Chapter 10
A month went by and everything was going great for Jon.
Being moved into an actual apartment that they called home was an amazing feeling, though Tayce's heart wasn't in it. Jon kept asking her if everything was alright and she just waved him off, simply saying she was fine. That was a big fat lie if she'd ever heard one! No she wasn't fine. Tayce had stopped going into Jon's room to stroke his hair or to talk and mainly kept to herself. It was bad enough she had to breathe him in every single freaking time she woke up and went to sleep. He was everywhere.
Tayce and Sophie had become fast friends, talking about anything and everything except the men in their lives. That subject was off-limits. Tayce needed some Jon-free air and decided to take Sophie up on her offer to stay at the condo for a few days to clear her head. She had to do something before she ended up attacking Jon and spilling the truth about how she really felt. Walking down the hallway, Tayce spotted Sophie talking to Colby and Kaitlyn, walking up to them.
"Hey guys, do you mind if I snag this lovely lady off for a minute to talk to her?" Tayce asked politely from behind, smiling and accepted a hug from Sophie. "I promise I won't be more than 5 minutes and you can have her back."
It had been a month since Sophie had gotten hurt in the ring and she actually spent the night sleeping on Joe's chest. She just wasn't really sure how to respond to it. He didn't leave her side for a second that night, making sure to wake her up every other hour just to be on the safe side. They would have small conversations when they found themselves in the gym late at night with no one around, but other than that she honestly didn't know what the hell to say to him. The kiss had shocked her awake, but that was all that came of it. It was simply a tactic to keep her awake since she had a concussion, nothing more.
"I'll be right back guys and then we can hit the gym. I've been eating too much of my cooking lately and the treadmill called me a fat ass yesterday." Sophie laughed as she walked away with Tayce. As soon as they were far enough away, Sophie could see the look in Tayce's eyes. "Let me guess, you're in desperate need for the girl's weekend that I've been trying to convince you of, but you keep denying so much." She shook her head. "Jon must've really gotten under your skin."
"W-What?" Tayce stammered, trying to play dumb and failed miserably, lowering her amber eyes from knowing blues. "Damn it, is it THAT obvious?" She leaned against the wall, pulling a hand through her golden auburn hair. And here Tayce thought she hid her attraction and love for Jon well. Apparently not! "Please don't say anything." She whispered, looking up at Sophie with tears burning in her eyes. Sophie instantly pulled her into a tight hug and Tayce accepted it fully, needing some kind of support. She pulled back after a minute and wiped a few stray tears away, sniffling. "I just need one night to talk. I know you're busy and everything, so just let me know when you can do it. I don't trust a lot of people, but I do trust you and I desperately need someone to talk to about him. And you can tell me anything too, I'll take it to my grave."
Sophie smiled softly and hugged the woman once more. "No worries, I just went grocery shopping so I'll make some homemade pizza, s'mores and we'll talk, bitch, complain and swoon over the idiots who have our hearts, but don't exactly know it yet." Sophie winked and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. "I only have a promo tonight and then the weekend off, so if you want too we can leave after my promo and get started. Just make sure Jon can make it without you for 48 hours and we can get our relaxation on."
She knew how important Jon and Tayce's friendship was. They'd gotten so close that Sophie could see the signs of Tayce being head over heels for her best friend. She just hoped she didn't show the signs of having a thing for Joe and she'd be alright.
"I'll text you in a bit. I'm going to go jog it out."
"Thanks again, Soph. I owe you one."
They hugged one last time and Tayce watched her take off to the workout room, feeling a little relieved. The moment Sophie entered the arena gym, Joe looked up as soon as the scent of gardenias entered his nostrils, a soft groan escaping his lips. Sophie. It had to be her. She was the only one who had that intoxicating scent to her whenever she was in the vicinity. He continued pumping iron and shot a wink over at her followed by a small smile. Joe was close to getting a call up to the big leagues, it was only a matter of time. He glanced over at Sophie, seeing her start the treadmill and felt his shorts tighten a little, grunting. Maybe he could convince Sophie to see a movie with him this weekend since they were off.
Sophie gave Joe a soft smile as she stepped on the treadmill next to Celeste. Sophie pushed her ear buds into her ears and hit her normal workout music, trying to keep the fact Joe was across the room lifting weights completely bare from the waist up out of her mind. God help her she was going to hell in a hand basket. Sophie was best friends with Joe's older brother, Matt, -he had been in the WWE as part of the tag team 3 Minute Warning as the wrestler Rosey- who had gone back in Pensacola with their parents, Patricia and Sika. Since Sika was having knee surgery for an old injury, Matt reassured her he'd be back on his feet in no time at all.
Joe had thought for a long time that Sophie and Matt had a thing for each other, which helped fuel his issues with Sophie. Then he heard about her and Matt Polinsky having a fling and Joe started thinking she was nothing more than a whore trying to sleep her way to the top of WWE developmental. Matt had finally pulled him aside one night and explained that there was never anything with Sophie, though he admitted he wished there was. She just didn't see him as anything more than a best friend/brother type. That eased Joe a little, but the situation with Matt still bugged him. Then there was also the fact her Uncle was WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper.
She watched as Joe sat up and a bead of sweat slid down his Adam's apple between his collar bones down the middle of his chest and across his well-defined abdominal muscles. Sophie couldn't help wishing her tongue could follow that bead of sweat. Joe felt her eyes boring into him and smirked, increasing the tempo on his weightlifting just to drive Sophie mad. He knew it was working. He was sneaky with his ogling, but not her. Definitely not. This wasn't the first time Sophie undressed him with her eyes and it wouldn't be the last. He did the last of his reps and racked the bar, standing up walking over to her. Kaitlyn and Colby had already taken off for their matches, so it was just the two of them in the room alone.
"You know it's really difficult for me to work out when I have a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, eye-fucking me across the room." He stated in a low husky voice, grey eyes blatantly devouring her before finally landing on her crimson cheeks and beautiful blue eyes.
Sophie could feel her cheeks as they heated up. "I wasn't exactly eye-fucking you per say. Just enjoying watching the way your muscles were moving." That was a blatant lie, but it was her lie and she would tell it however she wanted. "And since when do you get shy when you're working out? It never bothered you before when I would watch you. What now all of a sudden you're going to get all introverted on me?" Joe started to walk away when Sophie hopped off the treadmill. "Hey Joe…" He stopped, watching as she walked over and stood in front of him. "I never thanked you for staying with me when I had that concussion. You didn't have to do that, but I really did appreciate it." She pushed up on her toes and softly kissed his cheek. "I have to go do my promo. I'll catch you later big guy."
As if she couldn't screw with him anymore, she let her index finger slide down his chest, popping it into her mouth and winked at him. She turned and left as they played her entrance music so she could do her promo in the middle of the ring. If Joe could mess with her, she could definitely do it back. Joe could not believe she just did that and looked down at his chest. That single spot where she swiped some sweat away with her finger burned like crazy. He reached up to touch it and could only stand there watching her walk away. Sophie was lucky he didn't snatch her ass up and make her miss her promo.
~!~
Tayce felt like she might have a panic attack.
She thought about having to tell Jon about going to Sophie's for the weekend and cringed, chewing her bottom lip. Would he feel abandoned? Would he feel unwanted? It would only be for a weekend and Jon had befriended both Colby and Joe in the past month. Maybe they could all have a guy's night out or something. Tayce took a deep breath and headed back to Jon's locker room, hoping she was doing the right thing. And of course Jon had to be in just a towel fresh out of the shower as soon as she walked through the damn door.
"Hey, I need to talk to you about something for a second. I know you have a match tonight, but this can't wait."
Jon knew something was going on with Tayce, he just couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't care how much she denied it, he wasn't stupid. She'd been his best friend practically his whole life. He always knew when something was bothering her, but since she hadn't said anything to him and he'd even asked several times and she still denied it, he had been smart enough to drop it. Well he would drop it until he would see Tayce suffering from whatever it was and then he would make her talk. She was just as stubborn as he was, sometimes worse. But Jon would make her talk it out if he had to. He looked up as she approached him and asked to talk, nodding.
"Of course. What's up, boss lady?"
"Sophie has asked me a couple times if I wanted to hang out at her condo for the weekend, but we had a lot going on. Now that things have settled down, I'm taking her up on her offer. So, I won't be home this weekend. Will you be okay? You have my cell and, if you really need me for whatever reason, I'm a hop, skip and jump away. You always come first. So if you don't want me to go, speak now." Tayce lied again and felt awful about it, hiding it the best she could. "Maybe you can go out with the guys and have some fun since you've become friends with Colby and Joe. I think it'd be good for you."
Jon shook his head. "Nah I'll be good alone or with the boys. You need to have some of your – whatever chick time. I'm good with that. Just be sure to text me every once in a while and let me know you're okay and completely safe. Don't make me worry about you."
Jon liked Sophie. When he got to know her, he realized they had a somewhat similar crappy childhood. She was completely down to earth and he knew her and Tayce being friends would be a GREAT thing.
"Have a little fun, okay?" He kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you when you get back and I won't destroy the apartment…or I'll try not to." He winked at her and walked away.
Tayce watched him walk out the door and immediately felt tears slide down her cheeks, covering her mouth with her hand. What the hell did she just do? She promised to never leave Jon's side and here she was trying to get away from him! Tayce could tell Jon was upset about her being away for the weekend, but was trying like hell not to show it. They hadn't been apart since Jon decided to do this wrestling gig. She immediately left the locker room to track Sophie down, having a sudden change of heart.
"I can't go." She blurted out, trembling slightly. "I can't leave him, I'm sorry…"
Sophie grabbed her hands gently. "Calm down, Tayce. Look, it's not imperative that we spend the entire weekend together. If you want, we can do one day and go from there. I've gotten to know Jon since you guys have been here and believe me, all he wants is you to be happy. And if spending a night with a friend makes you happy, it will make him happy." Sophie wiped the stray tears from Tayce's eyes. "Look, go talk to Jon. I'm sure he will tell you the same thing I did. He's not completely unreasonable and you should know that. You guys have been best friends for so long and you only had each other to count on. But you've got me and Celeste now while Jon's got Joe and Colby. The boys will take very good care of him when you can't."
Sophie made everything better somehow and Tayce was grateful for it. She didn't want to talk to Jon about any of this because then he'd start questioning why she was so upset to begin with. And that subject was definitely not up for discussion. So Tayce kept her plans with Sophie, waiting for the woman to finish showering and whatnot in her dressing room. Jon's match had already happened so Tayce could take off, already having a packed bag in hand. They walked out of the arena with Sophie trying to get Tayce to laugh about what she did to Joe earlier in the workout room.
"Are you for real?" Tayce giggled uncontrollably while Sophie drove to the condo. "Oh my god, I would've PAID to see the look on his face!" Once the laughter died down, Tayce decided to get a little serious. "So how long have you been in love with Joe?"