The Good Life

*Alex*

I woke up at ten am today with Izzy's feet on my stomach. She was asleep laying sideways with her head on Jack's chest. I swear she could fall asleep on her back and wake up on the ceiling, she was the craziest sleeper. I slowly lifted her feet and got out of bed to the bathroom. While I brushed my teeth I tried to figure out what Jack could possibly be trying to hide from me. He said it was an email from work so what could be so bad about that. Think Alex, think. I know it has something to do with that Tyler guy and that's what worries me the most.

I didn't want to stress over this too much since I was being forced to talk to Austin today. I wanted to get this under control before we went to Rian and Cass's house. I didn't want to be all worked up when I saw Austin and take my anger out on him.

I went to the kitchen to make some coffee and read my credit card statement so I could yell at Izzy about it later. I was leaning against a counter, waiting on my coffee to brew when she came to join me in the kitchen.

"Why are you up this early?" I asked her. Usually she slept to almost noon on the weekends.

"I could sense you weren’t in bed anymore." She came over and wrapped her arms around me nuzzling into my chest.

"That doesn't sound scary at all." I said sarcastically and she laughed and let me go.

"I meant to shred that before you could see it." She giggled pointing to the credit add statement in my hand.

"Go shred your credit card instead." I joked with a serious tone.

"But I need it for emergencies!" She whined.

"Emergencies? A Betsy Johnson purse was an emergency?!" I asked.

"Yes, considering I would have died if I didn't get it." She exaggerated.

"You are just like Jack." I told her while rolling my eyes.

"Speaking of Papa, can you tell me what happened between you two?" She asked.

"We just had a small disagreement." I kissed her forehead.

"It didn't sound very small." She mumbled.

"I know. I'm sorry." I apologized. The only thing I hated more than fighting with Jack was fighting with Jack in front of Izzy.

"You should go talk to him." She suggested.

"How am I supposed to talk to him when he won’t tell me what's wrong?" I asked.

"Daddy, you and I both know how stubborn Papa can be. He probably thinks that not telling you whatever it is helping more than hurting. Plus he's most likely afraid of how'll you react when he tells. You just have to promise you won't get angry when he tells you." She told me.

"I'll try not to." I said. "Your father just knows how to get under my skin."

"You have to promise him you won't." She giggled. "You get pretty scary when you're angry so I understand why he'd be afraid to tell you whatever it is." She said.

"You're making me sound like the Incredible Hulk." I said and she nodded her head.

"You might as well be. So relax and go ask Papa what’s bothering him." She demanded.
"Okay." I sighed. "Is he even awake?"

"Yeah he was just waking up when I got out of the bed." She said. I walked out of the kitchen towards Jack and I's bedroom.

The door was open but I still lightly knocked on it to get his attention. He put his phone away and waited for me to speak.

"Are you ready to talk now?" I asked him.

"There isn't really anything to talk about, but you go ahead." He said stubbornly. I had to take a deep breath to keep myself from becoming frustrated with him.

"I'm not angry at you Jack. I don't want to fight. I'm just worried! You seemed really upset with whatever it was. This is about me wanting to help you feel better and to make sure you're not in serious trouble." I told him.

"Do you really promise not to get angry or act without think?" He asked staring into my eyes. I was one-hundred percent sure this had something to do with Tyler.

"Yes I promise." I confirmed.

"Okay... yesterday at dinner I got a text message from Tyler to my phone which is weird because I don't give out my personal cellphone number to just anybody. And when I asked him how he got it he said Selena, my assistant, gave it to him for whatever reason. So he wouldn't stop texting me and he became pissed because I stopped responding to him and it's kind of scaring me, Alex. I blocked his number but I feel like that isn't enough."

I sat down on our bed trying to take everything he just told me. I definitely wasn't mad at Jack for this happening. I guess he was trying to stop me from doing anything to Tyler.

"I don't want you going to London if you have to work with him." I said calmly even though my blood was boiling. Hearing Jack say that that guy was scaring him was the icing on the cake.

"I know I know it's just going to be a lot of work finding someone to take his position in such a short notice. He's great at what he does he's just... crazy and I don't want to have to worry about him sabotaging the company to get back at me. And on top of this I'm probably going to have to let Selena go." He was so stressed.

"Okay how about this. Let's get ready and go to Rian's and we can swim, eat, and drink to forget about this for now. I think we can both use a break. And tomorrow when I get off work I'll help you look for someone new to take over his position." I said while rubbing his thigh.

"That sounds nice, but I have to have my staff help me find someone new. I’ll have to work tomorrow and work late on Tuesday." He said. "I'll just send Tyler another email to tell him his services will no longer be needed."

"I like when you talk all professional." I chuckled and kissed him.

"You're so goofy. But thanks for being so supportive. I was afraid that you would be so angry and try to buy a plane ticket to London to hurt him." He giggled. I probably would have to if things got worse.

"That's what husbands are for." I kissed him again.

He pulled me on top of him and I pecked his lips multiple times until he held my neck in place so we could make out. We were supposed to meet at Rian's at noon so we had plenty of time to fool around.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as I started to kiss his neck.

"So am I." I said against his soft skin.

I laid between his legs and began grinding down on him getting us both even more worked up. We were both in shorts so I could feel him start to become hard and I know he could feel me too. He leaned up pushing me back a little so he could pull off his shirt and I did the same.

I was biting down his neck still grinding into him when I heard Izzy scream. Jack quickly pushed off of him. He was already beginning to turn red from embarrassment.

"Oh my God!!" Izzy yelled as she covered her eyes.

"H-honey it's not what it looks like!" Jack stammered.

"Yeah we were just hugging." I chuckled and Jack hit me.

"Can you um just hand me my phone?" She asked with her eyes still covered.

I grabbed her phone off my nightstand and walked over to place it in the hand she held out.

"Thanks." She said and quickly turned around to run out.

"I can't believe she just saw that." Jack sighed.

"It could have been a whole lot worse." I laughed. Jack didn't think it was funny of course.

"It was still bad. How would you feel if you walked in on your dad and Dr. Fey dry humping?" He asked.

"I would fucking die right there." I grimaced at the thought.

"Exactly that's probably how she feels." He said.

"Okay well how about I go close the door and we can finish?" I still had this problem in my pants. He got up from our bed without saying a word and went to start the shower. I guess that was a no.
"Can I at least touch myself as I watch you shower?" I asked.

"Stay away from me!" He laughed and closed the bathroom double doors in my face.

I went to close and lock our bedroom door and fixed my problem myself.

***

Jack was driving us to Rian and Cass's house. No one said a word the entire time. Izzy wouldn't even look at us. It was still more funny than embarrassing to me but Jack and Izzy felt the complete opposite.

Jack pulled up in front of their house and no one moved to get out of the car yet.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jack asked Izzy.

"No thanks I'd rather we all just pretended that none of that happened." She said and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Jack scolded me each time I did.

"Yeah that's probably the best thing to do." He nodded his head.

We got out of the car and walked to the door. It was unlocked so we walked in and went out to the backyard were everyone was. It was just Rian and Cass, Oli and Hannah, and Austin. Jack invited Danny, May, and Evan so they would be here later on.

"Hey!" I went over to hug Rian since I hadn't seen him in a while. I had a stare down with Cass but we both ended up laughing and hugging each other, no longer holding any grudges. I glanced at Austin who was standing, on the other side of the pool, at the grill with Oli. He was pretending not to see me to see if I would walk over and initiate a conversation, with him, first.

"How about you guys go over there to help finish grilling the food." Hannah said to Rian and me. I looked up at her and she pointed to Austin telling me to go. I don't know why she was trying to be so subtle about this it’s not like everyone didn't know what was going on. I listened to her nonetheless and followed Rian over to the cooler to grab a beer first then we made our way to the grill.

"Just interact with him like nothing ever happened." Rian whispered before we got to them. I nodded my head to let him know I heard him.

I locked eyes with Oli giving him the best look that said 'thanks for forcing me to do this' and he bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Alex! When did you get here?" Oli said as if he hadn't been planning this all along. Plus he was actually facing the back door and saw the exact moment I stepped foot outside. It took every fiber in my body not to call him on his bullshit.

"Like a minute ago." I said giving him a fake smile. There was a moment of awkward silence until Rian pushed my shoulder.

"Uh hey Austin." I said trying to sound genuine. He turned away from the grill and I saw he had a fading bruise on his jaw. I wouldn't say I felt bad but I considered us even now.

"Hi A-Alex." He said sounding apologetic and caught off guard.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"Uh I've had better days. What about you?" He asked.

"Same. Izzy caught Jack and I in bed today and it's been kind of weird. I mean I think it's hilarious but her and Jack don't." I thought maybe if said something funny then we could all laugh and it was ease some of the tension and it worked. They all three laughed with me.

"How did she walk in on that?" Rian asked.

"I didn't close the door, but we weren't actually having sex yet. We were still getting out of clothes and messing around." I clarified.

"Can you imagine her walking in on you fucking Jack? That would scar her for life." Oli laughed making Rian spit out his beer.

"Was that the first time she ever walked in on you guys?" Austin asked finally engaging in the conversation some more.

"There was the other time when she was four but she didn't understand what was going on. And she doesn't remember so don't tell her about it." I chuckled.

"That's a plus side to having no children and only dogs. Hannah and I can fuck any time anywhere in the house." Oli said and I gagged at the image that put in my head.

"Yeah the only room Cass and I haven't slept together in is the guest room upstairs because Izzy sleeps in there when she stays over." Rian said.

I could tell all this relationship and children talk was getting to Austin because he stopped talking again and he was looking down most of the time.

"How about we play a round of volleyball in the pool? Austin and I verses you two assholes." I said and Austin smiled.

"You're on, but first can we throw Izzy in the pool?" Oli pointed to Izzy who was laying in one of the lounge chair in her bikini.

"Of course!" I agreed.

We walked over to where she was sitting. I was hoping her eyes were close so we could sneak up on her but she was on her phone. She looked up at us and barely had any time to react before I grabbed her hands and Oli grabbed her feet.

"Daddy! Uncle Oli! Stop!" She screamed at us. I made sure her phone was placed in the chair because iPhones are a bitch to replace. We swung her back and forth ignoring her screams of protest.

"On three....one....two....three!" Oli counted down and we threw her in the pool. She splashed in and quickly came back up yelling at us.

"You both are so immature! I swear you two combined have the maturity of a five year old." She scolded us as she climbed out of the pool and we laughed harder.

"Hey do Cass next!" Rian yelled at us.

Of course Cass heard him so she got up and ran away from us. "Hannah if you hold her we won't throw you in." I told Hannah and she quickly grabbed on to Cass trying to keep her still so we could come get her.

"Hannah no! You don't have to do this!" Cass laughed trying to break free from her but it was too late.

She put up a good fight but we still got her. I grabbed her hands and Oli grabbed her feet. We brought her closer to the pool.

"Any last words?" Oli asked as we swung her back in forth.

"Fuck both of you!" She yelled at us as we threw her in.

"You were lying to Hannah weren't you?" Oli asked with a smirk on his face.

"Of course!" I laughed. We ran over to pick her up.

"NO NO! You promised!" She screamed as we threw her in.

We turned to Jack who was sitting at the patio table watching all of this. He narrowed his eyes already knowing what we were thinking.

"If you two think you're going to throw me in that pool, you're both sadly mistaken." He said.
"I got his feet!" Oli yelled as we ran over to Jack.

We picked him up like we did everyone else and brought him to the pool. May and Danny walked in before we threw him in.

"May, please help me!" Jack called out to his sister.

"Some battles I can't fight for you, Jack!" May chuckled and we threw him in.

"It sounds like you guys are killing people back here." Danny laughed.

"Danny! You up for some Volleyball?" I asked as if nothing happened.

"Yeah always!" He said ripping off his shirt so he was just in his swim trunks.

"I hate you!" Jack grumbled as he got out of the pool dripping wet. He went back to sit in his seat and May sat next to him. "Where's Evan!" He asked her.

"At his friend’s birthday party. We dropped him off on our way here. And were you attacked by mosquitoes?" May asked Jack. You could see the hickeys that I gave him all over his neck.

"I was attacked by Alex." He said.

"Whatever you wanted it too." I chucked.

"Ew! Whose team am I on?" Danny asked.

"Our team!" Rian said.

"That makes things unfair!" Austin complained.

"I'll play to make things even!" May exclaimed getting up from her seat.

"Yeah May can be on your team and it'll be girls against guys." Oli joked.

"Well us girls are going to kick your ass." May said.

The rest of the night was filled with volleyball, stuffing our faces, and drinking. Everything felt normal again aside from Alan and their kids not being there but I think we did a good job of keeping Austin's mind off of that.

Jack told me Austin asked to talk to him privately and properly apologized for what he did. Jack told him not to worry about it they could put it all behind them now. When Austin tried to apologize to me I stopped him by handing him a beer telling him not to worry about it. I really didn't like to hold grudges the only reason I did with this is because he hurt someone I love. Usually arguments with my friends would be solved in hours if not sooner. Rian and I have never had any serious arguments because he was such a chill guy. Oli and I had a few arguments but it was always name calling back and forth and we never really took each other seriously.

I had no reason to be angry at Austin anymore. He was really remorseful. Plus he had bigger problems to deal with like his divorce/custody battle with Alan. I wanted to be there to help him get through that because I know he would do the same for me.

Notes

I want to write as much as I can before school starts so maybe every three to four days now!
Also I'm going to work on writing more for alone time for Jack and Alex.