Texas Was You

"Lisette, awe are going to miss the pregame", chided Antoine, watching as she carefully placed another Tupperware box in the back seat of the truck.

"Do you want all the food to spill, mon frere?", she retorted.

Antoine just shook his head. "Ma petite, we usually eat pizza and chicken wings and drink beer", he said, watching as she carefully arranged several bottles of wine.

"It is good manners to bring something to a party", she replied.

The outside of the Whitney's house was crowded with vehicles as Antoine found an empty space across the street. "Hey guys. Wow, that's a lot of stuff", said Ray, taking several of the boxes from her.

"Mon soeur cooked for us, it is different things", replied Antoine as Lisette handed him several bottles of wine.

Most of the team was gathered in the parlor in front of the mammoth big screen TV as it showed the Fox pregame sohw. "Hey guys, glad you could make it. Do you want a beer?", asked Jamie.

"Oui, my sister brought wine if you like some, we also brought food", said Antoine.

"Cool, just leave it on the table and we'll order the pizza later so it gets here by halftime. Do you want a drink, Lisette?", asked Jamie, handing Antoine a can of Lone Star and a blue rubber coozy.

Tyler entered the kitchen and helped himself to a beer, his eyes widening at the containers on the table. "Whoa, we're going to order pizza later", he said.

"It is French food, Lisette cooked it. We also have some wine and other things", said Antoine, cracking open the can and taking a large swallow.

"Sorry about that, my bad. It's not frog or snail, is it?". he asked dubiously.

"Non, monsieur Seguin. I brought crudites and quenelles in white sauce for starters, beef ragout with red wine sauce, coq au vin and trout meuniere, plus macedoine de fruits and apple tarte for dessert", she replied.

"Damn, looks like we don't have to order pizza after all. Do you want anything to drink, since you brought all this stuff?", asked Tyler, putting the dishes in the fridge.

"Merci beaucomp, Tyler. But I will make my own drink", she said politely.

Tyler watched as she took a bottle of vermouth and a bottle of creme de cassis, mixing the ingredients in a plastic cup and adding a thin red mixing straw. "It is vermouth and cassis, un apertif", she explained.

"Cool, can you make me one?", he asked.

Lisette gave him a little smile as she made him the drink and handed it to him, their fingertips barely touching. Tyler nodded in thanks and took a sip. "Not bad, I'm not usually a cocktail guy, it's beer and whiskey for me", he chuckled.

Lisette finished her drink and made them each another, her hands steady as she handed him the drink. "You got steady hands, Lise", he murmured.

"Oui, it's the clarinet playing", she retorted.

Tyler just laughed as he led her back to the parlor. "Tyler, you try anything?", teased Valeri, taking a large swallow of beer.

"Val, you can't possibly drunk yet", teased Tyler.

"Nyet, this first beer. I no want to get drunk too fast", he retorted cheerfully.

Lisette found a seat on the couch and saw that Tyler sat next to her. "Kickoff is in a few minutes, the teams flip a coin to ssee who is going to kick the ball and gain possession", explained Jamie.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the TV as the kickoff approached, the crowd at AT&T Stadium roaring like a beast. "Dalls is a Cowboys town, people here are football crazy", said Alex.

"Toaster is right, that's what you learn living in Big D", laughed Ray.

Lisette sipped her drink and watched the game, Jamie and Tyler explaining the goings on. "Now the kicker has to kick the ball between the posts, that's the extra point", said Tyler.

Everyone booed and groaned in disgust when the ball went wide right of the posts. "Shit, we needed that extra point", muttered Tyler, seeing the score was 12-6 Jets.

Lisette saw that there was ten minutes before the halftime show, excusing herself as she went to the kitchen to warm up the food. "Need help, that a lot of work", asked Valeri.

"Merci, Valeri. Get the dishes out and the utensils and the cups, put them out on the table", she said, taking out the Tupperware.

"How much you bring?", he asked, seeing all the containers.

"There are four to warm up, these can be served cold", she said, pointing to the crudites and fruit salad.

"Put pie in oven to warm up, no good cold", he said.

"Good idea", she replied kindly, warming up the oven and placing the apple tart inside.

"My mom do same thing, when we have party she cook a lot", he chuckled.

"You like Texas so far?", she asked.

Valeri nodded as he set the cold dishes on the table. "Da, Texas cool place. I only see cowboys on tV in Russia but this nice. Jamie say he take me to Billy Bob before Christmas, big cowboy place. I want take pictures and put them on Instagram, show family", he said proudly.

"Yeah Val, we're gonna get you on the mechanical bull and post it all over Instagram", joked Tyler.

"Just don't get drunk and ride the bull, you'll fall right off. Make sure to go on a night when they have the rodeo, that's a good time to take the noobs", said Ray.

The dishes were soon all warm and sitting on the table while the apple tart warmed in the oven, everyone grabbig a plate and utensils and helping themselves. "This is seriously good stuff, Lisette", said Tyler as he ate his chicken.

"Yeah, and the fish is good too", agreed Jamie.

"Merci beaucomp, monsieurs", she replied shyly.

"Don't be so modest, ma petite soeur. You are an excellent cook and everyone likes it", said Antoine.

"Then again, my parents are just Canadians from Brampton, only French stuff we know is poutine", laughed Tyler.

"My mom makes the best poutine, she makes the fries and the gravy herself", boasted Alex.

"That's the best stuff if you've been out drinking, best hangover food ever", exclaimed Ray.

"What is poutine?". asked Lisette, taking a sip of wine.

"Just the best hangover food ever, it's fries with gravy and cheese on top, or what else you like", said Tyler.

"We have something like that in France, we eat chips with meatballs and gravy", said Antoine, helping himself to the chicken and a glass of wine.

"That actually sounds neat, dude", said Tyler.

The dinner dishes were cleared away and placed in the trash as Valeri turned off the oven and carefully brought out the apple tart, sitting it alongside the fruit salad. "Sweet, do you have the pie with ice cream?", asked Tyler.

"It is a tart, monsieur Seguin. And if you have any ice cream, plase bring it out, monsieur Whitney", she said.

"That's the first time I've ever been called monsieur, wait until I tell my wife", laughed Ray as he took out a carton of vanilla ice cream from the freezer.

"Miss Roussel, if I wasn't married and my wife wouldn't kill me, I'd ask you to marry me", teased Ray as she blushed.

Tyler laughed along with the others but he couldn't help the quick flash of jealously that went through him. I know Ray's a joker, but that's my girl. Did I just think that?, he wondered.