Part 1

Look, I'm pretty damn sure it ain't love ok? It's just lust, or loneliness. I haven't damn well gotten laid since Debra decided I wasn't payin' her enough attention and fucked off with some nineteen-year-old toy boy. Not that she didn't have a point. I barely looked at her for the last few months 'cos I was distracted by the fact that I am NOT in any kind of love with Chris Jericho. I want him; sure, I'll admit that. He's just, well fuck, damn easy on the eyes is one thing, but ya gotta be in his company to understand the overwhelming need I got for his fine little Canadian self.

Basically, I'm so hot for his body that my cock aches when he's within ten feet of me. The way he moves in and outta the ring is eyecatchin' ta say the least. He's a damn good wrestler and can probably take out any sonofabitch that crosses him, 'cept maybe Angle or Benoit. He can handle himself anywhere, running rings around so-called cerebral assassins like Paul. Chris' good at anything he does and has the co-ordination a panther would envy.

Backstage his mouth is kinda legendary ya know, 'cos he can turn a phrase like a knife. Ya think his promos are funny? Ya think that shit he used to say to Steph was nasty? That was him being restrained for crying out loud. I swear I once saw a big, mean bastard nearly reduced to tears when Jericho was verbally tearing him apart for fucking up a spot and hurting one of the young kids. And that's nothing compared to the ice ya get if ya make a pass at him. He may dress all cock-tease outfits and stroke me hair, but it ain't an invitation. All ya get is a resigned sigh, frozen sapphire eyes and a polite decline that'll put ya into therapy if ya don't get over it quick.

It was HBK who said of Jericho when introduced to him for the first time, "It's a tie between wanting to belt the taste outta his smart mouth or tie him to my bed for a week." People adore him or loathe him, sometimes both at once.

All in all a hell of a package. And one that I mean to own.

*******

Lita bawling her eyes out is something you don't see every day in the back stage area. She's a tough girl, gotta be to return from that hellish injury she took last year. Now she's sitting on the floor, sobbin' like a little kid. As I reach her to ask what's up, I hear the unmistakable sound of Jericho's voice from the Diva's locker room. Angry that he's loosed his venom on Lita, I shove open the door to see Chris in the center of the room, hands on slim hips, nose to nose with Stacey Keibler. I never realized she was taller than him.

"Look Jericho as far as I'm concerned, Lita shouldn't even have come back." The leggy blonde's voice is harsh. "She's been gone eight months and decides to just stroll on back. No one consulted me. Why is she even here? She should be on Smackdown." Bitch.

Chris didn't move, but I can imagine the frost in his stare.

"Because Queen Stacey has made that decree? Lita just has to deal with returning to work to find some of her friends, including her boyfriend on a different show? She can't possibly ask for a little time to adjust? No chance to settle in because the indescribably talented Stacey now rules the Diva's room? Did it ever occur to you to show some compassion for a woman who had her fucking neck broken?"

I give Stacey credit for only taking one step back from Chris after his vicious words. Too bad for her, she started it.

"No way, no compassion here, is there? Stacey 'most famous part of me is my ass' Keibler is in a red-hot relationship with Test and is now the alpha fucking female back here? Despite the fact that every woman in this room could break your arms, including Terri, you think you can dictate to the others what they can and can't do? Has there been a vote or something? If there was, Keibler, do you think of everyone here, you would win?" It was the relentless way Jericho's words pounded into the woman that made me almost sympathetic, till I remembered Lita's sad face.

"Chris… you can't talk to me like that you bastard." Tears welled in Stacey's big eyes and a pout formed on her glossy lips.

"Grow the fuck up Keibler, I don't care if I hurt your damn feelings you brainless fool. This is not high school. Stop acting like your sixteen and dating the quarterback. This is a business and from now on you will conduct yourself like an adult, not a five year old having a tantrum. You are here to work, god knows why, not priss around like you own the place and bitch at the other women. If Lita wants some time to adjust then you'll give it to her, because she earn't her place here, unlike you."

With that last parting shot, Chris turned around and headed back to the doorway, which I currently occupy. I move back out as he passes me and crouches on the floor next to Lita.

"Come on, get up woman. Your really going to let Barbie in there get to you?" He takes the tear-stained Diva's hand, tugging her to her feet.

Lita shakes her head, wiping away the residue of her crying jag. In the locker room, the Diva's are all continuing on like nothing occurred except for Stacey, who is muttering bitterly in front of the mirror.

"Thanks Chris, she was just being a cow and it got a bit much." Lita took a deep breath. Squaring her shoulders, she enters the dangerous waters of the women's locker room.

"You're a braver man than me." I comment as the door closes behind her.

"Thank you." Jericho smiles at me briefly then heads to his dressing room.

He just smiled at me, a voice in my head crows. Now who's actin' like a teenager? I walk with him. My locker room's in that direction too.

Really.

"Ya don't think that was a bit harsh?" I ask.

Chris continues walking. "Keibler is a bitch. She told Lita that Matt was sleeping with Dawn-Marie."

"No way!" Those kids are stuck to one another.

"It's bullshit, but Lita was feeling low and it hurt." Chris stops and turns to me. "She deliberately hurt Torrie's back in Australia last year. She won't go to training, won't practice and is refusing to work in women's matches. She is pressuring Test into making demands on Patterson that could hurt his career and she's fucking Steiner in case Test looses his push. The other women only tolerate her because they have to, but none let her get to them. Lita barely knew her before the injury so Keibler's found a target that won't hit back. Yet." Jericho's distain for the leggy diva is plain.

"Fare enough. She deserved it." I have no sympathy for a stupid women who alienates those around her.

Jericho looks at me oddly, like he can't believe I agree with him. "Yeah she did."

"I guess it wasn't so hard to smack her with that chair after all huh?" I snicker.

Chris smiles at me, a real genuine smile. No ice at all.

"I barely touched her. Nearly did take her head off though. Had to pull it at the last moment because the silly bitch moved to the wrong spot." He shakes his head in memory. "The Diva's gave me a thank you card."

My snicker turns to a guffaw at that. "Ya refused to apologise as well. Now I know why."

"It was the arc." Chris protested eyes wide and unbelievably innocent. Oh damn, my jeans are too tight. Jericho looks at his watch, while I stare at the golden skin on his chest. "I need to be elsewhere. I'll see you later Austin." With another smile he turns away. I love to watch him walk away from me. Damn he has a fine ass.

"Just fuckin' lust," I mutter to myself as I head in the opposite direction.

**********

Read Chapter 2 of 19 of Jade Doll's Crave