by J. L. Leslie
“You’re not going to sit?” Kipton asks, and I practically snarl at him.
“Nope.”
I make quick work of my food and tell Willow to hurry up. I see Jenna frown, but I don’t keep looking at her. I can’t look at her.
Alex is sitting so close to her I don’t see how either of them can manage to eat. Every so often he leans over and kisses her cheek or picks her hand up to kiss her knuckles. It’s fucking nauseating.
“Let’s go, Willow,” I say abruptly.
She’s finished eating, so I take her plate and go dump it in the trash. I take one more swig of my water and then toss the bottle in as well.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asks me, tossing her plate in too.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Kaler, I know you. I know when something’s bothering you, so talk to me,” Jenna pushes, placing her hand on my arm in what others might see as a friendly gesture.
I know otherwise. I know how badly we both want to say screw them all. We might be at church, but every person here would judge us for crossing that friendship line we’ve both drawn.
I ease away from her and say, “There’s nothing wrong and you don’t know me, Jenna.”
I go pick up Willow and leave with the lie still burning on my tongue.
Jenna
The whole friends only agreement between me and Kaler was clearly bullshit. He’s made practically zero effort to be my friend. Immediately after we had that conversation, he distanced himself from me. He put a stop to the routine we had established with our walks and hanging out. He stopped all the conversations we were having, the laughter, and the smiles. He stopped it all.
Then when I tell myself to move on and attempt to do so, he’s butt hurt. He acts like we can’t even be civil to each other. Not even at church!
So, I gave him a dose of his own medicine this week. I barely acknowledged him when he dropped Willow off and picked her up. I pretended that him ignoring me didn’t bother me because I could do the same to him. I wanted to prove to both him and to myself that I’m not hung up on him.
When Alex canceled our date for tonight because he was still out of town, I didn’t let it bother me. In fact, I accepted Ben’s offer to hang out just so I could get out of my house and further prove to myself that I’m not hung up on Kaler Holt.
Now, here I am at Happy’s throwing darts with Ben. Yes, he walked out on our date. Yes, he stuck me with the bill. And although he gave me an explanation and I don’t fully understand why he treated me that way, I am willing to move past it. Especially if it means I’m not sitting at home alone tonight.
“Do you want nachos?” I ask Ben and he makes a face, shaking his head. “I don’t understand how you do not eat nachos. It’s inhuman!”
“What’s inhuman is for a woman to have an appetite like you do,” he teases. “I firmly believe you can eat your own body weight in food!”
“Maybe,” I grin.
I order my nachos and we finish our game. I’m not surprised when I win, and Ben doesn’t seem to be either. Darts is not his game.
“I think this is the third time we’ve heard this song,” Ben gripes and digs into his pocket for some change. “Let’s see if we can find something better to listen to.”
I follow him over to the jukebox and he deposits a few quarters. I let him make the selection, not caring what songs he picks. An old slow country song begins to play, and he takes my hand, spinning me around. We sway together to the music and I’m happy that I gave him the opportunity to explain himself. There’s no use in holding a grudge. Life is too short.
“I think we’re about to be interrupted,” he tells me, looking over my shoulder.
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, Kaler taps my shoulder. “May I cut in?”
Ben releases me and says he’s going to order us some more drinks. Kaler stands there a moment, like he’s waiting on me to make the first move, so I wrap my arms around his neck. He places his hands at my hips and we start to dance.
“What are you doing here with him?” he asks me.
I frown, slightly annoyed that he’s questioning me when he’s distanced himself so far from me that I almost feel like I’m dancing with a stranger right now.
“Alex was busy.”
“You shouldn’t be going out with either one of them,” he gripes. “Are you seriously happy dating that dickhead Alex? Aside from that, you think this guy deserves a second chance?”
“That’s not up to you to decide,” I argue.
“Maybe he won’t stick you with the bill this time.”
“He explained himself and I’m over it,” I roll my eyes.
“And exactly what explanation could possibly make up for treating you the way he did?”
“He’s gay, Kaler,” I tell him. “And no one in Chapelwood knows about it, but everyone wants to set him up with women he doesn’t want to date.”
He grunts. “That’s still no excuse. You deserve to be treated better than that.”
“Oh, is that so? How about the way you’ve been treating me?” I counter. “We’re friends, remember, or have you forgotten that?”
“I’m doing what we agreed on.”
“No,” I tell him. “You’ve been ignoring me.”
I see his jaw clench, but he doesn’t deny that’s what he’s been doing. Instead, he leans down and brushes his lips over mine. Only for a second. Only long enough for me to want more. To ruin what I’m trying to build with another man.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers and lets me go.
Ben approaches with our drinks in hand, a coke for him and another beer for me. I watch Kaler as he joins his brothers at the pool tables. He laughs and smiles with them as though he didn’t just turn my world upside down.
Chapter Twenty
Kaler
I watch Jenna sink another shot and squeal in delight, hugging the fucking prick she’s here with. She’s supposed to have a boyfriend, but she’s here with this dickhead, giving him another shot at friendship with her just because he’s gay. That doesn’t mean he had any right to treat her like shit. Jenna is too damn good of a woman.
At some point one of them decided that it was a good idea to join my brothers and me at the pool tables. Not sure whose brilliant idea that was. We’ve all been playing pool and having drinks for the last hour. I thought there was tension between me and Kipton, but it’s nothing compared to the tension between me and Jenna. It’s pretty damn clear that Jenna’s had a little too much to drink. No doubt Pastor Jacobs will be railing on her at church come Sunday morning.
“Damn, Jenna has them pawing after her, doesn’t she?” Tauren teases, watching Jenna interact with her date before she heads off toward the restrooms. “Wonder how Alex will feel when he finds out she’s out with this guy.”
“He’s a dick,” I complain. “They both are.”
“That’s true, but Jenna doesn’t seem to mind,” he smirks. “Maybe she just wants some dick. Woman have needs too, man.”
Pissed at his comment, I leave him standing at the table. I find Jenna exiting the bathroom and I stop her, placing my hand against the wall and blocking her with my body.
“What the hell are you doing, Jenna?” I ask her, angrily.
“I thought I was playing pool with friends,” she replies, her face completely innocent which frustrates me even more. “Are we not friends?”
I run a hand through my hair, annoyed that she continues to remind me of the agreement we made. The agreement neither of us want to abide by. Just friends.
Well, fuck that.
I don’t hesitate this time. I find her mouth and I take it.
I ravage it.
I devour it.
Our teeth nip at each other, tongues dancing together. I can’t get enough of her. My hands roam over her, skimming over her tits and then down to cup her ass. She’s in a sundress tonight and it rumples at her thighs when I raise her leg up over my hip. I know I could slip my hand beneath it and
find her center, stroke it and tease it until she comes.
“Kaler,” she says breathlessly. “Someone will see us.”
I tear my lips from her neck and slowly lower her leg to the floor. She’s right. No concern about her boyfriend, but about us getting caught. We’re out here in the open and anyone could walk down the hall. There would be talk about what we’re doing all over town tomorrow.
“I’m tired of pretending,” I admit.
She nods as if in a daze, and then leaves me standing there in the hallway with a bulge in my jeans. I adjust my dick, doing my best to hide its protrusion from everyone else. I rejoin my brothers and pretend as though nothing has happened as I watch Jenna finish up her game.
She’s all smiles as she ditches the pool tables and plays another game of darts with the asshole, seemingly oblivious to the torture she’s putting me through. About half an hour later and once Jenna has sobered up, the two of them leave Happy’s, each of them going their separate ways.
I wait as long as I can after she leaves, making sure it’s a minimum of at least fifteen minutes, before I tell Tauren and Kipton I’m calling it a night. I’m close with my brothers, but they don’t need to know I intend on fucking my ex-wife’s best friend tonight.
I drive in silence to her house, not bothering with the radio. Instead of parking out front, I pull around to the back so that my truck can’t be seen. No one needs to know I’m here, especially her nosy fucking neighbors. I tap on her back door and it takes her a couple of minutes to answer. She stands there barefoot, still in her sundress.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, her voice nervous.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
Jenna
I manage to sigh before Kaler steps inside and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him. There’s the fireworks I’ve wondered about. It doesn’t matter how many times I convinced myself this wouldn’t happen, I never stopped wanting it to. No amount of dates or kisses with Alex could change that.
“I’m sorry,” he tells me for the second time tonight as he carries me up the stairs. He looks around for a moment and I tell him which room is mine.
“What are you sorry for?” I ask him, cupping his face with my hands.
“I’m sorry for staying away in the first place,” he confesses. “I didn’t want to, and fuck, I missed you, but I thought it was best for us. I tried to do what was right for you.”
I missed him too. I missed his company, our talks, and our laughs. I missed Willow as well. But his words are echoing in my head. He thought it was best for us if he stayed away. Thought it was right for me. Was he right?
He lowers me to the floor and then sits down on my bed. I allow him to turn me around so that my back is to him. He begins to lower the zipper of my dress, kissing my exposed skin.
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” I whisper. “What are we doing, Kaler?”
He doesn’t stop. He opens the back of my dress, sliding my straps over my shoulders and down my arms until the dress is a pool at my feet. Although my back is to him, I cover my breasts with my hands and stand there in my panties.
“What we’ve been wanting to do, Jenna,” he says. “What we both want. Do you want this? With me?”
I turn around to face him, slowly lowering my hands and placing them on his shoulders. “Yes.”
Kaler pulls me closer until I’m standing between his legs. “Good. No one has to know about this but us.”
He places a kiss to my stomach and then moves his mouth up my body until he covers one of my nipples with his lips.
“Only us,” I agree as he suckles me.
I thread my fingers through his hair, arching against him. He keeps his mouth locked on my nipple as he tugs my panties down. I feel slightly self-conscious that I’m naked in front of him and he’s still fully dressed, but that quickly subsides when he lifts my leg and places it on the bed beside him.
His fingers tease my slit, sliding through the wetness to gently probe me before moving to stroke my clit. I rock against his hand, moaning from the dual pleasure I’m receiving from his mouth alternating between my nipples and his fingers rubbing my core.
Kaler releases my nipple with a “pop” and I groan in frustration. He steadies my body with his hands at my hips and then sinks his mouth onto me, licking and kissing between my legs, his beard tickling the insides of my thighs.
My head tells me to stop this. To end this before things go too far. I have a boyfriend. This isn’t fair to him. It reminds me of who Kaler is. He was married to Brynn. They have a child together. She will never forgive me for this.
But my heart tells me not to sacrifice my own happiness for someone else. I refuse to do that, so I open myself to Kaler. Mind, body, and soul. If this is the only time we’re together, then he will have all of me.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kaler
Tasting Jenna back at the bar was my undoing. I feared once I tasted her that I would not be able to stop and I was right. I’m being reckless, allowing myself to crave something complicated. Something I know will never work. Something I know I shouldn’t do.
I need her though. I need her right now. In this moment. If only for one night. One time. I need to be with her.
Jenna lies back on her bed, her legs trembling from the orgasm I brought her to with my mouth. I strip out of my clothes, boots included, and retrieve a condom from my wallet. I’m damn glad I still have one in there, considering I haven’t slept a woman in nearly two years. I kneel on the bed, sheathing myself before settling between her open thighs.
“I knew the moment I kissed you tonight, we would end up like this,” I whisper. “I knew I had to have you, Jenna.”
My heart pounds in my chest, my breathing is shallow, as I reach between us and guide my dick inside her. She stretches to accommodate me, spreading her legs wider and reaching her hands up to hold on to me.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this with you,” she confesses.
I lower my head to hers, kissing her when I begin to move. I draw myself out to the tip and ease back in, making sure I’m not hurting her in any way. She grips my shoulders and then moves her hands down to my ass. She squeezes it, giving me encouragement to go faster. To fuck her harder.
I’m panting as I crash into her. She takes all of me, every single inch, and I fear she’s taking more of me than just my body. Right now, I don’t mind. I want to give all of me over to her. To give her everything.
We move together, me driving deep and her rising to meet my strokes. She whimpers each time I groan. I growl each time she bites my shoulder.
I take her hands and pin them above her head, pushing them against the soft cushion of her pillow. I hold them there and keep them there, so close to coming but wanting to prolong this feeling as long as I can.
My balls tighten and I know I can’t last any longer. Jenna struggles against my hold and lets out a cry, saying my name as she comes. I release her hands and she leaves them there, lying above her head. I try to breathe, but my release rips through me, leaving me gasping and shuddering.
I rest my head on her chest, still tucked inside her warmth. I can hear her heartbeat and I’m relieved mine isn’t the only one racing. She runs her fingertips over my back and shoulders. Her touch is relaxing and I know if I don’t get up now, I’ll fall asleep just like this.
I ease myself off of her and she curls onto her side. I spot another door in the corner and see that it leads to her bathroom. In there, I dispose of the condom and promise myself that will never happen again. It can’t. It shouldn’t.
She has a boyfriend and what happened between us isn’t fair to him, even if I don’t like the guy. I don’t like cheating and don’t want to be that person. I know Jenna isn’t that person.
I’ve been with other women since my divorce from Brynn. I fucked them and left them, not giving a damn about their feelings. Not caring if I hurt them or not.
But I can’t hurt Jenna. Not this wo
man. And I fear I’m going to do just that.
Jenna
I wake without my alarm going off and find myself alone in my bed. I don’t remember Kaler slipping out, but he must’ve left sometime during the night. I’m slightly disappointed that he would leave without saying goodbye, considering the incredible night we had together.
I roll off my bed and realize that his clothes are still on my floor. His boots are still beside my bed and his jeans and tee are crumpled there as well. I smile and grab his tee, pulling it on over my head.
I walk downstairs and find him in my kitchen. He stands at my stove in only his boxer briefs, cooking what looks to be scrambled eggs. This should be the awkward morning after, but I feel relaxed and not really nervous at all. I approach him and slide my arms around his waist, kissing his shoulder.
“You need help with anything?” I ask him, gliding my hands down his abs.
“Do you know you don’t have any sausage or bacon in your fridge?” he questions me, glancing over his shoulder at me. “You didn’t even have Spam in your cabinet.”
“Oh my goodness!” I say, sarcastically. “No sausage or bacon and not even Spam!”
He laughs and puts the spatula down before turning around to face me. He sees that I’m wearing his t-shirt and he tugs on it, jerking me to him. I’m smiling when he kisses me.
“I like this,” he murmurs between pecks, meaning me wearing his shirt.
“I like that you cooked me breakfast,” I tease and then yelp when he swats my ass.
“You’re not wearing panties?”
I shake my head. “I thought you left. When I realized you didn’t, I grabbed your shirt and came down.”
“I should’ve left,” he admits. “Your nosy neighbors might see my truck leaving your backyard now. I’m sure they’ll be gossiping all about it at church this morning. Especially since I’m not the young man you’ve been seen with.”