As always this story is exclusively my property and may not be republished or redistributed without my permission. Any resemblance to people or places living, dead or non-existent is merely a coincidence.
*** Sorry for the wait in continuing this tale. I've had a number of things going on in my personal life that have taken precedence over my writing time until recently. I hope you enjoy what I've done with the storyline. This part sees a little more intimacy between Scarlett and Chris and a bit more drama for both of them as well. As always, I only know how good or bad I'm doing if you comment and rate my stories so please let me know what you think!
*** Special thanks go out to my great friend David for his help in getting me kick started again with such wonderful brainstorming ideas and suggestions and being a wonderful editor!
*** I'd also like to thank Metronome37 from Lit Chat who came on in this project as a proofreader. His help was invaluable during the final crunch and I greatly appreciate the time he took to help me.
--- Chapter Seven
A few weeks after their fight, Chris proudly introduced Scarlett to his cousins at the family Thanksgiving dinner. The kids all went down to the family room to get away from the adults where they could relax and hang out. Chris and Scarlett sat close together on the couch while everyone else was spread out on the other furniture or on the floor.
Scarlett noticed that one of Chris' female cousins kept watching them and grinning. She thought the girl's name was Chrissy or something like that. She asked her if they could have a minute to talk in private so they went out to the back yard.
"What's so funny Chrissy?" Scarlett asked.
"Actually it's Christy, Scarlett. You guys are funny, you're both trying to act so cool like there's nothing going on but you're glued together at the hip. What gives? Are you two playing doctor?" She grinned.
Scarlett felt her cheeks grow hot and she stammered, "Uh, well...nothings going on. We're just...close?"
"Close eh?" Christy chuckled. "You guys just met a few months ago and you're already 'close'."
"Well we did spend a night alone together in a cabin when we first met. We had a lot of time to talk." Scarlett explained.
"And nothing happened?"
"No! Well Chris did give me a goodnight kiss, I asked him to though, and it was just on the cheek."
"Oh he got his hooks into you early didn't he?" Christy said as she laughed and gave Scarlett a conspiratorial grin, "I don't know if you know this about Chris but he's the family whore, he's had so many girlfriends it's not even funny."
"That sneaky bum!" Scarlett laughed. "I had no idea at all that he was like that. I think I'm going to have to have a little chat with my darling brother later!"
"Don't beat him up too much Scarlett, Chris doesn't even know he does it. It's like he has a lust fog around him or something. He's always been dorky but for some reason girls just keep throwing themselves at him. Hell I even had a crush on him when we were twelve."
Both girls laughed and Christy gave Scarlett a hug.
"So you guys are the same age?"
"Yeah, he's a month older than me. My parents thought it would be cute if we had similar names, Christian and Christianne, like we're twins or something." Christy said with a grin.
"God! What is it with parents? I hated my name growing up, I started dying my hair when I was eight just so people would stop making fun of me," Scarlett laughed.
She gave Christy a sly look, "So did you two ever play house?"
Christy blushed, "Ha ha! Yeah a few times when we were little. We've always been super close, when we were four we told our parents we were going to get married."
Scarlett laughed again, she felt really comfortable with Christy and felt like she could trust her. She decided to take a chance and confided what had happened between Chris and her.
Christy listened, nodded and even laughed a few times as Scarlett told her story. When Scarlett finished Christy gave her another hug and smiled at her. "Thanks for sharing that Scarlett, it took a lot of guts to trust me like that. Don't worry I won't say a word to anyone. That's your story to share when you guys are ready to."
"Thanks Christy I appreciate that. So do you think I have anything to worry about with my man-ho?" Scarlett asked with a grin.
"I don't think so Scarlett, as far as I know he's never said that he loved any of his girlfriends before. Anyway you're different, they all kind of fawned over him. You don't, you're very independent and in control."
"Well I've had some time to train him."
"Looks like you've done a good job," Christy giggled.
---
During Scarlett's rehab Chris kept her motivated, getting her jogging, working out and swimming at the local sports center as soon as she was able to. Scarlett worked hard to get her knee back into shape, she had every intention of making sure that Chris took her dancing before Christmas. A month after her surgery she was running four kilometers every other day. Chris was pleased with her progress and was always encouraging her to push a little harder.
After one of their runs they got home and collapsed on the couch. Scarlett had pushed the run out to five kilometers that morning and had done a hard sprint right at the end, passing Chris and leaving him in her dust.
"How's the knee feeling after that run sis?" Chris asked.
Scarlett grinned, "Not bad, especially considering I smoked your ass."
"Ha! I let you win, I could've taken you any time I wanted to." He chuckled.
"Yeah right! In your dreams boy-scout," Scarlett teased.
Chris stood up and stripped off his tee, flexing his upper body and laughing. "You've got nothing on me Red! Get a load of these pecs."
Scarlett laughed as well and got up, pulling her sweat top over her head, leaving her in just her running shorts and sports bra. She struck a pose and grinned, "Like I'm not buffed?"
Although she had been in good shape before getting hurt, all the extra training she and Chris had done on top of her rehab had trimmed her down and given her a more firm and toned body now. This wasn't lost on Chris as his eyes roamed over her frame in admiration. Nor was it lost on his growing erection. Chris tried to hide both his lust and embarrassment but Scarlett caught on and moved toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Liked what you saw didja?" She asked playfully.
"Oh yeah, you're even hotter than the day we met Scarlett, and I didn't think that was possible."
"So how come you've only ever kissed me Chris?"
