Top Shelf (Five for Fighting #4)

by Amber Lynn

  “Do you know how much it excites me to feel your body call out to mine?” John didn’t need to ask, because Jasmine’s hips hadn’t magically gone numb. He was going to have a hard time convincing anyone his mind wasn’t in the gutter with his pants practically ripping at the seams.

  “I’d answer that, but I’m afraid the elevator doors are going to open and we’ll be accused of corrupting some other miniature adult.”

  “Miniature adult? Really? Is that what you’re going to call our kids?”

  John’s face still hovered over hers, and she instantly searched his eyes for any joking behind his words. It shocked her a little that they didn’t really catch her off-guard, and the seriousness in his eyes said that he expected a real answer.

  “Just how many kids are you planning on having?” They were still in the middle of figuring out how to define them, so moving on to parenthood questions seemed a bit premature, but bringing the idea up made Jasmine curious where exactly he stood.

  “I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it, but I’d say less than fifty.”

  “You better be thinking a lot less than fifty. Although, I’m a little worried you think I’m a fish or something and can have fifty kids at once.” She’d lost count of how many times they’d had sex, but it had to be over a dozen.

  “I’m hopeful that’s impossible, and now that we’ve made it up here, I want to get back to your gypsy story.”

  Jasmine found her feet touching the ground again as he fumbled digging his keys out of his pocket. “I have a feeling the story is going to disappoint you. As far as I know, it’s just Meemaw making up excuses for a long line of women who were unlucky in love. That’s why I vowed as a little girl never to fall for a guy.”

  “Yeah? I take it that’s worked out for you pretty well.” John grabbed the burrito bag from Jasmine and led her into the living room.

  She’d glanced at it during her time hanging out in the apartment, but they’d never really spent any time in the modern space. The burritos made it to the glass and metal coffee table, while John directed Jasmine to sit on a black sectional, which was basically a couch on one side and a loveseat slash chaise lounge on the other. It was low to the ground, a little surprising since John was so tall.

  The other main piece of furniture in the living room was an entertainment center that matched the coffee table. It held a large television and the various devices John owned to go along with the TV. Jasmine spent a few seconds trying to find anything she’d missed, but the living room was a pretty straight forward room.

  “Do you want to know a secret, John?” she asked as she got comfy on the loveseat portion of the sectional.

  John plopped down next to her and grabbed two of the burritos from the bag, giving one to Jasmine. “My goal is to eventually learn most, if not all, of your secrets.”

  The foil wrapping their burritos crackled as neither one of them bothered waiting until the conversation was over to dive in. It was hard with the smell of steak and onions assaulting their noses to hold back.

  Jasmine moaned as she took her first bite. Her eyes watered a little from the combination of peppers mixed in with the meat and the added sauce. She took a peek over at John to see how he was handling the heat, only to see half of his burrito was gone and not a single bead of sweat rolling down his face. He clearly hadn’t been trying to look good when he claimed to handle spicy just fine.

  “You can’t tell anyone else, but I think you’re going to make me go back on that vow I mentioned earlier. And that terrifies me almost as much as losing Meemaw.” Part of the statement was a white lie, because it was pretty clear to Jasmine she’d already fallen for him, and she’d fallen hard.

  Chapter Thirteen

  John felt a little like he slipped into an alternate reality the days that followed Jasmine’s admission. The time away from work only lasted the one day, so he had to head back to the arena for practices, while Jasmine did whatever she could to fill her time. When he came home at night, she was always there, usually with stories to share from Meemaw, who was imparting all the wisdom she could on her granddaughter.

  Hearing Jasmine’s near-tearful words each night wasn’t easy, but John held her close and tried to lighten the mood whenever he could. They still maintained the physical relationship that started the first day she’d invaded his private space, but even that seemed to change a little. It was more meaningful to John that he pleased her in some way.

  “So, it seems you’ve done the impossible,” Doug said as he followed John out to his car.

  John looked over his shoulder and sighed. “What’s that?” There were many things his friend could be referring to and most of them would be true.

  “You’ve avoided me for two days. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you time things so perfectly that you show up with just enough time to change and leave before I’ve even had a chance to strip my pads off. I’m starting to think it’s personal.”

  Doug leaned up against John’s car before he could make an escape. It wasn’t so much the fact that he was hiding from Doug. They went through the same drills every day and had plenty of time to chat on the ice.

  “I guess I just understand now how it feels to have someone waiting for you at home.” John glanced around them to verify no one was creeping around. He had a feeling it was finally time to tell Doug the truth, and he didn’t want an audience.

  “Really? Jasmine’s still hanging out at your place?” The surprise in his question didn’t come as a shock.

  “Do you have to head straight home, or can you go for a quick drive?” Even though John didn’t see anyone around, he still wanted privacy.

  “If that’s what it takes to figure out what’s been going on with you lately, I’m sure Lizzie can hold her own with the kids for a little while longer.”

  As far as John was concerned, Lizzie was a miracle worker keeping track of a half a dozen kids under the age of five. Watching the couple’s four-year-old was all John could manage to do on his own, and even then it was sometimes questionable who was watching who.

  “Get in and I’ll call Princess to let her know I have company.”

  John ignored the questioning look he got as he pulled out his phone and unlocked the car. He went ahead and hit the few buttons it took to get the phone ringing.

  “Just in time. I’m finishing up making paninis and I made a chef’s salad.”

  “And I can’t wait to eat it, but I have some company. Do you think you have enough for three?” John assumed she wouldn’t mind, so he pulled out of the lot as soon as he saw that both he and his passenger were buckled in.

  “You’re finally bringing Doug home to meet me, aren’t you?”

  They’d isolated themselves as a couple since their meetings with Meemaw and Ernesto. They needed the time to figure out how they were going to continue to convince Meemaw they’d been dating for a while, and at the same time learn how to be a real couple.

  It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, since neither one of them had experience. John was scared he’d do something stupid and ruin the future he was trying hard not to become too attached to. His experience told him something was going to kill the happiness Jasmine seemed to give him.

  “Yeah, he finally tracked me down. I have to warn you that not only are you getting me all sweaty, but he barely got his shirt buttoned chasing after me, so you might want to get some air freshener out.”

  “I’ve kind of gotten used to your funk, so I doubt I’ll even notice. Does he have any issues with ham and swiss?”

  When Jasmine decided to play house, she went all out. John could picture the panini press she’d brought home along with the red and white checkered apron. It was doubtful that anyone who thought of her as only the actress she let the rest of the world see would even recognize her.

  “Ham and swiss sounds great. We’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

  “Drive careful, okay? The team’s going to have an issue if you send both of the goaltenders to th
e hospital the day before you can clinch a playoff spot.”

  John couldn’t stop himself from snorting. “I’m guessing Meemaw filled you in on that little tidbit. I promise I’m driving the speed limit and I even made sure Doug was securely buckled in before I ripped out of the parking lot.”

  A subtle growl came across the phone. “I’m going to have to spank you for that comment. Just hurry up and bring your friend over. I was starting to get worried you were embarrassed of me or something. You talk about your friends all the time, but I haven’t really met anyone other than the wives and Dylan.”

  “That’s silly. You know that’s not the reason we haven’t had anyone over for dinner. You’re the one who said we needed to work on our definition and I think we’re finally there.”

  “Do you now? I can’t wait to hear what you’ve come up with, but I better get that extra sandwich cooking so it’s ready by the time you get here. Is there anything else?”

  “Nope. We’ll be there in a few minutes.” John thought about ending with a romantic statement, but they hadn’t told each other the specific words he wanted to say. It seemed disingenuous to say it over the phone with his buddy in hearing range, so it would have to wait.

  “See you then,” Jasmine responded before hanging up.

  John held the phone up to his ear for another second, just to make sure she’d actually hung up. After the second passed, he put it down in a cup holder in the center console between him and Doug. He knew better than to look over at his friend, so he kept his eyes focused on making it through a light that had just turned amber.

  “I guess I can see why you’ve been avoiding me. How in the world did you go and fall in love in less than a week?” There was pure mystification in Doug’s voice.

  “You’re one to judge. You were head over heels for Lizzie in a freaking day. I was only infatuated at that point.”

  “Whoa,” Doug said as he reached over to put his hand on Klinger’s bare forearm. The move caused John to peek out the corner of his eye. The concern he saw splashed on his friend’s face didn’t fill him with a lot of reassurance. “I was partially joking. I thought you’d immediately contradict me.”

  Doug removed his hand and leaned forward so he could look at John’s face. For his part, John did his best not to reveal anything as he took the final turn to pull into the garage.

  “Just how much time have you two spent together this last week? It’s been a while since you had your last girlfriend, but I’m guessing you’re blowing your usual one or two hours a day out of the water.”

  John parked and exited the car. Doug followed suit and stood staring at his friend. The scrutiny caused Klinger to roll his eyes as he shook his head and took off towards the elevator.

  “The only time we’ve been apart is when I’m with you, so you can do the math.” John hit the elevator button a couple times, even after the doors cracked open.

  He knew there were going to be plenty of questions, but since he didn’t have most of the answers, he would’ve loved more time to piece a story together. Part of the issue was that what was going on between him and Jasmine seemed private, even when it came to his best friend. That had never been an issue for him before.

  The ride in the silver-adorned elevator seemed to take longer than usual. Doug hadn’t come up with anything more to say, which left the air between them a little awkward. The roughly thirty-second trip was a reminder of how much had changed in a relatively short amount of time.

  People were rarely contemplative when they were around John. He was the fun-loving, easy-going guy that always kept things light. Throw in a woman he was seriously plotting out a future with, and things changed.

  The pair made it to his apartment door, where Jasmine was waiting in her frilly apron. When they didn’t expect company, sometimes the apron was all she wore. Thankfully she’d decided to keep her jeans and a plum shirt on underneath the apron.

  “Wow, you weren’t kidding about him grabbing clothes and running after you. I’m happy I don’t have to worry about cleaning out those sweat stains.” Jasmine glanced around John to look at their guest.

  “You say that like you have to worry about mine. Maybe I’ll skip the dry cleaners this week and see how you do in the laundry room.”

  His apartment had a washer and dryer tucked in a laundry room, but in the years that he’d lived there they’d only been used twice. In his life of always looking to have fun, he’d never felt the need to spend hours washing and folding clothes.

  “There’s a lot of things I’ll do for you, John, but I’m going to draw the line at laundry.” Jasmine took a break from speaking to give John a kiss on the cheek and step out of the way to let the guys in the apartment. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Doug. I’ve heard a lot about you from John and during that game the other day.”

  She held out a hand to greet their guest, and John felt a little tinge of jealousy. He knew there was nothing to worry about by a simple touch between Doug and Jasmine, but nevertheless he wanted to smack Doug’s hand away as he reached out for a quick shake.

  “It’s nice to meet you too. I’m extremely curious to hear what you’ve done to my best friend.” The somewhat accusatory tone from Doug made John narrow his eyes and growl softly.

  “Watch it. Jasmine was nice enough to make you some lunch, and if you’re not careful, I’m liable to pour some drain cleaner or something into your salad.”

  Doug merely lifted an eyebrow as Klinger took Jasmine’s hand and led her to the kitchen, where she’d set the breakfast bar for three. John couldn’t remember a time he’d used the space for more than eating a quick bowl of cereal.

  “Are the cameras hidden, or am I just not seeing the camera crew. I just walked into a reality show, right?”

  The couple ignored Doug for a second as John got Jasmine situated on the leftmost tall stool with food in front of it. She’d cut the paninis in half so some of the swiss cheese tucked inside the think pieces of bread oozed out onto the black plates. Next to the sandwiches were leaves of various lettuces mixed with vegetables, hard boiled eggs and ham slices.

  “This looks great, but I hope you know I’m hitting the ice cream after I lick my plate clean. It was a rough day of drills. For some reason someone thought goaltenders need to prove they have enough stamina to keep up with the skaters.”

  “Hence the extra sweat today. Is that something they do often? If they need someone to vouch for your stamina, I’d be willing to put in a good word.” Jasmine winked as she spoke.

  “I’m sure the coaches would love that, but if I did that, then you wouldn’t have as much fun making sure I get squeaky clean later.”

  “That’s going to be fun, but we should probably make sure Doug doesn’t swallow his tongue. I’m sure you didn’t drag him over here for my amazing sandwich-making skills.”

  John took his eyes off the beautiful woman in the room to see his friend hadn’t moved from his spot just inside the door. John shrugged and turned back to his food. Jasmine managed to already take a bite of her sandwich, so he hurried to catch up.

  The first time Jasmine had offered to cook for him, John wasn’t necessarily worried, but he’d only expected a microwaveable meal. When she whipped up homemade chicken alfredo like it was nothing, he was pleasantly surprised. The sandwiches and salad in front of them weren’t what most would consider five-star cooking, but the interesting addition of something sweet and spicy in with the ham and cheese was unique, and hot as it dripped down his chin.

  “You’re going to make a mess,” Jasmine said as she picked up a white linen napkin to wipe his chin.

  “What is that? Applesauce?” There was more of a clove and cinnamon flavor exploding in his month than normal applesauce, but John picked up the mild flavor of apples buried in there somewhere.

  “Apple butter. I needed to make some up for the spiral ham we’re going to have at Meemaw’s party, and my recipe makes enough that we’re probably going to have a little with every meal
for the foreseeable future.”

  They were still a few days away from the big party, but Jasmine had been busy getting ready. How she would’ve been able to do it if the break in filming hadn’t come up, John wasn’t sure. Especially when her nights were filled with parties. She claimed she didn’t miss the clubs, but John worried the quiet time they’d spent together wouldn’t be enough for her for long.

  “Can someone please explain what in the world is going on here?” Doug finally grew tired of being ignored.

  John took another bite of his sandwich and raised the untouched one on Doug’s plate. “You should probably get over here and have a bite before I steal your sandwich. Before Jasmine made it big as an actress, she worked in a few of the restaurants her grandma’s ex-boyfriends run. She’s definitely picked up a knack for pairing unexpected flavors together.”

  Jasmine knocked her knee into John’s and laughed. “If we don’t come clean soon, he’s going to have an embolism, and I already stated to you earlier how important it is to keep two healthy goalies for your playoff run.”

  “As far as I know, there’s nothing to come clean about.” John went ahead and continued with his lunch.

  “Since you’ve come to your definition, I’m sure you believe that, but to anyone watching us from the outside, I’m sure there’s all sorts of confusion.”

  “What definition are you talking about? Klinger said something about that in the car and everything I’ve heard and seen since I followed him home has me completely confused.”

  At least Doug was kind enough to reiterate what Jasmine had just said. John was still leaving what exactly they told other people up to her, which is why he’d brought Doug home and not tried to explain things at the arena.

  “To answer your question, it’s the definition of what’s going on between us. As you can imagine, we didn’t come together as a couple exactly organically. I know there were all sorts of fireworks the night we first met, but other than a little curiosity on my part, I didn’t plan on seeing John again.”