Dessert - Jack Hughes

22

"I promise, they're not as scary as they look. They are as stupid as they look though" Jack tells elyssa as they sit in his childhood bedroom. All of his friends were coming over to hangout.
"Right" she breathes. She follows him as he goes down the stairs, waiting for his friends to arrive.
A few moments later, she looks out the front window, seeing three guys walk up to the door. Jack quickly opens it, hugging them all. Elyssa recognizes Trevor Zegras despite never having met him in person. But she doesn't know who the other two are. Elyssa stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She's not friends with them, she doesn't even know their names yet.
"Guys this is my girlfriend, Elyssa." Jack gestures toward her.
She smiles at them. "Hi" she says, a little shy.
"Lyss this is Alex Turcotte, Cole Caufield, and Trevor Zegras" Jack points to each guy as he says their name.
"Nice to meet you guys" she smiles. Quinn and Luke then come down the stairs to greet the guys, saving her from the awkward situation. Elyssa moves to sit down at the large kitchen island.
"You doing ok?" Ellen asks from the sink that's in the island.
"Yeah" she sighs, "just uh, just a lot, you know? Kinda feel like I'm on an island. I have nothing in common with these guys." She admits.
"I get it sweetie. But trust me, they're good guys. They wouldn't be allowed in my house if they weren't. I know they can be a bit much, but you'll get used to it. And if not you can always hang out with me" Ellen tells Elyssa.
"Thank you" Elyssa smiles genuinely.
"They always have to be competing in something. Why don't you find something you like to do and ask Jack if everyone can play?" She suggests.
"That's a good idea." Elyssa nods her head, trying to think of something. All the guys make their way to the kitchen. Jack stands behind Elyssa, hugging her from behind. She leans back onto him. He ignores his friends mocking him.
"Hi" he leans down to whisper in her ear.
"Hi" she turns her head toward him, pressing a kiss to his lips.
"How are you?" He asks.
"Good" she nods.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah" she confirms.
"Hey love birds, we're going out back" Trevor says before all the guys walk out the sliding glass door.
"What's up?" He sits at the stool next to hers. He places a hand on her thigh.
"Nothing. I- I guess I'm just a little intimidated. I'm not sure that's the right word but.." she trails off, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Hey, it's all good. You wanna just stay in here? We don't have to hangout with them right now" Jack lifts her chin to look at him.
"No. You haven't seen them in months baby. Plus your mom told me to just like do something with you guys. A game or something" she denies his offer.
"Alright. Like what?" He asks.
"Corn hole?" She suggests.
"We can do that" he stands from his stool, holding her hand and leading her outside. His parents sat in the adirondack chairs and the rest of the guys stand around talking.
"Does anyone wanna play corn hole?" Jack asks. Trevor and Cole agree. Elyssa goes to one board while Jack goes to the other. She stands next to Trevor.
"Game to 21. Regular rules apply" Cole clarifies. Everyone nods agreeing.
"You can go first" Trevor offers to Elyssa. She tosses the bean bag, it lands on the board. The second one pushes the first bag in and the third goes in the hole.
"Woah!" Jack laughs, surprised. Elyssa laughs as the guys who aren't playing clap for her.
"Alright" Trevor takes a step, preparing to toss the bag. He misses one, makes one on and misses the third one.
"6-0" Jack states as him and Cole pick up the bags. Jack tosses his first one, getting it on the board. The other two do the same.
"Dude your girls better than you" Quinn teases his brother.
"Shut up" Jack scoffs. Elyssa laughs, starting to get more comfortable. Cole takes his turn getting one bag in and the other two missed. The game continues on for a while.
"Alright, 19-15 here Cooper, you got this" Jack encourages her as she gets ready to start her turn. The first bag she tosses directly in the hole, not touching the board at all.
"Not bad" Jim nods as the rest of the guys have shocked looks on their faces.
"Calm down y'all, I still got two more bags" Elyssa laughs. She tosses the next one on the board, and the final one sliding across the board to push the second one in, but the third one slides off the back.
"Up to you here Z" Cole cheers.
"So you gotta at least get two in to be able to win here Z" Quinn tells him. Trevor wipes his hands on his shorts, taking a deep breath before starting his turn. The bag he tosses lands on the board, toward the back. The next one, landing on the board again. The third, he misses completely. Elyssa jumps, excitedly. Jack runs to her, scooping her up into a hug. He lifts her off the ground, spinning in a slow circle.
"Let's go baby!" He cheers. Elyssa laughs at him, happy she is having fun with his friends.
"Good job" Cole says with a smile. He and Trevor dap each other up.
"I'll get you next time" Trevor jokes with Elyssa. She nods sarcastically. They all calm down, sitting down and continuing to catch up and talk.
"Hey man, I uh wanna take Lyss out in the boat for sunset. Could you like help me out? You know, just make sure the guys leave us alone, don't chirp too much" Jack pulls Alex aside.
"Yeah for sure man. No problem" Alex nods, dapping up Jack.
"Thanks dude."
"For sure bro. Hey, by the way, I like her." Alex tells his best friend. Jack smiles, turning to see Elyssa talking to his friends and brothers. He walks up behind her, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Hey" she smiles up at him.
"Come with me" he holds his hand out for her to stand up. She grabs his hand, standing off the ground. He leads her out to the dock, helping her into the boat.
"Where's he going?" Luke asks, watching his older brother drive the boat away.
"Just leave it dude" Alex tells him.
"Jack?" Elyssa asks as she watches him start the boat.
"Just trust me" is all he says to her. She sits down in the back of the boat as Jack slowly drives away from the land. She admires the colors of the sky.
"Come here" he kind of yells over the loud engine. She makes her to way to the front of the boat, sitting next to him. "Wanna learn?"
"What?" She yells, surprised.
"C'mere" he pulls her to sit on his lap.
"Jack I can't drive a boat" she says, scared.
"Relax. I'm right here. It's simple. All you gotta do is use this thing for the speed," he points to a lever thing, "and steer." He guided her hands to control the speed, pressing it up a little, making the boat move faster.
"Jack!" She screeches. He laughs at her.
"Now steer baby" he moves her hands to the wheel.
"Don't let go" she orders nervously. He keeps his grip on the wheel with hers. She begins to get comfortable.
"Can we go faster?" She turns her head slightly toward his.
"Keep one hand on the wheel and move the other to the lever" he instructs. She does so, making the boat speed up. "There ya go!" He cheers. "You're doing it!" She laughs, realizing that she's driving the boat by herself.
"Holy shit" she laughs. He lets her drive around for a few minutes before he notices the sun is going to set soon.
"Alright let me be captain again" he takes the wheel in both his hands. "You wanna go fast?" He asks into her ear softly.
"Are we gonna die?" She asks. He shakes his head no. "Then sure" she shrugs.
"Alright, get up for a minute" he taps her thigh, signaling for her to get off his lap. She goes back to sitting next to him. He stands up, pushing the speed to nearly as fast as it will go. She watches him drive the boat. The wind pushing his hair back. His worn out, cut off T-shirt also flowing in the wind. She admired his sun kissed cheeks. After a minute or so, she looks straight ahead, watching the scenery pass by quickly. She closes her eyes, putting her arms up in the air, "wooooooo!" She screams. He turns back to look at her for a brief second, making his smile even wider. He soon slows down and finds a place in the middle of the lake to anchor. The sun was just starting to set as he got the boat situated. He lays a towel on the floor, both of them sitting down.
"Today was perfect" he tells her. She takes her eyes off the sunset and turns toward Jack.
"I'm glad" she says genuinely.
"I'm really happy you decided to come home with me." He continues.
"Me too. I had a lot of fun today" she smiles, laying her head on his shoulder. He kisses her hair. They sit in silence, watching as the sun goes down.
"I've always loved sunsets. The ones in New York are never that good. There's too many people, too many buildings" she says, breaking the silence. He stays quiet, watching her as she spoke. She turns to look at him, finding him looking at her. They keep the eye contact for a few moments, Elyssa feels a blush rise to her cheeks but she hopes he doesn't notice because of the sun she got today.
"I love you" he says with a soft smile. She smiles so large, her cheeks begin to hurt.
"I love you" she says back.
"Yeah?" He breathes. She leans up to kiss him.
"God I've been wanting to say that for months" he sighs in relief. She throws her head back with a laugh. He abruptly stands up, taking off his shirt.
"What are you doing?" She asks, confused. "Jack were in the middle of a lake, on your parents boat" she reminds him.
"I don't want to have sex. I mean, I do. Just not right now" he clarifies.
"Then what're you doing?" She takes his hand, standing up from the floor.
"We're going swimming" he states. She giggled at the idea, removing her shorts and crop top, revealing her bikini.
"Ok so remember that thing about not right now?" He jokes, taking her body in. Elyssa slaps his chest. Jack climbs onto the side of the boat, helping her up as well.
"Alright. Jump on three. Ready?" He looks at her. She nods, adrenaline pumping as she tries to prepare herself.
"One, two..." he grabs her waist as he jumps off the edge, taking her with him. They both resurface, Elyssa gasping at the cold water.
"Why'd you do that?" She splashes him.
"Didn't think you were gonna go through with it" he shrugs, laughing. She swims over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, using all her body weight to push him under water.
"You don't have to get violent" he jokes, his head coming out of the water again. She laughs at him. The two swim around as the sunset turns into moonlight. Elyssa floats on her back, examining the night sky. She admires the stars, trying to find constellations. Soon they get out and climb back onto the boat. Jack wraps a towel around Elyssa before grabbing one for himself. She stops him, hugging his waist. She rests her head against his bare chest, his skin is cool from the water. He holds her tightly against his body.
"Thank you for today" she says with her eyes closed, "I've never been able to do stuff like that with my family."
"Of course baby" he rubs her back.
"I'm gonna fall asleep" she tells him, partly joking.
"Alright. Let's get back. They probably think we've made at least 3 kids by now" he scoffs, knowing his friends. The ride back was quite, Elyssa sat on jacks lap as he drove slowly back to the house.
The two walk into the house from the back. The guys were all in the kitchen, baking something.
"Damn. What we're you two doing out there?" Trevor insinuates.
"Trevor leave them alone" Ellen orders from the living room. The guys laugh at him being told what to do. Elyssa leaves to go upstairs to change without saying a word.
"What'd you guys really do out there?" Luke raises his eyebrows at Jack.
"Nothing actually" Jack tells them honestly, "we rode around, then we anchored and watched the sunset then we swam."
"Turn around" Quinn tells Jack what to do.
"Not this again" Jack rolls his eyes as he turns so his back faces his friends.
"I see nothing" Cole observes.
"Because there is nothing." Jack starts to get annoyed.
"Alright. We believe you" Trevor says, not trying to actually piss Jack off. The guys sit in silence, each of them on their phones.
"Do you guys wanna watch a movie?" Elyssa comes down the stairs in one of jacks hoodies and pajama shorts. She hears a jumble of different forms of yes. The guys move to the living room.
"And on that note, it's time for me to go to sleep" Ellen gets up from the couch.
"No mom, we don't mean to kick you out." Quinn stops her.
"No I'm tired. I was just too lazy to get up. You guys are my motivation." She explains. She says good night to everyone as she leaves the room. Jack sits in the end of the couch, Elyssa cuddling into his side. The rest of the guys spread out as they put on a movie.