The Bucket List (7 page)

That night was
Riptide Rumble, the biggest one yet. The moment Rae stepped out of the rental with John and Corey, she felt the electricity in the air. The Bash Arena was empty now but she knew in a few hours it would be filled to capacity. She couldn't wait to sink herself into the action. She was planning to sit with the crowds for some of it, she even had her own signs.

Corey
chuckled when she pulled them out.

"I suck?" he asked, referring to one of the sings that was done in big, bold red letters.

"Totally," she said.

"Shouldn't it be, 'You suck'?" John asked.

"No," she smiled wickedly as they walked into the arena.

There was a buzz in the locker
rooms which wasn't normally there. It was going to be a historical night in more than one way with new beginnings and heartbreaking farewells. She knew Corey was affected more than he was letting on about watching Rex fight Shawn Michaels that night. She was going to be there for him because she knew he would need her before the night was out.

"Is Snoop really going to be here?" she asked.

"Don't tell me you're planning to fuck him as well," John asked.

"No, I'm not fucking anyone at all. Why won't you guys believe me?" she stated. "He just knows how to get a party going. I think I'll hang out with him for a bit tonight."

"Yeah," Corey said, disbelieving.

They found
Corey's dressing room and John continued on to his, promising to come pick Corey up for a warm up in half an hour. They had a triple threat match with The Beast.

"You can watch the matches in here with me."

"You're going to watch them in here? What about that big massive screen we went past?"

"The other guys will be watching together in that room. I just thought we'd get a bit of privacy in here,"
Corey explained.

"Want me all to yourself, big boy?" she laughed.

Corey gave her a little smile and pulled her into a hug.

"You cried an awful long time this afternoon. I just thought maybe you'd want to talk about it."

"I'm fine Corey," she assured him.

He looked down into her
eyes which were still a bit puffy and red.

"You sure?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. You know you'd be the first to know if I wasn't."

He kissed the top of her head and let her go.

"Okay, so maybe you can tell me about Columbia," he said as he took his gear out of the bag.

"That's a long story," she said evasively. "It requires a shit load of alcohol and your undivided attention before it can even be told."

Corey chuckled.

"
Okay then. When we land in Albany on Tuesday, when this pay per view is behind us, it's a date."

Good. That meant she had two days to come up with the perfect story.

Eventually the match everyone had been waiting for came up. They made their way to the main lounge where they watched the match with the rest of the crew and superstars. Rex's last match was probably the most memorable of the whole night, and even before Shawn mouthed the words, 'I'm sorry, I love you,' tears were streaming down her cheeks. She held on to Corey because she knew, as useless as she looked, he was getting some comfort from her. They watched as Rex made his final walk down the ramp, on the grandest stage of them all , amid the cheers and tears of his fans in the sold out Bash Arena.

"You okay?" she asked
Corey.

"Yeah," he replied hoarsely, smiling down at her sadly before planting a little kiss on her lips.

Again, they were unaware that their little moment was being observed.

It was an emotional night. She thought every match had been executed perfectly, and when it was time for
Corey to shine, she had sat in the front row and cheered her lungs out. She would have jumped over the security rail to stand in his corner but she didn't think Vince would appreciate that. Besides, she didn't want to be a distraction. Corey was fighting John and The Beast in a triple threat for the  Championship, which was what he cared for the most in the world. Next to her and his family, of course.

When he finally held his belt high and walked out of the ring, playing the heel to a tee, she must have been the only one really cheering. She felt bad for John, of course, but that was the nature of the business. You had to let someone else shine. She caught his wink as he walked past her and screamed some more. The
camera man came right up to her face and she held one of her big signs up, the one that said RKO 4EVA. No one could doubt her support.

She caught up with him in the back eventually and he had already showered and dressed.

"You did good out there," she said to him.

"Thanks, baby," he said as he hugged her.

"How's John feeling?"

"He'll live,"
Corey laughed. "Your dad's match is up next. Wanna watch that?"

"Yeah."

Corey looked for a minute.

"You really are going to give the guy a chance," he stated

"What, you didn't believe me? He's the only family I have left."

"And you've got me,"
Corey said as he led her to the fighters' lounge. "You'll always have me."

"I know," she smiled at him.

John was already at the large plasma with a bunch of the other guys. She blew him a little kiss before making herself comfortable on Corey's lap.

Again, they were unaware of being watched.

***

"We could have stayed in tonight, you know,"
Corey said to her when he pulled her back at the entrance of the exclusive club in the heart of Orlando. "We haven't really sat down to talk since you came."

"Lets just go in and have a good time. I'm with you for a few weeks, we'll have plenty of time to do that."

She followed John and Alyssa in, her hand in Corey's. She was ready to enjoy herself. That was, after all, what this whole trip was about. Maybe she'd meet this fabled Mr. Right tonight. Who knew?

There were bodies everywhere; grinding on the
dance floor, in various locks along the walls and all the tables seemed taken. The lighting was dim and the music was loud, loud enough so she couldn't hear herself think. Just the way she liked it. If she could find someone who liked it too, then they were in the money!

"Come on, handsome," she laughed. "Lets show these people how it's done."

She pulled him towards the dance floor, her body already moving to the beat and her eyes scanning the crowd for that 'someone'. This was what she had lived for, this decadent lifestyle with all its reckless treats. That was all changed now. It was time to slow down. She used to have a motto, that she tried everything once. How else was she to know if it was good or bad? So, in her 25 years, she had discovered that she had a high tolerance for absolutely everything. She had judged no one, even though people were constantly judging her. The old Rae never gave a shit! She'd thought, live and let live, what was so fucking wrong with that? But she had learned that, in order to actually find someone to give a shit about her, she needed to give a shit about them, too. That would be so hard!

As they got to the
dance floor the DJ changed the music and took it all the way back to the old school. With the way things changed in this day and age, it was probably from the school that was torn down before the old school was built. She didn't care, it was one of her favorites. The old Ice Cube song where he commanded her to put her ass into it. She did just that, moving herself on Corey then bending over and shaking her delicious little behind against him. She loved dancing, loved the feeling of just letting the music control her. It wasn't hard, really, to look good when you had an excellent partner. Corey could certainly teach her a move or two!

"If you carry on like this you'll make me embarrass myself right here,"
Corey growled in her ear.

"You could always grab one of those girls and do her in the bathroom," she laughed.

"Public toilets? I haven't done that since I was nineteen."

"Oh, yes. I remember that well," she chuckled, remembering how he had got caught and had them all thrown out of the fancy restaurant they'd been at.

"I'm going to grab a drink. I'm sure one of these men watching you won't mind taking my place."

"I told you, I ain't looking to get laid!" she said.

"Yeah," Corey laughed. "Half the men in here are probably imagining you naked right now. I'll give you half an hour before you cave in."

"My, my,"
Mandy said, fanning herself with her hand. "Those two could light a fire. Are they really not ... you know..."

John chuckled as he handed
Alyssa her drink.

"They are just really, really... really close," he laughed. "So what do you think of Rae?"

Mandy remembered the way the blonde girl had been looking at her in the car on the way over and felt a faint flush on her cheeks. Boy, Corey hadn't been kidding. Even though she was wearing a little black dress which wasn't slutty at all Rae had made her feel like she was completely naked. The girl had looked like she was dying to rip her clothes off her and do some pretty wicked things to her body. And for a minute there she'd thought she wouldn't mind at all...

"She's... something,"
Mandy laughed. "She reminds me of someone, I can't think who right now."

John laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm sure it'll come to you."

They watched Corey and Rae some more and Mandy couldn't help thinking how sexy the other girl looked. She wore a slutty little white halter top that said, 'I'm a virgin' and yet her full breasts were bursting out of it. Her midriff was bare and her bottom was covered by the skankiest little shorts she had ever seen. She had her feet in incredibly high heeled, knee length boots and her hair was a mass of golden curls on top of her head. She looked like she had just been well and truly fucked and was still ready for more.

"I've seen her work and I love it, but doesn't she worry about bad publicity and all that?"

"Rachael doesn't worry about anything, she does whatever the hell she wants," John replied. "Believe it or not, the more bad publicity she gets the more work she gets. I don't know why."

"Has she always been like that?"

"I've only known her about five or six years but I think so."

"What's she like?"

"A total bitch, mostly. But if you're her friend she'll fight in your corner with everything she's got. She's amazing, actually, in that way. She's never let me down and I know she'd do anything for me."

"So this is all a facade? She's really sweet and sensitive, and all that?"

"Sadly, no. What you see is what you get," John laughed.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, how come you guys are so close?"

"She kinda grew on me. I met her the first time I traveled with Corey, before her career took off. I'd just broken up with someone and was totally messed up. I tried to do something stupid and she sort of... saved me."

Alyssa
looked at the superstar, shock registering in her eyes.

"No, nothing like that. It's a long story," John assured her. "She took me back to her mother's place for a couple of days, told me what was what and we've been good friends since."

"So she is sweet and sensitive."

"Only to her friends. She doesn't give a fuck about anyone else."

"Like Corey," she said, then her eyes lit up. "That's who she reminds me of. God, why didn't I see that before, they are so freakishly alike"

John laughed again

"Told you it would come to you."

"Aren't you even a bit bothered by that?"

Dave looked down as the woman he had spent the best part of the morning the day before with danced with Corey. She had been incredible, by far the best lay he'd ever had. The girl enjoyed everything; the simplest touch, the softest kiss, a single look; it all made her incredibly horny and so easy to please. Everything about her had been so intense it had certainly turned up the heat between them. In the end, he hadn't fucked her; he had made love to her. He had worshipped every inch of her body, the way she had done his.

"It was what it was, Brian," he answered as he finished his beer.

"You think maybe she sleeps around in the day then crawls into Steele's bed to fuck him at night? They certainly look cozy."

Dave looked down again and thought how right Brian was. You couldn't have that much chemistry with someone and not do anything about it.
Steele certainly didn't look unaffected.

"I don't know, Brian," he said as he got up to get another drink. "Anyone want another one?"

Dave saw the way Adam and Kennedy had to struggle to pull their eyes off the girl.

"Uh... nah, man. I'm cool," Kennedy said.

Adam only managed to shake his head. It was understandable. He wished he could just sit there and watch as well but he just couldn't take that, not when he knew he would never sleep with her again. The girl had certainly made sure to clarify that point.