Chapter 25...
THE LAST STRAW
"Dude, you could at least make the effort to smile." Cody sighed, clipping Ted across the cheek in a friendly way. As he scratched his hand on the stubble, he frowned. "And y'know, a shave wouldn't have gone amiss, either."
"Remind me again why I agreed to come out tonight?" The two men were sat in the Water Vine restaurant waiting for their dates to arrive. That's right; Cody set them up on a double date. His logic was that if he could get Ted out on a date with another girl, he'd start getting over Eve, or at least, it would take his mind off the fact Eve and Jack had become the new Maryse and Jack, and were now joined at the hip.
"Because, I've been trying to score with Michelle for weeks, but she'll only go out with me if I find a date for her friend Layla." Cody explained.
"Seriously? Real mature," Ted muttered. He'd met Michelle at a party before, and she was your stereotypical all-American girl; tall, blonde, athletic-build, but he'd never met Layla. And yeah, Michelle was hot, but she was super bitchy. Not to mention her Christianity meant Cody had to work real hard to get her into the sack. "Let me guess, because Michelle's really hot, I'm stuck with the nerdy friend."
"Actually, you're wrong. They're best friends, and they go to the Catholic school, and they're-" Cody paused midsentence, his eyes falling on the doorway. "Well, why don't you find out for yourself?"
Ted turned around and looked over at the doorway and saw Michelle coming into the restaurant, closely followed by a girl he hadn't seen before, who he guessed was Layla. Michelle looked great, as always, in a short blue dress that showed off her long, toned legs, but Layla was beautiful. She was definitely exotic looking – Moroccan looking – with shoulder-length brown hair, and big brown eyes. She wasn't as tall as Michelle, but had a killer figure that was only framed by her tight black dress. Maybe Ted didn't believe in love at first sight, but he hadn't thought about Eve since he saw Layla.
"I did good, right?" Cody nudged his friend, before getting up to greet the two ladies. He kissed Michelle on the cheek, before leaning over to Layla and saying, "Layla El, this is my best friend, Ted DiBiase."
"It's a pleasure," She spoke with a British accent that made Ted weak at the knees.
"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine." He kissed her outstretched hand, before getting up and pulling her chair out for her, an action Cody instantly imitated. "Can we get you ladies some drinks?"
"I'll just have a sparkling water," Michelle announced, her eyes gazing over the menu in front of her. "It's swim season, so I've got to stay in shape."
"What about you, Layla?" Ted asked his date.
"Diet Coke." She said decisively. Ted turned around to speak to the waitress, who happened to be Eve's friend Kelly, before turning back to Layla. He was determined to keep Eve from his thoughts; she wasn't into him, and it was his turn to move on. "So Layla," Turning back to his date, he shot her his best smile; Ted DiBiase had a way with the ladies. "I notice you've got a British accent; did you ever live in England?"
Layla nodded, "I was born in London, and I lived there until ninth grade; that's when I moved to L.A. I love England, but you can't beat California, can you?"
"Certainly can't." Ted responded. Cody and Michelle were having their own conversation, so Ted was enjoying able to speak to closely to Layla. "I'm sure you get lots of attention from guys,"
"Why? Because I've got an accent?"
"That, and the fact you're absolutely stunning." He was certainly on top, flirting-form tonight, as he noticed Layla's cheeks glow pink.
"Yeah, well, you're not too bad yourself." The British beauty pouted her glossy lips, but Ted decided to keep her waiting for that kiss. So he leaned back in his seat, and pulled Kelly over to take his order. Eve had taken a lot out of him; it had been a while since he'd gone out on a date with girl, and now he was back.
It felt good.
"I'm sorry that restaurant turned out to be so crappy," Jack apologized, as he and Eve walked down the street hand-in-hand. The night air was cold, so Eve's bare arms were covered by her boyfriend's jacket. "If you come down with a severe case of salmonella, we'll know who's to blame."
"It's fine; it wasn't that bad. Besides, the hot waiter made up for it." She teased.
"Oh yeah? Well, the waitress in the short black skirt wasn't too bad either." Jack grinned, pulling Eve in close and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Then again, her legs weren't quite as good as yours."
"Wow, you can be pretty charming when you want to be." Standing on her tiptoes, Eve tilted her head up so she could kiss Jack on the lips.
Often when Eve and Jack went out on dates, it was as if they were celebrities. People from their school would stare at them, and it was something Eve just couldn't get used to. To Jack, it was normal; he'd experienced it since freshman year, but in some ways, it only brought them closer together. They both were going through a crazy situation.
But there was no-one else from school around; just the two of them under a street lamp a block away from the restaurant they'd just eaten at. Eve still couldn't get over what a great kisser Jack was, however as she felt his hands graze up her thighs and under her skirt, she flinched.
"I should get going." Eve backed away from her boyfriend, her voice shaky. She still wasn't ready to take their relationship any further, and she wished he'd understand that.
"Yeah, right." Jack sighed, following Eve down the street.
"Hey, isn't that Ted?" Looking across the street, Eve noticed her friend was stood on the doorstep of an unfamiliar house, with an equally unfamiliar girl. It was dark, so it was difficult to analyse her in detail, but she did see a pair of nice legs and a black dress that Eve herself owned. Obviously, it was date night all around.
"Is that Layla El he's with?" Jack squinted across the road.
"Who's Layla El?"
"She goes to the Catholic school in town. She used to date Miz, plus she's super hot-" He paused midsentence. "Sorry, gotta remember my audience."
Eve rolled her eyes before turning back to Ted, only she wished she hadn't. Ted gave Layla a hug, before the pair pulled away, and looked into each other's eyes for quite some time; Eve could feel the sexual tension from across the street. Then, Ted leaned in and cupped Layla's face in his hands, before embarking on a major lip lock.
"Wow, who'd have thought DiBiase would have such a way with the ladies?" Jack laughed.
Eve pursed her lips; there was a slight sinking feeling in her stomach, and she wasn't sure of why. "Listen, can we get out of here?"
Walking the length of Miz's bedroom, Maryse got sloppier with each step, something which was difficult to do in four inch heels. Eventually she turned to look at her friend, and with a sigh, she groaned, "Miz, I'm bored!" She flopped down on the bed next to him, where the Beverly Hills chick magnet was flicking through his iPod playlists. "You told me we were going to a party!"
"You sound like a child," Miz muttered, placing down the speakers. "We were going to a party. Until the cops showed up and shut the place down. And unless you wanna go along and be questioned as to how you found out about the party, then I guess you can either go home or hang out here."
"Cops ruin everything." The French-Canadian sighed again, rolling over onto her front so she could look Miz in the eyes. "You know who else ruins everything?"
"Eve?" Predicting his friend's answer, Miz was sick of hearing about Maryse's hatred of the not-so-new cheerleader. After all, Maryse was sexy, but there was only so much moaning one guy could listen to.
"Exactly." She finished.
"Michael!" Miz's mom's voice flooded in from the downstairs hallway, referring to her son by his real name. "Jack's here!"
"Send him up!" Miz called back, shoving the iPod into his jean pocket.
"Jack?" Hopping off the bed and onto her feet, Maryse smoothed out the dress she was wearing, and looked into Miz's mirror, adjusting any stray strands of hair.
"Nice to know you're over your ex," Miz commented sarcastically, appearing behind Maryse in the mirror.
"Shut up." Maryse muttered. She didn't attempt to defend herself anymore, as her ex-boyfriend came into the bedroom, catching her attention. Just as good looking as ever, he wore a pair of smart black trousers, a polo t-shirt and a jacket she'd worn many times before. It horrified her that that very jacket had probably been slung over Eve.
"What're you doing here?" Jack asked, not even looking at Maryse as he sat down on the sofa in Miz's room.
"I have other friends besides the cheerleaders, y'know." Maryse said bitterly, sitting down on the sofa, but keeping a safe distance between her and Jack. "Can't a girl hang out with one of her friends?"
"So, what's up?" Miz asked Jack, before he sat down on his bed and got comfortable. He had a sneaky suspicion he knew what was coming, but he wanted to hear it from Jack.
"You know why I'm here," The blonde man muttered darkly.
"What's going on?" Maryse asked, intrigued by the mystery.
"We all know Jack isn't getting what he wants from Eve," A sly smirk fell onto Miz's face. "And I suggested that maybe Eve just didn't want it from Jack-"
"-Which isn't true-" He chipped in.
"-so I betted that he couldn't get Eve to have sex with him by spring break."
Maryse looked first at Miz, then at Jack, before letting out a loud cackle.
Miz hushed the female of the trio. "Keep it down; my mom will think we've got witches in the house."
"I'm sorry," Maryse said, composing herself. "But that's hilarious! You're gonna do it, right, Jack?"
"I wasn't," He began, "But I've got needs! I'm a man, and there are some things that need to be done! I dunno how much long I can wait it out-"
"So you're gonna do it?" Miz smiled, getting to his feet, and watching as Jack did the same.
"I guess I'm gonna do it." Jack nodded.
A handshake between the pair sealed the deal.
Poor Eve has no idea what's coming. And how could Jack do that to her?
Plus, has Ted finally moved on from Eve?
Leave a review, read the next chapter & find out! Xx