Jay Carter, born and raised in Portland, grew up as an orphan. At 18, he was thrust into the world with nothing but determination. Homeless and struggling, Jay found work at a small car repair shop, where the owner saw potential in him. As Jay honed...
Jay was already up. He let the dogs out back to do their business, and while they handled that, he got to work on breakfast—for three, since Shotzi was crashing at their place for now. Cheese omelets and some delicious fluffy pancakes. As he slowly brought that food to life, though, his mind was completely somewhere else. How could Triple H and the rest of those snakes pull that crap? Jay was always the one there for everyone... every smile, every hug, every pat on the back... Was it all just an act? Him and Steph were so damn happy when they put Jay on the main roster. Were their "plans" with Rhea really so serious they'd mess with her life? They could've just talked about it. Jay and Rhea could've kept their relationship quiet, like Liv and Taylor. Everything's foggy, but one thing's for sure: Triple H has some explaining to do. But until then, Jay had to pretend like nothing happened. "Yeah, putting on another fucking mask is his specialty."
1 hour later*
Breakfast was ready, set on the table, just waiting to be devoured... but no one seemed to care. So Jay had an idea.
He headed to the living room and grabbed his favorite guitar from the rack in the corner.
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He plugged her in and cranked the volume all the way up. But before he got started, he stood up and gently popped some earplugs into their furry kids' ears so they wouldn't go deaf. With that taken care of, he sat back down on the sofa, grabbed the remote, and scrolled to the seventh track on his playlist. He had instrumental versions of songs loaded up so he could jam all he wanted.
Jay (grinning): This'll wake you up.
He started playing, grinning wider with every note, just waiting to see who would storm downstairs and yell at him first. The dogs had already bolted upstairs.
It didn't take long.
Rhea (yelling from upstairs): JAY! TURN IT OFF!
Shotzi (from her room): What the hell??
Jay: ...
Rhea threw on a T-shirt and sweatpants and knocked on Shotzi's door.
Knock knock*
Shotzi, still in her PJs, opened the door, looking freaked out.
Shotzi: God, I almost shit myself.
Rhea (angry): Yeah, me too... If you want a front-row seat to KO, come downstairs.
