“I promise you,” he whispered, nipping her lower lip, “later…I’m gonna kiss you from these lips…” His forefinger zigzagged a path from her mouth to between her legs. “…all the way down to these…but right now…” He lifted both her hands and closed her fingers over the top of the door. “I suggest you hold onto something, because I’m not gonna be gentle.”
His mouth came down hard on hers, possessive, unyielding, pulling the breath out of her until she was panting. A beast had been unleashed. His hands were everywhere, groping her breasts and squeezing her ass. Ravenous, consuming—he wanted all of her all at once.
He groaned when one hand slid up her inner thigh to the place that ached most for him. “So wet for me, Jasmin,” he rasped, stroking her over her black lace panties. “God, I missed you. I missed your mouth…your skin…your smell.”
His urgency grew with every word. Heat flooded her body when she heard his zipper slide down, but with her last coherent thought, she tried to talk some sense into him.
“Kevin…” Her hushed protest came out as more of a moan. “I really think we should stop.”
The beast looked at her then, a slight smile flickering on his face. “Then stop me.”
Like always, he paused for a moment or two, waiting. His silent request for permission. Six months of yearning for his touch, fantasizing about lips on her body, and now it was happening. She couldn’t find the will to say no. When she gave no further protests, his smile widened and he lifted one of her legs around his waist. His other hand pushed her dress up even higher. He didn’t bother removing her underwear. He just shoved it aside and then his hard tip was impatiently pushing inside her. Her breathing quickened as her tender skin stretched to accommodate him. The sensation was so overwhelming she felt like she might explode. The only thing she could do was grip onto the edge of the door as if it were her last lifeline.
“Fuck,” he gasped. “I think I missed this the most.”
His hips began to move and he stayed true to his word. He wasn’t gentle. Rough and hard—he reclaimed her with every thrust. He lifted her other leg and her back slid up and down the door as he buried himself deeper. So intense. So exquisite. Her breath mingled with his, coming out in short puffs, and with every slap of his hips, she was taken higher and higher until she tumbled over the edge. He slowed his pace, riding out her orgasm. She locked her legs around his waist and he slid his hands up her arms. His fingers tightened over hers, his mouth on her mouth, his chest pressed against hers. Every part of them were joined and she felt like they were one being. It didn’t take long before she heard the strained groan of his own orgasm taking over him. Even after his hips stopped pumping, he stayed inside her, resting his forehead against hers as their breathing slowed.
It wasn’t the first time they had shared a closeness like this, yet it felt like it was. It was different somehow. There were no secrets, no boundaries, no pushing. Just him and her entwined in each other, savoring the culmination of six long months. Getting to this point had not been easy but the uphill battle was worth it. She was his and he was hers and nothing else mattered.
“I love you, Kevin. I love you with everything I am.”
He smiled as if he’d been longing to hear it. “I always pictured the moment going just like this. The first time you tell me you love me is after some hard-core fucking in a men’s restroom.”
“Well, no one can ever say I’m not romantic. Something about getting my village pillaged makes me all sentimental and shit.”
“You have such a way with words,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re melting my heart right now. You need to stop. I might just burst into tears.” His mouth was moving down her neck again. “I think I’m gonna make it more special and throw in some cuddles.”
“I love the cuddles.”
He still didn’t let her go and they stayed wrapped up in each other for a long while with him placing gentle kisses along her collarbone. Despite the setting and the playful teasing, it truly was the most intimate moment they had ever shared. And there were so many more to come.
* * * * *
It was after midnight when Kevin stepped outside. The evening air was cool and he took a few seconds to bask in it. What an amazing day, filled with laughter and joy. Jasmin made it even more special. She was going to leave again in two days and the memories of today would have to last until the next time they saw each other.
Yet even with all this happiness surrounding him, he still felt a little sad. Every day got a bit easier, but on days like this there was no escaping it. Even though it was no longer a gaping hole, it always felt like something was missing. Special occasions really were the worst to get through because all he could think about right now was Perry. He would have probably been pissed and ragging on Max about finally tying the knot.
Kevin had dealt with the pain and guilt, but it would never fully disappear. And he didn’t want it to disappear. Holding onto those last fragments was a way of remembering and he wanted to remember Perry always. Best friends like him should never be forgotten.
He sighed and stared up at the stars, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “We will be best friends forever,” he whispered.
“There you are.”
Kevin took a second to compose himself before turning around to face Jordan. She walked towards him with Max right behind her.
“Where’s Jasmin?” she asked.
“Inside talking to Mom and Momma B.”
“Ha!” She turned to Max with a smug expression. “Pay up.”
Kevin chuckled. “What was the bet this time?”
“Max said that you and Jasmin were hooking up in a bathroom somewhere. I said Jasmin didn’t seem like the type.”
Kevin put his head down to hide the grin on his face and decided not to tell them that Max had technically won the bet. “Jasmin doesn’t seem like the type? What about me?”
“You’re a horny bastard. If you can make out right outside a church, no place is sacred to you.” She must have seen something on his face because her smile faded. “You okay, Bink?”
“Just thinking.”
“About Perry?” Max asked.
“Yeah…I just miss him, that’s all. I keep wondering what he’d be doing right now.”
“He’d probably be wasted…and giving me a hard time.” Max’s smile was reminiscent. “You know, Perry might be gone, but he’s still alive in our memories. We’ll always have that. Take it from me. Memories are the most important thing we have.”
“Yeah,” Kevin replied with a nod. “I remember this one time…Jo, Perry and I went into town to buy groceries for mom and as we were walking back, this Rottweiler came out of nowhere and started chasing me down the street. I ended up throwing eggs at it so it would leave me alone and when that didn’t work, I threw the box and hit Perry. He just fell over. To this day I still don’t know how that happened. The physics doesn’t make sense. You remember that, Jo?”
“Yeah…though I remember it being a poodle.”
“It was a Rottweiler. It was snarling and had the biggest teeth I’ve ever seen.”
“You were smaller, Bink, so the dog probably seemed bigger, but it was definitely a poodle.”
He was too embarrassed to argue that point. Instead, they carried on talking about their favorite memories with Perry and it felt good. He spoke to Jasmin about him all the time, but it was different to share the memories with people who had actually been there, who knew what he was like. Thinking back on his childhood was bittersweet, reliving the moments in his mind only to realize that all he had now were those memories. But at least he had that. Someone up there had taken the time to create the best friend ever and then decided that Kevin was worthy enough to have fifteen great years with him.
“He’ll always be part of us,” Max said, placing his arm around Kevin’s shoulder, “He’ll always be a part of this family.”
Jordan, who was desperately trying not to cry, came in on the other side of him and al
so placed her one arm around him and the other around Max.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Shane asked.
Kevin looked to the door and saw Dom and Shane walking towards them. None of them answered, and Dom, the big brother who could communicate without talking, didn’t need an explanation. He came in between Kevin and Jordan and placed an arm around each of them.
“Oh, there’s hugging,” Shane said. “I’m out.”
Dom grabbed the back of his shirt before he walked away and pulled him back. “Get in here, Shane.”
Shane wasn’t the affectionate type and with a reluctant shrug, he huddled in between Max and Jordan.
“It’s okay, little brother.” Dom kissed the top of Kevin’s head and, noticing that Jordan was also an emotional mess, he kissed her as well. He protectively tightened his hold on both of them. “You still have us…We still have each other.”
Kevin nodded. Dom was right. They still had each other. Perry could never be replaced, but he still had so much to be grateful for. He had a great girl, who was blossoming into an incredible woman, and he loved her completely. And he had this. Amazing people who stood by him no matter what. They didn’t always get along. Over the years, there had been fights, arguments, threats, bribes. But in between shouting and door-slamming, there’d also been laughter, inside jokes, pranks and every now and then, a big, ol’ group hug.
In the face of tragedy, it had been easy to lose sight of what was important, but at that moment he relished in all the blessings God had given him, because there were four right in front of him and one inside. In one way or another, all of them showed him that he wasn’t alone in this world. They showed him the true meaning of family.
One year later…
Chicago, Illinois
“I hear you, Max,” Kevin said as he grabbed his bag and hopped out of the cab, “but it’s not gonna change my mind.”
Keeping the phone against his ear, he closed the cab door while his brother continued to tell him why he thought this was a bad idea.
“I really think you need to give this more thought,” Max said. “This is a very impulsive decision.”
“It’s not. I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’ve been with Jasmin for over a year and it’s hard. It’s so hard. I can’t take it anymore. It needs to end. I’ve made up my mind, so stop worrying about me. You’ve got a baby on the way and from what you’ve told me, your wife is consuming an unhealthy amount of peanut butter. That’s what you should be worrying about.”
Max laughed, but still didn’t let up. “Jasmin is a great girl, Kev—”
He knew exactly where this was going and there was nothing his brother could say that would talk him out of his decision. “Max,” he cut in promptly, “you’re my brother. You already know how I feel and I know how you feel, so there’s no need to talk about this.”
With a sigh of defeat, Max finally relented. “Okay. I just hope you don’t end up regretting this.”
“I won’t. I told you, this needs to end. I’ll call you later and let you know how she handles the news.”
After swift goodbyes, Kevin hung up the phone and stared blankly at the house in front of him. Jazz had moved from a one bedroom apartment in the city to a two bedroom house in the suburbs. It was a quaint place with a little garden in the front. He walked to the door and knocked. He hadn’t told her he was coming, and surprise was written all over her face when she opened the door. Wide Jasmin eyes and her mouth dropped open.
“Kevin!”
“Hi.” His voice was already weighed down by the nervousness of what he needed to say.
“What are you doing here?” She threw her arms around him and he pulled away before he got too lost in the smell and feel of her. Looking sexy as all hell in skimpy denim shorts and a tight white tank top, he already didn’t feel like talking. But he needed to stop thinking with his dick because the first item on his agenda was having a good, long chat with her.
She immediately noticed something was off and looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”
There was no point in beating around the bush and he was anxious to have this discussion. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Okay.” The excitement on her face was replaced with wariness as she stepped aside and allowed him to enter.
She led him to the living room and everything he saw just screamed Jasmin. Purple walls with big pink flowers stretching out from ceiling to floor. Most of the framed pictures had something to do with nature—forests, rivers and even a very large one of the Grand Canyon. There were also pictures of the two of them lined up on the television cabinet and somehow seeing them made him more nervous.
“What did you wanna talk to me about?” she asked, taking a seat beside him on the couch.
He’d practiced this conversation many times in his head, but now with her sitting right next to him, he couldn’t seem to find the words. He was faltering under her scrutinizing gaze and the sight of her toned legs and supple cleavage was an unnecessary distraction. Forcing himself to look away, he decided to just blurt it out. “This whole…arrangement we’ve got going on isn’t working for me anymore.”
His words were like a slap to the face, and after a small brain-drain twitch, she smiled. “How long have you been feeling this way?”
“Months. I thought this whole long distance thing could work, but…it isn’t.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “So you’ve been feeling this way for months and you’re only telling me this now? It’s not like we haven’t seen each other, Kevin. You flew all the way over here to decorate the Christmas tree with me, then I spent Christmas with your family, I came to your graduation, we went on holiday together for two weeks and not once did you mention this to me.”
“I was trying to push past it, but I’m so tired of this now. I don’t want the phone conversations and video chats. And don’t get me wrong, phone sex is great, but it’s not…the real thing. Every now and then I want more than just my hand.”
That instantly set her off. “Who is she?”
“What?”
“It’s that girl from that class you took in your last semester, isn’t it? Your lab partner?”
“Jasmin—”
“That ho! That tramp!” She stood up and walked to other side of the room. “No, you’re actually the tramp!”
“She’s not a ho. She’s actually a very sweet girl. Besides, you know how I feel about cheating.
I told you we were just studying together. Nothing else.” This was a serious conversation and he tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. “Wait. Did you just call me a tramp?”
“Yes!” she shouted and she seemed more infuriated that he was taking this so lightly. “How could you do this to me, Kevin? You’re such an asshole!”
“If I was an asshole, I wouldn’t have wasted my money on a plane ticket. I would have broken up with you over the phone…but I’m here.”
“Oh, so I should be grateful that you came all this way to do it in person? Fuck you! You know, you told me you would never hurt me again…you told me you love me, and like an idiot, I believed you. But you’re a fucking liar! You were stringing me along for months when you didn’t even want to be with me.”
He’d always had a knack for drawing unwanted emotions out of her and she no longer tried to suppress them. She was raging and he needed to take control of the situation. “Okay, enough with the name calling. You’re clearly misunderstanding what I’m saying.”
“How am I misunderstanding? You said this relationship isn’t working for you anymore.”
“I didn’t say that. I said the long distance isn’t working for me anymore.” He stood up, walked towards her and pulled her into his arms. “Newton’s Law of Gravity. The force between two objects is stronger if the distance is smaller. I know you don’t believe in it, but I do. You’re not just one in one hundred for me. You’re my soulmate, Jasmin. Of course, I still wanna be with you…I just wanna eliminate
the distance.”
She immediately calmed down, but still looked confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I applied for a job here in Chicago…and I got it.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re not saying…”
“I am.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But your whole family is in Montana…You can’t leave all that behind…for me.”
“Jasmin…” He tightened his hold around her. “It’s already done. I spoke to your dad about it, told him what my intentions were and he gave me his blessing. I’m gonna marry you one day and we’re gonna have beautiful babies together. We can’t do that if we’re miles apart. I’m leaving my mom, Momma B…Kay…” A small lump formed in his throat as he said that. “I’m leaving all the women I love to be with the woman I love…and it’s worth it. You’re worth it. I can’t stand not seeing you every day…not holding you. It drives me crazy. So…here I am. Next move is yours.”
A bright smile beamed on her face. “So I’m guessing you’re homeless now?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“And you’re a grouchy motherfucker, so I’m guessing it won’t be easy for you to find a roommate who can put up with your moods?”
He nodded again. “Not easy at all.”
“So I guess…I have no choice but to take you in?”
“Only if you want to.”
“I do.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “But first we need to set some ground rules. This is an environmentally-friendly household. We recycle here.”
“I figured.”
“And we don’t use the car to go any place that’s within walking distance.”
“I love walking.”
“And no showers longer than ten minutes.”
He grinned. “Damn. That might be a problem. As I said before, we’ll just have to shower together…to save water.” Her cheeks turned a rosy pink and his grin widened. “Are you blushing, Jazz? I’m glad that after a year I can still make you blush.”
Journey to the Unknown Page 43