Chapter 36
"Nisa, something happened and I didn't know who else to call…"
Anisa stood up from the couch, hearing the agony in her best friend's voice. "Whoa – whoa slow down, Mia. Calm down and take a few deep breaths." She coaxed softly, walking over to stare out the window while Jon watched ESPN – until his own cell rang moments after Anisa's did. "Now tell me what's wrong."
Through heartbreaking sobs, Mia recalled the events at Joe's parents that lead her to speeding down the road toward the airport. She still couldn't believe the way Joe blew up at her over letting her flesh and blood mother back into her life. Was that really so wrong to do? Her mother explained why she went along with her father and Mia forgave everything. Why couldn't her future husband do the same and respect her wishes?
"Wow. I'm sorry, but he's a dick for doing that to you, especially in front of his parents." Anisa wanted to rip Joe's balls off and shove them down his throat for hurting her friend. "You're always welcome here. Jon won't mind once I explain what a dickhead his friend is. Just get on the plane, relax a little and when you get here we'll eat a ton of ice cream."
Mia choked out a watery laugh, wiping stray tears away from her cheeks. "I'm on my way. Thanks again, Nisa."
"No need to thank me, just get here."
"Bro, that's fucked up."
Joe paced back and forth like a caged animal in his parents' house, gritting his teeth listening to Jon agreeing with him. "I just don't fucking understand why. Why is she forgiving her mother who disowned her? You know me, man. I'm huge on family, but goddamn it they really hurt her – her mother really hurt her – and I'll be damned if it happens again!"
If anyone knew what it was like having a crappy mother in their life, it was Jon. Growing up, Jon had to watch his mother work the street corners of their neighborhood just to put food on the table. His friends and everyone in the community knew about it, but that didn't stop Jon from making a life for himself. He still couldn't believe Anisa accepted him completely for the person he was since Jon was wired a little differently than other men. Maybe it was the main reason she wanted to be with him. Jon didn't know and tried not to question it, just enjoying being with Anisa for however long she wanted him. In his mind, he wasn't good enough and always prepared to be let go since Jon considered himself boring. In the ring, he was perfection or close enough to it, but outside in the world of reality, Jon lived his life as simple as possible. As far as his relationship with his mother went, Jon saw her once every couple months whenever WWE went to Cincinnati for an event, but never spent more than a few hours with her. He still hadn't introduced Anisa to her and wasn't sure if he ever would, not wanting his mother knowing about his personal life.
"Have you talked to her about how you feel?" This was not Jon's forte and it made him uncomfortable talking about his best friend's relationship.
Joe heaved a sigh, plopping down on the couch and scrubbed a hand down his face in frustration. "Not really. I blew up at her and let my temper get the best of me. My Mom is so pissed right now and said if the wedding is called off, she was personally shoving each receipt up my ass."
That was an image Jon would not soon get out of his mind. "Bro, I really don't need to picture things being shoved up your ass. Thanks."
"Sorry." Joe muttered, leaning back against the couch and closed his eyes. "I don't wanna stay here. My Mom is giving me the evil eye whenever she passes by me and my Dad is disappointed. They both love Mia so much. I'm such a dick and I don't know what to do to make this right with her. She ordered me not to come home tonight."
Unbeknownst to Jon, Mia was on her way to the airport to come stay with him and Anisa. Apparently, Anisa and Jon's thoughts were linked because Jon offered the same thing to Joe. Staying with his overbearing mother and father wasn't the right place to be right now for Joe, Jon knew that much. Anisa wouldn't mind; Joe was practically family just like Mia. They hung up after Jon convinced Joe to fly out to Atlanta and looked up when Anisa walked into the room, setting her own cell phone down.
"Everything alright?" She asked, sinking down beside him on the couch and felt his arm wrap around her shoulders.
"Peachy darlin', just had a chat with my bro." There was no point in telling Anisa about his invitation to Joe. "You look hot in black."
Anisa felt her cheeks turn a crimson, lowering her eyes from his. "Jon…"
He tossed the PS3 controller aside and moved to kneel in front of her, sliding his hands up her soft thighs to rest on her hips. "I mean it, Ani. You are hot and the fact it's my t-shirt just makes you hotter."
The desire in his eyes was not missed by Anisa, but she knew it wouldn't take long for Mia to arrive from Pensacola. The flight would be short, especially if it was a redeye. Even a quick session with Jon wouldn't finish in time of her arrival and the last thing Mia needed to see was her friends sexing it up. She was fighting with Joe and coming there for support. So as much as Anisa wanted to let Jon have his way with her in the living room, they couldn't.
"Not tonight." She tried pulling away from Jon, but he was steadfast and yanked her flush against him, burying his face in her t-shirt covered breasts.
"Give me one reason why not."
"Because Mia is flying in tonight and I don't need her walking in on us fucking."
Jon stopped what he was doing and pulled back to stare up at his girlfriend, mentally cussing violently. "Are you serious?" He stood up and sat back down on the couch, tearing a hand through his haphazard dishwater blonde curls.
"Yes…" Anisa's midnight blue orbs narrowed on her boyfriend suspiciously. "Is that a problem?"
"No, why would there be?" Jon strode into the kitchen that was connected to the living room, the house having an open floor plan and grabbed a beer out of the fridge.
Anisa was hot on his trail. "Out with it, Good. What's going on?" She demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Jon was hiding something from her. "Who was on the phone earlier?"
"Nobody." Jon was a horrible liar and had no idea why he tried doing it with Anisa. The woman knew and read him like a book cover to cover.
"That's one week."
Jon raised a brow. "One week for what?"
"No sex. Wanna make it 2 or do you tell me the truth?"
His pale blue eyes nearly shot out of his skull. "Wait a minute – WHAT?! You're withholding sex from ME?"
"Yes."
"Darlin', that's not fair! I didn't do anything!" Jon whined in a growl, wanting to strangle Joe for putting him in this predicament.
"You have 5 seconds and I'm adding another week on." Anisa's menstrual cycle would be during the two weeks she punished Jon, but he didn't need to know that. "1…2…3…"
"ALRIGHT!" He practically roared, clutching the beer can tightly in his hand and crunched the aluminum. "It was Joe. And I invited him to come stay with us too."
Anisa shut her eyes, a low groan escaping her and felt like beating Jon over the head with a wooden spoon. "Goddamn it, Jon! Mia is coming here to get AWAY from him! How could you do that without asking me first?!"
"That's the pot calling the fucking kettle black, Anisa." Jon shot back, narrowing his own eyes and became defensive. "He's my best friend just like she's yours. I didn't think I had to ask since this is OUR house now, or so you keep claiming."
Ouch, that was a low blow, but a truthful one, Anisa thought, taking a deep breath not wanting to fight with Jon. "You're right, I'm sorry. This is your house as much as it is mine now and you're welcome to invite anyone you want. I just wish you would've asked me first and I should've done the same thing." With everything going on in the WWE lately regarding her ex-husband, the last thing Anisa wanted to be was on the outs with the man she loved.
"Same here." Jon sucked down half of his beer before closing the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull Anisa close to his body. "So, this business about withholding sex from me…"
"Still stands." Anisa smiled sweetly up at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You lied to me, or tried to and I won't tolerate that. One week without sex won't kill you."
Jon smirked, sliding his hands lower to squeeze her pert backside and hovered his mouth over her ear. "Sounds like a challenge to me, darlin'. And you know what happens when I'm challenged." His voice was low, husky and raspy all at once, sending shivers down Anisa's spine. "Looks like I'll have to see how far I can push you until you surrender to me, hmm?"
"Try all you'd like, Jon, but I'm a lot more stubborn than you think." Anisa smacked his basketball short covered backside and walked out of the kitchen to go prepare the guest rooms for Mia and Joe.
All hell would break loose when they arrived.
"What is he doing here?"
"What is she doing here?"
The simultaneous question made both Jon and Anisa cringe together, guilt swirling in each of their eyes. Joe tried stalking back out the door, but Jon stopped him while Anisa guided Mia upstairs away from her angry fiancé to talk. They both knew what happened, but had only heard one side of the story, so Jon and Anisa felt lost. Mia ended up crying herself to sleep while recalling what happened with Joe while Joe gamed downstairs with Jon, blowing things up to keep his temper in check. Anisa walked downstairs a little while later and sat down in the nearby chair, waiting for the boys to finish the round they were currently on.
"Is she alright?" Joe asked in a low voice, refusing to meet Anisa's eyes and took another beer Jon handed him.
"Didn't think you cared." Anisa remarked, crossing one leg over the other since Jon's t-shirt went past her thighs.
Joe rolled his eyes, cracking open the beer to take a long swig. "Of course I care. I love her, even if she's a stubborn woman." He grunted, setting the can down on the table and heaved a sigh. "I just don't want her getting hurt again by that heartless bitch."
"I understand why you got upset about it, but you need to come to grips with something, Joseph, if you plan on being in Mia's life. She is stubborn, bullheaded and likes things her way. I was shocked when she told me she forgave Maline, but after Mia explained to me why she did, I get it and respect her wishes. She wants Maline there for her wedding and for any children you two have in the future. Shutting her mother out is too much for her, especially after all the time she lost because her asshole father couldn't let her make her own life choices. What if it was you in her shoes, Joe? Put yourself there for a minute and really think. What if Patty disowned you because it was Sika's demand? What if they didn't support your decision to leave the NFL to go into the wrestling business and they disowned you for it? Would you be able to forgive Patty if she came to you after Sika died and admitted it was because of his demand she had to disown you? Think about it."
"Fuck." Joe lowered his head in shame and shut his eyes, feeling guilty for the things he said to Mia. "I'm a fucking idiot."
"No. You were just trying to protect her in your own way and it backfired." Anisa moved to sit next to Joe between him and Jon, taking the controller out of the Samoan's hand. "Go to her now. Go tell her you don't want to call the wedding off and you still want to be with her. Because she told me she thinks you don't want to marry her now."
Joe's heart shattered at that confession and he immediately rose to his feet, dropping a kiss on top of Anisa's head. "Thank you." He rumbled, rushing out of the room upstairs to Mia's designated room and stood outside of it, hoping she was still awake.
Snapping her head up after just getting out of the shower, Mia figured it was Anisa checking up on her again. "Come in." She mumbled, keeping her back to the door and tightened the towel around her body a little. "I told you I'm fine, Nisa."
"Baby girl, I'm sorry." Were the first words out of Joe's mouth and he watched her head snap around to face him with wide dark eyes.
"Joe…I can't…"
He cut her off, needing to make things right before he lost his Indian goddess forever. "Please just hear me out." He pleaded, taking a step toward her and didn't stop until he was in front of Mia, lowering to both knees with his grey orbs never leaving hers. "I'm sorry for hurting you, baby girl. I love you and I don't want to call the wedding off. I was trying to protect you because I remember how much pain you were in when you're family disowned you for being with me. I still feel guilty about it because you chose me over them. Instead of being supportive of your decision, I tore you apart and hurt you. I just hope you can forgive me for being an asshole and let me make it up to you."
Blinking, huge tears slid down Mia's cheeks while she listened to Joe's heartfelt words and apology. "You really hurt me, Joe." She didn't bother wiping them away and felt Joe take her hands, their fingers lacing together. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my mother sooner and I promise not to keep anything from you again. But my decision to have my mother back in my life again stands and if you can't accept it…"
"I accept it." Joe rose to his feet and sat on the bed, pulling Mia down to straddle his lap wrapping his arms around her. "I love you and if having your mother in your life makes you happy, that's all I care about. And I know it's going to take time to get back in your good graces fully, so tell me what to do and it's done."
Mia thought about it for a half a second and cupped Joe's face, softly kissing his lips. "You can start by making love to your fiancée." She mumbled against his mouth, not caring whose house they were staying in and felt Joe guide her down on the bed. "If you ever hurt me again, we're done, Anoa'i."
"Understood, baby girl."
The rest of the night was spent with Joe worshipping Mia's body from head to toe and Jon doing everything in his power to make Anisa break her 'no sex for one week' stipulation.