The Royal Contract

"Fine. Let's go." Marcus stood from his lazy position and walked with her towards the group. Edward walked not far behind them.

She could see that Alex had an unreadable expression on his face when she stood beside him. He did not look unhappy nor mad to see Edward. Alex still greeted his cousin with a smile on his face. But it was never the same when he was talking to Lance or Marcus, Dani noted. 

"Hope you don't mind if I join the game," Edward announced to the group, positioning himself just beside Dani.

"The more, the merrier," Jacky shouted, responding to Edward. Unaware of the tension between Alex and Edward. 

But Dani had sensed it. She had figured it out during the party that something was going on between Edward and Alex. But they never allowed the others to notice their conflict with each other. The fight was so subtle that not everyone could see it.

"Then, let us play some ball." Jacky decided to start the game by dividing the group into two. She took charge of the game since no one seemed to be in the mood to do it.

Dani ended up in Alex's team, with Marcus and the other cousin of Alex. Then on Edward's team was Lance, Jacky, and then one of the other cousins again. They went to their places, and the first one to serve was Alex. 

Looking at him as he positioned himself on the serving line, lifting his shirt off and tossing it aside, she could not help but wonder what else could he do with that body of his. He seemed to be perfect in every way.

When Alex served the ball, it went to the other court perfectly, making it difficult for Lance to receive the ball. They got their first point in that instant. The game went on with the lead score going back and forth between the two teams.

"I got it." Dani received the ball and set it up for Alex. Then he quickly spiked the ball to the other court, but Edward saved the ball, and Jacky set it up again. 

They knew that Lance was going to strike the ball. Out of nowhere, Edward jumped in the middle and hit the ball right to the center of their court. Nobody was able to recover and get the ball from the other side.

Dani was not expecting that Edward was very competitive as he led the other team to outscore them in the final set, making their team win the final score. She had no problem with losing since it was just a friendly game. The point was for everybody to enjoy.

"Nice game." She shouted to the other team. Then she felt Alex's arm went around her shoulder possessively. Something that she never felt from him before.

"It was a good game," Edward responded with a smug smile on his face. It was not often that he was able to beat Alex in a game. He could not help to feel the satisfaction, especially when Dani was watching the both of them.

"Yes, it was," Alex replied as he directed Dani back to their tent. He did not like to spend a minute longer with Edward's company. 

He did not mind losing, even to Edward. But he did not like the way Edward was looking at Dani. Although he was confident that Dani would not fall for his charms, he still would like her to avoid him as much as possible. 

As they laid on their tent, contented to laze around, Alex was interrupted by one of the servers. It appeared that he had an important call that he needed to attend to immediately. 

Since they still had not replaced their broken phones, the caller had to reach him through the line in the house. He excused himself to answer the call, leaving her for the meantime all to herself.

After a while, she noticed that their parents finally joined them on the beach. She watched them from her tent and was glad to see that her father and mother seemed to be enjoying their time on the water. 

It was a rare occasion that she found them relaxing and leaving their busy lives behind them. They both looked so calm and happy, especially her mother, who worried too much about her workaholic father.

She wondered if she did have a family of her own, would she be like her mother. She always admired her mom for standing up to his father when she did disagree with him. However, she was also able to bend to his wishes at certain times when she thought he deserved her support. 

Could she be able to balance her ambition for the sake of her family like what her mom did? Or would she prefer a different path?

"What are you thinking? You look so lost." A voice once again penetrated the silence around her.

"Oh, Edward, I did not notice you there." She responded, a bit surprised to see someone else standing close to her inside their tent.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to startle you." Edward raised his hand in surrender, showing that he meant no harm to her. "Do you mind if I join you? I feel like it is only fitting we get to know each other since you will be marrying my cousin soon. We will eventually be family."

Edward could not help but admire the beauty that was lying close to him. He commended his cousin's taste with women. He knew how to pick them, remembering Tyra, the last girl that his cousin dated before this beautiful woman in front of him.

"Of course, I don't mind. You are welcome to join me. I would also like to get to know Alex's family members." She quickly stood up from her lying position and tried to cover herself up with the thin robe she brought with her.

She knew she could not decline his offer since he had not shown any untoward manner unto her. He was trying to be friendly, so it was a common courtesy that she should respond in kind.