So this came out a little later then I had hoped, but when I finished it I didn't like it and had to rewrite it. I'm still not 100 happy with it but I think this is the best its going to get right now. Plus I've been so caught up in watching the Olympics. And I'm not even into sports except hockey. lol So I hope you all like this, review and let me know if its up to par. lol :D
Chapter 3
Christina stood in front of her mirror in only a towel and was blow drying her hair. She had cooled down considerably while she was in the shower. She decided that she wasn't going to let either of the Mercer guys make a fool of her again. She would be the epitome of cool. She was alright when she was talking to Jack. Sure he made her nervous but after talking to him she had gotten really comfortable. Then he tried to kiss her, so she did the first thing that came to her mind and ran.
But then of course Bobby had come in. He was definitely attractive in the rough. dangerous sort of way. Anybody who came across him always gave him a second glance. But there was a sweetness in Jack that she hadn't seen in Bobby. Of course she didn't know him that well but she didn't know Jack either but she saw something in him.
She was dreading the dinner tonight. She thought maybe she could fake sick but the only way her sister would let her out of it was if her head was falling off. Chuckling to herself Christina shut off the dryer when she felt her hair was dry. She put the dryer in the cupboard underneath the sink and went into her room to get dressed.
Going to her closet she picked out a plain pair of jeans and a black tee. She wasn't putting any effort into what she wore to prove that neither one of them effected her. She kept her hair down put got a black head band on to keep her bands out of her eyes.
"Christina!" She heard her sister yell for her. She let out a long sigh and left her room to go downstairs.
She was glad that none of their guests had arrived yet but it was almost six so they would be here soon. She went in the kitchen where Ava was.
"Could you get the plates out of the cupboard and set the table please?" Ava said as she got the food ready.
"Sure." Christina didn't feel like being in her sister's wrath tonight. Just as she got the plates down she heard the door bell ring.
"I got it." She heard Alex yell.
Alex jogged to the door and opened it. He smiled politely seeing Jerry and his family. He stepped aside as Jerry walked in.
"Hi. This is my wife Camille and my daughters Amelia and Daniela."
"Hi." He shook hands with Camille and bent down to shake the girls hands. Both of them shyly shook his hands.
"Come on in the living room. The food should be ready soon." Alex led them into the living room and sat down and they all started chatting.
Back in the kitchen Christina was starting to get anxious. She had a feeling that Bobby would mention how flustered she was when he came over. She hoped maybe Jack would stick up for her but she wasn't sure since she had rejected him when he tried to kiss her.
"You can go into the living room if you want. I got everything under control here." Ava said.
"No, no. I can stay in here." Christina said forcing herself to laugh a little.
"No. Go to the living room." Ava pointed to the doorway. Christina looked down and started to walk to the living room. Of course it was just her luck that before she got there the doorbell rang.
"Are you kidding me?" She muttered to herself. She prayed that it wasn't Bobby and Jack behind the door.
But like she thought luck wasn't on her side tonight and when she opened the door she was greeted with Bobby's smug face and Jacks emotionless one.
"Hey Chrissy." Bobby said smirking.
"Don't call me Chrissy." She stepped aside and Bobby walked in first with Jack following. Bobby walked on into the living room but before Jack could follow Christina grabbed his arm. He looked at her confused.
"I want to apologize for what happened earlier. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything."
Jack just looked at her and smirked. "Hurt my feelings? Over what?"
Christina furrowed her eyebrows seeing a change in him as he walked away from her. Maybe he was just trying to act nonchalant about it because he didn't want to be embarrassed or maybe he was different than she had first thought.
When she got to the living room she noticed Ava had been introduced to everyone. She looked over at Bobby who she heard say something about an Angel being late to Jerry, then she looked over at Jack who was smiling fondly at the two little girls who were laughing at something he said. It only made her all the more curious to figure out who he was.
She looked back at Bobby. She already knew who he was. He was a tough guy who could take on the world with a single glance, get any woman he wanted with a single word. But even so she still saw the fierce protection and loyalty he had for his family. Maybe that was what made her curious about him as well.
"Christina this is Camille, Amelia and Daniela." Ava said.
Jack looked up noticing Christina was in the room. He frowned when he saw that she seemed deep in thought and was staring at Bobby. Unconsciously he sent a glare at Bobby and shook his head when Bobby sent him a confused look. Then when Christina looked his way he looked down avoiding her stare.
Jerry looked between his brothers and sighed already feeling the tension. He hoped this stupid bet wouldn't get out of hand and nobody would get hurt. Even though Jerry felt then tension it seemed like nobody else did.
"I'm going to go call Angel and see where the hell he's at." Bobby said and made sure to brush past Christina as he left the living room. He also threw Jack a smirk before he left.
"I'm going to go in the kitchen to see if there is anything that hasn't been done yet." Christina said.
"Oh you don't have to I made sure..." Ava started but Christina had already left.
"Just let her check. You know how she is." Alex said seeing the look on Ava's face.
"Yeah. Anyway what grade are you two girls starting this year." Ava said to Amelia and Daniela forgetting momentarily about Christina. Jack frowned and stared in the direction Christina went.
Christina stood in front of the kitchen counter and rested her two hands on the counter in front of her. She couldn't keep herself calm in the living room for a few minutes, how is she going to get through dinner.
"Anything wrong." A rough voice asked.
Christina spun around and watched as Bobby made his way closer to her. She went to step back but felt her back hit the counter.
"N-no. Just making sure every thing is ready."
"Everything seems fine to me. At least it smells fine." Bobby inhales sharply to prove his point.
"Yeah I guess it is."
Bobby walked over to the stove next that was next to Christina. He picked up the spoon that was behind Christina making her flinch and dipped it into the pot of spaghetti sauce. She watched him as he brought the spoon to his mouth and tasted it.
"Mm, it's good. Want some." Bobby held the spoon up to her.
"N-no. I've had it before I know what it tastes l-like." She stuttered and inwardly kicked herself.
"Come on." Bobby didn't give her time to object and brought the spoon to her mouth forcing her to taste it.
"See that wasn't so hard was it." Bobby said huskily leaning closer to her.
Christina swallowed the sauce and didn't know what to say. She felt frozen as Bobby leaned closer.
"I see you already couldn't wait for a bit of dinner." Christina jumped and looked over to see Ave walk in with everyone else behind her. She darted past Bobby and went to sit at the table. For some reason she hoped Jack didn't see how flustered she was. Bobby smiled at Ava and walked over to the table and plopped himself down next to Christina. She sighed and scooted away from him. Jack noticed and grinned to himself seeing she didn't want to be close to him. Seeing the chair on the other side of her empty he took his chance and sat down.
Christina inwardly panic. How was she going to get through this dinner with Jack and Bobby on both sides of her. She jumped slightly when Jacks knee bumped hers when he sat down. He apologized under his breath.
"Angel said he'll be a little late. He said too start without him and if its alright he would be by later to meet you." Bobby said to Ava.
"That's fine." Ava said and put food on the plates for everyone. "I'll just put some aside for him and his wife."
"That's typical. Angel will be late for his own funeral." Jerry said and Camille tapped him on the arm.
Jack chuckled and started to eat. Christina smiled at Jack's reaction and began to eat herself. Maybe this dinner wouldn't be so bad, and Bobby seemed to be behaving himself. He was having a conversation with Alex and seemed to be paying no mind to her.
"You can relax you know. People are surrounding the table. I doubt anyones going to try anything." Jack said and chuckled seeing how nervous she looked.
"I'm not nervous." Christina insisted clenching her teeth together.
"Yeah? Well you grit your teeth together any harder they'll fall out of your mouth."
Christina immediately loosened the grip she had on her teeth and took a deep breath forcing herself to relax. She glanced over at Bobby with her peripheral vision. He was eating then he seemed to know someone was looking at him and turned and gave her a smirk. She eyes darted to her plate so she wasn't looking at anyone.
Bobby smirked to himself. He seemed to be getting to her. To be honest he didn't know why he enjoyed ruffling her feathers so to speak. He wasn't even that attracted to her, not like he was her sister. But Alex seemed to be making sure that he knew she was taken. Bobby knew when to step back when he needed to. He would just have to wait until Alex wasn't around to talk to her. In the mean time, if he could get Christina to develop a crush on him then it would be harder for Jack to complete his task.
It seemed to be going alright so far. Christina had almost finished her food and hadn't made a fool of herself. She was also proud that she hadn't had a complete mental breakdown.
"So Christina I hear you are going to school here. What for?" Jerry asked seeing the tension between her, Jack and Bobby.
"Oh. Um nursing."
"Yeah? I was in school for nursing but I got pregnant halfway through my second year with Daniela. I dropped out because Jerry and I decided to get married and I wanted to devote my full time to my family." Camille said.
"And we've never been happier." Jerry smiled over at her.
"That's so cute. I can't wait until Alex and I start a family. I love kids and want lots of them" Ava said grinning.
"Exactly how many?" Alex said giving Ava a side glance. Christina chuckled at the look on his face which caused Jack to look at her. He liked listening to her laugh. He didn't realize that he was staring at her but Ava noticed and smiled slyly. She had a feeling she would be seeing more of Jack whether Christina liked it or not.
Christina glanced at Jack only to see him staring at her. She blushed and looked down at her food with a small smile. Jack nudged her with his knee under the table making her giggle. She stopped suddenly.
I didn't just giggle, she thought to herself. I never giggle.
She looked up at Jack who had a goofy smile on his face. She bit the inside of her cheek before knocking his knee back and continued eating.
Bobby watched the interaction with interest. It seemed like Jack didn't really have to do much to get her attention on him. That makes it a little easier for Jack to win the bet.
Well. Bobby thought. I'll just have to do something about that.
In the back of his mind he knew that in the end it would hurt Christina, especially if she really liked Jack. He liked her and didn't want to see her hurt but at the moment his pride was overlapping that thought.
After dinner everyone went into the living room. Ava had some wine for the women and Alex got the guys a couple of beers. Christina had volunteered that she would do the dishes. She had just filled the sink up when there was a knock on the door. She looked out to the front door as Alex opened it and an attractive black man enter with who she assumed was his wife. She was beautiful and had an exotic flair to her.
"You must be Angel." Alex said and let him in.
"Yeah. This is my wife Sofi. Sorry we're late. Had a few problems we had to take care of." Angel said giving Sofi a side glance. Sofi just looked away from him.
"It's no problem. Ava put some plates away for you two if you want to take them home." Alex said.
"Thanks." Angel saw Christina poking her head in the doorway and he flashed her a brilliant smile and waved. Finding it hard not to, Christina smiled back at him and nodded at Sofi. She then went back to do the dishes. She wasn't in the kitchen long before she felt a presence come up behind her.
"Need any help." Jack said coming up to stand beside her. She was about to say no but the sincere look on his face stopped her.
"Sure. You can dry." She grabbed the dish towel from the cupboard and threw it at him. He smiled at her and began to dry.
"Look Jack."
"Christina." Both chuckled.
"You go first." Christina said.
"I want to apologize for earlier today. I was a little too forward. And for how I acted when I first got here."
"It's fine. I'm sorry too. I was a little out of it since then." Christina said and Jack laughed softly at her.
"Yeah you were. But I like to think your like that because of me." Jack stopped drying and turned to face her. "It's not everyday I get a beautiful woman flustered because of my presence."
Christina looked up at him and thought to herself that she wasn't all that flustered until Bobby came home but she brought it down to him just being a large presence and personality. She wasn't sure she liked that Bobby made her flustered, but she did like the fact that Jack made her comfortable and able to act normal like herself.
"Flattery is not going to get you anywhere. Now get to drying." Christina shook her head causing a strand of hair to fall into her face. She froze when she felt Jacks had softly brush it behind her ear.
"I don't want to get anywhere. I kind of like where I am right now just fine." He murmured leaning closer to her. Christina didn't push him away this time and just stood there while he moved his head closer. She closed her eyes just as he was about to put his lips on her.
"Hey you finished washing dishes fairy." Bobby's loud voice called out causing both of them to jump away from each other. Looking to the entry of the kitchen Christina almost cursed seeing Bobby walk through.
"Damn it Bobby." Jack cursed to himself and turned to finish drying the last plate.
"What? Am I interrupting something." Bobby walked over and planted himself between Christina and Jack. The last thing he wanted was for Jack to get a lead on the bet.
"No."
"Yes."
Christina and Jack looked at each other. Christina looked away first with a tint of red on her cheeks. Bobby looked back and forth between the two of them. Then turned toward Jack.
"I think I left an empty glass in the living room that needs to be washed. Go get it for me will you."
"Bobby you drink beer out of the bottle not a glass." Jack wasn't going to fall for that. He knew Bobby just wanted him out of the kitchen so he could talk to Christina alone.
"Yeah well I drank out of a glass tonight." Bobby gave Jack a look that said stop asking questions and get the hell out of here.
Jack glared at Bobby and left the kitchen. Christina watched him willing him to turn around and look at her but he didn't.
"Did you really use a glass." Christina asked.
"No. But the girls had glasses with juice in them." Bobby said referring to Amelia and Daniela.
"So why did you send Jack out to get them. Why couldn't you just bring them in yourself."
"Do I gotta have an excuse to want to talk to a beautiful girl."
For some reason the flattery didn't feel as good as it did when Jack said it. Maybe because Bobby said it so easily like he had said it a hundred times before, and with Jack it was like she was the only one he had ever said it to.
Christina decided she was just going to ignore him and continued with the last of the dishes wishing that someone would come in the kitchen. It wasn't that she didn't like Bobby. He was extremely attractive and seemed like he loved his family and she was sure that when he met someone he really cared for, she would be the only one in the world for him.
"Alright honestly, both you and your sister are beautiful and smart and nice. But your sisters married so I don't think she would appreciate me hitting on her. Besides she doesn't look like one that would put up with mine or anyone's bullshit."
Christina had to laugh at that. Ava definitely would not fall for his sweet talk. Alex had asked her out so many times before she finally agreed and had proposed three times before she had said yes.
"So I decided that I would be safe from getting a beating if I talked to you . Considering you don't have a boyfriend left behind from back home. Do you?" Bobby said and leaned his hip on the counter.
"No. No boyfriend." Christina said looking down.
"Well that's good for me, huh." Bobby said looking down at her. Christina didn't know what to do and just smiled up at him not wanting to me rude. She didn't want to lead him on because she was pretty sure she didn't feel any romantic feelings toward him but she had no idea what to say. This type of thing doesn't usually happen to her.
Jack stood in the doorway watching the exchange feeling anger towards Bobby. He knew Bobby didn't really feel anything toward Christina, he was just making sure Jack didn't win the bet. He didn't want to hurt Christina but his anger wanted to prove Bobby wrong and to take his ego down a couple notches.
"Camille just left with the girls. Angel wants to know if you wanted to go to the bar tonight." Jack said walking in. Brushing past so he was now in between Bobby and Christina he laid the cups in the sink. Inside he wanted to slam the drinks against the sink to relive some of his anger toward Bobby but figured Christina wouldn't be to impressed with that.
"Yeah sure." Bobby said slowly looking at Jack.
"Yo Bobby. Come here for a minute man." Bobby looked over hearing Angel calling out to him.
"See ya later." Bobby said to Christina and left the room.
Christina let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Jack looked at her wondering if it was because she was so attracted to Bobby she couldn't breath or because she couldn't wait for him to leave the room. He hoped it was the latter.
"Sorry about him. Sometimes he can be a little forward." Jack said rubbing the back of his neck.
"I guess that's where you got it from right?" Christina said playfully. Jack laughed glad that she wasn't upset.
"Yeah I guess. So when do you start school?" Jack asked.
"Tuesday. But I have an orientation on Monday." Christina said.
Jack nodded his head. "Well I guess I should get going. I guess I'll see you later."
"What makes you think I won't see you sooner than later." Christina smiled slyly at him. Jack laughed out loud.
"Well then I guess I'll see you soon would sound better." Jack leaned down suddenly and press his lips against her cheek. He lingered there for a minute before stepping back and smirking at her. He left the room seeing the only ones left were Angel and Sofi, since Sofi seemed to be getting along with Ava. Bobby seemed to have left as well. Probably to get to the bar. It didn't matter what time it was if the bar was open Bobby was ready to go. Jack honestly didn't care, he was just glad that he wasn't here trying to flirt with Christina.
He said good bye to everyone and left the house to walk next door. He looked back at Christina's house and saw her watching him from the kitchen window. He smiled at her and walked to his house. This was probably going to be a lot easier than he thought.
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