to hear a full report and find out if I behaved myself.”

She shook her head at his presumption. “You never behave yourself in real life Nash so what the hell makes you think that your behaviour will improve in the dream world?” She pointed out to him then sighed heavily as she turned her attention to the monitor not that far away from them. She really should be paying attention. Her match was up soon.

“So what’s on your mind?” He asked as he moved a little closer to turn and lean his back against the wall so their shoulders were touching. “Oh and don’t even think of telling me nothing because I can see just by looking at you that you have something heavy weighing on you.” He pulled a face at her when she looked at him in surprise. “Don’t look so shocked. I am not so self absorbed that other people’s emotions and feelings have become nothing to me. Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s no need to act like it’s so heavy.” Lenny said as she kept an eye on what was happening out in the ring. “It’s good news actually. I just found out that my cousin is getting married soon.”

He just kept watching her. Yeah she might be saying it was good news but why was he getting the definite feeling that she thought otherwise. “Well congratulations to your cousin.” He said quietly. “Now how about telling me why happy news like that is leaving you looking like you were just diagnosed with cancer of the puppy.”

“She wants me to be a bridesmaid.” She stated flatly not even realising how easy it was to just talk with him about all of this stuff.

Not able to help it Kevin let out some deep laughter. “Oh that is something that I would pay money to see.” He said with deep humour running through his voice. “You as a bridesmaid. All dressed up ... having to act like a real lady.”

“Thanks so much for your words of cheer Nash.” She spat out at him while slapping at his chest. It wasn’t until too late that she realised that he had grabbed her hand in his and was now holding onto it tightly.

He shook his head. “Oh for fuck’s sake Lenny ... cheer up.” He said. Yeah maybe this wouldn’t make him her favourite person on the planet but she needed to snap out of it. “So your cousin is getting married and you aren’t! She wants you to be her bridesmaid and all of your family will be mumbling that old adage ‘always a bridesmaid, never a bride’ ... so what! You’re a big girl babe and what they say shouldn’t matter to you one little bit. Try focusing on the fact that it isn’t about you ... it will be about the bride.”

“Are you reading my fucking mind now?” Lenny snapped out before she could stop herself. It had shocked the hell out of her that he knew what was going on in her head so easily and now she was throwing up the defensive walls. “You wouldn’t understand.”

He arched a brow and held onto her hand tightly even as he felt her trying to pull away. “Yeah that’s right. I wouldn’t understand.” He said quietly. “I’ve only been married twice and seen both marriages fail. What the hell would I know about family disappointment?” He added meaningfully then sighed. He hated the way that he would say things to her that he would never dream of saying to anyone else. He pasted a smile on his face and tried to change the subject ... but only a little. “So what lucky guy is going to be your date?”

She shrugged. This was something that she really didn’t want to talk about anymore especially with him considering he seemed to be able to read her so well. “Oh I don’t know ... there are just so many men that I have to weed through.” Then she snorted out a bitter sounding laugh. “I’ll probably ask Brian to go with me.”

“Ah so you’re going to take the safe option of asking a friend.” He said and smiled. “Makes sense I suppose.” Then before he could stop himself he leaned towards her and whispered in her ear in a conspiratorial manner. “How about you go wild and take a chance. Ask someone that you really wouldn’t mind being there with.”

Jerking back from him she just shot him an incredulous look. “I wouldn’t mind being there with Brian. He’s my friend, I’m comfortable with him and at least when he’s there the chances of me actually having a good time will go up.”

“Little word of advice Lenny.” Kevin said as he watched her face closely. “Try stepping outside your comfort zone every once in a while. You’ll find that it makes everything just so much more interesting.” Then looking at the monitor out of the corner of his eye he grinned. “Aren’t you up right about now?”

She blinked at his rapid and total change of subject. “What?” She asked and felt him turning her head gently to look at the monitor. “Oh shit!” She yelped then tugging her hand out of his completely she hurried towards the titantron trying to get her head back into the game.

-o0o-

“Well didn’t that just look sweet?” Paul asked as he walked up behind Kevin. “Did you have the charm turned all the way up to ten buddy?” He added and then laughed.

Kevin smirked as he turned around to look at his friend. “Wouldn’t you like to know ... buddy.” He replied and began to amble along the hallway knowing that Paul would follow him. He wasn’t disappointed when Paul fell into step beside him. “I’m not exactly keeping score here but it would seem that you are definitely falling behind Paul. If you want I can pick up a Victoria’s Secrets catalogue for you.”

“That’s kind of you Kev but I won’t need it.” Paul grinned. “This slow and steady pace is all part of my master plan. Lenny and I are pals right now but by the time that I turn on the charm she will be begging me to fuck her.” He said confidently. He was really sure of himself and his abilities.

Shaking his head Kevin began to think of all the times that Paul had spoken to Lenny in the last few days. He wondered what Paul’s game plan really was, he was sure that the younger man wouldn’t go into this bet without having a plan of some kind. “And you of course will be more than happy to oblige.”

“Well it would just be plain rude not to.” Paul smirked. “And it all starts tonight.” He could see a questioning look on Kevin’s face. “Feeling a little out of the loop there Kev? Maybe I should enlighten you. Guess who Lenny’s travelling to the next city with.” He said a little cryptically and then with a wide grin he walked off leaving the other man standing alone in the middle of the hallway.

Kevin blinked a couple of times. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!” He cursed and shook his head. “What the hell is the matter with that girl?”