Boys and Girls, Part IV: Why I Love to Hate You

Chapter 12 – The “M” Word

Sunlight poured into the room, and Jacy suddenly remembered that she hadn’t walked into this bedroom alone last night. Her eyes squinted open, and she reached over in an effort to remember what exactly in the hell had happened yesterday evening. She patted her comforter on both sides, and felt…

Nothing.

Jacy sat up abruptly, and her hazel eyes flew wide open. That’s right. She had fallen asleep with Tristan Carter…again. He had frozen her out all evening, and they’d had sex and come together, and he still hadn’t said anything to her afterwards, but he’d held her hand, and…

So many thoughts were swirling around in Jacy’s mind. In all honesty, she didn’t want to acknowledge the most probable of occurrences – Tristan had gotten his fix and had left her. But that was what she wanted, wasn’t it – to have that nuisance of a blonde god leave her the hell alone? Wasn’t that the goal?

But if that was the case, how was Jacy supposed to explain the tears that were forming in her eyes? Why in the hell was she shedding tears for someone she was so desperate to get rid of? Yeah, sure, after all of the hard, hot sex they had had, the two had shared a few brief moments of intimacy – hardly worthy of her tears, Jacy thought.

But those few moments had been precious to Jacy. It allowed her to glimpse into a world where maybe feelings other than lust and immediate satisfaction resided. She had loved holding hands with Tristan. It had felt so tender and warm for her. She just wasn’t used to having ever really experienced those feelings with a man before. The novelty of it was what drew her in, and as she thought more and more about it…she discovered that it wasn’t so bad.

Except now, Tristan was gone. Jacy’s one true chance at a relationship had passed her by.

She buried her face in her hands, and her sobs grew louder. Jacy hardly ever cried, but she was growing aware of how it was becoming more common to shed tears in Tristan’s presence. Whenever she was around him, her barriers seemed to collapse. He invaded her soul without apology, and while it sometimes frightened Jacy, deep down she knew that it was good for her.

So Jacy continued crying. It helped a little.

The door to her bedroom clicked. Jacy’s head shot up.

“Good morning, sweethear-

Tristan stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Jacy’s tear-stained face. He was clad in his boxers and carrying a tray of food. He immediately set the tray down on her desk before walking over to her.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, taking a seat next to Jacy.

Jacy turned her head to hide her tears. “N-nothing.”

“Tell me,” he ordered gently.

Jacy’s sniffles persisted. She couldn’t find the courage to look Tristan in the eyes. When Tristan tried to rub her shoulders, Jacy flinched. Tristan wasn’t too happy about that. Instead, he grabbed Jacy and pulled her into his chest. She resisted, but in the end, a hug was really what she needed…and wanted.

Tristan ran his fingers through Jacy’s long, brown hair before kissing her on the cheek and whispering into her ear. “Please tell me why you’re crying, baby.”

A long pause followed. Jacy knew Tristan wasn’t going to pull back until she told him the truth.

“I was afraid you left me,” she eked out in a small voice.

A look of anguish overcame Tristan’s features. “Why would you think that, Jacy?”

“I dunno,” she answered. “I woke up and you weren’t next to me. What was I supposed to think?”

Tristan sighed. “I was making you breakfast, darlin’.

Jacy instinctively turned her head toward the tray that Tristan had brought in with him. The plate was loaded with the traditional fix-ens of an all-American breakfast. There was toast with jam, some scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, a glass of juice, and – of course – a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Jacy grew all misty-eyed again and buried her face back into Tristan’s chest.

Tristan sighed again. “How could you think that I would leave you after what we shared last night?” He didn’t sound upset. If anything, Tristan sounded a little…sad.

Jacy shrugged. “You wouldn’t talk to me all night. I thought you were pissed at me.”

“I was having a little fun with you, Jacy. At first, I got mad because you stopped talking to me after I told you about my brother. I was just being immature at first – you know…giving you a taste of your own medicine – but eventually, I couldn’t stop doing it, baby. You were getting so mad, and it turned me on so much.”

Jacy angrily swatted at his chest. “So it was just a fun game to you?”

Tristan winced. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jacy. I’m sorry.”

Jacy wanted to continue being mad at Tristan; it was a lot easier than liking him so damn much. But she was too moved by his sincerity to play up her charade. “It’s okay.”

Tristan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at Jacy’s response. She pulled back a little to look him in the eyes. He was smiling again, but this smile wasn’t full of coyness or tinged with smart-ass. He looked like a man genuinely happy to be looking into the eyes of a woman he was crazy about. Without warning, Tristan kissed Jacy on her nose. She blushed.

Tristan carefully pulled Jacy beneath him. He cupped her face and kissed her a little more intimately this time. His blue eyes bore into her hazel eyes. He regarded her with the utmost sincerity.

“No…” he began in a low, husky voice, “…I won’t be leaving you, Miss Hewitt.”

And he made love to her once more.

****

Time definitely flew by when you were in a healthy, committed, and highly sexual relationship. Jacy had never thought she would become the promiscuous little minx she had morphed into, due to her sexy blonde beau. But now, after a rocky start, Jacy and Tristan were enjoying a storybook romance.

Of course none of Jacy’s friends knew about said relationship. She wouldn’t have minded telling a few of them, but since everyone in her circle of friends was invariably connected to one another, if she told one person…they’d all eventually find out.

And Jacy definitely didn’t want Ryan finding out that she’d defected toward enemy territory. More than anyone else, Ryan would be good at invoking guilt within Jacy and forcing her to wear the big, scarlet “T” for Traitor.

If she had to, Jacy wasn’t going to spill the beans about her relationship any sooner than after spring break had officially ended. Tristan had asked Jacy to visit his family with him in Texas. Since he was paying for the flight and Jacy didn’t have any pre-existing plans to begin with, she had agreed to it. She was already a little nervous, even though the flight was still ten hours away. Jacy wanted to make a good impression on Tristan’s family. She could tell that they were very important to him, and she didn’t want them to hate her. She would be satisfied if they, at least, tolerated her. And If they ended up loving her…well, that would just be an added bonus.

Because Tristan was the hot commodity on the NFL draft market right now, all sorts of agents – good, bad, sincere, and sleazy – were hunting him down. Tristan was working to find a decent man to represent him. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

She felt so bad for him that Jacy decided to fix Tristan a home-cooked meal. She had made roasted chicken and potatoes, along with homemade mac and cheese – his favorite – just to ease his frazzled nerves. Jacy smiled to herself as she thought about how opposed she felt to this very situation not four months ago. She could never picture herself spending all of her time cooking for a man, but as she spent more and more time with Tristan…she definitely saw the positive in it.

The object of her thoughts came bustling through the front door of his spacious apartment. Now that they were officially dating, Jacy decided she liked Tristan’s huge apartment over her smaller one. Furthermore, if she spent time at Tristan’s, then there was less chance of him running into Lani…or worse, Ryan.

He walked into the kitchen, already having taken off his dress jacket. He wore a crisp, white dress shirt tucked into pleated slacks with a simple blue tie. The expression on his handsome face wasn’t exactly all that cheery. In fact, he looked kind of pissed.

“Bad day?” Jacy asked, as she sauntered over to Tristan and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He bent down to kiss her and groaned. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

The erection that was poking Jacy in the leg actually did let her know how happy Tristan was to see her. She pulled back slightly, wanting to hear more from him.

“What happened?”

Tristan sneered and began loosening his tie. “A bunch of shit-faced agents fighting over me like I was a piece of meat or something. How the hell am I supposed to separate the ones who want to help me from the ones who want to screw me over?”

“There’s gotta be one friendly face in the crowd,” Jacy encouraged.

“Yeah, right,” Tristan grumbled. His eyes fell back onto Jacy, and he smiled. “God, you look sexy in an apron.”

Jacy blushed. She looked like a total housewife cliché. She wore jeans and a yellow t-shirt underneath an long, apron with a small strawberry stitched in the bottom right corner. She didn’t think she looked particularly attractive at the moment.

Tristan sniffed. “I smell mac and cheese.”

Jacy smiled. “I think you deserve it.”

Tristan wrapped his arms around Jacy’s waist and lifted her up. “What else do I deserve, baby?”

Jacy ran her fingers through Tristan’s hair, and he moaned with satisfaction. “Anything…everything.”

So, Tristan cashed in on that promise right there in his kitchen.

****

“I’m taking this away from you,” Tristan warned, referring to the near-empty bottle of wine that Jacy had purchased just for that evening.

Could Jacy help it if she was a happy drunk? She continued to giggle profusely as she downed the last of the red wine. She set her empty glass on Tristan’s coffee table and sprawled across Tristan’s sleek sofa on her stomach. He was seated on the ground, in front of the couch. Jacy oriented herself so that she could run her fingers through Tristan’s hair. She knew he loved it when she did that.

After Tristan had returned home, they had made love, eaten dinner, made love again, and then…made love a third time, just for good measure. Jacy wouldn’t have minded another romp in the sack, but she figured that she might as well get to know a little more about Tristan’s family before she actually met them.

“Tristan?”

“Yes, baby?” he asked calmly, taking a sip from his glass.

“Should I call your dad and mom, Mr. and Mrs. –

“No,” he answered firmly. “You call my dad, Boyd, and my mother, Cynthia. Only the men in Texas address their elders formally.”

Jacy smiled in response to Tristan’s business-like tone. She continued to tease his hair.

“Are your brothers mean and bossy like you?”

Tristan grinned. “Nah. Gareth’s a good guy but a huge flirt, anyway, and Darren’s actually the complete opposite of me – a real softie.”

Jacy noticed that Tristan’s features slightly fell after the mention of his second brother. He was thinking about Lucas, no doubt. Jacy wanted to ease Tristan’s pain just a little, so she tried to change the subject.

“Will they like me?”

Tristan abruptly turned and stared at Jacy like she was stupid. “Are you kidding? They’re gonna love you, darlin’. I’ve been talking about you non-stop for about a whole month now. My mom wants to know where to hold the freakin’ reception!”

Jacy straightened. His family was seriously considering marriage?

Tristan recognized the shift in Jacy’s mood. “She was just kidding, Jacinda.”

Jacy snapped out of her reverie. “What? Yeah! Of course.” She laughed nervously, but Tristan regarded her suspiciously. His comment should have calmed her. She didn’t want to get married right now. Yet, the fact that Tristan had confirmed that marriage with her was just a flight of fancy just stuck in Jacy’s craw. Was she unmarriable or something? She just had to find out.

“So…do you think about marriage at all?”

Tristan seemed to almost twitch at the “M” word. “Not really.”

“I see.” It was a perfectly reasonable answer. Jacy knew most men Tristan’s age were pondering when their next lay would be more than thinking about weddings and marital bliss. Still, she couldn’t help but feel irritated by Tristan’s nonchalance.

Tristan sighed. “Shit. What do you want to say, Jacy?”

She pulled her fingers out of his hair and sat up. Tristan groaned with frustration at the withdrawal of Jacy’s warm touch. He resignedly put his glass on the coffee table and took a seat next to Jacy on the couch. She made a large production of putting more distance between the two of them, and Tristan sighed in exasperation.

“What! What’d I do?”

Jacy averted her eyes. “Nothing,” she snapped. “You did nothing at all.”

“So what’s with the sudden freeze-out, Jacy?” he cried.

She turned to him with an angry jerk of her body. “Why wouldn’t you want to marry me!” she demanded.

Tristan threw his head back and closed his eyes. “Jesus, Jacy! That’s not what I said!”

“You said that –

“I didn’t say anything!” he retaliated. “My mom’s the one who’s throwing the jokes around, but it has nothing to do with you, Jacy.” He heaved a deep sigh before continuing. “How seriously could you take two twenty-two-year-olds if they said they wanted to marry, Jace?”

Jacy didn’t answer.

“Exactly,” Tristan responded. “It’s not you, Jacy. Believe me when I say that. If we were a few years older, then I’d definitely be thinking about marrying you and only you.”

“Is that the truth?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered with all seriousness.

His words softened the blow a little, yet Jacy still wasn’t completely appeased.

****

A/N: I recieved a few comments about how angry, domineering, forceful Tristan isn't really to your liking, and I appreciate those comments. Unfortunately, we're not completely in the clear yet, so just bear with me. Thanks :)