Perfect Match (15 page)

Jackson lost all train of thought when he saw
Noelle smiled at him. It was a different smile. It made his heart
beat faster, and he felt warm inside. He knew what he was feeling.
He was in love with her, and for the first time he saw that she
wasn’t trying to hold her feelings back. She had finally let her
guard down. He could see it. He just didn’t know how he was going
to proceed.

***

Suggesting Jimbo’s was Noelle’s way of
wanting to create the same sense of fun they had the last time they
were both here, however today was different. This was not about a
late night snack. She had something important to tell him, and had
no idea how to start. She just kept telling herself over and over
that she could do this.

Looking over the menu in silence, Noelle
realized that she didn’t know how to even put in words what she
needed to tell him. She never told anyone this. They placed the
food orders and still no words were said. Noelle was nervous around
him because she knew the conversation she wanted to have was
important. She knew if she was going to have anything with this
man, she was going to have to face this part of her past. She
didn’t know where to begin. She could sense Jackson’s anticipation.
He was watching her move her fork in her hand.

Noelle couldn’t focus as she watched each
time someone walked past their table. She noticed how Jackson was
watching her, and not saying a thing. She was annoyed by that, but
knows he was waiting for her to speak first.

The waitress brought the food, and that is
when Jackson finally spoke up. “What’s up, Noelle? You wanted to
talk but haven’t said a word.”

“I don’t know why I even ordered all this
food. I’m not hungry.”

Jackson was about to take a bite of his
burger but dropped it. “Then damn it, why are we here? You wanted
to talk and you haven’t said a word. We could have not talked

later.”

She threw a bunched up napkin on her
untouched plate and just stared at the plate. Taking a deep breath
she finally began. “At nineteen you think you know it all. You fall
in love with a guy who you thought was the man you were supposed to
be with. He says all the right things, and he makes you so happy to
be alive. He sweeps you off your feet. When you are nineteen and in
your first real relationship, you believe everything you feel and
hear to be true. You think accidents happen and when you are told
that he never meant to hurt you, you believe it. You believe the
apologies that you are told because you want so badly for it to be
true. Because you are in love.” She finally looked at Jackson who
was listening intently but looked confused.

“What are you saying?”

“When he demands something that you cannot
give him, and he grabs you and pushes you up against the wall, you
accept the apology because you think you love him. It’s not until
you grow up a bit and remove yourself from the situation when you
realize he never loved you.”

“Noelle, what is this about?”

She looked at Jackson dead in the eye, “He
was a wrestler.”

Jackson didn’t say a word. Silence lingered
on for what seemed like an eternity. His silence was so loud and
said more than any words ever could. She almost didn’t know how to
continue with her story.

Jackson couldn’t believe what he heard coming
from Noelle. He knew she would had past boyfriends, but an abusive
ex-boyfriend who was a wrestler made him mad as hell. “Son of a
bitch!” Jackson didn’t know what to say next. All he knew that was
this talking-in-riddle shit she was doing had to stop. “Come clean
with me now, Noelle. I want the whole story. Tell me everything,”
he demanded, “Who was he?”

“It’s hard, Jackson! This is not easy for me
to say to anyone. How do I tell someone that I was stupid enough to
be involved with a guy that would hit me and push me around when I
was brought up by a wrestler who always taught me to protect
myself? When I was surrounded by people that would protect me? How
do I tell someone that I was weak all because I thought I loved a
guy who only wanted me because he thought my Pop could further his
career? How do I explain this to someone when I don’t understand
myself? All because I thought I was in love with him. I don’t know
if I can ever trust a wrestler again. I don’t know if I can ever
get over it. It makes me afraid to love…period.”

Jackson’s expression went from utter
confusion to a rage he never felt before as he listened to this
story that he wished he didn’t have to hear. How could anyone hurt
her and use her? A wrestler, too. Backstage, wrestlers have a code
of conduct to follow and apparently this guy did not get that
lesson. A real man shows respect to all people, especially a woman
he was involved with. “Who. Is. He?” He needed to know so he could
teach him a lesson. He was surprised by how badly he wanted to kill
this guy.

“Who he is doesn’t matter. He’s not around
anymore and that part of my life is done.”

“Can you at least tell me what he did to you?
I need to know.”

He sensed her struggling for words, and he
understood how difficult this had to be for her. He knew no matter
what she was going to say next was going to be like getting body
slammed off the top rope.

“He never loved me. He loved the idea of what
he thought I could for his career. He started to throw out hints
about me telling Pop. When I pretended like I didn’t understand
what he was getting at, he began to demand it. He’d get rough from
time to time, but nothing like the moment he demanded that I tell
Pop about us. When I flat out told him no is when he punched me in
my face, nearly breaking my nose. He pushed me so hard against a
wall, that when I put my arms out to brace myself, I ended up
spraining my writst He pushed me again and knocked me down. He
kicked me in my stomach before leaving me alone. I went to Jennifer
for help. She is the only other person that knows. Until now.”

Jackson slowly began to understand her. She
probably didn’t really believe everything that Kayla said, but it
made it easier for her to keep him away from her. He vowed at that
moment, he’d never let another person hurt her.

Realizing the reasoning behind Noelle’s
hesitance on dating a wrestler made Jackson wonder if he was ever
going to really have a chance with her. How could he prove to her
that he was not like the ex-asshole? She had been hurt in the past,
and that would make her hard to trust again. That fact that it was
a wrestler, made the obstacle so much bigger. It’s the damage that
was done in her past that is preventing her from having a future
with him. He finally understood.

He reached for her hand and said, “As long as
I’m around, I will not let anyone hurt you ever again.” Saying
those words, Jackson finally realized that his love for her was the
real thing, and he had to get her to trust again. Now more than
ever, he realized

he loved her. The possessiveness that was
raging a war in his head was making him want to hunt this guy down
and hurt him. “I want to kill him for hurting you.”

“Jackson, this isn’t like Alex hitting on me
or my bad date that you ran off. This was in the past and you need
to let it go.”

He smiled without humor. “Just like you need
to let it go. If you are ever to have any kind of future, you need
to let it go.”

“I don’t know if I can trust anyone.
Including myself.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when
you are ready.” Jackson was still holding her hand and as his thumb
stroked the top of her hand with gently reassurance. He was going
to make this alright.

Noelle didn’t say anymore. She didn’t have
anything more to say. She stared down at his hand as it held hers,
and was surprised to feel a sense of relief. She thought telling
him was going to be the hardest thing she ever had to do, because
she thought he’d get mad and leave. He kept proving her wrong time
and time again about the kind of man he really was.

Noelle went home, and after a long, hot bath
and a glass of wine, she felt better. She felt happy and at ease.
That blew her mind. She prepared herself to be haunted again by all
of the memories of the past, but in a way she felt like she had
been released from some of them. Damn if Jackson didn’t shock the
hell out of her by vowing he was going to be there for her. If she
only knew for sure that he wouldn’t hurt her. Still, she felt like
a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She didn’t think
the night was going to end up like this, but she felt good. She
wrapped herself in her bathrobe and grabbed her phone. She felt
like she had to tell her sister about this huge step.

I finally told someone else about Derek.
Feels like I can breathe.

CHAPTER NINE

Lying in his bed, he debated on whether to
get up to start his day or just lay there for a few more minutes.
Life was going in fast forward lately, and this moment of stillness
was appealing to him in a big way. It was windy out and was going
to rain. Definitely felt like Halloween. He found himself smiling
because he was thinking of a certain PT. She had turned his world
upside down, and that was fine by him. Last night, before leaving
the arena, she was with Larry and couldn’t help but notice how
beautiful she was, even when she was giving him a hard time. “Lady,
this is your twenty-fifth birthday. You don’t think that I’d let
that go without a party.”

“I don’t want a big party, Pop. No one other
than family really cares that I am turning twenty-five.”

“Sure they do. You just don’t give yourself
enough credit.” Larry turned to Jackson and patted him on the back,
“Jackson, Son. You care about my girl’s birthday don’t you?”

He looked directly at Noelle and replied, “I
do, sir.” Way more than Larry ever even could realize.

“See! You are coming to the party, right,
Son?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

That is exactly where his thoughts were this
morning. He actually wished he had Noelle in his warm bed with him.
God, he loved her. The talk that they had at Jimbo’s was such a
turning point for them. She had been different since. Her defenses
were down and she was once again that carefree, flirtatious woman
that she was at Monroe’s that first night. She stopped using his
profession as a way to keep her distance. He felt like she was no
longer fighting her feelings, but he knew he still had to tread
lightly. Being in an abusive relationship would make it hard to get
involved with someone again. Just the thought of some asshole
hurting Noelle, was enough to send him over the edge. It was good
that he didn’t know who the son of a bitch was, but in time he
would know and prayed that the guy was nowhere near him when he did
find out. And, Jackson meant what he said to her. He would never
let anyone hurt her again, and he would wait for her. She had to
feel something for him. He knew she did, but she hadn’t admitted it
to herself yet. That was enough for him. He was a patient man.

Tonight was her party. He had to get to the
arena for practice, but he wanted to wish her a happy birthday
first. He finally got out of bed and walked to his computer. He
logged onto Facebook, hoping she was on as well. He was
disappointed to see that she wasn’t. He did notice that she had put
some pictures on recently. He clicked on them. The pictures were
placed in an album called “Funny Hat Pics.” He chuckled out loud.
She had a ton of pictures of her and a friend in each picture with
a silly hat on. Each picture he clicked through, there she was
smiling or making a silly face. Some pictures she was with her
girlfriends, some with her dad, and some were even with guys. He
had to admit that he didn’t like that very much only because he was
not yet in those pictures.

He loved looking at the pictures though, and
seeing the silly side of Noelle.

He waited another couple of minutes to see if
she came online. When she didn’t, he wrote on her wall, “Happy
Birthday Partygirl. See you tonight. J.” He logged off and smiled.
He could hardly wait.

Larry Reid’s parties were famous for two
things. First, there was bound to be a pro-wrestler or two in
attendance. Second, the food was always the best of the best.
Noelle’s twenty-fifth was going to be no exception. He loved both
of his girls equally, but if the expression “Daddy’s Little Girl”
ever applied to anyone it would be for Noelle. She was his youngest
and she could still melt his heart with a smile. Not that Jennifer
didn’t do the same for him, but Jennifer was so strong and
independent that he didn’t feel she needed him as much as
Noelle.

Noelle knew as soon as Pop told her that he
wanted to throw her a party, he was going to go overboard. A man as
big as her Pop, didn’t fit the word small into his vocabulary. She
felt very loved when she looked around and saw all the people there
to help celebrate her day especially when her first thought was no
one was going to care. “Having a good time?” Larry asked handing
her a party hat.

She put it on and said, “The best, Pop! Hey,
I thought I said a small party?”

“Hush, Lady. Let me spoil you. Now enjoy
yourself.” He gave her a bear hug and went to greet some more
guests that came in. Noelle walked over to the refreshment table
and helped herself to a glass of wine and looked around at the
people there. He had to have invited her whole family. She looked
around anxiously knowing who it was that she was looking for. She
wondered where he was. She kept her eyes on the door, so she knew
that she didn’t miss him come in. Where was he? Surely he wouldn’t
miss her party. Finally she saw him walk in from the kitchen! She
felt relief and excitement that he was there. He spotted her
instantly and walked over to her. He had an amused smile on his
face the whole time.

“Happy Birthday. Cute hat,” he said giving
her a hug.

“Don’t make fun of my hat,” Noelle said.