by J. S. Cooper
Chapter 10
Evan
The first thing I did when I walked into the apartment was look for Jess. I'd timed my arrival to the party to ensure she'd be there first. My heart stilled as I saw her standing there next to Pierce and Linda, looking sexy as hell in her short black dress. I wasn’t sure if she had dressed up for me, but all I could think about was how hot she’d look if she weren’t wearing the dress. I wasn’t even really sure why I’d come or what I was hoping to accomplish by being here. I knew I was playing with fire. Jess was Pierce’s girl and by all accounts, he was fairly serious about her. Much more serious than he’d ever been about any girl before. It surprised me, as Jess wasn’t the sort of girl that I would have thought he’d want to be with. She wasn’t his usual type. He usually went for tall skinny blondes, and that wasn’t Jess. She was about five foot six, curvy with long dark hair and big brown eyes that flashed fire when she was upset. Which she was frequently at me. Which I liked. Just thinking about what a spitfire she was turned me on. I wondered if she had such extreme reactions in the bedroom as well.
I knew the second that Jess realized I was there because I saw her turn around and her eyes found mine. She gazed at me for a brief second and almost gave me a small smile before she turned away abruptly. I resisted the urge to go straight to her. I had to take it cool. It wouldn’t do if I showed my hand so soon in the evening. I really shouldn’t show my hand at all, though I wasn’t sure that I would be able to resist. Not if I was around her for too long.
I never expected to fall for Jess. With her smart mouth and awkward smile, she wasn't the girl I thought she was at first. Her eyes, when she looked at me, cast her uncertainty out into the room and I always felt myself pausing for a few seconds before continuing to tease her. I couldn't stop myself. I loved to watch her reactions to what I said, loved to see her eyes narrowing as she glared, and the way she nervously licked her lips when she thought I wasn't looking. Jess was a complication I hadn't counted on. At first it had been a game, but very quickly it had turned into something different. I couldn't get her off my mind. I asked Pierce all the time—though very casually—if she was going to be coming around, and I knew I was playing with fire. But he never suspected anything. Why would he? He would never expect to be betrayed like that. Especially from me.
“Evan, how you doing, man?” Braydon, one of Pierce’s best friends approached me and gave me a hug.
“How are you, Braydon?” I asked him with a small smile, having to neglect my thoughts of Jess for a few minutes.
“Good. I haven’t seen you in a while. Pierce told me you were in town. Thinking of moving here?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking of moving back.” I nodded. “How are you? How are your parents?”
“They’re good. I think they’re going to move to Florida.” He made a face. “Sunshine State and all that.”
“Sure.” I nodded again. “Good for them. Your dad can golf all day then.”
“Yeah, something like that.” He laughed and turned around. “I’m surprised you came, with Linda here.”
“Really?” I laughed and thought quickly of something else to say as I wanted to change the subject. “Have you met Jess?” I asked him, almost groaning. She was the last person I wanted to be talking about.
“Jess?” Braydon paused and then shook his head. “Oh. That’s Pierce’s new girlfriend, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, wondering exactly what Pierce was telling everyone about Jess and exactly how serious he was about her. I couldn’t imagine he was super serious about her, seeing as they had just started dating, but you never knew with Pierce. He was one of the most unpredictable people I knew and had always been that way. He was a contrary character, though not a lot of people realized that. “She’s very nice.”
“Yeah, that’s what he said.” Braydon nodded and looked over at her. “He met her in some nightclub, I think. I bet she must be good in bed.”
“I don’t know that they’ve slept together,” I said, annoyed at his assumption, and wondered what I would do if I found out that they had and how irrational that would be of me to be upset if I found out that Pierce had slept with his girlfriend. I was too old for this shit.
“Oh, of course they’ve banged.” Braydon gave me a look. “This is Pierce we’re talking about. There’s no way that he wouldn’t have slept with her as yet. They’ve been dating for a while and she’s all up by his side on his birthday. Pierce would never have that happening if he wasn’t hitting that.”
“I see.” I looked into Braydon’s sparkling blue eyes and stared at his huge grin and wondered what it was about young guys and being crude.
“Yeah, man. What about you? Got any nice chicas?”
“No chicas here.” I shook my head. “You?”
“You know.” He laughed. “I’ve got a few here and a few there.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “But I’m always down for more.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you are.” I laughed along with him, wanting to turn around and look at Jess and see what she was doing, but not wanting to call attention to myself, or the fact that I was interested in what she was doing.
“So what else is good, man?” Braydon spoke to me, but I could see his eyes on a blonde who was dancing by herself in the corner of the room with a glass of something in her hands.
“Not much. Same old, same old,” I said and looked at the girl, who seemed to be very intoxicated as she danced around.
“Jess,” she called out loudly, and I froze. “Jess, come and dance with me.” She looked over to Jess and I realized that this must be her friend Alyssa that she’d mentioned several times.
“Just a sec,” Jess responded and I saw her giving Pierce a look and a quick touch on the back before heading over to her friend. I wanted to go over and join them. Wanted to pull Jess into my arms, ask her if she preferred it rough or gentle and if she could go all night long. I wanted to see her face going red. I wanted to make her squirm. I wanted to hear her calling me dirty or obnoxious or annoying in that way that told me that as much as she hated it, she loved it as well. I so badly wanted to touch her. I wasn’t sure why I felt this attraction to her, wasn’t sure what it was that made me want to play with fire so much. I knew that what I was doing was wrong. I knew that there was serious potential for everything to blow up in my face. And I knew that if that happened, it would be all my fault. I knew that Jess would come off badly as well, but not as badly as me. And all I could think was, would it be worth it? For either of us? That, I didn’t know. Was hot sex worth it? I’d found in my life that sex itself wasn’t worth any drama, but this seemed like it was more than sex. It seemed like this had potential to be more. I wasn’t sure exactly what more, but I was interested in finding out. I just wasn’t sure that I’d ever have a chance.
“Shit, that blond chick is sexy as hell,” Braydon said, his eyes almost bugging out of his head as he continued to watch Alyssa dancing, her body moving in sensual rhythm to the music that was pounding throughout the apartment. I could tell by the way she was dancing that Alyssa knew exactly what she was doing and that she was hoping for as much male attention as she could get. The look on her face and the way her lips were curved up told me that she knew that every single—and not single—guy was watching her as she flitted around. Well, all the single guys but me. My eyes were on Jess and only Jess. Sexy, beautiful Jess.
“Why don’t you go over and talk to her?” I asked him with a small smile. “I’ll come with you if you need a wingman.”
“You think I should?” he asked, not really needing to be convinced.
“Yeah, man. I think she’s been looking at you,” I lied. “She’s probably waiting for you to come over right now.”
“Then I shouldn’t disappoint her.” He took some large gulps of his beer and then put the bottle down on the ground. “Okay, I’m ready. Let me show blondie who’s the boss.”
“Yeah, you do that, Braydon,” I said and gave him a small nod, trying not to roll my e
yes.
“Let’s go.” He gave me an assertive look and headed towards the corner, where Alyssa and Jess were gyrating to the music. I followed behind him, trying to act nonchalant as we approached the two girls. “Hey, wassup,” Braydon said as he stopped next to Alyssa and I tried again not to roll my eyes. He had absolutely no game. But that wasn’t my problem.
“Hello.” Alyssa looked him over and I could tell from the expression on her face that she was pleased with what she saw. Obviously she had no discerning taste. Not that I cared.
“Hello, I’m Evan,” I said, reaching my hand out to introduce myself to her.
“Hello, Evan,” she said and I saw her giving Jess a quick look before looking back at me. Interesting, I thought to myself. It seemed that Jess had mentioned me to Alyssa, if that look was anything to go by. “I’m Alyssa.”
“Nice to meet you, Alyssa,” I said as I shook her hand. I looked over at Jess and gave her a nod. “Jess, good to see you again.”
“Uh huh,” she said, her eyes narrowed.
“Is that all I get in response?” I asked her with a small smile. “No ‘nice to see you again too, Evan’?”
“I don’t like to lie.”
“Really? You can’t even fake it for me?”
“Why would I want to do that?” She cocked her head to the side and gave me a small smile as she swayed back and forth.
“No reason.” I wanted to wipe that smile off her face by shocking her with a huge kiss or something equally decadent, but I knew I couldn’t do that and call it off as a joke. No one would be cool with me smooching Jess at this moment. And I couldn’t risk getting thrown out of the party, not yet. There was no good explanation for me getting close to her and I knew it. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to attempt something with her. Very badly.
“So, had any fun dates with Squirrel recently?” I asked her with a small smile. “Any cleanup duty?”
“No.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “What about you? You seem like you’d be good with the shit.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Maybe because you’re full of it,” she said under her breath and her eyes flashed at me briefly. I gave her a huge smile in return and she flushed. I looked over at Braydon and was surprised to see that he was dancing with Alyssa and she had her arms wrapped around his neck.
“Your friend isn’t shy, is she?” I said to Jess, and she looked over at Alyssa. I saw her eyes widening, but she didn’t look shocked. Interesting.
“Do you care?” She paused as she looked back at me. “Sad you missed out?”
“Who, me? Nah.” I looked down at her. “I know what I want.”
“I see.” She licked her lips nervously and looked away from me.
“What’s wrong, Jess?” I asked her softly.
“Nothing.” She frowned. “Why do you think something is wrong?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “You just look out of sorts.” Her fingers started playing with her long dark hair then and I watched as she paced back and forth nervously. “I don’t make you uncomfortable, do I, Jess?”
“No.” She swallowed and I saw her looking away again. I grinned. This was like taking candy from a baby. She was so into me, it wasn’t funny. And while a part of me was excited about the fact that I was pretty confident she was into me, I felt a little hesitant. I knew that by pursuing her I was going to be making everything awkward for all of us. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. What would happen if I had my wicked way with her? Would she hate me afterwards? And what would that mean to my relationship with Pierce? We’d only recently reconnected and I wasn’t sure this was the right way to make sure that everything was going to be kosher. However, I wasn’t sure I could continue fighting my attraction to Jess. There was just something about her that felt so compelling and attractive. And it wasn’t just about her beauty. It had to do with the furtive glances she gave me when she thought I wasn’t looking. It had to do with the way she ran the tip of her tongue along her lips nervously, wetting them. The way she applied her lip-gloss slowly, delicately, carefully, making me wish it was me gliding across her lips. It had to do with the way her eyes flashed at me when she was mad. The way the words tripped off her lips in a mad, annoyed way, yet they were so carefully chosen. There was something about her energy. Something in the way she moved. Something that captivated me more than I’d ever been captivated before. A part of me was scared by that fact, but the other part of me wanted to pursue it, wanted to see where it could go. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to be in her. I wanted her.
“There you are.” I heard Pierce’s voice behind me and I froze for a second. “Jess, I have some friends I’d like you to meet.”
“I was just dancing with Alyssa and then Evan came and joined me,” Jess explained quickly, sounding guilty, though I wasn’t sure why she did. It wasn’t like we’d done anything.
“Oh, hey.” Pierce reached over and hugged me. “I didn’t even see you come in. So happy that you made it.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” I replied and it was my turn to feel guilty. What sort of person was I? “Happy Birthday.”
“Mom is here and she’s going crazy, still trying to plan everything.” Pierce rolled his eyes. “I told her the party is already half over, what’s working is already working and what’s going to fail can’t be stopped right now.”
“Yeah.” I nodded and laughed. “I’m sure she didn’t listen, though. You know your mom.”
“Yeah.” He laughed again. “She’s still running around, trying to fix things that don’t need to be fixed.” He turned to Jess then and rubbed her back. “She really likes you, though.” He gave her a huge grin. “She thinks you’re a great girl.”
“Oh, thanks,” Jess said softly, and I could tell from her response that she wasn’t as enthusiastic as Pierce was by that fact.
“Yeah, I told her that we could go to brunch tomorrow. That’s cool, right?”
“I guess so.” She nodded.
“I was thinking Ethiopian food,” he continued, and I saw her eyes darting to his face with a shocked look.
“You’re joking, right?” She gave him a half smile, a worried look on her face.
“No, why would I be joking?” He looked at her in confusion.
“Ethiopian?” she said with a frown.
“Yeah?” He cocked his head and I wanted to laugh. Even I knew by this point that Jess hated Ethiopian food. It was sad that Pierce still didn’t remember, but I think it was part of the reason why I felt it was okay to continue my pursuit of Jess. I wasn’t sure what game he was playing with her, but something was off in this situation. It didn’t seem to me that he was really interested in her. He couldn’t have been that interested if he didn’t even remember that she hated Ethiopian food.
“Nothing.” She sighed and just looked away. “It doesn’t even matter.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “You wanna come with us too, Evan?”
“I’m not sure that that would be a good idea.” I shook my head. That sounded like torture to me. No, thank you.
“Jess, come with me.” He grabbed her hand and gave me a quick look. “Excuse us, I want her to meet some more of my friends,” he said and I watched as they hurried across to the other side of the room and towards a group of guys and girls who looked slightly familiar. I could see one redhead in particular who was glaring at them both and something about the way Pierce was looking at her made me think that this woman might be another clue in the puzzle that was Jess and Pierce’s relationship. The redhead touched his arm softly and I noticed that she was looking at him coyly and giving Jess small glares, which Jess didn’t seem to recognize. It made me wonder what relationship the redhead and Pierce had had in the past. It was obviously something more than platonic. And if the way Pierce was standing close to both the redhead and Jess was any indication, it seemed to me that Pierce was trying to play some sort of game with both of these women, which made me feel a whole lot differently a
bout how guilty I would feel about pursuing Jess for myself. If he was being shady and didn’t have good intentions towards Jess, this was a very different situation.
I left Alyssa and Braydon and walked over to the side of the room to get a drink and to think. I had some decisions to make about what I was going to do. Tonight was the night for me to make a huge move or just walk away and let everything go. I took a shot of bourbon, and then a second one and looked back over at Jess and Pierce and the way his arm was around her waist possessively. I knew in that instant that I already knew what decision I was going to make. Not that there had really been any other option. Not with the way I was currently feeling. I just had to make it happen.
Chapter 11
Evan
It was midnight and I could hear someone walking around the living room. Normally I wouldn’t have paid much attention, but curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know if it was Jess, and if it was, what she was doing up. I wondered if she was thinking of me and if she was as restless as I was. I couldn’t sleep at all. I was invaded with thoughts of her and the constant flirting we’d done all night. All I could think about was her and if she was as curious about what I was thinking as I was. Did she wonder what would have happened between us if she hadn’t met Pierce first? I knew I certainly thought about it. But I didn’t know if she would have even paid attention to me if she’d met me in a different setting. She likely wouldn’t have even given me the time of day if I’d approached her at the club. Though I’m not sure that would have stopped me. She was someone I’d have taken a chance with if I’d had the opportunity. Though, it would have been a much different situation. The situation we were in now, though not ideal, somehow made it even more exciting. Even though it shouldn’t have. I knew that it was kind of sick, this game I was playing, but I couldn’t stop myself.