"Hey sweet thing, it's nice to see you standing in the kitchen again." Colby smiles, walking in with Kelly. She walks over and gives me a hug, before pulling out a Pepsi from the fridge. Jon was perched on a stool at the kitchen island and Colby pulls himself up next to him.
"I was running out of clean clothes." I shrug playfully.
"Lies, you missed us." He winks.
"Of course I did." I wink back.
"What are you doing today?" Kelly asks, leaning on the counter next to me.
"I need to go to the barn and see those mangy horses of mine. They're probably pissed." I say to her looking unimpressed.
"They miss you." She grins.
"Yeah well we miss you too." Colby scoffs.
"Blame him." I state, motioning to Jon. He raises his eyebrows at me then glances at the counter, fiddling with his soda that was sitting on it.
"Yeah yeah." Colby chuckles. "It's always Jon's fault." He teases, bumping shoulders with his friend.
"Are you coming to the barn with me?" I ask, looking expectantly at Jon.
"Yeah." He agrees. It's not long before we're in the truck and pulling up to the barn. My two crazies running the fence and calling for me. "I've come out a few times." He shrugs.
"Really?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrow.
"Yeah. I mean I figured they needed attention. Brought out treats and junk." He states, sliding out of the truck.
"My babies!" I call walking up to the fence. I open it and let TJ come trotting out. He lowers his head and places it right in my hands, letting me hug on him for a moment. "You're such a good boy. Who loves you?" I ask him, giving him a scratch. "I love you too." I tell Cherry who was brushing her lip along Jon's hair. "Awwww, she loves you." I coo.
"We're friends." He agrees, giving her a pat. "She likes me more than he does." He states pointing to TJ.
"Yeah well, he's my baby." I say as if that was going to justify it.
"I can see that." He grumbles. I roll my eyes at him and pull myself up onto TJ, running my fingers along his neck.
"Ew, you need a bath." I murmur softly to him, noticing the dirt that covered my hand now. "And a brush." I add. His mane was all full of tangles.
"He wouldn't let me close enough to brush him." Jon shrugs. Now that he mentioned it, Cherry did look like she'd been groomed regularly.
"You brushed her?" I ask him and he nods, giving her a kiss. "That was nice." I say to him. I walk off on TJ towards where the truck was so I could grab a couple brushes out of the back end. "My poor neglected boy." I tease him, running the brush over his neck.
"Why doesn't he like me?" Jon asks curiously, hoisting himself up onto the tailgate.
"Because he can feel my tension." I shrug.
"Nah… He didn't like me even when I came out here without you." He states.
"I don't know, what'd ya do to him?" I ask raising an eyebrow. "He just really doesn't like men." I shrug after a moment.
"That's fuckin weird." He says, looking unimpressed at TJ.
"You're fuckin' weird." I throw back at him.
"And you love me anyway." He smirks.
"Why don't you go brush her off?" I ask, nodding my head towards Cherry.
***…***…***…***
"Are you really making him sleep on the couch?" Kelly asks, walking into the bedroom. I was cross legged on the bed, my computer in my lap and phone next to me texting Trinity.
"Yes." I answer shortly. "Too harsh?" I ask her.
"Nope." She shakes her head. "I'm shocked you're here at all." She admits honestly.
"I'm getting better. I mean, I still have a grudge against him but it's getting to be less so." I shrug.
"Alright, well I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow." She smiles, excusing herself and walking back down the hallway. I shut my laptop and set it on the chair before hooking my phone into the wall. Sometime around 2 in the morning I woke up, lonely. I'd gotten so used to having Joe in the bed with me I never adjusted to sleeping alone. I sigh and roll out of bed, quietly walking out of the bedroom and towards the couch.
"Jon…" I murmur giving his shoulder a shake.
"Mmmm?" He groans, opening an eye to look at me. "What's wrong?" He asks groggily.
"Come to bed." I say softly.
"Are you sure?" He questions, opening an eye to look at me.
"Please." I nod, standing up and pulling on his arm. He yawns and lets me lead him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind us. "Cuddle with me." I murmur, nuzzling my face into his side.
"Go back to sleep." He tells me, wrapping both arms around me. "Missed this…" I hear him say before I fell back asleep again. I woke up next to my cell phone and light pouring through the curtain. We hadn't moved all night, still in the same position that we had been when we went to sleep. Jon was still out tho, snoring softly.
"What are you doing today?" Text from Trinity.
"Not sure. Just waking up. What's your plans?" Text to Trinity.
"What's she want?" Jon grumbles.
"You were snoring, two seconds ago." I tell him unimpressed.
"I was sleeping two seconds ago." He chuckles. "You didn't have to let me in last night you know." He adds.
"I wanted to sleep with you." I say to him. "And she was just asking what I was doing today, mind your own business." I tell him.
"We're going skiing out your way. Want to go?" Text from Trinity.
"Hell freaking yes!" Text to Trinity.
"And you're leaving again, just like that." He groans.
"Yeah well deal. Maybe you should clean this fucking room before I get back." I tell him unimpressed. The room was a total disaster.
"You could invite Jon if you want. Just Jimmy and I." Text from Trinity.
"Oh you're lucky. I was full ready to leave your butt here to clean this fucking room." I grumble glaring at him. "Do you want to come?" I ask him, making his face light up.
"Yeah." He answers quickly. "What are we doing?"
"I guess we're going skiing. As in water." I clarify.
"Nope, thought we were going to Colorado for snow skiing or something." He teases me. I roll my eyes and head into the closet, digging for a bathing suit. "The tye dye one." He suggests, grabbing his own. "Do you want me to come?" He asks coming up behind me and circling my waist.
"Yeah, I do." I answer honestly. "I want to spend time with you as long as you're not planning on being douchey." I add raising my eyebrows.
"Scouts honor." He chuckles. He kisses my cheek before retreating back out of the closet and going to change. "Are you back now?" He questions when I emerge from the closet. I'd thrown on the dye dye bikini and a pair of swim shorts with my flip flops.
"What do you mean, back?" I ask him scrunching up my face.
"I mean are you living her again?" He clarifies.
"No Jon... I don't think so." I answer softly. "I'm going to go back with Trin tonight." I say earning a huff in response. "Listen buddy, I don't know what makes you think that everything is suddenly ok because I stayed over and let you sleep in the bed. It's not." I snap at him.
"Sweet pea... What do I got to fuckin do?" He groans, falling down onto the bed behind him.
"I'll let you know when I'm ready to move further into our relationship." I shrug.
"You just want to sleep with Joe." He says. I reel back, totally ready to give him a piece of my mind and watch as his face falls realizing that he'd just said that out loud.
"That was a real asshole thing to fucking say." I shoot at him.
"Yeah, that was supposed to be in my head." He sighs, running a hand over his face.
"What am I supposed to think?! You've been gone for weeks, and you've been sharing a bed with him. You can't look me in the eye and say you have fucked him." He states.
"Joe has been a real gentlemen and a great friend the past month. You better drop this right now or I'm taking back my invitation to go along today." I growl at him.
"I love you... I just fuckin want us to be ok again." He murmurs. It was real hard to stay pissed off at him when he was all pouty like this.
***...***...***...***
"Where'd you get this boat?!" I shout at Trinity. We could hardly hear each other over the roar of the engine and the water noise. "I'm totally into it!" I add. It was a Mamba speedboat, and I was completely in love with it.
"Jimmy borrowed it from his Uncle!" She calls back. Jimmy was driving right now and Trin was perched in the passenger seat next to him while Jon and I were sprawled across the backseat.
"Where are we going?" Jon asks her.
"There's a place called Ski Island not far from here. It's calm, so it's easier to ski." She explains to him. "Plus there's always people around so you don't really have to worry about anything bad happening." She adds with a shrug.
"You know because there are skiing casualties all the time." I laugh.
"I've seen some guy face plant the water before, busted up his whole face. Broke his nose, he was pouring blood and his face was rash red for a week!" Jimmy shouts from the driver seat.
"That sucks." Jon grumbles next to me. He'd snaked an arm around me and I was leaning up against him in the corner of the seat.
"So who's first?" Trinity asks when Jimmy brought the boat to a stop.
"My vote says Jimmy goes first, and I'll drive." I smirk, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Oh, alright... Alright I'll take your challenge girl." He chuckles. "My ski is the lime green one baby, will you hand it to me?" He asks Trinity. She reaches down into the front of the boat and grabs his ski, handing it to him followed by a life jacket that he looks at skeptically.
"Listen, you're wearing it. We're in the ocean, no a lake." She scolds him.
"Fine." He agrees, pulling it over his shoulders.
"Do you know how to ski?" I ask Jon, glancing back at him.
"Nah sweet pea, ain't never skiied in my life." He answers with a shrug.
"Jon's next!" I call out with a wide grin. "I'll teach you." I assure him when he scoffs behind me.
"You ski?" Jimmy asks.
"I can ski. I'm more of a wakeboarder though." I answer with a small shrug.
"That's cool, I'd love to learn to wakeboard." He tells me before jumping into the water. We let Jimmy ski for a half hour or so before I basically shove Jon into the water with a life jacket. I go under the front of the boat and pull out two skis, tossing them over the boat before following suit.
"Just idle the boat for a few minutes." I tell Jimmy who nods at me. "Here take the rope." I mutter to Jon, handing him the ski rope.
"Will the boat pull me up?" He asks, taking it from me.
"Yeah the boat does all the work. When you tell him you're ready, don't let go of the rope. Use your arms and upper body to pull yourself upright. If you push down with your legs you're just going to go under water and face plant." I explain to him. "You've already got great balance Jon, you might make it up the first try." I say honestly.
"What if I fall?" He asks, looking at me wide eyed.
"Then you fall." I shrug, swimming away from him towards the boat. "If you fall we'll circle back around and try again." I call, pulling myself in.
"Alright go!" He shouts and Jimmy hits the gas. A huge wall of water blocks him from sight for a moment and the next few seconds are followed by him trying to pull himself up right. He ends up letting go of the rope and sinking back down into the water.
"The fuck was that?!" I ask him when we circled around. "You were freaking up! All you had to do was straighten your back." I say to him.
"I didn't feel like I was up." He shakes his head.
"You were up. The water was under your skis, straighten your back and you're good." I tell him leaning over the side of the boat.
"Go!" He nods. This time the water wall was only there a second or two followed by Jon standing straight up. The metal holding the rope made a creaking noise as he leaned back against it.
"Yeah!" I shout throwing up a fist pump. "Keep going!" I tell him with a thumbs up.
"Are you going to the performance center tomorrow?" I ask Jimmy and Trinity after we'd hooked the trailer back up to the truck.
"Yeah girl, gotta practice my match for Raw next week." Jimmy answers.
"Ok, I'm going to ride back to Tampa with y'all then in to the performance center tomorrow." I tell them, before turning to Jon. "You want to take my truck home and meet up with me tomorrow?" I ask him.
"I want you to come home with me." He grumbles in a crabby tone. "But if that's not going to happen, then yeah." He sighs.
"I'm leaving you with my truck. Be good to her." I say, pointing an accusing finger at him. He grins and grabs hold of it, bringing it to his mouth and biting lightly down.
"Your truck'll be fine." He rolls his eyes. "I love you sweet pea." He murmurs, pulling me against him by my hips. He presses his lips against mine, slipping his tongue into my mouth and wrestling it against my own.
"I love you too." I tells him, pressing a couple quick kisses to his jaw line and neck. "See you tomorrow. Text me tonight." I say. He nods and pulls the passenger door open for me and I slide into the backseat.
"Bye." He mumbles shutting the door.
"I can't believe you're leaving your truck here with him." Jimmy chuckles, pulling away from the boat ramp.
"I trust him." I shrug. "Plus I didn't want to waste the gas to drive down here when yall were just driving back home anyway." I add.
"You should practice some moves with me tomorrow." Trinity suggests. "I'll teach you a thing or two, it'll be fun." She adds with a grin.
"Alright, I'm down." I nod, slouching back into the seat and looking out the window.