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Chapter 43 - playing games

"Is Aaron in his room?" Sophie asked as she approached Jack.

She had arrived at the party to a house crowded with individuals she did not know. Therefore, was relieved to catch sight of a familiar face after having looked among everyone downstairs for Aaron, yet had no luck.

"Nah babe, he's still training." Jack replied as he reached out to grab her a drink.

"Are you joking?"

As Sophie stood before him in not only shock but also clear panic, Jack appeared unfazed.

"No he's not joking!" Another one of their housemates, Jamie appeared beside them and threw his arms around either of their shoulders. "You can have a good night with us instead though."

Sophie was filled with dread at the fact that Aaron had been at the gym all day. She'd left around 9am this morning and he'd insisted he'd only be a few more hours. However, he had completely gone back on his word and instead had made a whole day of it. His promise of being here tonight to step away from the fighting and just enjoy himself had suddenly been ruined.

Jamie was unaware of her worry as he was eagerly trying to get her to join in with the rest of their friends. However, Sophie had managed to block out his schoolboy excitement as she noticed Jack's attention being captured elsewhere.

"What the fuck?" He mumbled under his breath and Sophie followed his line of vision until she caught sight of where his attention was placed.

Jess and Corey had just arrived and were making their way into the kitchen. Neither of them had noticed Jack yet but his eyes were firmly on them.

"Oh yeah, what happened to Jess' invite?" Sophie looked at him in question as she waited for an explanation.

"I forgot to mention it." He replied yet it wasn't convincing enough. He suddenly appeared uncomfortable yet also displeased with the sight before him.

"We both know that's a lie."

"I can't believe he fucking brought her."

Jack was clearly getting riled up as his heart was thumping against his chest and his hands were clenched tightly at his sides. He was not happy at the situation before him so began heading towards them, as though on a mission.

When Sophie took a seat up one of the stalls where the rest of Aaron's housemates were, she kept her attention on Jess while the guys continued to talk at her. She didn't want to miss any of this and was curious to see how Jack would deal with having a girl stray from his own charm for once.

"Hey." He quipped the moment he approached them and it was obvious that Corey had not caught on with his frustration.

"Hey man! You good?" He asked cheerily and just got a nodding head before Jack's attention was on Jess.

"You made it."

Jess didn't say anything in response as she looked at Jack in utter confusion. He was acting as though everything was completely normal here yet it was anything but.

"Yeah, after her invite got lost." Corey chuckled, shoving his side playfully but the humour wasn't replicated.

Instead, Jack just glared back at him and showed no signs of approving his joke while Jess stood uncomfortably looking between them. She felt extremely uneasy about this whole set up and was beginning to wish she hadn't come. She did not like the tension flowing from Jack yet at the same time; did he really have a right to me mad?

"Do you want a drink?" He then directed his question at her but in Corey's innocence of Jack's anger; he thought he was asking them both.

"Yeah, I'll get them." He replied before heading off to get the drinks while Jess was left standing with Jack as silence loomed over them.

This was the first time she had ever felt extremely uncomfortable being in Jack's presence. Although she was usually always nervous, he managed to relieve her of that with no trouble. However, right now, she felt a horrid eerie and odd vibe bouncing around them and it was far from enjoyable.

"How are you?" She persisted to ask, just for the sake of breaking the silence but Jack took a little too long to reply which made things even more awkward.

"Good, yeah. It should be a decent night."

She didn't know where this version of Jack had suddenly come from. He seemed so tense and unwilling to have a conversation, the complete opposite to the overly social person she previously knew. Everything had been fine between the pair of them through text however, now face to face he was acting so differently.

Before Jess was able to say something else to try to probe a conversation out of him, a group of individuals suddenly surrounded him. With drinks in their hands, they began passing them around and urging him away from Jess.

However, before he could be completely removed from her presence, his hand laced around her waist and he urged her into him. She felt her body freeze as Jack's lips hovered by the side of her cheek and she would be surprised if he couldn't feel the frantic thumping of her heart. At the same time, his thumb ran gently over her hip, his lips pressed to the side of her ear before he lowered his voice.

"Enjoy yourself." He muttered and Jess couldn't tell if he sounded genuine or just sarcastic. "But know that your first time would have been a much better experience with me."

Jess felt her knees almost buckle as those words were spoken. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

With his body so close to her own and his determined tone echoing throughout her head, every bit of control and composure was lost. She didn't know what he was trying to do here but she did not appreciate it as her body flushed with heat. Taking hold of his arm to steady herself, Jack pulled back yet didn't say a word as he finally began walking off.

Jess was left standing there with adrenaline yet utter confusion running through her body as she wasn't sure if to be mad at him. He'd just stood there and implied something without even knowing the story while also bringing up a vulnerable and sensitive topic. However, he'd done it with very little care and with just the aim of making her feel exactly this way.

Jack Lawrence was a huge lover of playing games and Jess wasn't so sure she was ready to dive into that...

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