by Joy Eileen
“Jessie's taking me out on a date,” I said, taking a step toward him. My body instinctively gravitated to him.
“Ah, are you going to need me to come and save you again?” he asked, laughing when I gave him an evil eye. He put his chin on my head and hugged me close.
“So, are you guys going to come to The Note later?” he asked, looking over my head at Jessie.
“No, I was planning on force feeding Faith ice cream, and making her watch chick flicks all night.”
Kill let out a sound of mock horror, and I elbowed him in the stomach.
“Girls night sounds perfect,” I said, still snuggled up to Kill, wishing I could make a Kill body suit that just wrapped around me.
“Good, now let’s get out of here.” She walked to Van, and kissed him. Kill didn’t let me go, and I didn’t try to move.
“Are you going to be here when I get home?” Van asked, pulling her onto his lap so he could give her a proper good bye.
“I’m not sure. I have to do some stuff before I go to work tomorrow,” Jessie responded, becoming rigid on his lap.
Kill squeezed me when he saw Jessie pull away from Van, knowing we couldn’t continue holding each other any longer without raising suspicion.
“I can help you tomorrow if you want?” Van asked.
“I will let you know. I promised my mom I would call tomorrow, so let me see how long that takes,” she said, not meeting his eyes, and missing the hurt flashing over his face.
“Alright, have fun,” he responded dejectedly.
Jessie looked over at me. “Ready?” she asked. Her voice was full of emotion, and I knew this was hurting her just as much as it was hurting Van.
Kill let me go, and I walked out of the warm safety of his arms. I couldn’t stop the shiver that racked my body from the temperature change.
“Bye, let me know if I need to come save you,” he said, as we made our way out of the door.
Jessie was walking hurriedly in front of me, fleeing the house as if it was on fire.
“Bye, Killer. I'll be fine, go buy a bell.” He laughed as I shut the door.
Jessie had her car started by the time I reached it, and she was down the road before I put on my seat belt. My stomach churned, remembering the last time we escaped in her car like this, although this time it was Jessie running from her demons.
When we reached our coffee shop, her eyes were glazed over from unshed tears, and it wrenched my heart to see her in such pain. Her feelings for Van were tearing her apart, allowing buried memories to surface.
“Well, are we going to sit in here all day or are you going to buy me that coffee you promised?” I asked when we parked at the coffee shop, assuming she wasn’t going to figure anything out today, so I might as well try to get her mind off of it.
She blinked back her tears and gave me a wobbly smile. “Yep, come on, let’s get you caffeinated so you can dish out the good stuff.”
Chapter 23
Jessie ordered our drinks while I found a place to sit. I nabbed a quiet table in the corner and waited for Jessie. I greedily accepted the mocha frappe she handed me. She sipped hers as I put my finger in the thick whipped cream and licked it off.
“Ok, what happened last night?” she asked, her eyes shining with the prospect of getting lost in someone else’s drama.
I told her everything from Robert showing up with roses, and the boys surrounding him like sharks and like he was a bucketful of bloody chum, all the way to Kill interrupting his wandering hands. Then to put the cherry on top, I handed her my phone to show her Robert's text message.
“I can’t believe he came into the restaurant instead of texting you to tell you he was there,” Jessie said, wiping her eyes with a napkin.
“I know. He was so cool about it too. His voice never changed. It was kind of awesome.”
Her eyes lit up, and I realized I went too far and was about to be bombarded with Kill questions.
“So how's the friends thing going?” she asked with worry, putting her empty cup off to the side and giving me her full attention.
“I don’t know,” I replied, and she was about to argue with my weak answer, but I put my hand up to stop her, letting her know I needed to gather my thoughts first.
“We're friends, but I know he wouldn’t push me away if I propositioned him. He accepted that I can’t just be a fuck buddy.”
I bit my bottom lip as my mind went to his hand inching closer to my waist band last night, and my face burned from the memory.
“What aren’t you telling me?" Her eyes were like lasers.
“Nothing really, we flirt but…. I think that's just inherent in Kill’s personality. We have been on the verge of making out a couple of times, but we've been interrupted every time, and I think it's a sign we shouldn't cross that line.”
Jessie squealed loudly, and everyone in the coffee shop stared at us. “You have what?” she screamed, and I leaned over putting my hand over her mouth to silence her.
“Can we not let the entire coffee shop in on my drama?” I asked, not removing my hand until she nodded in agreement.
“Sorry, but you can’t just throw out that you and Kill have almost made out on more than one occasion, and not expect me to react,” she hissed, her disappointment evident.
“He told me last night he would stop trying to get into my pants and be a better friend.” I said, sucking up nothing, being I had finished my drink. “He also made me promise when I was ready to date again, I would give him a chance.”
“Holy crap,” Jessie said loudly, garnishing more attention from her latest outburst.
I threw away our empty cups, knowing I needed to get her out of there. We walked to her car and away from the curious stares of the people in the coffee shop.
“Where to now?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation to anything un-Kill related.
“Shopping!” she answered, I laughed at her enthusiasm. "I'm not going to warn you about Kill again. I just want you to be careful....and that's all I'm going to say. Well, and I don't want to see you get hurt again."
My stomach plummeted along with my heart. Why did it seem like everyone and everything was against us?
We walked around the Lloyd Center, trying on hundreds of outfits and shoes. I text Kill asking what they wanted me to pick up for dinner. As we went on a junk food run, my phone notified me that I had new messages from Kill.
Have fun, try not to miss
me too much. Let me know
if you need me to come get
you. The boys want
Jimmy Johns.
And the second,
Did you buy anything
you need to model
for me?
I rolled my eyes at his response, but couldn’t quite keep the smile off of my face.
While Jessie was down the aisle trying to decide on the best popcorn, I text him back.
No, I didn’t get anything
I could show my friend.
I'm going to have to wait
and model all my new
lingerie for someone else.
Do you know anyone?
As soon as I sent the message my phone lit up, and I laughed before I even read his reply. Jessie looked at me questioningly.
“The boys want Jimmy Johns,” I explained.
“Ok, we'll get it when we're done here,” she said, now perusing the sodas on the other side.
I just spit my drink
all over D, and now
he's all pissy. As a
friend, I should see everything
you bought first, so I
can tell you how horrible
you look before making
some poor, unsuspecting
douche have to lie to
you and tell you how great
you look. Just being a friend. :)
I stifled my laugh, not wanting to make Jessie suspicious. I text him back quickly.
Now I am self-conscious,
; and I think I should just
take it all back.
Kill responded just as quick.
Why waste your time,
you should let me help you.
That’s what friends are for.
I bit the inside of my cheek as I responded.
Ask the boys what they
want from Jimmy Johns
and text me the order. I
just found a leather bustier
I need to try on for the
salesman in the store.
Kill's response did not disappoint.
As your friend, I strongly
suggest you stop saying
stuff like that if you don’t
want me hauling you
out of the store and kicking
some poor guys’ ass.
Jessie came back with the cart full of junk as I put my phone away, letting him stew. My phone vibrated as we checked out, and I tapped down the desire to reach for it.
When Jessie rushed into her apartment to drop off her stuff and pick up some movies, I dove into my bag for my phone. There were three messages, and I was giddy when I opened the first one.
Slick, you are about to
get some poor guy murdered.
As a friend, I suggest you text
me back, and keep your
clothes on. I can tell you
leather is uncomfortable,
and you will look awful in it.
I chuckled as I opened the next one.
Alright, you know you won’t
look awful in leather,
but now I have to sit
here on the couch and
lose my video game because
my FRIEND gave me a
freaking boner.
The rest of the text was the boy’s dinner order, and I opened the last one before Jessie came back.
Ok, I finally got my raging
boner down but when you
get home, you're trying everything
on for me, as a friend of course.
This can also be considered bullying,
so be warned, I will retaliate.
I had a smug smile on my face as I text him back.
Sorry, Killer, I was busy
with the sales guy, didn’t
hear your text. I'm glad your
little problem's down, and
you could get back to your game.
I don’t know if I will have
enough strength to try on my
new clothes for you, I'm tired out.
Jessie came out of her apartment, and I read his reply before she got back into the car.
There's nothing little about my
problem, that you caused,
by the way. I hope you didn’t
hurt the poor boy when you
called out my name.
I wished he was here so I could give him my retort in person.
I'm sure the boy will be sore,
but he had a smile on his face
when I left. Why would I call
out your name?
Jessie threw the movies in the backseat, before backing out of the driveway. My phone beeped, and I snatched it up, having no willpower.
Because I'm the only one
you think about, and I'm
holding you to your promise.
My heart sped up as I typed out.
Am I the only one you
think about?
But before I hit send, I deleted it, not wanting to give my heart any hope when it came to Kill.
“Did the boys send you their order?” Jessie asked as she found a parking spot.
“Yeah, I have it. If we went in and ordered the whole menu, it would match what they want.”
My phone beeped with another text when we were almost home.
Where are you, smart ass?
I’m hungry.
I typed back immediately.
It’s ok to admit you miss me,
I'm pretty awesome.
I stashed my phone in my bag and helped Jessie haul the food and my purchases into the house. Van opened the door before we reached it. He took everything out of her hands and kissed her on the nose as he moved into the kitchen.
The boys pounced on the food when my phone notified me of a new text. Jet looked over at me as I tried to maneuver the stuff in my hands, so I could get to it.
“Not you too,” Jet yelled at me, “Kill has been texting all night and made me lose my damn video game because he was so fucking distracted, and now your ass is scrambling to get your phone out. You people make me sick. Always on your phone, not caring about people you're supposed to be helping kill terrorists.”
“Don’t listen to him. He's just a sore loser, and I wasn’t on my phone the whole time,” Kill replied, slugging Jet in the arm.
“Dude, if you weren’t typing on your phone you were scowling at it until you got a text back, and then you would smile like a fucking idiot.”
“Shut the fuck up, Jet,” Kill growled, walking into the living room.
“Dude, you were all kinds of pussy-whipped over your phone,” D replied smugly, and I laughed out loud.
“I'm going to put my stuff away.” I ran upstairs and dropped my bags on the bed scrambling for my phone, eager to see his reply. I let out a cry of victory when I found it. My door opened, and spun around to see Kill with his damn half-smile. I must have looked like a maniac clutching my phone to my chest, wide eyed.
“I was not glued to my phone,” he said sternly.
I laughed at his serious face. “Good, because as a friend, I would have to confiscate your phone if you were mooning over it. Especially if it was over some girl.”
Kill took my phone from my hand, placing it on my night stand, his eyes alight on the bags sitting on my bed. He started reaching for my stuff.
“Stop, dinner's here, and you have to go soon,” I protested, taking a bag out of his hands and putting it back on the bed.
He lunged on the bed, snatching another bag and landing on the other side out of my reach. He pulled the lid off of my new heels. They were matte black with little studs on the back and down the heel.
“Fuck…. these are hot.”
“They go with the leather bustier,” I said, admiring my pretty new shoes.
“Which bag's it in?” he asked, trying to find the mysterious bustier.
“It’s not.”
“Come on, tease, let’s go eat. You can model for me tomorrow.”
We walked downstairs, bumping into each other on the way down. Everyone was in the living room, and looked at us when we entered.
“We were about to send out the search crew. I thought you were going to get her,” D said.
“Sorry I couldn’t get her ass down here. She kept insisting she show me her new bustier.”
“Shut up, you wanted to wear it.”
“Man, you two have a fucked up friendship,” Van said, shaking his head in confusion.
“Right, it's weird to see Kill talk to a girl he isn’t trying to get his dick into,” Jet responded, sticking the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.
With my food in hand, I sat next to Kill on the floor. Jet and Van argued over the video game they lost. When everything was cleaned up, the boys went upstairs to get ready for their show.
“You guys aren’t coming tonight?” Amy asked, rummaging through her purse for a bag of sour gummy worms.
“No, we're going to stay in and do girls' night. Do you want to join us?” Jessie asked. “We've got plenty of candy,” she taunted, when Amy looked at her like she was crazy.
“No, I promised Jet I would come and cheer him on.”
“You two are getting along really well,” Jessie said, stealing a worm from Amy.
“Yep, he makes me come more than anyone ever has. I love him,” she said dreamily.
“I’m happy for you. I mean that you're in love, and I guess for the orgasms too,” Jesse replied blushing, and Amy just handed her anot
her worm.
“Dork,” I said, as Jessie threw the other half of her worm at me.
I plucked it off of my dress, and threw it in my mouth. The boys came down while we were talking.
“Ready, Candy?” Jet asked, as Amy ran over and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“I guess she is,” Van said, trying to get around them.
When he finally got around them, he walked over to Jessie. He was hesitant as he put his arms around her. “I wish you were coming tonight. Go to sleep in my bed, don’t drive.”
Emotions warred in her eyes, wanting to trust him, but the memory of Brock held her prisoner. “I will, but don’t get mad if I have the covers wrapped around me when you come home tired,” she warned, kissing him on the nose.
“I would let you have all the blankets I own if you would stay in my bed every night,” he replied, giving her a desperate kiss.
I turned away to give them some semblance of privacy. Jet carried Amy to D’s car. I stood around awkwardly trying to ignore Jessie and Van as they whispered to each other. D and Kill came down, discussing something in a notebook. D rolled his eyes when he saw Jessie and Van, and Kill looked at them, hopeful.
“Jet and Amy just went toward your car, D. You might want to check on them before they christen it for you.”
D looked horrified at the prospect of them going at it in his car. He thanked me for the warning and rushed out of the house. D screamed at them to unlock the door, and Van backed away from Jessie.
“I better go help him before he breaks a blood vessel.” He kissed her lightly on the lips and went to help D before any fluids were leaked on his interior, or at least that’s what he was screaming.
“Have a good show,” Jessie yelled.
