Chapter 28

Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It was beautiful here, especially in the late summer months and surprisingly cool. There was no Indian summer and temperatures could drop to 30 degrees at night. Chacia had checked the weather ahead of time to make sure she packed correctly for the next week on the road. A little bit of everything for any type of weather was the best bet, though it did force her to pack more than she wanted. Grabbing her luggage off the cart, with her backpack over her shoulders, she headed out of the airport to go straight to the hotel to check in. Larry texted her, letting her know to get to the arena by 4 PM and she responded with a 'yes, sir' to which he responded with 'smartass'. She giggled and had taken a shine to Larry; actually, the entire medical team was great to work with.

Jon had come to Colorado Springs early because he really had nothing better to do. He had rented a mountain bike and gone off exploring the wickedly awesome and beautiful mountain trails, which was also how he felt like working out. Great scenery and pushing his body to the limits on some of the more challenging trails. He had returned the bike after 2 days and made his way to the hotel, knowing it was back to the grind. He normally didn't shower before going to an arena, but today would be mandatory, he reeked and was coated in sweat. It might've been a nice, comfortable temperature, but he had been pushing himself. Speaking of asses… he'd know hers anywhere and contemplated slapping it.

She was standing at the receptionist's desk while they retrieved the keycard to her room, her back turned to Jon. However, that familiar pull reared its ugly head and her eyes shut momentarily, already knowing who was behind her. Chacia didn't have to turn around to see who it was and pretended she didn't notice him, or feel him, or sense him…damn it, she really hated the connection she had with Jon. There had to be a way to sever it – she highly doubted it, though.

"Thanks." She murmured to the receptionist, taking her keycard and headed off to the elevator, forcing herself not to turn around.

Jon followed her right onto the elevator, already having the key to his room. She knew he was here, he had seen her entire body go from relaxed to tense as if she had felt his eyes considering her backside. The tension ratcheted up a few more notches when the doors slid shut and the elevator lurched into action.

"How's your side?" He asked, figuring he was going to have to break this awkward silence somehow, and not with his hand on her backside.

"It's fine, the bruising is mostly gone."

Hell, the rest of her body hurt compared to her side after all the punishment she'd put herself through these past 2 days. It felt amazing at the same time though, every ache and pain. She relished all of it and felt at home the most when she was in a wrestling ring. That would never change. They used to be able to talk about absolutely anything and everything, but now they were awkward and trying to find ways to strike up a friendly conversation. She didn't like it at all, but there was really nothing else she could do.

"How were your days off?"

"Good, I spent them here." He had gone home, since it was fairly close, for a change of clothes and to switch out some of his stuff, but other than that, he had no reason to stay in Vegas. "They've got some awesome trails here, I figured a change from the Red Rocks was in order." He said by way of explanation when she gave him a look.

Why was it so hard to talk to her? They had spent months together; she had seen him at his worst, and yet… he had thrown her a shovel and told her to keep digging basically. He could still find new depths of being a dickhead.

Chacia went to say, 'be careful', but remembered how he razzed her about being a mother hen and kept her thoughts to herself. "Sounds fun." She couldn't look at him, instead of keeping her eyes on the numbers and blinked when Jon was suddenly in front of her, his fist slamming down on the stop button of the elevator. "What are you doing?" She demanded, taking a step back and shouldered her bookbag, hazel eyes narrowing slightly while staring into those icy blues. "Jon, I don't have time for this…"

Well, that was new, and Jon had stopped the elevator just because 'sounds fun' was way out of character for Chacia when it came to HIM. Was it arrogant to think that way? Probably, but it was also true, which kind of balanced out the arrogance.

"Sounds fun?" He echoed, planting his palms on either side of her head and leaned in, not too close though. Jon wasn't trying to kill her with his body odor. "Okay Chace, that just sounds strange coming from you. Let's have it, what's wrong?" Besides the fact, he left her high and dry, repeatedly, and she was probably banging Drake Younger.

"What else am I supposed to say?"

He had the audacity to ask her what was wrong, which told her he STILL didn't know what was going on. Chacia didn't mind the body odor because, on him, it was delicious. Jon smelled delicious, even with his sweat-caked body and she immediately pushed those thoughts out of her head.

"It does sound fun and I know how much you like to mountain bike and hike and whatever. There's nothing 'wrong'." She did the finger quotations and folded her arms tightly in front of her chest, brows drawn together. "Please enlighten me, what else would you like me to say about what you've been doing?"

"Well, darlin', your usual byline is 'be careful' or some variation." Jon smirked, pushing himself away from her. Even after 8 years of no contact and then 8 ½ months of being up each other's respective backsides, he could essentially say word for word her usual lines in just about any given situation. "Finally decide mothering me isn't much fun?" Probably not, because the last time Chacia had done it, he had decided to heed her advice and have fun.

He'd had a LOT of fun.

Chacia hadn't meant for him to stab Colby in the back, even though the man kind of deserved it for his mouth diarrhea while Jon was out with his injury. "Figured you didn't need me mother henning you anymore. You're a big boy, you don't NEED me anymore, Moxley."

To be frank, she was tired of this runaround game with him and could see her words affected him to some degree. Jon made it perfectly clear he got what he wanted from her and now he didn't need her. It was only when he NEEDED something from her specifically did he come calling, that he wanted her around. Her hand twitched, wanting to slap him, wanting him to feel an OUNCE of the pain he had caused her in all the years they'd known each other. It took her a while, but Chacia was finally coming to the conclusion Jon had been using her and that was a horrible revelation to have.

There was a long, long silence and Jon thought she was going to say something else and instead, she bitch slapped him. Jon had always known Chacia was strong, the woman had trained to be a wrestler and regularly hit the gym, but he hadn't realized just how strong she was until he was on the receiving end of a smack that would have made Stephanie McMahon proud. His head had actually snapped to the side. Jon stared down at her, nostrils flaring, and could feel the burning, throbbing sensation and the rising welt.

"Do it again, darlin'." He ordered coolly. "Get it all out now." Because she'd never have a chance afterward.

What the HELL was she thinking slapping him?! Chacia didn't even realize she was doing it until her hand connected to the side of his face. There was so much anger, so much animosity built up inside of her and she thought she unleashed most of it with Cody at the wrestling school. Nope! Not even a little bit. Tears burned in her hazel eyes as she slapped him again, this time harder, her entire body trembling with barely contained rage. Being used by Jon hurt more than she would ever admit. The next shot was a punch to the mouth and that staggered him, making him stumble back while she shook her hand, hoping to hell she didn't just break it on his glass jaw. Letting out a painful howl, she slammed her fist down on the go button and felt the hot tears streak down her cheeks, needing to get out of this enclosed space before something worse happened.

She hadn't broken it. Jon gingerly moved his jaw from side to side, his blue eyes fixated on her. He could not believe HIS Chacia had just let that loose on HIM. What the hell? He HAD asked for it, but he honestly hadn't expected her to let loose on him that way. A second later, he spit out blood, wiggling a tooth with his tongue before slamming her against the elevator wall. He couldn't see it, but he now had a very noticeable, angry red raised handprint welt, two of them, overlapping each other, on his face and a bruise forming on his puffing up jaw.

"There's my girl." He rumbled, bending down and captured her lips in a heated kiss, feeling her tears, tasting them when they ran down her face.

DAMN IT TO HELL! That raging inferno inside of her was back and exploded the moment his lips touched hers, his hands holding her face steady in a vise grip. The kiss itself was somewhat bruising, but it was welcoming and she couldn't push him away. He left her in physical pain, in agony, twice and now he was kissing her again, making that fire inside of her rage out of control. With every ounce of strength inside of her, listening to her mind screaming at her to push him away, Chacia barely managed to do it.

"I'm not doing this again!" She shouted, her lips swollen and red and the tears hadn't stopped just as the elevator doors opened. "Goddamn it!"

Stalking off the elevator, she headed straight for her room and wiped her tears away angrily, looking down at the hand she had slapped and punched Jon with. Her heart was aching, along with the rest of her sex-deprived body and it was all thanks to Jonathan Good! That left Jon standing there alone. In shorts that were not hiding his erection, a dirty, sweat-stained tank top and a jacked up face. Ignoring the people who were apparently wanting to get on the elevator, he stepped off of it, watching as she disappeared into a room and groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. Maybe getting her a job in the WWE had been a bad idea. Hell, when had he ever had a good idea? He made a stop for ice before heading to his own room, ice for his face and his junk. Jon wasn't sure what would happen between him and Chacia now. He had a feeling he had just stepped them off a ledge they couldn't get back too.

Tossing her bags to the side, Chacia ignored her phone when it went off, not giving a flying hell who was trying to contact her. Cold shower. She needed an ice shower to try to get rid of this ache and fire inside of her. Gritting her teeth against the cold water, Chacia shut her eyes and let the tears flow, hitting the shower wall repeatedly with her hand. So much for staying away from Jon because apparently, the prick refused to leave her alone! Kissing her in an elevator, getting her all hot and bothered after smacking and punching the hell out of him…she growled furiously and looked down at her bruised hand, flexing it. It hurt, but she'd survive and be able to work just fine tonight. The punch was worth it. Jon needed to be punched in the face after everything he'd put her through lately. All Chacia did was be there for him and helped him through his recovery, rehabilitated his arm and how did he repay her?

HOW?

BY SETTING A FIRE INSIDE HER AND NOT PUTTING IT OUT!

BY USING HER!

"Chacey, it's me."

Drake had gotten word within literal seconds of what had been seen by said people in the hallway and he figured he should at least call her and check in. Apparently, she had been crying when she had stormed off the elevator and then Jon had come out looking jacked up. That didn't bode well at all. Given their history, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what had occurred between the pair, his mind was already supplying a lot of mental imagery, none of it good.

"Check in with me please, um… people saw you and Ambrose getting off the elevator… are you okay?"

"Shit…"

Chacia listened to Drake's voicemail and groaned, already knowing there was a zero tolerance policy in WWE for violence. What if she got fired over this? She had struck Jon repeatedly and couldn't believe she allowed her temper to flare like that.

"I'm okay." Were the first words out of her mouth as soon as she called Drake back to ease his mind, tears burning her eyes. Physically, she was fine, but mentally and emotionally, she was a wreck. "I slapped Jon." Slight pause. "Twice." Another pause. "And punched him." She put Drake on speakerphone and buried her face in her hands, wearing just a towel for the moment. "And then he kissed me…and I pushed him away and went to my room. And don't ask me why I slapped him because I don't even know myself."

"Because he's a rotten bastard, who needed it." Drake growled, half wishing he had been there to laugh at the sight and half wishing he could strangle Jon's stupid neck for being such an idiot! Couldn't the man see what he was losing? Drake knew better than anyone what Jon had handed to him on a silver platter and the moron was shoving it away! "There's only so much pain he can put you through before you start snapping back, Chacia." The fact that she had been so damn patient this long, and taken Jon's crap, when the man hadn't even bothered trying to contact her for 8 years, until he had NEEDED her, well… Drake admired her as much as he thought she was a fool. She was a woman with a heart of fool's gold.

"He really needs to leave me alone. I'm serious. I don't want to talk to him for a while until I simmer down."

Chacia would take Cody's advice and do everything she could to avoid Jon from here on out. If he was in the same room as her, she would leave unless she had to stitch him up or something. Any personal problems or drama had to be left at the door when it came to WWE and she understood that.

"I just want to come to work, do my job and come back to the hotels. He's just gonna cause me to lose this job and I really need it."

"Gee thanks…" Drake mumbled good-naturedly, trying to get her to at least crack a smile.

"And hang out with you, of course. I could never not hang out with you, Younger. You, unlike SOME people, are my friend." Chacia assured him, standing from the bed to start getting dressed. "Enough about that asshole, let's talk about something else please."

So Drake told her all about his days off and how boring they had been. Going home when single wasn't all that appealing because there was no one to go home to. So he tended to just meander, heading towards the next destination and do the touristy thing. What was the point, he told her during their conversation, of doing all this traveling to new places, but being too tired or in too much of a hurry to appreciate it?

"You should do that, you know, start seeing the sights. You'd love it."

"Maybe we can see some together since we're basically on the same schedule." Superstars had different schedules than the medical team, officials, ring crew and backstage employees. "I wouldn't mind doing that."

It would surely get her mind off things with Jon. She heard her phone beep and knew it was a text message, checking it while Drake continued telling her about some of the sights he'd seen in Colorado Springs. It was Colby. Apparently, word spread like wildfire about the confrontation she had with Jon. That wasn't good because if it got back to Vince, Stephanie or Paul, she would more than likely lose her job. She quickly texted Colby she was fine and then he called in.

"Drake, I'll talk to you at the arena. Someone's calling and I have to answer it." Clicking over, she could hear the anxiety in Colby's voice and cracked a small smile. "Am I not texting fast enough for you, Rollins?"

"Sorry, but it's spreading everywhere and… I wanted to make sure you were okay," Colby said that all in a rush, sounding somewhat panicked. "I just needed to hear you, Angel."

The rumor mill was already spreading like wildfire and there wasn't a doubt in his mind Chacia wouldn't be called into the office tonight. He just hoped she didn't wind up canned. Colby could give two shits about Ambrose, the man had deserved the punishment she had seemingly dished out.

Why did he care so much about her? She could hear the relief in his tone and it made her feel strange. Chacia didn't WANT it to be Colby that was worried about her, that wanted her, that called and texted her to the point of blowing her phone up during her days off. She wanted it to be Jon. That was never going to happen though and she had to get past it. The man only cared about himself, nobody else and she had to get it through her head it would never change. Colby wanted her and was worried about her, so maybe giving him the write off wasn't the best decision.

"Do you want to see me? I have a couple of hours before I have to head to the arena…unless you're busy." He asked what her room number was, he had an hour to kill and she gave it to him, hanging up to get dressed.