Ashley laughed, nodding. “Yeah, that’s part of it, but she’s really charming too and always says the right thing at the right time.”
Fadiyah nodded. “She is very… hateh.”
Ashley looked confused. “What does that mean?”
“I am not sure in English.”
When Jet came back into the house they asked her.
“Uh,” Jet said, shrugging. “As best as I can explain it’s for someone that’s really attractive, why?”
“So kinda like a hottie,” Ashley said, grinning.
Jet laughed, nodding. “I suppose. How did hateh come up?” she asked them.
Ashley looked at Fadiyah seeing if the girl was going to tell Jet. When she didn’t, Ashley just shrugged and put the movie in.
That night the three of them had dinner and sat out on the patio talking about different things. Jet was smoking, and had a beer, as did Ashley. Fadiyah had opted for tea. Jet sat in one chair, with her feet on the chair Ashley sat on, Ashley’s hand frequently touched Jet’s leg and feet while she was talking.
Fadiyah noticed again how comfortable the two were together, and she found herself feeling jealous. She knew it was an unreasonable emotion, but it did not stop her from feeling it. She had Jet all to herself for a few days and had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her. Fadiyah knew that even though Jet denied it vehemently, Ashley was for all intents and purposes her girlfriend.
“Hey, what’s happening on that story?” Jet asked Ashley.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Ashley said. “They’re going to publish it.”
Jet smiled. “I knew it!” she said, dropping her foot to the ground and leaning forward to kiss Ashley’s lips. Pulling back she looked her in the eyes. “I told you that freelance would work.”
“Yes, you did,” Ashley said. “And as usual, you were right. Does it ever get exhausting being right so much?” she asked, her tone sly.
“Watch it…” Jet said, grinning.
“They really want the story on Midnight too, so I’m trying to score a meeting with her.”
“Did you reach out to Kash?” Jet asked.
“No…” Ashley said. “She’s your boss, I didn’t want to assume anything.”
“Geeze, babe…” Jet said, pulling out her phone. She tapped out a message, then set her phone on the table. “I messaged her.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Ashley said.
Jet shrugged. “She knows Midnight and you need to get ahold of her.”
“Uh-huh,” Ashley said, rolling her eyes. Then she looked over at Fadiyah. “Did you get to meet Kashena?”
“Yes,” Fadiyah said. “She was very nice.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool,” Ashley said, nodding. “Jet, you should take Fadiyah to the club tomorrow night.”
“Uh,” Jet said, giving Ashley an are you kidding me? look. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea…”
“Why?” Fadiyah asked.
“Yeah, why?” Ashley asked, looking surprised at Jet’s hesitation.
Jet looked between the two women, feeling suddenly like a rat in a trap. She turned to Fadiyah.
“Fadi, it’s a gay club,” she said.
“Jet she knows you’re gay,” Ashley pointed out.
“That isn’t the point, Ash,” Jet said, glancing over at Ashley. “It’s one thing for her to be around me, she knows me. Being around strangers is a whole other thing.”
“You’d take care of her, just like you took care of me,” Ashley said, still not understanding Jet’s reticence.
“Ash,” Jet said sharply, turning around to look at her, “you don’t get it, okay?”
Ashley looked back at Jet surprised by her tone. “So explain it to me so I do get it,” she said, her tone even.
“In Iraq being gay will get you hung, shot, your head cut off, whatever they feel like doing to you that day. And being around gay people will also get you killed. So, I’m not putting her through that, okay?”
Ashley looked sickened by what Jet was saying, but nodded. “I didn’t know that, I’m sorry.”
Jet glanced over at Fadiyah and saw that she was considering what Jet had just said.
“Fadi?” Jet queried, curious as to what the girl was thinking.
“I think that now that I am in America, I should be able to do what I choose,” Fadiyah said, her tone strong.
Jet’s eyes widened, she put her tongue between her teeth, subconsciously biting her tongue in a figurative sense.
“I’m not sure that’s the right venue, Fadi…” Jet said then.
“But you would take care of me, that is what Ashley said,” Fadiyah said, glancing at Ashley who was now grinning.
Jet glanced at Ashley and saw the grin, so she narrowed her eyes at the other woman. Ashley merely waggled her eyebrows at Jet.
“I hate you so hard right now…” Jet said to Ashley.
“Love you too, baby…” Ashley said, with a wide smile.
Jet’s phone chimed then, and she picked it up, starting to grin.
“Well…” Jet said, her tone smug.
“What?” Ashley asked, knowing she was about to regret her momentary rebellion.
“Oh, nothing,” Jet said, moving to put her phone back in her pocket.
“Jet!” Ashley said, moving to grab Jet’s phone.
“Oh no…” Jet said, moving her phone away from her grasp.
Ashley got up, moving to sit on Jet’s lap, once again reaching for the phone. Jet laughed and stood up, picking Ashley up with one arm and shifting her away. She held her by the shoulder as she held her phone out the opposite way.
“You are such a brat!” Ashley said.
“Yeah, but I’m not the one that needs this contact info, so…”
Fadiyah reached up and grabbed Jet’s cell phone from her hand. Jet turned to look at the girl, her mouth hanging open. Fadiyah merely smiled and handed the phone to Ashley.
“Oh, that’s it, I’m leaving…” Jet said, shaking her head and turning to walk back into the house.
Ashley moved to stand in her way. Jet started to back up and found that Fadiyah had stood up to block her way as well.
“Ganging up on me now, huh?” Jet asked, grinning.
“Yep,” Ashley said, exchanging an amused look with Fadiyah.
“Yes,” Fadiyah agreed.
Jet looked between the two women, and sighed with defeat. She sat back down, and then glanced at a very triumphant-looking Ashley.
“Good luck with that passcode,” Jet said, winking.
“Brat!” Ashley exclaimed, laughing all the same.
In the end, Jet gave Ashley Midnight’s contact information and Ashley went inside to call her. Fadiyah and Jet stayed outside.
“If you do not want to take me to that club, it is okay,” Fadiyah told her.
Jet turned to look at her, her look searching. “If you really want to go Fadi, I’ll take you. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do things like that to be around me, okay?” She reached out touching Fadiyah’s hands, and Fadiyah immediately put her hands in Jet’s. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to put you in my world, okay?”
“I want to be in your world, Jet,” Fadiyah said.
“You are,” Jet said, “I just mean the gay part of it.”
“You are trying to protect me from something you do not need to,” Fadiyah said.
“What does that mean?” Jet asked, trying to understand.
“I do not mind that you are gay, Jet, I never have. It is not a shameful thing to me. No matter what Shia law says; no matter what the Quran says. I know the person that you are and who you are is not shameful.”
Jet looked back at Fadiyah, amazed by this girl. She obviously had a great capacity for acceptance, no matter what she’d been taught for years.
Jet took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly, nodding.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I will take you tomorrow night, but if you get at all uncomf
ortable, I want you to promise me you will tell me and we will leave, okay?”
“Okay,” Fadiyah said, nodding.
That night they all went to their separate rooms to go to bed. It was a particularly hot and muggy night in Los Angles, so Jet ended up lying on top of her covers, with the fan going full blast. The house’s air conditioning was old so it needed to be replaced. She had to remember to do something about it.
“Well, now…” Ashley said, standing to the side of Jet’s bed. “That looks like an invitation…” Jet was wearing a black exercise bra and black boy shorts and nothing else. Her leanly-muscled body was on full display. She grinned up at Ashley.
“It is huh?” she asked.
“Mmm hmm,” Ashley murmured, moving to sit down on the bed, putting her hand on Jet’s stomach and caressing her. “So I wanted to tell you that I’m on the move again,” she said.
“Where to now?” Jet asked.
“Down to San Diego,” Ashley said. “I’m gonna drive down tomorrow.”
“You got a meet with Midnight?” Jet asked, smiling.
“Yeah,” Ashley said. “And I have you to thank for that,” she said, leaning down to kiss Jet’s lips.
Jet’s hand reached up to hold her there an extra few moments as she kissed Ashley back. Ashley moaned softly against Jet’s lips, the woman never ceased to excite her. She had come into the room to tell Jet about San Diego, but seeing her lying there the way she was dressed, had sent a visceral reaction through her. She knew the way Jet looked was intimately wrapped up in her head with the incredible sex they had, she’d never been so sexually attracted to someone like she was Jet. She knew it did not a relationship make, but it didn’t keep her from wanting the woman, especially not when she kissed her like she was.
Jet deepened the kiss when Ashley moaned, pulling her down against her body. Within minutes Ashley was ready to explode.
“Shhh…” Jet said against her lips as she moaned loudly. “I don’t want to freak Fadi out completely.”
“Oh, sorry,” Ashley said, panting in her need for release.
In the end, Ashley did her best to be quiet, but it had been almost a week since she’d been with Jet and her body was far too primed for her to be able to control herself.
Afterwards, Jet chuckled as she said, “That was your version of quiet?”
“Hey, don’t expect miracles,” Ashley said, grinning.
“Mmmm…” Jet murmured contentedly, snuggling against Ashley’s body.
“How does this always happen?” Ashley asked, gesturing to the fact that she now wore nothing, and Jet still had her bra and shorts on.
“Talent,” Jet said, grinning.
Ashley shook her head. Once again, Jet hadn’t allowed her to bring her to orgasm.
“Besides,” Jet said. “Fadi’s been coming in here most nights, and I don’t want to be naked if she shows up tonight. Wouldn’t look right.”
Ashley looked back at Jet still trying to get a handle on why Jet was so protective of Fadiyah, but at the same time accepting that she was.
They talked for a while, and then both fell asleep.
Fadiyah stood in the doorway to Jet’s room. She could see Jet and Ashley lying together on the bed, the moonlight illuminating them. Jet was on her stomach half covering Ashley’s body with hers. Jet’s left arm was over Ashely’s stomach and her left leg was thrown over Ashley’s leg possessively. Jet’s face was turned toward Ashley. Ashley was lying on her back, very obviously naked, her right arm rested over Jet’s arm across her stomach, her left arm under Jet’s neck, her hand up on Jet’s right shoulder.
Fadiyah felt a sharp stab of jealousy and wondered at it. Seeing Jet this way made Fadiyah feel both warm and a little breathless, she didn’t understand that feeling at all. What she did understand was that she wanted Jet to be with her the way she was with Ashley at that moment. She wanted to feel as close to Jet as she could be, but she had no idea if Jet would either want that, or would see her that way. She also had no idea how to approach the topic.
She was turning to leave the room when Ashley stirred and opened her eyes, looking right at her. Fadiyah quickly turned and left the room, going back into her room.
Back in Jet’s room, Ashley lay in the semi-darkness trying to decide what to do. She had easily seen the envy on Fadiyah’s face. Jet had told her that Fadiyah was only nineteen and that led Ashley to wonder about Fadiyah’s state of mind. Blowing out her breath in resolute determination, Ashley carefully crawled out from under Jet’s body, and put her clothes on.
Walking to the door to Fadiyah’s room, Ashley could see that Fadiyah was sitting on the bed, her knees up to her chest. She knocked lightly on the door jam.
Fadiyah’s head snapped up, it looked like she’d been crying.
“Is it okay for me to come in?” Ashley asked.
Fadiyah reached up to wipe at her cheeks, nodding slowly, her look cautious.
“I am sorry,” Fadiyah said as Ashley stepped close to the bed. “I should not have… I am sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Ashley said, her tone gentle, biting her lip. “Do you want to talk about what you saw?”
Fadiyah looked torn, her eyes everywhere but on Ashley’s. Then she finally nodded, looking embarrassed.
“Jet says you are not her girlfriend,” Fadiyah said. “But…” Her voice trailed off as she couldn’t come up with the words to explain her question.
“But we had sex,” Ashley said.
Fadiyah nodded.
“And you figure Jet’s either lying to you about me not being her girlfriend or…” Ashley said, letting her voice trail off.
“You are her girlfriend,” Fadiyah said, her tone sure.
“No,” Ashley said, shaking her head. “I’m not. I wouldn’t mind being her girlfriend, but that’s not how Jet is.”
“But she kisses you, and…” Fadiyah said her look confused.
“Because Jet is a very sexual person,” Ashley said. “I’m not saying she doesn’t care about me, she does and I know that, but she isn’t really into long term commitment.”
Fadiyah looked like she was trying to understand.
“Fadiyah, can I ask you a personal question?” Ashley asked.
Fadiyah nodded.
“Are you interested in Jet? I mean, sexually.”
Fadiyah looked like a dear in the headlights suddenly.
“It’s okay if you are,” Ashley assured her. “I wouldn’t blame you at all if you were. Jet has this animal magnetism for people, she always has.”
“Always has?” Fadiyah asked.
“Yeah, I’ve known Jet since we were in high school together. She was always the center of attention, without ever having to try.”
“You love her,” Fadiyah said, nodding.
“I do love her,” Ashley said. “But it’s because she’s been a real catalyst for me and if it wasn’t for her, I’d have spent my life miserable.”
“So you are divorcing your husband to be with Jet,” Fadiyah said, as if confirming it to herself.
“No, I’m divorcing my husband because Jet made me realize that there’s someone better out there and I deserve it,” Ashley said. “I knew that being with Jet wasn’t an option.”
“Why is it not an option?”
“Because Jet doesn’t do commitment,” Ashley said.
“Does not do commitment?” Fadiyah repeated, looking like the words were foreign to her.
“She doesn’t commit to anyone, stay in a relationship with them. think Skyler is probably the closest she ever came,” Ashley said, furrowing her brow even as she said it.
“Skyler?” Fadiyah asked looking shocked.
“Yeah, she was with Skyler, a long time ago, when they were in the Middle East together.”
“I did not know that,” Fadiyah said.
“I just found it out not too long ago,” Ashley said.
Fadiyah nodded, looking resigned.
“Fadiyah,” Ashley said then, her look searc
hing. “Are you in love with Jet?”
Fadiyah looked up at Ashley her eyes wide, her look changing to introspective. After a long moment she said, “I think that I am.”
“Oh, God help you then,” Ashley said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
“What?” Fadiyah queried, her eyes afraid suddenly.
“I’m just saying that it’s dangerous to love someone like Jet,” Ashley said, she grimaced. “I’m sorry, but it is.”
Fadiyah nodded, looking unhappy.
“So, the question becomes what you want from her,” Ashley said.
“I do not know,” Fadiyah said.
Ashley nodded. “Well, if you just want to test the sexual waters you’re in luck,” she said, grinning.
“What does that mean?” Fadiyah asked.
“I mean that if you want to have sex with Jet, that won’t be hard to achieve,” Ashley said.
Fadiyah looked back at Ashley, her look shocked.
“I know, it sounds terrible, but that’s the one weakness Jet has.”
“And what is that?” Fadiyah asked, still not sure she understood.
“Jet is extremely sexual, and it doesn’t take a lot to get her going.”
“Going?” Fadiyah asked.
“Excited,” Ashley said. “Sexually.”
“Oh,” Fadiyah said, “I do not think I could do that.”
“Oh… you’d be surprised,” Ashley said, grinning.
Fadiyah looked back at her, and Ashley decided to drop that direction of the conversation, the last thing she wanted to do was to give another woman instructions on exciting Jet.
“You just need to know how Jet is,” Ashley said. “I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
“Hurt?” Fadiyah said, looking shocked. “Jet would never hurt me.”
“I don’t mean physically, Fadiyah, I mean your heart. Jet’s very capable of breaking a woman’s heart and she doesn’t even have to try.”
Fadiyah looked like she didn’t want to believe that.
“Trust me, Fadiyah, if you don’t listen to anything else I tell you, listen to this. If you get your heart too deep into Jet, she will break it, and she won’t even know she did.”
Chapter 10
The next night, Jet took Fadiyah to the club, against her better judgement. She wore her customary all black. Fadiyah wore a pair of her new jeans and a rich blue blouse and a pair of the new boots she’d picked out. She also wore her hair mostly down. Ashley had been kind enough to give her a few makeup tips that she was able to use to enhance her eyes. Jet had been fairly impressed.
Jet Blue (WeHo Book 5) Page 21
