by J. S. Cooper
“Squirrel, stop.” I groaned as I watched the mutt pulling apart his treat bag and stuffing treats down his face. “No, bad boy.” I sighed as he just looked up at me and continued eating.
“Squirrel, come, boy.” Evan had followed me into the room and called out to the dog. Squirrel listened to him immediately, dropped the bag and ran over to him. “Sit,” Evan said calmly and my jaw dropped as Squirrel sat for him like a good boy. “Hand me the leash,” Evan said and put his hand out to me. I handed it to him silently and watched as he reached down and clipped the leash on Squirrel’s collar. “Here.” He handed the leash back to me. “You should take him out now before he has an accident.”
“Yeah.” I nodded and because I didn’t know what else to say I just gave him a small grateful smile and pulled on Squirrel’s leash and headed towards the front door quickly. “Come on, Squirrel,” I said softly, grateful that the dog was actually coming along this time. The dog followed me through the front door and down the stairs and it wasn’t a moment too soon as he let out a load as soon as we made it to the pavement. I just stared as he did his business right outside the front door and I wondered to myself what would have happened if Evan hadn’t helped me at the very last moment. That had been nice of him. And it had been impressive. His voice had been so commanding, so strong, so assertive. Squirrel had listened and obeyed right away. It was a little infuriating that Squirrel had listened to him and not to me, but I was just glad that Squirrel had listened to someone before it had been too late. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if Evan hadn’t been there to take charge right at the end. I also wasn’t sure what I would have done if Evan had pushed me back against the wall and pushed himself into me and told me that he was ready to take me then and there. A part of me wasn’t sure that I’d have been able to say no. A part of me kinda wished he would have tried.
Chapter 7
Jess
“Jess, I want you to know how special you are to me.” Pierce gazed at me with an intensity in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. “It means so much to me that you took care of Squirrel for me while I was out of town.”
“No worries,” I said and gave him a small smile. I wasn’t about to tell him that it was unlikely to happen again. Squirrel had given me a workout that my legs didn’t appreciate, and my fingernails didn’t appreciate having to pick up so much dirt, debris and poop.
“It really means a lot to me. Many girls wouldn’t have done that for their boyfriends.”
“Uh, yeah.” My eyes widened at his words. Did he just call himself my boyfriend? What was going on? Instead of feeling jubilation and excitement at his words, I was starting to feel panicked.
“You’re really special to me, Jess.”
“Yeah, you just said that.” I looked down at my salad awkwardly. Oh, God, he wasn’t going to propose, was he? Oh, my God, that would just be my luck. I’d always hoped in my head something crazy, wacky and romantic like this would happen to me, but this wasn’t what I’d hoped for. I mean, shit, any proposal would be nice, and he was hot, but this didn’t feel as good as I thought it would feel.
“I just wanted you to know I’m really happy I met you.” He looked a little nervous. “And I just wanted...” He frowned and paused as he looked me. “Are you okay? You look a little sick.”
“I’m fine.” I gulped. Oh, God, what was I going to tell Alyssa? Getting engaged after a month of dating and no sex was really fast. I wasn’t sure if she would be pleased for me or sad for herself.
“I just wanted to say I know that when we met, I was kinda pushing for a sexual relationship and I made it clear that I wanted to know you on an intimate level,” he continued. “And normally that is my number one concern, but this is different. You’re different.” He paused.
Here it comes, I thought to myself. Yeah, I can be a bit delusional. I’m not really sure why I thought he was going to propose. Maybe because I really have no clue when it comes to men and relationships. Maybe because I’m what my friends call “extra.” I always seem to think that the most extraordinary thing is going to happen in all situations. I suppose that it was quite appropriate that eventually that ended up being true. But this was not one of those situations. Pierce was not about to propose, as I’m sure you most likely already guessed. Only I could have thought that Pierce was going to propose in that moment because I’d cleaned up some of his dog’s poop for a week.
“I’m surprised that you’re still dating me.” I half-laughed.
“Why?” he asked curiously.
“Because I haven’t slept with you as yet.” I shrugged and he smiled widely.
“That’s because you’re special.” He reached over and touched my hand.
“Because I looked after Squirrel?”
“Not just because of that.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it. You just make me think about different things.”
“Oh?” Please don’t say having a family. I’m not ready for that right now. Not with you, at least, I thought guiltily. Not that I was crazy enough to be thinking of having a family with Evan. All I wanted was to see what it would feel like to kiss him. Yeah, I can admit it. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to feel his body next to mine. You know how bad that feels to realize that you want to kiss your boyfriend’s friend as you’re sitting there thinking he wants to propose to you? Not that great.
“Yeah. I’m glad that I didn’t just get pissed off that first night after you played those games with me.”
“Huh?” I frowned. “What games?”
“The pull and tug games.”
“What pull and tug games?” My voice rose.
“The ‘I want you to fuck me, but I’m going to pretend I don’t,’” he said knowingly.
“Excuse me?” My voice rose again as I glanced at him. “What are you talking about?”
“We left that club both knowing we were going to get down and dirty.” He shrugged. “The condoms in my wallet were excited that they were about to get used.”
“I see.” I pursed my lips and in that moment all thoughts and worries that he was going to propose to me fled out the window.
“I mean, we both knew that, right?”
“Uhm, no, I didn’t know that your condoms were excited because they thought that they were going to get used.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that I think that we both had the understanding that we were going to be getting to know each other intimately that night.”
“You mean in the back alley behind the club?” I asked him, one eyebrow raised.
“That would have been hot, right?” He winked at me and I tried not to make a face at him. Now, if I’m being honest, I should have gotten up and left right then and there. I knew in that moment that Pierce and I were not a match made in heaven. How could I not? But I didn’t get up. I didn’t leave. I didn’t leave because I knew that if I did, it would be unlikely that I would get to see Evan again and that was something that I really wanted. I know, I know, I’m a horrible person. You don’t have to remind me of that.
“I don’t know about that.” I shook my head.
“Anyways, we’re getting sidetracked.” He shook his head as well. “It’s not even about what could have happened. I’m glad it didn’t happen. You mean more to me than that.”
“I do?” I looked at him, trying to understand what he was talking about. I mean, I’m all for romantic gestures. I’m all for guys declaring their undying love, especially to me, but even I had to admit that we didn’t have much of a history or that much of a connection for him to be making these declarations. I’m sure I would have thought differently about it if he were someone that I was really and truly interested in.
“Do you like me, Jess?” He cocked his head to the side. “Sometimes, I can’t really tell.”
“What do you mean?” I blinked at him, panic filling me and not because I thought he was going to propose. Did he know that I liked Evan?
“I don’t know. Sometimes I can’
t tell if you want to be my girlfriend or not?”
“Oh.” I licked my lips nervously. What did I say to that?
“You’re an enigma.” He leaned forward. “I think that’s part of the reason why I like you so much.”
For a few seconds, I stared at him in shock, thinking that he’d just said that he loved me, but then I calmed down and replayed what he’d said in my head. Like, not love, like. Much better. If he’d said love, I’m not sure what I would have done.
“Oh, interesting,” I said and giggled while I played with my salad. Why had I gotten a salad? I didn’t even like salads. I should have gotten the lobster roll and fries. I would have much preferred that. I was annoyed at myself. I wondered if it was too late to order some fries. Fries and salad didn’t really go, though. I wondered if he would think I was weird if I ordered some fries now?
“So what do you think?” Pierce’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Think about what?” I said, wondering if he could read my mind. Was he asking if I thought I should order the fries or not?
“About being my girlfriend.” He squeezed my hand. “Are you happy? I know that I kinda just assumed we were together like that.”
“Uhm, I don’t mind,” I mumbled.
“So my mom wants to throw a birthday party for me next week and we don’t want it to be awkward.”
“Awkward?” I glanced at him curiously.
“Why would it be awkward?”
“Well, you know, Evan.” He shrugged and gave me a look as if I should know exactly what he was talking about. Which of course I didn’t. Was he saying that he and his mom knew that Evan had been inappropriate with me? Or was he saying that he knew that I had a slight interest?
“Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, I don’t think it would be awkward, right?” I gave him a slow smile and hoped for the best.
“Yeah, I think it will be fine. Especially because you’ll be there. My mom is excited to meet my new girlfriend.”
“She is?” I said faintly, my stomach dropping, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. What exactly had he told his mom about me? For a second, I felt slightly panicked, worried that perhaps he was going to propose at the party. That would suck, but I let myself take a few deep breaths before I started panicking again. Stop being an idiot Jess, I lectured myself. Pierce was not about to propose anytime soon. I wasn’t sure why that thought kept popping up in my mind. It was so entirely ridiculous.
“Yeah, to be honest, you’ll be the first girlfriend that she’s met.” He grinned at me. “No pressure.”
“Haha, yeah, no pressure.” Oh, God, I thought to myself. This was almost as bad as him proposing. This was almost as bad. And this wasn’t just in my head. This was for real. I knew that I should have just left the restaurant and never looked back. I knew that I should have just cut my losses. I mean, what good was going to come from this situation? What good was going to come from pretending I was far more interested in him than I was? I mean, yeah, I liked him, and yeah, the first time I met him, I thought that perhaps we had a connection. There had been a physical attraction. And I think in that moment I’d decided to go along with it. Figured maybe it could be better. Maybe I just had to give it a bit more time. Figured maybe everything would work out well, regardless of the fact that everything was muddled in my mind.
Chapter 8
Jess
The invitation came via email. It wasn’t completely unexpected, yet it was much more formal than I would have expected for a birthday invite.
Dear Jess,
You are cordially invited to the thirtieth birthday party of Pierce Johnson on Saturday July 15th. Please RSVP by Monday the 10th.
Linda Johnson
P.S. I’m so very excited to meet you, Jess. Pierce has told me so much about you. I’m sure you must be a very special person in his life.
I read the email and my stomach dropped. I hadn’t expected for her to include a personal message in the email. Exactly what had Pierce told his parents about me? I didn’t even know much about him, let alone his parents.
I started to feel nervous thinking about what Pierce’s parents’ expectations were going to be when we met. I was also worried that Evan was going to be there. And what if he was up to his old tricks? What if he tried to tease me or touch me and did it in front of the parents? What if they noticed that I was more receptive to it than I should have been? What if they thought I was flirting back? They’d think I was a horrible girlfriend. Might even make a scene and say that I was a cheater or something. What then if they told Pierce that I’d been flirting with his friend? What if Pierce went up to Evan and started an argument with him? What if they got into a fight? A huge bust up, fists flying, black eyes might be given—shit, one of them might break a hand, or an arm or a leg, or something. That would be absolutely crazy. That would ruin the party. I mean, it would be kinda cool to have two guys fighting over me. It would be the first time and it would be kind of cool. It would be nice to have two hot guys fighting over me. Though maybe not in this situation. Maybe not at Pierce’s birthday. In front of his parents and friends. Especially after Pierce’s mom had sent me such a nice personal message along with my invitation. The way she was going on made me think she thought there was potential for her to be my mother-in-law. I didn’t want to break her heart the first time she met me. That could happen later on. Shit, hopefully I wasn’t going to have to meet her again. Maybe I’d have to have a conversation with Pierce sooner rather than later. I didn’t want him telling his parents anything about me, making them think this was something it wasn’t. I was mostly surprised to be in such a relationship. I never would have expected Pierce to be like this. It just boggled my mind that such a good-looking guy would be acting this crazy. It made me wonder what he’d say if I were to do the same thing. What if my mom were contacting him, asking him questions that made it seem like I thought we had some sort of serious relationship? I was sure that he’d be freaking out. Maybe I should do the same thing. Maybe I should ramp it up. That way I wouldn’t be the bad guy in the situation. If I started to get crazy maybe he would have doubts about me and that would make it a lot easier. At least then I wouldn’t feel like the bad person in the situation. Even if technically I was already the bad person in the situation. Well, not in actuality but in my head for sure.
I wasn’t sure if I should get dressed up for the party. Pierce wanted me to host the party with him, but I thought that was weird. This wasn’t the sort of thing that we needed to host together. It wasn’t even appropriate. Not for our level of relationship. I mean, it even felt weird saying “relationship” for what we had. I still couldn’t believe that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Based on what, exactly, I didn’t know. It was almost as if we were in the Twilight Zone and I was watching from the living room, unable to look away from the craziness that was my life.
“You look hot, Jess.” Alyssa grinned as she took in my short black dress and brought me lipstick. “What a nice birthday present for Pierce.”
“What’s a nice birthday present for Pierce?” I asked her curiously.
“You, of course.” She grinned as she winked at me. “Tonight is going to be hot, right?”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned at her.
“You are wearing your sexy underwear.” She winked at me again.
“What?”
“Girl, you’re wearing a thong.” She laughed. “You only wear that when you’re going to get laid.”
“That’s not true.” I shook my head, though that was a lie. I never wore thongs. I hated the feeling. I only wore them to feel sexy. I only wore them if I thought that there was a probability that I was going to get laid. Though I had no plans to sleep with Pierce that evening, or anyone else really. I mean, it’s not like I could sleep with anyone else the night of Pierce’s birthday party. Not that I had anyone in mind, of course.
“Jess, who do you think you’re lying to?” Alyssa grinned at me. “I know my thongs from my granny panties;
I’m not a guy.”