Chapter 1

Her dark, midnight blue eyes scanned over the words, wanting to make sure everything was perfect, and smiled when she was satisfied with what she’d written. She ran a hand through her flowing black hair as she reached over to grab her cup of tea, taking a sip of it, and resumed typing on her laptop. The day was beautiful outside, but she had work to do if she wanted to fulfill her dream in becoming a writer. She’d been writing for almost all day and when she looked up, she seen the sun was slowly descended on the horizon, causing her to sigh sadly.

‘I can’t stop now. Janet will kill me if I don’t get this done by this weekend.’ She thought, remembering Janet’s warning, and stretched her arms before continuing. Leaning back against the couch, she set her laptop on her legs and was about to continue with her writing, when the front door swung open, causing her to smile at her cousin.

Bags after bags were in her hands as she stumbled down the stairs, causing her to giggle, and her cousin shot her a death glare for her troubles. “Would you mind helping me out here a little, Keira?” She asked, breathless from carrying all the groceries in the house, and dropped them as she placed her hands on her hips.

Rolling her eyes and setting her laptop down on the table, Keira muttered, “I’m comin’ I’m comin.” She stood up from the couch and walked over, grabbing a few bags, and carried them into the kitchen.

Her cousin was none other than the beautiful and vivaciously talented Kelly Carlson. The Hollywood star that recently did the movie The Marine with WWE Superstar John Cena. She played his wife Kate Triton and was fabulous in it as far as Keira was concerned. Kelly had short, curly blonde hair with chocolate brown eyes and a smile that any woman would kill to have. Keira smiled over at her as she set the bags down on the floor and asked, “So, what’s up your ass today?”

Sighing heavily and running a hand through her hair, Kelly shook her head and replied, “It’s everything. Some moron at the market today actually tried seducing me in the checkout line and he was the cashier!”

Keira couldn’t help, but laugh at her cousin, knowing it was hard for her to go out in public, and shook her head. “You should’ve kicked him in the balls and asked him just how badly he wanted you now.”

Kelly smirked at her cousin as she began pulling the groceries out of the bag and stated, “Don’t think I wasn’t tempted.”

Seeing all the groceries her cousin had bought, Keira started growing suspicious as she looked at Kelly with a raised eyebrow and curiously inquired, “What do we need all this food for two people for?”

Cringing inwardly as her lips stretched apart, Kelly was thankful her back was to her cousin as she took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to tell Keira about her upcoming party she was throwing for the release of The Marine. “Uh Keira, you might want to sit down for this.” Kelly advised, causing her cousin to cross her arms in front of her chest, knowing something was definitely going on now.

“No, I’m fine standing now what’s going on.” Keira demanded, seeing the troubled look in her cousin’s eyes, and knew this wasn’t going to be something she despised.

“It’s really not that big of a deal.” Kelly insisted, putting the bottles of champagne she’d bought away.

“Just tell me!” Ordered Keira, causing Kelly to sigh as she looked up at her cousin, seeing the anger slowly starting to swell in her midnight blue eyes, and knew she couldn’t keep it hidden anymore.

Raking a hand through her hair, Kelly took a deep breath and revealed, “Keira, I’m throwing a party in honor of my movie releasing this weekend. I’m sorry, but it totally slipped my mind.” She apologized, causing Keira’s eyes to narrow perilously at her. “I didn’t want to tell you until I knew I was having the party for sure, but I’ve contacted everyone and they’ve all RSVP back.” Kelly continued on, sighing when she seen her cousin had the same expression on her face.

“Well thank you for finally telling me. Maybe I can still find a place to stay until after this party of yours is gone.” Keira growled and stalked out of the kitchen, not believing the audacity of her cousin to forget to tell her something THIS important. If there’s one thing Keira couldn’t stand, it was being kept in the dark and going to these types of parties her cousin was planning to throw in their house.

Kelly went after her, seeing Keira was heading up to her room, and stopped her as she alleged, “I’d really love for you to be there, Keira.” She meant what she said, not wanting her cousin to be forced out of their house, and felt terrible for not telling her sooner.

“Kelly, you know I can’t stand those types of parties. It’s just nothing, but a bunch of rich snobs bragging about how much dough they have. That’s not my style.” Keira reminded her, never hiding her true feelings, especially from her cousin.

“But I really, REALLY want you to be here for it!” Kelly whined, pushed her bottom lip out, and began pouting while her brown eyes turned puppy dog. Keira groaned as he stared at her cousin and Kelly knew she was getting through to her. “Pleeeeeease? For me?” She pleaded, causing Keira to roll her eyes, and slumped her shoulders in defeat.

Keira could tell this meant a lot to her cousin and couldn’t let her down, especially after all she’d put up with in the past. “Fine, I’ll go, but I flat out REFUSE to wear one of those moronic, sparkly dresses you’re so accustomed to wearing.” She stated, compromising with her cousin, and rolled her eyes when Kelly squealed and tackled her with a tight hug.

“Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!” Kelly squealed in her ear, causing Keira to groan as her eardrums began vibrating in her head.

“Damn, I think I’m deaf now.” Keira muttered as Kelly released her, her eyes sparkling with happiness, and smiled widely as she jumped up and down.

“Sorry, but this is so exciting! We need go shopping and find you a proper dress to wear.” Kelly conversantly said, causing Keira to sigh as she rolled her eyes once again. She absolutely hated dressing up and wasn’t about to wear something her cousin picked out, no matter what.

Keira crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly and shook her head as she declared, “I will pick out my OWN dress or I’m not going.”

Kelly giggled a little as she nodded, agreeing with that, and alleged, “Alright, but wear something that’s at least a LITTLE fancier than you normally would please.”

A smirk formed on her lips as Keira cackled wickedly and retorted, “I make no promises.”

Kelly sighed as she shook her head, knowing her cousin wouldn’t let her down, and muttered back, “Thanks.” She then headed back into the kitchen to put away the remainder of the groceries. Kelly smiled when her cousin walked in and proceeded to help her, always surprising her one way or another, and finished up in half the time it would’ve taken had her cousin not helped out. “Thanks for your help.” Kelly showed her gratitude as they finished up, causing Keira to wave her off absentmindedly.

“No problem, Kel. So, who’s all coming to this shindig you’re throwing in our house?” She inquired, wanting to know the details of this upcoming party, and ran a hand through her hair.

“Let’s see…” She thought out loud and started naming off some of celebrities, which didn’t interest Keira in the least. “Oh, and John Cena, my co-star.” Kelly added, finally finishing off the list of people she’d invited to the celebration.

Keira nodded, not really interested, but figured she’d ask for shits and giggles. “Sounds like a class A full of rich snobs with nothing better to do in their lives than party.” She replied nonchalantly, causing Kelly to roll her eyes back at her cousin.

“Keira, I’m begging you. Please try to be nice to them. This is supposed to be a celebration for the movie coming out.” Kelly pleaded with her, causing Keira to smirk back at her cruelly.

“And again I say, I make no promises.” Keira repeated herself, causing Kelly to shake her head as she smiled, and walked out to the living room to relax for a bit. She knew Kelly needed sometime to herself and decided a nice, soothing bubble bath was calling her name. “I’m gonna head to bed. Is there anything else you need?” Keira asked, heading up the stairs slowly toward her room, and smiled when her cousin shook her head.

“Nope, night Keira.” Kelly called out before turning the fireplace on and pouring herself a glass of Chardonnay. She needed it after the horrible day she had and proceeded to turn the TV on, getting comfortable.

Walking into her room and closing the door behind her, Keira wanted to shoot herself for even agreeing to go to this wretched Hollywood soiree her cousin was throwing. ‘I’m in Hell right now.’ She thought and shook her head, heading into the bathroom to start her shower. Quickly stripping off her clothes and kicking the to the side, Keira stepped under the hot sprays, moaning as the water cascaded down her body, washing away all the stress she’d been feeling lately. She was already overdue with her story, but couldn’t help it and hoped her publisher would understand. Pouring some conditioner in her hand, after shampooing and rinsing it, Keira slipped it through her thick, black hair, not believing how fast it grew.

An hour later, she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body, and tucked the towel between her breasts. She wiped the steam that had stuck to her bathroom mirror off with another towel and began brushing her teeth. Her hair was next and once it was all brushed out smooth with no knots, Keira pulled it up in a low ponytail before walking out of her bathroom. She walked over to her dresser and plucked out a pair of panties and matching bra, which were white, along with her white nightgown that went to mid thigh. After slipping them on, Keira decided she was going to write some more and pull an all nighter, knowing she had to get this story done before her publisher rung her neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~

John sat in his hotel room, looking over some documents his lawyer had given him, and sighed deeply, not believing it was over. He hadn’t been married three months and caught his wife in bed with his best friend, not believing the audacity of the two. John thought he’d found the love of his life in her, but as the old saying goes ‘Love is blinding’ and that’s exactly what it’d done to him. Her name was Kimberly and she had light green eyes with bleach blonde hair. They’d grown up in high school together and John had recently reunited with her at a house show in Boston. They hit it off instantly and dated for three months, completely devoted, or so John thought and were married three months later in a private ceremony. It all changed when he came home one night off the road, deciding to surprise his wife of three months, and found her in bed with his best friend from the road, Randy Orton.

After catching them having sex in HIS bed in HIS house, John went straight to Vince and demanded a match with the fucker. Vince declined his request and put him in a tag-team match with DX being his partners and Randy’s partners were Adam Copeland and Umaga. DX was feuding with Randy and Adam at the time so that’s why Vince thought it was a great idea to make it a three person tag match. Randy knew John was pissed and tried to apologize, but John wasn’t hearing any of it. He proceeded to beat the shit out his ex-best friend and told him he could go sleep with Kimberly anytime he wanted because he was divorcing her ass. Their friendship had been torn apart all because of the rotten skank who couldn’t keep her poontang pie off someone else’s dick.

‘Fuckin’ bitch. She’s ain’t gettin’ shit.’ John angrily thought as he signed on the dotted line, flipping the page up and signing his name again. ‘I never want to see her again after this.’

After he signed the last page, John quickly folded the documents and slid them in the manila envelope, sealing it shut, and would drop it off at the post office first thing in the morning. John collapsed back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, and let his mind wander to the release of his new movie The Marine, which was coming up the following week. He’d never had so much fun filming that movie and had become great friends with his co-star, Kelly Carlson. She’d called him up a few days ago, telling him about the party she was throwing, and asked if he could make it. Being the type of person John was, he couldn’t turn her down, especially since it celebrated the release of their new movie.

However, he wasn’t looking forward to seeing all the celebrities he knew she’d invite. It wasn’t that he disliked them, it was just the fact that most of them were snobby and only cared about how much money they had. John wasn’t like that. He wasn’t the type of person who let his friends down unless he absolutely had to. He was far from it actually and knew the types of questions he would be asked at Kelly’s party.

Was he going to leave the WWE for Hollywood like The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) did?
Was he going to do more movies?
Was he single?
How much money did he have?

‘Nosey bastards.’ He sternly thought, standing up, and walking over to the mini bar his suite offered. Picking a glass up and filling it with liquor, Jack Daniels, John downed the first shot in one gulp. He groaned as the liquid burned his esophagus on his way down, but nothing could hurt as bad as having a shattered and mangled heart. John only wanted one shot, but he couldn’t stop after the first, and decided to take the bottle over to the bed with him, setting it on the nightstand, and laid back down again.

A groan sounded from his lips as John pictured it happening, even though he’d already insured all the tabloids and paparazzi that wrestling was his number one priority and he wasn’t leaving the WWE for Hollywood. John couldn’t stand being compared to Dwayne Johnson because it wasn’t his passion to be a star in Hollywood. Wrestling had been his passion all of his life and that would never change, especially after doing one movie. Sighing deeply, John folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep slumber.

Chapter 2

Keira groaned as she looked in the mirror, sighing deeply at the reflection, and couldn’t believe she’d allowed her cousin to talk her into this. She’d made the mistake of allowing Kelly to come dress shopping with her and ended up going with Kelly’s pick. It was a beautiful dress, there was no denying that, but Keira hated dressing up in general. She was a simple country girl who liked wearing jeans and tank tops, no matter what the weather was. Living in L.A. wasn’t that hard to deal with, especially since it was hot almost all year round. They never got snow so that was a plus, though Keira did miss the winters in Minnesota, where she originated from.

The dress was long with slits on both sides that went up to midthigh and it was the color of midnight blue. It matched Keira’s eyes perfectly and shimmered, but didn’t sparkle. It was spaghetti strapped, but didn’t look like it due to the type of cut and design the dress was. The back had a criss cross design, which involved five different straps, that made it look like a spider web and the front was V shaped, but didn’t dip low. Keira sighed as she stared at her reflection continuously, groaning even more with every second that passed, and wanted to rip the dress off of her and burn it.

Her long, black tresses cascaded down her back in banana curls with shimmering clips on both sides of her head and her bangs were curled under, resting against her forehead gently. The makeup she picked out was the ONLY thing Keira liked about the whole outfit. She decided to outline her eyes in midnight blue eyeliner and dab her eyelids with silver eye shadow. Her eyelashes were curled from the mascara she’d used, fanning her eyes perfectly and just a dab of blush on her cheeks. Keira coated her lips with clear gloss and to finish the outfit off, she had two inch midnight blue heels on that strapped up her ankle and calves along with tan nylons that blended perfect with her smooth, tanned legs.

A knock sounded at her door a few minutes later as she tried in vain to pull down her dress, not liking how high up the slits were, just as Kelly entered, grinning from ear to ear at her. Kelly was a masterpiece like always, especially since she had hair that barely had to do anything with it to make it perfect. It was curled with little clips in it that sparkled and her face was naturally done in makeup. It almost looked like she had none on, except for the black eyeliner that outlined her milk chocolate brown eyes. The outfit she’d chosen was a two piece with the top being strapless and was silver sequenced. The bottom was a long black skirt that had silver designs embroidered in it and went two inches below the knee, but had slits up both the sides, showing off her legs nicely. To finish her outfit off, her feet were decked out in three inch silver heels that had gelled heels and strapped around the ankle, sparkling along with her top.

“You look FABULOUS!!” Kelly squealed, rushing over to her cousin, and gushed about every little detail, causing Keira to groan inwardly.

Rolling her eyes in response, Keira looked back at the mirror, clearly not happy with how she looked, and shook her head as she mumbled out, “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

Kelly laughed and cracked a smile, pulling Keira away from the mirror by the arm, and made her look into her eyes as she stated, “Aww come on! Lighten up and have a little fun! You deserve it.”

Plastering a phony smile across her face, knowing this meant everything to her cousin, Keira sighed and nodded, walking back over to the mirror. She smoothed her dress down and silently vowed, ‘I’m never doing this again.’

“Keira, come downstairs and help me set up the rest of the party.” Kelly gently ordered, needing to get Keira away from the mirror before she over obsessed about her appearance. “They’re going to be arriving soon and I need all the help I can get.” She informed Keira, who simply sighed as she reluctantly followed her cousin out of her bedroom and downstairs. “By the way, have you met my co-star?” She asked suddenly, causing Keira to cross her arms in front of her chest as she gave Kelly a knowing look.

“When have I EVER met ANY of your co-stars?” Keira retorted, causing Kelly to pause and frown at her cousin.

“Oh yeah…” Kelly trailed off, biting her bottom lip, and paused once more. “Well you will tonight!” She quickly regained herself, the excitement entering her voice, and Keira wish someone would shoot her in the forehead.

Not looking forward to this party at all from the start, Keira started helping Kelly bring out the champagne glasses with the bottles of Chardonnay and champagne. Keira heard what her cousin said and rolled her eyes, walking out of the kitchen and carrying one champagne glass in each hand. “I look forward to it…NOT.” She muttered under her breath, not realizing Kelly had overheard her. Kelly sighed, ignoring her cousin’s statement, and smiled widely when the doorbell rang, signaling the guests were starting to arrive. “Great, here goes my night of boredom.” Keira whispered to under her breath before walking into the kitchen to retrieve some more champagne glasses, setting them out on the beverage table. She made sure to grab a few more bottles of champagne and Chardonnay, setting them down where the other bottles were located, and decided that was enough for now.

“Good evening, how are you? Good to see you! Beautiful dress! Nice suit!” Kelly greeted all her guests and squealed with delight when she seen her co-star, John Cena, walk up the steps to the front door. “It’s so great to see you again, John.” She softly alleged, causing John to smile weakly back at her, and walked inside.

“Thanks for invitin’ me, Kelly. After what happened this past week, I needed a change of scenery.” John replied, even though these types of parties wasn’t his style. He wouldn’t tell her that though as she escorted him inside by the arm, showing him around a bit, and John had to admit, the house was beautiful and artistic. “Nice crib, Kel.” He complimented, causing her to blush back at him as her cheeks grew hot, and spotted her cousin sitting on the couch nearby.

Pulling him over with her, Kelly smiled down at her cousin, dying for them to finally meet. “John, this is my cousin, Keira. Keira, this is my co-star, John Cena.” Kelly introduced, causing Keira’s eyes to look up from staring at her lap distractedly, and immediately felt her breath catch in her throat. The man standing before her was gorgeous and looked to be well built, even though he was wearing a pure black suit with the first three buttons undone at the neckline of his dress shirt. However, the most intriguing feature on this man was his eyes. They were the most clearest, crystal blue eyes she’d ever seen on a man and felt herself captivated in his gaze.

Slowly standing from the couch, never breaking eye contact from him, Keira extended her hand and softly greeted, “It’s nice to meet you John.” Kelly was grinning from ear to ear, knowing they would hit it off wonderfully, and decided to take her leave to entertain some more of her top notch guests she’d invited.

“Nice meetin’ ya do, Kara.” He replied, his deep, Massachusetts voice sending shivers down her spine and causing her insides to quake.

“It’s Keira actually.” She corrected him politely, causing him to smile apologetically back at her.

“Sorry…Keira.” He replied, using her correct name, and silence swirled around them, not knowing what the other wanted to talk about or how to even start a conversation to begin with. John had to admit, she was a beautiful woman and he was growing attracted to her, but there was no way he was looking for a relationship.

“Well…Enjoy the party.” Keira stated before walking away from him and decided go sit back down on the couch, hoping this party ended sooner rather than later. She could hope, but it wouldn’t come soon enough as far as she was concerned. All Keira wanted to do was go upstairs, rip the dress she had on off, and slip into something more comfortable so she could finish writing her story. Janet was expecting it first thing Monday morning and she still had to proofread it, spell check, grammar check, the whole nine yards.

John looked back at her awkwardly and watched her leave, walking back over to the couch where she’d been sitting, and sighed heavily, deciding he needed some fresh air. He walked outside and leaned against the veranda, staring out at the beautiful starry night sky, and wished he could figure out why Kimberly had betrayed him so much with his best friend. John also needed to get away from that huge crowd of people that were making him very uncomfortable, no matter if it was a party partially honoring him or not. Lifting the pocket watch out of his jacket pocket and looking at the time, John sighed deeper, wondering when he could make his leave from this party without insulting Kelly.

Staring at the flickering flames that rose in the fireplace, Keira knew she was officially in Hell as she sat there, not really surprised when nobody came over to talk to her. She honestly didn’t want them coming over either because she’d probably say something that would only insult their intelligence, however much they had to begin with. ‘I need some air.’ Keira decided and stood up from the couch, walking over to the front door and outside, sighing in contentment when the fresh night air hit her face fully, causing her eyes to drift shut. Walking down the huge marble steps and venturing over to the side of the house, Keira started heading toward the backyard, when something struck her foot. A loud groan escaped her lips as she hissed out, biting her bottom lip harshly, and couldn’t believe she’d done it again! ‘That is the SECOND time I hit that stupid fucking rock!’ She angrily thought, completely missing it since it blended with the night, and started limping the rest of the way to the backyard. “Son of a bitch!” She shouted out, groaning in pure agony, and began to slowly make her way over to the bench, wishing it was closer than over three hundred feet away.

Perking his ears up and breaking out of his thoughts about his upcoming divorce, John heard something or someone from below, and immediately became concerned when he witnessed Keira limping. He immediately headed down the backstairs, heading over in her direction, and called out, “Hey, you aight over there?”

Keira couldn’t turn around to see who the owner of the voice was, too focused about her throbbing toe and getting to the bench. She finally arrived and plopped down harshly on it, hissing at the pain that shot through her foot, and slowly started unbuckling her heel, carefully pulling it off, and sighed heavily when she seen it already turning black and blue. “Peachy and this broken toe of mine adds to the pleasure.” She retorted to the question that was shot at her while she was trying to get to bench before she collapsed in the grass.

A concerned look spread across John’s handsome features as he stepped into the moonlight, which was shining down on her, and moved a little closer as he quietly asked, “Is it really broken?”

“I think so because I can’t move it.” She answered, raking a hand through her hair, and groaned when her hands began getting scratched by the annoying clips that were in her hair. With a few quick yanks, Keira tossed them over her shoulder and looked up at the owner of the voice, shocked when she seen it was John. The only way she could tell it was him was because the moonlight had casted over his eyes, captivating her even more by the color of them.

John bit his lip as he took a breath and moved over to bend down, making sure not to sit in the grass with the expensive suit he had on. He looked up at her, silently asking her permission to examine it, and smiled a little when her eyes allowed it. “Well…You might need to get that checked out cause it looks pretty bad.” He informed her after a few moments of examining it and Keira simply rolled her eyes at him in return. John suddenly got an idea in his mind as he smirked down at her and asked with hope in his tone, “Wanna get the Hell outta here and find an exciteful ER?”

Raising an eyebrow up at him, Keira stared at her cousin’s co-star and simply retorted, “Do you get your kicks off by going to hospitals in the middle of the night, Junior?”

Laughter rumbled deep within his chest upon hearing that nickname and shook his head as he questioned, “Junior? And no, no I don’t. No offense to your cuz, but these fancy parties aren’t really my thing.” John admitted, causing Keira’s attention to be drawn to him and away from her toe temporarily.

“At least I’m not the only one.” She swiftly stated, shocked that he actually felt the same way as she did about these types of parties, and was suddenly giving him her full interest.

John chuckled as he nodded and said, “I had a feeling you weren’t havin’ much fun either.”

Keira nodded as she touched her toe again, hissing as the throbbing increased its intensity along with the pain, and knew it was broken. She didn’t even need to go to the doctor to confirm it because this had been the third time she’d broke her toe on that stupid boulder rock. “These parties aren’t appealing to me in the least, but I did it for my cousin after she begged me.” She told him, not believing she’d broken her toe again, and knew this was the last thing she needed in her life at the moment.

Smiling wryly in her direction and shoving his hands in the front of his dress pants pockets, John nodded back at her, glancing at her toe, and softly grumbled, “You should really be icing that down.”

Keira disagreed as she shook her head back at him and simply breathed back in reply, “There’s nothing you can do for a broken toe except leave it alone and let it heal on its own.” She’d sucked in a sharp breath due to how much pain she was currently in, which is why she hadn’t used her real voice.

“Oh…I didn’t know that.” John admitted, raising his eyebrow at her and chuckled a little to himself. “You think I would, considering I’ve had my fair share of injuries.”

Not really paying attention at him, Keira raked a hand through her hair in frustration and felt the silence leak between them once again, like it had in the house earlier on. Keira decided it was time to take her leave, needing to get in the house, and rest her toe before it ended up falling off. She slowly stood up from the bench, causing John to look at her with worry etched in his features, and turned to face him. “Well, this has been…interesting to say the least, but I’m gonna head back inside and see if I can get this toe to stop throbbing.” Keira informed him, causing him to nod back at her.

“Okay, nice meetin’ ya, Keira.” John replied, shaking her hand one last time, and figured it wouldn’t matter if he left right now or not.

“Likewise.” Keira muttered back before slowly limping toward the back stairs, sighing heavily when she seen how high they were up, and squealed out in surprise when she felt someone lift her up from behind. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, staring into John’s face in shock, and relief swept over her face when he reached the top. He gently set her down on the porch, ready to take his leave, but Keira stopped him with another request. “John, would you mind helping me up to my room?”

Chapter 3

Even though John was extremely hesitant on obliging Keira’s request to help her, he couldn’t let her down, especially when he seen huge tears start to slide down her cheeks. She was in a serious amount of pain as he walked over, smiling down at her, and said, “Yeah, come on, lean against me.”

Keira was grateful to him as he helped her through the house, people glancing their way, but she could care less at the moment. John finally gave her a breather when they arrived at the steps that went up to her room and Keira sighed deeply. Her arm tightened around John’s neck and groaned when she started walking up the stairs, leaning completely against him, and tried not to start crying from the sheer amount of pain she was in. “I can’t do it anymore.” Keira whispered shamefully, raking a hand through her hair, and felt more tears slide down her cheeks.

John smiled down at her and gently lifted her up in his arms with ease, causing her to advert her gaze, and felt completely helpless at the moment. “Which one?” John softly asked once they arrived at the top of the stairs, looking down the hallway full of doors, and nodded when she pointed to the one that linked to her bedroom. Reaching down and turning the door handle, John pushed the door open and proceeded to walk in, setting her down gently on her bed, much to Keira’s relief. “Do you have anythin’ that’ll help with the pain?” He questioned, wrinkling his nose at sight of her toe as she began examining it again, and sighed heavily. Her toe had turned from blue and black to a purplish black, which was even worse.

Growling in frustration, Keira rolled her eyes and darkly stated, “Not only did I fuckin’ break it, but I also bruised the damn thing, which will take even longer to heal. Son of a bitch!” She shouted, angry at herself for being so clumsy and shook her head at John’s question. “No, if anything, I’ll probably pop two Tylenol.”

“Wanna tell me where it is and I’ll get it for you?” John suggested, causing her to look up in his blue eyes that were full of concern and care for her needs. Keira wasn’t used to this type of treatment, especially from a man, and raked a hand through her hair, not sure how to respond or act to it.

“You don’t have to do that, John. This is supposed to be your party for the movie.” Keira gently said, wincing at her toe, and sighed when he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Fine, it’s in the cabinet in my bathroom.” She reluctantly told him and John chuckled as he nodded, walking into the bathroom to retrieve the Tylenol. He honestly didn’t mind helping her out and found himself not wanting to leave all of a sudden. While John was trying to find the Tylenol, Keira tried standing up, needing to get some more comfortable clothes on, and immediately collapsed, crying out in pain.

John ran out of the bathroom, eyes widened, and shook his head when he seen her on the floor, favoring her toe again. “What were you tryin’ to do?” He asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and raised an eyebrow at her.

Biting her bottom lip as her cheeks started to grow hot from being not only embarrassed beyond words, but caught, Keira looked down at the floor and mumbled, “I was tryin’ to get out of this damn dress…”

“Oh…” John trailed off his words, not sure what to say to that, and looked down in embarrassment as he helped her up again. “I could bring you a change of clothes from the dresser if you want, so you don’t have to stand.” He offered, causing Keira to look up in his eyes, and bit her bottom lip nervously.

Keira sighed deeply as she nodded, knowing she had no other choice, and smiled a little when he helped her from the floor and set her back on the bed. She reached behind, trying to unzip her dress, and stuck her tongue out of her mouth to the side, finally clasping the zipper in her fingers. “Thanks…” She mumbled, feeling completely helpless and weakened. “My sleeping clothes are in the second drawer from the bottom.”

John nodded, handing her the bottle of Tylenol he’d retrieved from the bathroom before she fell and then proceeded to get her some pajamas. Keira sighed as she slid the dress from her body, leaving her in her midnight blue matching bra and panties, and shuffled it off her legs, letting it bunch up in a pile on the floor. A contented sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back against the bed, and closed her eyes just as John turned around. His blue eyes bugged out of his head at the sight of her, not believing how beautiful her body was. It was nothing, but curves and nicely toned down as his eyes slowly devoured her whole, licking his dry lips hungrily. Gulping nervously, John started toward her, holding her clothes, and ended up tripping over his own two feet because he’d become completely mesmerized by her incredible body, and ended up hitting his knee on the nightstand edge, growling out in pain.

Keira’s eyes shot open as she looked over at him, widened eyes, and scooted over to the edge of the bed as she asked frantically, “Shit, are you okay, John?!” She looked at him skeptically when he nodded his head, letting her know he was alright, and ran a hand through her hair, wincing at the little stab of pain her toe brought forth. “Thanks for all the help, John. I really appreciate it.” Keira softly stated her gratitude towards him, meaning it truly, and ran a hand through her hair, not at all concerned with only being in her bra and panties in front of him.

Smiling back at her and setting the clothes down on the bed, John nodded toward them and said, “I…Uh…Those are there on your bed now if you feel like changing when I leave.”

She noticed the reddened cheeks and smiled back at him, picking them up, and started to slide her black cotton sleeping shorts on with the white tank top he picked out. “What, haven’t you ever seen a girl in her bra and panties before?” Keira teased, causing John to turn even redder in the face, and giggled softly at him.

“Of course, but…I-I don’t even know you.” John stuttered out, swallowing past the huge lump that had formed within his throat.

Smirking back at him and shrugging her shoulders, Keira waved him off absentmindedly and simply stated, “Well it’s not like I’m taking all of my clothes off.” She laughed and finished dressing, her long, tan legs in his vision since the shorts barely covered her ass. “There, is that better for you?” She asked teasingly, causing him to smile sheepishly at her with a nod of his head.

“It’s not that I don’t think you have a nice body or anything…” John started to say, not wanting her to think that he thought bad of her or anything, and quickly became frustrated as his words trailed off. “I’m just gonna shut my mouth now.”

“You’re cute when you get tongue tied, John. I’m not ashamed of my body in all honesty, but I do have morals.” Keira told him, the truth shining in her midnight blue eyes, and laughed softly.

“I know you do. You struck me as that kind of woman from the beginning.” John replied, causing her to raise her eyebrow up at him at that statement.

“As what kind of woman exactly?” Keira questioned, trying hard not to laugh when John became jittery again.

John’s eyes adverted to the floor, looking down for a moment, and grumbled, “You know, the strong willed type.”

Keira smiled and nodded back at him in agreement, “I have to be that way with all the bad shit that’s in the world nowadays.” John agreed with her as she ran a hand through her hair, sighing when she felt a few more clips in her hair, and slowly pulled them out, running her hands through it repeatedly to get the kinks out, and started to shake it a little, trying to get the curls to leave. She whipped her head down while pushing on her toes on the floor, being cautious of her broken one, and whipped it back up a moment later, allowing it to flow down her back. It barely brushed against the bed and cascaded down her back in luscious, raven waves.

His eyes followed her every move, simply entranced by her, and cleared his throat a bit, trying to relieve it of the dryness it’d taken on. “Well…If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll get goin’.” He stated, running a hand through his short, brown hair, not sure what else to say or what to do for that matter.

She smiled up at him thankfully and softly said in a disappointing tone, “Oh, okay. Thanks for helping me out, John. I really appreciate it.” Keira reached over on her nightstand, grabbing her strawberry scented lotion, and brought her leg up, rubbing some in her hands, and began to slowly run the substance over them, her eyes drifting shut.

John nodded back at her and began to walk out of her room, when he turned around, and gaped at what she was doing. His eyes trailed over her long, smooth tanned legs, feeling the bulge in his dress pants instantly increase, and licked his dry lips once more. Keira was completely oblivious to his appearance, thinking he left, and proceeded to rub the lotion into her skin, smiling softly as her hair cascaded down her shoulder. She finished up and proceeded to give the other leg the same treatment, not wanting to feel lopsided, and made sure to get all the way up, even under her cotton shorts, which caused John’s heart to start racing rapidly. This woman had an exotic taste about her that John couldn’t explain and didn’t want to in all honesty. He mentally shook himself and opened the door, ready to walk out, but the creaking of it caused Keira’s head to shoot up from what she was doing.

“Oh, sorry, I thought you left already.” She murmured softly, confused as to why he was still in her bedroom, but honestly didn’t mind it.

Mentally shaking himself of the image that’d seared into his mind, John looked at her with a raised eyebrow and nodded as he stated fast, “I was, I mean, I am. I’m goin’. See ya.” He then walked out of her bedroom, smiling when she waved back at him, and fled down the stairs to find Kelly, wanting to thank her for the invite and everything.

Keira sighed, watching him walk out of her bedroom, and winced when her toe started throbbing again. She ran a hand through her hair and bit her bottom lip, not understanding what attracted her to John so much so suddenly. Her mind kept venturing to his body, aching to see what was underneath that suit he was wearing, and knew it was incredible. Even with the suit on, Keira could clearly tell the man was build and chiseled like a Greek God, which made her groan, becoming sexually frustrated. It’d been so long since she’d last had sex and seeing that hunk of a man in her room only intensified her need for it. Collapsing back on the bed, Keira closed her eyes as she licked her lips and whispered, “What a man, what a man, what a mighty fuckin’ good man.”

John sighed as he searched the entire house, not spotting Kelly anywhere, and raked a hand through his hair, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye. He sighed an inner breath of relief when he saw her walking out of the kitchen, two more bottles of champagne in her hands, and quickly made his way over to her. Kelly’s back was turned to him as she started pouring more glasses of champagne and Chardonnay, not believing how fast they were being downed, and felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, an instant smile appearing on her face, and said, “Hey John! Enjoying yourself?” Kelly asked, hope shining in her brown eyes, and John knew he’d have to fib to her.

“It was cool, I needed it.” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck, and acting like something was wrong as her eyes instantly filled with worry.

“Are you okay?” She asked, touching his arm with her hand gently, in a friendly way.

John nodded, sighing heavily as he began rubbing it, and said, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little sore muscle, nothing I can’t handle. I actually came over here to tell ya I’m gonna bounce out.” He informed her, causing her to nod back at him, uncertainty still itched in her features.

“That’s understandable, but before you go, I have a question to ask you.” Kelly replied and walked away from the champagne table, beckoning him to follow her, and ended up on the veranda.

Shoving his hands in the front pockets of his dress pants, John suddenly felt extremely nervous as he smiled hesitantly at her, and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“I was wondering what you were doing with my sister earlier.” She stated, looking out at the horizon, and knew it was none of her business, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

John chuckled and nodded, knowing Kelly probably thought of Keira as her little sister instead of cousin, and simply replied, “Don’t fret, nothin’ happened between us, girl. She just hit her toe on a rock on the side of the house, I think, and broke her toe.” He informed, recollecting the moment when he’d heard Keira shout out in pain as she limped toward the bench in the backyard.

Gasping softly and covering her mouth with her hand, Kelly sighed heavily as she took a sip of her new glass of champagne, and stated, “That girl is always injuring herself. I swear, she should live in a hospital.”

“I take it this isn’t the first time she’s broke her toe then?” John assumed, causing Kelly to smile back at him knowingly with a nod of her head.

“What are your intentions with her?” Kelly suddenly became serious with her questioning, causing John to raise his eyebrow up at her, and brought his hands out of his pockets, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest.

“Nothin’, I’m goin’ through the divorce with Kim right now and that’s the last thing I’m worried about, Kel.” John emphatically stated, meaning every word that came out of his mouth, and Kelly sadly sighed on the inside, knowing her sister found John to be extremely attractive. “Listen, I hate to cut this convo short, but I really need to be bouncin’. Tell your sister I said it was no problem helpin’ her.”

Before Kelly could say another word, she received a hug from him, and watched as she walked back into the house, toward the front door. Looking up at the sky, Kelly sighed heavily and knew her plan of match making had backfired, spitting in her face. ‘When the time is right, she’ll find the right one.’ Kelly thought confidently before walking back inside to entertain the rest of her guests.

Chapter 4

A few months later, Keira walked into her favorite gym, feeling as though her body was starting to deteriorate because she hadn’t worked out in weeks. Her body was encased in a pair of short, white workout shorts that fit the curves of her body along with a white sports bra. Her long, black tresses were pulled up in a high ponytail that flowed down her back since it was so long and she had her workout bag slung over her shoulder. She walked over to the check in desk and smirked as she greeted, “Hey slugger!”

The man looked up at her and grinned, jumping over the check in desk, and hugged her tightly as he replied, “Hey, good to see you again, Keira!”

Keira hugged him back in a friendly way and winked at him as she replied, “Got some workin’ out to do. Catch ya later.” She winked at him before walking away, deciding to start with the treadmill, needing to work on her cardiovascular system first before anything else.

Setting her bag down beside the machine and turning the speed up to her liking, Keira pulled her IPOD out of her bag and slipped the earplugs in her ears before stepping on it. Turning the knob on, the machine began and Keira started running at a slow, steady pace. Her eyes started glancing over the room, stopping at a particular individual, and felt her jaw drop to her knees when she seen none other than John Cena working out across the room from her. Her eyes trailed down his rock hard body, seeing the sweat glistening on his tanned skin, and Keira suddenly felt her entire body begin to tremble, knowing she needed to get laid soon before she went insane. She licked her dry lips at the sight of his muscles bulging with every movement he made, especially pumping the iron bar up and down, and wished she was that bar at the moment.

John was completely focused on his workout, gritting his teeth as drips of sweats started sliding down his chiseled body, his muscles rippling with every movement his arms made. His face was contorted in both anger and determination as he continued pumping the bar up and down, wearing nothing, but a pair of black workout shorts, and groaned a bit when his body began to give out on him. ‘Just a few more.’ He coached himself in his mind, doing a few more sets, and finally set the bar down on the rack above him, sitting up, breathing extremely heavily. RAW was live at the Staples Center that night and John wanted to be pumped for it, especially since he’d recently lost the championship.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, John started looking around the room, and felt his eyes widen at the sight of Keira on the treadmill. She was staring straight ahead and seemed to be in her own little world, but that didn’t stop John from devouring her with his hungry, lustful eyes. He stood up after a few minutes of staring, catching himself doing so, and grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his neck. Ever since that night he’d helped her to her room, John hadn’t been able to get Keira out of his mind, even after the divorce was finalized from Kimberly. He was a free man again and John started to wonder if maybe Keira wouldn’t mind being the new woman in his life. Taking a swig of his water bottle, John stopped when she started increasing the pace, her perfectly shaped breasts bouncing with every movement, and felt the bulge in his shorts again.

Keira’s body started developing a coat of perspiration on her body as she turned the volume up on her IPOD, along with her speed on the treadmill, and started breathing heavily. Her eyes drifted shut when she heard a beautiful song start to flow in her ear and started thinking about the last time she’d seen John. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, Keira couldn’t get the man out of her mind and she didn’t understand why. He was just a man after all, but then again, not every man was as gorgeous, handsome, and dripped pure sexuality like he did. Keira licked her lips hungrily as she envisioned him, not believing he was in the same gym as her, and decided to take a breather after a few more minutes passed by. Shutting the machine off and stepping off of it, Keira was shocked she’d been running for two hours straight, which was something she normally never did.

Spotting her stepping off the treadmill, John threw his towel over his shoulder, after wiping the sweat from his body mostly, and decided to go talk to her. He made his way over while her back was toward him since she was doing her routine cool down stretches, not wanting her muscles to cramp up on her. She finished up and wiped her forehead with the towel, still breathing heavily, and John took the opportunity while it was still open to him. Crossing his arms in front of his sweaty chest, John towered over her as he greeted softly, “Remember me?”

Keira knew John was in the same gym as her, but she wasn’t going to allow him to know that, so she decided to play it safe. Slowly lifting her head up to meet his eyes, pretending to be shocked upon seeing him, Keira smiled widely as she turned to face him, “Fancy meetin’ you here, John.”

“It is indeed. You come here often?” He asked, trying to start up a conversation with her, and smiled back at her gently.

Nodding back at him, Keira continued to stretch as she replied, “Yeah, I try to come here at least four times a week so I don’t get rolls or any of that junk.” She winked at him, causing him to smirk back down at her, and asked, “What are YOU doing here?”

John chuckled in response and replied, “Well, the same thing I guess. I have to keep in shape if I want to keep my job.”

Raising an eyebrow up at him, Keira shook her head with a small smirk on her face and retorted, “Well, I figured that much, but what are you doin’ in L.A.?”

“Wrestling, what else?” John shot back, shrugging his shoulders absentmindedly, and smirked back at her. Keira couldn’t help, but think if nobody else was in the gym at that moment, she would end up jumping him right then and there.

“Oh…” Keira trailed off, not sure what to say to him, and rubbed the back of her neck, moving her head from side to side, and rolled them, trying to get the kink out of her neck. She sighed with great relief when it finally cracked and added, “That’s cool.” Keira didn’t know what else to say and knew she probably sounded like a complete idiot.

John nodded, adverting his gaze to the ground, and looked back up at her when he found something to ask her, “How’s your toe?”

Smiling back at him softly, Keira shook her foot that the broken toe was on and replied happily, “Never better. I can walk on it again, but it still stings a bit if I hit it on the wrong spot.”

“Well I’m glad its healin’. Just be careful walkin’.” John told her, reminding her of what to do, and smiled softly when she nodded back up at him.

“Don’t fret, I’m a big girl. I tie my own shoes and everything.” Keira assured him with a wicked smirk on her lips and stood up, walking past him toward her bag. She picked out her bottled water and took a long swig of it, spilling some accidentally on her chest, and pulled it away, hissing at the feeling. It felt good, there was no doubt about it, and smiled softly when he did the same, only he didn’t spill it. “So, what did you end up doing that night after leaving my room?” Keira asked him curiously, setting her water bottle down on the bench.

“Just went back to the hotel and fell asleep.” John answering, chuckling at the curiosity that peeked in her voice.

Throwing her hands up in phony defense, Keira’s eyes widened and joked, “Whoa! Watch out for the wild boy!”

John rolled his eyes at her antics and retorted defensively, “Hey! It’s not that often that I get time to relax.”

Keira looked at him innocently, looking like she was truly hurt by his attitude, and shot back, “I didn’t say anything. Geez, don’t get all huffy on me.”

“Huffy?” John questioned and scoffed, not believing she just referred to his attitude as that. “I’m not huffy.” He argued, causing her to smirk back at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh really now?” She retorted playfully, his words just cementing what she called him, and witnessed his huffy side once again.

John started stuttering, trying to get something out to shoot back at her with, but he didn’t find anything. His shoulders slumped in defeat and pointed over to a secluded area of the gym as he grumbled, “Anyway, I’m goin’ over there to stretch if you don’t mind.”

Keira threw her hands up, doing the scary motion with her fingers, and jokingly stated, “Oooo scared of you! You have fun with that, Junior.” She walked away fro him as she grabbed up her bag, deciding to call it a day, and walked into the shower room that was for both men and women, which didn’t bother her.

John shook his head as he watched her departing form and questioned to himself, “Junior huh?” He opened his shorts and looked down them, still not understanding why she called him that, and decided to call it day after stretching. Heading into the shower room, John walked over to a shower in the far corner and peeled off his sweaty work out shorts that nearly stuck to his body. He reached over, turning the shower on cold, needing it after running into Keira again, and let a loud groan escape his lips as soon as the water hit his body, closing the curtain behind him.

Soft moans flowed throughout the shower as John’s eyes closed, his senses instantly coming alive, and knew it was Keira just by the sound. He looked up as his eyes opened, trying to take a peek at her, but grumbled when he seen the showers were all blocked off by cinder block walls. Keira moaned louder as the water cascaded down her body, completely soaking her, and finished up as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair before turning the shower off. She stepped out, wrapping a towel around her body, and felt her pussy began to tingle at the sound of John’s groans sinuously flowed through the shower room. John allowed the water to wash away the soap from his rock hard body, running his hands through his short, brown hair, and yawned loudly, fatigue slowly setting in, not realizing Keira could hear every sound that came for his mouth.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Keira’s mind, causing her lips to curve in a slow, malevolence smirk as she made sure her towel was firmly in place, and slowly made her way over to the shower stall he was in. She giggled to herself, keeping as quiet as a mouse, and bit her bottom lip when his groans became louder since she was closer to him, and stood to the side. Her hand slowly snaked out, mentally counting to three, and yanked the shower curtain right off the hinges before quickly hiding behind the lockers so John couldn’t spot her. “WHOA! Shit!!” John shouted out in surprise, his voice raising to a high pitch, and immediately grabbed his towel that was on the rack beside the shower stall, wrapping it around his waist.

Keira had already tiptoed back to her things and was drying her body off, trying so hard not to laugh from what she just did. She stifled her laughter as she walked around, ringing her hair out of the excess water, and smirked as she walked around the corner, staring at him. “Wardrobe malfunction at the junction there, Junior?” She asked, causing him to turn around slowly and stared back at her with a glare in his eyes.

“YOU did that?!” He asked dubiously, raising his eyebrow at her, and could not believe she would do something like that. Just the smirk that was plastered across her lips was evidence enough that she’d done it and John was stunned.

Looking at him with an innocent look on her face and eyes, Keira pressed her hand to her chest, pretending to be hurt at his accusation, “No! I was busy getting the stuff out of my bag and taking my OWN shower!”

John just nodded, not buying her innocent act for a second, and retorted swiftly, “Yet, you’re the only one in this shower room besides me right now.”

Keira crossed her arms in front of her chest, laughing incredulously at him, and shot back, “I can’t believe you’re blaming me for that! It’s not MY fault this place has shitty shower curtains!”

Shaking his head back at her, still not believing her, John walked over to his gym bag and stated, “Yeah well…Only a tug could have done that, Keira.” He started drying his body off with another towel, loving how he remembered taking two with him from the hotel instead of one and turned his back to face her.

She rolled her eyes back at him and walked back over to her bag, out of sight, and felt a huge grin spread across her face as she laughed quietly to herself, knowing he had no proof that she’d done it. Bringing her leg up and placing her foot on the bench, Keira squeezed some lotion in her hands, rubbing them together, and began softening her skin, since the shower had given it a beating along with the workout. “What a fool.” She whispered softly, continuing what she was doing and proceeded to do her other leg, biting her bottom lip when John entered her mind again. ‘Damn it, what’s the matter with me?!’ She thought irritably and shook her head of the thought, trying to focus on what she was doing at the moment instead of John.

After John pulled on his black cargo baggy shorts with his army shirt, he pulled his wristbands on and gelled his hair, knowing his match was up first that night, and slipped his sneakers on. He then headed toward Keira’s direction, whistling to himself, and smirked when he seen her back was toward him. Tiptoeing over to her, like a thief in the night, John yanked her towel off of her body, frowning when she didn’t even notice he’d done that. He decided to make her realize and smirked wickedly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest before stating, “Well, well, well, looks like I’m not the ONLY one having wardrobe malfunctions today.”

Keira felt him do that and shook her head, not believing how childish he was being, and didn’t pick up her towel as she began slipping her bra and panties on. John could feel the drool sliding down the side of his mouth as he watched her, completely hypnotized as his gaze fell on her bare ass just before she covered it up with her panties. Keira grinned on the inside, knowing he was staring at her ass, and twirled around, placing her hands on her hips, and asked slyly, “See somethin’ you like?”

John mentally shook himself, trying not to move his eyes any lower than her face, which was extremely difficult with what she had on, and retorted, “You’re tryin’ to seduce me, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question, just a simple fact of life.

“Nope, I was just wondering if you liked the view since your eyes were boring a hole into my ass.” Keira shot back, smirking at him, and ran a hand through her damp hair while her other was still planted firmly on her hip.

His jaw dropped in shock at her accusation, not believing what she just said, and shrieked out, “What?! Y-You can’t make that assumption without evidence!”

Keira smirked as she turned back around and began brushing her hair before pulling it up in a clip, and shook her head as she whipped around, catching him in the act. “Are you quite finished admiring my ass, Junior?” She asked calmly, her arms folded in front of her chest this time with her lips pursed together tightly. She smiled on the inside when he nodded and then decided to keep the torment going. “Did you enjoy the view?” She asked curiously, her voice dropping an octave lower, and waited for his smartass comeback.

“Did you enjoy yankin’ that curtain and seein’ my dick?” He retorted, looking back at her with steely blue eyes and shook his head.

Giggling cruelly back at him, evil intentions flickering in her eyes, Keira finished dressing, which was a pair of blue jean shorts and a black tank top as she walked out of the shower room. John thought he had finally got the upper hand on her, but that was before Keira poked her head back in the shower room and stated, “Most definitely, especially your ass.” She then walked back out, winking over at Bryan, and waved at him on her way out the door, laughing hard as she headed toward her car. Keira couldn’t wait to get home and tell Kelly about her run in with John and what she’d done to him.

Chapter 5

Before going home, Keira decided to stop and get something to eat, knowing Kelly didn’t cook anything, and smiled softly as JoJo blasted through her car. She’d decided on Chinese, knowing Kelly loved it as much as her, and got a little bit of everything. Keira also stopped at the store to grab some cases of water and Sprite, since those were the only types of beverages she could drink. An hour later, Keira pulled into the driveway and the sun was slowly starting to descend on the horizon. She yawned loudly and stepped out of her car, locking it up, and walked up the marble stairs, through the front door, balancing everything she’d bought in her arms.

Kelly was sitting on the couch, watching a comedy on TV, when the front door slammed open. She immediately shot up from the couch and ran over, taking some of the load from Keira’s arms, and smiled when she realized she’d bought them dinner. “Mmm Chinese food…” Kelly drooled, causing Keira to roll her eyes playfully, and laughed softly as they put everything in the kitchen. “So, how was your workout?” Kelly asked, pulling out some plates from the cupboard while Keira retrieved some silverware.

A huge grin spread across her lips as Keira shook her head, laughing wickedly, and Kelly looked over at her cousin with a raised eyebrow. “Actually, something interesting happened today at the gym.”

“Oh really? What?” Kelly questioned, taking the plates and bags of Chinese food before walking out of the kitchen, Keira right behind her with the silverware. They sat down on the couch, getting comfortable, and Kelly paused the movie she’d been watching as she turned her full attention to her cousin. Kelly popped the lid off the Chinese food and set them on the coffee table, loading her plate up, along with Keira, and they both sat back with plates full of food and ready to gossip up a storm. “So, what happened today?” Kelly urged, her curiosity peeking her interest greatly.

Taking a bite of food and smirking at her cousin, Keira swallowed it before replying, “I ran into someone at the gym.”

“Who?” Kelly demanded, her eyes full of wonder, and took a bite of food from her fork, moaning at the taste.

“Try not to have an orgasm over there, chica.” Keira joked, causing Kelly to stare at her in shock, and coughed a little as she swallowed her food down the wrong tube. She started laughing, patting Kelly on the back firmly, and hoped she was alright. When Kelly got her coughing under control, Keira looked over at her and smiled before responding, “Your co-star John Cena.”

Raising her eyebrow at her cousin, Kelly took a swig of her water and asked, “Really? What was he doing there?”

“Working out, what else?” Keira retorted, causing Kelly to shoot her a playful glare, and grabbed an egg roll, dipping it in the sauce her food came with, and took a bite out of it.

Kelly laughed at her cousin’s smartass ways and replied swiftly, “Oh, well yeah I know that, but he IS from the East coast.” She took another bite of food, grinning from ear to ear when Keira glared at her. “You’re not the only one who has smartass comebacks, Keira dear.”

Smirking in response and finishing off her egg roll, Keira took a small break and stated, “I think they have one of those shows in L.A. tonight, but wait until you hear what I did to him.” Keira began laughing, remembering the shocked look on John’s face.

Kelly looked at her cousin curiously, that troubled look adorning her face, and asked, “Oh no, what did you do?”

The same evil intentions flickered in her eyes that had earlier with John as she rubbed her hands together and replied cruelly, “when he was in the shower, I ripped the shower curtain off and got a NICE gander at his…” Keira trailed off, clearing her throat. “Package.”

While Keira was telling her about what happened, she’d made the mistake of taking a bite out of her food, and nearly choked on it when she heard what her cousin did. She started coughing harshly, tears coming to her eyes, and choked out, “Keira!! Good Lord!! You are so…mischievous!”

Keira couldn’t help it and started laughing so hard, her foot was stomping on the ground because her stomach hurt from it. “It was GREAT, Kelly! You should’ve been there. But he got a nice look at my ass and I caught him doing it so as I was walking out, he asked me if I enjoyed looking at his dick and I poked my head back in and said ‘Most definitely, especially your ass’ and walked out. His jaw dropped to the floor, it was awesome!” She explained, causing Kelly to shake her head, finally catching her breath from laughing along with her cousin.

“That’s priceless!!” Kelly squealed out, tears streaming down her face from how hard she was laughing, shocked that her cousin had the audacity to do something like that.

Nodding as she tried to catch her breath, Keira smiled and stated, “Kelly, that man is fuckin’ GORGEOUS! He’s got the body of a Greek God on him, seriously.”

Kelly laughed, nodding in agreement, and smirked as she retorted, “I know! That’s why it was so much fun shooting the movie with him.”

“What I don’t get is why you didn’t jump him? He’s so fuckin’ hot. I would fuck his brains out three ways from Sunday if given the slightest opportunity.” Keira admitted, not ashamed one bit, and leaned against the couch as she sighed dreamily. “It was so great seeing his fine ass.”

“Well, there are several reasons why I didn’t go after him. Don’t think I didn’t approach the subject either, but he was married.” Kelly sighed in reply, disappointment evident in her voice and eyes, but quickly regained her composure. “We’re better off as friends though.”

Keira smirked back at her and crossed her arms in front of her chest, eyeing Kelly warily and shot back, “Bullshit, Kel. Admit you wanted to fuck his brains out.”

“Well…it would’ve been a nice opportunity I must say, but hey, what can ya do? Why don’t YOU just ask him out?” Kelly quickly changed the subject, reversing it back to her cousin, and the smile that was on Keira’s face instantly melted away.

She stared back at Kelly with a knowing expression, shaking her head, and sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair, and stated vigorously, “You know why and besides, he’s your co-star! Are you nuts?! There’s no way I would ever date someone THAT prestigious…though I have to admit that fucking him isn’t out of the question, if I ever see him again.” Keira admitted, causing Kelly to raise an eyebrow at her, and knew the real reason behind her words. “Just forget I ever mentioned anything about it.” She quickly commanded, trying to gain the upper hand of this conversation again, and took another bite of her Chinese. “I mean it, don’t you dare go and tell John what I said about him either.” Keira eyed her cousin deliberately while crossing her arms in front of her chest in defiance.

Kelly frowned, not believing how well Keira knew her, and nodded as she began smiling again, “Alright if you say so, but you know what I think?”

“Do I even wanna know?” Keira grumbled back, pushing her food around on her plate with her fork, and looked up at her cousin with wary eyes.

Giggling mischievously, Kelly looked back at her and stated, “I think you have the hots for him and he was smitten with you too at the party.”

Keira got that smirk back on her face as she nodded, not about to deny it, and replied seductively, “Well yeah, of course I have the hots for him! Who wouldn’t?! You cannot stand there and tell me that you don’t find that man drop dead fucking gorgeous?” She accused, causing Kelly to laugh at how infatuated her cousin was with John.

“He’s attractive, okay? There, I said it. But I honestly don’t think he’s my type overall.” Kelly honestly said, the truth showing in her brown eyes, and Keira believed her, secretly thrilled that she didn’t want John for her own.

She decided to play along, not wanting her cousin to think she’d gotten the better of her, and pointed as she shouted, “Liar!! You are a fuckin’ liar!!”

Kelly looked back at her incredulously and playfully offended as she shot back, “I am not!”

“If you weren’t then you wouldn’t get offended so easily.” Keira retorted, causing Kelly to groan and shake her head.

“We both know you want that man in more ways than one. So stop making this about me.” Kelly ordered, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and dared her cousin to argue that statement.

Grinning back at her cousin and reluctantly agreeing with her, deciding to drop it, Keira replied, “Oh yeah, definitely, but I’m not going to chase after him. I’ll let him ponder it over and see if he comes to me.” She winked, causing Kelly to smile back at her sweetly.

“And how do you propose he’ll do that?” Kelly questioned inquisitively, wondering what was going through her cousin’s mind.

Shrugging her shoulders and smirking devilishly, Keira ran a hand through her hair and stated, “Well, he got to see me twice in my bra and panties sets, which I don’t care cause I’m proud of my body, so we’ll see how long he can resist the temptation.”

Kelly laughed and sighed contently, putting her plate of food down on the table, stuffed, and stated teasingly, “I’ll look forward to the next chapter of your saga, Keira.”

“I’ll tell you everything that happens in it, Kel.” She replied, standing up from the couch, and picked the plates up as she walked them into the kitchen. Keira walked over to her cousin and said, “I’m gonna go up to my room and get some more writing done. Janet has really been killin’ me lately with these fuckin’ deadlines.”

“Okay sweetie, I’m going out with a couple friends tonight so if you need me, my cell will be on.” Kelly informed her, causing Keira to nod, and headed upstairs to her room, closing the door behind her.

Her back pressed against the door, biting her bottom lip, and felt her heart flutter. The things the man did to her body made her completely insane and wanting him more. He wasn’t even there either, which made the entire situation suck even more! Walking over toward her bed, Keira collapsed upon it and smiled softly, pulling her laptop out from under the bed, and plugged in it. It took a few minutes to load, but once it did, Keira opened her newest story she was working on and began typing, John pushed to the back of her mind for the time being.

Around nine o’clock, the doorbell rang, two hours after Kelly had left to go gallivanting with her girlfriends, and Keira was hard at work with her story. She’d managed to write three chapters, knowing she was still behind, but every word was better than nothing in her mind. Keira sighed heavily as she decided she needed a break and stood up from her bed, making sure to save her work, and walked out of her bedroom. Her feet padded down the stairs and into the kitchen, wearing a simple pair of red cotton shorts with a red white and blue tank top that was made into a flag. Pushing up on her tiptoes, Keira grabbed a glass from the cupboard and walked over to the water dispenser, filling it up halfway, and took a long swig before filling it again.

Just as she was about to head back up to her room, a knock sounded at the door, causing Keira’s eyebrow to quirk, wondering who could be at their door this time of night, especially since Kelly was alright out. Keira slowly walked over to it, hearing the knocking becoming more loud, and sighed heavily before unlocking it and swinging it open. John stared back at her, taking one deep breath, and then shook his head as he grabbed her face in his hands, passionately kissing her on the lips. Her jaw dropped at who it was and was taken completely aback when his lips descended on hers, but didn’t push him away. Their tongues twirled together in a dance of seduction, causing Keira’s senses to spiral out of control, and did the only thing she could think of.

Keira’s arms wrapped around his thick, muscled up neck as he backed her into the house, their heads moving back and forth, deepening the kiss even more. John’s foot kicked the door shut behind him, never breaking the intense kiss he’d bestowed on her, and began running his strong hands up and down the length of her curvaceous body. She moaned into his mouth, loving the feel of his tongue against hers, and the taste he had, never wanting this to end. Keira could die happy right then and there now that she had gotten the kiss of a lifetime and moaned lower from deep in her throat when his hands gripped her ass from behind. He pulled away after a couple minutes of kissing and looked at her, his breathing erratic and blue eyes dark with desire. Her midnight blue eyes had turned black, clouded over with craving, needing this man more than she’d ever needed anything in her life.

“That’s what happens when you flaunt your gorgeous body around me.” John growled out, his eyes glowing at her with his chest heaving up and down rapidly. Ever since earlier that day when he’d seen her gorgeous naked form, John couldn’t stop himself from thinking about her. He’d gone to the arena, thanking God that his match was first up that night, did it, and went to his boss to make sure he had nothing else planned. Vince told him to go, not needing him for the remainder night, and John didn’t have to be told twice. He quickly hopped in his rental car and drove the hour away from the arena to Kelly’s house, not able to resist the teasing of Keira any longer.

Gaping at him as she tried to get her senses back to normal again, Keira felt that sly smirk across her lips form, and placed her hands on her hips as she retorted quickly, “So, is that all ya got, Junior?” John quirked his eyebrow up at her and smirk evilly before lifting her up in his strong arms, throwing her over his shoulder, and whisked her away upstairs, taking them two at a time. Once he set her down on the bed and slammed the door behind her, John stripped his shirt off, eyeing her eagerly, and licked his lips before pouncing on her like a cat, causing her to squeal out in surprise.

Chapter 6

Her chest heaved up and down, breathing sporadically as she stared up at the ceiling, and closed her eyes, wishing she could regain her regular breathing. Keira’s heart was pounding against her chest furiously, hoping it didn’t rip through her chest and jump out. The intensity of the sexual encounter her and John experienced was something she couldn’t even describe. It was filled with passion, ecstasy, moans, groans, touching, feeling, exploring, kissing, licking, screaming, everything great sex involved. Her arm was thrown above her head while her other arm that was linked to her free hand was over her pounding heart. She glanced over at John, who was laying beside her, his chest bursting at the seams with how erratic his breathing was, sweat caked on his body along with hers.

“Damn, I need to learn how to breathe…” Keira finally managed to say, her breathing slowly coming back to normal, and heard John chuckle.

“Yeah…Wow.” Was all that John could muster up to say, trying to get the feeling back into his legs, and couldn’t move at the moment even if a hot poker was searing his eyeballs.

Keira smirked over at him and slid from the bed, walking over to her dresser with her naked ass staring him in the face, and bent over on the floor to retrieve her panties. She had to admit, the man had a throw on him, as she pulled them on and said, “That was pretty amazing.”

John smiled over at her, not able to help admiring her gorgeous body, and nodded as he slapped himself mentally, “Yeah…You were great.” He complimented, causing her to smile down at him sweetly.

“Well thanks, Junior.” She playfully retorted, winking at him, and walked over to him, crawling on the bed, and laid on her side, facing him.

Looking over at her curiously with a smirk on his face, John rolled over so he was facing her and asked, “What’s with the Junior?”

Shrugging her shoulders at him absentmindedly and giggled as she replied summarily, “Just a nickname I came up with for you, I guess. Does it bother you?” Keira innocently asked, causing him to smirk wider back at her

“Well I am pretty sure you will agree that there is nothing “junior” about me, if you get my drift.” John replied coyly, his blue eyes twinkling back at her with malicious intentions swimming through them.

A malevolent sneer curved her own lips as her own eyes flashed at him, her hand running up and down his smooth, chiseled chest, and trailed it all the way down his limpness. Her fingernail slowly began running up the length of him, and grinned when he hardened instantly at her touch. “Fine, I’ll give you that one.” She murmured tenderly, their lips mere inches from touching, but she pulled away conveniently to go retrieve her bra.

His cheeks instantly grew hot at her administrations and gaped when she walked away from him, growling out, “Thank you.”

Keira giggled as she snapped her bra back on and walked over to the mirror, picking up her brush, and started brushing the knots that had formed in her hair because of the intense sexual bout. Once she made it shine, Keira nodded as she stood up, turning around to face him and said, “You look comfy.”

Nodding contently in agreement, John grinned as he folded his arms under his head and replied, “I am pretty comfy about now.”

Walking over to stare out her window, seeing the full lit moon shining down with the stars glistening, Keira smiled softly as she looked over her shoulder at him, “Well I love to break this to you, you’re not stealing my bed, mister.”

“Oh I would never!” John replied innocently, though his eyes told her he was lying through his teeth, and walked back over to him.

She crawled back on the bed, sitting on her knees before him, and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she declared, “Uh huh, sure you wouldn’t. You’ve got bullshit written all over your face and in your eyes, boy.”

John laughed at her statement and shook her head, taking one of her hands from behind his head and grabbed her hand, staring into her eyes, and asked seriously, “So, when can we go on a real date?”

The laughter and happiness slowly drained from her face as Keira ran a hand through her hair, not expecting this question, and managed to repeat, “A real date?”

“Yeah, why not?” John replied, still not releasing her hand from his grasp, and stared into her eyes, seeing something wasn’t right in them.

Her hand slowly slid out of his as she dropped them both in her lap defeated and bit her bottom lip, not sure how to answer this. Or rather break this to him because the last thing Keira wanted to do was hurt John. She ran a hand through her hair and stuttered out, “I really…hadn’t thought about it…”

John started getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, especially when she stuttered those words out, and sighed as he pointed out, “Well…We had sex…”

Nodding back at him as she cleared her throat, trying to swallow past the lump that had formed, Keira sighed as she looked into his confused eyes and said, “I know that, John. I hadn’t really thought about past this…” Her words trailed off, cringing inwardly at the look that had appeared in his eyes.

He slowly sat up in the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, and stared at her as he asked sharply, “Wait a minute, you just wanted me to have sex with you and then…bye?! That’s it?!” John couldn’t believe this was happening as he raked a hand through his hair in frustration, feeling his heart drop in his stomach when she nodded.

Keira slowly slid out of the bed and stood before him, clasping her hands tightly together, and bit her bottom lip nervously as she said, “Well…That’s what I assumed…” No matter how hard she tried, Keira couldn’t bring herself to tell him the real reasoning behind rejected his request to go on a real date with him. It wasn’t him; it was her as lame as that sounded.

Not able to take it anymore, John stood up abruptly from the bed and stated hardening, “Okay then it’s time for me to go.” He started collecting his clothes from the floor, hastily slipping them on, not even wanting to look Keira in the face at the moment.

Feeling her bottom lip start to quiver, Keira sighed deeply, not wanting him to leave like this, especially when he was this upset. “John, I’m sorry. I don’t regret what we did because it was outstanding.” She tried to smooth things over, keeping her distance of course, and suddenly felt uncomfortable as she swiped her clothes from the floor as well.

John nodded back at her, but didn’t even glance in her direction, trying to find his hat and keys, mumbling in a response, “I know it was. Don’t worry about it.” He had to get out of that house now before he ended up exploding with rage and taking half of California with him.

“I don’t want you to think I was using you, John. I just thought that this would be a one time deal and then we’d go on with our lives.” Keira rationalized, running a hand through her hair, and pulled on her red sleeping shorts with the flag tank top she had on prior to this sexual encounter between them.

“Yeah well, I’m only here for one more day so it’s probably good that we don’t get attached or something.” John retorted, his heart bleeding with pain because he finally thought he’d found someone who he liked and liked him back return.

Keira nodded back at him, agreeing with what he said, but also felt the hostility radiating from his big body. “Yeah! I mean, it would’ve never worked out between us anyway because I don’t believe in long distance relationships and you live all the way across the country.” She simplified, causing John’s eyes to squeeze shut for a second, and mentally shook himself as he finally found his hat.

“Yeah, it would never work.” He muttered back at her and went in search for his keys, growling in frustration when he couldn’t find them.

She stared back at him, wishing she could think of something to say, someway to make this seem right to him. “John, please tell me you’re not upset with me. Please don’t leave here angry.” Keira pleaded with him, rubbing the back of her neck, and sighed with inner relief when his eyes finally met hers again.

They were filled with hurt, but also understanding, much to her relief as he sadly smiled, “Keira, I couldn’t be angry with you.” John was telling the truth. He wasn’t angry at her, he was angry at himself for jumping the gun without asking her out first. ‘She probably thinks I’m scum of the fuckin’ earth right now.’ He regretfully thought and finally found his keys.

“This doesn’t mean we can’t…do this again…if you want that is…” Keira stuttered out, causing John to raise his eyebrow at her with a small chuckle escaping his lips.

“I’m leaving tomorrow. It probably wouldn’t work with my schedule.” He modestly replied, staring at her, and checked to make sure he had his cell phone, keys, wallet, and hat with him. Four things he couldn’t live without.

Keira believed he was alright with this and smirked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, sauntering over to him, and ran her finger up his chest, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. “I meant when you make your way over here again with your crew…Whatever their names are.” She told him, making him understand what she meant, and all John did was nod.

“The WWE. Maybe, we’ll see.” He rumbled back, correcting her word crew, and slid his hat on his head, not even thinking about coming to see her anytime soon.

Smiling softly back at him and slowly backing away, Keira walked back over to the bed, pulling out her laptop, and opened her document before saying, “I guess I’ll see you later then?”

John simply nodded back at her, even though he was lying through his teeth, or so he thought, and gave her a goodbye smile, “Yup, take care of yourself, huh?”

“You too.” She whispered back, waving at him as he walked out of her room, closing the door gently behind him, and Keira instantly leaned back against the bed, knowing she’d probably never see him again.

A few hours later, around midnight, Kelly walked into the front door, stumbling a little since she had a nice buzz going on, and immediately stopped. Her cousin was sitting on the couch, her knees up against her chest, and she was crying. The fireplace was roaring, flames flickering, and the wood was crackling as Kelly slowly made her way over to her cousin, a frown on her face. As she got closer, she heard the faint sobs coming from Keira’s mouth, and couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard her cousin cry. Sitting down beside her, causing Keira’s head to shoot up, Kelly smiled sadly back at her, and reached over, wiping her tears away.

“Are you alright, Keira?” She asked softly, causing her cousin to simply shake her head in reply.

Keira sniffled as she reached over on the table, grabbing some tissues, and blew her nose with it, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “No, I’m far from it actually.” She muttered, wiping her tears away with a clean piece of tissue, and sniffled loudly.

“What happened, sweetheart?” Kelly asked, wanting to be there for her cousin, and touched Keira’s hand with hers, sighing when she yanked it back instantly.

“I’m a stupid, worthless, heartless bitch who doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings, but my own!!” She shouted, crying harder, and folded the tissue in her hand as she looked down at her lap, still not believing what happened between her and John.

Kelly couldn’t stand to hear her cry and immediately pulled her in her arms, stroking her hair and back soothingly, whispering relaxingly in her ear, “Shhh it’s okay, Keira. It’s okay to cry and okay to let your guard down. I would never judge you and you know that. Whatever you tell me, I’ll understand.” Kelly assured her, knowing her cousin could be a hard ass most of the time, but on the inside, there was a little girl crying out to be held and loved.

Knowing her cousin would never steer her wrong, unlike her other family members, Keira sniffled a little as she looked up into Kelly’s brown eyes with tear filled ones and said, “I had a visitor tonight.”

Thinking something horrible happened to her cousin, Kelly instantly stood up, anger flashing in her eyes, and growled, “I’ll kill him! I’ll kill whoever hurt you!!”

Keira rolled her eyes at her cousin, wiping her tears away with her hand, and sighed heavily as she stated, “It’s nothing like that, Kelly. John came to see me tonight.” She revealed, causing Kelly to gasp in surprise, and immediately sunk back into the couch, wanting to listen to what happened between them.

“What happened?” Kelly calmly asked, her voice caring and soothing to Keira, which was why Keira always went to her whenever she needed advice or to bitch about life in general.

Taking a deep shaky breath, Keira bit her bottom lip, almost in shame, and said, “He kissed me as soon as I opened the door and one thing lead to another…” Her words trailed off, causing Kelly’s eyes to bulge out of her head, and covered her mouth with her hand as a shocking gasp escaped her lips.

“Oh my God…” Kelly was absolutely speechless, not sure what to say to her cousin to make her feel better about the situation, and raked a hand through her blonde curls. “Well then what’s the problem?” She asked, still not understanding the reason why her cousin was crying her heart out on the couch.

“He asked me when we could go on a real date and I told him I just assumed the sex was going to be as far as we went.” Keira replied, causing Kelly to cringe, finally understanding what had happened between them.

“And he didn’t like that I take it?” She questioned, wanting to clarify what she already knew, and sighed when Keira only nodded at her before burying her head in her knees again. “Sweetie, did you explain to him why you turned down his offer?” She asked, knowing she wasn’t going to like the answer Keira was about to give her.

Slowly lifting her head up from her knees to glare at her cousin, Keira stood up from the couch as she spat angrily, “Because its none of his fucking business! It’s NOBODY’S business, but me, myself, and I and I shouldn’t have to fuckin’ justify myself to every single man who comes along, wanting a piece of my heart!” Keira snapped before storming out of the living room and up the stairs, slamming her bedroom shut with authority, and left Kelly sitting there, shocked into silence.

Chapter 7

~Five Months Later~

July rolled around and the days were long and hot, full of sunshine and starry night skies. Keira was sitting inside, typing on her laptop, and decided a swim was in order. They had a beautiful in ground swimming pool that was in the backyard and had a mini waterfall attached to it. Kelly was out doing a photo shoot for the next few days so Keira was home alone once again. She slowly stood from the couch, stretching her limbs, and walked upstairs to her bedroom to change into her bathing suit. It was a two piece bikini that was black with silver flames that shimmered in the sun on them. The top tied around her neck and back while the bottoms tied on both sides of her hips. She grabbed the cordless phone, sunglasses, suntan lotion, and a towel before heading out of her room and toward the backdoor.

Walking out on the veranda, Keira looked out at the beautiful scenery and smiled to herself, the humid wind blowing through her hair, and sighed in contentment as she headed downstairs. She knew the water in the pool had to be at least ninety degrees since they’d have multiple one hundred degree weather for the past month. Keira walked over to the picnic table that was nearby and set her things down on it before walking over to the surround sound outside stereo, slipping a CD inside since it was also a CD player, and blasted the music. Her hips started moving to the beat of the music, spinning around in circles, and finally walked over to the diving board, which was at the deep end. Taking a deep breath and stretching her arms in the air as much as possible, Keira closed her eyes and did a double flip in the air before landing in the pool, plummeting all the way to the bottom, and touched it with her hand before pushing herself back up to the surface again.

After doing two hundred laps, Keira decided it was time to relax and get some sun as she pulled a raft inside that was lying on the grass right beside the pool. She pushed herself up on the raft, lying down on it, and slipped her sunglasses on as she sighed in pure contentment, knowing she could fall asleep as the sun shined down on her, heating her skin. Her hair was laying freely over the edge of the raft and her shoulders, messy, but she could care less and started laughing when she ended up under the water fall. Her giggles could be heard from a distance as she quickly bolted up and ended up sliding off the raft, shaking her head as she came back up to the surface, sputtering water. Keira never noticed the figure walk through the back gate as she slowly swam over to the edge and walked out, heading over to the picnic table, and dried herself off with a towel.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Driving around, enjoying the scenery, John looked at the area, seeing how peaceful it was. It was a hot summer day and he was determined to enjoy it the fullest, all of the windows lowered in his car, and turned left at the stop sign he pulled up at. For some strange reason, John was heading in a specific direction and suddenly, Keira popped into his mind, finally realizing why he was going this route. It had been five months since they’d last seen each other and John started to wonder if she still lived at the same place. Taking a chance, John took a few more turns and arrived at the huge Victorian style house, knowing this was it because he remember the huge front porch.

Turning the ignition off after pulling in the driveway, John stepped out and shut the door behind him, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jean shorts, and looked up at the gigantic house. Walking up the front porch marble steps and knocking on the front door, John received no answer so he decided to check the backyard to see if anyone was home. He pushed the huge, silver steel gate open and slowly walked down the path that lead to the backyard, seeing all the beautiful flowers that were planted, and smiled. Stopping dead in his tracks, John seen her in the pool, floating carelessly on the raft, and had to bite back laughter when he witnessed the waterfall the pool came with was drowning her.

‘God she’s more beautiful than I remember.’ He thought and watched as she swam over to the side, stepping out, and walked over to the picnic table, picking up her towel. John’s blue eyes trailed up and down her soaking wet body, not believing how delicious she still was, and knew she hadn’t let herself go for an instant. His lips formed into the shape of a solid O when she whipped her head forward and back, trying to get the excess water out of it, and bent over as she pulled some clothes out of her bag she’d brought out with her. Her beautifully round shape ass was in his vision again as he licked his lips hungrily, wanting to slam his hand against it, and did a full body shiver.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Keira sighed in contentment as she brought her leg up, resting her foot on the picnic table bench, and began to rub more suntan lotion on her legs, wanting them to get a little more tanned, but not burnt to a crisp. She jumped out of her skin when she heard someone from behind her and immediately whipped around, gasping in shock when she seen John standing in front of her. Her hair was spilled over her shoulders and down her back as her eyes widened, not believing he was there, right before her, in the flesh. Biting her bottom lip and rubbing the back of her neck, Keira said the only thing that came to her mind, “Hi…”

John chuckled upon hearing her raspy greeting, knowing she was stunned into silence, and smiled innocently as he replied smoothly, “Hi there, jumpy are we?”

Crossing her arms in front of her chest and started at him incredulously as she retorted, “Well, I wouldn’t of jumped had someone not shouted ‘Boo’ behind my back.” That’s what she’d heard from behind while she was putting suntan lotion on her legs, which scared her to death.

“Yeah, that’s a good point. You look pretty hot in that swimsuit.” He commented, causing her to smirk back at him as she placed her hands on her hips.

She stared back at him, feeling her breath catch in her throat at what he was wearing, and had to mentally coach herself not to jump him. His upper body was covered with a plain blue muscle shirt that looked like it was about to bust off of him at any given moment along with a pair of black cargo shorts. He had a hat on with his wristbands from his character in the WWE, and white sneakers on, finishing the outfit. “Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself, John.” She replied softly, after devouring him with her hungry filled eyes.

John looked down at his outfit, shrugging like it was no big deal, and said, “Just my normal clothing.”

“Well, it’s hot clothing, especially in that muscle shirt.” Keira argued, shaking herself mentally, drying her hair with the towel since it was still dripping, and asked curiously, “So, what brings you over to our parts?”

“Parts? You mean the West coast?” John questioned, causing her to nod at him in reply, finishing drying her hair. “Work of course.”

Keira smirked as she shook her head and stated, “Still got that smartass attitude, I see.” She walked past him, swaying her ass in his direction, and headed up the stairs, knowing he’d follow, and walked inside the air conditioned house. A grin was on his face as he immediately followed, having a feeling he’d end up here again with her sooner or later. Keira had walked into the pantry to take her soaking wet bathing suit off, not wanting to get water on the hardwood flooring, and left the door open with the light off. She slipped her black lace bra and panties set with cotton shorts and a white spaghetti strapped tank top. After making sure everything was in its proper place, Keira walked back out, and asked John, “So, how’s the road been?”

John couldn’t help, but smirk at and think highly of the outfit she had on, hugging and showing every curve of her body. He heard her ask him the question and was trying to process it in his mind. “It’s fine…” His voice managed to get out, causing her to smile over her shoulder at him innocently and winked.

They ended up eating lunch together, which was basic sandwiches and chips, and sat down on the couch, catching up on things. They talked for a few hours, just finding out what the other had been up to, and really enjoyed each other’s company. Keira smiled as she listened to John talk about the road, truly passionate about it, and knew he truly loved what he did for a living. They started talking seductively to each other, John making the mistake of mentioning admiring her in the pool when he first walked into the backyard, and Keira wasn’t about to let this moment pass up. Her finger slowly ran down his chest, through the muscle shirt, and John looked down at it trailing his chest and back up into her eyes, knowing what was about to transpire between them again.

“Your chest is so…strong and powerful.” She murmured softly in his ear, her voice sultry, and kept trailing her finger up and down his chest, becoming entranced by the movement.

Slowly running his hands up and down her sides, John raised an eyebrow at her as he huskily whispered, “Is it, huh?” Keira nodded and bit her bottom lip, and took a chance as her hand slowly ran up underneath his muscle shirt, loving the feel of his smooth, rock hard body against her fingertips. His muscles rippled beneath her touch as she looked up into John’s eyes, rubbing his chest ever so gently, and drifted her eyes shut as John’s lips descended on hers moments later…

“Oh JOHN!”
“Oh yeah…Oh fuck, Keira!!”

Her screams of passion echoed off the walls, feeling him thrust in and out of her fiercely, like a wild man possessed, and the sound of flesh smacking flesh flowed through the air. John bellowed out in pure ecstasy as he started pounding her harder, driving his cock deeper inside of her hot soaking wet sex, and finally brought her to the edge, exploding seconds later. Keira hissed as she raked her nails down his muscular arms and back, her walls milking his cock for all they were worth as her thighs squeezed against his waist tightly. Closing his eyes tightly shut, John rode out her orgasm as it ripped through her body, growling out words of pure lust, and they only ignited the fire inside of her.

Their bodies clashed together, a thin coat of perspiration on their bodies, and tried to get their ragged breathing under control. Keira knew if Kelly ever found out about her and John fucking on her couch that there would be Hell to pay, but at the moment, she could’ve cared less if Kelly walked in with all her friends. John leaned against the cushions, heaving because his heart was thudding against his chest so hard that it was causing his breathing to be extremely ragged. “You’re not gonna die on me, are ya?” Keira asked, her breathing coming back to normal before his, and smirked when he started chuckling.

“Trust me, baby, I’m fine.” He replied, looking down at her, and ran a hand down his face, still not believing they had sex again.

“Well good, that’s wonderful to hear because I wasn’t about to drag your big ass corpse out of here.” She retorted playfully, causing John to laugh and shook his head in response, still trying to catch his breath. Keira stood up from the couch, feeling her legs begin to tremble, and picked her panties up off the floor before sliding them on again. They both quickly re-dressed, too many thoughts running through their minds, and turned around the same time, almost bumping into each other.

Keira plopped down on the couch, grinning up at him as he finished dressing, and stated, “Well, I do believe that was better than the last time.”

“Why, what was different this time?” John question, curiosity peeking his interest, and zipped up his shorts before sitting back down on the couch beside her. A frown spread across his face however when she stood up and walked toward the window, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked outside. The sun was just starting to set over the horizon, painting the sky in beautiful blues, pinks, purples, and oranges.

“I think this time it had…I don’t know how to describe it…more feeling would be the best way.” Keira hesitantly replied, loving the sunsets in L.A., and sighed in sheer contentment as she ran a hand through her hair. “It was nice of you to come by to see me again. I honestly didn’t expect to ever see you after our…last time.”

John looked down, closing his eyes painfully shut, and nodded back at her as he admitted, “Yeah well, to tell you the truth, neither did I. But I changed my mind.”

“Why did you change your mind?” She asked him inquisitively, not looking at him, truly wondering what had snapped in his mind to come back to her for a second round.

Sighing and shrugging his shoulders absentmindedly, seriously not knowing the answer to her question. “I don’t know, I didn’t know for sure if this is what would happen the second visit.” John finally said, not sure if it was truly how he felt or not because he was just as confused as Keira was at this time.

Laughing dubiously at his answer, Keira raked a hand through her hair and finally turned around to face him as she retorted plainly, “What did you expect to happen, John? It was a nice fuck session and you came to get what you wanted, which you did, like last time.”

“Now wait a damn minute, Keira! You’re the one who didn’t want this to go any farther than sex.” John accused, crossing his arms in front of his chest, standing up from the couch staring at her hardening now.

“Yeah so? What’s your point?” She retorted bluntly, placing her hands on her hips, and started getting angry at John for what he’d said. Making it look like it was all HER fault and not HIS even though that was far from the truth.

“You seemed like you wanted more for a minute, like I upset you.” John replied simply, his voice low and serious, but never uncrossed his arms for an instant.

Shaking her head, lying through her teeth at him, Keira replied, “No of course not, John. I just assumed that since we just had sex that you would be on your way back on the road like last time.” She explained, hiding the pain that was currently started to resurface to the top and into her heart again.

“I was just hoping we could hang out.” John mumbled, causing Keira to raise her eyebrow up at him, and wondered if he was serious. When she seen the look his blue eyes gave off, she immediately wiped the smile from her face and didn’t know what to do or say to that request.

Hanging out never transpired between the two because they ended having sex two more times that night before John finally left. Keira was alone again and more confused than ever before, but at least this time, she hadn’t cried herself to sleep. As she fell asleep that night in her bedroom, Keira couldn’t help, but wonder if she would ever see John again. Unbeknownst to her, in his hotel room, John was thinking the exact same thing as sleep claimed both their tired and exhausted bodies.

Chapter 8

After that night of three sex encounters with Keira, John couldn’t stay away from her even if his life depended on it. Her mind was sealed inside his head and wasn’t leaving anytime soon. John had tried dating other women on the road because Keira told him it was fine with her, but none of them compared to her. So now here he was, laying on her bed, breathing heavily from yet another gathering, and tried to catch his breath. They’d been doing this for the past year and John was starting to wonder if Keira would ever want to settle down with him. He’d brought up the possibility of a relationship to her every single time they had sex and she shot it down every time.

Keira was all smiles as she leaned over, kissing his lips softly and stood up as she began to dress, and asked, “Are your thighs jelly yet?” This was the third sexual encounter between them and Keira could only hope they didn’t engage in another.

John exhaled loudly, finally getting his heart rate back on track, and replied, “Yeah…I think if I attempt to stand up right now though, I’d have a temporary moment of paralysis.”

She couldn’t help, but laugh at his statement and walked over to him, refusing to put a bra on, and sat on the bed on her knees again. “I’m perfectly fine.” Keira winked down at him, causing him to smirk right back at her.

“Well of course YOU are.” He sarcastically responded, trying to get the feeling back in his legs and thighs. “You’re not the one who had to do most of the work.” John added in a retort, causing her to scoff back at him.

“Whatever, Junior.” Keira muttered before walking over to her mirror, groaning aloud at what she seen. “Jesus, my hair looks like a fuckin’ tornado ripped through it!” She exclaimed, causing John to grin from ear to ear.

“That’s because it did, baby.” John shot back at her, smirking wickedly, and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Keira shot a glare at him over her shoulder and picked up her brush, beginning to brush her hair out, wincing at few times from the tangles, and finally was able to brush through her hair completely after spending ten minutes straight brushing it out. She set her brush down and walked back over to him, finally coming up with a smartass comeback, “Yeah, thanks to someone’s hormones going insane!”

Raising an eyebrow up at her, wondering if he heard her right, John sat up in the bed and questioned, “MY hormones??? YOU were the one initiating most of it, if I recall.” He accused, causing her to roll her eyes back at him as her own eyebrow quirked, refusing to take the blame for all of it.

“Uhh and if I RECALL, YOU were the one who pulled me down on the bed and passionately kissed me until my toes went numb, initiating the THIRD bout.” She blasted back, causing John to smirk back at her, and couldn’t deny that factor.

“You loved every minute of it.” He growled back playfully, remembering the moment that had happened moments before they tore each other’s ass apart. John sighed as he finished dressing, but opted to leave his shirt off just to tease Keira some more. He leaned back against the pillows and ran a hand through his hair as he informed her, “We leave this state in a couple days.”

Keira closed her eyes, glad her back was to him, and bit her bottom lip as it began to quiver, twiddling her thumbs, and invited, “Well…If you ever feel like another romp is in order, feel free to stop by.” Keira stood up from the bed and walked over to the window, peering out it in, and felt like a complete slut at that moment.

John chuckled quietly back at her, not catching the sadness in her voice, and looked down at his lap, feeling something in the pit of his stomach wasn’t right, “Sure…” He trailed off and finally stood up from the bed, stretching his arms in the air, and groaned with relief as he added, “I feel a bit more stable now.”

“Stable?” Keira questioned him, never tearing her eyes from the window, too deep in her own thoughts and misery to look in his eyes at the moment.

He looked at her and replied, “Yeah, you know, I can walk again.” John chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair and started to stretch his legs, still not believing he went three times with her. There was so much sexual energy between them that John nearly lost his head the first round! He couldn’t help it though, he wanted to be with Keira. John couldn’t explain it, but there was just something about her that made him feel…complete. ‘I just wish I could tell her how I felt without getting the boot again.’ He thought sadly, but managed to keep a smile on his adorable face.

Keira walked over as she stood over him, her eyes twinkling with pure evil intentions, and brought her hand down hard, slapping his thigh, and stated, “Yup, you can feel’em.”

A loud yelp sounded from John’s lips as he rubbed his thigh, glaring playfully up at her, and Keira just giggled back in return. She walked out of the room, saying she needed something to drink, and John decided to follow, looking around the house. “So…I guess I’ll get goin’. Unless there was something else you wanted to do.” He implied, causing Keira to smirk over her shoulder at him.

“What else can we do besides…you know?” She questioned, pouring herself a glass of iced tea, and put it back in the fridge before turning around again.

He smiled dryly back at her, knowing she had a point, shrugged his shoulders, and replied vaguely, “You’re right there. I mean, we tried hanging out once and that…didn’t go as planned.”

“She nodded back at him and took a long swig of her tea, sighing with relief that she no longer had a dry throat, and softly agreed, “Right you are.”

“So…Maybe I can see you again before I leave California?” John asked, hope shining in his eyes that she’d finally consider going on an actual date with him, and sighed when she made yet another joke.

“You mean see ALL of me right?” She retorted playfully and winked at him before past him out of the kitchen and into the living room, seeing it was night time out yet again. “Sure, that’s fine with me. I’d like to see all of you again too.” Keira added for good measure, giggling wickedly, and clapped her hands twice, causing the fireplace to roar to life before her.

John nodded back at her, feeling used and mistreated on the inside, like a slut, and sighed, “Great…Well take it easy until next time.” He started to turn around, heading for the door, when he voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

Keira could feel something wasn’t right, like he resented her for what they’d been doing, and stood up, wanting to be reassured that everything was alright between them. “Listen John, I want you to that I really enjoy our times together when we’re…ya know….and I don’t’ want you feeling used or anything. I just look at it as having someone I can be with to make my life a little better. If you don’t want to do this anymore than don’t. Just tell me and I’ll understand, but don’t hide it.” She enlightened, wanting to clarify to him exactly how she felt about the situation so he didn’t think of her as being a slut or a whore because that wasn’t who Keira was at all. John had been the ONLY man she’d slept with in years, even when he was out on the road, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

His shoulders slumped as he slowly turned around, his saddened blue eyes scorching hers, and replied lowly, “I like being with you too, Keira. I do, but it just seems like we should be taking the next step now.”

Not expecting to hear that and feeling completely taken by surprise, Keira sighed regretfully and shook her head as she stated, “I’m sorry, but I’ll never go to the next step with you, John. This is as far as it will go so you either deal with it or don’t come back.” After giving him that ultimatum, Keira stalked out of the house and onto the veranda, feeling the tears already brimming her eyelids. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go to the next step because Keira really was starting to fall for John. Her past was coming back to haunt her again and she was scared to death that it would end up like the last time. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she buried her head on the balcony ledge, sniffling harshly, and thought, ‘Why can’t he just leave well enough alone?’

John couldn’t believe what just happened, what he just heard come from her mouth, and started clenching his fists angrily. His teeth gritted as he decided to have it out with her in hopes of getting her to open up to him about why she wouldn’t go out with him in a real relationship. That’s all he wanted, he was tired of feeling used and like a gigolo, even though Keira was the only woman he’d slept with since his divorce with Kimberly. Walking out on the veranda, John’s heart broke upon hearing her sobs, and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck before stating, “I want you to tell me why you can’t go out with me.”

The tears flowed harder when she heard his voice from behind her, causing her to quickly wipe them away, and shot back angrily, “There is no reason, I’m just not ready to date.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me that then?” John pried, needing to know more information, and looked straight at her, even through the darkness of night.

Turning her head so her face was looking back at him, Keira shrugged her shoulders and lied, “I don’t know, it never came up.”

John quirked his eyebrow up at her, not believing she just said that when all he’s ever tried to do was get her to go on one date with him! “Never came up? I’ve mentioned it to you almost every time we’ve seen each other and you always shoot me down!” He reminded, causing Keira to cringe on the inside, and knew she’d been caught lying to him. “What’s going on, Keira?”

Throwing her hands up in the air and getting frustrated, Keira felt her head begin to pound as she shouted in a retort, “What do you want me to say, John?! I’ve been avoiding it for a REASON, alright?” Her voice emphasized the word reason to him, hoping he’d just drop it and go on his way like always.

“Then tell me the reason why, Keira!” He yelled, his voice getting louder, not caring about anything else at the moment, but trying to break this stubborn headed woman down.

“No!!” She screamed at him, tears stinging her eyes, and tried to calm down as she closed them, willing them to go back in, but it was no use. One by one, they started trickling down her cheeks as her chest rose and fell rapidly. “I’m not telling you anything because it’s none of your damn business!!”

John’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, staring at her with a hardening look on his features, and growled back, “Fine then, we’ll just end everything right here and now. I don’t feel like being used anymore. That’s an old phase for me.” His true feelings were finally starting to surface and Keira just laughed incredulously at him.

“YOU’RE the one who kept coming back for more, John! I never ONCE asked you to come back or forced you into having sex with me!! You did it on your own!!” Keira barked, her midnight blue eyes turning stone black with rage as her teeth began to grit and her jaw began to tighten.

It was John’s turn to laugh dubiously back at her as he shook his head and blasted back, “Never asked me to come back, huh? The FIRST time we had sex you said you would be MORE than willing to fuck again!!” He accused her, causing her to simply smirk back at him, though this time, it wasn’t a playful one.

“Yeah so?” She retorted swiftly and ran a hand through her hair. “That didn’t mean I told you to come back! You did it on your OWN accord so quit trying to assume that I wanted you to come back because it makes U and ME look like an ASS!”

John was BEYOND steamed at this point, not believing the audacity of this woman, and snarled, “You know what then? Fine. Fuck this shit! I don’t have time to be sleeping around with you anymore.”

“Fine, then don’t! There’s the door and don’t let it hit you on the ass on the way out!” Keira sneered back, glaring at him hatefully by now, and turned around, staring out at the horizon, breathing heavily. The amount of anger flowing through her veins was enough to make Keira start to physically shake, not believing the intensity the argument brought on. Just when she started to calm down, Keira gasped as a hand came out of nowhere, whipping her around ruthlessly, and ended up staring up into a pair of raged filled blue eyes. “What the fuck do you want now?”

He couldn’t leave well enough alone before getting the last word in, which is why he was holding her arm in his vice grip, not caring if it left a bruise or not, and growled in a low, deadly voice, “You know, you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life, girl. We would’ve had something damn good together.” He informed her, causing to Keira to glare back at him in defiance, and ripped her arm out of his grip.

“No, you made the mistake by coming back and grabbing my arm like you just did. Now you pay.” She replied treacherously before bringing her right hand back and jacked him in the face, right in his nose, and pushed him away from her forcefully as he fell to the deck of the veranda and planted her foot firmly on his chest.

Shock fell over his face as he stared up at her, touching his nose a little, and then started to get up, seeing there was blood on his hand, and snarled furiously, “You BITCH!!”

That earned him a kick in the stomach for his efforts and brought his head up by the roots of his hair, kneeing him in his nose again, causing him to bellow out in pain as he tried to get away from her, but Keira wasn’t about to let him go that easily. She looked down into his eyes, hers filled with annoyance and rage, and spat, “If you’re quite done spewing profanity at me, you son of a bitch, I have more IMPORTANT things to worry about.”

Coughing out a little, trying to get the breath back in his body, John sneered up at her and shouted, “Then get your fuckin’ foot off of me and go DO them!!”

She smirked down at him wickedly and lowered herself, straddling him, and grabbed his face forcefully in her hands as she growled, “The next time you call me something like that, I’ll kick you in the balls so hard, they’ll be lodged in your fuckin’ throat!!” Keira then stood up from him, dusting herself off as if she’d been in a war, and walked back into the house, slamming the screen door shut behind her.

Twenty minutes later, John came limping into the living room while Kelly and Keira were talking, and managed to grit out while holding his nose in the air, “I’ll be leaving now.”

Kelly gave him a pathetic smile, not believing he’d actually had the nerve to grab Keira by the arm, and looked over at her cousin as she nodded. “I’ll walk you out.” Keira shot back as she stood from the couch, winking over her shoulder at her cousin, and proceeded to do just that. Once they were outside and down the marble steps, John took a few steps away from her, not wanting to get his ass kicked even more than what she did. “Relax, I’m not going to hit you again unless you deserve it.” Keira assured him, causing John to ignore her, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Whatever.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes back at her, and opened his car door, starting to get in, but Keira’s voice stopped him.

“That really hurt when you called me that back there, John. What’s happened to you? You used to be this sweet decent guy I enjoyed being with?” She questioned, curiosity swelling in her eyes and mind, even her heart.

John shrugged back at her, not showing one ounce of remorse, and looked back at her before getting in the driver’s seat of his rental car before replying vaguely, “You showed your true colors to me. You already know what my feelings were.”

“And what ARE my TRUE colors, John?” Keira gritted back, staring at him with a raised eyebrow, and placed her hands on her hips.

“Well, you like to use guys for sex, and when they try to show you that they care about you in more than just a sexual way, you blow them off.” John replied swiftly, not realizing he’d just plunged a stake through Keira’s heart with that comment.

The anger started boiling out of control as Keira glared spitefully back at him and ripped the car door open, dragging him by his muscle shirt out of it, and shoved him away from her as far as she could. The tears were stinging her eyes, but she didn’t care as her finger pointed at him daringly and stated lethally, “Listen to me good, Cena, you are the ONLY guy I’ve had sex with in FIVE years! FIVE!! So before you start accusing me of fuckin’ every guy I lay my eyes on, you better remember who you’re fucking with!!”

Rage flashed in John’s blue eyes as he stared back at her, his eyes narrowed to slits, and corrected harshly, “WAS fucking with! I won’t be doing that again, trust me.”

“I understand that, but I’m not going to allow you to accuse me of sleeping with different men when I’ve only slept with TWO men in my ENTIRE life!!” Keira shouted, her heart breaking into a million pieces because she didn’t want John thinking of her as being a woman who went around having sex with all different types of men when that was FAR from the truth.

“Well that’s good for you, Keira. But maybe the next guy who comes along will actually have a chance of having a REAL relationship with you.” He argued viciously and dusted himself off from the gravel she’d caused him to fall on. The girl was stronger than she looked, he’d give her that much credit.

Keira was becoming extremely frustrated and felt like ripping her hair out of her skull as she stated hardening, “If you only knew the reason why I don’t want a relationship, you’d feel like a really big asshole right now, John.”

“I TRIED asking you that SEVERAL times and all I’ve ever got was ‘It’s none of your fuckin’ business, John!’” He mocked her, staring at her with widened eyes, and raked a hand through his hair viciously.

“Maybe because it isn’t. I don’t have to relive it if I don’t want to and believe me, I never want to again. I’ll leave you with that.” She replied cruelly before walking away from him, her shoulders slumped in defeat, and turned around as he peeled out of her driveway and down the street. “Goodbye, John.” Keira whispered, finally allowing a few tears to slide down her cheeks, and made her way back inside the house, wishing she didn’t have a heart.

Chapter 9

Her heels clicked against the marble flooring of the hotel, heading toward the receptionist desk and wheeled her bag of luggage behind her. A smile adorned her face as she ran a hand through her long, black hair, finally arriving at the desk, and looked at the receptionist, waiting patiently for his attention. He looked up, staring at the beautiful woman before him, and felt his palms get sweaty instantly as he smiled at her and asked, “How may I help you, ma’am?”

“Yes, I have a reservation under the name Carlson.” She replied, causing him to smile gently back at her, and typed the last name in the computer system.

“Alright, one reservation under the name Keira Carlson, room 295” He confirmed, smiling softly back at her, and handed her over the key card.

“Thank you.” Keira said and walked away from the desk, toward the elevator, and walked onto it. She quickly walked inside her room a few minutes later and placed her bag near the door, running a hand through her hair, and couldn’t believe she was actually here.

It had been a year and Keira had worked incredibly hard on her stories, completely throwing her attention into it, and Janet became very intrigued with them. They were filled with raw passion, love, deceit, heartache, everything a great book should have in it, combined with mystery. She finally started working on getting Keira a book published and landed it with a publishing company in New York City. They made the deal for Keira to do a three month book tour across the entire country and Keira was more than willing to do so. She was sick of sitting at home, crying her eyes out over John, and figured this would be a great way to get over him. Keira hadn’t thought about him in months, ever since Janet called her with the fantastic news, and remembered how thrilled it’d made her with the news.

“I’m finally here.” She whispered softly and walked over to the window, staring out at the beautiful lights, and couldn’t believe her book signing was that morning.

A knock sounded at her door, causing Keira’s head to whip around, and walked over to answer it, smiling when she seen Janet on the other side. “You’re looking stunning.” Janet complimented, hugging her friend tightly, and grinned.

“You’re beautiful.” Keira replied wholesomely, breaking the friendly hug, and ushered her inside, closing the door behind her. “Take a seat, what something to drink?” She asked, causing Janet to smile softly with a nod.

“Scotch on the rocks.” Janet answered, causing Keira to roll her eyes playfully, and poured the liquor in the glass. She then poured a shot of Jack Daniels for herself before walking over to Janet and handed it to her, sitting down on the bed. Sipping the liquor slowly, Janet, ran her fingers over the glass, and asked, “Nervous about tomorrow?”

“Petrified.” Keira admitted, looking down at the liquor in her glass, and started swirling it around absentmindedly. “But this is my dream and I’m going to live it up to the fullest.”

They clinked the glasses together, smiling softly at each other, and downed the rest of their drinks before setting the glasses aside. “I came here to tell you that there’s going to be a signing beside yours tomorrow. We found out at the last minute so I hope you’re not angry with me.” Janet gently confessed, running a hand through her golden blonde hair, and bit her bottom lip.

“No, of course I’m not mad at you. I’ll have my own fans and they’ll have theirs. It’ll be a special occasion either way.” Keira stated confidently, winking over at her publicist, and Janet smiled back at her in relief.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that. Now, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming book tour. You’re going to be starting it here in the Big Apple and ending it back home in L.A.” Janet informed her, causing Keira to nod in understanding, and couldn’t wait to travel the country. “Three huge cities every week. You’re first cities are going to consist of here, Washington D.C., and Raleigh, North Carolina. That’s the first week. The second week will be Washington D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, and Disney World in Orlando, Florida…” Janet was about to go on, but had to stop when Keira started squealing with pure delight.

“DISNEY WORLD!?” She shrieked and jumped up from the bed, not believing her dreams were coming true. “Oh my GOD! Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always DREAMED of going to Disney World! How long will I be?” Keira asked excitedly, causing Janet to laugh at her, and ran a hand through her hair.

“I believe they said two or three days.” Janet responded, causing Keira to frown a bit, knowing that wasn’t long at all, but was happy nonetheless that she was going to Disney World. She proceeded to tell Keira the rest of her schedule, which consisted of 36 different towns, most being capitals of the states, altogether.

Janet finally took her leave, leaving Keira alone, and she decided a shower was in order. She walked over to her bag, pulling out some sleeping clothes, and peeled out of the ones she had on, walking into the bathroom. As soon as the hot, steamy water hit her face, Keira was in pure heaven as her eyes drifted shut, sighing in contentment and suddenly, John entered her mind. They hadn’t spoken in a year and Keira hoped he was happy with the way his life was going just she was with hers. She had to admit, if she had to do it over again, she would’ve told him the real reason behind not starting up a relationship with him, but that was behind her and it was time to move on.

The following day, Keira walked into the building where her book signing was taking place, carrying her book, and had a huge smile beautified her face. Her outfit was sexy, but professional and consisted of a dark gray skirt that went one inch above the knee and hugged all of her curves nicely. The top was a white blouse that buttoned up the front and had a matching cardigan over it. Her hair was curly and down, hugging her waist perfectly, and had natural makeup on, except the black eyeliner that outlined her midnight blue eyes. To finish off the outfit, she had white high heels that had a two inch heel and clicked softly against the granite flooring of the building.

Janet was standing on the sidelines, speaking with the leader of operations, and smiled when she seen Keira walk in. She excused herself and walked over, hugging Keira tightly, and pulled back as she stated, “You look fantastic!! Are you ready?” She asked, smiling softly, and Keira nodded, taking deep breathes to calm her racing heart. “Great! Come on, I wanna introduce you to Manager who made this all possible.” She stated and Keira let her drag her over, causing the man to turn around to stare into her eyes. “Mr. Swinger, this is Keira Carlson, the author and novelist of Forever.”

He smiled softly back down at her and extended his hand, causing Keira to shakily slip her hand in his, and greeted, “It’s nice meeting you, Ms. Carlson. You did a fantastic job on that novel.”

“Thanks.” Keira softly replied, not believing how nervous she was, and walked away from him as Janet guided her over to the table.

The book signing went off without any problems, much to Keira and Janet’s relief, and it lasted four straight hours. Keira refused to leave any fan unsatisfied so she went an extra two hours just to sign the remaining books. Janet thought this was extremely sweet and Mr. Swinger didn’t seem to mind, not believing what passion and initiative this woman had in her. When the final book was signed, Keira was exhausted and starving to say the least. She hadn’t eaten because of too much anxiety and nervousness running through her, but now that her first book signing went off great, she was ready to chow.

Walking out of the building after bidding Janet and Mr. Swinger farewell, Keira started walking down the sidewalk, her heels clicking against the gravel below, and stopped when a voice sounded behind her. Slowly turning around, Keira’s eyes widened in shock at who it was as she covered her mouth with her hand and surprisingly asked, “John?”

He smiled sheepishly back at her, his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jean shorts, and nodded as he softly replied, “Hi Keira.” John was the one who had the autograph signing next door to hers and had noticed her walk into the building, wondering what she was doing in New York City. His assistant told him that it was a book signing and it would be inside, which intrigued John. He didn’t know for sure if it was her or not and clarified his suspicions when she walked out of the building just now, causing him to run away from his assistant, who was talking to him about the next signing.

Keira simply looked back at him, not sure what to think or say, and took a deep breath, shock still evident in her eyes. Finally finding her voice and swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat, Keira softly replied, “Hi.”

“It’s…surprising to see you here.” John hesitantly said and adverted his gaze to the ground, wondering if it was smart approaching her like this or not.

Running a hand through her hair and nodding in the same respect, Keira sighed as she bit her bottom lip and said, “Yeah…This is so…unexpected. How have you been?” She asked, seeing there was no reason why they couldn’t have a civil conversation.

John nodded in agreement with her, not believing he’d actually ran into her again, and simply answered with a shrug of his shoulders, “I’ve been alright. Keeping busy. How about you?” He asked, curious as to how she’d made it all the way to New York City.

Keira smiled a little, hearing how he’d been doing, and ran a hand through her hair as she replied, “I’m actually here for my book signing…or WAS my book signing. I ended up top seller on New York Times Best Seller list so they flew me out here with accommodations and everything for the weekend.”

“That’s amazing!” John praised, not believing how far she’d come in the past year, and was honestly proud of her for accomplishing her goal. “Congratulations, Keira!”

Smiling proudly at him and nodding, a huge smile crossing her lips, Keira stated, “Thank you. I’m pretty damn proud of myself for it too. It’s my dream and it finally came true after years of hard work and determination. I didn’t get here on a pedestal. I had to EARN my way here.”

“You should be proud. That’s amazing and you deserve it.” John honestly replied, truly proud of her accomplishment and actually felt pleased that she was standing before him at that moment.

“Thanks John, that means a lot.” She softly responded, suddenly growing quiet as she bit her bottom lip, wondering what else they could talk about. “well, I should get going back to the hotel…”

John nodded in understanding, knowing she was probably exhausted from the signing, and said, “Yeah, I don’t want to keep you. So…Good luck with everything.” He watched as she nodded, telling him the same thing, and started to walk away, out of his life again, and felt his heart quench with pain. ‘I can’t let her slip through my fingers again.’ He thought and immediately ran after her, seeing she had crossed the street, and bolted, not wanting to get hit by any cars, and finally reached out, grabbing her by the arm, only this time, it wasn’t hard and fierce.

Keira stared up into his eyes, her own sparkling back at him, and smirked, looking down at his hand, and murmured softly, “Déjà vu.”

Smiling back down at her, his eyes intense with emotion, and not releasing her, John softly asked, “Do you want to go get some grub with me? We could catch up on things.” He suggested, causing her to look back at him in surprise.

Her entire body began responding to his touch, remembering it like it was yesterday, and bit her bottom lip as she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes before responding, “Sure, I’d like that.” Keira giggled when he extended his arm to her, causing her to link it through his, and proceeded to walk down the street together toward a little Italian café. They were seated at a table and just the smell alone caused Keira’s mouth to water with anticipation, smiling softly at John. She took her cardigan off, draping it over her chair, and ran a hand through her hair as she commented, “This is a beautiful diner.”

John smiled back at her attentively and couldn’t help, but think, ‘Not as beautiful as you.’ Of course, he wouldn’t say that out loud and took a sip of his water that was set down in front of them. “So, how’s life been treatin’ ya?” He asked, wanting to start a conversation with her, and couldn’t believe they were actually in a restaurant instead of a bedroom, couch, or anywhere that they could screw each other’s brains out. It was a nice change of scenery and John didn’t want it to end.

“It’s been wonderful. This is just so surreal to me still, like something out of a dream.” Keira replied thoughtfully, taking a sip of her own water, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before folding them in her lap. “How about you?”

“It’s been good. I’m the champ again so that’s been a busy road.” John answered, chomping on a breadstick after the waitress set it down in front of them, winking at John flirtatiously in the process.

Keira narrowed her eyes a bit, wanting to poke her eyeballs out, but thought better of it as she simply smiled sweetly at John. “That’s wonderful, John! Congrats on doing that.” Just to tick the flirting waitress off, Keira reached across the table and took his hand in hers, stroking it gently with her thumb, and smirked wickedly as the waitress stormed off angrily from them.

John was fixated on Keira before him, still not believing this was happening, and didn’t even notice what she’d done to their waitress as he stared in her eyes. It was so great seeing her again, being here with her in New York City, and wondered if she still felt those old feelings for him as she did a year ago. They ate their food in silence, both famished from their signings that day, and John ended up paying the bill, much to Keira’s dismay. She put up a Hell of a fight though, being stubborn as ever, and grumbled the entire time as John paid for her meal. He also decided to walk her back to her hotel since it’d gotten dark outside, and shook his head when he realized they were in the same hotel.

As they arrived outside of her hotel room, Keira smiled up at him gently and spoke softly, “Thank you for dinner, John. It was great seeing you again.”

“You too, Keira.” He murmured back in a low, husky voice, and couldn’t help himself any longer. Cupping her face in his hand, their eyes locking together, John dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers, causing Keira to moan softly against them as her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck.

Chapter 10

Her heart exploded with passion and happiness as their chests pressed together, moaning softly in his mouth as their tongues twirled together, and backed up, taking him with her. Slipping her key card out of her purse, Keira somehow slid it in the slot, unlocking her hotel room, and pushed the door open, never breaking the kiss John had bestowed on her. He kicked the door shut behind him and lifted her up by her ass, causing her legs to instinctively wrap around his waist, and pressed her against the nearest wall. The old feelings swept over him as he ran his strong hands down her sides, loving the feel of her curves against them, and slowly slid her cardigan from her shoulders, letting it drop on the floor. Keira ran her hands up and down his chest, underneath his jersey, and moaned louder as his warm skin came in contact with her cold hands.

The kiss broke momentarily as she stared into his eyes, which darkened to a midnight blue while hers turned black with ecstasy. She pulled the jersey up and over his head, dropping it to the floor of clothes that were starting to pile up, and kissed him once more, loving the feel of his lips against hers. It had been too long since their last encounter and Keira was aching for him to be inside of her. To feel his power and strength as he thrusted in and out of her harder and faster while she cried out his name in pure elation. She licked her lips in pure anticipation as he unbuttoned her blouse, ripping his lips from hers, and began trailing them down her shoulder and up her neck.

“Are you sure about this?” He whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers of desire down her spine, and nipped at her tender flesh, pressing her firmly against the wall.

Within minutes, clothes were flying everywhere as John slowly slid inside of her, filling her to the core, and grunted out at the familiar feelings erupted inside of him. “Oh John…” She sighed in sheer contentment, running her hands through his hair and down his back as he started thrusting in and out of her nice and slow. The pace was driving her mad, but she didn’t want it to go any faster, wanting this to last, and kissed his chin as their eyes locked together.

Pressing his forehead against hers, John kept her against the wall as he thrusted up, hitting her G-Spot, and felt something different come over him. Their eyes never tore from each other as the encounter intensified, Keira rubbing the back of his neck and John caressing every inch of her body that he could reach. Soon, their bodies came together as one as her screams filled the room and his ear, causing John to lose all sense of reality as her release triggered his. He rode out her orgasm, holding her close to him, and kissed her lips softly once it was over and he went limp inside. Their bodies were covered with sweat from the intense passion they just experienced with each other and pressed their foreheads together, breathing extremely erratic.

Keira’s head rested on his shoulder, her heart pounding furiously in her chest, and tried to calm down. Her eyes shut tightly, holding onto him for dear life, and John held her to him the same way, not wanting to say something idiotic to ruin the moment. After feeling her heart rate come back to normal, Keira looked up into his eyes and smiled as she softly whispered, “That was incredible.”

John chuckled quietly as he nodded, looking back into her beautiful eyes, and murmured back, “Yes it was.” He kissed her lips softly and finally found the strength in his legs to carry her over to the bed, laying down, and spooned up beside her, kissing her neck softly. “Wasn’t quite expecting this to happen…” He admitted, trailing his words off, and hoped that didn’t upset her.

“Me either, but I’m glad it did.” She replied honestly, snuggling further into his strong body, and John grinned as he held her close to him, closing his eyes.

Silence surrounded the room as John held her tightly to his body, never wanting to let her go, but knew they had some talking to do. “Can I ask you somethin’, Keira?” He quietly asked in her ear, causing her to nod as she smiled, and turned over so she was laying on his back, staring up at him. John ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, not sure how to start this out, and finally said, “I was just thinkin’ about that night I left your house. You know, the fight we had. I left on bad terms and I feel really bad about it, to this day.” He was being one hundred percent honest with her and Keira sighed, knowing they’d have to talk about this sooner or later.

She slowly sat up on the bed, peeling his arms from her, and bit her bottom lip as she ran a hand through her hair, nodding back at him. “Yeah, I was just thinking about that.” Keira admitted, causing her to gain John’s full attention, and raised an eyebrow up at him. “Did you read my mind?” She joked, trying to lighten the tension that flowed through them.

“No, but it’s been on my mind ever since that day.” John confessed, cracking a small smile at her joke, but wanted this to be serious between them for a minute.

“Mine too.” Keira declared, running a hand through her hair, and slowly stood up from the bed, knowing now was the time to tell John what she should’ve a year ago. “I haven’t been able to let it go and it’ s been eating away at me slowly for the past year.”

John sighed, nodding in agreement with her, feeling the exact same way, and mumbled, “Well, I guess I’m not the only one then.” Silence came between them again as John stood up, walking over to stand behind her, and decided to speak from his heart. “I don’t want to lose you again, Keira.”

Feeling her bottom lip begin to tremble, Keira shook her head and closed her eyes tightly shut, not turning around to face him, and stared out the window, trying to get her thoughts in order. “I don’t want to lose you again either, John ,but I’m not looking for a relationship.” She made it clear, not wanting to make the same mistake or have the same fight that they did with each other a year ago.

He sighed, feeling a little sad that she still didn’t want to be in a relationship with him, but wasn’t about to lose her again because of his male stubbornness. “I know that.” He spoke quietly. “I won’t pry anymore, but…I just want to be friends.” John conveniently left out the part with benefits for his own, not wanting to upset her anymore than she apparently already was.

“With benefits, right?” She mumbled back, sighing heavily and rubbing her arms with her hands as her eyes remained staring out the window of her hotel room.

“Only if you want that.” John assured her, not wanting her to think he was pressuring her into anything like that. All he wanted was to be apart of her life, no matter what it was, and was fine if she didn’t want to have the benefits as an added deal to the friendship.

“I don’t think I could be JUST your friend, John.” Keira mumbled back, raking a hand through her hair, and sucked her lips together as she tried getting her mind and heart to stop fighting over this situation.

John smiled back at her as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered softly in her ear, “I feel the same way.”

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Keira removed his hands from her shoulders, and closed her eyes as she stated, “John, there’s something I need to tell you, something that I should’ve told you the first time you asked me why we couldn’t be in a relationship.”

His full attention was fixated on her now, the statement sparking his interest, and couldn’t believe he was about to find out the truth. “Alright…” He trailed off, backing away, and sat down on the bed, facing her, and waited patiently.

Keira could already feel the tears burning her eyes, slowly feeling her heart clenching at the painful memories her past brought forth, and took a cavernous breath before starting her story. “I dated one boy my entire life, from freshman year in high school, and all four years throughout. We graduated together and everyone thought we were the couple of a lifetime. People said we reminded them of Cory and Topanga from the show Boy Meets World and I thought so too, which is why I immediately said yes when he proposed to me the night of our graduation.” She stopped for a minute, needing to take a few breaths, and calm her racing heart. John simply sat on the bed, not saying a word, but Keira could tell he wanted her to continue. “We both decided that marriage could wait and wanted to build our careers first. He wanted to be an engineer and I wanted to be a writer, which I am now. Anyway, three years passed, which meant SEVEN years of us being together, and we finally set a date for the wedding. I thought everything was fine, I thought we were going to grow old together and die happy in each other’s arms. I was so completely in love with him that I was blind and naïve and couldn’t see what he was doing behind my back. I thought I was going to have his babies and we could become one big, happy fairytale family. That never happened though.” She stopped again, already feeling huge tears sliding down her cheeks as the memories flowed over her like a tsunami wave.

“What happened?” John asked, his voice low and quiet, but comforting as he looked at her intently, even though she wasn’t looking back at him.

Gripping the window sill with her hands as she continued staring out at the city lights, Keira knew she had to continue as she continued, “The night before our wedding day, I had my sister, my ONLY sister, come over and stay with me. We got pretty trashed, but I still remember everything that happened to this very day, this very second. She told me that my fiancé, the love of my life, the man I thought I was going to spend eternity with, fucked her brains out a few nights prior to our wedding day and that they had been having an affair for the past four years.” By now, huge tears were flowing down her cheeks like two raging rivers as the pain and heartache pierced her heart and her entire body began to tremble horribly.

John closed his eyes upon hearing that and shook his head, feeling completely terrible about what he did to her in the pass. ‘I’m an asshole.’ He thought, not believing he’d actually pressured her into having a relationship with him. “God…..That’s horrible.” He whispered out regretfully, not believing someone could do that to such a beautiful woman like Keira.

She squeezing her eyes shut and sniffled a little, a bitter laugh escaping her lips, and stated, “It gets better. Turns out, my ENTIRE family knew about it and didn’t tell me. They kept it from me and the ONLY family member who didn’t know was Kelly, which is why she’s the only one I keep in contact with. So the next day, I refused to show up at the wedding and left him at the altar and never looked back. I wanted him to feel heart broken and betrayed like I was. I moved in with Kelly the following week, after telling her what our family did, and she swore them off as well.”

“Kelly’s very loyal. I’m sorry that you’ve been jaded so horribly. I can’t even imagine goin’ through somethin’ like that.” John said, meaning what he said, and couldn’t believe what an asshole he’d been to her about the whole relationship thing. No wonder she didn’t want to be an a relationship! John wouldn’t want to be in one either if something like that ever happened to him, even if Kimberly had cheated on him. His family was everything to him and it would literally kill him if they ever kept something like that from him.

Raking a hand through her hair and frantically wiping her tears away, Keira nodded and bitterly said, “Not only had the love of my life betrayed me, but my entire family, except Kelly, had done the same thing. I felt so alone, like an outsider, and swore I would NEVER allow anything like that to happen to me again.” Keira vowed, as if redoing it again, and felt the biggest weight lift off of her shoulders now that she’d told John the reason.

Not able to take it anymore and standing up from the bed, John walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly to him. He kissed the top of her head, trying to comfort her the best he could, and softly said, “I understand now. You were right, I do feel like an ass.”

The emotional gates suddenly opened as Keira turned her face into his chest, burying it, and slumped her shoulders, sniffling as she shook her head. “Why they did it, to this day, I still don’t know and to be honest, I don’t want to know. All I know is that the only family I have is Kelly and I consider her my best friend, my supporter, my sister, everything to me.” Keira sobbed out, letting all of her emotions out in the open, and stepped out of the hug after a few minutes, looking down at the floor while wiping her tears away. “Now do you understand why I don’t want a relationship?”

His blue eyes adverted to the floor, nodding in response, and softly replied, “Yes, I completely understand why and I’m sorry for trying to force you into it.”

“It’s alright, you didn’t know, John. I should’ve told you from the beginning, but I was too wrapped up in our…sexapades…to even think about it until you brought it up. I just didn’t want to tell you something like this and have you pity me or whatever because I don’t want it.” Keira explained, running a hand through her hair, and sighed deeply as she tried to calm her racing heart from all the emotions that flowed through her while telling him about her past.

“No, no, no, I wouldn’t pity you.” John assured her. “And I certainly wouldn’t have pity sex with you either.”

“Good because I’d have to kick your ass if you did.” Keira shot back playfully, winking at him, and sighed with inner great relief at his words.

John smirked back at her coyly and chuckled a little as he nodded back at her, knowing she was capable of that, “Well, I’m glad you were honest with me.”

Keira nodded back at him while grabbing some clothes out of her bag, and slipped on her panties as she replied, “I felt you deserved to know the truth after all this time. Now that you know, what do you think about it?” she asked, truly curious about what his thoughts were on what her ex-fiancé did to her as well as her lousy family.

Clearing his throat and walking over to her, John took her hands in his and replied softly, “I think you are still a wonderful person and I still want to be friends with you. I won’t force any date talk on you anymore.” He promised, running his finger down her cheek, and Keira searched his eyes, smiling when she realized he was telling the truth.

“Thank you, John.” She whispered and leaned up on her tiptoes, brushing her lips softly against his, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. John closed his eyes as he hugged her back, kissing her neck, and silently vowed to always be there for her no matter what it took. He wasn’t interested in anyone else and he never would be because John knew he was completely in love with her. In time, she would fully heal from what her family and ex-fiancé did to her and when that happened, John would be right there, easing his way inside her heart, and show her what true love was all about.

Chapter 11

Throughout the entire book tour, John and Keira met up three times since their schedules would allow it, one of those places including Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was a spectacular time and they rode every ride they could get their hands on. Of course, with only having two days, one night, it was impossible to see the entire park, but they seen enough. Keira met her favorite Disney character, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, along with the other Disney princesses and princes. She even got pictures with all of them and gave them all a signed copy of her book, which they were extremely thrilled about. Her life was getting back on track finally and it was all thanks to John, along with her book tour.

Before Keira knew it, the three months had passed by, and she was finally home again. Nothing could’ve been better than sleeping in her own bed with all her new little trinkets around her room that she’d purchased in every city she went too, including Disney World. She’d splurged big time there, but who could blame her? Keira was all smiles as she walked downstairs, after sleeping for ten hours, and cracked her neck as she headed into the kitchen. Kelly had noticed something was going on with her cousin as she sat on the couch and decided to go see what was going on as she set the magazine she was reading on the table, heading into the kitchen.

She leaned against the kitchen doorway, seeing her cousin humming as she floated from one side to another, or so it seemed, and shook her head. ‘Something is DEFINITELY up.’ Kelly confirmed and cleared her throat, smirking when Keira turned around and smiled at her.

“Hey Kel, want something to eat?” Keira asked joyfully, her eyes sparkling with happiness, and proceeded to pour some noodles in a pot when the water began boiling.

“Sure…” She hesitantly responded, running a hand through her short blonde hair. “I was going to ask if you wanted to sit down so you could tell me all about your experience.”

Smiling softly with a nod, Keira pulled out the mayonnaise and replied, “Yeah, that’s fine. Just give me a minute to finish this up and I’ll be out to talk to you.” Kelly nodded back and walked out of the kitchen while Keira finished up the noodles while munching on a sandwich to tie her over. She was making spaghetti for dinner and decided to make the noodles first, even though it was morning.

Twenty minutes later, Keira walked out of the kitchen and sat down on the couch, causing Kelly to look up from her magazine and set it down as she smiled over at her cousin. “So, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?” Keira asked, taking a sip of her iced tea, and sighed happily, causing Kelly to raise her eyebrow at that.

“Why are you so…happy and smiley?” Kelly replied in question, causing Keira to quirk an eyebrow up at her this time, and set her glass of tea on the table in front of her.

No matter how hard Keira tried, she couldn’t wipe the suppressed smile from her lips as she grinned over at her cousin and murmured, “Oh nothing.” Her voice sang those words out practically, causing Kelly to smirk.

“Oh come on, you’ve been on cloud nine hundred ever since you got back from New York. What happened?” Kelly urged, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and looked at her cousin knowingly.

Giggling as she shook her head, pure happiness making her eyes sparkle, Keira sighed as she said, “Well, I met up with a very old friend in New York when I was there for the weekend of my book signing.”

Curiosity peeked her interest as Kelly gave her cousin her full attention and asked inquisitively, “Oh really? And who might that be?”

Keira bit her bottom lip as she ran a hand through her hair, the goofy smile still on her face, and stood up from the couch as she faced Kelly. “It was John.” She divulged. “He was there for an autograph signing and we met up and…” Her words trailed off as she took a deep breath. “I finally told him…everything.”

Kelly’s jaw dropped to the floor when she heard that and could only stare at her cousin in pure shock, not believing what she just heard. “You told him?” She questioned, wanting to clarify if she’d heard Keira right and Keira assured her. “Wow…Good for you, Keira! So what happened after that?” She pried slyly, her nosiness getting the better of her as she looked at her cousin intrigued.

Starting to hum and dancing around the living room, Keira laughed as she stopped in front of Kelly and replied coyly, “We agreed on having a friendship with benefits. He said he wants me and only me so I don’t have to worry about him finding anyone else and of course, I’m not going to find anyone else. He’s the first man I’ve trusted since Jason.”

Kelly smiled ear from ear as she listened to her cousin gush about John and happily said, “I can’t remember the last time you were this happy.”

Grinning back at her, Keira felt her heart flutter with pure elation, “I can’t remember the last time I was THIS happy either! He’s just…so wonderful and kind. He comforted me after I told him and said he wasn’t going to have pity sex with me because of it, that it was because he wants to.” Keira recalled, smiling when she heard the words replay in her mind and sighed dreamily.

“That’s great, Keira. I’m so happy for you! I hope everything works out.” She really meant everything that came out of her mouth as she hugged her tightly, thrilled that her cousin finally found someone else who wouldn’t stomp on her heart.

Keira danced over to her and hugged her tightly as she said appreciatively, “If it hadn’t been for you, Kelly, I would’ve never had the courage to tell him. Of course, I told him after we…ya know.” She winked at her cousin, causing Kelly to laugh at her with tears in her eyes, knowing all too well what her and John did. “It happened like totally unexpected.” She continued. “We ended up being on the same floor in the same hotel and he walked me to my door and kissed me. I couldn’t stop myself and before you knew it, he was making me scream his name out. It was so wonderful.” Keira sighed languorously, licking her dry lips, and couldn’t wait to see John again.

Clearing her throat, Kelly folded her arms in front of her chest and stated, “Okay that might be a bit too much information.” She playfully gagged, sticking her finger down her throat, but not too far to where she actually choked.

Smirking back at her cousin with her eyes flashing in mischief, Keira started taunting her as she described John, “The body on this man is totally insane…he’s even bigger than last time!” She exclaimed, causing Kelly cheeks to grow hot as she shook her head, holding her inflamed cheeks with her hands.

“Good Lord, Keira! Maybe you should write about it.” Kelly shot back in defense, and continued to hold her flaming cheeks.

“Way ahead of ya.” Keira swiftly retorted, grinning from ear to ear, and sighed with pure contentment as she leaned against the wall. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

Kelly shook her head and smirked, standing up from the couch, and started heading for the stairs, but Keira stopped her, “Wait Kelly, we need to talk about something else.” She insisted, suddenly becoming nervous as butterflies erupted in her stomach, biting her bottom lip nervously.

“Okay, what is it?” Kelly asked, placing her hands on her hips, and sighed when she seen the nervousness flowing through her cousin’s eyes. Whatever news it was, it wouldn’t be good.

“I’m thinking of moving to North Carolina in Carolina Beach.” Keira revealed, causing Kelly’s eyes to widen in shock, and slowly began to fill with pure sadness.

“Wow, really?” Kelly asked, the unhappiness evident in her voice, and the smile that was on her face slowly diminished.

“This isn’t going to change anything between us. You’re still my family and I love you deeply, but I have to do this in order to pursue my career.” Keira explained, feeling horrible inside for abandoning the only family she had left.

A phony smile spread across her face as she nodded in understanding and replied, “I understand, Keira. You have to live your life with no regrets. I’m just glad you’re finally happy again!” Her voice rose in volume, trying to sound cheerful for her cousin even though she was dying on the inside.

Tears brimmed her eyelids as Keira looked into her cousin’s eyes and asked hopefully, “You really mean that?”

Kelly nodded with a genuine smile this time and said, “Of course I mean it. And you better let me come visit.” She ordered, winking to smooth the tension that had erupted between them.

Keira laughed softly as she winked back at her cousin and hugged her tightly once more, tears streaming down her cheeks, and whispered softly in her ear, “Thank you for always being there for me and not betraying my trust.”

“You’re welcome, honey.” She replied wholesomely, hugging her cousin back, and knew she had to let Keira go, even though it was going to be hard to do.

Pulling out of the hug and anxiously wiping her tears away, Keira exclaimed, “I can’t be crying because I’m so damn happy!” She giggled a little, sniffling as she wiped her nose with a tissue Kelly had handed her. “Will you help me move there?” Keira asked expectantly and hoped Kelly didn’t have a problem helping her move. “I’m going to ask for John’s help too.”

“Absolutely! It would be a fun project.” She replied excitedly, smiling with sheer delight, truly happy for her cousin that she was finally moving on with her life.

Smirking back at her cousin with a raised eyebrow, Keira shot back, “Fun? No, it’s a fuckin’ nightmare when moving my shit.”

Kelly laughed, “Well, the physical part is grueling, I’ll admit, but that’s what we’ll have John for.” She giggled evilly and winked, causing Keira to smirk back at her cruelly as her eyes twinkled with naughtiness.

“He’ll do it because it’ll give him a workout.” Keira said confidently, hugging her cousin again. “Alright, go do what you were gonna do. I’m gonna call him and ask him if he’ll help.”

“You go for it. I’m gonna go upstairs and take a little nap before dinner.” Kelly informed her, nodding back at her, and smiled before heading up the stairs toward her bedroom.

Grabbing the cordless phone in her path toward the veranda outside, Keira shut the door behind her, the October breeze blowing through her hair, and sighed in pure contentment. She dialed John’s number and leaned against the ledge, biting her bottom lip when he answered, “What up?”

Keira smirked when she heard that greeting and cleared her throat, “Hello, I’m calling to ask you if you’d be interested in coming to my house of sex. Fully accommodated filled with multiple orgasms and earth shattering screams.” She excitedly stated in a disguised voice, bit her bottom lip harshly and tried so hard not to laugh when he began questioning this phone call.

John was taken by complete surprise and paused for a minute, thinking this was truly a sick prank call, and angrily growled, “What--?” He shut his mouth for an instant and began thinking harder, shaking his head when he finally figured out who it was. “What a minute, Keira, is this you?” His suspicions were confirmed when her laughter flowed into his ear, causing him grumble and shake his head. “Yeah laugh it up, uh huh.”

She was laughing so hard that Keira actually collapsed into the nearby chair, clutching her stomach for dear life while tears rolled down her cheeks. After ten straight minutes went by, Keira finally calmed down as she smiled softly and replied, “I’m sorry, but you should’ve heard yourself. You sounded clueless and appalled!” Keira burst out in a fit of laughter again, causing John to nod while grumbling some more.

“Of course I did! I’ve never heard anything so…so twisted.” He responded, shivering when he thought it was actually a real phone call from a sick individual.

A immoral smirk crossed her lips as she pretended to sound sad, and pouted back, “So you wouldn’t wanna come to MY house of sex??”

His tone became grumpy, even though he couldn’t deny what she’d asked, and muttered, “That isn’t the point here, Keira…” He could already feel his entire body begin responding to her voice and closed his eyes, not able to stop himself from pulsating in his pants.

Laughing softly at him, Keira ran a hand through her hair as the sun began setting over the horizon, and admitted, “Alright, alright calm down ya grump. I called you for a reason, not just to fuck with ya.”

“What’s up?” John questioned, smiling a little, and leaned back against his hotel room bed.

“Do you remember that weekend we had in New York City and I said I was thinking about moving to North Carolina?” Keira asked, causing him to nod and grin, remembering being more than pleased that she was thinking about moving to the East coast. John nodded, causing Keira to smile as she took a deep breath and continued, “Well, I was looking online at some apartments and found a really nice one for a great price and I’ve decided to take it. It’s right by the ocean and has underground parking.”

John’s smile grew bigger than a Cheshire cat’s and tried to contain his excitement, but was finding a tough time doing so. “That’s awesome, babe! When will you be moving out there?” He asked, ready to start helping her pack now, but knew it had to be her decision ultimately.

Keira giggled at his apparent excitement and smiled softly, truly happy that she’d be living closer to him, and retorted lightheartedly, “You’re more thrilled than I am!”

Trying to sound casual, but jumping with joy on the inside, John cleared his throat and replied in a lower voice, “I’m just happy for you, that’s all.”

“Thanks, John. Kelly was happy for me too, but I know she’s sad. I feel bad and I don’t want her to feel like I’m abandoning her.” Keira sighed, revealing her feelings about her cousin, and ran a hand through her hair when John started talking to her.

“Well, you two are practically sisters, but you’re also adults and have the right to live your own lives. You have to do what’s best for you, Keira.” John stated heartfelt, truly meaning what he said, nodded in understanding, not blaming Keira for how she was feeling about Kelly.

Keira nodded back and ran a hand through her hair as she replied softly, “I know, I know, and I told her she can come visit whenever she wants. Anyway, the REAL reason why I called was because I have a HUGE favor to ask you.”

“Ask away.” John simply said, smiling softly, and already knew she was going to ask.

“Well…I was wondering if maybe you could help me move out there into my apartment in Carolina Beach.” Keira divulged, biting her bottom lip nervously, and waited for him to respond. She smiled when he more than agreed to help out and felt her heart flutter when his voice dropped an octave. “Thank you so much, John! I’m going to put the offer through and hopefully, I’ll get it within the next couple of weeks.”

John agreed and they proceeded to make plans to see each other the following Wednesday and Thursday. Kelly would be out of town for those two days and Keira was already making the plans while John was there. They ended the call with each other, promising to talk in a few days, and that night, Keira went to bed with sweet dreams of Mr. John Felix-Anthony Cena.

Chapter 12

Tuesday night arrived and Keira was more nervous than ever. She was pacing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, stirring the sauce for the dinner she’d prepared for them. It was going on midnight, but she was a night owl so it really didn’t bother her to stay up. The night was exquisite, not too hot or cold, and perfect for a nice midnight swim. The moon was full and gave the backyard a luminescent glow, much to Keira’s delight and had everything set up out there.

Keira was wearing her black stringed bikini with a red see-through slip over it and her feet were bare. Her hair was left down, pooling down her back in luscious waves, and she had no make up on her face. Bringing the spoon to her mouth and tasting the sauce, Keira nodded as she smiled, knowing this was the perfect dinner to make for a night like this. The doorbell suddenly rung, causing Keira to gasp as she took a few deep breaths, and walked over, pulling the door open. There he was, standing before her, and looking more delicious than ever as she tried to stop consuming him with her eyes.

Leaning against the doorway with her arms folded in front of her chest, Keira slyly asked, “Can I help you with something?”

Blue eyes scanned her body slowly, grinning at what he saw, and scratched his chin in anticipation as he replied teasingly, “I’m looking for Keira Carlson.”

Keira licked her dry lips, loving the sound of her name coming from his mouth, and replied absentmindedly, “Hmm it depends what you want with her.”

John shrugged and slung his bag over his shoulder, staring down at her with hungry eyes, and stated, “Well…We had an arrangement tonight.”

Smirking devilishly back at him, Keira ran a hand through her hair, pretending to contemplate his answer, and finally said, “Hmm…Well in that case…” Her words immediately trailed off as she jumped in his arms, their lips crashing together, and wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively as his hands gripped her ass. His bag slipped from his shoulders, landing just inside the house, and forgot all about them as they stumbled back into the house, slamming the door behind them with John’s foot. Keira couldn’t help, but moan uncontrollably in his mouth. He felt wonderful, his touch, his kisses, everything felt absolutely incredible and Keira couldn’t believe how much she’d missed him. Her breathing became heavy, especially when he shoved her against the wall, and broke the kiss as his hot lips started trailing her neck, but Keira had to stop this before it went too far. “ Wait, wait!” She breathed out, his lips causing her entire body to light on fire with anticipation and passion. “Not yet, John…I Mmmm…” Her words trailed off in a soft moan when he captured her lips in his again, but she quickly broke it before she lost all sense of reality. “I have plans…”

Pulling back and staring at her with a raised eyebrow, John ran his finger down her cheek and huskily asked, “Plans eh? What sort of plans are we talkin’ here?”

Keira smiled softly back into his eyes, loving the color they turned when he wanted to make love to her, and whispered in his ear, “Release me and I’ll show you.” John grumbled and very reluctantly allowed her body to slide down the wall, her feet landing gently on the floor beneath. Keira smirked as she crooked her finger, beckoning him to follow her, and smiled when he did. They ended up walking into the kitchen, swaying her hips purposely in his direction, and giggled when he shot her a playful glare. The aroma of food suddenly entered his nostrils, causing John’s stomach to rumble, and Keira giggled, knowing he was probably starving. “This has to deal with it.” She purred softly, causing John to close his eyes as he inhaled the intoxicating scent, and felt his stomach rumble louder.

“I’m pretty hungry.” He admitted, causing her to smile back at him sweetly, and nodded.

“I figured. Here taste it.” She gently ordered, holding the spoon up to his mouth, and felt her entire body fill with instant desire as his mouth literally covered the spoon and slowly slid his lips from it, groaning at the heavenly taste on his tastebuds.

“Electrifying.” He murmured, licking the bit of sauce from his lips that had been left, and smirked back at her as his eyes slowly opened, darkened to a midnight blue by now.

Keira smiled excitedly back at him and kissed his softly as she asked, “Will you grab the noodles while I grab this? The plates and everything are outside already.” John more than obliged and picked the pot up with the noodles in it before following her outside. His eyes widened at the sight, not believing how stunning the appearance was.

There were masses of white candles lit all around the pool, shimmering on the water, and small waterfall the pool came with. There was a huge black blanket that was set up near it with two long stemmed candles that were lit along with plates, silverware, the set up for a romantic dinner. Soft music drifted in the air as John swallowed, not believing all the trouble Keira had went through to set this up, and smiled softly. They walked over to the blanket and set the food in proper places, causing Keira to look up at him with her eyes sparkling, and ran a hand through her hair before picking her plate up.

Picking up a bottle of red wine, Keira poured each of them a glass and informed gently, “This is the best drink to go with spaghetti.” She handed the glass over to him before grabbing his plate and making it for him, wanting to pamper him as much as possible.

“Really?” John questioned interestingly and took a sip of wine as he smiled back at her, taking her plate, and began making it for her as well. Keira giggled back at him and shook her head, knowing he was thinking the same thing she was, and took her plate from him when he handed it to her. Halfway through the dinner, John was staring at his wine glass, thinking about something, and asked out of curiosity,” Tell me, is spaghetti considered an aphrodisiac?”

Keira giggled as she shrugged her shoulders distractedly, enjoying the meal too much, and retorted after swallowing the bite, “Why do you need someone to fuck your brains out?”

A low, deep chuckle sounded from the back of his throat as he looked back at her, an eyebrow quirked, and shot back huskily, “Do you?” His eyes had turned back to that dark midnight blue, misting over with passion, and Keira became entranced by them instantly.

Her eyes tore from his after a few minutes, shaking herself mentally, and they proceeded to finish the meal, catching up on things. They also talked about her upcoming move and Keira informed him that she’d been approved for her apartment. John was extremely thrilled, not believing she was moving closer to him, and leaned over, brushing his lips softly against hers. Keira moaned softly as she pulled back, smiling softly back at him, and downed the rest of her wine before leaning back against the blanket, completely full and satisfied. John laid beside her, taking her hand in his, and both stared up at the stars that glistened down at them, enjoying the moment that swept over them.

“I feel like I’m gonna explode at any given minute.” Keira garbled, rubbing her stomach with her hand, and closed her eyes gently shut.

“Me too.” John agreed, chuckling as he turned on his side to face her with a glow in his eyes and ran his hand down her face as he murmured, “One enchanted evening…”

Keira nodded in full agreement as she slowly sat up, not believing a half an hour had passed, and stood up from the blanket. John sat up with her, staring at her curiously, and watched with ravenous eyes as she peeled the red slip off her entrancing body. It dropped to the grass below as she turned around, winking at him over her shoulder, and proceeded to dive into the pool in the deep end, making sure not to hit any of the candles. John immediately stood up and peeled off his muscle shirt and shorts, slipping his socks and sneakers off, and dived in the pool after her in only his boxers, stalking her predatorily. Giggling mischievously back at him, letting him stalk her a little, Keira smirked as she moved toward the waterfall.

“If you want me, come get me, Junior.” She taunted, causing John to immediately dive under water, and ended up reaching her quicker than Keira thought. She squealed under water when his hand grasped her ankle, pulling her into his body, and they both came up to the surface, laughing, and arrived at the waterfall. John smirked wickedly down at her and pinned her against the pool wall, the waterfall flowing over their bodies, and licked his lips before plundering his mouth on hers, his heart pounding furiously against hers and vise versa.

Her body immediately melted against his, moaning softly against his mouth, the water increasing her senses to arouse, and wrapped her arms around his thick, muscled up neck, moving her head from side to side. The kiss deepened further as their tongues dueled, running his hands up and down her sides, and Keira broke the kiss as she whispered against his lips feverishly, “Make love to me, John. Just take me.”

John wasn’t about to deny her request and within minutes, he was inside of her, holding her close to him, and began to slowly thrust, his passion instantly igniting for her. Keira gasped at the contact, knowing she’d never get used to his size, and gripped his arms as their foreheads pressed together, the water heightening the sensation even more. Waves started to form as the thrusts became hard, deep, and much more powerful, but Keira was enjoying every single second of it. Her head whipped back, her hair pooling down her back and around her in the pool, and finally couldn’t take it anymore. With one last monstrous thrust, Keira’s release triggered as she cried out John’s name, and sagged against him, breathing extremely heavily.

“I…love you.” She whispered in his ear, too caught up in the moment to notice what she’d said.

“I love you too.” John murmured back, the truth and love evident in his voice, mixed with shock, and held her tighter to his body, never wanting to let her go.

Her heart swelled with love at his words as Keira snuggled further into his chest, starting to calm down from the intense bout they were in, and suddenly snapped her eyes open when she’d realized what happened. Her arms immediately dropped from his body as her eyes burned with tears, not believing what just happened, and covered her mouth with her hand while her entire body began to tremble. “Oh God…” Her voice whispered and instantly dived under water, swimming as far away from him as possible, and ran out of the pool, into the house as the tears streaked down her cheeks.

John just bobbed in the pool, too shocked and disoriented to make sense of anything, and sighed deeply. The reality of what just happened flowed through his mind as he gripped the edge of the pool, whispering to himself while shaking his head, “Damn it…” He finally managed to get out of the pool, after getting the feeling back in his thighs and legs, and walked out of the pool, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Grabbing one of the two towels that were sitting on the table, John dried himself off and then cleaned up the mess, bringing all the food into the house, wrapped it up, and then cleaned up the candles, blanket, and anything else Keira had brought out. He felt terrible for what had happened, but also knew she needed sometime to herself, especially after saying those three little words to him that meant the world to anyone who heard them.

Meanwhile, Keira was crying her heart and soul out as she lay in bed, her body slung over the bed haphazardly, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t believe she had told him those words, those three little words, and wondered how she was going to fix this horrible mess she’d created. It wasn’t that she didn’t love John because the truth was, she did. She’d fallen in love with him, but she was scared to death that he would betray her like her ex-fiancé had. “What have I done?” She whispered harshly, sniffling and sobbing uncontrollably, and didn’t move an inch, too upset with herself to even consider it.

After an hour of crying and sobbing, Keira finally managed to pull herself from the bed, and wiped her swollen eyes with the back of her hands. She sniffled and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and locking it, but not her bedroom door. It’d completely slipped her mind as she turned the shower on, making the water as hot as she could stand it, and stepped inside, letting the flowing liquid cascade down her body while more sobs and tears racked her entire body. John had taken that opportunity to walk inside her bedroom, seeing she was in the shower, and walked over to sit on the bed, patiently waiting for her to re-emerge so they could talk about what happened in the pool.

Keira finally emerged from the shower an hour later, feeling like a train hit her at full speed, and stumbled over to the mirror. She took a towel and wiped the steam from it, tears already sliding down her cheeks, and burning her already red, swollen eyes. The reflection staring back at her caused Keira to feel sick to her stomach as she sighed and proceeded to brush her teeth, not caring about her hair. She wrapped a towel around her body tightly, tucking it between her breasts, and padded over to the door, opening it, and allowed steam to flow out behind her. Her movement stopped as she stared back at John, who was staring back at her while sitting on her bed, and bit her bottom lip, not sure what to say to him at the moment.

“I’m sorry…” John took the first step, whispering regretfully, and ran a hand through his hair, knowing he just lied to her.

Biting her bottom lip hard and walking over to her dresser with her back to him, Keira sighed heavily and let a bitter laugh escape her lips before asking, “You know what’s funny?” She’d slipped her panties on and then her bra, still keeping her back to him, and felt a few tears trickle down her cheeks.

“What?” John mumbled, looking up at her, and lowered his head, knowing she was about to push him away again.

Sucking in a deep, sharp breath, Keira closed her eyes tightly shut and replied in a low voice, “I meant it.”

John stared at her completely dumbfounded, not believing what he just heard, and slowly stood up from the bed as he walked over to her, stuttering mindlessly, “Are you…You do?!” Keira simply nodded, not able to find her voice because she was too choked up from the intense emotion that was flowing through her at that moment. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked over to her window, staring out at the sky, and allowed more tears to spill down her cheeks freely. Sighing heavily and not sure if he should touch her right now or not, John made his way over, standing right behind her, and asked, “Would it be too cliché if I said I felt the same way?” Her entire body dropped to the floor upon hearing that, crumbling as her knees hit the wood below, and bent over, starting to cough extremely hard Keira held her abdomen tightly, tears streaming down her face like two unstoppable rivers and started forming puddles on the floor below her before crying out loud. John sighed as he kneeled down beside her and wrapped a hesitant arm around her body, pulling her against his chest, and cooed, “Hey Shhh…Calm down, you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t calm down, baby.” He rubbed her back soothingly as she gripped his shirt in her hands in two tight piles, her entire body racking with violent sobs as they tore throughout her body and it was breaking John’s heart in millions of pieces. “It’s okay to have feelings like this, Keira. I know you’re scared to death right now, but it’s okay.” He cooed softly, trying to get her calm down a little more, and smiled when her body began to sag against him. Lifting her up in his strong arms, John carried her over to the bed and laid her down, getting it right behind her, and wrapped her up in his strong arms as he whispered soothing words in her ear. As soon as Keira cried herself into a slumber, John followed soon after, not once releasing the hold he had on her.

Chapter 13

Eyes slowly fluttered open as the sun streamed through the window, coating her in a blanket of gold, and slowly turned around from the sun, groaning at how sore her body was. A headache started pounding furiously in her head, running a hand through her hair, and slowly opened her eyes, feeling the burning sensation flow throughout them. She slowly sat up on the bed and looked at the wall, bringing up her knee up, and sighed sadly, wondering why she was feeling so horrible. Suddenly, all the events from the previous night started sweeping over her, causing her eyes to sting with tears, and slid from the bed, looking down at what she had on, which was a pair of cotton shorts with a tank top, and walked over to the window.

A low rumbled groan sounded behind her, causing Keira to slowly turn around, and gaped in shock when she seen John was sleeping beside her in her bed. She noticed how exhausted he was and knew he’d probably stayed up half the night watching over her because that’s just the type of man John was. His eyes slowly opened and stared back at her, causing her to instantly turn back around, and wiped a few tears away from her eyes as she held herself. It was a beautiful day, but Keira felt so confused inside as she thought, ‘What am I going to do now?’ She heard him grumble something incoherent and asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

John shook his head as he slowly sat up in the bed, running hand over his face, and yawned loudly as he replied, “Nothing. Just tired I guess.”

“Oh…” Was all Keira could think to say as she sniffled a little, continuing to stare outside, and knew it had to be past noon. She rubbed the back of her neck, wincing when she felt how stiff it was, including her entire body from crying herself to sleep the previous night, and sighed heavily. Keira honestly didn’t know what to say to John at the moment and needed time to reflect from the previous night’s events.

Sighing heavily when he heard her sniffle, John looked back at her with concerned blue eyes and asked, “Are you doing any better?”

“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, John. I completely lost it last night because I was shocked by what I told you.” She admitted flatly, running a hand through her hair, and wondered what was going to happen between them.

“Well, I think it was good for you to get that out. I was just as surprised, you know.” John confessed, nodding at what she said, and hoped she didn’t push him away like last time.

Coughing a little upon hearing that confession, Keira tried to get the kinks out of her neck, and raked a hand through her hair callously before muttering back, “Yeah…Me too.”

John smiled somewhat wryly and asked, “Do you want to eat a little something?”

She shook her head and simply replied dryly, “I’m not feeling an appetite coming on…For the obvious reasons.” A bitter laugh sounded from her mouth, causing John to sigh, noticing the tone in her voice. “I’m not sure if I’ll be much company today with how I’m feeling, John.” Keira added deprecatingly, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and didn’t look at him once.

His eyes adverted to the floor, “Oh…” John paused. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll let you rest and…have time to yourself.” He struggled finding the words to say, but finally got it out, and raked a hand through his soft brown hair.

“What are you going to do?” She questioned, finally turning around and walked toward her vanity mirror.

John looked at her rather glumly, not wanting to be away from her, and sighed as he replied modestly, “Maybe go for a walk, get coffee or something.”

Keira nodded back at him as she finished brushing her hair and walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and lay on the couch. She felt like her entire world was crumbling around her and began to softly cry as she thought over and over again, ‘Why did I say it? Why did I tell him I loved him?’

“I’ll be back soon.” John’s voice sounded behind her, causing Keira to wave him off, but never turned around as she began to silently cry. He sighed heavily, knowing she needed time to think, and decided to go out for a jog as he opened and closed the front door behind him.

Keira cried for most of the day, mainly about what her ex-fiancé and family had done to her. She was scared to jump into this with John, but also wanted it more than anything in the world. Her mind swirled and thought for much of the day, falling asleep for a two hour nap in the middle of her despair, and finally woke up sometime late in the day. Her eyes glanced at the clock, seeing it was going on five, and slowly stood up from the couch, stretching her arms above her head. She walked into the kitchen, deciding to get a glass of water and leaned against the counter, putting her head in her hands.

After downing three glasses of water, Keira sighed as she ran a hand down her face and knew what she had to do. John had came back from his jog and was sitting out by the pool, deep in his own thoughts, and wondered what he should do about this. He loved Keira, that much was obvious, he’d even told her the previous night that he’d felt the same way she did, but the decision was ultimately and figuratively her own. Keira had walked outside while he was staring off into space, seeing him there, and slowly made her way down the back steps. John turned around, hearing footsteps behind him, and immediately stood up when he seen her coming toward him.

A solemn smile crossed his lips and brought his hand up, waving at her. Keira had one thing in mind as she walked up to him and brought his face down to hers, colliding their lips together. The only thing she wanted to think about anymore was them and hoped John still felt the same way as her. John was taken aback by the sudden impulse, but he wasn’t about to push her away and kissed her back instantly, sighing in contentment, and wrapped his arms tightly around her body. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she moved her head from side to side, deepening the kiss even more, hunger evident in this kiss, and jumped in his arms out of pure animalistic instinct.

He caught her, holding her even tighter in his embrace, never breaking the kiss, and proceeded to walk back into the house with her in his arms and their lips never splitting apart once. They ended up on the couch with John on top of her, kissing continuously, and Keira refused to let him go, not wanting sex just his comfort and kisses. John kept her close to him, kissing and cuddling with her, not trying to seduce her in anyway, and loved everything about her. Running her hands down his chiseled chest, since it was already bare, Keira moaned softly as they continued to kiss, getting reacquainted, and couldn’t remember when they ever touched, felt, explored, and loved each other. Four hours passed before they finally stopped and just laid in each other’s arms, completely spent from their intense make out session, and John was stroking her hair with his fingers gently while her fingers were running up and down his chest.

“I’m sorry for today, John.” She whispered, breaking the silence between them, and looked up at him as she stroked his face tenderly with the back of her hand, snuggling closer to his big body.

John stroked her cheek lovingly in return and replied delicately, “I’m sorry I was so forward and scared you away.”

Keira shook her head at his words, not wanting him to think this was his fault because it wasn’t, and kissed his lips softly as she whispered against them, “I love you, John.” Her midnight blue eyes gazed into his beautiful blue orbs, finally getting over her fears of commitment, and stated seriously, “Please don’t hurt me.”

His heart instantly swelled at her words and felt a few tears well up in his eyes as he stared at her and replied solidly, “I would never hurt you. I love you, Keira.”

Tears instantly spilled down her cheeks in pure happiness and exhilaration as she reached up, kissing his lips passionately, feeling her heart soar to the heavens upon hearing those words from his lips. She broke it completely breathless and stated vigorously, “I want to be with you, nobody else. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Hugging her tighter to him and closing his eyes shut, John whispered back heartfelt, “I don’t want that either, Keira.”

“So does this mean we’re officially together instead of friends with benefits?” She asked hopefully, looking up into his eyes as hers shined with optimism.

Smiling down back at her, never remembering feeling happier in his life, not even with Kimberly, John replied, “Yes it does.” He kissed her gently to seal the deal, causing her to smile, and hugged her close.

~Two Weeks Later~

Sweat slid down his chiseled body, his muscles bulging and flexing with every movement he made as John picked up another box, carrying it up the flight of stairs and into Keira’s new apartment. The windows were open, letting the gentle ocean breeze blow throughout the apartment, and Keira looked beautiful standing there, admiring the view for the umpteenth time that day. John smirked as he set the box down beside her, causing her to jump, and turned around, smiling softly as she ran a hand through her hair. He winked back at her, sweat matted on his forehead, and proceeded to walk out the front door to retrieve another box.

Kelly was in the kitchen, organizing Keira’s brand new kitchen set she’d bought, and didn’t miss the look that they gave each other as John went outside again. Something was definitely up with them as Kelly walked over and cleared her throat, causing Keira to turn around and smiled at her. “Isn’t it a breathtaking sight?” Keira asked dreamily as she pointed to the window, the beautiful Atlantic ocean gracing her with her presence.

“Yes it is. This is such a lovely place.” Kelly commented, causing Keira to grin at her cousin, and bit her bottom lip, still not having told her about her and John’s relationship yet.

The unpacking took most of the day and when Keira was finished, she collapsed on her brand new leather sofa, closing her eyes, completely exhausted from the day’s events. John walked in a few minutes later, after dropping the U-Haul truck off, and collapsed on the smaller couch, wiping his forehead and his chest was heaving in and out rapidly. Keira looked over at him with a small smirk and stated with a wink, “Thanks for your help, Junior. You were more help than I thought you’d be.”

John shrugged his shoulders absentmindedly and smiled as he bragged, “It was nothing for me. Chump work, you know.”

“Oh really? Then why are you sweating bullets and breathing heavily?” Keira retorted, giggling when he shot her a playful glare.

“Did you see how heavy those boxes and shit were that I carried up here?” He shot back defensively and chuckled from deep in the back of his throat.

“Oh, but I thought it was “chump work” to you?” Keira blasted, using the finger quotation finger gesture around the words chump work to emphasize her question.

“Compared to lifting a 500 pound dude, it is.” John stated and smirked back at her with a lighthearted glower on his face and in his eyes.

Keira laughed as she shook her head, and looked up when Kelly entered the room, collapsing on the nearby chair, breathing heavily. “Tired Kel?” She asked, causing her cousin to nod back in response and smiled weakly.

“Who knew moving was this much work on your own. Didn’t you wanna hire movers?” Kelly asked, causing Keira to giggle as she shook her head.

She sat up a bit and pointed at John before retorting smart-alecky, “Why would I wanna waste my money on that when I have a big, strapping hunk of a man here to help us?”

Kelly grinned at her cousin’s retort and looked over at John with an amused look on her face, causing him to grumble, “Oh sure, leave it all to the wrestler!”

Keira laughed heartedly as she stood up from the couch, nodding back at John, and glanced at her cousin as she asked, “Which cabinet did you put my glasses in, doll?”

“First cabinet above the sink.” Kelly answered, too tired to get up from the spot she was sitting in at the moment.

Nodding back at her cousin and walking over to the cabinet, Keira stood on her tiptoes and reached up, retrieving a glass, and walked over to her new fridge that had a water dispenser in it. A sly smirk spread across her lips when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and clandestinely whispered, “Can I help you?”

John grinned as he placed a soft, teasing kiss on the back of her neck and whispered seductively, “Is everything accommodating for you?”

Her eyes drifted shut slowly as she melted into his embrace, leaning further into his lips as she moaned back, “Mmm absolutely…”

“Good ‘cause it’d be too late to rearrange.” He retorted while running his hands up and down her sides, causing shivers to flow through her.

Keira laughed softly as she turned around in his arms, running her finger down his chest and up again as she slyly informed, “You know, Kelly is leaving shortly.”

He looked down back at her with pure anticipation, licking his lips hungrily, and pretended to sound disappointed, “Oh really? What a shame!”

Nodding back at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief, Keira replied solemnly, “Yeah it is…” Her words trailed off as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled when John began chuckling down at her, a grin spread across his lips. Keira licked her lips at him in a seductive fashion and winked in his direction, filled up two glasses of water She then walked away from him, swaying her ass teasingly in his direction, and into the living room, handing her cousin one.

Kelly noticed what her cousin had done and shook her head, taking a sip of her water, and whispered teasingly, “That was so bad!”

“I know, but I’m good at being bad.” Keira retorted, winking at her cousin, and proceeded to tell her about her and John’s relationship and what had happened. Kelly was extremely happy for her cousin, hugging her tightly, and hoped one day she would finally end up walking down the aisle with John. He was good for her and she was good for him, which made Kelly smirk on the inside because her match making tactics had worked like a charm.

Chapter 14

After Kelly left that night, John and Keira decided to christen every single room, leaving their mark on them so to speak. Then ended up in the bedroom several hours later and Keira was sprawled across John’s stomach, trying to catch her breath, and smiled up at him with sparkling eyes. John smiled back down at her, one of his hand tucked underneath his head while the other was stroking her cheek gently with his finger. He was leaving the following night and Keira was trying not to think about it. She didn’t want him to go back on the road yet, especially since they’d just seen each other after two weeks, but also knew, John loved what he did.

“What’s on your mind, baby girl?” John’s soft voice asked, his blue eyes filled with concern, caressing her face lovingly, and smiled when she leaned against it.

“Nothing.” She softly replied, smiling at him reassuringly, running her hands up and down his strong chest, hoping he didn’t see past her smile to the sadness that was so desperately aching to show.

John shook his head, knowing she wasn’t telling him the truth, and stated gruffly, “You can’t expect me to believe you when you’re lyin’ to me now, can you?”

Closing her eyes, Keira knew she was busted and looked back up at him, sighing deeply, and ran a hand through her hair as she apologetically replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to lie to you, John. I just…I don’t want you to leave today.” She admitted, knowing she was sounding like a baby at the moment, but she didn’t care.

Smiling down at her knowingly and sighing emphatically, John knew that’s what she’d been thinking about. He lifted her chin with his strong hand, causing her midnight blue orbs to stare into his, and softly said, “I wish I didn’t have to leave either, but I’ll be back in a few days.”

Keira smiled upon hearing that and reached up, kissing his lips softly, and slid off the bed to retrieve some clothes, since she loathed sleeping completely naked. She walked over to her dresser and smirked, giggling a little, and turned around after sliding a pair of panties and bra on her body along with one of his wrestling t-shirts. “Did you enjoy the view?” She questioned, placing her hands on her hips, and waited for his answer.

He smirked back at her simply with a nod of his head and replied honestly, “I could stare at that body all day.”

Slowly sauntering over to him, Keira felt a slow, seductive smirk curve her lips as she straddled his waist, staring down into his beautiful blue eyes, and whispered against his lips, “I could stare at your body forever.” Her tongue snaked out, licking his lips with the tip of her tongue and John felt himself do a full body shiver.

Grinning up at her and stretching himself out under the covers, with half his body already showing, John simply retorted, “Well admire away, baby girl.”

Keira kept the same smirk on her face as she licked her lips hungrily and started trailing her eyes down the length of his body. Her hands were running down his chest along with her eyes and purposely brushed her knuckle against his erected cock, continuing to admire with a satisfied nod of her head. “Magnificent body with zero brains.” She murmured softly, running a hand through her hair, and started laughing when his eyes went wide.

“Zero brains, what?!” John exclaimed, staring up at her, and crossed his arms in front of his chest in defiance, beginning to pout.

She keeled over on the bed, rolling off of him, loud laughter flowing from her mouth, and held her stomach while shaking her head back and forth. “You should’ve seen your face!” She cried out, laughing even harder as the tears began streaming down her cheeks and coughed a little since her stomach was hurting from laughing so hard. John just nodded, staring down at her hardening, pretending to be insulted by her statement. The sun was streaming through the window so it was morning and Keira wasn’t getting to sleep anytime soon. “Thanks for the laugh, babe.” She breathed out, finishing up her laughing, and walked out of the bedroom toward the kitchen. John shook his head, running a hand through his hair, and decided to jump in the shower so he didn’t have to worry about it later.

Once she arrived in the kitchen, Keira immediately started bringing out food, deciding to make John and her breakfast since neither of them were getting back to sleep anytime soon. Her choice in breakfast consisted of toast with scrambled eggs that had cheese topping and sausage links. It was one of her favorites and hoped John liked it as well as she began whistling while mixing the eggs together. Once she was finished with that, she popped four slices of toast in the toaster before starting up the sausage links, turning them every few minutes. The smell of breakfast lingered in the air, filling his nostrils as John walked out of the bathroom, and felt his stomach rumble at the mere smell.

Keira was turning around and setting the table, smiling when John came jogging out with a pair of black pajama pants on and walked over to him. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips softly before pulling away and softly said, “I made breakfast.”

“Thank God ‘cause after last night, I’m starving.” John replied, licking his lips hungrily as he sat down at the table, and started making his plate before Keira could even set the food down on the table. Keira sat down after setting the rest of the food down and they proceeded to eat in silence, too hungry to talk. When it was finished, Keira instructed John to go lay down while she cleaned up and smiled when he didn’t argue with her. After cleaning up the kitchen and starting up the dishwasher, Keira walked over and sat down on the couch beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. John instinctively wrapped his arm around her, resting his head against hers, and they just sat there for a long while, enjoying each other’s company. John sighed as he kissed the top of her head and gruffly said, “My flight is at eight.” Keira just nodded and looked down at her hands, not really wanting to hear about what time he was leaving, and leaned further against him.

“Let’s just enjoy the time we have left.” She quietly pleaded, causing John to nod as he smiled weakly, and pulled her on his lap, letting her bury her face in the crook of his neck. He knew this was killing her that he was leaving, but he had no choice. The WWE was his dream job, his passion, meant everything to him, but then again, so did the woman who was crying against him at the moment.

Before they knew it, six o’clock rolled around and it was time to say goodbye for the time being. John was finishing packing his things when Keira walked in the bedroom, sitting on her knees on the bed, and simply watched as he did so. Looking up at her as he zipped his bag up, John sighed as his eyes witnessed huge tears sliding down her cheeks. He immediately pulled her against his strong chest, running a hand through her soft hair, and kissed her forehead, trying to get her to calm down. “This isn’t goodbye.” He pointed out gently, causing Keira to nod as she pulled away, and wiped her tears from her eyes and face.

“I know and I know I’m acting like a baby, but I can’t help it. I love you and I don’t want you to leave yet.” Keira admitted, looking up into his beautiful eyes, and sighed heavily as she looked back down at the bed.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” John assured her, kissing her lips softly, and walked down the hallway with his bags while she followed him. She wrapped her arms around herself as he turned around, closing the distance between them, and lifted her chin up with his hand. “I love you and I’ll be back in a few days.” He promised, kissing her lips softly, and Keira held on for dear life, trying not to cry in front of him again, but it was inevitable. They kissed for a good five minutes before John pulled away, running his finger down her lips, and walked out the door, his bags slung over his shoulder. He promised to call her every night, but that still wasn’t enough for Keira as she collapsed on the couch and proceeded to cry herself to sleep.

Turns out, John wasn’t coming back for the next two months, which devastated Keira to say the least. She cried for hours, not believing she wouldn’t be back in John’s arms for two whole months and it was all because of this stupid tour he had to go on overseas. They were going to England and then down to Scotland, over to Japan, and finishing up in Australia. This was going to be the longest tour the WWE ever did overseas and John had completely forgotten it was coming up. He felt horrible, but there was nothing he could do and promised Keira he’d return as soon as they arrived back in the states.

Two weeks had passed since the news of John’s two month absence away from her and Keira was in good spirits. She’d cried for the first week, missing John like crazy, and she still did, but she’d busied herself around her apartment, placing some of her trinkets around and unpacking the rest of her things. She’d put all of her Disney trinkets in the living room, right on the entertainment center, and smiled at how many she had. Her mind traveled back to the past and remembered the wonderful time her and John had together, not believing how much fun it was, especially with him. Running a hand through her hair, Keira finished placing the rest of her trinkets around the apartment, satisfied when she was finished.

It was round five o’clock in the afternoon when a knock sounded at Keira’s door, causing her to quirk an eyebrow, and slowly stood up from the couch. She figured it was her neighbor from next door wanting to borrow another cup of sugar, and didn’t bother looking through the peephole to see who it was. Her eyes instantly widened and narrowed to slits at the sight of the person standing before her and managed to gasp out, “Jason?!”

He smiled back down at her, his green eyes sparkling with happiness, and handed her a bouquet of flowers as he replied, “Well hello there, surprised to see me?”

She glared back at him hatefully and scoffed with a roll of her eyes, retorting, “Yeah, but it’s not the good surprise you came up with in that fucked up head of yours.”

Jason smirked, ignoring her comment, and laughed it off as he walked inside the apartment, shoving her somewhat out of the way, and nodded in approval. “Nice digs.” He commented, causing her to cross her arms in front of her chest, the hateful glare never leaving her eyes.

Keira stood by the door, leaving it open, and ordered dangerously, “Get out, Jason. I don’t’ want to see or hear from you ever again.” She meant what she said, not believing her ex-fiancé was standing before her, after almost seven years.

“I can’t leave that fast, honey. Sit down and hear me out.” He commanded, quirking his eyebrow up at her, and thought he was already spinning her around his finger.

Shaking her head back at him and refusing to listen to the bullshit he was about to spew from his mouth, Keira threw her thumb toward the door and stated, “There’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the ass on the way out!”

Jason didn’t look the way that she pointed her thumb at, solely focused on her, and began to explain his actions. “I made a mistake with your sister. I was young, I didn’t know what I wanted.” His voice was low and sounded the least interested with what he was telling her, which pissed Keira off even more. He was trying to blow off what he’d done to her, which was break her heart into a million pieces!

“Get out of here, Jason. I’m over you, have been for a long time. I’m with someone new and I love him deeply so just leave and safe yourself a huge embarrassment.” Keira advised sharply before walking into her kitchen, not wanting to even look at the man standing before her at the moment or ever again for that matter.

Rolling his eyes at her statement and following her into the kitchen, Jason stood right behind her and whispered seductively in her ear, “He doesn’t know you like I do, Keira.”

Slowly turning around to face him, her back pressing against the counter, Keira let a slow smirk curve her lips as she retorted, “Oh yes he does and he knows ALLLL of me, Jason. Every single spot and he knows how to get my fire roaring. I don’t need you or want you anymore so get lost before I throw your ass out.” She threatened, causing Jason to laugh in her face.

“Yes, that maybe true, but does he know about…” His voice trailed off and dipped his head, kissing a spot on her neck that only he knew about and used to drive her completely wild. “This?” Jason finished the question, whispering that in her ear huskily, and knew he was starting to break her down slowly, but surely…or so he thought.

Keira bit her bottom lip and pretended to enjoy it, even though she wanted nothing more than to pour a hot pan of water on her neck to get the feeling of his lips off of it. She smiled back at him and allowed him to continue kissing down her neck, mentally counted to three, and kneed him directly in the stomach, causing him to groan and bend over in pain. She immediately scooted away from him and placed her hands on her hips before spatting, “The door is there, leave before you get your ass beat by a woman, jackass!” Keira then turned on her heel and marched straight to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her, and tried to calm her racing heart.

After catching his breath, Jason slowly stood to his feet, squaring his shoulders, and narrowed his eyes to vicious slits. He walked over to the door, slamming it shut, making it sound like he’d left, and licked his lips as he stalked down the hallway toward her bedroom. His ear pressed against the door, hearing her muttering words of pure filth about him, and it only ignited his anger more. He mentally counted to three and kicked her bedroom door open, causing Keira’s head to whip up, and didn’t even have to time to react. Pulling his hand back, Jason backhanded her hard across the face, causing Keira’s body to crumble to the floor, and held her cheek with her hand as the tears instantly rolled down her cheeks.

“What are you doing?!” She cried out to him, but Jason wasn’t going to answer to her. He was going to let his actions speak louder than his words as he lifted her up by her hair, causing her to scream out in pain, and kicked the door shut sharply behind him. Pushing her toward the bed and causing her stomach to collide with the metal rod on her bed, Jason immediately unzipped his jeans and hastily shoved them down his legs. He smacked her ass stridently, causing Keira to scream out in pain again, and began reaching behind to unzip her jeans, but she wasn’t allowing it.

“You stupid bitch!! Stop struggling and let me give you what you fuckin’ deserve!!” He snapped, whipping her around, and backhanded her once again, but Keira was still fighting him. Jason was becoming frustrated and knew he had to shut her up somehow as he looked around the room while trying to keep her still and managed to unsnap her jeans. He shoved them down her legs, causing her to scream out more, and landed his piercing, cold green eyes on the vanity mirror that was right beside the bed. “Fine, if you won’t allow me to do this the easy way…” He trailed off, his voice icy, and managed to lift the huge vanity mirror above his head. “Then I’m going to have to do this the hard way.” His words penetrated her to the core and Keira didn’t have to time to move or react as the huge vanity mirror smashed on top of her, knocking her out instantly. Jason smirked wickedly as the blood began pouring from her head and proceeded to shove her panties down her legs, spreading them apart to his liking. With one quick thrust, Jason was inside of her, groaning and grunting as he continued thrusting harsh and fast, knowing he had to get this over with so he could make a run for it. His balls were tingling as they slapped against her pussy and gripped her hair in his hand, pulling her head up to his, and growled out animalistically, “This is what you could’ve had, had you not been such a heartless bitch!!” With a few more deep thrusts, Jason finally hissed out his release before spilling his seed deep inside of her, emptying as much of it as possible, and smirked at the damage he’d done. Leaving her bent over on the bed with the mirror smashed on top of her, little pieces of glass in her skin and body, Jason took his leave, proud of his handy work, and zipped up his jeans, slamming the front door harshly behind him.

Chapter 15

A hour later, another knock sounded at Keira’s door, but there was no answer. Sandy sighed, deciding to go back to her apartment, when something caught her eye. Sandy was Keira’s neighbor and they had become fast friends. She looked closer on the doorknob that was staring her in the face and didn’t touch it, but knew what it was. Blood. Her hand slowly pushed on the door, not believing it opened, and wondered what had happened as she poked her head in the apartment. Jason had slammed the door so hard that it didn’t click all the way, which is why it slowly creaked open when Sandy pushed on it.

Mud prints from boots were on the floor, leading to the bedroom, and Sandy suddenly felt something in the pit of her stomach stir. She slowly made her way down the hallway, being careful not to touch the footprints, and seen Keira’s bedroom door was cracked open, causing her heart to begin beating rapidly in her chest. Swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat, Sandy slowly pushed Keira’s bedroom door open and felt her eyes widen at the sight before her. There was glass everywhere, scattered from the vanity mirror, and a piercing scream sounded from her mouth as Sandy laid her eyes on a broken and bloodied Keira.

“Oh my GOD, Keira!!!” She cried out, immediately going to her side, and felt her stomach rumble as she tried in vain not to vomit. Little pieces of glass were all over her body while the mirror was lying on her back. Blood was dripping from her head on the bed, forming a small puddle, and Sandy couldn’t take it anymore as she bolted out of the room. Quickly grabbing up the phone and calling the police, Sandy hastily described the carnage that she’d found and told them the address.

Within minutes, the police had arrived with an ambulance, feeling sick to their stomachs at the sight before them. They slowly pulled the vanity mirror off her broken body, placing it on the floor, and allowed the EMT’s to care for the victim. “Is she dead?” The police officer regretfully asked, looking around the room for evidence, and found it quickly.

The EMT pressed his fingers to her wrist, feeling a weak pulse, and shook her head as he quickly replied, “No, but her pulse is extremely weak. We need to get her to the hospital now.” They carefully placed Keira’s body on the stretcher, covering her up since she was naked from the waist down, and wheeled her out of the apartment. Within moments, Keira’s body was loaded into the ambulance and they were trying to keep her alive, pumping fluids inside of her, and placing a breathing mask over her mouth.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Keira was taken to the emergency room where they slid an IV in her arm while trying to keep her alive. She’d lost a tremendous amount of blood from her brain so they quickly picked the glass out, making sure none were lodged into her head, and sighed with relief when they didn’t find any were. They quickly stitched up her head and wrapped it up in gauze before focusing on picking all the little pieces of glass from her body. This took several hours to accomplish and when they finally picked the last piece of glass from her, it was close to three A.M. in the morning. They set her up in the Intensive Care Unit, needing to monitor over her for the next forty eight hours, and made sure all the machines were placed strategically.

Three days passed before Keira finally woke up, her eyes slowly opening, and groaned as she touched her head. A huge headache was pounding in her skull as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make it go away, and immediately snapped them back open when the door opened. Her nurse looked back at her and started to change her IV bag, when her eyes popped open, immediately running out of the room, screaming for the doctor. A moment later, a short, stubby man came walking in, smiling softly at his patient, and cleared his throat before asking, “How are you feeling today, Ms. Carlson?”

“My head hurts.” She responded, trying to speak softly since it hurt to talk in general. “Where am I?” Keira asked, causing the doctor to sigh as he placed his stethoscope in his front pocket and walked over to her.

“My dear, you’re in the hospital. You were attacked in your apartment three days ago.” The doctor explained, running a hand through his gray hair, and Keira instantly felt the tears slide down her cheeks, not able to stop them.

Suddenly, all the events came flooding back to her, causing more tears to slide down her cheeks, and couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid and naïve. “I-I thought he’d left…” She whimpered out, causing the doctor to nod back at her in response.

“He’s been taken into custody. They caught him at the airport trying to get on a flight. The police matched his prints from the mirror and found…” The doctor trailed off, not sure if he should tell her the other evidence they’d found. She plead with him to tell her and sighed heavily, knowing it was his responsibility to do so. “They found a partial drip of his semen on your bed sheets, Ms. Carlson.”

“W-WHAT?!” Keira cried out in both shock and surprise, straining her vocal cords, and felt more tears pour down her face. She threw it in her hands, her shoulders shaking as the sobs racked throughout her body violently. “He…raped me?!”

Sorrow filled the doctor’s eyes as he regretfully nodded his head, walking over to her, and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m deeply sorry, but yes he did. He…anal raped you and smashed a huge vanity mirror over your head, causing you to fall into unconscious for the past three days. We did a partial rape kit on you and found his semen inside of your body so it is possibly that you could become pregnant from him.” The doctor informed her, his heart breaking when she started crying even harder, and sighed, sometimes hating his job for the things he had to reveal to his patients. “Is there…anything we can do for you, Ms. Carlson? Food, call someone for you?” The doctor asked, wanting to help her in anyway he could, and looked down at his clipboard while checking her vital signs.

Keira sniffled as she looked up, her eyes bloodshot and swollen red as she nodded, wiping her tears from her eyes, and softly asked, “Can you call my cousin, Kelly Carlson? She lives in L.A. and she doesn’t know what’s happened.”

“Of course. I’ll have the receptionist put the call in right away.” The doctor assured her, taking the information, and quickly left the room, informing Keira that food would be arriving shortly since she hadn’t eaten in three days. After the door shut, Keira ended up burying her face in her hands and proceeded to cry her heart and soul out, hating herself for allowing something like this to happen.

Kelly was absolutely shocked and livid that something like this happened to her cousin once the nurse got a hold of her. She hoped on the Red Eye flight from L.A. to Raleigh, North Carolina, and drove the few hours to Carolina Beach Hospital, where her cousin was located. The hospital wouldn’t give her any other information about her cousin’s attack, not wanting to upset her anymore than she already was, but all it did was anger Kelly more. The car squealed into the parking lot around six o’clock that night, since Keira had awoken earlier that morning, and immediately ran into the hospital. The receptionist pointed her in the direction of Keira’s whereabouts and Kelly took off, fear pulsating throughout her, and finally stopped to a slippery halt upon seeing her through a window.

Running a hand through her short blonde hair, Kelly entered the room, closing the door quietly behind her, and couldn’t believe the sight before her. It made her sick to her stomach as she seen hundreds of bandages all over Keira’s body, including her head, which was wrapped in gauze. There was an IV needle stuck in her arms and hooked to several monitors, hearing them beep every few seconds. The tears were already sliding down her cheeks as Kelly hesitantly walked over, sitting in the chair beside her cousin, and immediately took her hand in hers, not believing this had happened. “If only I hadn’t let her move out here by herself, none of this would’ve happened.” She whispered quietly to herself and lowered her head in shame, not believing she wasn’t there to protect Keira from harm.

“Don’t blame yourself.” Keira’s voice sounded quietly, causing Kelly’s head to whip up, and stared at her with widened eyes, immediately standing up from her chair.

“I was so worried!!” Kelly cried out and hugged her cousin close, cringing when she felt Keira wince, and knew she’d hurt her. She pulled back and felt the tears spill down her cheeks as she touched her forehead gently with her hand. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

Stretching a little and sighing deeply, Keira nodded back and said, “I know you are, so am I, but you are not going to blame yourself for this. This wasn’t anyone’s fault, but one person and his name is Jason.” Just the name left a bitter taste in her mouth as Kelly gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, and shook her head in disbelief.

“J-Jason did this to you?!” Kelly exclaimed, her brown eyes narrowing to dangerous slits as her fists clenched and unclenched angrily. “I’ll kill him.” She vowed, causing Keira to shake her head in response, touching Kelly’s hand with her own.

“The police already have him in custody and I’ve pressed charges. He’s going down like a sack of potatoes for what he’s done to me, but right now, there’s something else I need to inform you of.” Keira quickly explained, leaving out the details about how they had to bring Jason to her hospital room earlier on so she could tell them if it was him for sure or not.

Kelly wasn’t sure if she wanted to know or not, but figured she wouldn’t say it and allow her cousin to speak. “You need to tell me what he did to you and don’t leave out one bit of detail.” Kelly informed her, causing Keira to sigh as she nodded, already feeling the pain surging through her as the memories overflowed her.

After explaining what happened in detail, Kelly was absolutely livid and couldn’t wait to send that asshole to prison. He was getting life in prison for first degree attempted murder and Kelly was thrilled when she’d heard her cousin reveal that. However, she knew there was more that her cousin had to tell her, especially after the rape and mirror incident, and took a deep breath. “There’s something else you need to tell me. I can see it in your eyes.”

Nodding back at her with a heavy sigh, Keira looked down at the blanket, trying to keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks, but it was no use. Tears instantly spilled down her cheeks and landed on the hospital blanket, forming little puddles, and took a deep shaky breath. “I might end up pregnant from him.” Keira revealed, causing Kelly’s heart to instantly break, especially since Keira and John were together now.

“Oh dear…” Kelly cooed and took her cousin in her arms, sitting on the bed beside her, and allowed Keira to cry her heart and soul out, not believing the mess Jason had caused. “I really hope you don’t, but if you do, I’ll be there for you. I’m not going anywhere for awhile.” Kelly promised, causing Keira to cry even harder, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep strong for her cousin’s fragile state of mind.

Keira proceeded to cry for a long while, needing to get all of her emotions out, and knew Kelly wouldn’t judge her. She wiped her tears away from her eyes, pulling away from her cousin, and wished she knew what to do about this situation. Of course, Jason was going to prison, which she was happy about, but the mere possibility of ending up pregnant with his child made her insides gurgle with sickness. “I have a favor to ask you.” Keira stated out of nowhere, breaking the silence between them, and raked a hand through her hair, hoping her cousin didn’t argue with her about this request.

Kelly simply looked at her and nodded, ready to do whatever she asked, and asked, “Anything, what is it?” Nothing, absolutely nothing, prepared her for what her cousin was about to ask of her.

“You cannot in any way, shape, or form tell John about this. I don’t want him to know about this because the doctor has already confirmed I’ll most likely get pregnant since it was during my ovulation period.” Keira requested, informing her cousin on what the doctor had revealed to her, and touched her stomach with her hand, hoping and praying his suspicions were wrong.

Biting her bottom lip, Kelly knew this was a huge secret to keep, and sighed, hoping her cousin knew what she was doing, and softly asked, “What are you going to tell him?”

Keira sighed heavily and shrugged her shoulders, not concerned with that at the moment, and raked a hand through her hair. “I just won’t answer my door and change my number on my phone. He doesn’t deserve to go through this and I don’t want him to find out about anything that’s happened to me.” She concluded, wincing a little when a stab of pain shot through her head.

“Keira…you’re just going to break it off with him? Just like that, with no explanation or notice?” Kelly questioned, wanting to clarify what her cousin just told her, and paused when she nodded her head in response. “He loves you…”

Glaring back at her spitefully with her eyes narrowed to slits, Keira shot back angrily, “If you can’t support me then get out right now! I’m not in the mood to deal with this and that’s the LAST thing I need to hear right now.” She hadn’t meant to be so cruel to her cousin, but this was her life and decision and nobody and nothing was going to change it. Kelly stared back at her cousin in horrific shock and blinked her eyes a few times, stumbling upon her words and was unsure of what to say. Of course she wouldn’t abandon Keira, but at the same time, Kelly’s heart went out to John, knowing his was about to be shattered into a million pieces once he returned to the states in a month and a half.

Chapter 16

Heart wrenching tears streamed down her face as she stared down at her future and destiny, hating herself more and more as well as the situation. She sat on the white porcelain toilet, not believing this was happening to her and ran a hand through her black hair with her shaky hand. The little plus sign stared her in the face, into her eyes that were filled with sorrow, wishing she could wake up from this horrible nightmare. Though, she knew this wasn’t a nightmare, that this was truly happening, and that she would have to give birth to Jason’s child. Keira slowly stood up from the toilet and walked over to the mirror, the reflection staring back at her making her sick to her stomach.

After emptying the contents of her stomach, due to the morning sickness she was feeling, Keira finally found the strength to open the bathroom door. The tears painted her face, searing them into her cheeks, and sighed heavily as she looked down at her arms and hands. Most of her scars had disappeared, since it’d been almost two months since the incident, and Keira felt ugly and dirty. Her dreams had been plagued with visions of what Jason had done to her, could’ve done to her, would’ve done to her, and Keira wasn’t getting hardly any sleep. Now that she knew she was carrying his child, she wanted to crawl in a deep, black hole and die.

Kelly was sitting on the couch, watching something on television, when she heard the bathroom door open. She immediately stood up from the couch and walked over to her cousin, seeing she was leaning against the bathroom doorway. “Keira, are you alright?” Kelly softly asked, already knowing the answer, and wondered what her cousin had been doing in the bathroom for over an hour.

Slowly lifting her head up to meet her cousin’s eyes with her bloodshot, swollen red ones, Keira shook her head and replied vaguely, “I’m far from being alright…”

“What were you doing in the bathroom for so long?” Kelly asked, completely forgetting about her cousin’s possibility of becoming pregnant, and grabbed her cousin’s shoulders in her hands.

“I’m pregnant…” Keira revealed in a whisper, clutching her chest with her hand, and Kelly immediately shut her eyes, pulling her cousin in her arms. She couldn’t believe it slipped her mind and felt horrible while Keira buried her face in Kelly’s shoulder. “Why…Why now? Why couldn’t I have John’s instead of that son of a bitch’s?!” Keira spat angrily, crying harder than ever, and wrapped her arms around Kelly’s neck, holding on for dear life. Kelly had stayed with her for the past month and a half and Keira was more than grateful to her cousin for it.

“Okay, listen to me, we’ll get through this together.” Kelly assured, pulling back enough to stare into her cousin’s eyes, and wiped her tears away from her cheeks. “It’s going to be alright.” She sighed heavily when she heard Keira spat her questions and ran a hand through her hair, biting her bottom lip, and wondered if she should even ask the question that was brewing in her mind. “You haven’t seen or heard from John, right? Or vise versa, rather?”

Shaking her head at her cousin and wiping the remainder of her tears away, Keira replied, “No and I won’t be talking to him or seeing him anytime soon.” She refused to trap John with a child that wasn’t even his and knew the moment he found out, he would accuse her of cheating, even after she showed him proof of what happened.

“Well, that’s your decision…” Kelly trailed off, nodding her head in respect to her cousin, even though she knew this was the last thing Keira should be doing at the moment.

Keira nodded back at Kelly before walking over to the couch, sitting down upon it, and put her face in her hands, wishing she knew what to do about this. “I just…Why? Why do I have to have HIS kid?” Keira questioned, more to herself than her cousin, but knew Kelly would respond anyway and felt more tears slide down her cheeks.

Shaking her head in sadness, Kelly walked over to stand on the side of her cousin and replied, “I don’t know. You can never truly know why these things happen.”

Standing up from the couch abruptly and walking over to the window, Keira tried to decipher what she’d just found out, and rubbed the back of her neck as she stared out the window. The ocean waves were crashing against the shore, but it didn’t give Keira the peace she once felt before Jason attacked her. “I hate it already.” She whispered, feeling terrible, but she couldn’t deny her feelings. “I hate this child.”

“You have options, you know…” Kelly pointed out and trailed her words off, wondering if that was the right thing to say at the moment. After all, it wasn’t the fetus’s fault that this happened and Kelly truly was against the thought of abortion.

Keira nodded, knowing what her cousin meant by that, and continued staring out the window as she said, “I know that. I have until the end of my first trimester to decide. I’ve never been a fan of abortion though because its not this child’s fault for what happened.” Keira informed her cousin, causing Kelly to smile on the inside, and knew Keira would end up keeping it because of her beliefs.

“Yeah, I know you’re not fond of the idea. And you’re right, but you have to put you first, Keira.” Kelly well-versed, wanting her cousin to think that she was on her side no matter what, even though Kelly would be sickened if Keira did get an abortion.

Shooting Kelly a deadly glare and raking a hand through her hair hastily, Keira hissed dangerously, “No, I need to think about this innocent child who didn’t do a damn thing wrong and had to be conceived through rape!”

Kelly looked away from her cousin’s heated glare, knowing she’d upset her even more, and sighed to herself as she alleged defensively, “I only said it because you were saying how much you hated the kid.”

Sitting back down on the couch and looking straight ahead, a blank expression adorned Keira’s face as she stated, “I hate for what its going to go through when I have to explain to it how it was conceived. How do you tell a child something like that? A child is supposed to be created out of love between two CONSENTING adults!!” It sickened Keira to know that the child she was going to be giving birth to was not conceived out of love and admiration, but out of hatred and greed.

Her cousin sat down beside her and shrugged her shoulders at the question Keira had tossed out absentmindedly, not quite sure what to say to make her feel better. “I wish I could give you an answer” She whispered out, not sure what else to say. Keira was thankful to her cousin’s words and placed her hand over hers, wishing her life wasn’t so messed up. Their moment was ruined when a knock sounded at the door, causing Keira’s eyes to widen in pure fear, and bolted off the couch as her entire body began to tremble.

Raking a hand through her hair with a shaky hand, Keira stared at her sister and ordered quietly, “Get rid of whoever it is!” She then walked back to her bedroom, closing the door silently behind her, and locked it before sitting on her bed, hoping whoever it was left her and her cousin alone.

Kelly sighed heavily and stood up from the couch, hearing the knocking become more fierce, and walked over as she opened it, gasping in shock as her eyes widened, “John…”

Saddened blue eyes looked down at Kelly, surprised to see her there, and bluntly asked, “Is she here? I mean home?”

Looking back at him disappointingly, Kelly knew if she told John the truth that Keira would have her head on a silver platter, and had no choice. “Uhh sorry, John, she’s at the store right now.” Kelly lied, cringing inwardly at that horrible, and mentally smacked herself.

John shook his head, not buying what she said for a minute, and stated, “You suck at telling lies, Kelly.” The look of sheer worry etched his features, causing her heart to break even more, but knew she had no choice, but to keep lying or else Keira would never speak to her again.

“I’m sorry, John. I can’t tell you anything.” Kelly replied in a cold voice, feeling horrible for doing this as she stared up into his saddened blue eyes.

Raising an eyebrow at her in pure confusion, John wondered what there was to be told and asked demandingly, “What does that mean?” He hadn’t heard or spoken to Keira in almost two months and wasn’t about to go away without a proper explanation.

Kelly bit her bottom lip, knowing she already said too much already, and began to panic as she tried to convince him to leave. “She’s not here, John.” She didn’t know what else to say and felt completely helpless, especially since his blue eyes were breaking her down as well as her heart.

John was starting to grow upset as he raked a hand through his short, brown hair, wondering what the Hell was going on and what Kelly was keeping from him. “Well, when will she be back?” He pried, leaning against the doorway with his arms firmly crossed in front of his massive chest.

“I-I’m not sure.” She stuttered the answer out, adverting her gaze from his, and ran a hand through her short, blonde hair, hating that she was lying to him.

After contemplating for a moment, John forced himself into the apartment, and stated emphatically, “Then I’ll wait for her until she comes back. I NEED to talk to her.” His voice was laced with concern and determination, causing Kelly to sigh even deeper because she knew her cousin would explode if she found John in her apartment once she retrieved from her room.

With all the strength inside of her little body, Kelly shoved John back a good two feet out of the door and stated desolately, “John, you can’t come in here…”

“What are you now, her bodyguard?” John retorted, staring at her with a hardening look on his face while his jaw was tightening. “I’m not going anywhere until I talk to her about why she’s been ignoring my calls, emails, and letters.” He stated unwaveringly, refusing to budge from the doorway, and cemented himself right in front of Kelly.

Kelly started becoming impatient with John, knowing he was just concerned and worried about her cousin, but that didn’t stop her from glaring at him through narrowed eyes. “No, but I’m not going to allow you to barge into her place unwelcome.” Kelly shot back, angered by his mockery of her protecting ways when it came to Keira.

“Then give her a message for me. You tell Keira that I’m not leaving town until I speak with her. She can’t just disappear from me for a whole month and a half and not even give me one explanation!” John gritted back, his voice laced with pain and hurt, and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jean shorts.

Staring back at him and sighing to herself, Kelly knew this was far from over and nodded her head at him, replying sharply, “I will do that, but don’t expect her to talk to you for a long time, John.”

John’s eyes filled with more confusion, his jaw tightening even more from the anger that was flowing throughout his entire body, and growled back, “Whatever, Kelly. See ya around.” He then stalked away from her and down the steps, causing Kelly to sigh a huge breath of relief, and closed the door quickly behind her, trying to calm down her racing heart. She then walked away from the door after locking and dead bolting it before making her way down the hallway, knowing her cousin went into her bedroom. Walking up the door and gently tapping on it, Kelly called out, “You can come out now. He’s gone.”

Her eyes closed tightly shut, knowing exactly who’d been at the door, and stood from her bed, walking toward the door, and opened it, asking bluntly, “What did he want?” Her voice was low, filled with pain, and Kelly sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair in pure frustration.

Kelly crossed her arms in front of her chest, not looking very happy in the least, and retorted dimly, “What do you think? He wanted closure.”

Raking a hand through her hair and shrugging her shoulders, Keira had more important things to attend to in her life at the moment, not caring about him right now. “That’s tough shit. I’m not healed enough yet and now I’m pregnant with another man’s child.” She simply blasted back, refusing to feel even more guilty than what she already was.

“Which isn’t his fault. He just wants to see you. He’s very worried.” Kelly informed her, trying to reason with her cousin and make her see that what she was doing to John was horrible.

Glaring back at her cousin with daggers of rage in her eyes, Keira crossed her arms in front of her chest and hissed, “You know what, Kelly? You need to go back to L.A. because you’re really starting to piss me off!!” She snapped, shoving her cousin away from her as far as she could, and stormed back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her so hard, the walls and hinges rattled and shook.

Kelly stared at the door as her own eyes narrowed, shaking her head angrily, and shouted, “Fine! I’m already out the door!” She quickly whipped out her cell phone and booked the first flight she could get back to L.A., not believing the audacity of her cousin to say something so cruel to her.

Within an hour, Kelly was out the door and in a cab heading to the airport, tears streaking down her cheeks as her heart ached. Keira had pissed her off for the last time and berated her as she quickly fixed her make up, deciding to let her cousin ruin her own life alone. John had been nothing, but patient and kind to her, truly loved her, and Keira was tossing himself like yesterday’s garbage! The more Kelly thought about it, the more livid she became as she whipped her cell phone and made a call, hoping John forgave her for what she was about to tell him. She wasn’t going to tell him what happened, but that she’d lied to him and hoped he wasn’t upset with her, especially after how cold and heartless she’d been prior.

Chapter 17

Knocking sounded at her front door later on that night, causing Keira’s eyes to slowly flutter open, and groaned, wondering who it was. She sat up on the bed and ran a hand through her hair, feeling sick to her stomach, and slowly slid from the bed. Her feet landed on the hard wooden floor, stretching her arms up in the air, and opened her bedroom door, padding down the hallway. Keira was half asleep so she wasn’t sure what she was doing as she walked over to her front door, hearing the banging become louder, and growled out, “I’m comin’, I’m comin’.” Unlocking and undead bolting the door, Keira whipped the door open, ready to give whoever it was the tongue lashing over the century, but stopped dead in her tracks at who she saw.

Concerned blue eyes stared her in the face as Keira sighed, finally awakening fully, and a huge sigh of relief escaped his lips when John seen it was her instead of Kelly this time. “I’m sorry to wake you, but it was the only way to see you.” John apologized, running a hand through his short, brown hair, and wondered where she’d been for the past almost two months.

Keira’s eyes shot open when his voice echoed in her mind, causing her to instantly lower her head because the scars on her face had not completely healed, and ordered, “Go away John.” Her voice was laced with hurt and regret, not really wanting him to go, but knew it was the only way.

“I won’t do that until I at least get a reason. Did I do something to piss you off?” John asked as he stared down at her, hating it when she looked down at him, but he wasn’t about to push the envelope even more.

Biting her bottom lip as she raked a hand through her hair, Keira shook her head, refusing to talk to him at the moment, and stated, “You need to leave.” She tried shutting the door in his face, but John’s foot shot out, catching it, and caused Keira to jerk violently as she stumbled from the door.

“No, I’m not leaving. Now you can tell me what the Hell is going on or I can sit outside this apartment for as long as it takes.” John stated, giving her an ultimatum, and Keira’s temper was starting to boil out of control.

“Just leave me alone!!” She growled in response, glaring at him with narrowed, spiteful eyes.

Crossing his arms in front of his massive chest, John stared at her defiantly and shouted, “No! I’m not letting you push me away that easily again!” His temper was starting to overcome him and John knew he had to stop it before it started taking control. He sighed when Keira ran into the bathroom away from him and slammed the door shut behind her. He figured she was just over-exhausted or upset about this situation between them and walked inside the apartment, closing the door behind him.

After emptying the contents of her stomach, Keira finally walked out of the bathroom, holding her stomach with her hand, and stopped when she seen John sitting on her couch. She immediately backed down the hallway and grabbed her robe from behind her door, slipping it on over her body. The scars were healed, but they hadn’t disappeared yet and Keira didn’t want to give John anymore information than needed. She looked back in her full length mirror, seeing her midnight blue spaghetti strapped nightgown was bunched up in the back, and pulled it down before tying the robe around her waist. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Keira made her way down the hall and into the living room, ready to have this out with John once and for all.

“I thought I told you to leave, John.” Keira declared, shoving her hands in the pockets of her robe, and kept her face lowered while her arms crossed in front of her chest.

John turned around, a blank expression etched in his features while his eyes were filled with hurt as he retorted, “And I told you I won’t do that. You owe me an explanation.” He stated emphatically, his tone final.

“I don’t owe you shit.” Keira spat back at him, refusing to let another man control her, the same way Jason had when he invited himself in her apartment, and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“What the Hell is your problem?!” John exclaimed, not believing she was being so cold and unforgiving towards him. This wasn’t the same Keira he fell in love with and John had a sinking feeling something happened while he’d been overseas with the WWE. He didn’t realize how right he was as he stared at her with his own arms crossed in front of his chest.

Her back was turned to him as she leaned against the kitchen counter, trying to will the nausea to stop that was building up in her stomach, and finished her water. Setting the glass in the sink, Keira took a deep breath as she hissed dangerously, “My problem is you. Men like you thinking you can control whatever women do and force them into submission!”

“I don’t know what went on while I was on tour overseas, but whatever it was, I can’t possibly deserve that.” John affirmed, the hurt shining in his voice, face and eyes as he stared at her, not believing how icy her tone had been.

Tears burned in her eyes as Keira gripped the sink, her entire body beginning to tremble, and sighed heavily, raking a hand through her hair. She couldn’t tell him the truth because then he would go ballistic and do something he’d regret later on. “John….” She tried to say, but could feel her voice already starting to crack under emotion and pressure. Instead of speaking, Keira allowed her actions to do the talking as she turned around, her hair no longer covering her face, and felt the huge tears start to slide down her cheeks. “I can’t tell you what happened, alright?” Keira breathed out, beginning to heave a little, and could tell he’d seen the distant scars on her face.

Walking closer to her as he outstretched his hand, John softly pried while staring into her heartbroken eyes, “Why not?”

Keira walked out of the kitchen and past him into the living room, ignoring his outstretched hand, rubbing her arms up and down with her hands, and closed her eyes tightly shut. Her walls were starting to break down again, just like John had done before, and it was eating her up inside. “I just can’t…” She whispered out, leaning against the couch for support. “Please just leave.” Her heart was breaking into a million pieces, crumbling to the bottom of her stomach, but she didn’t have any other choice. She was carrying her ex-fiancé’s baby unwillingly and was forced to have a piece of him with her always, which killed her on the inside.

“What happened to your face?” John softly asked, seeing the scars that once bled he assumed, and walked over to stand behind her, but didn’t touch her. He could feel the pain radiating from her body and just wanted to take her in his arms, but he didn’t want to scare her away either. “You can trust me, Keira.”

More tears trickled down her cheeks as she touched her face with her hand, still feeling the scars and knew they’d disappear in time, but it still hurt nonetheless. Her hand pressed against her stomach as she shook her head, resisting the temptation to tell John everything as she stated, “It’s been…taken care of, John. You don’t need to worry about anything.”

Frowning in confusion and tilted his head to the side, John pried more, not able to help himself, “What do you mean? What was taken care of?” So many questions swirled through his mind and he wished Keira would just break down and tell him everything that had happened while he was away. He wanted to take her pain and suffering away, but it was her ultimate decision to let him in or not.

“There’s no reason for you to know. Everything has bee taken care of and I’m still alive.” Keira whispered, sighing heavily as she shook her head back at him, still refusing to budge.

“What?? What happened, Keira?!” The urgency in John’s voice had heightened when he heard her say that she was still alive. He couldn’t help it as he whipped her around by the arm, staring down into her eyes, and his entire body began to tremble with both fear and relief that she was safe.

“You don’t need to worry about it, John. It’s done, it’s over with.” Keira calmly said through gritted teeth, the grip on her arm hurting her, but she knew John was just terrified from what she’d said at the moment, which had been too much.

John shook hi head, refusing to give up, and shot back, “That’s a lie, Keira, or else you wouldn’t be so upset right now.”

The frustration began building inside of his body as she ripped her arm out of his vise grip and threw her hands up in the air, staring at him with hatred for what happened pouring from her eyes, and shouted angrily, “Goddamn it, John can’t you just fucking DROP IT?!?!”

He glared back at her with intensity flowing through his blue eyes, feeling them narrow from how much anger and pain that he was feeling at the moment, and growled back, “No! I can’t! We love each other, Keira! Or didn’t we?” John questioned, needing to know right then and there if she still loved him or not.

Keira’s bottom lip began to quiver as more tears burned in her eyes, not believing he just asked her that question, and couldn’t lie to him about it. “Yes, I still love you, John, but you won’t love me if I tell you what happened!! Don’t you understand?! This is painful enough as it is letting you go!!” She shouted at him, the raw emotion pouring out of her body as she stared back into his eyes, loving the man with all her heart in soul.

Shock entered John’s eyes by now as he stared at her, wondering what she’d been talking about, and retorted, “Letting go? What makes you think I’d give up on us so easily?”

Sniffling a little as she walked past him, Keira plopped down on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, and dropped her head down in shame. “I don’t know.” She whispered, starting to wonder if maybe she should tell him what had happened and take the risk of losing him or not.

John looked at her as he stepped closer, a heavy sigh escaping his lips and ended up standing before her as he replied softly, “I wouldn’t. You know that about me.” His heart broke as the tears poured down her cheeks, making the urge that much more intense to take her in his arms, but he still resisted.

“I just…I don’t want you to hate me.” She whispered back, wiping her tears away frantically, and finally started revealing her fears to him.

“I would never hate you, Keira. Let’s be realistic here. I highly doubt you cheated on me, so what is it?” John urged, walking over to stand in front of her and bent down to one knee, but never touched her hand even though he wanted to.

Keira finally couldn’t hold it anymore as she burst out in tears, crying harder as she shook her head repeatedly at him. “No, that’s not it!!” She shouted, wrapping her arms around her stomach and began rocking back and forth on the couch, not caring if she almost head butted John or not.

John shook his head as he watched her, hating to see her like this, but knew it was the only way to make her tell him what happened as he pleaded, “Then please, tell me the truth.” He stood up from the floor and sat down beside her, surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“I can’t…John, I can’t do it.” She whispered out between sobs, her tears coating his neck, and her entire body shook violently.

He put his hand on the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair, and quietly spoke to her, “Why?” John wasn’t going to give up until she poured her heart and soul out, no matter how long it took or how many days.

Her hand ran down his chest as she continued to cry her heart and soul out, not wanting to tell him about what happened, and sobbed out in a choking whisper, “I’m so scared right now.”

“I can see that, but you know you don’t have to be scared with me.” John cooed back to her, continuing to run his fingers through her hair, trying to get her to calm down.

Biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes, Keira knew the only way she could get John to leave was to tell him apart of what happened. “John…something happened…” Her words trailed off as she turned away from him, wiping the excess tears from her cheeks, and decided this was the only way to push him away for good. “I’m pregnant…and its not yours.” She revealed, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear.

John looked back at her in shock, feeling his heart begin to beat rapidly against his chest, and choked out, “What?” He wasn’t buying all of it after seeing the scars that adorned her face because they hadn’t been there when he left to go overseas.

“You can leave now. I cheated on you and now I’m carrying someone else’s baby.” Keira lied, her voice low and emotionless, and couldn’t bring herself to look in his eyes for fear of breaking down completely.

“You’re lying. You already told me that you didn’t cheat. And you can’t look me in the eye to tell me, so I don’t buy it.” John shot back, anger welling up in his body, and couldn’t believe she actually lied to him as he shook his head in disappointment. She wasn’t going to get away from him that easily and felt deep inside of him that there was something she wasn’t telling him.

Glaring back at him as her face contorted in both rage and sadness, Keira pointed toward the door and shouted, “I just fucking told you what happened now leave!!”

Throwing his hands up in the air and standing up from the couch, John was finally starting to give up as he glared back at her hatefully, and spat, “Fine then, you wanna lie to me again and again and cop that attitude? I don’t want to be with someone like that. You changed.”

Shoving him away from her, even after he was standing, Keira walked around the opposite side of the couch and shouted, “You really want to be with someone who is carrying someone ELSE’s child, John?!” Keira knew that it would kill John on the inside if he had to go through life with her, knowing that it wasn’t his child she was carrying. She wasn’t about to put him through that kind of pain.

“Maybe you’re lying about that too.” He accused, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest, and Keira couldn’t take it anymore.

Raking a hand through her hair, Keira stormed into the bathroom, bringing the pregnancy stick out that she never threw away, and threw it at him. It landed on the hard wooden floor before him, the plus sign staring him in the face as she barked, “There’s your fuckin’ proof, DICK!”

After staring at it for several minutes, trying to let it sink into his mind that she really was pregnant, John’s eyes hardened as he looked up at her the hate swirling through his blue eyes, and asked, “So? It is really not mine?”

She stared back at him coldly and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she replied, “No, it’s not yours, John. I wish it was, but it’s not and before you start accusing me of being a slut, look at this…” Her words trailed off as she shoved a newspaper in his chest and ran down the hallway to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and locked it. She collapsed on the bed and buried her face in her pillow, crying her heart and soul out again as her body violent shook and racked with sobs.

Black and white words stared back at him as John’s eyes read over the article, reading it over and over again, and couldn’t believe what had happened to her. When he was finished reading about what Jason had done to her, the pieces finally fit together as he crumpled the paper in his hand, throwing it over his shoulder, hating himself for not being here when it happened. Not only had the son of a bitch raped her and forced her to carry his child, but he’d knocked her out with a glass vanity mirror, which would explain the scars that adorned on her face. John immediately walked down the hallway and tried opening the door, sighing heavily when he noticed she’d locked it, and pressed his ear to the door. His heart shattered as he heard her sobs flowing through the door and into his ear, not believing how much pain she was going through, but fully understood why.

John knew why she wanted to push him away, but he wasn’t about to let that happen. He loved her too much to do that and he would stick by her side through anything, especially this pregnancy. Reaching his hand up and feeling along the wall, John nodded when he felt the metal object and took it down, sliding it in the slot of her bedroom door, and opened it, seeing her shoulders were shaking along with the rest of her body. His eyes adverted to the floor, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jean shorts, and stated, “What do you want me to say? How do you think that made me feel, Keira?”

Slowly raising her head up from her pillow, her face tear streaked, Keira glared hatefully over her shoulder at him and shouted, “Now you know what that son of a bitch did to me! You can leave now, John.” Her head buried in her pillow again as she began to cry once more, her entire body trembling with more sobs, but she’d gotten used to it for the past month and a half.

John ran a hand over his face and could feel the emotions stirring inside of him as he shouted back at her in defense, “How was I supposed to be there for you when you never told me?! You never answered my calls, emails, nothing! I could’ve been on the first fuckin’ flight back here!”

Keira heard that and started crying harder, hearing all of these questions shooting back at her, and finally managed to sit up from her bed. “I didn’t want you flipping out and killing him. I know your temper, John. You would’ve ended up breaking in that jail and killing him, especially after the other thing he did to me.” Keira explained, looking down at her shaking hands, and sniffled a little to cry to clear her senses.

Nodding admittingly, John shrugged his shoulders at her and retorted, “Yeah I probably would have. He deserves to die, so what?”

“I wasn’t about to let you go to jail because of what he did to me. That’s why I wanted to keep you in the dark, especially since I’m carrying his child.” Keira stated, refusing to look up at him when she revealed that and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear while the tears flowed down her cheeks silently.

John already knew that, but it did hurt him to know that his suspicions had been confirmed. He shut his eyes tightly and asked, “Are you keeping it?”

Keira ran a hand through her hair and reluctantly nodded her head, “This is an innocent child, who did absolutely nothing wrong, and was created out of sheer hatred and anger. I can’t get rid of it.” She spoke quietly, refusing to take out her frustration and anger at Jason on the child that was growing inside of her. When John became silent, Keira continued to speak as she rubbed her flat abdomen, “I’ll understand if you don’t want anything to do with this situation, John. That’s why I was pushing you away and ignoring your calls and emails.”

Swallowing past the lump that formed in his throat, John nodded and sighed again before replying, “Well, I figured that once I found all this out, but I never said that this changes the way I feel about you.”

Her head shot up upon hearing that, staring at him with widened, shocked eyes, and asked with hope shining through her eyes and in her voice, “What? You want to still be with me even though I’m carrying someone else’s child?”

“You had no choice when this happened. It’s not something you did.” John simply replied, not about to walk away from the woman he loved just because something happened that was completely out of her control.

“I should’ve kicked his ass and called the police when I got to my bedroom. I shouldn’t have underestimated him.” Keira stated, blaming herself for this happening, and pressed her hand firmly against her stomach, trying to will the tears to stop coming.

John sighed upon hearing her and looked over at her sadly as he argued, “You didn’t know he’d stoop this low. None of this was your fault.”

Keira burst out crying again as she threw her face in her hands, nodding her head repeatedly, and cried out, “Yes it is!! I underestimated him!! I thought he left, but when he came in here, I froze and couldn’t do anything! I was so stupid for believing he left!!”

Not able to take it anymore, John took two strides over to the bed and pulled her in his arms, sitting down on the bed, and pulled her on his lap as he began rocking her back and forth. “You’re not stupid! None of this was your fault, Keira, NONE of it.” John spoke sternly, wanting to make her understand that what happened between her and Jason was in no way, shape or form her fault.

She buried her face in his chest, gripping the front of his shirt tightly in her fists, and finally allowed all the emotions to flow out of her, shaking her head in disagreement as she cried out harder, “I should’ve done something! I should’ve fought him!! I should’ve never had that damn mirror in here!!”

He rocked her steadily in his arms, shutting his eyes to keep from crying himself, and shook his head as he whispered in her ear, “No. Shhh, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

Her entire body trembled against him, the sobs tearing throughout her body, and soaked the front of his shirt with her tears as she berated herself repeatedly, “Why couldn’t I have just been a little more brave? A little smarter?”

“You’re a LOT smarter than him, and just getting through it was the bravest thing you could’ve done.” John informed, trying to encourage and make her realize that what happened was out of her hands and unstoppable. The robe slowly slid from her body as she untied it, allowing him to see a fraction of the scars the mirror had caused her, Jason had caused her, to feel. His fingertips ran along them, feeling his heart break at how much pain she had probably gone through, and kept quiet, wanting for her to calm down. When she finally did, Keira began to hastily put the robe back on, not wanting him to see anymore. “Let me help you, Keira. I love you so much, let me help you heal.” John whispered in her ear pleadingly, tightening his hold on her a little more, and looked back into her eyes when they met his, watching the tears flow freely down her cheeks, and slowly wiped them away with his thumb.

“I love you too.” She whispered back, trembling in his arms, and welcomed the kiss that followed. Feeling her heart explode as she wrapped her arms around his neck, Keira couldn’t believe she almost let this man slip through her fingers and silently vowed to never let it happen again.

Chapter 18

After reconciling with each other that night, John begged Keira to move back with him to West Newbury. He didn’t want to take the chance of something else happening to her in North Carolina while he was on the road and had extremely great security at his house in West Newbury. After much persuading and pleading, Keira finally broke down and agreed to move. They were out of her apartment within a month and Keira couldn’t believe she was leaving the ocean behind. However, she was gaining something more important in return and that was John so anything was worth leaving behind for him in her mind and heart.

Keira had called Kelly after she’d arrived in West Newbury and was settled in, apologizing for the way she’d acted, and promised to make it up to her. Kelly simply smiled and waved her cousin off, knowing the call she’d made to John had worked like a charm. She hadn’t told John what had happened, obviously, but she did tell him that Keira needed him and to not back down until she completely broke down and told him everything. Of course, that little phone conversation would remain between her and John for all time, not wanting to upset Keira anymore. She was finally starting to come around again and being her old self, even starting to love the child who was growing inside her womb.

It’d been three months and Keira was going into her fifth month of pregnancy, glowing and completely content with her life. She’d been reading the What To Expect When You’re Expecting book religiously, wanting to be a great mother to this child. Keira had been thinking a lot lately about her and John, not believing how much she loved him and he loved her. She would miss him deeply whenever he went on the road, but understood his passion for the sport and supported him one hundred percent. John appreciated it and always brought her home a little trinket from the road, since she collected them, and Keira thought it was the sweetest thing in the world.

It was a beautiful day outside and Keira had every window open in the house, which was around forty or more. It was a huge house, but she didn’t mind, especially when John was on the road with the WWE. She was laying on the couch, reading another chapter from her book, and set it down, the same thought piercing her mind yet again, and rubbed her protruding belly, smiling softly down at it. “How are we going to tell him, huh?” She softly spoke to it, rubbing it in caressing circles and sighed in sheer contentment.

Just as she started to say something else to the baby, the front door opened and Keira smiled as she stood up from the couch walked over, wrapping her arms around John’s neck, and kissed his lips softly. His entire body was caked in sweat from the workout he’d just got back from enduring and Keira could already feel her body responding to him. She kissed his lips softly, keeping her arms around his neck, and softly asked, “Did you enjoy your workout?”

“Intense.” John answered and kissed her cheek, wondering what she had up her sleeve and why she was being so nice to him. “How’re things here?” He asked nonchalantly, walking over to sit down on the couch, and Keira immediately followed.

She shrugged her shoulders as she sat down beside him, her body simply glowing from the pregnancy, and said, “Fine, never better. I’ve been actually thinking about something important and I want your opinion on it.” She informed, causing John’s eyebrow to raise over at her, and gave her his undivided attention.

“Okay shoot.” He replied, running his finger down her cheek, and couldn’t get enough of this beautiful woman in his presence. John couldn’t believe pregnancy could make her even more beautiful, but it did and he loved her unconditionally.

Biting her bottom lip nervously and wondering how she was going to start this off, Keira started to conjecture if maybe this wasn’t the right time to ask him. Coaching herself mentally and taking his hands in hers, Keira looked into his beautiful blue eyes that she fell in love with and smiled as she said, “John…” The ringing of the phone beside her interrupted her words and made her courage sink back into her body. Keira smiled apologetically at him, causing John to nod in understanding, and turned around, picking up the cordless phone and answered, “Hello?” The sobbing voice on the other end of the line caused Keira’s eyebrows to draw together, staring over at John with worried eyes, and knew who it was. “Kelly? Kelly, calm down sweetie. What’s going on?” Keira softly cooed, trying to get her cousin to breathe properly, and ran a hand through her hair.

“Keira, there was a cra-ash…” Kelly stuttered out, crying even harder as she rocked back and forth on the couch, not knowing how she was going to tell her cousin this.

Nodding in understanding and feeling John’s arm wrap around her shoulders, trying to comfort her as much as possible, Keira felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she asked, “Alright, what happened?”

“A plane…everyone, but Aunt Joyce were on it. It’s bad, Keira, it’s really bad.” Kelly sobbed out over the phone and sighed heavily, blowing her nose with a tissue, and tried to will the tears to stop, but she couldn’t.

Upon hearing that, Keira closed her eyes as she gripped the phone tightly in her hand, pressing it firmly to her ear, and tried to decipher what she just heard. She raked a hand through her hair, trying to keep calm for the baby, and asked in a low voice, “Were there any survivors and who was on it?”

“No…No survivors. It was your parents…and sister…and…uncle.” Kelly managed to breathe out in between sobs, her entire body racking with heart wrenching sobs, and started crying harder over the phone, her chest heaving harshly.

Sighing heavily and rubbing the back of her neck, Keira tried to find one ounce of sadness inside of her, but could find none. “I’m sorry about that, Kelly. When’s the funeral?” She quietly asked, her voice filled with no remorse and life.

Kelly was taken aback by her cousin reaction, expecting to hear her crying and sobbing like she was, but there was nothing. Her voice was cold and dark, unforgiving it seemed, but Kelly couldn’t think about that now. “I don’t…I don’t know yet.” She stuttered out, wiping the excess tears from her eyes, and looked straight ahead, not believing most of her family was gone.

Nodding at John silently and closing her eyes, Keira stood up from the couch like a robot, and walked over to the window as she replied softer, “Kelly, are you alright?”

“I don’t know that either. Aunt Joyce is here now.” Kelly replied in a shaky voice, causing Keira’s to squeeze tightly shut and tried to maintain her anger to a minimum. She hated Joyce with a passion and wished she’d been on the plane with the rest of her despicable family.

“That’s lovely.” Keira bitterly muttered, rolling her eyes, and knew she hadn’t tried as hard as she could to keep the venom out of her voice.

“I just thought you should know.” Kelly whispered, wiping her nose with the tissue, and knew how Keira felt about their aunt, but again, that wasn’t the most important thing at the moment.

Keira nodded, still not feeling anything inside of her with this newfound news, and closed her eyes as she stated, “Call me and let me know when the funeral is.” Her voice was icy and cold, not able to help it and cleared her throat. “I’ll make the reservations and see if John can get some time off and call my doctor to make sure I can even fly out to wherever they’re having it.” Her baby was the most important thing in her life along with John and they came first before her family as far as Keira was concerned. Kelly agreed and they ended the call with each other abruptly, needing to figure things out about this situation. Keira threw the phone on the table, rubbing her forehead with her fingers, and could already feel a headache brewing, sighing deeply to herself. Without looking at John, Keira walked out of the living room and onto the veranda, the light breeze blowing through her hair and stared out at the magnificent scenery before her.

John sighed, overhearing something about a funeral, but didn’t quite catch who it was. He watched her walk onto the veranda and smiled, knowing she was distraught, and was concerned for her and the baby. “What happened?” His voice flowed in her ear while walking toward her. “Is Kelly alright?”

Taking a deep breath, Keira tried once again to find one ounce of sadness and remorse inside of her, but couldn’t and turned around to face him, sounding cold and merciless, “My parents, sister, and uncle died in a plane crash. There were no survivors.” There wasn’t even one degree of emotion in her eyes, not one single tear.

His face turned into a mask of shock, hearing her words flow through him, and couldn’t imagine what she was feeling at the moment. “Jesus…” He whispered, walking over and taking her hands in his. “Are YOU okay? I mean…Dam, I don’t even know what to say.” John was truly speechless, but wanted to make sure Keira was alright and she wasn’t going to spin out of control.

She nodded back at him simply, sliding her hands out of his, and wrapped her arms around herself, sighing deeply as she replied icily, “Kelly is going to call back with the funeral arrangements.”

“I’m…so sorry, Keira.” He whispered remorsefully, sighing heavily as he ran a hand through his hair, and made a mental note to call Vince about getting the next week off so he could be with her.

“I wish I could be.” She mumbled back, turning back around to stare out at the beautiful horizon, the trees gently blowing in the wind, and leaned against the ledge as she shook her head.

John frowned as he walked over to stand beside her, staring intently at her, and asked, “What do you mean?” He was confused by what she said and was curious about it.

Sighing heavily and running a hand through her hair, Keira didn’t look up at him as she simply stated, “This is going to sound terrible, but…I honestly can’t feel one bit of sadness inside of me.” The wind blew through her hair and closed her eyes, still trying to find that sadness so she could cry over her family’s deaths.

Suddenly remembering what she told him about what her family put her through, John understood as he looked out at the horizon with her and replied, “Everybody grieves differently.”

She nodded back at him and shrugged her shoulders absentmindedly, “I’m not even grieving, which is the worst part.” Keira truly felt like a monster, like she wasn’t able to feel anything, like she didn’t have a heart that beat in her chest even though she felt it every second of her life.

Covering her hand with his, John nodded in sympathy and sighed, “It’s okay. They did a terrible thing to you. It’s natural for you to feel this way now, if you ask me.” John really meant everything that came out of his mouth, but deep down, he knew he would be crushed from the inside out if anything like that ever happened to his family. They meant the world to him and always would.

Keira looked up into his eyes and nodded, hugging him around the waist, and rested her head on his chest as she said, “I feel bad about them dying, but I can’t feel any remorse or heartache. They really hurt me by keeping that secret from me for years and I just…I can’t forgive them, John.”

“I know you can’t. It’s okay.” John cooed softly to her, rubbing her back with his hand, and held her close to him, wanting to be there for her just incase she finally did break down and cry.

Smiling a little and hugging him tighter, Keira kissed his chest and replied, “Thank you for understanding. I just…didn’t want to sound sadistic or heartless.”

John chuckled lightly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head as he said, “I never would’ve thought that. You can’t help the way you feel.”

Running her hands up to cup his face, Keira locked eyes with him as a bigger smile spread across her lips and whispered against them, “That’s why I love you so much.” She kissed his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pressed against him tightly, needing to feel his comfort at the moment.

“I love you too.” John murmured back after breaking the kiss and smirked as he suddenly got a thought in his mind. “And speaking of that, what would you say to a romantic dinner for two tomorrow night?” He asked, hope shining in his blue eyes mixed with secretive intentions, and entwined their fingers together.

Keira grinned back up at him as her eyes sparkled, the happiness and light slowly igniting in them, and replied, “That sounds absolutely wonderful!” She kissed his lips softly again before hugging him and thought, ‘It’ll also give me a chance to ask him what I wanted to earlier.’

He smiled back down at her, glad he’d raised her spirits again, and chuckled as he kissed her cheek, “Good, I’ll make the reservations. You just relax.” He ordered, running his finger down her cheek, and Keira smiled in reply, the death suddenly being pushed to the back of her mind for the time being.

“What’s the occasion for this, John?” Keira questioned, quirking an eyebrow up at him as her curiosity got the better of her.

Smiling innocently back at her, John shook his head and replied, “No occasion. I just want to do something special for you. You deserve it.” He couldn’t tell her what he had planned because it was going to be the biggest surprise he’d ever pulled off in his life.

Smirking back at him knowingly and crossing her arms in front of her chest, Keira retorted, “You lie terribly, Cena, you know that?”

John waved her off absentmindedly and shook his head as he shot back playfully, “I’m not lying. What do you think I want?”

Keira giggled and shook her head back at him, deciding to drop the subject for now, and walked over as she grabbed his hand. Her mind suddenly turned back to her family, making her sigh heavily, and asked in a quiet voice, “Am I horrible person, John?”

“Of course not. You’re anything but.” John stated emphatically, lifting her up in his arms, and carried her into the house, sitting on the couch with her in his lap. His arms wrapped around her waist, knowing she wanted to talk about this further.

Sighing in response, Keira tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and started raising her voice a little, “I want to cry, scream, rant, rave, something, but I can’t find ONE ounce of sadness or grievance inside of me! What am I going to do at the funeral when I’m staring at my dead parents, sister, and uncle and not shedding one tear?” She questioned, more to herself than John, and shook her head as her gaze adverted to the ground.

John tightened his grip on her a little more, wishing he could take her pain away that she was feeling deep inside, and replied, “Everybody grieves in different ways. They’ll understand that. You can’t get too emotional right now for the baby’s sake.” He pointed out, not wanting her to get upset because it wasn’t good for the baby, especially when she was almost done with her second trimester.

Shaking her head and becoming frustrated, Keira could feel her hormones going insane inside of her at the moment and stood up abruptly from his lap, shouting, “That’s just it!! I’m NOT emotional about this!! I want to be, I want to cry!!”

Shrugging his shoulders at her and not sure what else he could say, John simply stated while looking up at her, “You can’t force it upon yourself. If it’s meant to happen, you’ll cry when you are truly ready.”

Keira raked a hand through her hair and looked down at him, nodding in understanding at his words, and knew he was right. She sat back down, feeling her stomach gurgling, and stood back up as she announced, “I’m gonna go lay down, I’m not feeling so well.” She kissed his forehead and walked out of the living room, toward the bedroom, and laid down on her side on the bed. John sighed heavily, knowing this was going to be hard on her and decided to give her sometime to herself as he turned on ESPN to catch up on some sports.

Chapter 19

Her reflection stared back at her in the small mirror the car gave her, causing a small sigh to escape her lips. Her abdomen was sticking out like a sore thumb now and it made her feel unattractive, but then again, that happened with most pregnant women. Keira decided to wear a silk, red maternity top that tied around the back and was V shaped in the front. It was long sleeved and she was wearing black stretch dress pants since she couldn’t fit in her old ones. Her hair was up in a clip with strands of hair framing her face and her make up was very natural, except the thin black eyeliner that outlined her eyes and the clear lip gloss that painted her lips.

John smiled over at her once he stopped at a red light, admiring how beautiful she looked, and softly stated, “You look radiant tonight, have I told you that?”

Rolling her eyes playfully back at him and smiling sweetly, Keira retorted, “You’re just sayin’ that ‘cause I’m pregnant.”

He chuckled back at her before turning his attention back on the road in front of him and argued, “I am not! I don’t say anything if I don’t mean it.”

Keira giggled and touched his arm, running her hand down the length of it, and entwined their fingers together as she softly replied, “Well thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself.” She winked, causing him to shake his head with a small chuckle.

His outfit consisted of a long sleeved white shirt that stretched over his body along with a black corduroy jacket. He had black dress pants on with black dress shoes and his hair was gelled up in spikes. He had a silver Rolex on his right wrist and a matching chain around his neck, making him look even more handsome. She was truly shocked at his appearance when she seen him earlier on and meant what he said. “Thanks, I thought tonight was worth getting spiffy for.” John commented, winking back at her and continued down the road, not believing what a beautiful night it was outside.

Smirking back at him, Keira leaned over, being careful of her abdomen, and brushed her lips against his, puling back just as the next light they’d stopped at turned green. John smiled back at her with sheer love shining in his eyes and the rest of the ride to the restaurant was made in silence, each in their own thoughts about the night ahead. A few minutes later, John pulled into a close parking spot at the restaurant he picked out and turned the ignition off. He stepped out of the car and walked around to the side, opening her car door for her, and extended his hand, causing Keira to shake her head while grinning and slipped her hand in his. Together, they walked inside, hand in hand, and was escorted to the reserved table that John set aside especially for them.

A gasp sounded from Keira’s lips when the hostess of the restaurant escorted them to their table and seen the beautiful setting before her. There were candles lit everywhere, leaving two paths to walk to their seats and left enough room to pull the chairs in and out comfortably. It was on a veranda outside, the stars glistening above them while the full lit moon shined down, bathing them in a luminescent glow. Keira couldn’t believe what John had went through and turned around, tears shimmering in her eyes, and kissed his lips softly when his head dipped. They each walked their paths and took their seats while the hostess went to fetch a waitress to serve them for the evening.

“This is gorgeous…” Keira breathed out, looking around in sheer awe, and picked up her menu as her eyes trailed down the options, her mouth watering at all the delicious things they had to offer. “Everything looks so great here.”

“Yeah, it does. The prime rib looks like it’s callin’ my name.” John replied, causing Keira to giggle, and nodded in agreement, but her eyes were on something else.

“It’s expensive though…” John pointed out, wondering if he should get the prime rib or not, and ran a hand through his hair in thought, groaning when he got smacked on the arm for his troubles.

Keira was smirking wickedly over at him and reached her hand across the table, grabbing his in hers, and smacked it, causing him to groan. She giggled before releasing it before he retaliated and stated, “Stop being a baby and quit talking about money.”

John stuck his bottom lip out, pretending to pout, and retorted, “Ya didn’t have to hit me.” He rubbed his hand, acting like it hurt, and tried to keep the smile from spreading across his face.

“Oh please, like that really hurt! You better toughen up if you plan on makin’ it through the delivery.” Keira shot back playfully, winking over at him just as the waitress walked up. She was a petite thing with bleach blonde hair and breasts too big for her head. Keira didn’t like her one bit from the start, but kept her mouth shut, though the waitress’s eyes devoured her whole, causing Keira to glare up at her. “Can we order already?” She snapped, causing John to breathe a sigh of relief, especially since the waitress was practically shoving her fake breasts in his face.

The waitress rolled her eyes, flipping her pen out, and clicked it with an attitude, turning toward John first with a seductive smile that curved her lips. “What will your big, muscular body be having tonight?” Her voice dripped with sexuality and want, which was really starting to piss Keira off.

Gulping nervously and running a hand through his hair, John answered gently, “I’ll have the prime rib please, and my leading lady here...” His words trailed off, looking over at Keira questionably with a smile adorned on his face that was meant strictly for her.

A grin slowly spread across her lips when she heard him call her that and cleared her throat, staring at the menu, and glared up at the waitress as she curtly replied, “I’ll have the steak, medium rare.” Her grin turned into a smug as she continued to order while thrusting her menu at her. “Oh and sweetheart, can I have a strawberry daiquiri WITHOUT alcohol?” John was smiling widely at his love and kept admiring how strong she was while the waitress nodded at Keira incoherently. She watched her walk away with that same smug smirk on her face and shook her head, looking over at John, and asked in a softer voice, “So, are you gonna tell me what this is all about?”

John played it cool, taking a few deep breaths, and began fiddling nervously with her napkin in her lap, and retorted, “What are you talking about?”

Smirking back at him knowingly, seeing he was becoming fidgety, and decided to let it slide for now as she took a deep breath, “Forget it, there’s something I want to talk to you about anyway.” She knew this was the perfect time to bring this up while their food was cooking and once again, John gave her his undivided attention.

“What about?” John questioned, folding his hands on top of the table, and looked intently at her, remembering she wanted to talk to him about something the previous night before finding out about her family’s death.

Keira felt her hands suddenly become sweaty and ran a hand through her hair, trying to take deep breaths to calm down, but was finding it hard to do so. “Well…I was thinking that since…” Just when Keira had finally found her courage again, they were disturbed by the obnoxious waitress, who was setting their drinks down. She bent down, her ass sticking out, so far that John could see up her shirt, but he was looking down at the table or at Keira. That was the LAST straw as Keira stood up from the table, not caring if she knocked over candles, and walked up to her abruptly before ordering, “You’ve got three seconds to leave or else I’ll do it for you!” John’s eyes widened in shock, but honestly didn’t blame Keira for getting upset, especially since she was pregnant. Keira sneered back at the waitress, who just scoffed and stomped away back into the restaurant, finally taking a seat and took a sip of her non-alcoholic beverage.

After a few minutes passed in sheer silence, John finally cleared his throat and said, “Well, the waitress was bad, but luckily, I still have an appetite.” Keira just nodded, swirling her straw in her drink, trying to calm down from getting angry at the waitress. About ten minutes later, their food arrived and once again, the waitress did the same thing, but this time, Keira didn’t stand up and simply ignored her.

They ate in silence, Keira devouring her food before John, who simply stared at her in pure astonishment. “Mmm that was great.” She complimented, wiping her mouth with her napkin, and looked up at John, whose eyes were bugged out back at her. “What?”

“Get enough there?” John joked, shaking his head, and smiled widely at her, hoping she didn’t get defensive about it.

Keira smirked back at him and nodded, burping as she covered her mouth quickly, and retorted, “Yeah, you have to remember I’m eating for TWO here, John, not just one.”

“I know, I know. So, what did you wanna talk to me about?” John asked, bringing the subject up again, and wiped his mouth off after taking the final bite of food. He was truly curious about what she wanted to ask him and felt bad that they kept getting interrupted.

“Oh…” Keira trailed off, setting her napkin down on the plate and sighed heavily, trying to build up her courage again. “Well…I was thinking…” Her head dropped to the table below and shook her head when the waitress interrupted them again, and wondered if she would ever be able to talk to John about what had been brewing in her mind.

John finally had enough of the interruption as she looked up at her, his jaw tightened and stated through gritted teeth, “We’re in the middle of a conversation, and we don’t need anything else from you at the moment, so would you mind excusing yourself?” This waitress was starting to get on his nerves and he wanted to rip her head off her shoulders if she didn’t get moving in two seconds away from their table.

The waitress’s eyes widened in shock, stuttering out something incoherent, and finally ran away in tears, causing Keira to raise her eyebrow up at John and started clapping sarcastically at him. “Smooth, very smooth, my dear.” She complimented, truly impressed with how he handled the waitress, and once again proved how much he loved her and showed her that she was the only woman for him.

Smirking proudly back at her, John nodded as he replied, “Thank you. Now go on.” He softly ordered his curiosity bursting at the seams, and was going to throw the next person who interrupted them over the balcony ledge.

“John, I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I really think that…Ummmm…Now you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’ll understand if you don’t…” Keira started babbling and rambling on and on, trying to find the right words to say, and John was starting to wonder if she’d ever get the words out.

“Spit it out, kid.” He joked, listening to her intently, and was shot a glare from Keira’s eyes for his troubles.

“I’m trying okay?” She shot back, sighing heavily as the frustration started building up inside of her. “It’s just…complicated and I don’t quite know how to ask you this.” Keira explained, revealing her true feelings, and knew her hormones were causing her to snap so easily.

John nodded and waited patiently as he apologized, “I’m sorry, baby girl. Take your time.” He encouraged, making her nod back at him with a small smile.

Biting her bottom lip nervously and caressing her stomach with her hand, Keira finally found the courage as she started to ask him again, “John, would you…” Her words trailed off, causing her to sigh frustratingly. “Would you…” She stopped again, gripping her head in her hands, and took a few deep breaths. “Would you consider…” A low deep growl escaped her lips by now as she shook her head, not believing how scared she was to ask him one simple question.

Trying in vain to hide his smile and nodded back at her in support, letting her know he was listening, John decided to be cute as he asked jokingly, “Would I…marry you?”

Keira’s eyes bugged out of her head as he stared at him in pure shock, not believing he just said that, and immediately replied, “No! No, a woman does NOT ask that question. No, that’s not what I’m asking you.” She reassured him, raking a hand through her hair, and tried to regain her bearings. When John didn’t say anything, Keira decided it was now or never and smiled a little as she finally asked, “John, would you consider adopting this baby?”

John could already feel his eyes widen as his jaw dropped, not believing she just asked him something like that and suddenly felt a lump form within his throat. He swallowed past it, gulping, and managed to reply in clarification, “You mean…You’d want me to legally become it’s…father?”

Biting her bottom lip harder and nodding, Keira tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed as she whispered back, “Yes.”

A huge smile spread across his face as he looked at her, seeing the fear swimming through her eyes, and replied happily, “I’d…well, quite frankly, seeing as you’re its mother…I’d be honored, Keira.” He truly meant it and also knew this would be the perfect time for what he made this dinner about.

Tears instantly swelled in her eyes, staring back into his beautiful blue orbs, and ran a hand through her hair as her entire body began to tremble, asking, “You…Did you just say…you want to?”

“Yes, but I do have a stipulation to that request…” John stated, causing Keira’s eyes to stare at him with questions swimming through her eyes, and automatically felt her insides quake when he stood up from his chair. Taking a deep, shaky breath, John looked down at her and reached in the pocket of his corduroy jacket, pulling out a black, velvet box, and Keira could already feel the tears sliding down her cheeks. Lowering down to his knee before her, Keira covered her mouth with her hand, not believing this was happening, and couldn’t stop the tears from flowing even if her life depended on it. “Would you be my wife?” He asked nervously, feeling his hand shaking like a leaf, and lifted the lid on it, making Keira cry even harder.

It was a beautiful three stoned heart cut shaped sapphire gem that was set on a silver band. It also had one heart cut shaped diamond that were smaller on each side of the sapphire gemstone. Keira was absolutely speechless as she stared down at the beautiful ring before her and then into this man’s eyes, seeing all the love for her flowing through them for her. She was gaping at it as her eyes remained widened, covering her mouth with her hand, and finally found her voice while John sat on his knee, looking like he was going to pass out if she didn’t answer him. “John, I…YES! YES I WILL!!” She squealed out, throwing her arms around his neck, and cried out in happiness as he spun her around in the air, slipping the finger on her left hand, and kissed her lips passionately.

Chapter 20


Let it rain {x2}

From the first day I met ya, I noticed your style
Had that B-boy swagger, not one of the crowd
And you talked like you knew me, kept comin’ around
And I fell for ya, yeah.


Keira sat on the plane, John right beside her, rubbing her stomach in slow, caressing circles, wishing the plane would land already. She was wearing a simple black dress and her hair was left down, no make up on her face while John wore a black suit. She still couldn’t believe she was going to her family’s funeral on this day and yet, she still hadn’t cried or felt sick to her stomach about it. John had been right though about them hurting her to the point of no forgiveness because that’s exactly what had happened. How could a loving family betray her the way they did by keeping a secret about her blood sister fucking her ex-fiancé? How could she forgive something like that, even after they were dead?

Her thoughts were cut in half when John’s hand reached over, grabbing hers in his, and squeezed it, reassuring her that everything that was going to be fine. Keira smiled over at him appreciatively as she stared back out the window, running a hand through her hair, and wished the day was already over with. About an hour later, the plane landed in L.A. and Keira was the first one off, followed by John. They walked through the terminal together, her hand on her stomach, and John told Keira to stand to the side while he grabbed their things. Keira nodded, not in the mood to argue with him, and looked down at the beautiful ring that shined on her left ring finger, not able to help smiling down at it.

“I know where the funeral home is.” Keira informed her fiancé, who smiled back at her knowingly, and together, they walked out of the airport, toward the awaiting limo. They slipped inside and allowed the driver to take them to the parlor, where her cousin and family was waiting for her. The ride was made in silence, Keira in her own thoughts and worries about seeing her wretched Aunt Joyce after all these years.

The limo stopped about an hour later, causing Keira to sigh heavily, and stepped out of it with John’s help. John wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her into the building, hoping he was strong enough for her through this tragic time. Keira pressed a hand to her stomach as she looked straight ahead, following the signs on where her family was going to be in, and spotted Kelly, waving to her with her free hand. Kelly cracked a smile at her and walked over, hugging Keira close, and whispered, “I’m glad you could come.” She smiled over at John and nodded to him, “It’s nice to see you again, John.” He nodded back at her, keeping quiet, and had his hand on the small of the back of Keira’s.


Then as time kept going, I noticed some things
That our love kept growing, wanted to run away
‘Cause the situations in the past, none of them really last
Memories just had a hold of me, ohhh.


“I wish I could say its good to be here, but under the circumstances…” Keira replied, her tone cold and remorseless, though she tried with all her heart to sound a little saddened by this.

“So…Aunt Joyce is by the…caskets. She’s been there almost the whole time.” Kelly informed, causing Keira to narrow her eyes at the mention of their aunt.

She ran a hand through her hair, sighing heavily, Keira requested calmly and icily, “Would you go tell that…woman that I’d like to speak to my deceased family alone for a few minutes?” Kelly just nodded and walked away to take Joyce elsewhere for the time being.

Keira stood before the doors, knowing her family was in there, and took a deep shaky breath as she started to walk in. John stopped her as he leaned down and whispered softly in her ear, “Do you want to do this alone or should I come with you?”


But I, had to let go of the pain
Let love rain down on me (let it rain)
‘Cause you helped me open up my yes, showed me things I could never see (let it rain)
‘Cause we can fight, and when we make up,
Wanna see you when I wake up
I’ll stay with you only (let it rain)
‘Cause I need you to show me how our love should really be (let it rain)


Placing her hand over his and giving it a reassuring squeeze, Keira stared straight ahead with the same blank expression adorned on her face and stated, “I must do this alone. Stay here.” She commanded gently before walking away from him and into the rooms that had the four caskets lined up. The feeling of death swept over her and it unnerved Keira because it didn’t bother her in the least and closed the sliding doors behind her, sighing heavily. Keira ran a hand through her hair as she looked at her family before her, the family who betrayed her all those years ago, seeing their yellow faces and still didn’t feel one ounce of sadness inside of her.

“It’s been awhile since I last seen you all. Who knew this would be the only way to bring us together again, eh?” Keira bitterly joked, taking a long, deep breath to calm her racing heart before continuing. “I just wanted to come in here and tell you, Mom, Dad, and Serena, that you all really hurt me. I thought you loved me, that you cared, that I was apart of you, but obviously, I was wrong. I was wrong and stupid to actually believe and trust that my own family actually loved me enough to allow me to make my OWN decisions in life and choose my OWN husband. I loved Jason, but Serena, you couldn’t resist could you? You just HAD to get your fingers into him didn’t you? You just HAD to have him for yourself and break your sister’s heart, didn’t you? Well, that’s fine because he turned out to be a real asshole and creep anyway. He broke into my new apartment and smashed a huge mirror over my head, cutting me all over, and then raped me, which is why I’m five months pregnant now, six in two weeks. I’m carrying your grandchild from the man who cheated on me with my sister and you all knew about it and didn’t tell me. I hope you’re proud of yourselves because I came in here to tell you one thing.” Tears finally burned her eyes from the horrid memories of her past and what her family and Jason had put her through. Keira pressed her hand firmly against the wall to steady herself while pressing her other on her stomach, and felt a few tears spill down her cheeks as she continued. “I’m not bitter anymore. I don’t hate any of you anymore, but I can’t seem to find one ounce of sadness inside of me for your deaths. Thank you for showing and teaching me a valuable lesson in life. Thanks to you, I finally did find someone who loves and respects me enough to not screw my sister or any of my family members behind my back. He loves me and I love him and together, we’re going to have this baby and name him after his real father in John. I’m also getting married to this man who is my TRUE soul mate so I wanted to say thank you for breaking my heart and betraying my chest because thanks to you all, I’ve finally found someone to hold onto for the rest of my life. I love you all, goodbye.” She finished, turning around, and walked out of the room, closing the sliding doors behind her, dropping her head forward, and tried to calm her thumping heart that thudded against her chest.

John heard the doors open and close as he looked up from the couch, his face a mask of concern for her, and stood up as he watched her carefully. Keira slowly brought her head up to look into his eyes and walked over after regaining her composure, walking into his strong embrace, and closed her eyes tightly shut, willing the tears to go back into her eyes. She hadn’t cried in the room because of her family’s death, she did it because of what Jason had done to her, even though he had given her a blessing with the baby. John held her close to him, smiling a little to himself as he looked down into her eyes and asked, “Do you feel any better now?”

Nodding with a smile of her own, Keira kissed his lips softly and replied, “Yeah much better.” They proceeded to walk into the room as the caskets were wheeled out, taking their seats, and listened to the eulogies and what the priest had to say about her family. It was all a blur to Keira, so many things running through her mind, so many memories, and couldn’t believe they were actually gone. Before she knew it, they were on their way out of the funeral parlor and headed to the cemetery for the burial. Kelly was crying and sobbing her heart out with Aunt Joyce while Keira just looked down at the four six foot dug holes that her family was going to be buried in. She rubbed her arms up and down with her hands, even though John’s arm was wrapped around her waist, and suddenly felt the wind pick up just as the priest finished up his speech. A blank expression was adorned on Keira’s face as she walked over, after everyone else had done so, and placed a white rose on each casket, not saying a word, and looked up at John as she whispered, “Let’s go home.”


I used to wonder where we’re going, and where I wanted to be
Sittin’ alone, all shook up when I found my destiny
Hearing songs on the radio, wishin’ that could happen for me, oh ohh (ohh oh)
Then when you came in the picture, then I knew quickly
That we could build something so strong
Expect the best for the future, forget about what used to be
I need you here all life long.


John nodded at her request and started to escort her away from the gravesites, but stopped when Joyce confronted them, standing in the way. “Keira, could we talk for a moment?” Her low voice asked, causing her to stare back at the woman she used to call Aunt.

A hardening expression formed etched across her face as Keira stared back at her, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and looked up at John as she stated, “I’ll be along in a moment. Go start the car.” Not saying a word and kissing her temple, John walked away from them to go do as his fiancée had asked, leaving the two women standing in front of each other. “What do you want, Joyce?” Keira asked harshly with her lips pursed together, not wanting to even look at her at the moment.

“Listen, I just want you to know that I never approved of what your parents and sister did to you, but I couldn’t go against them like that. I was too afraid of losing the only family that I had. I’m sorry.” Joyce explained, her tone quiet and calm and her arms were hanging loose at her sides.

An incredulous laugh sounded from Keira’s lips as she stared at Joyce in disbelief, not believing the ridiculous things she was saying, and shot back, “I can’t believe you’re trying to throw this shit at me, especially after what’s happened today. There was NO reason why you or anyone else in our family should’ve kept that information away from me! I don’t care what excuses you have, there is none good enough!” Her voice had raised due to the amount of anger that was flowing throughout her body at the moment.


But I, had to let go of the pain
Let love rain down on me
On me (let it rain)
‘Cause you helped me open up my eyes, showed me things I could never see
never see (let it rain)
‘Cause we can fight, and we make up,
Wanna see you when I wake up
I’ll stay with you only
Stay with you only (let it rain)
‘Cause I need you to show me how our love should really be
love should really be (let it rain)


Joyce nodded in understanding as she sighed, clearing her throat, and replied, “I just…wanted for you to be happy. I never wanted you to be with Jason in the first place.” She admitted, causing Keira to place her hands on her hips, five months pregnant or not.

“If you truly felt that way, why didn’t you say anything? Is money really WORTH all the pain you caused me, Joyce?” Keira questioned, her tone icy and cold, but she didn’t care. She wanted this woman to feel all the pain and misery she’d felt over the past seven, almost eight years.

Shaking her head regrettably, Joyce said, “I guess I was too scared to fight against them, Keira.”

She wasn’t buying any of that as Keira scoffed at her aunt and shook her head as she corrected cruelly, “No, you just didn’t want them cutting you out of their fuckin’ fortune. That’s fine though because thanks to all of you, including Kelly, I’ve finally found my TRUE soul mate, even though I’m having Jason’s baby, due to him breaking into my apartment almost six months ago and smashing a huge mirror over my head and then raping me!” She shouted, causing Joyce to lower her head in pure sorrow.


‘Cause I see the sunlight whenever we touch,
All day and all night, it’s never too much
Afraid of my feelings and falling too deep,
But everybody’s had this happen one time or another
When you need somebody to set your heart free, ohh ohhh.


“Your parents told Jason where you lived when he wanted you to come back to him…” Joyce revealed, causing Keira’s eyes to widen in shock back at her, not believing what she just heard.

Covering her mouth with her hand as her entire body began to tremble, Keira gasped out, “W-What?! How did they find out where I lived?!” She was beside herself with emotion by now that the tears were starting to burn her eyes and pressed her hand to her stomach, trying to calm herself down for the baby’s sake.

Joyce shook her head and replied, “I don’t really know. I think they seen your name in the paper for one of your books or something and…maybe went from there.”

“I should’ve known…” Keira whispered, closing her eyes tightly shut, and instantly regretted everything she said to them at the funeral home. “Why didn’t you contact Kelly or me and warn us?” She demanded, the anger flashing in her eyes as she stared at her aunt intensely.

“I didn’t know until…it was too late.” Joyce answered, shaking her head regrettably at her niece.

Keira raked a hand through her hair, not believing anything Joyce said, and spat back angrily, “Yeah right. You just wanted to stay in the will for their fortune, that’s all our family has ever been about!!”

Joyce stared at her blankly for a moment before handing her a manila envelope and stated, “I must go now. Take care.” Before Keira could say anything back at her, Joyce had already walked away, leaving Keira with the mysterious envelope in her hand. Keira sighed heavily as she took a deep breath and opened it, pulling out the remnants of it, and felt her eyes widen in shock as her mouth dropped to the ground. John had just pulled up in the car and parked on the curb, waiting patiently for her, but immediately got out of the car when she dropped to her knees in the grass.


But I, had to let go of the pain
Let love rain down on me (let it rain down, down on me, yeah)
‘Cause you helped me open up my eyes, showed me things I could never see (let it rain)
‘Cause we can fight, and we make up,
Wanna see when I wake up, whoa whoa
I’ll stay with you only, oh ohh
‘Cause I need you to show me how our love should really be
love should really be (let it rain)


The documents revealed to her that Keira was the sole owner of everything her parents ever owned and claimed. Their houses, cars, businesses, jewels, fortune, everything belonged to her. Keira’s knees were shaking and trembling as she picked up a check, seeing it was made out for ten billion dollars, and immediately dropped it on top of the documents. She bent over, holding her stomach, and began heaving while tears streamed down her cheeks, placing a hand on her stomach. John was immediately at her side as he ran up the hill, wrapping his arms around her, and held her close, shouting out in a pure panic, “Keira?! Keira, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?!” No words uttered from her mouth as she looked up at him, handing him the documents that set them for life, and ran a shaky hand through her hair, still keeping the other hand on her stomach. She gasped when she felt something against her hand on her stomach, instantly knowing what it was, and looked up at John with tear filled, bloodshot eyes.

John’s eyes widened in shock, not believing what he was reading before him, and shot his head up as he stared at her when she gasped. Before he could even question it, Keira took his hand in hers, pressing his against the womb, and whispered softly, “Wait.” A few moments later, John’s eyes filled with tears as the most amazing feeling thumped against his hand, looking up into Keira’s eyes, and knew the baby kicked.

“Wow…” John choked out, smiling down at her stomach, and immediately lifted her up as he hugged her close against him, never wanting to let her go again.

“I love you. Let’s go home.” Keira whispered against his lips, staring into his beautiful blue eyes, and John smiled, not about to deny her request. Slowly lifting the documents up and placing them back in the manila envelope, Keira entwined her fingers with John’s as they walked back to the car, the envelope in hand, knowing this was her parent’s way of saying they were sorry to her for what happened. On the drive back to the airport, all Keira kept thinking about as she held the envelope close to her chest was her life and how drastic it had changed. She closed her eyes and held John’s hand tightly in her own, glad that she had let the love rain down on them because in the end, it was worth it. ‘Let it rain forever.’ Keira thought as she looked up at the sky and knew her life was finally going to be nothing, but a happily ever after.


But I, had to let go of the pain
Let love rain down on me
Down on me baby (let it rain)
‘Cause you helped me open up my eyes, showed me things I could never see (let it rain)
‘Cause we can fight, and we make up,
Wanna see you when I wake up,
I’ll stay with you only (let it rain)
‘Cause I need you to show me how our love should really be (let it rain)

Oooooo, ohh oh, let it rain {x4}


The End.