He'd said that he was going to hell and that he was going to kill the devil. He'd told himself that he meant every word. He'd hoped that if he beat Hunter in the Cell the longings that he didn't want to admit to would go away. Every night since then as he'd lain in his bed holding Randy in his arms, he'd tried to convince his heart that he didn't ache at the thought that Hunter could be gone forever.

He supposed that he should feel bad that he held these feelings for Paul, but he didn't. If he didn't know for a fact that Randy had been cheating on him since before Wrestlemania with the Deadman, he might. Fortunately he did know and felt that the unrequited longings of his heart were far out weighted by Randy's indiscretions. He didn't know for sure why Randy stayed with him. He had a feeling that Mark's wife had somethin to do with it. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be an easy thing to get the older man to leave his wife… no matter how tight Randy's ass was.

He and Randy had gotten together back in OVW for the convenience because neither one of them was much into the groupie scene and yet they both hated to be alone. They'd hooked up pretending that they were in love. They now found themselves stuck together because they had fallen in love with men who already had women claiming them and were afraid to face the ramifications of their heart's actions.

Randy was the lucky one of the two of them however. Dave had seen the way Mark looked at the young stud and knew that the Texan genuinely loved Randy. Someday a choice would be made… someday when Mark was out of the public eye and could safely divorce his wife to be with his young lover. Dave also had a feeling that day was coming up sooner than he wanted.

And then he would be left alone with only his longings to give him comfort. His heart would be left to shatter endlessly because Dave knew Paul would never leave Stephanie. He'd known what he was getting himself into when he'd said those words I do. Not that Dave cared if Paul was married to Stephie or to a circus chimp. He just wanted to be with him. He wanted to touch him. He wanted to love him. He wanted to be loved by him.

But Dave was a coward. He could face any physical challenge that was put in front of him, but matters of the heart scared him to death. He'd spent too many years growing up feeling as if he were all alone in the world to know how to risk losing someone that he loved beyond all reason.

He told himself that it was different if he never knew the realization of his dreams. If he never knew Paul's touch, if he never knew his scent, if he never knew his taste then it would be ok. He could survive the what if's. But to have that knowledge and then be robbed of its presence would kill him as surely as a bullet through the heart would. He knew that Randy knew. He could see it in his eyes whenever Paul's name came up. That look of somewhere between pity and pain mixed in with a healthy dose of fear.

And when Paul returned… Oh God when he'd returned every lie Dave had told himself had been proven wrong.

He was sure that he was more exquisite now than when he'd left. His body showed no sign of softness from the months of inactivity. His eyes held the sparkle of laughter that Dave hadn't heard in over a year. His voice lacked the tight growl born of the frustration and stress he'd been under when he left and now held a lightness that alluded to what seemed to be a new easy going attitude.

Randy said that Paul watched him whenever they were in the same room as if marking his territory, but Dave refused to believe it. The notion was entirely too scary. He had managed to convince himself that Randy was imagining things… possibly in an attempt to make himself feel better when he left his longtime lover for another man… when something happened after the show that had left him shaking.

Dave had been coming out of the shower. The locker room he'd thought was empty. He'd waited until everyone else had left to go in. He'd spend much more time daydreaming about Paul as he stroked himself that he had actually spent cleaning the sweat off of his body. As he'd walked out, he found Paul leading against the entranceway back into the locker room. His arms folded across his chest casually and a sultry smile on his face. "I'm coming for you," he'd whispered. Dave was sure as he'd hurriedly dressed then run from the room Paul's laughter had followed him out.

Dave had run to Randy and hadn't looked back.

Now he lay in the dark. His naked body pressed against Randy's. The faint smell of their feverish fucking still lingering in the air or at least in Dave's mind and afterwards sleep had immediately claimed Randy who now lay in with a faint smile on his face. Dave was sure it was Mark he was dreaming of. Dave however lay wide awake restless and needy, afraid to close his eyes because he knew who would be there. The same person who had been there for the better part of the last 3 years, the same person whose laughter still echoed in his head… the same person who was always there twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. He had no idea what he was going to do. He didn't know whether to run to Paul or keep running away from him.

And he still didn't know how he'd survive when the dream when away.

The End!

Read Story #2 in the Tema & Desejo series Unexpected Freedom