Perfect Match (20 page)

“Hi Kayla,” Noelle said trying to sound
cheerful.

“I thought I saw Kevin come in here.” She
ignored Noelle. She always does lately.

“He brought me in. I got hurt and Noelle was
just helping me out. He left over a half hour ago. He’s probably
eating,” Jackson said.

“Okay. Thanks.” Kayla walked out very slowly.
She watched them the whole time making sure she didn’t miss
anything. She shut the doors very loudly and was gone as quickly as
she arrived.

“Jackson, we can never do this again. It’s
way too risky.”

“I know. We won’t. Tonight?”

“Of course. Jackson?”

“Yes.”

“What did you ever see in her? She’s
awful.”

“I don’t know. See you tonight.” He winked at
her like he always does and was gone.

Jackson couldn’t get enough of Noelle. The
show was a great show and a lot of the guys wanted to go out. Not
Jackson. All he wanted to do was go to Noelle’s. Being with her and
knowing that she loved him too was more satisfying to him than
being in the ring. Honestly it was more satisfying than anything
else in his life. She was the other half of him. She always has
been. He’d often feel sad and felt lonely and he never knew why.
With Noelle, that loneliness went away. He hadn’t been to his home
for weeks, and

knew that he was going to have to start
answering questions to his parents soon, especially since he lived
right next door to them, but he didn’t care. She was his home as
far as he was concerned. They had just had the most incredible
night that started with his massage and ended up making love for
what seemed like forever. He couldn’t stop kissing her. She was
lying naked in his arms. “Mmm, Noelle,” he murmured between kisses,
“This is exactly where I belong. Oh, and I take it back. You don’t
suck at massages. That was so great.”

“Told you.” She teased and then gave him a
mind-blowing kiss that almost made him forget where he was. Before
ending the kiss, she nibbled on his bottom lip. Jackson was sure
she could feel the goose bumps she was giving him.

“Jackson, I could lay here forever with you
as long as you keep talking to me like that.”

He lay on his back and pulled her on top of
him. He gave her an earth-moving kiss of his own. She let out a
soft moan and said, “I love you so much, Jackson.”

Jackson pressed her against him and kissed
her cheek. “I love you. I want to marry you.”

She sat up on the bed and looked down at him.
“Wait. What?”

“I want to marry you. I want to spend the
rest of my life with you.”

“Jackson, are you serious?” she squealed.

“Yes. I think I’ve known that since the
moment I saw you standing with Jerry.” Jackson kissed the palm of
her hand. “Do you ever think about marrying me?”

“Of course I do.” She had a huge smile on her
face.

“Well,” Jackson said clearing his throat,
“Here’s the thing. I always wanted my parents to be there when I
got married. So in order for that to happen, we have to tell
them.”

She stopped smiling. She stared at her hands
for a long while before she said anything. “I know you are right. I
just think that we can’t say anything to Pop yet.”

“Look, I agree. But I am ready to tell my
dad. The more people we have on our

side the better.”

“Do you think Howie will be happy about
us?”

“Ecstatic. So will my mom. My dad can help
with Larry. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” She hugged him. She trusted that
things were going to be okay. She started laughing at that
moment.

“What’s so funny?” Jackson asked.

“I’m just thinking about how adorable your
feet are.”

“Yeah, I am crazy in love with you. That is
the only reason I’d ever let you paint my toes.” Jackson shook his
head.

“I promised you a pedi.”

“Thanks for not using pink.”

“Nah. Red equals sexy, remember?”

“Yes, I do.” And he kissed her.

The next day Jackson went to his parents’
house around noon. He knew that his mom would be out doing the
grocery shopping, and his dad would be catching up on the paper.
That is exactly what he was doing when he found him in the bright
kitchen. “Hey,” Jackson said cheerfully.

“Whoa. I forgot all about you,” Howie said
jokingly. It took a lot to make his father angry. “To what do I owe
this honor?”

“Are you busy?”

“Nope. Just going to make a sandwich. Want
one?”

“A Hungry Howie sandwich. You got it.”
Jackson sat down while his father got up and started to get the
bread and lunch meat out.

“Are you going to stick around for when your
mother comes home? She’s going to want to see you.”

“Yes. I miss her, but don’t tell her
that.”

“Mum’s the word,” Howie said and gave a
hearty laugh at his own joke.

“So, Dad, I kind of want to talk to you about
something. It’s important.”

Howie looked over his shoulder at his son and
said, “Who’s the girl?”

“How’d you know?”

“You haven’t been around for weeks and
haven’t seen your car at your place. Doesn’t take a genius to
figure out you’ve been staying somewhere else, and when we do see
you, you look like you are on top of the world. Now who is she? Do
we know her?”

“You do, actually.”

Howie stopped and looked at Jackson with a
come-on-already look.

“It’s Noelle, Dad.” Jackson confessed and
braced himself.

Howie nodded and went back to making the
sandwiches. “Pickle?”

Jackson was confused for a moment and replied
with a weak yes. “Did you hear me?”

“I heard you. I’m just taking it in,” Howie
said and finished the sandwiches and walked them over to the table.
He handed one to Jackson and took a bite of his own before speaking
again. “Noelle. She’s a great lady.”

“Dad, I’m in love with her. I’m not just
dating her. I think I’ve loved her my whole life.”

“I always had that impression too,” Howie
chuckled.

“Dad, you are best friends with Larry. How
serious is he about that rule of his?”

“Very.”

“That’s what I am afraid of, and so is
Noelle. She is scared to death to tell him. I don’t want to push
her but things are serious. I want to spend my life with her. So I
was hoping that you could help me out with Larry.”

“Larry is a tough old man. He loves his girls
dearly. Noelle especially. He is very protective. He is not going
to be happy about the two of you dating. If you were a waiter, he’d
have no issue with it. You being a wrestler, well, that makes it
impossible. Jackson, are you sure you love her? Are you sure you
know what are doing?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my
life. Noelle is it for me. I’m going to be with her with or without
Larry’s blessing. It will just be easier for her if we had his
blessing.”

Howie took another bite of his sandwich. He
took a good look at Jackson. “Hell, Larry’s not such a bad guy.
He’s an over-protective dad who I know wants a good man for his
daughter. If you are to have any chance at this blessing, you have
to be upfront with him. Do not let him find out in the locker room.
That would be unforgivable to him, not to mention the ultimate lack
of respect. To Larry and Noelle both. That is your only
chance.”

“At least he already likes me.”

“That is also a plus for you. I am happy for
you son, and I adore Noelle. I think she is really good for you.
And you are good for her. You have my blessing.”

Jackson pulled out his phone and sent a text
to Noelle…

Dad gave us his blessing with a warning, tell
Larry before he finds out on his own.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jackson felt like he was walking on air as he
walked back into the locker room after first his practice and then
his workout. Both of which went great. He was running strong as the
American Champion, and it didn’t look like he was going to drop the
belt anytime soon. It was only a matter of days before he’d learn
who his next promo was going to be with, who he was going to
ultimately face at Holiday in Hell. He was healthy and was able to
bench his highest weight so far. What had him feeling the best of
all was he was in love. Nothing was going to bring him down. Even
if he ran into Kayla today, he’d probably wish her a good
morning.

He was getting undressed so he could shower.
Noelle was off today and he had hours before the show so he wanted
to get a chance to see her. He thought of his conversation with his
dad. He finally told him about how serious he was about Noelle, and
it felt good to have an ally in him, especially when it came to
Larry. Ruckus was a man he looked up to his whole life, and the
fact that he was in a serious relationship with Noelle, could
create all kinds of complications. Larry may not realize that his
feelings for her are true. Maybe he’d think that Jackson is just
trying to further his career, just like Noelle originally feared.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Others may look at it that
way and he knew that his dad had a good point with them having to
tell Larry before someone else found out. He just had to find the
right moment. Life would be so much simpler if they were able to
declare their love for each other to everyone.

So Jackson had a big choice to make. Did he
just tell Noelle that they had to pick a day to tell Larry, or did
he go to him on his own and “ask” for his daughter’s hand? The hell
if he knew what the right thing to do was, but he knew it would
come to him. Right now, he just wanted to relax and see Noelle. He
took off his socks at the same moment some of the other guys came
in, Mike included, and Jackson swore. Those damn red toenails of
his. He hadn’t thought about this moment when he agreed to let
Noelle paint them. He waited for it as Mike and Kevin among others
got a glimpse of his red toes.

Predictably, Mike came right up to him.
Jackson tried to hide his toes but it was too late. Mike stopped
dead in his tracks. “Whoa! What the hell?” Mike ran to grab the
other guys that came in. “Get over here. You are not going to
believe what I am seeing!” If Mike talked any louder, everyone in
the building was going to make their way back to the locker
room.

“Wait, what is that? What the hell is that?
Bullet is there something you need to tell us?” Kevin laughed, “Do
you have a night time job that you are keeping from us?”

Jackson just sat there nodding his head,
letting the guys get all the cracks in they wanted. He squeezed the
bridge of his nose wishing that he was anywhere else but here. He
wouldn’t let them see that he wanted throw his shoes back on and
get the hell out of

there. Noelle would totally love this when
he’d tell her later.

“Go ahead. Get in all the cracks that you
want. Go ahead.”

“Dude, really. I have no problem with
ah…that, but just let us know when you are going to be taking a
shower so we can give you some privacy,” Kevin said between bouts
of laughter.

“I can’t believe this shit! Dude, let me get
this straight. When you decided to not come out with us last night,
you got your nails done? Wait, I know. You also ate popcorn on the
sofa watching Grease and what’s that other chick movie?”

“Beaches,” Kevin added.

“Yeah! Beaches. Did you cry through it
too?”

“No, guys. I was actually at your
momma’s.”

“He’s got a girlfriend!” Kevin decided, “I
bet that’s it.”

Jackson smiled and shook his head. “You all
need to get a life. Really.”

“Just tell us man. You either like to dress
like a girl or you have a girl. Why so secretive?”

“Laugh it up now fellas, because if any of
you speak a word of this, I will kick your ass,” Jackson said and
left to shower. He knew they were going to speculate what they
wanted no matter what he said. So he chose to say next to nothing.
He got in the shower and turned the water on. He looked down at his
feet with the bright red toes staring up at him, laughing at him.
He chuckled in spite of his embarrassment. Noelle Reid was going to
be the death of him.

Larry was finishing up his practice with
Howie. They didn’t see Noelle slip in. Yes, they were rusty in the
ring, but they were having fun. Old friends that they were and they
both were going to make the best of this. The match was already
getting a lot of hype and quickly becoming the must-see match among
a ton of the internet sites. “Come on, Ruckus. You move too slow!”
Howie yelled at him.

“I’m still faster than you, old man! “ Larry
said and gave him a close line. “Nice,” Howie said getting up. He
made eye contact with Noelle. “Your Pop still has one hell of an
arm.”

She smiled and walked up to the practice
ring. She took a good look at her Pop. He was smiling from ear to
ear. He was a tough guy, but the look of joy on his face was the
main thing anyone could see. “Hey, Lady. I thought you were off
today.”

“I am, but this is your lucky day. I came to
take you to lunch.”

Larry smiled. “Drew’s?”

“You got it.”

Drew’s was her Pop’s favorite restaurant
since forever. In her opinion, it was the best diner food in
Pittsburgh and she couldn’t wait to have a bowl of potato soup and
a slice of the carrot cheesecake. Her Pop ordered his usual,
meatloaf dinner. After the waitress returned with their drinks,
Noelle said, “I don’t know if I told you this yet, but I am liking
the idea a bit more of you and Howie doing this match. Seeing how
happy you were today, it’s a good thing, what you’re doing. “

“That means a lot to me, and boy since I’ve
been back in the locker room, you have been the talk of the
place.”

That raised a red flag for her. “I am?”

“Hell yes. All the guys are so happy with
you. They adore you, that’s for sure. Tony is very happy with you.
Hell, all the guys love you.”

“Well, for a bunch of beefed up guys they are
all sweethearts. I am really happy there too.”