Chapter 19
John was up before Jasina was, mostly because he was in a strange house and found that somewhat awkward. Being in Jasina's bedroom helped, but...it always took him a night or two to get used to a new place, especially when staying over. Yawning, he gently extracted himself from her and headed into the bathroom. Really pleased with the fact that she had her own private bathroom, John was not up to pulling on his shorts –they were downstairs now that he thought about it- and not about to walk around naked in a strange house.
Arielle arched an eyebrow when she seen the strange car in her Dad's driveway. "Well what the hell..." She muttered, shutting off the ignition and slipping out of the SUV. She kept as quiet as she could as she headed inside, using her key to let herself in.
"Doll, we have got to get some food..." John yawned as he walked back out of the bathroom, freezing when he seen a young woman standing in the now open doorway. "Um, hi..."
"Wow..." Arielle gaped with wide emerald eyes.
"Mmm what did you say, John?" Jasina stretched and let out a loud yawn, slowly opening her eyes to smile at him, though it faltered at the look on his face. Her eyes moved from him to the doorway, immediately covering herself up, mouth dropping open. "Arielle?! What are you doing here?" She demanded, stumbling up to her feet and was glad John caught her, already feeling her cheeks burning. Her daughter definitely had the worst timing and Jasina was currently hiding John's naked body with her blanket covered one, feeling as though her heart might leap out of her chest.
"I came to see if you wanted to go have BREAKFAST with me, but it looks like you already skipped to dessert." Arielle said, torn between being disgusted at walking in on a naked guy and her MOTHER, but also...the guy was pretty hot. Since she had been introduced to the joys of sex, Arielle was able to better appreciate a fine specimen when she seen one. "Next time you're havin' a sex party, maybe you should text me a 'stay away' sitch."
"Sitch?" Even though this was...strange as hell, that was funny and John openly laughed, knowing this had Jasina's daughter.
"How dare you! I'm NOT having a sex party!" Jasina stated indignantly, elbowing John to stop him from laughing, folding her arms in front of her chest. "You should've sent me a text telling me you wanted to have breakfast or mentioned it yesterday when you were here." Jasina was tired of being mortified, snatching another blanket off the floor and gave it to John before sitting down on her bed. "Arielle, this is John Cena. John, this is my daughter Arielle. Would you give us a few minutes please?" That question was directed at John, smiling gently at him when he nodded.
"Oh no, please stay, you are MUCH better looking than her." Arielle insisted with a wink, loving how her mother looked completely mortified.
What on earth was with the woman and getting caught doing the deed? Honestly? Or caught after doing it. This was like déjà vu, remembering the time she and everyone else had walked in on Jasina and Randy sleeping naked on the couch. Arielle STILL had that image in her head sometimes and knew Gary had the same problem.
"Dad doesn't know you have him here, does he?" Arielle somewhat demanded. "He would blow UP if he knew you had another man in his house."
John turned to stare at Jasina out of wide blue eyes before heading downstairs.
Information overload.
"ARIE!" Jasina groaned, burying her face in her hands, knowing John had no idea just who her roommate was. "Of course your father doesn't know! He probably will now, but that's okay because I still have my old apartment until my house is ready." She stood up angrily and began clipping her bra on along with pulling her panties up, grabbing her robe to wrap herself in, knowing she would have some serious explaining to do to John.
"Why would he know? I'M not about to tell him, are you fuckin' serious?" Arielle wondered if her mother had completely lost her mind with her current mindset. "He'd kill me just for bein' the bearer of the news!"
Arielle looked horrified by the mere idea of telling her Dad about Jasina sleeping with some other guy in HIS house. Oh HELL NO! He'd probably go on a killing rampage and she shivered. One thing about her father was when his temper spiked, it could turn deadly in a hurry. She still had the scar on her calf -he shot her with a BB gun while trying to escape his wrath after locking him up with her mother with Gary and Toni's help- to prove just how far her father's temper could go when pushed.
"If you want some, more power to you. I was worried I was going to have to send you to a whorehouse or somethin'. How about I leave and you go down there and be with the hottie? Mom," Arielle walked over to take her Mom's hand, knowing she was angry. "I mean it, I'm not tellin' Dad."
Jasina couldn't help breathing a huge sigh of relief, hugging her daughter. "Thank you, Arielle." She couldn't believe she'd gotten busted by her own daughter, knowing it was a mistake to bring John to the ranch, but didn't feel up to holing up in his hotel room again. "I'm not mad at you." She pulled Arielle into a hug, knowing it was time to come clean with her regarding John. "John and I are just having fun. He's here out of town looking for a friend and he lives all the way in Boston. He did agree to be my date for Trish and Steve's wedding, and I will let them and your father know when the time is right." She sighed softly, pulling back to stare into Arielle's green eyes. "I hope you understand that sometimes adults have sex just to have sex. There doesn't have to be any feelings or emotions involved."
"Mom, I love you, but when you say things like that, I get pissy because I AM an adult. Please, quit thinkin' I'm thirteen. I get it. You and John are just havin' a good time, which is fine. A bit of shame since he's so fine lookin', but...whatever." Arielle said with a half-grin, wondering if either of her parents would stop treating and talking to her like she was a child. "I have to go, um...find something to do since Gary is expectin' me to be gone for awhile. And I wouldn't tell Dad about John...ever. Or at least leave out the part about havin' him here." Arielle really didn't want her mother murdered for scratching an itch by her father.
Jasina chuckled, knowing her daughter was right and stopped Arielle from walking out the door, grabbing her hand. "We can go to breakfast. John has some things he needs to do, so I'm all yours." It was the weekend after all, no wonder Mark had decided to go out of town with Steve for a bachelor party. Trish was probably going out of her mind with worry. "And I'll try to start treating you like an adult. Sorry." She snatched some clothes out of her closet and pulled the jeans and red form fitting shirt on after removing the robe. "I'll need to speak with John before we leave, do you wanna take my car or yours?"
"Mine and why can't he go with us? I'm pretty sure I heard him sayin' something about being hungry. Though I could have misheard, I wasn't paying much attention...to his face or what he was sayin', if you catch my drift." Just seeing her Mom's jaw hit the floor made saying that worth it and Arielle could NOT stop herself from laughing. "What? I'm not allowed to look?"
Well, there was laughter coming from upstairs and that had to be a good thing, John thought as he finished with his grooming, having used the downstairs bathroom for quick shower and dressed.
"I guess you can..." Jasina smirked, ruffling her daughter's hair and slipped some white tennis shoes on before heading down to talk to John. "I'll ask if he wants to join us, okay?" When she nodded, Jasina walked toward the kitchen and saw John was finishing up getting ready, clearing her throat. "Sorry about that." She murmured, not sure what else to say and lowered her eyes, chewing her bottom lip. "I'll understand if you want to end whatever this is between us."
Who wouldn't after finding out that she was rooming with the same man she'd made a child with?
"Because you have an adult daughter?" This meant she was probably a bit older than him, and a cougar…now THAT was kind of hot. John grinned when she looked confused. "Or the fact that this is apparently your...ex-boyfriend? Ex-husband? His house? I'm not gonna lie and say I don't find that a bit weird, but...I'm not freaked out and I certainly don't want to stop whatever we got going." He walked over to cup her chin, staring down at her. "We'll just have to stay at my place, casa de hotel. That cool with you?"
The biggest smile lit her face and Jasina couldn't help reaching up, pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss, feeling his arms instantly wrap around her body. "Arie wanted me to ask you if you wanted to join us for breakfast." She hoped he did, knowing this was treading on dangerous territory to bring her daughter around yet another man, but Jasina had to roll with the punches. "You're hungry, I'm starving and so is she. So come on, she wants you to come with. She thinks you're hot and I'm inclined to agree with her."
"She thinks I'm hot huh? Is she legal? Because I'm thinking a mother-daughter-" He stopped there when she punched him, rubbing the spot and began laughing again. "Chill woman, pop a pill and relax, I was only messing with you. I'm not into the mother-daughter thing, just the mother." John kissed her forehead and pulled away in time to see Arielle coming into the room. "Hello again."
"Hi." Arielle greeted sweetly, having overheard their small conversation. "So, what's this about mothers and daughters?"
"She has no shame, does she?"
"No, I do not." Arielle grinned impishly. "So, who's hungry?"
They ended up at a local diner that had incredible breakfast, Arielle picking the place out. Jasina sat down with John and smiled when he took her hand beneath the table, lacing their fingers together. She ordered strawberry stuffed French toast with bacon and eggs while John went with the huge breakfast platter and an omelet, neither woman looking shocked.
Hell, look who Arielle's father was along with Jasina's dead boyfriend. Arielle decided on pancakes with sausage links, eggs and a slice of toast on the side. When Gary walked in, Jasina instantly tensed, feeling her eyes widen and could see the shocked look in Arielle's as well.
"Gary, what are you doing here?" Arielle somewhat demanded, blinking.
"I saw your car..." Gary said slowly, wondering what the hell was wrong with these women, not missing the looks on either Jasina or Arielle's face. His gaze finally shifted to the man sitting with them, an eyebrow arching. "I'm not allowed to stop in?"
"Um..."
"The more the merrier!" John laughed, standing up from the table, knowing who Gary was because Arielle had told him about her boyfriend. "I'm John, John Cena." He greeted, extending his hand.
"Hi." Gary was trying not to be suspicious, but this was…just weird.
"John is in town to find a friend, he just arrived…the other day, was it?" Arielle lied smoothly, her eyes on John.
"Few days ago." John confirmed with a nod, getting back to his plate of food.
Jasina sincerely hoped Gary didn't tell Mark about this, knowing how protective the man was of Arielle, even though she no longer lived under his roof. "He's also a friend of mine." She added, smiling up at him and watched as Arielle waved the waitress over to add Gary to the breakfast.
"So who is this friend you're looking for, John?" Arielle decided to change the topic and keep it simple, seeing her mother physically relax.
Before John could say, Gary had to give his order to the waitress when she came back to get it again, having forgot to add his toast.
"John is going to be my date for the wedding." Jasina announced, causing Gary to spew orange juice out of his mouth while Arielle swallowed hers down the wrong pipe, both of their eyes wide. "I asked him last night and I didn't want to go alone..."
John had been playing it cool and not announcing that he knew who Gary was, or that he and Jasina had met before this seemingly innocent breakfast, mostly because he had seen the looks on Jasina and Arielle's faces. Deciding to just see how things went. Now that it was blown out of the water, he raised his eyes to Gary who was mopping orange juice off himself, passing over a handful of napkins.
"Here." John offered gruffly.
"Thanks." Gary rasped, reaching over to thump Arielle on her back. "You alright baby doll?"
"No...Ouch..."
"So...um, whose wedding is this again?" John asked after an uncomfortable silence ensued.
"My best friend Trish and Steve's."
"My godfather's." Arielle rasped out a little more, coughing from the orange juice. "Damn..."
"Steve is Arielle's godfather because he's Mark's best friend." Jasina explained, seeing the comprehension dawn in John's blue eyes. "Mark is my ex, Arielle's father, yes." She confirmed, taking his hand again to rest on her lap.
"W-When are you going to tell Trish, Mom?"
"The next time I see her, probably not until Monday."
"So, let me see if I got this right...your best friend and your ex-husband's best friend are getting married?"
"And she's the Matron of Honor, he's the Best Man."
"And you want me to be your date, I'm down with that." John didn't have a reason not to go with Jasina.
"Ballsy, aren't you? God that hurt..." Arielle groaned, coughing.
"Better make sure she doesn't mention anything to Steve, not until you've had time to break it to Mark." Gary pointed out, knowing that was going to be an explosion of massive proportion.
"Why do you three get this tense look whenever he's mentioned?" John couldn't help asking, wondering who this guy was.
"You're a big man, right John?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"My Dad is bigger." Arielle said seriously.
"With a serious temper." Gary added, swallowing hard.
"He's just very intimidating, but there's nothing to worry about. He's just a big brute with a temper that WILL be checked at Trish's wedding." Jasina didn't even want to THINK about what would happen if Mark pulled the same stunt he had at Arielle's birthday party, cringing.
"Trish will kill him if he ruins the wedding." Arielle stated acutely, knowing that her father's temper paled in comparison to Trish's. "She's actually scarier than my Dad."
"I agree with that." Gary grinned when their food arrived, his stomach growling.
"You are a brave man, John Cena."
"How am I brave man?"
John was beginning to get confused. First the ex-husband was a brute, now the bride was, which wasn't so strange. John knew a lot of women who went nuts during the wedding season and he couldn't help feeling lost.
"I think we're scaring the guy."
"Shaking in my Jordan's." Not a lot scared John. "Actually, you're confusing me. Do I need to wear a bulletproof vest or something to this wedding?" John wanted to be prepared, looking completely serious.
"No, but it has to be a suit and tie at least..."
Trish was very adamant about the dress code at her wedding and Jasina had to make sure whatever John wore met Trish's criteria. She decided she wasn't telling Mark about John, he could find out on his own at the wedding. They had to walk down the aisle together, it was going to be very awkward all around.
They finished breakfast and parted ways, Jasina promising to call Arielle later on and knew Gary would be asking a ton of questions about John as soon as he was alone with Arielle. Jasina went back to the ranch to clean up from her and John, not wanting to leave any evidence of what she'd done while Mark was away. John went hunting for his friend, promising he would contact Jasina later on after he was finished.
"You realize, if you're...hiding something from your Dad, he's going to find out, right?" Gary had been poking and prodding Arielle ever since leaving the diner, but so far, she wasn't saying anything useful outside of what he already knew.
"He's not findin' anything out from me or you." She said, shooting him a look that told him if he breathed one word to her Dad, she'd have to kill him painfully. "If he ruins Trish's weddin', Trish will feed him his balls."