A little too late

Chapter 21

“Maybe you should wear one of my jumpers” I tell him as I look at his now crinkled and bitten t-shirt. He walks to my walk in wardrobe and looks at my jumpers.

“Nothing will fit” He observes. I look at him up and down. Although he’s not that big, he’s definitely bigger than me.

I walk out of my room and straight into my brothers. I grab one of his jumpers and walk back in to my room. As I walk in, I notice him picking through one of my drawers.

“What are you doing?” I ask him as he lifts up one of my undies.

“You should wear this one next time” He comments as he shows me my bright red, lacey undies. I ignore him and throw the jumper at him which he puts on.

“We should go down” I comment and he obliges. We walk down stairs in silence and are greeted by family upon our arrival.

Jack immediately goes for some tea. My mum shoves the plate of cakes in front of him.

He looks at me swiftly, “I already had dessert, but thanks”.

My family doesn’t understand his sexual reference but I can’t help but feel awkward in this situation. I take a seat at the dining table and Jack follows me, sitting directly opposite me. Soon enough, my mother has joined us.

“You know Jack, you should bring your family over for a barbeque” She mentions. His face flushes in a state of panic for a second but then returns to normal. I seem to be the only one to notice.

“My family is really busy. But barbeques are fun. You guys are Australian; do you guys throw shrimp on the barbie?” He comments, trying to divert the conversation.

I quickly answer before anyone else can, “Why are your family busy?”

He looks at me and gives me a ‘drop it’ look before answering, “My parents work a lot and Finn and I have to look after our little sister”.

“You have a sister?” I comment surprised. I had no idea.

He nods, “She’s thirteen.”

“Do you look after her a lot?” I ask curiously.

“Yes.” He says, not willing to elaborate. I decide to push him on the subject.

“Why don’t your parents look after her?” I ask.

“Cause they’re busy working” He says bluntly. I can tell he is getting frustrated but nobody except me seems to be noticing.

“Why do they work so much? You go to a pretty expensive school, you don’t exactly seem poor” I comment.

“Stella! Where are your manners?” My mum interrupts me.  Jack takes a sip of his tea before answering.

“No, it’s fine.” He comments, still not answering the question.

I ignore my mother and continue on, “well, are you going to answer?”

“Stella!” My mother comments. I don’t even bother to look at her.

“Well, Jack?” I press him. He stares straight at me as he lifts his cup to his mouth. I can see his jaw tense up as he brings the cup to his lips. He still doesn’t bother to answer and we all sit at the table awkwardly for a couple of moments. I cough awkwardly and Jack looks away.

Suddenly, my mum speaks up, breaking the awkwardness. “So, do you have a girlfriend Jack?” She asks him. Jack practically spits out his tea back into his cup. As Jack struggles to cough it out, I quickly turn to my mum.

“Mum, can I speak to you for a moment?” I tell her. I get up from the table and lead her to the next room. I take a peak at Jack to make sure he can’t hear us.

“What the hell mum?” I ask her.

She shrugs her shoulders, “He’s a nice boy! Much nicer than that Sam. That boy has potential... He’s not a trouble maker like Sam”.

I look at her in shock. If only she had known that in the last 24 hours, that boy had convinced me to wag, fucked me on a park table and given me a blowjob while they were in the house.

“Well, it’s not going to happen so drop it!” I tell her as I head back to the dining table where Jack was sitting. He looks up at me and I give him a ‘Please leave’ look.

He clears his throat before saying, “I should probably head off”.

My mum gives him a disappointed look but politely says good bye to him, inviting him to come back over any time. Like hell that’s happening. I offer to walk Jack out and everyone else stays behind. We walk in silence to his car.

“Nice car” I tell him, looking at the sports car he drives. He gives me a wicked grin.

“Wanna test it out?” He asks me.

“Not right now.” I reply quietly.

He leans against the bonnet of his car as he talks, “you have a nice family”.

I shake my head, “They don’t understand me. They’re practically willing to accept you as my future husband so long as you’re not Sam... Anyone but Sam”.

He grabs my right hand in his and pulls me close to him. “They care about you”, he says.  

I give him a little shrug and he continues to talk, “That guy sounds like a dick anyway. Who breaks up with someone over the phone?”

I look to the side and say sarcastically, “you’re making me feel heaps better right now Jack”.

He uses his other hand to turn my face to face his, “I’m just saying you deserve better”.

“Like who?” I question willingly, hoping that he’ll say himself.

He just shrugs, “I don’t know, you’ll meet him one day...”

I give him a little smile, hoping he’s right.

He continues with a slight laugh, “Plus, until then, you have me!”

I join him in laughter before awkwardly asking, “So... what are we exactly?”

He just shrugs, “I don’t know. Like... We’re friends that do not so friendly stuff. Do you want to like, keep this going?”

I sigh before answering, “yes”.

“Then, I guess the technical term is ‘friends with benefits’ but if you prefer ‘fuck buddies’ I can use that?” He teases me. I playfully hit him on the chest.

“So we’re actually gonna do this?” I ask him.

“What? Casually fuck each other?” He replies. I just roll my eyes.

“You’re always so rude! Luckily I’m only interested in using that smart mouth of yours for other purposes because to hear you talk like that all day would drive me mental.” I tell him. He gives me a slight laugh before he lets go of my hand.

“You’re already mental Stells” He tells me before he sits in his car and drives off.