Bite the Bullet

Chapter 14

When Jackson and I arrived late to Francesca's manor, his arm was across my shoulders, guiding me through the sea of people already inside.

"Jackson, everyone is staring at us."

I mumbled, alarmed, as we weaved through the crowded room.

"Because they're seeing us together again. Normally it's a new girl every time."

He answered coolly, causing me to roll my eyes.

Once we'd reached a less crowded area, we began scanning the room for our friends, who were nowhere to be found.

"Oh, I'll be back in a second, Valerie. I just saw an old friend."

Jackson murmured, before I absentmindedly nodded, picking up a glass of champagne from a nearby table.

"So, you're the girl everybody has been talking about..."

I heard somebody say from beside me. I slowly turned to face the man, and stared up at him.

"What?"

"You're the one Jackson has been parading around like some trophy, aren't you?"

He questioned, giving me a dark chuckle.

"Uh...No, I-"

"Relax, love. You're too pretty to be stressing."

His eyes were glued on mine with a cold intensity, and he barely blinked.

"Um...Who are you?"

I asked, staring up at him, though I was mildly uncomfortable.

"My name is Frank."

He answered, smirking.

"Val! There you are, we were looking for you."

I heard the familiar sound of Luke's voice and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Luke."

I smiled, as he began walking closer towards us.

"Hey, Luke...We were just-"

Luke cut off Frank, giving him a fake smile.

"I've gotta speak to her, see you around."

Frank groaned and left Luke and I standing alone.

"Are you okay? Frank is not good news. Where is Jackson?"

"I don't know, he said he went to go see an old friend. Who's Frank?"

Luke began scanning the room for Jackson, but turned back to face me and shook his head.

"Jackson got into a fight with Frank because he slept with Frank's girlfriend. He's one of Pete's boys."

"Oh."

I glanced into the general direction that I saw Frank leave in and saw him leaning against the wall, staring at me.

"Jackson is on his way. Meet us in the courtyard in five minutes, I think you'd better give J another fake kiss or something, Frank is a persistent one."

"Wait, how do you know we've been faking it?"

I asked, worried that everybody could tell we were faking our situation.

"I just guessed. It looks believable enough, but I've seen him in love before, and it was nothing like that, so..."

I nodded, understanding.

"Alright, see you in a bit."

Luke exited the room just as Jackson appeared from inside the crowd and made his way over to me. I took the opportunity to give Frank a message by cupping Jackson's cheek and leaning in for a kiss.