Chapter 9
"Where's Jon?"
"He had a phone call and stepped outside for a smoke." Joe informed her with a small smile, knowing it was killing Jon that Serice was leaving them tomorrow.
Truth be told, he didn't want her to leave either. Ganesa was upset about it, but she wouldn't tell Serice how she truly felt because she didn't want the woman to feel bad. Joe was tempted to talk to her, but Jon said he would handle it somehow, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Ganesa been here?"
"Yeah, she had to go back down to her office because of some PR stuff. She told me to tell you when you got back." Serice said softly, watching as Joe walked out of the locker room to go see Ganesa.
Over the past 2 weeks, things with Ganesa had been incredible and Joe couldn't go more than an hour without seeing her beautiful smiling face. Ganesa was everything he'd been looking for in a woman and more, though Joe hadn't told her that yet. He knew he already loved her deeply, but he also didn't want to freak Ganesa out by saying the L word too soon. It was a huge step for him to take considering how his last relationship ended.
Jon walked in the dressing room a few minutes later, blue eyes landing on Serice instantly. "Hey, as long as you don't have anything planned tonight, we need to talk when we get back to the hotel."
"I-Is everything okay?" Serice asked hesitantly, seeing the amount of intensity in Jon's eyes and went to stand up from the couch, but decided against it.
He would try to convince her to stay with him; Serice already saw it coming a mile away. There was no way it could happen. She'd made her mind up and nothing he said or did would change her mind. Didn't he understand she was doing this for his own good? Serice curled up back on the couch while Jon grabbed his gear and stepped into the bathroom to get ready for his match that night. She was nervous for him because it was a dangerous match full of weapons that could be used. The last thing Serice wanted to see was Jon get hurt right before she headed back to Cincinnati and left his side. Sighing, there was nothing she could do about that either and merely leaned her head against the couch, closing her eyes.
This would be a curveball that caught Serice off guard and hopefully anything Jon said after tonight had her attention. The biggest mistake in his life was leaving her behind in Cincinnati when he left to pursue his dream of professional wrestling as a career. He should've either brought her with or went back for her. Something told Jon her life got a lot worse after he left. Her mother was too much like his and he could only imagine what Serice had to live through and do to get by on a daily basis. With their mothers, it was just a challenge to live day-to-day without succumbing to the crap living outside of their apartment building. Let alone the real world beyond what they knew. He dressed for his match before walking out of the bathroom and leaned down, kissing the crown of her head softly.
"So are you going to cheer me on tonight?" He asked, sitting on the couch besides her lacing his boots.
Serice slowly looked up at him, a smirk curving her lips. "No I thought I'd root for Team Hell No and the muscled up freak Ryback." She giggled when Jon growled down at her and rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at him. Serice noticed the gleam in his eyes and immediately rolled off the couch before he could make a grab for her, becoming quicker since being on the road. "Now wait a minute, you asked me and I gave you an answer. Not my fault that you don't like it. Jon – Jon, NO!" Serice squealed out as he lifted her over his shoulder caveman style, spinning her around in circles as her laughter filled the room. Colby had gone down to check on Celeste, so they were in the dressing room alone. Jon planted her on the couch moments later, hovering over her and Serice knew what was coming next. Raspberries and tickling. "Jon, stop it!" She tried to get away from him, but he had her pinned down to the couch, completely laying on top of her so she couldn't even roll away from him.
"I don't know why you insist on us having the same conversation over and over." Jon growled against her neck, breathing her scent in. "Who's the man? Huh? Tell me, who's the boss? Who is the best wrestler in WWE?"
More raspberries followed while his fingers feather lightly tickled her sides and she writhed beneath him. Jon had to make her laughter fill the entire room, loving every single second of it. Serice could barely breathe and felt her body flood with heat at the feeling of Jon growling against her neck right over her pulse point.
"Y-You! D-Dean Ambrose!"
Even though Serice loathed his wrestling name, she had to use it since that was all she knew about his wrestling history. She had no idea he was another character in the Indies because there was no way for her watch him. Jon stopped tickling her, but didn't move from being on top of her as Serice's arms wrapped around his neck, holding him there while she tried to breathe again. Her fingers ran through his slick hair, knowing as soon as it tried the curls would return. Serice would miss him so much, especially moments like this where he would tickle and blow raspberries on her neck to make her laugh.
"Well doesn't that look cozy?" Joe commented, walking inside the dressing room a few minutes later with Ganesa in his arms, nuzzling her neck.
"What happened?"
"Oh nothing, the big guy just felt like carting my ass down here to stay with you during the match." Ganesa rolled her eyes and nipped the side of his neck, giggling when Joe growled in response. "You know that's just a turn-on to me, right?"
Jon rolled his eyes, shaking his head and didn't bother getting off of Serice. "You two get a room."
"You should talk. Get off of her before you crush her with your fat ass." Joe retorted, setting Ganesa down on her feet and grunted when her elbow lodged into his stomach. "What the hell, baby?"
"It's not nice to call people fat."
A knock at the Shield locker room door brought everyone's attention to Stephanie McMahon-Levesque and her husband, Paul, walking inside. "Are we interrupting something?" Stephanie asked sweetly, though her blue eyes remained cool for the moment.
Jon jumped off of Serice instantly and tore both hands through his hair, grinning goofy at the bosses. "Not at all, Mrs. Levesque. What can we do for you?"
"Just came to check on you guys and make sure you're ready for tonight's match." Paul said, his hazel eyes landing on the woman sitting on the couch. "Who is that?" He didn't recognize her and hoped Jon hadn't brought a ring rat into the arena since it was against company policy.
"Her name is Serice, she's a close personal friend of Jon's and she's been traveling with us." Joe supplied, lacing his fingers with Ganesa to show the bosses they were clearly together.
"How long have you been traveling with the company, sweetie?" Stephanie asked Serice with a softer smile, noticing how beautiful and meek she was.
Serice swallowed hard, clasping her hands in front of her and slowly stood from the couch. "Just a couple of weeks, ma'am. I'm going home tomorrow though."
Stephanie raised a surprised brow, wondering if there was any way she could convince Serice to stick around the company. "Well, if you ever want a job just contact me. We'd love to have you as part of the company."
Serice simply sat back down on the couch and couldn't believe she was just offered a job from Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, immediately pushing the thought out of her head. No, absolutely not. They would see her scars and want nothing to do with her. No amount of makeup could cover them up because they were pretty deep. Jon was in shock as well, nudging Serice with a smirk. It was just another reason to add to the growing list in his mind on why she should stay on the road with him.
"We've got about 45 minutes until our match, wanna go take a smoke break?" He asked Serice with a smile, holding up the pack of cigarettes.
"Sure."
Serice followed Jon out the door, feeling him grab her hand like always as their fingers laced together. He would bring up the job offer. There was a reason Jon invited her outside and that had to be it – or to beg her not to leave again. Why couldn't Jon understand this was best for everyone? For him? Serice hopped on the equipment trunk with him and took a cigarette from his pack, igniting the tip before handing the lighter over.
"Thank you." She murmured, taking a deep drag and let the nicotine filter through her system, blowing the smoke out. "Nervous about your match?"
"It's another one of those shit my pants full moments." Jon admitted, both of the sharing a heartfelt laugh. "Look about the match tonight, I know it's going to be scary for you to watch, but I don't want you worrying about us. I know that's what you're going to do. We're out to set a goal tonight. We're proving everyone right whose idea it was to bring us up from NXT and proving everyone wrong who thinks we don't belong. Just know I'm okay during the match."
Serice nodded, reaching up to brush a strand of wet hair from his forehead, smiling softly as she took another drag. "As long as you're okay, that's all I'm worried about. You've got it in the bag. I know you won't tell me who wins the match because you want me to be surprised, but I already know you and the boys are winning. I can see it in your eyes. The excitement. It's the same excitement you had in your eyes whenever we'd watch wrestling together at your place on the fire escape."
Flicking ash away, Serice was thankful Jon hadn't brought up the job offer from Stephanie or the fact she was leaving tomorrow. She would miss being on the road with him. Closing her eyes as the cold breeze flowed over her, Serice enjoyed it since it was somewhat stuffy in the dressing room. 20 minutes later, they headed back inside the arena so Jon and the boys could get ready for their match.
"3 knocks, like every night and Ganesa is staying in here with you." Joe informed them, kissing his girlfriend softly and walked out the door.
"Be safe, Jon." Serice reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek and squeezed his hand, watching him walk out after Joe with a thoughtful frown.
It was a grueling tough match, but the Shield did come out victorious. Jon's body ached from head to toe and wished he could convince Serice to get in a hot bath with him, immediately pushing that thought in the far recesses of his mind. The only casualty of the night had been Colby. When Ryan –Ryback- threw him from the ladder and he crashed through the tables next to it, Colby had accidentally flung himself further back than anticipated. He ended up nearly braining himself on the table behind the stack he went through. Colby didn't have a concussion thankfully, but he did have to spend the night in the hospital just for observation purposes. He wouldn't be alone since Celeste was keeping him company.
Ganesa frowned, knowing Joe was hurting badly and would be for a couple of days. As they walked into the suite, she eased him back on the couch. "What can I do to help?" She hated seeing him in pain. "Tell me, I'll do anything to help with the pain. Massage, bath, hot tub down in the pool? I give great massages for those sore muscles, I promise."
She would really do anything to help Joe forget how much pain his body was in. The match was almost too much for Ganesa to take, but she managed to get through it – every second actually. Sometimes her eyes were covered because she wasn't sure she could watch the torture they put their bodies through. Serice laughed whenever she'd peek between her fingers to see what was happening and why the crowd reacted a certain way.
"Stop worrying about me, baby, I'm fine." Joe assured her in a low rumble, wincing with every movement he made and couldn't understand how Jon was walking perfectly fine.
Then again, he had been in the hardcore world of CZW before coming to the WWE, so that somewhat made sense. Pulling Ganesa to sit on his lap, Joe bit back a wince and kissed the top of her head, looking at her throat. The swelling had gone down somewhat, but not nearly enough.
"I think the hot tub would do us both some good." He finally said, nuzzling her ear and felt her melt against him instantly. "After food, I'm starving. So you sit your beautiful self right here while I go order it. What do you want, the usual?"
When she nodded, Joe went into the other room to make the order since she couldn't talk right now. Everything she said currently was in a whisper. Ganesa looked up when he came back into the sitting room area and took his seat beside her again, smiling softly. She carefully shifted, throwing one leg over his lap to straddle him and began kneading his massive shoulders.
"I'm really proud of you tonight. You guys all did really great."
Ganesa brushed her mouth against his, moving as little as possible. She could see him physically cringing every breath and slight movement, her small hands gliding down his shoulders to his chest. Ganesa softly massaged the SOLID muscle that made up his collarbones, pectorals, sternums, abs and ribs. When she hit a sore spot, Joe sucked in a sharp breath and Ganesa stopped, eyes full of concern.
"Sorry baby."
"It's alright, god don't stop that feels really good…" Joe groaned, wishing he could just lay down and let her go to town on his body with her magical hands.
Instead, he just closed his eyes and let her massage whatever she wanted, deciding this way far better than any hot tub could provide. Ganesa had to be the sweetest woman on the planet. Colby was insane to let this angel go, but Colby's loss was definitely Joe's gain. Starting the massage again, this time Ganesa slipped her hands under the cotton material of his t-shirt. Her forehead pressed to his as their noses rubbed together and trailed her lips along the left side of his jaw line first. Then she kissed him softly before moving to the right side, gliding her lips over his throat where his head actually lulled back to give her full access. Ganesa smiled, nipping his flesh softly on his Adam's apple and then soothed the pinched skin with her tongue and lips.
"Would you rather lie down? Our room is by the door, we'll hear room service easily with it open. You can stretch and relax a little." She tried reasoning with him because sitting up couldn't have been comfortable on his big body.
Joe was pure putty in her hands at the moment, so he wasn't even sure if getting off the couch was an option. He could hear the longing in Ganesa's voice and kissed her lips softly, staring deep into her dark neon green eyes. She wanted to be more comfortable, so who the hell was he to deny her that? Joe stood up from the couch and lifted her in his arms, ignoring her protests as he carried her inside the room right off the door. He climbed into bed beside her and felt her straddle him again gingerly, loving how she didn't want to hurt him in any way. She was so gentle and sweet, Joe brought her mouth down on his, deepening the kiss a little. His hands began massaging her sides, stroking her smooth skin beneath the fabric of her top since it rode up a little. He groaned when she began massaging him again and broke the kiss, his large hands kneading her back while she continued on his chest, both of them smiling at her each other.
"You know, my legs work just fine. I can walk all by myself. Besides, you're hurt enough you don't need to be lifting my heavy ass and carting me around." Ganesa admonished, laughing when he growled at her. "I'm serious. You know you're going to be twice as sore tomorrow, it's always worse the second day. I don't care how conditioned your body is. You guys just pulled off one of the best TLC matches in history, even for a rookie." She smirked, winking and never stopped her administrations, managing to get his t-shirt off. "Roll over big guy, I think your back could use some work."
While massaging, she grabbed some Icy/Hot and rubbed it into his sore muscles, knowing it would help. If Joe wasn't careful, he would fall completely in love with this woman and groaned as the Icy/Hot began indeed working its magic. First his muscles became cool and then the warming sensation followed shortly after, making him groan more. Damn that felt amazing. Closing his eyes, Joe couldn't move a muscle and loved the feeling of her lips gliding down his neck and part of his spine, her fingers lacing on top of his as she continued her exploration. Joe moved his head to the side, continuing to kiss up his back and neck. His tongue swept out to softly trace the shell of his ear. Her head snapped up as a knock sounded at the door, breaking her lips from playtime momentarily. Ganesa stood from the bed, instructing Joe to stay put and left the room to answer the door, informing Jon and Serice food had arrived before bringing theirs back to the room to eat.
