He's Just a Friend

by J. Nichole

  I thought about her question before responding. “One, we are both fully available. Seems like you’re over Marcus, and if I wait too long you’ll end up in another long-term relationship.”

  She laughed. “Maybe you’re right. What if we don’t have any chemistry?” I’m pretty sure she was thinking back to that one kiss when we were younger. ‘Cause that was awful.

  “I don’t think I ever thought about that with any of the women I’ve ever dated. Feelings form, chemistry is what it is, and bam, it’s official,” I said confidently.

  She bruised my ego when she mumbled, “And that’s probably why none of them have ever worked.”

  I laughed and told her, “None of them have ever worked because they weren’t you.” A hand shot to her mouth and her eyes danced around looking everywhere but into mine. “It’s true Brooklyn,” I said reaching across the table to hold her hand. “I’ve loved you most of my life. Now I’m ready to know what it feels like to be in love with you.”

  Eleven

  Brooklyn

  I don’t know how chemistry worked, pretty sure it was my least favorite class in high school. I did know how it felt though, and as soon as my body was allowed to feel for Josiah in that way, it was all she wrote. The sexual tension was automatic, and it only took one mind-blowing kiss to assure me, the many women he’d been with had at least improved his kiss game from back in the day.

  His kisses were like crack. I wanted my fix as often as I could have them. And he gave them to me, whenever I wanted them. Instead of playing video games and drinking like we’d usually do while we kicked it at his house, we spent our time making out on his couch. Every day since the dinner. He didn’t lie when he said he was going to charm me, ‘cause charm me he did.

  Through all the kisses though, we didn’t discuss how we’d interact around the rest of the Art Crew. Yeah, they knew we were going into this situationship, but I for one didn’t want to be playing kissy face in front of our closest friends.

  So the trip to the city to visit Skylar was interesting. I had to sit in the back seat to try to avoid staring at Josiah. When Tony asked why I wasn’t sitting next to my boo, I shrugged and said, “I’ll probably nap.” By nap, I meant I’d dream of Josiah from the back seat.

  My eyes were closed and I listened to them debate hip-hop and with each inflection of Josiah’s voice, my pussy throbbed. We hadn’t crossed first base yet, but my body was ready to round that corner. “I’ll forever love the legends of hip-hop,” he said with bass in his voice, and it made me need to adjust in my seat.

  Tony looked back at me and asked, “You okay back there?” I opened my eyes slightly and nodded my head. I’d be better if we were out the car and we would have agreed to a hotel room instead of staying with Skylar in her two-bedroom apartment. “Your dude up here refusing to stop for breakfast. Convince this man that we need food,” he said sounding hangry.

  My eyes were fully open. I could definitely eat, but better yet, I could sneak in a kiss. “I could eat too, Josiah.” Josiah laughed and finally gave in telling us to find a stop with options.

  Tony exclaimed he’d take anything at this point, but I wasn’t as desperate so I waited till I saw a sign with a cafe, before I said, “Next stop.” Tony didn’t waste any time rushing inside to grab us a table. And as I hoped, Josiah lingered behind with me grabbing me by the waist. “This might be the longest weekend ever,” I said into his mouth before our tongues collided.

  “Maybe.” He took my lips one more time before he joked, “Ask me again about chemistry.” I rolled my eyes and started to walk in front of him before he pulled me by the hem of my pants interlocking our fingers. “They’ll have to get used to it sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.”

  Tony’s ass didn’t let it go unnoticed. With his fist to his mouth, he damn near yelled, “What?” We both laughed him off and joined him at the table he was seated at. “I was hungry so hope y’all don’t mind, I killed off the complimentary biscuits,” he said wiping his mouth.

  “Damn, you just sat down,” Josiah said with his eyes bucked. “You greedy.” Tony shrugged then told us to hurry and look at the menu. “Did you skip dinner?”

  “Naw, I ate,” he said biting his lip. “Does this,” he pointed to the two of us and asked, “mean we won’t have Mama Mitchell’s cooking during the week?” I had heard Josiah and Tony would scour the diner for meals then pig out while they played games. I didn’t want anything to change. Nothing.

  “Nope,” I said before Josiah could respond. “Y’all can still have y’all pig out nights.” I placed my hand to my chest. “Don’t let me change anything.” Josiah and Tony both looked at me with similar faces. Ones that told me I was tripping. “For real.”

  The server scribbled Tony’s order, which seemed like half the menu. “That should do it.” The server looked at him and was about to walk away before he told her, “Oh, that was just for me.” She stared at him blankly before she looked at the two of us.

  We finished our food and paid, and then Tony declared, “I call back seat. It’s my turn to nap.” I didn’t object taking my seat on the passenger’s side. Our ride was almost over, and I didn’t mind having a close-up view of Josiah.

  He turned to me and shook his head. “You are really adamant about nothing changing.” I nodded my head confidently. “You know that’s impossible, right?”

  “Why do things have to change?” I honestly asked. Changing the way things were now, would make it impossible to return if this thing didn’t work. If he decided after a few months, like the rest of his girls, he was over our situationship.

  He tapped to the beat of J. Cole, then his tapping stopped and he responded, “I want things to change, to evolve, for you to take up my free time and me to take up yours. Do you not?”

  Of course I did, I could spend every minute with him. And that was when we were just friends, before I had the pleasure of feeling his lips on mine. Now... shit. But I still tried to lie and say, “No, we can’t be that couple.” When I said, “couple,” he turned with a wide grin making me lose my train of thought.

  “What? The couple that’s utterly lost in each other?” I was already lost in him in so many ways.

  “The couple that forgets about their friends.” He nodded his head and we dropped the topic. I looked at the sign announcing us being thirty miles from Skylar. “We’re almost there,” I announced.

  When we rolled up to Skylar’s apartment, Tony hopped out of the car leaving us to walk behind him. Slowly, of course, because I needed those lips. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me close to him. This time, I closed in on his lips first. “Emmm,” I hummed. “We better get inside before Skylar’s crazy ass comes outside checking for us.”

  He walked behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder he had just finished adjusting himself. I winked, because I too was ready to do a little more than kiss.

  “Damn, y’all let Tony bounce his ass in here before y’all. You know we only get along sometimes.” Skylar wrapped her arms around my neck. “Your lip gloss is smeared.” She laughed, smacking me on my ass after I untangled myself from her arms. She moved on to give Josiah a hug. “Oh wait.” She side-eyed me. “Can I still hug him?” I groaned loudly.

  She gave us a quick tour of the apartment to which Tony said, “So I already know those two are sleeping in the same room.” He winked at Skylar. “Maybe it’s about that time for us to make some magic happen too.” Sklyar smacked her lips and pointed us to the towels.

  “I have a blow up mattress ready for you.” She pointed to the corner of the living room and Tony complained about how he’s always treated like a stepchild. “I mean, did you really come in here expecting you were hopping your ass in my bed?” She reminded him of the last time we were all together and they squabbled.

  He shrugged his shoulders then wagged his head. “A man can dream can’t he?” We all laughed then sat down in the living room and hashed out our plans for the evening.

  We settled o
n a pop-up dinner inspired by spring and a lounge. “What exactly is a spring inspired dinner?” Josiah leaned over and whispered in my ear. I tried not to laugh ‘cause I had no clue. “Must be some city shit,” he concluded.

  “In the meantime”—Skylar waved her hands in front of us—“tell us all about this.” Josiah and I looked at each other and she added, “Don’t be shy now. As soon as Tony walked in the door he told me y’all had been playing kissy face all day.” I exchanged a look with Skylar, one that let her know that was a conversation for the two of us. “I have drinks in the kitchen for y’all,” she looked at me and said. “Come help me pour a little something.”

  Skylar was all about the pre-game activities. She had finger foods in the oven, fancy cups, and enough liquor to supply her whole floor of the apartment building. “Tell me all this liquor is just because we are here.” She rolled her eyes and didn’t respond.

  “Anyway, tell me about that.” She looked over at Josiah who had his head resting on the back of her couch.

  “Um…” I told her how Alana told him he was in love with me, and how he considered what she was saying. “Then I considered it and here we are.” I laughed as she shook her head. “My biggest hang up is that if it doesn’t work that we won’t be able to go back to being best friends. Our friendship will be ruined.”

  She handed me a cocktail then said, “Guess you better make sure it works then, huh?” Surprisingly, it seemed so simple. Maybe too simple, actually. I tipped my drink up to my mouth and took a sip.

  Skylar didn’t have to drill me like she usually did when I started a new relationship. She knew everything about Josiah. “I can’t believe it took the two of you this long to get here. I thought y’all would have ended up together years ago.” My lip turned up and I narrowed my eyes. “He’s had a thing for you for some time now. And you”—she pointed her finger at me—“just always tried to ignore your feelings, but I knew they were there even though you’d never admit it.”

  She walked drinks over to the guys and I smiled when Josiah looked to me in the kitchen. He raised his glass in the air and I did the same. To my forever best friend.

  “If we are going to make it to the pop-up, we should start getting dressed now,” Skylar announced as she stood in the middle of the living room where we had all been lounging. “Y’all two can share the bathroom over there.” Then she looked at Tony and said, “And you can wait till I’m done then use mine.” Tony’s face turned into a scowl and we all laughed.

  Josiah followed me into the guest bedroom and closed the door behind us. As I dug through my duffel bag for my toiletries and outfit, I felt him close behind me. “You’ll have to put all of this”—he rubbed my ass—“away.” If we were going to make it past our self-inflicted timeline, I definitely would need space. Otherwise, I’d be dry humping his leg in the middle of the night.

  When he first suggested we wait a few weeks, at least, to ensure we were comfortable with our upgraded relationship status, I was all for it. I agreed with his argument that if we had sex, then decided this thing didn’t work, it’d be the point of no return. But that theory just left me hot and wet on multiple occasions, and I didn’t doubt tonight would be any different.

  I made my way to the bathroom and said, “Time is definitely going in slow motion.” He laughed as I closed the door behind me.

  Twelve

  Josiah

  With rose petals spread across the bed, I grabbed the lighter and began lighting each of the candles placed strategically around my room. I stepped back and took it all in. Brooklyn would hop out of the bath soon; the warmth from the hot water wouldn’t last too long.

  After weeks of heavy kissing, and sexual frustration, we made it to that moment. Before Brooklyn came over, I knew she’d had a rough day at work. She complained of the multiple clients needing elaborate styles keeping her on her feet all day. When she stepped into my place, I was glad I had what she needed. I fed her a plate of homemade lasagna then directed her to the hot bath I had drawn for her while she cleaned the kitchen.

  “Wow,” she said as she stood in the doorway. “All this for me?” I nodded my head and walked over to her to bring her body closer to mine. She was wrapped in only her towel, and that vibe alone made me want to skip the frilly shit and get right to business.

  I fought the urge and directed us to the bed where I had a bottle of warm oil waiting on the nightstand. “Lay on your stomach,” I directed as I rubbed the oil between my hands. The towel dropped to her side and I bit my lip when I saw her ass in all its glory. “Damn, Brook,” I whispered. I slid out of my sweat pants and straddled her back, easing myself down. “Too much?”

  “No,” I heard her say into the pillow. I started at her shoulders, rubbing circles around until I felt her ease up. “Shit, Josiah, you might put me to sleep.” I laughed ‘cause that was definitely not the way I wanted to see the night end.

  “Not before I rock you to sleep,” I said leaning into her ear. My massage continued down the middle of her back until I reached the mound of her ass. My hands stopped right there and I planted kisses down her spine. I continued down each leg, spending extra time on her inner thigh. When the oil dried on my hands I asked, “More?”

  “Ehm hmm...” she mumbled. I asked if she wanted to flip over, and she did with her eyes still closed. “I could get used to this treatment, bae.”

  I agreed, “Me too.” Before I added more oil to my hands, I sucked on her nipples and her moans did something to me. I grabbed the bottle of oil and re-upped the supply between my hands.

  My path continued just like I did on her back till I got to her sweet spot, and it was there where her scent combined with the lilac I had in her bath wouldn’t let me go any further. Anything else would have been torture. Instead of continuing her massage, I gently spread her thighs and dived mouth first between them. Licking and suckling while her moans grew louder and louder—payback to my neighbors who were always bed rocking loudly when I tried to sleep.

  I did everything in my power to elicit a scream from her, and when it came, I was totally satisfied. A grin spread across my face and I arose from my hideout spot ready for our turn. Finally.

  “Josiah,” she said sternly, “you been holding out.” I laughed as I climbed off the bed to grab a condom.

  “Just think, all those years ago you said ‘ew’ to my kiss.” She blushed as I made my way back to the bed. For our first time, I wanted it to be slow and passionate but the way my body was feeling, I felt like I’d nut pre-maturely. I was right. As soon as I slid inside my eyes closed tightly and I had to bury my head into her neck to keep from moaning louder than she had.

  With each slow stroke, the intensity only grew. “Bae, I had no,” she huffed, “idea.” Then she screamed again, and the thirteen-year-old me felt vindicated after all these years. I held on, my strokes still painfully slow as she pulsated around me. She pushed on my shoulder and I went easily to my back as she straddled me.

  My eyes were wide open watching her eyes closed tight, her mouth agape, then her head fall back as she worked her thigh muscles. Her hands balanced on my chest and her walls flexed around me to a rhythm she must have had playing in her head. It was that along with a kiss to my neck that took me out.

  She rested her head on my chest and I wrapped an arm around her. Our breath was rapid, till it wasn’t. When I felt her breath become softer I whispered, “No turning back now.” She moved enough for me to know she heard me, but the sounds of her soft snores indicated she was out for the count. As much as I wanted to clean up, and scoot to my side of the bed, I stayed just like that.

  A bright light shined into my eyes that made me jump and I said, “The candles.” I wiped a hand over my face before I realized it was the sunshine shining through the window and not the candles I left burning overnight.

  “Don’t worry, I blew them out when I woke in the middle of the night.” I turned to my side and saw Brooklyn curled up under the blankets. Funky breath and all, I leane
d over and kissed her cheek. She squirmed and said, “breath.” I laughed and crawled out of the bed to brush my teeth. “Don’t forget we have breakfast with my mama today.” How could I forget? Breakfast with Mama Davison would be a big deal, because she promised to cook for us. That meant she was in a better place. Brooklyn reminded me that she rarely ever cooked.

  “I remember,” I said after spitting in the sink. “Think we should grab some pastries on our way?” I asked, because although I was happy she was cooking, it’d been so long since I had her cooking that I wasn’t sure she knew how to cook.

  “Definitely.” Brooklyn laughed, hard. I was glad she caught what I was throwing. “Hey,” she said. “I haven’t exactly told her that we are together yet.” The sound of screeching car wheels went off in my head. I stepped out of the bathroom and waited for her to elaborate. She hunched her shoulders then hurried herself further under the covers.

  I pulled the covers off of her, and I was temporarily distracted by her naked body, but I said, “But you are going to tell her today, right?” Then I fanned the covers over her and said, “Since when you start sleeping naked?”

  Her cheeks went flush and she said, “Not today. We should wait.” I cocked my head and tried to think why we’d wait to tell her. I hadn’t told my parents yet either but it’s just ‘cause I hadn’t had a chance to talk to them about it yet. “I want to enjoy this moment.”

  I pointed to myself then laid my finger on her nipple and asked, “This moment or with your mom?”

  “My naked body is really distracting you right now, isn’t it?” I nodded. “The moment with my mom.” Then she spread her legs wide and crooked her finger towards me.

  I happily climbed on the bed hovering over her body. But then I leaned in for a kiss and her mouth parted slightly. “Breath.” I teased with a crinkled nose. She laughed and pushed my shoulder. I fell to the side and watched her naked ass scurry to the bathroom.