Page 53 of Hardcore Vanilla
"Of course, thanks Rina," Mark said, smiling affably. He shot Jake an apologetic look. "I'd love to talk more about this later."
"Any time," Jake said easily. He liked Mark and he liked talking about his job with someone who was so interested. Mark seemed more like he was on the design end of things than the practical, but that just made for interesting conversation as they talked about what was possible. Since Jake didn't have a specialty yet and was more of a generalist, he had a basic grounding in everything.
Once Mark had turned away to collect Melinda, Jake felt a soft touch on his arm and automatically turned. Sharon's cousin Rina looked up at him with thoughtful, dark brown eyes. They didn't really look too much alike. Rina was fairly tall for the family and willowy, except for her impressive chest. The purple dress she was wearing covered everything but was very tight and completely backless.
The looks she gave him made him pretty uncomfortable, considering he'd been introduced to her as Sharon's date and Rina was wearing a wedding ring.
"So, Jake, you're my cousin's new ah... gentleman." The way she said 'gentleman' made it sound dirtier than if she'd been cruder.
He shifted uncomfortably.
"We're friends and I offered to be her date to the wedding," he said after a moment. That was how Sharon had been introducing him all night.
Rina raised her eyebrows at him, a small smile curving her lips. There was something predatory about that smile and Jake had to stifle the impulse to step back and away from her. "Oh? From what she said I was under the impression your relationship with her was much more... intimate. The man she's currently ah, indulging with, although my delightful cousin was much more crass in her description."
Heat flushed through Jake, embarrassment followed by anger. As much as he liked to think Rina was just trying to cause trouble - he hadn't missed the tension between her and Sharon - he could easily believe she was telling the truth in this case. That sounded like Sharon. And he had heard Rina accusing Sharon of saying something crass before she'd stormed off earlier.
He was really starting to regret having come to this wedding.
Family was really important to him, whereas Sharon seemed to go out of her way to antagonize hers. She didn't even try to get along with her parents from what he could tell. Sure, her parents were kind of cold and formal, and snobbish, but they didn't seem like totally terrible people. Whereas Sharon had deliberately tried to provoke their displeasure from the moment she'd arrived home.
Then, rather than finding a nice way to distract her aunt, she'd done the exact same thing and used Jake to do it. Finally, when he'd made his unhappiness with her tactic clear, she'd just accused him of trying to boss her around and swanned off instead of apologizing. If he hadn't followed her, would she have just left him in a sea of strangers that she'd just embarrassed him in front of? It seemed likely.
Yes, he got that she wasn't her best with her family.
Yes, a lot of them were kind of assholes.
But to be perfectly honest, she was being one too, just in a different way than they were.
While he was trying really hard to be understanding, his patience had pretty much run out.
"She said you're in construction," Rina said, moving closer and licking her lips with deliberate interest. This time Jake did take a step back. "I love a man who's good with his hands."
Despite how pissed he was getting at Sharon, he would have given anything for her to step in and save him. But she didn't - the dinner bell did.
Rina pouted as she turned away from him, the room falling silent, and Jake closed his eyes for a moment in stark relief before turning his attention to where Melinda and Mark were standing at the other end of the room with their parents.
******
Sniffling slightly, Courtney let Sharon direct her out into the hallway. Fortunately, no one else was out there and the noise from the party was muffled as soon as the door closed.
"Alright, sweetie, what's going on with you and Joseph?" Sharon asked gently, putting her arm around her cousin's shoulders. Even though Courtney was only about five years younger than her, Sharon felt a lot older as Courtney's story poured out.
Basically, Joseph was being hot and cold lately, constantly testing Courtney's devotion to the relationship.
"I don't know what to do," Courtney said, working her way up to tears again. "No matter how I try to reassure him, it's never enough. Then it seems like he doesn't even want to be with me anymore and I'm soangrywith him. I feel like I should put my foot down, but relationships aren't supposed to be about ultimatums, right? What if he's the one? My parents adore him, I know he's an amazing catch, what if I never find another guy as good as him? I can't just set down rules and say, 'you have to do this' even though sometimes I really want to."
"Honey..." Sharon hugged her. Her poor cousin. Joseph was her first real relationship and she was trying so hard while he was giving her the run around. He totally didn't deserve her. Plus, it sounded like Courtney was with him to please her parents more than anything else. "You have the right to set rules for how you'll be treated in a relationship. If he can't treat you in a manner that makes you feel respected and loved, then he's not the right guy and he can get the fuck out. Penis is literally everywhere. Everywhere! And it's dying to get inside you - with whatever rules you set. This loser is playing games and for whatever reason, you're allowing it. You have the vagina. Act like it."
The expression on Courtney's face was full of shock and awe, and more than a little desire. "But... what if he leaves me because I'm bossing him around?"
"Setting down standards so that a man treats you well is not bossing him around, and anyone who doesn't treat you well and make you feel loved is a shitgibbon," Sharon insisted, utilizing one of Angel's favorite insults. It had such a nice ring to it.
Covering her mouth, Courtney giggled, looking a lot less teary. Then her expression dropped.
"My parents will be so disappointed in me if we break up," she said mournfully.
"That's because they wouldn't have to live with him," Sharon pointed out. "Look at your sisters. Rina married Dave, like your parents wanted her to, and is now miserable and cheating on him with every man she can sink her claws into. Melinda, on the other hand, is marrying who?"
