{Chapter 13}
“Hey! Izzy’s ridin’ with us,” Jeff exclaimed happily as he slid in the passenger seat. “This is gonna be so much fun!”
“Jeff, we’re stuck in a car for the next few hours,” Isabella chuckled. “How is that fun?”
“You obviously haven’t ridden with Jeff Hardy before,” Cena teased from the backseat next to Isabella. “Come on, Rainbow. Whip out that bag ‘o goodies!”
Jeff smiled and pulled the bag he had tossed at his feet into his lap. He pulled out various magazines, some music, various snacks, cards and some drinks. Jeff shuffled through some CDs a smile on his face. Kennedy, who was driving, groaned.
“No,” he said shaking his head as Jeff attempted to put a CD in. “I am NOT listening to Pearl Jam for the entire trip.”
“They’re not ALL Pearl Jam,” Jeff pouted.
“Let me see them Jeff,” Isabella said leaning forward with her hand out. He handed her a stack of CDs and she sifted through them. “Here, play this one.” She handed one back to Jeff and he smiled approvingly, popping it in and putting it on shuffle.
“I don’t get a say in this,” Kennedy asked.
“Nope,” Isabella replied smiling as the opening of Hinder’s Lips of an Angel began to play.
Kennedy groaned hearing the song. “Chick rock,” he grumbled.
“Hey! I listen to it and I’m not a chick,” Jeff said.
“That’s debatable,” Cena called from the backseat, earning him a slap upside the head from Isabella. “Hey! We ain’t known each other long enough for you to be assaulting me!” He pouted at her, rubbing his now sore head.
“John, let’s be honest, five minutes was enough time to know you and I wanted to assault you,” Kennedy said chuckling.
“That ain’t right, man,” Cena said crossing his arms across his chest and pouting.
“Hey there Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Isabella said leaning over toward him and using a nasal voice. “Don’t be sad. Turn your frown upside down.”
“Izzy, honey, you’re scaring Jeff,” Kennedy chuckled.
“Not scared,” Jeff said. “Kinda creeped out though. Where the hell did that voice come from?”
Isabella laughed and shrugged. “Just came out,” she replied and glanced at Cena. He was still pouting, though his blue eyes showed amusement.
“All right, I can’t take this music,” Cena said grabbing the stack of CDs that were still in the backseat. “Perfect,” he said smiling pulling out an Akon CD. “Yo, Jeff, pop this bad boy in.”
Jeff took the CD and popped it in, once again hitting shuffle. Kennedy groaned again. “Doesn’t anyone listen to real music,” he grumbled.
“Sorry, Ken,” Isabella said smirking. “We’re not into that old fart music that you like to listen to.”
“Don’t make me pull this car over, young lady,” he grumbled. Jeff, Cena and Isabella all laughed. “Holy shit. I was channeling my dad just then.”
“Just enjoy the music and the fine company, Ken,” Cena said dancing in his seat. Smack That started to play and he smiled wide, bopping around to the beat. He closed his eyes still dancing in his seat.
“John, be careful,” Kennedy said peeking in the rear view mirror and seeing that Cena had begun to flail his arms around as he danced.
He cringed as he saw things unfold in slow motion. Cena’s arm came at Isabella’s face too quick for her to duck. It smacked her right in the nose. Cena sat there a moment stunned, unable to believe what he had just done.
“Shit, Izzy, are you all right,” he asked.
Isabella held her nose, the blood trickling from between her fingers. “It’s not broken,” she managed to say, tilting her head back.
“You don’t know that,” Kennedy said glancing around for a rest stop. “Jesus, John! Are you trying to maim my sister?”
“It was an accident,” Cena cried. “Izzy, I am so sorry.”
“It’s all right, John,” she said, her voice nasal from pinching the bridge of her nose to stem the flow of blood. “Ken, I do know it’s not broken. I’ve had a broken nose before. I know what it feels like.”
“Here, Izzy,” Jeff said handing over some napkins he found in his bag. He handed Cena a bottle of water so he could help clean her up.
“Thanks, Jeff,” she said. “The bleeding has stopped. Ken, you can stop freaking out now.”
“I’m looking for a rest stop, Izzy,” he said. “You need to clean up and I have to piss like a racehorse.”
“That’s nice,” Isabella said as she cleaned off the last remnants of blood from her face. “TMI, Ken.” She looked down at her shirt and sighed. At least it wasn’t one that she loved. Tossing it when they got to the rest stop wouldn’t be a big deal.
“I am so sorry,” Cena said again. “I just…I’m such a fucking idiot.”
“John, I’ll live,” Isabella said. “It was an accident. No hard feelings. All right?”
“Rest stop, Ken,” Jeff said pointing to the sign that said it was on the next right.
About ten minutes later they pulled into the rest stop. Kennedy and Jeff jumped out of the car and headed toward the rest rooms. Cena looked around the rest area. He still felt terrible about injuring Isabella and hoped he could find a gift shop to buy her something to make it up to her. It was then that he spotted Randy’s rental pulling into a space not far from their car.
Isabella was already out of the car, stretching. Cena scurried out the side she had gotten out and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Just go along with me,” he muttered to her. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Randy also stretching. He cupped Isabella’s face in one hand and brought his lips to hers.
Isabella’s eyes went wide when Cena did this, not expecting him to kiss her. She tried to fight him off for a split second before the warmth of his lips made her give in. Her eyes drifted shut and she melted into him, her arms wrapping around his waist.
Cena wrapped his arms around Isabella, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. She groaned into his mouth as his tongue twined with hers, massaging it. One hand slid up her back, tangling in her hair. If he kept this up much longer he knew he’d lose control and he didn’t want that.
Reluctantly Cena broke the kiss, his intense blue eyes connecting with her hazel ones. “What was that for,” she asked breathlessly.
“Randy just pulled in a couple of cars down,” he said softly, smirking. His eyes never left hers. “Just wanted him to know what he’d be missing out on.”
~*~
From where he was stretching Randy caught sight of a couple kissing. It didn’t take him long to recognize that it was Isabella and Cena. “That motherfucker,” he growled, jealousy boiling up inside of him.
“Wow, that was hot,” Jeff said. He had spotted Randy and had been on his way over to talk over some ideas for their match later that evening when he saw Randy staring at someone or something. He had turned his attention in the direction Randy was staring just in time to see the tail end of the kiss.
“Disgusting is more like it,” Randy said prying his eyes away from the two.
“This from a man who once had a three way kiss with Melina and Mickie James right in the middle of our table when we were at a club,” Jeff said smirking. “Face it, Randy, you fucked up with Izzy and now you regret it.”
“You’re delusional, Hardy,” Randy said and headed toward the rest rooms. Jeff followed him.
~*~
Kennedy left the men’s room shaking his wet hands. “Damn public bathrooms,” he grumbled. “Never have any paper towels.” He glanced around the lot looking for his rental and spotted Cena and Isabella kissing. “Come on,” he groaned and stalked over to the two.
Isabella grabbed a clean shirt from her bag in the trunk and headed off to the ladies’ room to change just as Kennedy made it back to the car. “Hey, Ken,” Cena said unable to hide the smile on his face. “Izzy went to change.”
“What the hell, John,” Kennedy demanded.
“What?” He then realized that Kennedy had seen the kiss. “Oh that? That was nothing. We were just fuckin’ with Randy.”
“It didn’t look like nothing,” Kennedy replied. Cena chuckled, still unable to wipe the smile off his face. “John, come on. Do I need to worry about you too?”
“Worry…Ken, it was just a kiss. Christ, I don’t even know if Izzy likes me like that.”
Kennedy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ve got a headache,” he groaned.
“Just chill, Ken,” Cena said. “Why don’t I drive for the rest of the way. Izzy can sit up front with me and you can lie down in the back.”
“What about Jeff,” Kennedy sighed.
“I’m gonna ride with Randy,” Jeff said as if on cue. He hooked a thumb over to where Orton was waiting by his rental. “We have some things we need to discuss for our match.” He reached into the car and grabbed his bag. “Tell Izzy I’ll see her at the hotel.” With that he skipped off to join Randy.
Cena watched him go before chuckling. Kennedy looked at him questioningly. “Think about it,” Cena said still chuckling. “Jeff is riding with Randy. He’s gonna torture him with Pearl Jam and any other music he’s got in that bag.” Kennedy too began to chuckle.
~*~
“So, Randy,” Jeff said as he popped a CD in. “What’s the deal with you and Izzy?”
“Look, Jeff, I agreed to let you ride with me because you said you wanted to talk about our match,” Randy sighed.
“Right,” Jeff replied bopping his head to the song that was playing. “I think you like Izzy a lot more than you’re letting on.”
“Damn it, Jeff!” Randy punched the steering wheel and sighed. “Fine, yes, I like her. A lot.”
“Then why did you…”
“I don’t know,” Randy growled. “I…fucked up.” He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “She probably hates me now.”
Jeff quirked a brow at the other man. He had never seen Randy take something so hard. “I don’t think she hates you, man,” Jeff said. “I think she’s just disappointed in your actions.”
Randy glanced at Jeff and sighed shaking his head. “I blew it. She’s with John now,” he said sadly.
Jeff didn’t know what to say. He had been happy that Isabella had seen Randy for what he was, but now he felt bad for him. He seemed to really like Izzy. He might even care about her. With a sigh he settled into the passenger seat and listened to the music, letting Randy drive on in silence.
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