Chapter 30
Running into her ex-boyfriend, after just screwing another man, was NOT what Vallea expected to happen.
Her hair was haphazard from tumbling in the sheets with Seth, she was still slightly flushed and she really needed to clean herself up. A shower was definitely in order because she probably smelled like Seth too. Her neck more than likely had red marks, burns, from his beard, as well as her inner thighs. He'd spent a great deal of time pleasuring her with his lips, tongue, and beard, teasing her. Clutching the robe against her neck to try to hide the red marks, Vallea kept walking barefoot toward him since he just stepped off the elevator. Maybe taking the stairs would've been a better option.
As soon as she was about a foot away from him, the stench of another man washed over Jon, even over his own alcoholic breath. He could smell male body wash and sex, it reeked from her and his glassy, glacier eyes widened and then narrowed. That hadn't taken her long at all, had it? It was none of his business, it was none of his business…that was a goddamn love mark on her neck she was trying to hide and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep from spewing something he may regret later.
What did she have to be ashamed of? Nothing! This man cheated on her with a bottled blonde against the back of a bar building! "Do you have a staring problem, Ambrose?" Vallea snapped, knowing it was irrational, but the judgment was clear as day in his eyes.
The tension between them couldn't be severed even with the sharpest knife. Without realizing it, tears formed in her eyes as she stepped on the elevator and then thought better of it, brushing past him to head to the stairs. Why did she feel like crying? And why did her chest feel like it would cave in at any second?
"Sorry doll, it was an odor problem. You smell like you were scrubbing someone's balls with shitty old Spice." He snapped, just as the door slammed behind her and he could practically hear her crying. What possessed him to say that? Jealousy. Shaking his head, he stormed down the hallway to his own room. Of course, she had moved on, she was a vibrant, sexual person…and he had 'cheated' on her. "Fuck Karma."
Of course, she did!
She just got done having sex with Seth Rollins and if he knew that, Jon would lose his mind!
Vallea did not stop until she was back in her own room, slamming the door shut and tearing the robe from her body before heading straight for the shower. Only after she was under the hot sprays did the tears start to fall and she dropped to her knees, sobs wracking every part of her body. Damn it, what had Jon turned her into? What happened to her carefree, don't give a flying rat's ass attitude she used to have? Did being in a relationship really destroy that part of her? Vallea didn't know how to get back to who she was before she met Jon. After scrubbing her body and washing her hair, Vallea stepped out wrapping a towel around herself and brushed her teeth and hair. Not bothering to dress, she walked out and saw her phone going off, narrowing her eyes at Jon's name flashing back at her. Why she answered it, Vallea would never know and put the cell to her ear.
"Got any more scathing remarks for me, Ambrose?"
Jon was like, ten sheets to the wind, and the fact that he had even managed to dial out was amazing. It had taken him a solid five minutes just to get the number in focus he was that inebriated. He did have more scathing remarks, but his tongue felt thick, and getting them out wasn't going to happen.
"I love you." He grumbled, hoping the words came out, he was pretty messed up. "And you're fuckin' around…"
"What would you have me do? Sit around and mope and pine for you? YOU CHEATED ON ME, DICK, not the other way around!" Vallea shouted, tears already falling down her cheeks at his confession, wanting more than anything to believe him. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me and we wouldn't BE in this situation right now! I love you too, but I refuse to be with someone who cheats on me when things get a LITTLE rough. And the only reason I'm fucking around is because I'm having nightmares about you and I have to do something before I lose my goddamn mind!" Vallea cried harder, clutching the phone, and covered her eyes with her free hand, the pain radiating through every nerve-ending of her body. "Damn it…"
"More 'n lil rough, he was killing ya." Jon slurred, though he did have some sense of mind to NOT state what he had done. Cheating. He had been out fucking around that night. That was the official story, THAT was his ass-biting truth. And she had come out and said what his heart had already known, on two levels. She still loved him and she HAD been out sleeping with someone. "Give me 'nother chance, Val…"
Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Vallea gripped her wet hair between her fingers and shook her head, even as her heart was SCREAMING at her to do it. To forgive him. She cried harder, letting him hear the amount of pain and anguish she was in over leaving him. "Don't. Please don't..." She whispered brokenly, trembling from head to toe. There were actual tremors in her voice. Vallea couldn't trust him not to do it again and, without trust, there was no room for a relationship to grow. "Go to sleep, Jon. You're in no condition to have this talk right now." It was a scapegoat, a copout, but the best she could come up with since he was plastered.
He snorted, taking another pull from his bottle, not that she could see. His mouth opened to tell her if she only knew the truth, she'd understand. She'd know he would never do anything to hurt her, not when all he wanted to do was take care of her. Even drunk Jon managed to stop himself.
He hung up, exhaling shakily, and took yet another drink, shaking his head almost frantically.
"So, how was YOUR night? Did you do it?" Monique inquired the following day, having her daily talk with Vallea while she was on the road with the WWE.
It was way too early for this conversation and Vallea's head was killing her from lack of sleep. That phone call from Jon bothered her for some reason and she couldn't put her finger on why. It was almost as if she SENSED he wanted to tell her something more, but he was either too plastered or hesitant to say what was really on his mind. It made her brain race, along with her broken heart shattering all over again in her chest.
"Yeah…" She held the phone away from her ear as Monique squealed out. "Christ woman, my head is pounding, can you NOT do that please?"
"I'm sorry! So sorry, but oh my god, how was it?! Did you enjoy it or did he suck in bed?" Monique had copious amounts of coffee already this morning, on her 4th cup, so she was buzzing a little bit on a coffee high.
"It was good. And I didn't stay afterward either, I left. I made it clear to him it was sex only and he was fine with it." Vallea popped some Advil liquid gels and refused to get into the whole running into Jon and their brief phone call where he begged her for another chance. "I didn't sleep well…"
"Guilt?"
"Maybe."
"Been there, done that. So hey, maybe you just weren't ready to have sex with someone else yet."
Vallea didn't know if she ever would be ready for that step, clenching her hand in front of her in a fist. "I don't think I was either…"
"Well, I'm sorry for pushing you into it." Monique was willing to own up to her part in the whole affair. She had nudged Vallea into jumping onto someone's dick and she did. "At least now we know, right?" She laughed, shaking her head at herself. "But…it was good, so there's that." Maybe after a day or so, Vallea wouldn't feel bad about it at all and then she'd be able to think about what she wanted to do next, if anything.
"Shit, I gotta go. Meeting with Dorian is in 5. I'll call you later."
That was a small lie, but Vallea didn't feel like being on the phone right now. She needed her headache to go away and to get Jonathan Good out of her head. Hopefully, Seth wasn't a douchebag about this situation and kept what happened between them to himself. She hadn't really thought past sleeping with him or what the repercussions would be. Another shower was in order to hopefully wake her up and then a meeting with Stephanie to discuss the progress of the WrestleMania merchandise.
Colby had absolutely no intentions of discussing what had transpired to anyone. Word would reach Jon and Jon would decide they needed to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. He was good. He liked his head being where it was. Not to mention, if he started running his mouth, Stephanie would have his ass flayed raw on top of the fines. Colby didn't know if Vallea would ever look him up again, but…he should probably let her know that the door was open.
No strings. Just sex. He liked that kind of relationship best, where there wasn't one.
After her meeting with Stephanie, Paul, and Vince, which went very well, Vallea felt marginally better about her life. Professionally, anyway. Personally, she was a complete mess. A jumbled, heartbroken mess, but apparently, she had put up the perfect front with the bosses. On her way to her office, Vallea ran right into Seth after turning a corner, barely keeping her footing.
"Shit, sorry about that, Seth…" She'd been walking a lot faster than intended, once again deep in thought, when she slammed into him. Once again, he was bare from the waist up and looking delicious. Even if she was hung up on another man, she could always appreciate a good-looking one, regardless.
"You okay?" He had reached out to steady her on instinct, even with Vallea managing to keep herself upright. He let go of her, smiling down at her, and shook his head. "You were hauling ass, Val." Which was not a good thing in this place unless she was six feet minimum and at least 250 pounds, then she could withstand the rebound effect from running into people. He was pretty damn sure his cheeks just tinted red because she had checked him out again.
"Yeah, I'm fine just…I was deep in thought and didn't realize how fast I was going." Vallea smiled apologetically, stepping back to smooth her top out and clearing her throat. "I'll be more careful. And slower." She chuckled, stepping to the side when he did to get out of people's way since it was always hectic backstage at a WWE live event. Even house shows were crazy, just not as tense since they weren't televised. "You looked like you were hauling your cookies too. In a hurry to get somewhere?"
"No, not really, just had a bit more coffee than I should've." Colby didn't overly care for the taste of energy drinks, it was like drinking chalk. He liked strong black coffee, without the bitterness, so he had a habit of adding a pinch of salt just to negate the bitter taste and leave him with all the rest. "Maybe I'm a little jittery." He flashed Vallea a warm smile.
"Adrenaline, I got it. I should go and get some work done. Have a good show." Vallea stepped around him, not touching him in any way, and could feel those dark chocolate eyes zeroed in on her backside. Seth was checking her out and she couldn't help the slight flush rise in her cheeks. At least someone found her attractive and desired her.
It just wasn't the man she wanted to be with.
Well yeah, he found her attractive. He had said so in a less than polite way and now he'd had the pleasure of actually having sex with her, seeing without those clothes on. Vallea was a stunningly beautiful woman and Jon was a complete tool for cheating on her with some barfly. Why the hell would the man go to some skank who probably took it from everyone when he had Vallea waiting in bed for him?
Shaking his head, Colby kept on going.
"Wait a minute, you DRUNK dialed her after catching her in the hallway? Oh man…" Joe was listening to his friend vent while pumping iron since there was a small gym within the arena.
Nothing like getting a pre-match workout in. He loved these types of arenas and could already start feeling the slight burn in his arms, knowing he couldn't go much longer. Joe didn't need to get hurt in his match tonight, especially with WrestleMania just a few short weeks away. He was the Universal champion and would continue to be after WrestleMania.
"Please tell me you didn't go off on her, bro…" What Vallea did behind closed doors was no business of Jon's, not anymore, but Joe would never say that aloud.
"I don't think I did…"
The only reason Jon remembered catching her in the hallway and then calling her was this morning he had been on his cell. He had a new habit of checking his outgoing calls and text messages to make sure he hadn't confessed to his actual crimes. He had apparently drunk-dialed Vallea and that had brought back some memories he had been obviously drinking to forget.
"Maybe, who knows?" He did remember the smell of men's body wash, his nose wrinkling.
If Jon did, he would hear about it because of Monique. They talked about everything, including what was happening between their friends right now. Both decided not to choose sides because people made mistakes and they hoped one day, Vallea forgave Jon. They were the perfect match, or damn close to it. Being biased, Joe and Monique considered themselves the perfect couple and often joked about it.
"Maybe you should go talk to her and find out exactly what was said since you're fuzzy on the details." Joe suggested, continuing to pump the iron bar up and down and finally racked it, finishing his reps.
"Or maybe I won't, you big dick." Jon shot his friend a disbelieving look. "Considering she wants absolutely nothing to do with me, I can just imagine how awkward that conversation will be. 'Yo Val, when I drunk dialed you last night AFTER you were out with another man, you remember what I said because I need a playback?'. Yeah, no. Don't help."
Joe laughed hard, shrugging, and figured Jon would do what Jon wanted to do. "I don't think she doesn't want anything to do with you, bro. I just think she's hurt and confused and doesn't know why you fucked around on her. I still don't get it, personally." They had briefly discussed what happened, but Jon hadn't gone into details about it, only saying the blonde had been a fan of his and he'd felt neglected by Vallea. He never thought Jon would be the type to cheat, but then again, everybody made mistakes and at least he was owning up to it.
"The world may never know."
Jon wasn't expecting anyone to 'get it' because it hadn't happened. Not to mention, he didn't think cheaters were inclined to say why they had actually done it, just that they were sorry, and never meant for it to happen. When he had said those things to Vallea, he had meant them because they were true and not a copout.
