Hidden Moments | Jey Uso x Rhea Ripley
a fic i started a long ass time ago, and posted a bit of on a different account, but now i want to actually finish it so!! here’s part one lmao
It started as simple ribbing, Jey had just wanted to get under Dominik's skin. He wanted to send a message that the offer to join The Judgement Day had never been more than a joke to him. The memes, the fanart. It was all meant to play into Jey not joining their merry band of emo wrestlers. He had no real feelings towards Rhea, he had no intentions of pursuing her, or taking her away from Dominik. It started as a joke, and it was meant to remain one.
That was weeks and weeks ago, Jey still wouldn't join The Judgement Day, he wanted nothing to do with the four of them. Especially Dom and Rhea.
Yet…Jey had let Rhea into his hotel room when she came knocking.
Just as he had two nights before, and almost a dozen more before that.
He knows he shouldn't have, he knows that the first time it happened could've been a mistake if it hadn't continued to happen.
Rhea doesn't give him the chance to deny her, not that he would. She's on him the moment the door clicks shut, and all thoughts of Dom are gone.
Her lips are soft, and she tastes like a tropical drink, that Jey knows the source of is the gum she chews. The flavor she started chewing when she found out it was his favorite.
He briefly wonders if Dominik has noticed she switched from minty gum, to fruity.
Rhea senses his distraction, and she isn't at all shy to deepen the kiss, or guide tattooed arms around her waist to ultimately be drawn in closer by.
Jey follows her lead, as he often does when they're in this situation, or ones similar. He loses himself in the kiss, hands trailing from Rhea's waist. Lower, and lower.
She hums her approval, though the sound is muffled by the sudden shrill of a phone. Her displeasure at being interrupted is obvious in the way she sucks her teeth and fishes for her phone with only one hand.
Once she has the device, the face of Dominik Mysterio flashes on the screen. Rhea tenses, but the hand in Jey's hair, the hand he has no recollection of how it got there, scratches gently at his scalp.
Clearing her throat, Rhea answers, her tone gives nothing away, even if she sounds slightly breathless,
"I'm a little busy, Dom-Dom. Is everything okay?"
Jey can't hear Dominik's reply, but Rhea frowns at whatever he says, nodding despite not being seen by the younger.
"I'll be back downstairs in a bit, can't it wait?"
Their eyes lock, and Rhea smiles at him.
It's a warm smile. Inviting. Unlike the smirks she wears on TV, this is a thing reserved for only a few. Jey knows as much, because he's seen her smile at Dominik, Damian and Finn similarly.
"We can come down now then, Dom. I wanted to actually ask him before dragging him with me, but if you're so eager…"
Jey's ears start ringing with the uncertainty that courses through him at her words.
His confusion must show on his face, because Rhea is cupping his cheek and nodding lightly.
What she's nodding at, he doesn't know. All he knows is he feels slightly sick, and like the earth was just upended in front of him.
Before long, Rhea is hanging up the phone and drawing his attention back to her.
"I'll be straightforward, because you look like you're about to throw up, baby."
"Don' call me that right now…" He curses himself for how weak his voice comes out.
Logically, Jey knew this thing with Rhea was merely sex, even if she looked at him like she could truly love him. Like she could want him in a way that was more than blowing off steam.
Sometimes they'd embrace after everything was done, and she'd tell him about her day, mindlessly tracing his tattoos and leaving kisses along his bare skin.
Those intimate moments usually went unbroken for hours before Rhea would have to sneak away once more.
It never dawned on him just how much his time with her meant to him, or how much he'd grown to rely on her presence. He hadn't realized he'd caught feelings for her.
Not that any of it would ever matter.
"Hey, come back to me, Sweet Face. I can explain, just let me, yeah?"
Her accent is thicker than usual, her bare face giving away the emotions she tries so hard to mask in the public.
Jey nods his head, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth as he does.
"I've wanted to tell you for a bit, but Dom is getting suspicious about us…he thinks I’m working to get you to join us." She pauses, pursing her lips.
"He had no idea what’s happening with us, and I’d prefer it to stay that way. For now at least.”
She holds his gaze, her makeup free eyes somehow more intense.
"Dominik will only drop his suspicions if…” She trails off, her fingers toying with the ends of her hair.
Jey is holding his breath at this point, his brain effectively overloaded with information, and his heart with unidentifiable emotions.
"You join us, for just a few days. Nothing official, nothing with a paper trail. He just wants to spend actual time with you, he wants you to become friends. And I know that sounds weird, but it's what he wants."
Breathing out a soft sigh, he shakes his head, his lips curling into a small snarl.
“Is that what this has all been about, Rhea? You wanted to manipulate me into joining y’all’s merry little band of misfits?”
Almost immediately Rhea is denying the accusation, her eyes squinting as she glances at the man she’s grown more than fond of these past few weeks.
“Baby…Jey, that isn’t the truth at all! I’d be happy to remain in our bubble like this, without the rest of them interfering, but Dom won’t drop his concerns, I’ve tried for weeks.”
Jey is silent for a beat, it’s almost deafening to Rhea, it makes her stomach churn with discomfort. It feels too real. It being the chance she could lose Jey, and lose his beautiful personality. His smile, the one reserved for moments between him and her. It’s suffocating in a way she never could have imagined, and each passing moment, it seems like Jey may truly cut ties with her. Leave her. It shouldn’t hurt her feelings as much as it does, but…she can feel the tears stinging at her waterline, her breathing hitching.
Before the first tear can slip down milky skin, Jey is reaching up and cupping her cheek, and despite her worries, she leans into the warmth of his touch; sighing lightly.
Her eyes are widening at the simple word, her fingers loosely curling around his wrist.
Jey, holding her gaze, nods his head once, his determination evident.
“Yeah, really. This ain’t long term though, Rhea. I’m doing this to be with you. Not for anyone or anything else.”
It makes her cheeks flush red, to hear him admit that so freely. She can’t help but to pull him into a deep kiss, hoping the press of lips can convey everything her words fail to.
They stay entwined for a moment longer, before Jey is reluctantly pulling away, his hands though, is wrapped firmly around hers.
“Ight, let’s get this over with, Mamas.”
Rhea and him share one final, meaningful glance, before they’re making their way to The Judgement Day’s shared hotel room.
