Cheaters Always Prosper

"Babe, I couldn't have lost you on any of those bets. I made sure of that." Her boyfriend responded calmly, smiling at her as he leaned down to look in her eyes. "And after all the times Cory has beaten me it's only fair that I win something back, right? You're always saying that he needs to be taken down a peg or two. What's the harm? Cory isn't going to find out."

The cold logic of it was clear in Jenni's mind and she had to admit that she could see where her boyfriend was coming from. Cory was too cocky, and he always strutted after he won a game with Nate. Especially if she was around. And Nate hadn't really bet her if he had known he would win.

But still the anger wouldn't abate and the reasoning she had had for her fury remained true inside her. He had still bet her. How would that look to Cory? He still could have lost her twice. And no one but Nate had known she was safe. Not to mention that he had cheated his friend out of all of his money, all for a game and to just have the chance of winning for once. Because that's what it was, no matter what Nate said.

Nate's words were like a blanket trying to smother a raging inferno. As much as they made sense there was too much anger inside her to let her calm down. But for a brief moment she did hesitate, and Nate pounced on that moment like he was a predator.

"You see, babe, I wouldn't risk you for anything." He said smoothly as he moved closer to her. "And I wouldn't have bet you without something up my sleeve. Literally in this case."

Despite his words trying to soothe her they just inflamed Jenni's mood even more. He just wouldn't see what he had done! Or what it looked like! But at that point she could tell from the way Nate was being that yelling at him would be as productive as shouting at a brick wall. He just wouldn't see. He had his own point of view and he thought he was right.

She had already explained it to him twice. Well more than twice, but he still thought that his cheating had made it all ok. So despite how she felt, Jenni bit back what she had been about to say. It would do no good at this point. Not when he was so thoroughly convinced he hadn't done anything wrong.

"So, you're ok?" He asked with a loving smile and Jenni let her lips curve in the briefest, and most clearly sardonic smile she had ever given before she wrapped her arms around herself.

She was quite clearly not ok, but Nate being Nate took her lack of snapping back as at least a positive sign. Accepting her silence as an acquiescence at least, Nate kissed the tip of her nose. Jenni on the other hand thought that last night and this morning weren't the only times Nate was going to miss out on her. He would know she was annoyed for some time and only slowly come around just to appease her. That wasn't what Jenni wanted, nor what Nate should do, but there was no point in yelling when nothing would come of it. Still she was fuming.

"And what about cheating your friend out of all of his money?" She asked with barely hidden heat.

"He won't know. And like I said, he needed to be brought down a peg or two. That's what you say anyway." Nate answered, and Jenni felt her annoyance tighten within her at her boyfriend using her as an excuse for what he had done. She let it slide like the rest though and just felt her gut tighten more with anger.

"You don't feel bad?" She asked.

"Not when it's his fault in the first place. I've lost enough to him and he just laughed about it. Turnabout is fair play for once I say." Nate answered and Jenni just stared up at him for a moment.

She felt a little guilty for what her boyfriend had done. More so because he had used her as both the way to win and as his excuse for why it was ok. She felt as if somehow she had been a part of it when she hadn't known a thing. But still she remained quiet, even as her insides churned. She would just need time to cool down and deal with this another way. Arguing was just not going to be the way forward here.

And so reluctantly she nodded, more to pass the subject on and give her time to cool down before she exploded again. Nate just smiled at her as if he were confident that he were right. And from the look in his eyes he was sure of himself. He didn't seem to have any remorse in him at all and believed everything he had said.

Pushing her anger down Jenni moved away from him and walked over to the wardrobe before she couldn't contain herself any longer.

"I think you should get ready. Before Cory or Ricky beat you to it." She said, referring to the shared bathroom, and Nate smiled broadly.

After he left the room Jenni just stared into the wardrobe looking at her clothes for a long time feeling the fury bubble within her. Her thoughts rioted in her mind but she just couldn't get them to calm down. Nor could she rationalise what Nate had done like he had seemed to. Despite what he had said.

Finally she pulled some clothes from the shelves and hooks before grabbing a towel and then sat down on the bed and waited for Nate to come back. When he did she gave him a quick, cold peck on the lips as he turned to her before she headed out to the bathroom herself and the shower that waited there.

The relatively cool water - at least in comparison to the warming day - seemed to soothe away some of Jenni's anger, however the moment she stepped out of the shower it all came rushing back to her. And so she donned her clothes a little more roughly than she otherwise would have.

On went her matching white lace underwear and bra followed quickly by her tight blue jeans that clung to her wondrous ass enticingly. Then came her low-cut white t-shirt that clung to her curves hotly, followed by her thin pastel blue and white hoodie which she zipped up three-quarters of the way. Turning to look at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, Jenni straightened her clothes and ran her hands over her flat stomach, pulling the hoodie down so that it hugged her figure deliciously around her waist and large, heavy, 36D breasts.

Picking up her other clothes Jenni took a deep breath before she headed out of the bathroom and back into Nate's bedroom. Her boyfriend wasn't there, obviously he had gone downstairs for some breakfast, which suited Jenni just fine as she dumped her clothes in the washing bin. She was annoyed at him enough as it was without seeing him right then. Annoyed and feeling guilty over what he had done and how he had excused himself. And that latter only annoyed the buxom girlfriend even more.

However, as angry as she was it wasn't long before Jenni's own stomach called her to the kitchen and so with another deep breath, as if getting ready for a battle, she made her way out of the bedroom.

Jenni was too caught up in her own mood to notice anything as she walked out into the hallway, especially the door to the room next to Nate's. As she turned to walk towards the stairs she just about caught sight of movement before she walked into Cory as he came out of his room. Jumping back with a startled yelp the beautiful blonde girlfriend raised her hands to her throat as she looked at her boyfriend's housemate as he stood before her grinning as if he found the whole situation funny.

"Sorry, Cory, I didn't see you there." She said when she could finally breathe again.

"That's alright, Jen. I don't mind you walking into me." Cory replied with his usual cockiness and charm.

That brought Jenni quickly back down to earth from where her heart had soared and she gave him a long-suffering look as she folded her arms beneath her breasts and tapped one foot. She always gave him short shrift, even if she had no idea how the way she was standing emphasised her large tits and slender, curved waist.

"Well I'd mind walking into you." She responded firmly and dismissively.

It was then that Jenni noticed that he was wearing nothing but a towel. Obviously he had been heading towards the shower when she had walked into him! Keeping her eyes locked on his face and not his chiselled body, Jenni tried her best not to look discomfited.

"Too bad. Could be fun." Cory replied smarmily and Jenni tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"I don't think so." She responded neutrally, her tone matching the look on her face as if she had no interest in anything he was saying. Being anything other than dispassionate with Cory led him to think you were somehow flirting with him. "I was just heading down to meet Nate."

A sudden flicker passed across her boyfriend's friend's face at the mention of her boyfriend, a look as if he were disappointed, but it was gone before she could barely register it was there. And then he was back to ogling her as she stood before him with him halfway in his doorway.

"I hope Nate has got something planned for you after last night." Cory said and instantly Jenni felt her anger at her boyfriend froth up inside her. And the guilt for what she knew Nate had done to his friend. Cory looked his usual smug, cocky self but something about what he had said made her think he was joking about the way her boyfriend had bet her as much as he meant about Nate having winnings to spoil her with now.

Whether he had meant it that way or not that was how Jenni's mind took it and so before she could think of what to say given how she felt, she spoke.

"We're going to have a good day. I'm sure he's got something planned." She replied a little out of sorts.

"Shame. That could have been us." He replied with a wink that spoke volumes. Clearly he meant the strip lap dance he had nearly 'won', and that just stoked Jenni's anger at her boyfriend twice as hot.

It also made the hot blonde a little flustered in what she would say in response. And so before she could think clearly she gave Cory a withering smile and said, "What are you going to be doing today? Are you going out?"

Not responding dismissively to his comment had been a mistake. Jenni knew it before the words finished coming out of her mouth. Cory would think she was letting him get away with it, or that he could push further with that kind of line of discussion.

However, much to her surprise Nate's housemate didn't try to smugly say 'something that wouldn't be as fun as if I had won you' or anything like that. Instead his face grew more neutral and he shrugged his shoulders as if he had not liked what he had thought.

"I've got no idea." He replied honestly, and for once he didn't seem to ogle her but rather look inward as if searching for something. "I was going to head out to town and do some spending. Maybe meet up with this girl I met the other day. But that's all gone out of the window now. With your boyfriend taking all of my money and all."

He said it like he thought it was a shame but that there was nothing to be done about it. Down about it but accepting. That just doubled the sudden guilt that Jenni felt as she thought of how Nate had cheated Cory. He couldn't even do anything today because of what Nate had done. And Nate had done it unfairly! And he had used her to make it seem ok. Her stomach twisted at the thought of that and she shifted uncomfortably as she stood looking at him.

"I'm sorry about that." She said honestly and almost winced as Cory shook his head.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about. It's not your fault." He replied calmly, and in such an accepting way that Jenni felt even worse. She hoped her face covered up any sign of what she was feeling or else Cory would know she was hiding something.

"Well I'm sorry anyway." She responded. It was then as she was, for once in her life, beginning to feel comfortable around Cory that her eyes dropped and caught sight of his bare, toned chest that led all the way down to the lowly-tied towel around his hips.

Clearing her throat she looked up and was relieved to see that Cory hadn't noticed her moment of discomfort, even as he had noticed her glance down.

"I...should let you have your shower." She said a little nervously.

Grinning suddenly for a moment Jenni thought Cory had picked up on why she was suddenly feeling awkward, but as he spoke she almost visibly sighed in relief. At least until she heard what her boyfriend's friend had to say.

"Yeah, I guess I should go. You could come with me if you'd like?" Cory replied with a smirk and Jenni felt herself stiffen.

She had let herself become too flustered and had gotten away from being neutral with Cory, and as always he had taken that as a sign to flirt. And so quickly regaining what composure she could Jenni steadied her voice and blanked her face.

"I'm going to see Nate." She said simply, sure that there was nothing Cory could do to twist her words.

Sure enough her boyfriend's housemate didn't say a word. He just watched her with a smirk on her face as she said 'see ya' and walked on down the hallway to the stairs, not daring to look back in case Cory said...or worse, did...something.

Jenni forgot Cory MacKenzie the moment she got downstairs and found Nate in the kitchen. Instantly upon seeing her boyfriend her anger welled up, but at the same time so did guilt. Both fed each other as much as burning on their own, and they only got worse when Cory came downstairs in his jeans and white, clinging tank top, and Nate began to brag about his winning the night before. That and Cory explaining to Nate that he wouldn't be able to head out today because he had no money.

Jenni looked at her boyfriend for any signs of guilt or empathy for his friend but found none, only smug satisfaction. And no sign of feeling bad for anything he had done with her last night either. And that just fuelled Jenni's anger and guilt even more. She was glad when Cory left to head up stairs and Nate went to his room as well, leaving her alone to swill her juice as she sat thinking at the counter.

She couldn't get the anger or guilt out of her and both had only grown since she had found out how broke Cory was now, and since she had saw how her boyfriend bragged - bragged! - about winning, and how he had won, last night. Soon Jenni began to feel sick from how she felt. Somehow she felt like she was enabling Nate's behaviour and his cheating. Enabling how he had acted about her and how he had treated his friend. His friend who now couldn't do anything for being broke.

Thoughts and feelings kept swirling through the beautiful blonde girlfriend's mind and stomach, her heart began to pace and she felt her belly twisting. Finally after twenty minutes of going over everything in her head and feeling angry and guilty, she made a decision and stood up, heading towards the stairs.

Making her way up she turned down the hallway. Seeing Nate's room she made her way towards it and stopped outside of the door she had been looking for. Cory's door. The door next to her boyfriend's room. Feeling a little flutter pass through her at what she was about to do and to whom, Jenni raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Yeah? Come in." Came the reply a few moments later and Jenni took hold of the door handle, pushing the door open until she could peek around the edge.

"Hey. Cory. It's just me. Mind if I come in a sec?" She asked cautiously.

"You coming into my room? You never have to ask, Jen." Cory replied cockily and Jenni tried to push down her distaste for the guy. She had known this was a bad idea.

Pushing the door the rest of the way open the beautiful blonde made her way inside, pushing the door shut behind her. The click of the door closing sounded like warning bells to Jenni, but she had come here for a reason. And she wasn't going to let the way Cory was put her off.

Cory was lounging on his sofa that sat tight against the wall connecting to Nate's room. His bed, unmade as always, sat snugged in the corner not far off, the headboard resting against the same wall. Nate's friend was lounging with his feet on a coffee table in the middle of the room watching a wrestling match on his television. But his eyes were all for Jenni as she came to stand somewhat in front of him.

"Now what can I do for you?" He asked, the 'pretty lady' or 'sexy' vibrating in the air although he hadn't said either.

"I've come to talk to you. About Nate." She answered honestly, and watched the slimy, ogling smile slip from his lips.

"Nate? Why do you want to talk to me about Nate?" He asked confusedly. Then added with a little more of his usual charm and expectation, "Did he do something?"

"What? No, no, nothing like that." She answered quickly. The glistening in his eyes only sparkled more at the potential of getting her because something had gone wrong with the two of them. Jenni had to fight the feeling within her not to walk back out the door. She really didn't like being alone with him. Especially in his room. "I wanted to talk about yesterday. Last night to be exact."

Putting his feet on the floor, Cory sat up and eyed her confusedly.

"What about last night? You mean the poker game?" He asked, seeming to be a little more serious now for a change. "If this is about Nate betting you, that was all his idea. I had nothing to do with that."

Jenni felt her annoyance for her boyfriend spark within her once more at being reminded of that. But she wasn't here to talk about that. At least, not exactly.

"Not that. But thanks." She replied as if it had to be dragged out of her. "It's about you not having any money to do anything today. I felt bad, and a little angry about what Nate did...to you, and about me...and I thought I had to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Cory asked looking puzzled but serious as he watched her.

"Cory, Nate cheated to win yesterday. He didn't beat you fairly to take all of your money. He had cards hidden on him, or something." Jenni told him all in a rush, but her anger at Nate only fuelled her on.

Cory, however, only blinked and leaned back against the sofa, not saying a word. For a little while Jenni didn't say anything either, thinking that he just needed to let that sink in as he was no doubt pissed at her boyfriend now. But after a while she spoke up when he didn't.

"Are you going to say anything?" She asked.

"I kind of figured he was up to something. There was no way he would bet you otherwise. And although he lost a lot he always seemed to win when it counted. But to know he cheated...son of a bitch..." He replied, folding his arms behind his head.

"Yeah..." Jenni agreed, "He took all of your money unfairly. And it's not really a good way to treat a friend."

"You must be pretty pissed at him to come and tell me this." Cory responded and Jenni nodded.

"I was when I found out he cheated; you don't do that to a friend. But he also bet me yesterday, and I'm way more pissed about that. Figured he shouldn't get away with either thing." She replied with a little hint of her annoyance at Nate seeping through as Cory nodded in understanding. "I figured you could call him out. Get your money back. Get to do something today. It's the least he could do after last night."

Her anger at Nate bubbled up inside her. Use her as a betting chip, would he? Cheat his close friends? He wouldn't get away with it!

"Nah, I've got something better in mind." Cory said with the hint of a darkly smug smile spreading on his lips, "I'm going to let everyone else know what he did. See how pleased with himself he is when everyone knows he's a cheater."

The sudden self-satisfied sound in Cory's voice instantly froze everything that Jenni was feeling, as what he had said hit home. He was going to spread around to all of Nate's friends that Nate had cheated him. Had taken all his money without caring that he was cheating his friend. That kind of response would have everybody not trusting Nate, probably outraged at him and maybe even asking how he could treat a friend that way until they chose not to be friends with him any longer!