Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

  They stopped on Lexington for a slice of pizza and she showed him around more of the city. She kept checking the time and at four, she said they had to head home so she could have dinner done by the time Jess got home. John got quite a kick out of that, and teased her for a good ten minutes about her happy housewife routine. Janine took John to the grocery store, where she bought a ten pound sack of potatoes and made him carry them.

  She made chicken for dinner, with mashed potatoes, biscuits, peas, corn, and salad. She figured with three men to feed, she couldn't really make too much.

  John, in typical fashion, flopped down on the couch and watched television while she cooked and washed dishes, not even bothering to get up when Jess got home.

  Jess nodded at him and said, "Hey."

  John grunted in acknowledgement.

  Jess glanced at the television as he walked by, but instead of flopping down next to John he walked into the kitchen to see Janine. "Hey," he said, leaning in and giving her a kiss.

  Her heart did yet another flip and a goofy grin found its way to her face as she replied, "Hi."

  He smiled and gave her another kiss, then sniffed. "Mm, something smells good."

  He kissed her. Casually. Twice. He could do that now. He was now officially considered the father of her child by everyone else. But he wasn't. Then again, talk shows were full of men living with children that aren't actually theirs, so maybe it wasn't such a big deal.

  "Hello?" he said, waving a hand in front of her.

  "Hm?"

  He smiled. "I asked what you were making."

  "Oh. Baked chicken, um, mashed potatoes, biscuits, peas and corn....I threw a salad together, too."

  "Sounds delicious." Then he kissed her again.

  Well, why was she just standing there? She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back in for another kiss.

  "I can see you," John called, not looking away from the television.

  Jess sighed and shook his head, pulling back. "When is he leaving?"

  Janine chuckled and turned back to the cooking, while Jess went in and sat down next to John.

  "Remember when we used to eat, like, cold Beefaroni for dinner?" Todd asked Jess.

  Jess nodded. "And spaghetti if it was a really special occasion."

  "Hey, do you take requests?" Todd directed at Janine.

  She smirked. "Yes."

  "Hey, you smirked," John said, pointing an accusing fork at her. "You've been around Jess too much."

  "Could you make some steak or something sometime?"

  She nodded. "I'll stop at the store tomorrow."

  "Awesome, dude," he said with a smile.

  "Dudette," she corrected, taking a bite of her biscuit.

  "Oh, do you remember your version of banana pudding?" John asked.

  She nodded. "It's pretty simple, how could I forget it?"

  "Could you make that, too? Mom never makes it the way you do."

  "Yes, I can make that too." She looked at Jess. "Any requests from you?"

  "Nope, I'm pretty much good," he said with a nod.

  "You've got to put the whipped cream on top," John told her. "Mom never does it. I love Mom's, but yours is better."

  She grinned. "Thanks, Johnny. You know, you guys are a pain in the butt, but life would be boring without you."

  "Thanks," Jess drawled.

  "Not you," she said, patting his hand.

  "We have to watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High while I'm here," John said.

  "Oh, do you remember the last fuc—sorry Janie, last time we watched that movie?"

  John smirked. "Did you just censor yourself?"

  "Yes, shut the hell up. Do you?"

  John let it go and nodded, smirk still in place. "Yeah, we had about—aw, man, how many shots did we have?"

  "I think thirteen. I couldn't even see."

  "And then when it was over, we somehow made it outside and started running up and down the street calling out, 'Hike! Hike!'"

  Jess grinned and nodded. "And then that crazy old lady in the curlers called the police on us."

  "How did we get home?"

  Jess shook his head, looking down and getting a bite on his fork. "I can't remember. I don't think I've ever been that drunk again."

  Janine smiled ruefully and shook her head. They had been such brats.

  "We have to take you out while you're here," Todd said with a nod. "Jess has been a good little boy all week, but we need to take you out and really have fun."

  Janine grimaced, but tried to hide it by taking a bite. She could just imagine Todd's kind of fun.

  "I'll tell you what," Todd said, raising an eyebrow and nodding. "There is this hot cocktail waitress down at this one club, and man, let me tell you..." He shook his head. "She has a tendency to bend over a lot, and with that outfit?" Todd whistled.

  It was all Janine could to to keep from throwing her biscuit at Todd. Yes, that was just what she needed. Some gorgeous cocktail waitress bending over in front of Jess and reminding him of the fun of single life.

  "She's hot, man. I mean, we both agreed we'd bang her."

  Janine's eyes shot up, wide, and Jess quickly said, "That was before. Long before. Todd's...stupid." He closed his eyes and shook his head.

  "Oops," Todd said. "Shit, man, I keep forgetting about her."

  "Keep it up, honey, and I might forget to make your steak tomorrow," Janine threatened. "In fact, I was thinking about baked ziti. Although mac and cheese is better," she put in spitefully. Then she didn't even miss a beat before she said, "She's blonde, right? He always liked blondes."

  "No, actually she's brunette." Then he smiled. "Actually, she kind of resembles you." He looked over at Jess. "Doesn't she?"

  Jess raised his eyebrows, but then he nodded, looking at Janine. "Actually, yeah. Not as pretty, though."

  Janine cracked a smile. "Aw, you guys really want that steak, don't you?"

  John started laughing. "Aw, man, you're so whipped."

  Jess glared at John and muttered something under his breath.

  Janine smiled and went back to her food. She didn't care if they were big liars, they made her feel better. She did, however, make a mental note to work on her jealousy. It sucked.

  ***

  The next night, the guys went out and Janine decided to try to find a job. She spent some time online looking for restaurants nearby, then went out and found two of them that were hiring. She filled out applications at a diner and a pizza place.

  When she got home, she made herself a bowl of Ramen noodles, then made a batch of cookies just because she was bored. She decided to take a shower, then go to bed and read until Jess got back.

  Jess came stumbling into the room around two and gave her a big grin. "You're awake."

  "Where were you?" she asked, attempting to sound more curious than concerned.

  "Bar," he said, kicking his shoes off.

  She actually felt relief even though she should have been irritated. "Did you guys have fun?"

  He nodded. "Yeah. You should have seen them," he said, shaking his head.

  He pulled his shirt over his head and Janine looked away, blushing. It was absurd to be blushing, but she couldn't help it.

  Jess chuckled. "Aw, come on. You don't really have to look away, do you? You've known me more intimately than a look at my chest."

  She blushed even deeper and brought her gaze back to him, noticing with wide eyes that he had already taken his pants off and was working on his underwear. She looked away again. She couldn't help it. She was too new at intimacy to watch him undress.

  "Um, I applied for a job at two places tonight," she said.

  "Oh yeah?"

  "Yeah. I thought I could go out tomorrow and try to find some other places."

  He was now completely naked, so she couldn't look, and then he started to climb in the bed.

  "Um, Jess, aren't you going to put your clothes on?"

  "Mm, no," he replied, pulling her into his arms
and burying his face in her hair.

  Oh, her stupid body was reacting. "Um, Jess? You usually wear clothes to bed."

  "Don't want to," he mumbled, kissing her neck.

  Janine looked reluctantly at the door. Her brother was out there. Her brother and Jess's dumb friend. Were they asleep? No. And Jess appeared to be in the mood to make some noise.

  His hands found her pajama shorts and pulled on them. She inwardly cursed and stole one last look at the door. Maybe she could talk some sense into him. Surely, he wouldn't want John to hear either.

  "Um, Jess?"

  "Mm," he murmured, his mouth finding her neck.

  She sighed. "You're drunk and you're amorous."

  He smiled against her skin. "It's so like you to use a nice fancy word for something as basic as horny."

  Her face flushed even more and a pulse shot through her body. "Um, Jess, horny or not, you need to get off me."

  "Why?"

  "Because John is in the next room and if you start getting noisy—"

  "I can be quiet, babe. Can you?"

  "I don't know," she said honestly. "I've never...slept with anyone."

  "True," he said.

  "Anyway, I thought when you were really drunk, you couldn't...you know."

  He snorted. "I'm not that drunk, Janie."

  She sighed. "But Jess, we haven't had the sex talk yet."

  He chuckled. "I thought you already understood how that happened. You see, a man and a woman—"

  "Jess, I'm serious. I don't even know if we're really dating," she whispered. "And I somehow don't think when you're drunk is the best time to discuss this with you."

  "What's there to discuss?"

  "Well, honestly, I'm not sure if I want to have sex," she stated.

  "Oh, but it's fun," he told her playfully, kissing her neck again.

  "Yes, I'm sure it is. But you see, I had standards before I met you—or met you again—plans for how I was going to do the whole...this. And I realize that I've already...well, been intimate with you, but as I wasn't really aware of it at the time…oh, that's nice," she murmured, tilting her head so he had better access.

  He chuckled. "Isn't it?"

  "That isn't the point," she said.

  "Sure it is."

  "No sex, Jess, I mean it. Not tonight. My brother is in the next room. Even if I wanted to, I would not do it with my brother in the next room. Not for my first real time."

  "Okay," he said with a sigh, falling back on the bed.

  "Sorry," she said, brushing his hair out of his face.

  "It's all right." He brought her hand up to kiss it and then he sighed again.

  "You look frustrated," she said.

  "Janie, stop talking."

  "You're mad at me?" she asked, wounded.

  "No. I'm hard as hell and it's uncomfortable. Go to sleep. I promise I'm not mad at you."

  "Oh." She bit her lip and peeked under the blanket. "I see."

  He nodded. "Now, go to sleep."

  She hesitated but stared up at the ceiling for a second. She felt like such a shrew.

  "Are we together, Jess?" she asked suddenly.

  "Yes," he said.

  She nodded. "Good. Are you still uncomfortable?"

  "Yes. Sleep, Janie, before I get cranky."

  "Remember the dreams?" she asked teasingly.

  He raised an eyebrow. "How could I forget?"

  "How quiet can you be?" she whispered in his ear.

  He smiled. "You won't even know I'm here."

  She chuckled and rolled over, lifting the covers. "I might be able to help you out."

  ***

  On Saturday, Janine and Jess took John to the bus station. In the middle of hugging Janine good-bye, John said, "Janie, I think you should go home to tell Mom."

  Her heart dropped. Go home? Tell her mother without Jess's support? Look her mother in the eye and lie to her? It was so much easier to lie to her mom on the phone. She had always been terrible at lying in person.

  "I'm serious," he said when she didn't respond. "Jess can make his own dinner for a couple nights. Mom's going to want to hear this in person. Otherwise she might come out here and finish what I started."

  "No one is strangling Jess," Janine said firmly.

  "Aw, I won't strangle him," John said, wrapping an arm around Jess's shoulder. "If I strangled him, I probably wouldn't be invited to the wedding." He shot a pointed smile at Jess.

  Janine blushed. "John," she said, her tone warning.

  "Nuh-uh, you're not scolding me. I am allowed to pick on him for the rest of his natural born life. In fact, at his funeral I'll probably still talk about it, even if I go first."

  "Leave him alone," Janine said with a smile, wrapping an arm around Jess, who leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

  "Aw, guys, come on, I ate," John said with a grimace.

  Janine grinned at John unrepentantly. "Sorry."

  "Yeah, you look sorry," he said, pulling her away from Jess for another hug. "I'm gonna miss you, you know."

  "I'm not far away. Besides, you can visit. And we can always talk or text. Hey, maybe when you graduate you can move here and babysit for free," she suggested with a small smile.

  He smiled. "Yeah, I'll have to think about it."

  She squeezed him. "I'll miss you, too. But you're going to be busy with school and girls and stupid stuff like that."

  "Yeah, and you're going to be busy buying diapers and comparing cribs and stupid stuff like that."

  She pulled back and smiled. "But we'll agree to make time to miss each other while we're being stupid?"

  "Definitely. And hey, maybe I can even come back during break. We have a break in October, December, then of course Spring Break. It isn't too far. I can always drive down here and spend some time tormenting my best friend and my little sis."

  "I'm going to hold you to that," Janine assured him.

  John walked over and gave Jess a man hug, then ruffled Janine's hair and got on the bus. Janine sighed and wrapped her arms around Jess again. "I've gotten used to him torturing me."

  "Yeah....well, Todd will happily torture you."

  She rolled her eyes. "Todd just likes to eat. He doesn't tease me."

  "I can tease you."

  She smiled. "No, because you're going to be too busy kissing me."

  He nodded. "I like your plan even better."

  She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

  "Come on," he said.

  She sighed, waved at the bus, and walked away holding Jess's hand.

  ***

  Later that day, Janine got a call from the pizza place she'd applied to. They wanted to interview her Monday. With the interview Monday, she knew she could at least put her mom off a few more days. If she got the job, she wouldn't be able to go to her mom, and would have to tell her over the phone. She prayed even harder to get that job.

  Monday came quickly. She was nervous. She had never had an interview before, but Jess had been through his share, so she quizzed him on every possible scenario until he started kissing her to shut her up.

  The pizza place needed to fill the spot immediately. It was a steady shift. If she got the job, she would work Tuesday through Friday, in the evenings. It was going to be difficult to make Jess dinner and be at work at the same time. Luckily, though, the evening shift started at six, so there were a few meals she could make and just leave them in the oven until Jess got home to take it out.

  The guy at the pizza place told Janine that he had one more person to interview and if he was going to hire her, he would call Tuesday. He asked if she would be able to start her shift the same day if she was hired, and she confirmed that she could. When he called Tuesday, she was happy but not completely surprised.

  She still had to call her mom. Now she had to tell her that she had even gone behind her back and gotten a job. And she was pregnant. And she was moving in with Jess. And she was dropping out of school.

  Oh, that was going to be a
really good phone call.

  Unfortunately, Janine had been so caught up in thinking of evading her mom and making dinner that she forgot to think of more ways to evade Jess at night.

  ***

  "Hey," Jess said a few days later, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

  She smiled. "Hey."

  "How was your first day at work?"

  "Oh, it was great. We were pretty busy, and apparently I'm the only counter girl, but it was still good. The boss said that by Friday, he'd probably feel comfortable to leave me. Of course, it will probably be busier on Friday night, but on Friday nights, there's this other girl named Jessica working there, too. She's the weekend shift. Well, Friday through Monday."

  "That's nice," he said, kissing her.

  She smiled, wondering if he was paying attention to anything she was saying. "Yeah. So, how was your day?"

  "Peachy."

  "Better than orangey."

  "You're strange, you know that?"

  "I pride myself on it," she said with a nod. "Did you like the lasagna?"

  "Mm, delicious," he said, nibbling on her ear.

  She giggled. "The lasagna or my ear?"

  She felt him smile. "Both." Then he started walking her back to their little bedroom. "You must be tired."

  "Yeah, definitely feeling a little tired."

  "You should get to bed."

  "We are in complete agreement," she replied.

  What they weren't in complete agreement about, however, was what should happen once they got there. Jess started kissing on her. She responded, kissing him back. Then he pulled her body under his and she felt the mood turn. The kissing got more passionate. His hands started wandering, and he made very little effort to keep his weight off her. Then he started trying to take her shorts off.

  She pushed him off her, rolling him on his back and smiling as she usually did, that suggestive little smile.