Games

It became a daily routine for them to keep fighting; even for the smallest things.

"You're ashamed of me. I get it. I can take whatever shit you say. C'mon!"

"I didn't mean it like that…" Sherry tried to stop him from leaving even though he had every right to be angry with her. He came out of her room and grabbed his jacket out of the closet preparing to storm off. "Please don't go."

"No, no! You got anything else on your mind? Like, how it bothers you that I didn't finish school? Or what I do for a living is putting a bullet in someone's head? Or! How I'm the son of a man who wanted to kill you?! Yeah, I heard everything 'mom' was talking about. " The hissing and his angry voice about Claire just aggravated her even more but she continued to keep it cool. Meeting Claire once he landed in the states was all well and good until she got to know him more. And as she learned more about him, the more reasons Claire came up with to dislike Jake.

The petite woman just grabbed his hand and had a firm grip. Sherry knew what Jake Muller was and how he commanded attention. Now she knew what it felt to be intimidated by him and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. It was queasy, it was new, but it was mostly scary.

"Let me get one thing straight." Jake jerked out of her stringent grip and stared down at her, letting her know this was a serious topic. "I expect everyone to always look down on me- I've accepted that. I'm a youngin'- Hell, your 'dad(s) or whatever Kennedy and Redfield are, points that out to me every fuckin' time we see them." His fist clenched up and then his eyes softened when he looked into those innocent sea blue eyes.

And she was struck by his seriousness. "We may have an age gap Sherry… But out of all people, I expected you to see me as someone more than just a kid." She bit her lip and looked at him intensely. "If you want an old man, go find someone who meets all your goddamn standards." He opened the front door and took the spare house key from the kitchen counter. "Don't wait up."

She followed him to the front door to also give a piece of her mind. Jake was hurt, but it didn't mean she wasn't hurt either. They were friends. They were sort of more than friends- Friends without a label, non-exclusive. But the feeling she had for him was definitely special.

"You can't talk back to me like that! But go ahead and leave you jackass!" Sherry pushed him out the door. "I don't want you here anyway!"

"Don't push it. I'm already heated. " Jake warned in a restrained hushed tone. There was an irritating twitch in his eye. He raised his index finger in her face and she just growled at the treatment given- like a child that was in trouble.

Sherry was at her wits end. "I hate you!" And out of nowhere she slapped his face out of rage, fear, and anger. Pain struck on both ends, the hard clap stung his cheek and her palm recoiled. He went black and grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the wall since he was fed up with the tantrums, the insults, and the frantic physical abuse.

Jake shut her up with his tight bear grip around her body, making her fight back even more. "…Why are you so abusive?" Sherry could feel the fire in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and gruffed.

"Why are you… such a child?" A scowling look appeared on her face as she shot back. And it triggered his vicious side. However, there was a slight pause between the two as they met each other's eye line. Sherry glared back with hatred and resentment while Jake's mercenary reflexes suddenly kicked in.

However, Jake noticed some bare skin through his peripherals and felt the temperature rising between them. Thanks to the open collared shirt she wore he bit her exposed shoulder giving in to his raging hormones. She shrieked at his terse and provocative action and slowly soaked in his fervent puncture. Her arms found a way to loop around his neck as his kisses trailed upwards. Her eyes naturally closed to focus on his touch more, and her ears focused on his harsh breathing through the staccato kisses. Soon she felt them suddenly turned into feathery bites until he reached her pink lips. Sherry felt around to shut the front door and Jake blindly started leading her to the room, continuing the lip-locking. He was doing fine until he fell backwards on her wooden coffee table and hearing a slight splinter snap.

Sherry landed on his chest and dominated over him. "You idiot. Watch where you're going, I don't want you to break anymore of my stuff!" This time she continued to kiss him and roamed her hands underneath his shirt.

"For chrissake shut up already. Are you trying to piss me off?!" Jake grabbed her thighs to pin them at his sides and stood up with ease, carrying Sherry to the bedroom. He then dropped her on the mattress, observing her graceful body land and sprawl across.

The shirt he wore started to bother her, so she impatiently helped him remove it. And when he dropped it on the floor he heard her scoff and noticed she rolled his eyes, looking unimpressed. Although Jake knew she loved seeing him shirtless, he never got tired of getting a kick out of seeing red-faced Sherry play it off, so he hovered over her. She forcefully frowned to prevent a catty smile from appearing and wrapped her legs around his waist, locking him in within her range. It was her turn to go bare skin thus he ripped open her shirt and watched the buttons fly off. He rolled his eyes to find that she wore a white tank underneath once he threw her shirt on the floor. "Jesus, even pleasure feels like work."

"Then work harder." Her quick-wit responded and she also snapped off his belt buckle in one quick move, astonishing Jake – moreover infatuated by a mere snap.

"What are you?" Jake unbuttoned her jeans without leaving eye contact and he had a mischievous grin plastered on when she loosely took off her tank top, strap by strap until her light blue bra was peeking out in the open. "What… What is this?" Meaning their predicament.

"We're… friends." She shook a innocent smile and became blank-minded. They were friends all right, friends who had loads of fun but have yet crossed the line.

"Friends…?" He raised a brow with narrow eyes, in disbelief. Jake flatly questioned, considering he always thought they could have been more. And it hit him, understanding what she was trying to say. "We obviously cant date each other, huh?"

"It doesn't mean we cant hang out though." She kissed his neck and ran her hands down his back, sending stimulating chills through his spine.

"Okay… So, again. What the hell is this? What are we doing, friend?" He lingered on the word friend and kissed her back, sliding her shirt down her body and exposing the blue colored bra- testing his limits.

Sherry momentarily paused to collect her thoughts together and Jake continued to look down at her for an answer. Those stone-cold blue eyes hypnotized her own, and that brute built body made her shake with excitement. What exactly was there to think about? Honestly, she couldn't even collect her thoughts with a piece of meat in her face. She licked her dry lips to wet them and charmingly smiled, managing to make those cold blue eyes dilate pure black with lust when she whispered close to his ear. "It's a game… Wanna play with me?"

And Jake gladly caved in, taking the lead.

For the next few weeks, they grew accustomed to each other and became familiar with their likes and dislikes in their games – there were rules, location changes and tallies on the board. Sherry and Jake decided to keep it a secret since they wanted to separate work from pleasure. As long as the agency didn't raise questions, Leon and Claire wouldn't dare butt in on their personal lives. At work, they were distant, even cold with each other- they even worked with different partners on their assignments to avoid contact. But at home, Jake's late night visits and sleepovers were habitual… and needed.

These games were an escape from their boring lives when they needed excitement. They were a stress reliever when they could no longer take on their problems. The games were an outlet and excuse just to see each other every other day.

However the perks elevated to another level. There were the late night talks – talking about their day in bed, snacking on junk and take-out food in the living room. There were nights where Jake came over just to keep her company and talk about random things- the nights without even playing a round.

However, the consequences were just their growing craving for more.

Sherry's eyes fluttered open from slumber when the sun hit her face through the window. And when she stood up to close the shutters she realized her nude body reflected in the mirror. She embarrassingly scanned the ground for her clothes only to find Jake's brown polo at her feet. After slipping it on, she tiptoed to the window and closed the shutters making minimal noises as much as possible.

"Who said you could wear my shirt?"

She jumped at his deep voice and she turned around finding him awake in her bad, leaning on his arm to hold his head up. Her eyes directly darted at his bare torso and she just richly chuckled.

"…Its mine now." She crossed her arms and softly looked at him. "How was your dinner date last night?"

He snorted. "Awful. The girl was a complete ditz. Why'd you think I came here?" He laid back on the bed again and sighed. "Right off the bat, not my type."

Sherry laughed and went back to bed to lay down next to him. "You are seriously picky." Her hand caressed his face and he just shook his head laughing. Jake just grabbed her whole body in a hug and moved closer to her face.

"Tch. How about you? That Piers Nuggins guy- "

"Nivans! Piers Nivans" She corrected and felt a tinge of jealousy spark up in Jake's tone.

"Yeah! Yeah! Whatever!" He shrugged off as he didn't care. "That guy do anything to you last night?"

"No. Dinner kinda sucked too. He talked about work, work, and more work." She blew her messy bed hair bangs out of her face. "Dating's hard huh?" She planted a quick peck on his lips and he kissed her back agreeing with the notion. Sherry then stood up and just picked up their dirty clothes on the ground and threw it in the hamper. "I still have your clothes from last week too. You can wear those to work." Jake watched her in amusement, slightly aroused by her long porcelain legs and the way his polo was wearing her, instead. It teased him knowing the ends of his shirt barely covered her bottom parts, and it physically pained him knowing she had no underwear on. As it drooped down, it even revealed her shoulders from time to time.

But he just loved seeing her naturally strut in his clothes. It was a warm wake up call, and he looked forward to it the day after. Sherry was a beautiful sight to see in the morning.

"Wanna go another round before we head out." He offered, half joking half serious.

Sherry just laughed at his blunt honesty and walked back to the bed towards him. He welcomed her back with open arms and placed both his palms gently on her doll face to get a good look at her. She looked at his body up and down, noticing he was in his boxers. A catty smile appeared on her face before dropping a trail of kisses from his navel to his lips. "As tempting as that sounds, I cant. Meeting Piers for breakfast." She yawned and let his polo fall off her shoulders before stepping into her walk in closet.

Jake rolled his eyes and loudly groaned. "Who gives a shit about that guy? You just said all he talked about was work." She said nothing. "Here, why don't you and I get breakfast?"

Then her head poked out, bemused at the question. "You? Me? … And breakfast?"

He shrugged and stood up, walking towards her only to find she was in clean undergarments. "Yeah, why not." His heartbeats started to increase in adrenaline when he long awaited her answer, especially when his eyes focused on the lingerie model.

She snorted and slipped on a white polo. "That's weird."

"Are you kidding me? Its just food." Jake shook his head in disappointment and grabbed his clean clothes in her closet. "Is there something wrong with me you don't like?…" His voice was raised and he clicked his tongue, remembering how their arrangement began in the first place. She didn't want to date him, but she wanted him around. She was dating other guys, but at the end of the night she was his. "What are we… really?"

Sherry heard the spike in his tone and noticed the bitterness radiating out of his face. In reciprocation, her eyes narrowed, frowning after catching his bitter mood.

"I mean C'mon Sherry, throw me a fuckin' bone over here!" He stood in front of her arms shrugged out in provocation for an argument. And she reeled in.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? You were fine with how we were these passed few weeks!" She rushed passed him to her jewelry box to accessorize for work trying to avoid a sour morning. Jake followed, chuckling as if she was taking their 'arrangement' lightly.

He shook his head again and gave a hard stare at her through the bathroom mirror. "You know what super girl, take me seriously." He cleared his throat. "I could tell you had a little thing for me for awhile, and then you rejected me after I came to the states, and then suddenly you want me- don't get me wrong I love this, I like the… uh… these games" A blush appeared on his cheeks but he coughed it off. "But you wont take us further than what we are! You're a damn piece of work toying with me you know that?!"

Sherry fought back, appalled with his speech. But then she sighed, giving in to this battle. "I'm not exactly a serious dater because I don't like people hurting me. So I just… roam around. What exactly do you want Jake? … You have me already."

He just hugged her from behind, entwining his fingers with hers and looked at their position through the mirror. "Physically speaking, I do have you. And we are obviously compatible partners in those games." He joked making himself laugh, yet Sherry just nudged him in the stomach for making a sexual joke. "But, I would like to have all of you. Like the dates and all that good stuff."

"I think this is the first time you ever sweet talked me. Its also weird." She giggled and enjoyed his cozy embrace. He just playfully hugged her tighter. After awhile she smiled at Jake's cheesy side. It wasn't much, but it was a start that showed his genuine side. "Fine. You. Me. Dinner at 7. Got it?"

He grinned and let her get back to getting ready for the day. "So… does this mean we're dating?"

"No idiot. It means you have a date. It also means you need to work your ass off to score another date with me." She rolled her eyes and fixed her hair.

"Oh that's easy." Sherry spotted Jake in the mirror grinning impishly like a madman. He then grabbed her hand, twirled her around fiercely and grabbed her whole body to catch her from falling. "Hey sweetheart, got time to play a game with me?"