The afternoon faded into evening and the night-life in town was beginning. Young adults were headed out to nightclubs with friends and couples were heading to restaurants to enjoy dates. These establishments became full quickly and their staff were hard at work to make sure that it was a pleasant evening for everyone. Elsewhere, catering staff were preparing a lovely feast to be enjoyed by the tourney team of the region and their partners.
One of the members of the aforementioned tourney team was putting his keys in his blazer pocket whilst waiting for his wife to emerge from their bedroom.
"Lon, come on, we're going to be late," he called out to her. He wasn't a huge fan of these banquets but he didn't want to make a bad impression by turning up late.
"Sorry! I'm just about done," was the reply from the bedroom almost on the other end of the apartment. The door opened and Jay looked up expectantly. It came as no surprise to him, though, that the breath was knocked right out of him when Lonnie stepped out of the room. She was wearing a form-fitting, black pencil dress that ended just above the knee with off-the-shoulder sleeves. She'd curled the ends of her hair so that it fell just below her shoulders. She was wearing dark red lipstick and faint gold eyeshadow. Over her shoulder was a black clasp handbag attached to a gold chain and she was carrying a pair of gold heels.
Jay let out a low whistle of appreciation which made Lonnie laugh and roll her eyes.
"I take it that you like it then," she said, gesturing to the dress as she walked towards him.
"Like it?" Jay responded, "I love it. You look amazing."
Lonnie gave a falsely-humble shrug, "Well, I thought you wouldn't mind showing off that your wife is incredibly sexy."
"Damn right, she is," Jay replied, grabbing her waist and pulling her closer to him. He bent down to kiss her but she dodged him and pulled out of his arms, laughing at the pout that appeared on his lips.
"I am not risking you smudging my make-up," Lonnie said, as she leaned on his shoulder to put her shoes on. "Besides," she added, as she switched hands so that she could put her other shoe on, "We have plenty of time for that later." She straightened up and gave him a little wink before beginning to head out.
"You're going to be the death of me," Jay complained as he followed her out of the door. Lonnie just laughed and waited for him to lock the door before the two of them began walking down the stairs of their apartment block, their arms looped together.
They were quiet throughout most of the drive, both lost in their own thoughts. Lonnie looked out of the window with a pleasant smile on her face as she watched the city and its night-life pass by her. Jay would occasionally glance at her and just feel overwhelmingly lucky that the wonderful woman next to him was his wife.
Lonnie seemed to sense him looking and turned her head towards him, catching him mid-glance. "Eyes on the road, babe," she said with a teasing grin. Jay rolled his eyes but kept them on the road anyway.
"You're quiet," he finally said, after a while, "You thinking about a certain someone?" He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye as he exaggeratively waggled his eyebrows.
"You have the ego the size of a tourney field, you know that right?" Lonnie replied, "Actually I was thinking about your mom. It's been a while since we had her over for dinner, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess," Jay answered, tapping the steering wheel with a single finger in an irregular beat. "Can we get through this dinner before we plan any other, though?"
Lonnie cocked her head a little at him, "You okay, babe? You seem a little nervous."
Jay shrugged, "I just don't like these things that much. I prefer when the team and I go out for pizza or a drink. This just feels like a lot more pressure."
"Jay," Lonnie began, "They're not waiting for you to slip up. I know they didn't like you much at first but they got over it. Some of your closest friends are in that team."
Jay breathed out a humoured puff of air, "How is it," he wondered, "That you always seem to know what I'm thinking."
"We've been together since we were seventeen. Your thinking hasn't changed that much," Lonnie informed him.
"You were eighteen," Jay reminded her causing Lonnie to roll her eyes.
"My point still remains," Lonnie shot back, "We've been together almost seven years. I think I know you pretty well."
"Technically-" Jay tried before Lonnie interrupted him.
"If you bring up the break-up, I'm pushing you out of this car," she warned, causing Jay to grin at her in amusement.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Jay replied, still sincere despite his grin.
"Can we go back to the fact that you're nervous?" Lonnie huffed.
Jay laughed, "You've made me feel better. Although, the guys will probably never let me hear the end of the fact that I'm wearing a blazer."
"You look good in blazers," Lonnie replied, "It's not like I made you wear a tie. Besides, I'm sure most of them will be wearing fancy clothes too. I've met some of their partners remember?"
"That's fair," Jay responded. "Okay, how many times do you think we're going to be asked if we're planning to have kids?" Ever since they got married, this had been a very common question from people, both those who knew them and didn't. Any time they went out, now, they would jokingly bet about how many times they would be asked the question.
"Oh, I don't know, fourteen?" Lonnie guessed.
"Wow, you have a lot more faith in the guys and their partners than I do," Jay replied, "And I have to trust that team on a tourney field."
They both laughed as Jay pulled into the car park of the place where the banquet was being held. Jay was pleased to see that while he wasn't one of the first there, he also wasn't the last. He got out of the car and quickly went round to the other side so he could open the door for Lonnie.
"Oh, being a gentleman tonight, are we?" Lonnie asked, taking his outstretched hand.
"Only the best for my gorgeous wife," Jay stated, winking.
"Uh-huh," Lonnie replied teasingly as she stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her, "Well, come on, let's go in." She entwined her fingers with his and the two of them headed inside the building.
They were directed to a hall full of round tables that fit about six each. Each table was covered in a white cloth with blue place settings. The plates and cutlery shone and the glasses glistened. There was a chandelier hanging down from the ceiling that lit up the whole place. Dotted around the room were people stood chatting, all dressed up (much to Jay's relief).
Lonnie and Jay were immediately greeted by one of Jay's teammates, Alan.
"Hey, Jay!" He cried out, practically bouncing over to them, "And you must be Lonnie!" Alan was a new addition to the team and he was...enthusiastic. Because he was so new, he'd never met Lonnie but he definitely seemed pleased to meet her. "Wow, I honestly thought he was kidding when he said that he married the famous R.O.A.R player! But obviously, he wasn't!"
Lonnie was taken aback a bit but smiled, "No, he wasn't," she agreed.
"So how did you guys meet?" Alan asked, grinning. While Lonnie went to answer Alan, someone else called Jay over. He removed his hand from hers and brushed his hand across the small of her back, whispering a promise that he'd be right back. Lonnie shot him a smile letting him know that it was okay, so he headed over to his other teammates, leaving her to the mercy of Alan and his questions.
"That's Lonnie?" One of his teammates, Milton, asked when Jay reached them. While not as new as Alan, Milton was still new enough to not have attended any functions that Lonnie had been to.
"I told she was hot, man," Reuben, who was standing next to him, mentioned. Jay felt a little bit of pride at the statement but it was almost immediately replaced with discomfort when he noticed the way that both of the guys were eyeing her. He tried to brush it off, though.
"Yep, that's Lonnie," Jay replied, fighting the urge to fold his arms. "Where's Tammy?" He asked, Reuben.
"History," Reuben replied, "We broke up a couple days ago."
"Oh, sorry, man." This conversation was weirdly less uncomfortable than the guys commenting on Lonnie. "That's tough."
Reuben shrugged, "Meh, it wasn't serious anyway."
That left Jay without anything to say. He hadn't really ever had a relationship that wasn't serious. He'd been on a few dates when he and Lonnie broke up for a while, but there was never a second date with any of them so he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say when someone informed you that a casual relationship had ended.
Luckily for him, Milton jumped in at that time, "Yo, I thought your wife was the one who would be wearing the pants in the relationship."
Jay gave him a look, "Funny," he said, sarcastically. He suddenly felt a presence by his side but instantly knew that it was a safe one. Lonnie's right hand encircled his arm and her left one rested on his shoulder.
"Hey," she said with a smile, "I don't think we've met before." She removed her hand from Jay's shoulder and extended it out to Milton, "I'm Lonnie Li. Jay's wife."
"So I've been told. How did someone like Jay manage to snag a beautiful woman like you?" Milton replied, firmly shaking her hand.
Lonnie felt Jay shift a bit and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, "He didn't make it hard to fall in love with him. He had loads of girls throwing themselves at him. I was just the lucky one he decided to be good enough for him."
Jay laughed, "You hardly threw yourself at me."
"Oh my goodness, are you Lonnie Li?" A feminine voice asked, not far from where the group were chatting. Jay and Lonnie turned to see a petite woman approaching, her boyfriend's arm around her shoulders.
Lonnie nodded, "Yeah, that's me."
"Fin, you never told me that one of your teammates was in a relationship with Lonnie Li! You know how much I love R.O.A.R!" The girl exclaimed to the man standing next to her.
"Sorry, Emma," he replied, shrugging, "I kinda didn't think about it. Hey Jay," he added, holding up a hand.
Jay slapped it with a smile, "'sup Fin?"
"I'm good, you?"
As Jay replied that he too was good, Jay noticed that Fin's eyes quickly flitted over to Lonnie and eyed her very briefly. Jay felt the discomfort from earlier return and lifted his hand to put over the one Lonnie had wrapped around his arm. Lonnie looked over at Jay as she talked to Emma, giving him a small smile and another squeeze, which seemed to set aside some of the uncomfortable look in his eye.
He and Lonnie went around, chatting to various people till dinner was called and everyone went to their table, where they sat and ate and talked with the others on the table. More than once though, he caught some of his teammates looking at Lonnie for a little too long or noticed their eyes travel down a little too far. He was getting increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed but Lonnie hadn't seemed to notice what was happening, just squeezing his hand and giving him reassuring smiles whenever she saw that he wasn't very comfortable.
As soon as dessert was over, Lonnie leaned over to him and whispered in his ear: "Do you want to get out of here?"
Jay nodded, looking at her thankfully. Lonnie smiled and looked over to the others on their table.
"Hey, I have an early training session tomorrow, so Jay and I got to go," Lonnie told them. In truth, she had a day off the next day but they didn't need to know that.
The others nodded and bid them goodbye as Jay and Lonnie got up. As soon as they were out of the room, Lonnie took Jay's hand in hers and kissed the scar on the back of his hand gently. Some of the tension in Jay's shoulders seemed to go, but it wasn't enough. Lonnie waited till they were in the car to ask him what was going on."
"So," she began as they pulled out of the car park, "You want to tell me what's got you so tense?"
Jay gripped the steering wheel a bit harder, "It's just...the way they were looking at you," he explained, the tension returning, "It was taking everything in me not to call them out on it." He shook his head, "How did you not notice?"
"What, that a good few of your teammates were looking lower than my eyes when they were talking to me?" Lonnie replied, "Yeah, I noticed. But I didn't want to cause any tension or conflict so I decided to leave it be. At least they had the decency to not linger in their staring."
Jay huffed, "I just..."
"I know, babe," she reassured, "Well done for not getting too jealous. I'm proud of you."
Jay relaxed a little at the words. A smile crept upon his face and he sighed gently. They sat in silence for the rest of the drive. Lonnie watched Jay carefully, wanting to ensure that he was okay.
Once they were inside their apartment and Lonnie had kicked her heels off, Jay grabbed her around the waist and kissed her with a fiery passion, pushing her against the door. Lonnie responded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around his neck and threading her hands through his hair.
"You're mine," he growled a little, before dropping his head into her shoulder, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I know you hate it when I get jealous but the way those guys were looking at you..."
"Hey, Jay, babe, look at me," Lonnie requested, cupping his cheeks and lifting his head so that he was looking at her. "Don't mind what those guys were doing. They see a woman who knows how to wear a dress. But you? You see my soul. And that is a privilege that no one else will ever get." She stroked put her arms around his neck and stroked the nape of his neck, "I'm completely yours, babe."
Jay searched her face for a few seconds before pulling her into himself and slamming his lips into hers. Lonnie responded happily but let him take control. She knew that was what he needed to remind himself that Lonnie was his. That only he got to see her the way he did. That only he could make her feel the way he does. And she had a feeling that he'd be reminding himself of this all night. Not that she was complaining. Not at all. She was his and he was hers. Body, heart and soul.
Here you go, PotatoGirl! I enjoyed writing this one! I hope you liked it!
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