Cincinnati Boy

Chapter 3

I woke up laying on my desk where I was working last night. "Ah.. shit." I said, getting up and holding my back. I grabbed my phone and saw that today was Saturday. I facepalmed myself. "I did all that work for nothing last night." I groaned and opened my closet door. I was wearing a casual outfit from yesterday. So I grabbed out a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I felt kind of fat in it, but I didn't feel like running to wash the clothes right now. I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my purse, shoving my phone in my back pocket. "C'mon, Jackson." I said, standing by the door frame of his room. He was still lying in bed. My mom came over to me and said quietly, "He's sick. I felt his head about an hour ago and his forehead was hot." I looked at her and shook my head. "Well, looks like I'm going by myself." I said, shrugging. "You don't have to go, Erica." My mom was saying as I headed to the door. "But I want to." I replied. She nodded, "Have fun." I walked out of the house and headed to my car. Sitting down, I put my pocket book in the seat beside me, then started the car. I then headed to the ballfield to see Jon.

Once I got there, the arena was packed. More people than the last few times I've went. I left my purse in the car with the doors locked, but put my phone in my back pocket. I headed towards the stands and sat down in the far corner, where hardly anyone was. I was searching for Jon, but no sign of him. Did I scare him off or something? Dammit. I sighed. Then I grabbed my phone out, feeling the vibration. It was a text from my best friend, Caro. I had just met her online last year, and we finally met up together, and now live in the same state. It was just a random and silly text, so I just sent some laughing emojis. "Hi." I felt someone's hands grip my shoulders. I tensed up, but relaxed as soon as I realized it was Jon. "Shit, hi." I said, laughing of my nervousness. He sat down beside me and ran a hand through his scraggly hair. "Where's Jackson?" He asked, noticing that he wasn't around. "He's sick, so he decided to stay home." I told him. "But didn't you say the only reason you came here was for him?" I nodded at his question. "Then why are you here?" I looked at him in the eyes, "I guess so I could see you again." He smiled wide. "That's very sweet of you." I smiled back. His smile lightened my mood. "We don't have to stay here, y'know," He began, "We can go somewhere else. Perhaps my house? We could get to know each other there better without being interrupted by these obnoxious fans." He offered. "Oh, sure, that sounds alright. Whose car are we taking?" I asked. "Doesn't matter to me, whatever works best for you." He insisted. "Alright, we'll take yours," We both stood up, "But I do need to go get my purse out of my car." I told him. He rubbed his stomach and nodded. "Ladies first." He cleared the way for me to walk first, him following behind. "Thank you." We walked to my car, which wasn't too far. "Oooh, so you're into cars, huh?" I unlocked the door, "Not really. This was my dad's car." I told him, reaching over the driver's seat to grab my purse. "Was? Why doesn't he drive it now?" He was very curious and kept the conversation going. "When my parents split, he took everything we had; our money, our food, our clothes.." I looked at Jon after I shut the door. He was concerned. "That's why I'm sort of surprised he left the car there." I told him. We both started walking to his car. It was on the other side of the parking lot. "Damn, I'm sorry.." He said, sadly. "It's okay, that was years ago." I said, but it wasn't okay. It hurt knowing that my dad just used my mom. He stole everything we had to live off of. But I kept my mouth shut about it. He unlocked the doors, then got in, as did I. We drove to his house.

Once we got there, we got out of the car and walked in. He had a beautiful house. "Wow.." I said as I walked in. "Something wrong?" He asked with a tad bit of concern. "Oh, no. It's just I've never seen a house this pretty in my life," I began, eyeballing the house inside. "You live here alone?" I asked, he nodded. "No pets?" He shook his head, "By myself. I'm usually satisfied. I work out here. I have my own gym, an underground swimming pool, and almost every night I grill out for myself." He was saying as we sat down on his huge leather sofa. "Do you ever have company?" I asked. "Yeah, my friend Joe, also a WWE Superstar, he goes by Roman Reigns-" I stopped him, "Hold on. Does he have a girlfriend?" I asked shocked. He laughed softly. "Yes. Her name is like, Cato or something." He told me. "Caro," I corrected him, "No fucking way." I smiled. "What?" He said, making a weird face. "Caro's my best friend. Her and Joe have been together for like 3 years." I explained how I knew her. "Oh my God," he laughed, "Small world, man. She was just over here with him a couple days ago. I still can't believe this. My best friend is dating your best friend." Jon and I both laughed.

We sat there for about three hours talking about our lives. I told him that I was a pediatrician, and all these other personal things. I noticed a picture frame on the table beside his chair. "Who's that?" I asked. He looked over there and I could see his muscles tighten up. "That's... my mom and dad." He sighed. "Oh.. I'm sorry, Jon. I-" He stopped me. "Don't be sorry. You didn't leave me on the side of the road as a child. You didn't abuse me as a kid." He went on and on. "I just want to know how it feels to be loved, y'know? I've never had a girlfriend, none of my family cares about me.." He held back his tears. I licked my lips and careful scooted closer to him, placing an arm around his waist. "Jon. Can I tell you something that I've never told anyone?" He looked up at me, he had his elbows on his knees and his chin in his palms. "This guy I was with for about 6 1/2 years... His name is Cameron. I was madly in love with him. Well, one night he wanted to take things further, and I didn't want to. And I shoved him away... He left. He jumped out of the window and left..." Jon was staring at me, wanting me to continue. "Later that night I got a call from his mom, telling me that he got in a car accident and-" I broke down in tears. Jon lightly wrapped his arms around me, as I cried harder, he tightened his grip. His face was burried in my neck. "I'm so sorry...." He rubbed my back. I looked at him, we were face to face. Close. We sat there in silence, tears strolling down my face. Suddenly, he leaned closer in and placed his lips against mine. Our lips collapsed together and stayed moving against each other's for a long time. When we stopped, he looked me in the eyes and said "I'll always be here for you." He kissed me once again, and again, and again. I couldn't get enough.