Chapter 29

FyterFest

Daytona Beach, Florida was beautiful, but damned if it wasn't hot and HUMID.

The humidity is what really sucked about this state, honestly. Delilah did not mind the heat because she loved Vegas, but the humidity was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Jon was finally having his first singles match tonight against Kenny and she was going after Britt for the AEW Women's championship. Delilah didn't know how she felt about being catapulted right into the title hunt, but Cody assured her it was good business. If she didn't want to go over, she didn't have to. That was the beauty of AEW – they actually LISTENED to their wrestlers and valued their opinions unlike WWE, where it was Vince McMahon's way or the highway.

Delilah hadn't heard a peep from Sami since that night at the house and she was all right most days, but there were some that bothered her. His birthday was coming up September 1st, and they always did something together for it, celebrated in their own way. This year they wouldn't because Sami had cut her off completely due to her relationship with Jon. They had made themselves an official couple, after a lot of sex and countless talking. Delilah made it clear to Jon, if he wanted to be with her, it was ONLY her and nobody else.

The first time he cheated on her would be his last and Jon swore he only wanted her.

She STILL didn't know the horrible secret he was harboring and keeping from her either.

It was stupid and Jon knew it. He had been OFFENDED by her 'cheating' lecture. The crap Sami had spewed about him to her, and then her own reservations, were based on his behavior from nearly a decade ago. It said a LOT that they were still holding that against him. Like people couldn't change, what a crock! This was where the stupid came in, Jon had changed on that aspect, wasn't a man whore anymore, and hadn't been in years. He was, however, a total scandalous douchebag who had taken advantage of Delilah being beyond drunk and married her. Jon was upset because they were wrong about what kind of man he was; he wasn't sure what he'd feel if they knew the truth, though he was sure that day was coming.

"I know," He hated Florida with a passion. His ass crack hadn't been dry since they got here because of the sweating and humidity issue. They called it swamp ass for a reason. "Vegas is just as hot, but at least it's a damn dry heat."

"Thank god we're only here for tonight and then we can book it back to the dry heat. My god, this is nearly unbearable!" Delilah groaned, not bothering to hide her own discomfort and collapsed back on the bed, after pulling the comforter off.

They already had a red-eye flight booked back to Vegas as soon as the show was over and would arrive home sometime before the next day. Hopefully. Delilah would LOVE to be able to sleep in their bed instead of in a hotel, honestly. As far as Jon's past went, Delilah knew he had changed or else she wouldn't be giving him a chance with her. But she HAD to lay the rules out, throw down the gauntlet and let him know how she felt from the beginning. It wasn't that she didn't trust him because she did. Wholeheartedly and completely. His past was shady though when it came to women and she just wanted to make it clear to him she would NOT be one of those women he used. If he was offended by her simply being honest with him, that was his issues and he'd have to deal with them on his own. Not to mention, it was a little immature and he should have expected it given his shady past in the first damn place.

Ten years was a long time for people to be thinking negatively about someone, that after so long they would suddenly revert or something. That was jacked. Jon felt better holding onto that, though he never bothered voicing it out loud. The reason why was because he HAD done some shady things, just not that. "This AC isn't doing it…what the HELL is wrong with people for WANTING to live here?" He had stripped down to nothing, hoping it would help the cooling off. "Babe, scratch Florida off our retirement plan, yeah?"

"Wait a minute, didn't you live in Tampa for the duration of your NXT days? Or was it FCW back then? Yeah, I think it was FCW and then it turned to NXT right before you went to the main roster…" Now she was rambling and she knew why – this stupid heat! "I have NO idea how ANYBODY can live in a place like this. Ugh…I'm all sweaty and I feel gross." If the place they were performing in tonight didn't have decent air-conditioning, they were in TROUBLE. "I need a cold shower, wanna join me? And consider it scratched, lover."

"I was drunk, a lot." Jon admitted, remembering the early days. He had to cut that out right quick, however. He blinked, rubbing his forehead and nodded, getting up along with her. A cold shower sounded heavenly right now. "Yeah, I lived in Tampa, and I hated it then too, what I remember of it outside of work." He remembered a LOT of grumbling and learning how to deal with heat rash, all while staying in a roach-infested apartment with a mattress on the floor.

"No sex, Moxley. We have a show tonight and I refuse to let my thighs go to mush simply because you want to get your dick wet. We're SHOWERING and that's it." Delilah forewarned, making it clear how things were going to go down, and shot him a stern look when he smirked wickedly at her. "I'm serious, Jonathan." She only called him that, busted out the full first name, when she had to get a point across and proceeded to get undressed in front of him, groaning. "Ugh…no sex until we get home, fuck this humidity." It was going to be atrocious on her hair!

"Ah yeah, no sex…" He had to scrub and deal with his swamp ass, frowning slightly. "But when we get home you're all mine, darlin'." In the air-conditioning, which worked PERFECTLY, unlike this stupid hotel. "Mmm," he did, however, slap her bouncy backside when she turned her back to him, holding up both hands innocently as Delilah turned around to give him a look. "No sex, got it." Laughing, he followed her into the bathroom, eyeballing the shower. "It'd be our luck, the cold water doesn't work." Then they both would probably lose their respective minds. It worked just fine and he let her stand directly beneath the spray since she was both smaller and shorter than he was.

Also, cold water did wonders for certain parts of her body.

All she did to him was softly kiss him before getting out of the shower once she felt chilled enough. They washed each other, talking about tonight's show, and Delilah couldn't wait to see Jon's first match. So far, he had just done run-ins, but now, he was FINALLY 100% ready to get back in the ring. Before, in WWE, they had rushed him back because of the stupid storyline with Rollins and Reigns, and Jon hadn't felt he was ready to come back, but had done it for the boys. For the company because he was loyal. It did not take him long to realize the company would not give him a second glance as far as champion material and that was why he left.

Omega had a LONG night ahead of him with Moxley.

It was a two-fer for Jon.

One thing he was looking forward to was showing off the LACK of ring rust; Jon had been in a ring several times during his 'downtime', making sure he didn't get rusty. Japan was his first official match back, technically, and he had won the IWGP United States championship over there. In fact, he was gearing up to head over to Japan for the G1 Climax tournament two weeks, which Delilah already knew about. She wasn't going with him, not needing to follow him around like a puppy dog and offered to stay with Blue in Vegas while he went away. His match for tonight was an Unsanctioned street fight against 'The Bad Boy' Joey Janella and he planned on making a statement with this idiot. Even though he had attacked Omega and Jericho at Double or Nothing, Tony Khan had convinced him to do this side thing with Joey Janella for some reason and he had accepted out of pure boredom and curiosity.

Second thing was making Omega eat the 'rookie' garbage he spewed AND reminding the idiot that he was NOTHING. Not a 'veteran' and nothing to Delilah. That last bit was his little secret, however. They weren't hiding anything, but they hadn't come out and made a big announcement about it either. He had explained to her, during one of their nights in the back of his truck enjoying the Mojave sky, about the 'fishbowl' thing with the WWE, how every aspect of life wasn't really his, but theirs. How it was scrutinized just to protect the company. Jon was ENJOYING this, being able to live how he pleased, do what he wanted, without fear of big brother hovering.

That was completely jacked up. Even in NXT, she had SOME freedom on social media, though that was because Triple H wasn't a stickler for the rules. Vince, on the other hand…she had cringed while listening to Jon list all the rules they had to follow when it came to the public and their personal lives. She was so glad he was out of that hellhole and had finally found a home, with her, in AEW. They hadn't discussed when she would go back to Cincinnati or when she would move into his house permanently, but just in case things fell apart, she was keeping her apartment regardless. At least for a couple years until Delilah was sure this wouldn't fizzle out.

Jon knew why Delilah was keeping the apartment and if that helped her with all this, he was fine with it. It was his job to ensure that the next time she went back to Cincinnati, it would be to move the rest of her stuff out and into their home in Vegas. "Want to head in?" It was early, but it would be a lot better than sweating their backsides off in a hotel with horrible air-conditioning. He wasn't even fully dressed yet after enjoying his time under that ice-cold water, still in just the dangerously low-hanging towel, refusing to sweat soak another set of clothes.

"Yeah, we might as well and maybe I can get a sparring session in with Britt before the show." Delilah had texted her friend to see where she was at and it was no surprise Britt was already at the arena. Several people were, actually. "Maybe not…I'll have to see how busy they are when we get there." She still had to get her hair and makeup done too. Wearing just a pair of blue jean shorts and an orange spaghetti-strapped camisole with a built-in bra, thankfully, Delilah pulled her hair up in a high ponytail and wrapped it in a bun to keep it completely off her neck. "I can't wait to go home and get out of this damn hotel."

Without realizing it, she had dubbed Jon's house in Vegas 'home'.

Jon, his back to her because he was rifling in his own bag, grinned broadly. He hadn't missed Delilah's mouth mistake and he wouldn't point it out to her because then she'd make conscious efforts to 'correct' herself. The fact that she had said it so casually, without thinking about it, told him that on some level, consciously or not, home was now Vegas, with him. And Blue, couldn't forget the English bulldog. He set out the tape he would be wrapping around his hand tonight because he planned on having a hell of a match against Janella.

An hour later, because of horrible traffic, they arrived at the arena for the show and went their separate ways.

Kenny didn't miss the way they walked into the arena together, hand-in-hand or the soft kiss they shared before parting. Sami had called him already to inform him what had happened, how his sister completely lost her mind by being with Jon Moxley. Kenny was inclined to agree and when Sami asked him to talk some sense into her, he obliged. He didn't know what he could say to her because, once Delilah's mind was made up about something, it was almost impossible to change it. Still, he KNEW there was something between them that was more than just great sex and they had a far better, stronger connection than her and Moxley ever thought about. He just had to wait for the opportune moment to get her alone to talk to her.

Kenny was completely oblivious to reality. Evident by his delusions of Jon being a 'rookie' and all that. The one thing Kenny was NOT oblivious to was the fact that Delilah and Moxley were WORLDS apart and she was obviously going through a 'phase' because she hadn't been fine with them having a long-distance relationship. She had basically wanted something consistent and stable. Jon Moxley was NEITHER of those things. He was the complete opposite and needed to make her see that.

"Fuck Florida." Jon informed Chris in passing, wondering how the hell the older man could tolerate this humidity and weather. Chris was INSANE.

Chris laughed, living in Tampa for several years now. "Hey man, when you live in the fucking cold tundra's of Canada, you learn to enjoy and appreciate the heat, including the humidity. I love it here." He wouldn't change where he lived for anything in the world, though the hurricanes DID suck. He had to replace a lot of property, thank heavens for insurance! "When did you get in?"

"To hell? Fresh arrival." Jon laughed, shaking his head and bumped fists with his friend. "And don't give me that cold Canadian shit, this is all old age, everyone knows old people retire to Florida."

Chris, who did not feel or act his age, promptly put Mox into a headlock. "What was that, son?"

"You know the only reason you're doing this is because I allow it." He yawned, then groaned when Chris tightened his hold. "You need to stop bathing in cologne…" Jon shoved Chris away from him, cracking his neck side to side. "My buddy Omega here?"

"Yeah, he's around here somewhere." Chris snorted at Jon calling Omega a 'buddy'. He knew Jon planned on teaching the REAL rookie a lesson he would soon not forget. The debut at Double or Nothing blew up on social media and everyone wanted to see Moxley versus Omega now. "You should send him through thumbtacks…you know, like you did to me and then talk about it on my podcast afterward." He grinned, loving every time Jon had come onto his podcast.

They had the best conversations – Jon was easily one of Chris's top favorites on his podcast.

"No, I'm saving those for a special occasion. Omega and me, we got a thing now, you know..." Jon snorted, planning on showing Omega a time he'd never forget and the man would not enjoy a minute of it. "I ought to make him a bouquet of barbed wire…" There was an idea. A cheap Walmart bouquet, wrapped in barbed wire. "Hey man, do you know of any couriers running this time, or a delivery service? I need some flowers."

"You need flowers…" Chris echoed with a nod, raising a brow. "Okay then, yeah."

Chris had known Jon for a while and he KNEW that evil gleam in the man's eyes as he sauntered off with an extra kick in his psychotic step. Omega is so fucked, he thought, walking off to catch a seat to watch the matches since he wasn't on the card that night.