Chapter 29
Colby had to force himself to take his time in getting there, knowing showing up within 30 seconds was just outright desperate looking. Not that she didn't probably already think he was, blowing her phone up the way he had. He was honestly surprised Chacia wanted to see him, especially after what had happened before their days off. In his fit of rage, he had shoved her. Hard enough to send her back into something and bruise her side. Colby still felt like a piece of shit for that, knowing she had accepted his apology hadn't helped. Maybe if she had railed and yelled at him, but not Chacia. She had been the picture of graciousness.
"Hey." He greeted when she answered her door, his eyes sweeping over her for any signs that Jon had laid hands on her in that elevator.
"Hi. Come on in." She opened the door wider for him to enter and closed it as soon as he did, her heart hurting at the amount of concern in his dark eyes. "See? I'm fine, never better." Chacia cracked a small smile at him, though it didn't quite reach her eyes as she walked over to sit on the bed. He joined her moments later and took a chance to take her hand, making her frown. "This isn't fair to you, Colby," Chacia spoke quietly, not pulling away from him and looked up into his eyes, swallowing hard. "I mean it. You shouldn't care about me as much as you do. I'm…I'm not worth it." Not when her heart belonged to a blind asshole. She had to be honest with him, even if it hurt his feelings because Colby deserved to know the truth about how she felt for Jon.
"Of course you are, Angel." Colby reached out to tuck a stray lock of damp hair behind her ear, smiling down at her. He pressed a finger to her lips when she began shaking her head, bending down to kiss her forehead. "Chacia, whatever it is, I promise you, you ARE worth it." He was well aware she had some messed up friendship with Dean Ambrose, of all people, and he was quite prepared to deal with it.
"No, I'm not." She pulled away from him, clasping her hands in front of her and began to slowly pace, sadness written all over her face. "Jon and I aren't just friends…we're something else. I don't even know what to call it because it's not a relationship and it's not…a friendship. Ever since I met him when I was 16, I've felt this…pull towards him. I can't explain it and I'm not gonna bother trying. When he calls on me, I automatically jump and do whatever he wants, when he wants. That's why, after 8 years of no contact, when he called and asked me to help him, I dropped my entire life in Cincinnati to go to his side. I had a fantastic job I could've retired from happily in Cincinnati and I gave it up for him." Blinking, huge tears slid down her cheeks as Chacia continued to move back and forth, sniffling. "He has this…power, this hold, over me and I don't know how to break it. That's why I slapped him today in the elevator because he had the audacity to ask me what was wrong. He doesn't SEE what he's doing to me. Do you know what he did to me while we shared a hotel room during Summerslam week?" She waited for Colby to shake his head and started laughing bitterly. "He made out with me, touched and kissed me, lit me on fire and then…NOTHING. Absolutely nothing, he stopped dead cold and I don't think I've EVER felt that kind of pain in my life, not even in the ring. It's like he gets me all revved up and then stops – it's like giving a woman blue balls and it SUCKS and it's frustrating. And that mother fucker had the GULL to ask me what was wrong!" She clenched her fists tightly, her teeth gnashing together and then bit into the knuckle, letting out a muffled growl. "He uses me. He's a user. He used me to get back in the ring, to get his arm rehabilitated and then brushed me off like I don't even matter! Goddamn prick! Sorry…sorry…TMI, right? Right. So, that's why you shouldn't waste your time on me because I can't shake him. I can't shake this pull and I wish to hell I could. I wish I could forget he ever existed, but I can't and I know…I KNOW he's not going to leave me alone. He's going to keep pushing and prodding me until I really beat the living shit out of him and wind up losing my damn mind and possibly my job. Do yourself a favor, Colby, and run far away from me. Please."
That was a lot to take in, if he were being honest, and Colby sat there staring at her, letting everything just kind of sink in and began processing it bit by bit. At first listen, she sounded insane, like a crazy fangirl with a serious obsession. But she had known Jon since they were kids practically and she had felt it from day one. Maybe there was such a thing as soul mates and Jon was hers. Colby's grandma had said she believed that people had multiple soul mates, it was just a matter of finding one. He was going to believe that because… he wanted Chacia to try forgetting Jon. Colby wanted her to give HIM a chance, and maybe one day look at him with half as much passion as she had for that idiot.
"He's a fucking fool." He informed her, getting to his feet. "I am NOT running away. He's an idiot who doesn't know what he has and you deserve better." Colby took her gently into his arms, ignoring her protests. "I know I'm not Jon, and I know there's a good chance I'm putting myself into a fire you can't control, but please…" He caressed her quivering bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. "Take a chance on me, Chacia. I think you're worth the risk, even if he's always going to be in the picture."
"Damn it…" Chacia had given him the perfect opportunity to walk away, to forget about her, to not put himself through this. Fresh tears stung her eyes at his sweet words and she could feel her resolve crumbling into dust. "I'm scared, Colby. I'm scared of hurting you. Of being hurt in return…" He was such a good man, headstrong and knew what he wanted. In the back of her mind, she had to wonder why her. "You and Jon are…you don't like each other and after what he did to you…"
What if he was only using her to get back at Jon? Judging by the plea in his dark eyes and the way he held her, Chacia knew that wasn't the case. Or maybe she was just stupid and couldn't see deception three feet in front of her.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" His lips were mere inches from hers and she could smell the aftershave coming from him, surrounding her. "Because the last time I tried being with someone in a relationship, it didn't end well." Drake came to mind and her screaming out Jon's name during their one and only drunken sexual encounter.
She made a mental note to NEVER get drunk before screwing Colby.
Colby stared at her intently, considering her words. He wanted her to see he wasn't trying to jump headfirst into this with her, or ignore what she was telling him. Colby knew they were both at risk of getting hurt and, if Jon decided to keep on with his craziness, he was also likely to get his backside physically handed to him. He read her face, seeing she was thinking back to whatever relationship she had tried having with a man who wasn't Jon, betting whoever the guy had been, he had taken a bruising to his ego.
"If we ever make it to bed, when," He said slowly, bending down until their lips were nearly touching. "Don't close your eyes."
"Definitely when," Chacia assured him, stroking his bearded face with her hand and felt his forehead rest against hers, his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her closer to him. "But I want it to be a fire YOU start inside of me. I won't sleep with you until I want you completely and you're the reason for that fire. Like the night I came to check on you with your concussion…that was all you, Colby." She slid her fingers down his t-shirt covered chest, her eyes not leaving his. "I knew who I was with that night, who's tongue tasted me, who was kissing and touching me…" There was a definite chemistry between them and Chacia would be lying to herself if she said she didn't want to explore it further. She didn't want to be selfish either, not like Jon was. "And the reason I pushed you away the other night had nothing to do with you shoving me. I know you didn't mean to do it and I wasn't even mad at you. I just didn't want to hurt you or feel like I was leading you on. So please stop beating yourself up over it, okay?"
"Okay," Colby nodded against her head, reaching down to grab her hand and brought it up, brushing his lips against her fingertips. "After the show tonight… let's go out, get some frozen yogurt." He smiled when she laughed at that. That had been their first date of sorts, walking around and winding up having frozen yogurt. "And if I ever attack you again in a fit of rage, nail me with a scalpel or something."
"Depending on the circumstances, I MIGHT hold you to that."
He wanted to take this slow and she didn't blame him. Starting over seemed like a very good idea for both of them, especially since she no longer shared a room with Jon. She would not be sharing a room with anyone for a while, including Colby. If they were doing this, it would be done right and they would take their time to really get to know each other before jumping into bed. That meant foreplay too. Kissing, touching and holding was all she would allow and hopefully, Colby would be all right with that.
"And I'd love to go get some frozen yogurt with you after the show." A quick glance at the clock told her she had to get going to the arena. "Where do you want to meet up after the show?"
Colby definitely wanted to take this slow. Obviously, Jon would dive balls in and then back out just as suddenly. Colby wanted to make sure that Chacia saw what was coming, not have it sprung on her. She needed to be romanced and not left hanging. He could do that, and so much more.
"Down in the lobby, if that's okay with you? It'll give me time to get a shower and change." He didn't shower at the arenas anymore; he didn't trust Jon.
"Sounds good." She kissed his cheek and hugged him around the neck, closing her eyes to breathe him in for a minute or two. "If I don't get fired for what happened with Jon today, that is." There was a very real possibility she wouldn't be part of WWE anymore.
"You will be," Colby assured her, knowing Stephanie wouldn't allow a talent like her to slip through the cracks. He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. "Get going, see you tonight."
Chacia wound up on probation and fined $500 for striking a WWE Superstar.
Jon had been called in Stephanie's office separately and basically ratted her out, stating she struck him for no reason. He had asked her a question and she lashed out at him, slapping him twice and punched him in the mouth. Stephanie didn't bother asking Chacia what set her off, only stating if she put her hands on another WWE Superstar violently, she would be fired and sent her on her way. To say Chacia was pissed off was an understatement, but she had to check her attitude at the door and do her job. That's exactly what she did, keeping her head held high and ignored everyone gossiping about her. Pavana had stopped by to check on her, asking what happened and Chacia told her it couldn't be discussed at work. That was another one of Stephanie McMahon's stipulations. Everyone would think she was a psychotic bitch that lashed out at Dean Ambrose for no reason and that was far from the truth, but being new to the company, Chacia had to bite the bullet and deal with it.
Bringing Chacia into the company had been a BAD idea. A royally bad idea and Jon hated himself right now. He had been planning on lying through his teeth about the incident, and then… then he had seen Colby coming out of Chacia's room and kind of lost his temper. Was THAT who she had been running off to? Or Younger? Or both? He was leaving her high and dry, Jon knew it, so why should he care if she was getting her kicks elsewhere? But COLBY? No. Better to get her out of this shark tank before someone ate her alive. Before HE ate her alive.
There was no way Chacia was going anywhere. She had worked too hard and too long to get to where she was for some guy to destroy it all for her. Jon may have gotten her foot in the door, but that was about it. She got the job on skill and merits alone. What she did with Colby, with Drake, with anyone was NONE of Jon's business. Larry assured her she wouldn't have to deal with Jon from here on out, actually feeling bad for the woman and all Chacia did was shrug, not saying a word about it. If Jon was smart, he would keep his distance from her for a while because, after today, Chacia wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with him.
Not many people wanted anything to do with Jon, period. He was currently viewed as unstable and most people were already whispering that he had done something to Chacia, something to make her hit him. No man got smacked like he had, or punched, by a woman like her without provoking her in some way, somehow. His attacks on Roman and Seth had cemented his loose cannon status and he was fine with that because he wasn't done, not by a long shot. Him holding up those titles, that had been his message, he was coming for them. Him, solo, no enforcer for the Shield, no right-wing man carrying someone's ass. Him. If Rollins happened to get knocked out a few times or so, well, that was just cherry on his iced cake.
Jon had to focus, keep his head in this game, not needing or wanting distractions.
