Chapter 3
"Hey sleepy head. It's after 5 pm and you maybe wanna freshen up a bit before we leave." It was Jon's voice and he was gently shaking me.
"I'm awake." I mumbled and stretched. He sat on the bed beside me, his blue eyes shining through the strands of hair on his forehead.
"Can I grab a quick shower? Do I have time?" He gave me the strangest look and nodded finally. "Of course, just don't waste two hours on prettying yourself up, because you are a natural beauty. Dress casual, Jeans are fine. It's just us and two of my friends with their girlfriends."
He got up and when I didn't move he clapped his hands. "Chop chop Sam, we haven't got all day!" and left the room.
I took the time for a quick shower and throwing on a pair of blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt.
Half an hour later I stepped out of his bedroom to find him sitting on the couch watching a re-run of RAW.
"Took you long enough." he announced and got up, switching the TV off.
We got into his car and drove out of Tampa.
"So who is this Joe?" I asked.
"He is a friend." Jon replied vaguely. "You are not going to give me more, right?" "You know me so well Sam." He grinned .
Most of the ride we stayed quiet which was comfortable. I was watching the scenery, and Jon was softly singing along to his rock channel.
Half an hour later we pulled up in front of a nice, little house. One car was parked in the driveway, one in front and Jon was happy. "Everyone is there already. Great." He was excited about this I could tell, because he became a bit hyped up and he smiled much more.
We got out and went to the front door.
"WAIT!" I whispered and held back his arm before he could ring the bell. He looked at me with raised eyebrows. "What?" he whispered back. "Should I have brought something? A gift?"
"Nah, believe me, Joe likes to feed the masses. Don't worry." He rang the bell and I still had the feeling I should have brought something. Damn.
Still thinking about it I almost didn't notice the door being opened. When I finally glanced up I was greeted with a powerhouse of a man. He was as tall as Jon, but had far more muscle mass. His hair was long, curly and deep black and his skin was toned. He had a tribal tattoo on his right arm and the most amazing grey eyes a guy with his dark complexion could have.
"Holy shit Jon you asshole!" I exclaimed once everything clicked in my head. The guy in front of me laughed heartly and clapped Jon on the shoulder. "You didn't promise too much. Hi, I'm Joe." He stretched out his big paw and I shook it. "Leakee..I mean Joe, nice to meet you. I am Sam."
"I know baby girl, Jon can't shut up about you. Come on in." When we entered I shot Jon a dirty look and he just smiled and shrugged. I was now on the edge wondering about his second...friend.
"You can't just bring me here without a three minute warning!" I hissed and Joe stopped dead in his tracks turned and began to laugh again.
"Told you she is a kicker!" Jon said proudly and put his arm over my shoulder. I felt like I wasn't in on the joke.
"Three Minute Warning...Rosey, he is my brother." Joe explained. "I didn't know, but glad to entertain you." I mumbled. "You do." Joe nodded. "I like you, come meet the rest Sam."
He went through the house to the garden. On the terrace there we two women talking. Both were beautiful with dark hair and nice tans.
"How does this smoker work?" came a muffled voice and I noticed someone crouching next to the big ass bbq grill station.
"Hands off there Colby!" Joe said annoyed and went over to the guy. "Go away, that's mine. Go meet Sam." he gently kicked this Colby guy and he sprang up from the ground like a ninja.
"Holy..." I was able to put my hand in front of my mouth before I had the chance to embarrasses myself again. Jon stood back and watched the whole scene with interest.
"Sam!" Colby exclaimed enthusiastically as if we knew each other for 20 years and he came up to me and hugged me. "Hey umm..." I turned my head to Jon mouthing "SETH ROLLINS?!" and he just nodded.
"Hey ummm Colby...is it?" Colby took a step back. "Yes, Colby Lopez, but Seth Rollins works just fine." I shook my head. "No, it's Colby for me. I wouldn't call that ass back there Dean if my life depended on it."
"He didn't tell you! Jon, we told you to tell her what she was getting into!" Colby said and Jon just shrugged it off.
"He is an ass, you are right. Come meet the ladies." Colby introduced me to Leighla, his very pretty but also very nice girlfriend. She was just a crazy as he was. Jessie was Joe's girlfriend and I was surprised to find out when a little girl ran up to her from the garden, the mother of his cute daughter.
Joe was handling the food while Leighla and Jessie took me with them to the kitchen.
"You are Jon's girl from Germany. Nice to meet you, he talks a lot about you." Jessie said. "When he talks at all. He often sits with us, just watching everything, listening and sometimes grunting something." Leighla described. "But maybe he will loosen up now that his girlfriend is here." She bumped her shoulder into mine.
"He is not my boyfriend. We are just friends." I said, a bit shocked that Jon gave them the impression that we were more than friends.
"See!" Jessie said. "He only ever said friend!"
Leighla shook her head. "No Jessie, he says friend, but look at his eyes when he talks about her. He has feelings for Sam."
"Excuse me, I am right here and he has no feelings for me, beside friendship."
Leighla and Jessie exchanged a glance. "Of course not. Can you carry the bottles?" Jessie passed me a couple of beers to bring outside.
"Oh, the most popular lady." Colby relieved me of one bottle and Jon of another. I stopped dead in my tracks there. Jon had a substance abuse problem in the past. Alcohol and pain killers, go figure with the type of matches he used to have. But he was cutting it short, he told me. No more pain killers, almost no alcohol.
He saw my reaction and Colby as well, I guess even Joe picked up on the scene unfolding in his yard. And everything became very quiet and very tense. Why you might ask. Because I am straight edge, yeah like this CM Punk guy. Jon knows that, it was one reason he stepped away from the pain killers and from the alcohol. The other was that once in the FCW, drug tests became a regular thing, and he realized that he was trowing away the only chance he got.
"Just getting Joe his beer." Jon said and brought the bottle over to Joe.
Then he walked back over to me and whispered in my ear "Thanks for your faith in me." It wasn't meant nice, he was pissed. Oh great. And to top it all off, he went into the house, leaving me here with 4 strange people when I was a real klutz about strangers. I needed time to warm up to people, if at all. Jon knew that. Damn it.
But that was Jon for you. He could be a happy go lucky guy in one moment and then he switched. Not like his Ambrose character. Just like he got insulted by little things. Call him an asshole in his face and he would shrug it of. Call him adrunk by not even saying one single word and he would be pissed. You wouldn't believe it, but he was a sensitive guy. How goes the saying: hard shell, soft core.
"Sam and me will watch the meat Joe. Go talk to him."
Colby took my arm and we relieved Joe at the grill.
"You know about his problem." I whispered and Colby nodded. "Yeah, he is pretty straight forward with us. Hard to get anything out of him, and I know him a long time, but the ice melts slowly. It has to, because we are meant to spend a shit load of time together." My questioning glace made him smile. "He wanted to tell you tonight, could almost not keep his mouth shut the past 4 weeks. Argh, you almost made me spill it all out." He was laughing and I smiled. "It's okay. I won't tell. I will go look for him, I fear for Joe if he is in this mood, and it is my fault."
I went into the house when Jessie and Leighla stepped out. "Front porch" Leighla said and there I went. Jon was sitting on the steps smoking and Joe was standing there with crossed arms.
"Big guy isn't much of a talker. Thought they would send out Colby." Jon said without looking at me.
"I've got it, thank you Joe." I touched the Samoans arm lightly and he just nodded and went back inside. Sitting down next to Jon I sighed.
"I care for you. I hate for you to throw everything away for a bloody beer. You have a problem with alcohol and I like to believe that you have it under control, I am also scared that you won't be able to stop next time. It has nothing to do with my faith in you. Because I have faith in you. And I know you are a big boy, but sometimes you get lost in the moment. Especially when there is so much at stake Jon. Then I gladly take the role of the party pooper. "
"So much at stake? Colby really can't keep his mouth shut. What did he say?" He exhaled some smoke and looked at me. "Next to nothing. You tell me." He smiled a little and took another drag of his cigarette. "We will be a three men tag team. We get traded up, get a chance for the spot light. At Survivor Series. No one can know. We are not supposed to tell anyone. Well the others of course told their girlfriends. And I wanted to tell you, in person, because a big chunk of it is because of you. Because of you being a party pooper. If you hadn't talked sense into me, I would be an alcoholic with a big pill problem right now." He looked at me then and I felt a couple of tears roll down my cheeks.
"No crying Sam. That was me saying Thank you." He cupped my check with his free hand and stroked the tears away with his thump. He was so gentle and all I wanted to do was lean into his hand and close my eyes and hoping that this moment would never end. What I did instead was keeping my eyes open and shying away from him.
"Your welcome Jon. And congratulations. I am just so proud so please ignore the stupid tears." He let his hand drop and nodded. "Thank you Samantha. Honestly. I mean that. So, let's go back, enjoy the food. Joe is a great cook." He stood up and helped me up to my feet and I almost had the feeling he was holding my hand 2 seconds longer than necessary, but why would he, right?
Thanks for all the follows and feedback so far! Love you guys! Will have to post a bit slower in the coming days. I have still some chapters in stock, but I can hardly write at the moment because my freaking neck is acting up and I am dizzy because the bones there are possibly sore. Got that from writing so much lately. But I write a bit each day, so I can keep you updated on Jon and Sam. I do my very best!
PS: What is the name of Joe's girlfriend? I read so many names I am confused, so I stick with Jessie. I also couldn't find the name of his daughter which is fine, she will remain nameless in the story, I don't want to poke too deep in someones personal life.