Heavy Heart

Chapter 19

The steaks were medium rare just as Lisa ordered. She moaned obnoxiously the entire time she ate, telling Zack he was the king of the grill. Hannah shook her head and laughed at Lisa, "You would think he was the king of something else with the sounds you are making."

Lisa glared at Hannah, her mouth full of food so she couldn't speak. The entire table erupted in laughter. Everyone seemed to be having a good time with the exception of Brock. He sat next to Jackie and tried several times to engage her in an exclusive conversation. She only responded to him with one word answers and never met his gaze. I could tell Brock was getting nowhere with her and it was driving him crazy.

"Shall we play poker?" Hannah asked as she started to clear the plates. Jackie and I groaned, suspecting the boys would suggest strip poker which neither of us were interested in. Brock stood and took mine and Jackie's plates along with his own over to the sink. As he turned back to the group he suggested, "How about President?"

"President, I haven't played that since high school during my spare periods." Zack chuckled. Brock nodded as he returned to his seat. Lisa shrugged and pulled out three decks of cards. She handed half of them to Hannah and asked, "Any objections?"

No one said a word so the two of them started to shuffle the cards together. After a while they exchanged half of their own deck for the other's and shuffled some more. Brock smiled widely, "This is going to be fun! I miss playing this!"

Jackie shrugged, "I was never invited to play so I'm not sure I know the rules." I knew she was lying, we all knew the rules. She was just trying to get a dig in on him. Brock leaned over to his ear and whispered, "If you want, I can help you play."

She leaned away and scowled at him, "No way, you are the enemy. You will use my inexperience to your advantage!" Brock chuckled and shook his head, "I would never." Jackie let a small, involuntary smile spread across her lips before she forced it away. It was small but both Brock and I saw it. Slowly, he was breaking down her wall. I had mixed feelings about that.

Lisa's phone buzzed on the table. She handed her half of the cards to me and answered it. As she sighed softly she announced, "Looks like Sarah is going to grace us with her presence tonight. Her plans with some guy fell through."

I chuckled and leaned forward, resting my chin on Zack's shoulder. He glanced back at me in surprise but smiled wide at the contact. It was the first time I initiated a physical connection with him in front of my friends. The moment was not lost on him, but he played it cool, only giving me a peck on the cheek before he turned his attention back to Lisa and Hannah's shuffling hands.

I whispered in Brock's ear, "Do you want to come home with me tonight?" A noticeable shiver slipped down his spine as he sighed slightly, "Always." I chuckled close to his neck and nodded. I moved away quickly and got another beer for the two of us. As I popped the top, I heard the front door slam open and a familiar voice sing, "I'm here for the party bitches!"

Lisa laughed out loud and shouted back, "Well hurry the fuck up, you are holding up the game!" Sarah giggled as she slammed the door again and came into the kitchen. She was dressed to go out in a tight red dress that was a bit high on her thigh. She had black tights on and her hair was done up in a high ponytail. Sarah pulled up a chair next to Brock and sat down.

Sarah looked around the table, her eyes fell on the two men she obviously hadn't been informed were going to be there. Zack smiled at her politely while Brock avoided meeting her eyes. She chuckled and leaned against his shoulder, "Oh Brock, no need to be so shy, you and I are very good friends." My eyes went wide and a smirk crossed my lips as I watched him uncomfortably adjust in his chair. Jackie rolled her eyes and stared at me, she mouthed 'really' to which I just shrugged.

Sarah was a free spirit. She was like a hurricane when she came through your life. She believed we were all here for a good time, not a long time and she wasn't going to be held down by social expectations of women. Sarah liked to have sex, she liked to drink and flirt, she didn't feel bad about herself either. She wasn't interested in slut shaming, all she wanted to do was live her life. Lisa and I loved her for that, she wasn't around all the time but when she was Sarah was a hoot.

Brock cleared his throat and offered Sarah an embarrassed smile, "Hey Sarah." She placed a red lipstick kiss on his cheek which caused him to blush bright crimson. Lisa laughed out loud at his predicament while Hannah stood up and offered out a round of beers. Sarah smiled and took a long sip of the cold brew, "So what are we playing here?"

"President." Hannah told her. Sarah shrugged, "I was hoping it was strip poker." I laughed out loud while Jackie groaned, obviously annoyed. Zack looked over at me with a smirk, he whispered, "Maybe later." I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

Sarah giggled as she pulled her ponytail out, "Alright, let's play!" Hannah and Lisa dealt out the cards together while we all attempted to gather them into our hands. Poor Brock kept glancing over at Jackie, while she avoided making eye contact with him at all costs. She dragged her chair closer to mine in an attempt to put some space between us.

Brock sighed heavily when he realized she wasn't happy with him. Jackie had spent time with Sarah before, but she was a bit more conservative with her views on sex. Though in my opinion it was incredibly unfair to him, in Jackie's mind Brock was tainted because he had hooked up with Sarah.

It was an incredible double standard, because Jackie never judged me for hooking up with different guys yet she judged Sarah for it. I'd broached the subject with her a few times but Jackie always dismissed it, telling me it was just different. I suspected the only reason it was different was because I was her best friend. Sarah was unapologetic with her sexual appetite; she had no qualms with being frank about herself and what she wanted. I admire that about her.

The evening passed quickly after Lisa turned on her bluetooth speaker and we started playing cards. Hours passed as cards were discarded and picked up, shuffled and redealt. As midnight approached Jackie played her last handful of cards declaring herself the president for life. She turned to me and said, "I should go home. I've still got a few things to do early in the morning before we move my mom."

"Do you need any help with that? I have a truck and I'm free tomorrow! I can also help out on Sunday." Brock offered eagerly. He had been trying the entire night to get Jackie's attention, the desperation in his voice was evident.

She glared at him, "No, thank you very much." His face fell, Brock looked like a wounded puppy as he stood up and took the empty bottles from the table out the back door to Lisa's recycle bin. I sighed and shouted at myself in my mind as I whispered to Jackie, "I think an extra set of strong hands won't hurt."

Jackie looked at me and rolled her eyes, "He's just trying to get into my pants." I nodded, "He is, but he's also offering to help. You can let him help without letting him into your pants." Zack chuckled at my comment without looking at us. I playfully slapped his arm.

"Plus he has a truck. We can never have too many of those." I pointed out. She groaned and nodded. The rest of the table smirked at me as Brock walked back into the kitchen. Jackie stood up, without looking at him she said, "Brock, you can come and help if you want. We are meeting at my mother's house at 7am. I assume you know where it is, you knocked over our mailbox with a baseball bat four years ago."

Brock froze in his tracks as she finished telling him he could come and help. His face lit up with a smile I had never seen before. Before he could say anything, Jackie said sternly, "Don't be late." She moved around the table to collect her dish from the counter.

I took that as my cue to take her home. I smiled down at Zack, "Don't keep me waiting too long." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and whispered, "No fear. I'll take him home and be right over." We made our rounds of goodbyes before we broke apart for the evening. Sarah promised she would be there to help out, though we all suspected she would flake out as she usually did.

Jackie walked ahead of me out to the car, attempting to put as much distance between herself and Brock as possible. As I climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine she said, "I can't believe Brock Hansen is going to help me move my mother tomorrow. The universe has a weird sense of humour." I had to agree with her, the times were changing in our sleepy little town.