Lass Ride: Changing Gears

Chapter 14

The first time Becky had been at the villa in Florida, her visit had been full of surprises. Now that she knew exactly who was going to be there this time, the only real shock was how good the former hotel was looking. "Yeah, there's not much left to do," Jimmy was saying as he led the group around. "All the suites are fully upgraded now. We have to replace the oven in the main kitchen; it still works, but something's not up to code or whatever. And we need to get the pool re-certified.

"Other than that," Jey declared, "it's open to family. And yes, all of you are family."

Becky was near the back of the group, walking alongside with Naomi. "It's so good to see you. I miss you so much!" She had spent so much of her time on RAW either feeling alone or paranoid, and now that she was released from her restrictive contract, she could finally see more of Monday night's good parts instead of only the bad. She felt a bit guilty that Cesaro wasn't there too; now that he was no longer assigned to her, they had a genuine friendship and, better yet, that connection seemed to be extending to her friends as well.

"I miss you like crazy too, girl, but I'd rather see you happy than see you often." Naomi pointed ahead to where Seth was helping Jimmy reposition the industrial-sized outdoor barbecue and she smiled. "So now that you've had a couple months with him, are things still good? There's plenty of room if you want separate suites."

Laughing, Becky shook her head. "No, no, we're good." She had met his family already and he would be meeting hers in a few weeks when WWE went on its next European tour; they had already had deep discussions about the future—and long arguments, the kind she only tended to have when things really mattered to her. She couldn't imagine many worse ways to start a relationship than the way they had, but it ended up getting them to a good place. "I never thought I'd want to date a wrestler, and definitely not one I worked with, but . . . it's kinda nice."

Naomi nodded. "I thought the same. I mean, we all saw what happened with Matt and Lita. But on the other hand, it's so hard to date someone outside the business. The way I look at it, Jimmy and I just have two homes: our house and the road."

Becky glanced up at the gleaming villa. It had been in decent shape the first time she was there, but now it was practically perfect. When she and the others arrived, someone on the street asked them not for autographs, but to ask how they got bookings for the hotel when there was no signage up yet. "And this place."

"I don't know, Becks. When the whole family is here?" Naomi shook her head and laughed. "That's going to be loud. I might have to make a she-shed on the roof or something."

"Come on, slowpokes!" Jimmy called out. "There's a tour going on, you know!"

"Oh, really?" Naomi mimed dropping gloves and jogged up to the front of the crowd, making Jimmy run around the courtyard.

While the others were cheering on either Naomi or Jimmy, Seth made his way back to Becky. "Hey. Glad to be back?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Becky nodded. "Nothing but good memories here, really. Maybe a few bittersweet ones, but mostly good." As she looked around, she could remember the exact spot where she had been standing when her friends entered the courtyard. Even with a fresh coat of paint, she could point out the wall where she and Seth had fucked, so desperate for each other they couldn't even make it into a room. The shared meals, the lazy lounging, Dean and Renee's impromptu wedding: everywhere she looked unlocked another happy memory, some small and casual and others almost overwhelming. At the time, she thought she would need those memories to sustain her over the weeks and months she'd be spending away from her closest friends. Now they were all together again, their contracts finally working in their favour rather than against, and Becky said a silent prayer of thanks. It had been a long, hard road to get where they were, to align all of their paths and get them heading in the right direction, but it looked like they were finally there. At least we're close, Becky allowed. Maybe some goals weren't ever meant to be attained in full. Maybe they weren't treasures to find but beacons to follow.

"And now we get to make even more," Seth added, resting his head against hers. "Without worrying about people seeing us together." As Jimmy started to run past, trying to evade both his wife and his brother, Seth called out, "Is it cool if we go up to the roof to watch the sunset?"

"Scout out a place for my she-shed!" Naomi replied as she chased her husband.

Seth gave Becky a strange look. "She-shed?"

"She wants a sanctuary for when the whole family is here," Becky explained, grabbing his hand. "Come on. Before we get caught up in the chase." They ducked inside, admiring all the work the family had done to fix up the old hotel. Personal and cultural touches were everywhere, and it was even more beautiful than before. She knew from dropping bags off in the suite she was sharing with Seth that the rooms were all modernized now, and she wished some of the hotels they stayed in on the road were as nice. "Can't blame her. Roman and the Usos have a big family."

"Wow." Seth stopped just outside the rooftop door, making Becky bump into him. "They did work up here too." Everything was clean and organized, split into different seating areas so multiple people could be up on the rooftop terrace at the same time and still have some privacy. "Naomi might not have space for her. . . ."

"She-shed." Becky trailed a hand over some of the lounge furniture, admiring the set-up. Everything looked impeccable yet somehow comfortable, but when she tried to pull Seth down onto one of the couches, he moved towards the railing at the edge instead. "What is it?" A shocked shriek pierced the air a moment before there was a loud splash, followed by gales of laughter.

Seth smiled as he came back to where Becky was sitting. They had a beautiful vantage point to watch the sunset and there was plenty of room to sprawl, but he gathered her into his lap instead. "Just making sure they're busy," he murmured, pulling her into a slow kiss.

"You're going to make the wall downstairs jealous," Becky teased, settling against him. They were somewhat better now about not giving in to temptation at any given moment, but the sky was beautiful and all their friends were downstairs, and it would be so easy to push down his shorts and push up her skirt and recreate that memory without all the rushing. . . .

"The wall can wait," Seth murmured, running his hands up her thighs. "We've got time."