*!I Can't Pretend I Don't Care!*

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She'd been to Charlotte once before, for a basketball game for the then Charlotte Hornets, but that didn't even compare to this in the magnitude of the night. She knew no matter what happened this would be the night she really shined. There was no getting around that and she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

"Are you lost Aurora?"

Spinning around she came face to face with the guy she'd met first in the meeting, Shannon Moore.

"No, not lost. I'm just taking a minute to capture it all in and relax myself. My nerves are going crazy right now."

"It's different here then in the independents right?"

"Yeah it seems almost surreal to me, being here like this. This is what I worked my ass off trying to achieve all those years. It's just a little mind blowing."

"Wanna know a secret?" It will pass with time, once you deal with all the politics and ego's, it will feel very different."

"I'll keep that in mind Shannon. So where does one go to unload their stuff?"

Shannon smiled and pointed down the hall towards the rows of locker rooms. He realized that this girl was really a fish out of water here.

"If you don't mind sharing with the guys you could always use our locker room tonight."

"Thanks, and no I don't mind sharing with the guys. I've pretty much seen everything there is to see on a guy anyway. You're sure the rest of the guy's wont mind?"

"Are you kidding? You're a beautiful girl and you want to room with the guys. They will be fine with it. They are all pretty cool, and if they care we will just find you another locker to store your stuff."

Making their way down the hall, Aurora saw a few people she remembered from the independent days. Waving to the guys, they kept making their way down the hall to Shannon's locker room door. Knocking lightly, Shannon waited for a response. When none came, he motioned for Aurora to go in, with him following close behind her.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! We didn't think anyone was in here." Aurora turned her head away fast causing Shannon to bust up laughing as she continued to blush a dark shade of red. So much for the idea of her being comfortable around the guys.

"Don't you guys knock first?"

"Matt we did that, and when no one answered, we figured the place was empty. So I let Aurora go first. We didn't know you were here showering, and nude. Matt Hardy, this is Aurora Rivers. Aurora, now that you've seen him, this is Matt." Shannon tried to explain while keeping a straight face. This had to be an ice breaker if he ever saw one.

"Since when do we have girls in our locker room Shan?"

"Since I asked her to share with us. Come on man, you need to lighten up here."

Aurora gathered her composure and threw a glance at Shannon and Matt. She was used to sharing locker rooms with a bunch of guys, but she never walked in on them walking around naked. She knew Matt must feel as awkward about this as she was.

"Guys, if this are a big deal I can go find the women's locker room. I don't want to cause any issues here."

Matt chose that moment to look at her, and he meant really look at her. She might be a women's wrestler and she might go toe to toe with the boys, but at that moment she was the most feminine thing he'd ever seen. From her blonde hair and blue tips, to her unique style of dress, she was beautiful without even trying. He was surprised he hadn't noticed her more at the meeting earlier last week.

"No it's fine believe me. You don't have to leave, does she Matt?" Shannon announced glaring at his friend.

Matt blushed slightly pulling himself out of his train of thought and coughed. This girl was already starting to seep into this skin, something he didn't need right now.

"No, you can stay. I'm sorry if I was rude earlier, I just didn't know anyone was here."

"Don't worry about it Matt, I'm not anymore." Aurora smiled and it sent Matt's body into overdrive. He hadn't been so affected by a woman since he and Amy had split up over a year ago. He wasn't sure if he liked it either. Apparently his body did though, and it had other plans.

Shannon, who as noticing the tense expression on his friends face, decided to change the subject.

"So have they figured out what they're doing with you yet Rory?"

Aurora glanced away from Matt and focused directly on Shannon. No one had called her Rory in a long time and it threw her off a little hearing it again. Regaining her train of thought, she realized she was supposed to go and see Stephanie about what her role would be that night.

"I have no idea Shannon, I'm supposed to go meet with Stephanie and find out. Vince didn't really go into details when we spoke on the phone."

"Well Matt has to go pick up his updated script so I'm sure he could take you to see her. Couldn't you buddy?"

Matt just glared at his friend, realizing what he was trying to do. He didn't like it one bit either, but when he saw the look of relief on Aurora's face, he knew he couldn't just say no to her. She was new here to the way things were run, and he didn't want to make things any worse on her.

"Yeah come on Aurora, I'll take you." Matt said throwing a shirt over his head and running his hands threw his hair.

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They made their way down the hall in complete silence until Aurora couldn't take it anymore, and pulled him to a dead stop.

"What's wrong?"

"You don't like me, do you Matt Hardy?" Aurora asked looking him straight in the eye.

"Where did you get an idea like that? Did I say something that made you think that?"

"Not in so many words, but Shannon's been so nice to me, and you're the complete opposite. Do I intimidate you? Being a woman competitor who fights men like you all the time?"

Matt just cracked up at this girl's logic. He was not by any means intimidated by her, but he couldn't deny an attraction to her. He just hadn't realized it might be affecting the way he treated her. Clearing his throat he raised his eyes back up to meet hers.

"If having an intense attraction to you, and wanting to take you right here on the damn floor is being intimidated, and then yes I think I am a little."

As he started to walk down the hall, Aurora realized she wasn't moving and ran to catch up with him, spinning him around on his heel.

"You can't just drop a bombshell like that and expect to walk away without a response."

"That's funny because I thought that was exactly what I was doing. We need to get to Stephanie's office and get my script."

"No Matt, you're going to explain yourself right this minute. Stephanie can wait."

Matt laughed and started walking again. He didn't want to get into this in the middle of the hallway where anyone could hear them. He just wanted to get to the office and get his script, so he could get the hell away from the girl that was messing with his body and his mind.

"No she can't wait, believe me, you'll learn that soon enough. So are you coming or not?"

"Yeah I'm coming, but just so you know, we will be continuing this conversation later. Even if I have to hunt you down to do it."

"Yeah whatever you say Princess. All I care about right now is dropping you off and preparing for my match."

Aurora couldn't believe how infuriating this guy was. He really must have thought he was amazing or something. She couldn't comprehend someone like that being friends with someone like Shannon, who was the complete opposite.

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