Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

  Janine couldn't believe how amazing Jess felt inside of her. She almost regretted waiting so long. His slow strokes were agonizing, though. She needed it faster, a little harder even. She thought only for a moment, then decided she wanted to take control.

  "Jess," she said. "Jess, I need you to move."

  He didn't hesitate, simply pulled out. "You weren't ready, were you? Janie, I told you—"

  "Jess…shut up." She almost laughed at the expression on his face. Instead, she sat up and pushed him down onto his back.

  "Janine, what are you—"

  She straddled him, sitting on his arousal until his full length was once again inside her.

  "That's what I'm doing," she said.

  Jess didn't get a chance to speak before Janine was leaning over him, kissing him hungrily. Slowly, she began to move her hips up and down. It was a new feeling, as if something had taken over her body and released all of her shyness and uncertainty. Much to her surprise, she liked being in control. She liked being the one to set the rhythm. She began to move on him faster, breaking the kiss and leaning back to feel him deeper inside of her.

  Jess inhaled sharply, shocked at the beautiful sight. He couldn't believe Janine, shy little sister of his best friend, was bouncing her hips up and down on him, her breasts moving up and down as well, blatantly on display.

  Janine moaned loudly. Worried Todd would hear, Jess sat up without breaking their connection and pressed his lips against Janine's again. Janine kissed back, then pulled her face away, slowing down her rhythm slightly.

  "Jess," she said, "this feeling's really good…but it felt even better when you were touching me earlier…can we do that again when I'm done—"

  She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Jess reached his hand between their bodies, his thumb rubbing quickly back and forth over her spot. Janine couldn't take it anymore. She had never felt something so amazing in her life. She picked up her pace again, bouncing on him fast but being sure not to go so hard that it hurt one of them.

  Suddenly, she felt something building up. It started like a fire in her stomach, then quickly moved lower.

  "Jess…oh my God…Jess…I think I'm going to…" she said, but was unable to finish her sentence before she came again, even harder than before. She pulled Jess close, her lips against his ear as she moaned. The sensation of her hot breath against his ear was all Jess could handle. Just as Janine finished riding out her own pleasure, Jess released into her, wrapping his arms around and pulling her as close as possible while doing so. They held each other tight, each one's waves of pleasure creating more in the other. Finally, their bodies sweaty and tired, they both felt their muscles relax. Jess leaned back on the bed, pulling Janine down on top of him.

  "Jess…that was…amazing…" Janine said, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Now that they were finished, she couldn't believe that she'd been so vocal, let alone gotten on top and taken control. She also couldn't believe how empowering it felt.

  "That was pretty amazing," he answered, smiling up at her. Janine laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes happily. They lay like that, body to body, for a long time. Jess started to notice himself dozing off.

  "Janie…" he whispered. She didn't answer. Craning his neck to look at her face, he saw that she was asleep. Smiling, he kissed her forehead, then gently lifted her and placed her on the opposite side of the bed. Pulling the blanket up over them, he cuddled against her back and went to sleep.

  ***

  Saturday, Jess said he wanted to take her to meet a few of his friends since he had the day off work and they hadn't made it when she was there before. She had to spend a little extra time picking out something to wear. She finally decided on a flowered black shirt that was just low-cut enough to be sexy, but also quite modest, though she had to admit it made her look even more pregnant.

  "Oh my goodness," she murmured, turning in the mirror.

  "What?" Jess asked from the bathroom, buttoning his shirt up as he walked in.

  "I look pregnant."

  He smirked. "You are pregnant, genius."

  "Yeah, but I look pregnant. Look at me. The bump looks even bigger. I look like a cow going to graze."

  "You're much prettier than a cow," he said, dutifully kissing her lightly on the lips before walking back into the bathroom.

  "Should I wear a different shirt?"

  "No, wear that one."

  "But it makes me look..."

  "Pregnant?" he suggested. "My friends know you're pregnant. Anyway, I think it's cute."

  She looked in the mirror, turning to the side again. "You do?"

  "Yeah. It's nice that you look pregnant. You look cute."

  She smiled and turned to face her reflection, pulling her hair back in a clip. "Thank you. I guess it isn't so bad to look pregnant when you are pregnant, huh?"

  "I think that's kind of the point," he said.

  She nodded. "You're right."

  "Of course I am."

  "Jess," she said, walking out the door behind him.

  "What?" he said.

  "Do you think they'll like me?" she asked.

  "I like you, so what they think doesn't really matter."

  "But do you? You know them better than I do. Am I the type of girl they'll like?"

  "They'll like you," he replied.

  "Are you sure?"

  He turned around and shot her a look. "Janie."

  She sighed. "Okay, I'll step pestering you about it."

  "Thank you."

  ***

  Janine was going over how to greet his friends in her head when she heard someone say, "'Bout time you get here, Rosie. Shit, we were about to eat all the damn food."

  Janine looked up to see a guy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes walk over and slap Jess on the back. He hadn't noticed her yet, so she took the chance to look around and see the other people. The blonde guy's name was Chad.

  "Chad, this is Janine," Jess was saying.

  Janine looked over at him and he smiled. "No shit? How you liking it in the city?" he asked, nodding at her.

  She smiled. "Oh, I love it."

  "Jess show you around Harlem yet?" he asked, draping an arm around her shoulder and smiling. "It's not Manhattan," he said, tossing a wry look at Jess over his shoulder, "but it's more affordable." He looked down and looked at her baby bump and he raised his eyebrows and looked at her. "How long have you and Jess been together?"

  "Grill her later, jackass," Jess said amiably.

  Chad led her over toward the kitchen. Janine glanced over her shoulder at Jess. He smiled encouragingly. She gestured with her eyes to Chad's arm, still draped around her shoulder. Jess smirked and walked over, moving Chad's arm and draping his own around her. "My job."

  Chad smiled and shook his head, then gestured to the counter where three other people were standing. "Guys, this is Jess's girlfriend, Janine."

  "You're finally with one long enough to call her a girlfriend?" a woman with short black hair asked.

  "They dropped her off on my doorstep and I thought I'd keep her," Jess replied.

  She smiled and nodded at Janine. "Hi, I'm Candace."

  "Hi," Janine replied with a slight wave. The girl seemed nice enough, but Janine was still a little shy.

  The second girl had red hair and just nodded at Janine. She looked vaguely familiar, but Janine couldn't place her immediately.

  "You remember Paula?" Jess asked, nodding toward the girl.

  Janine blinked and looked at Jess, startled to think that she should remember her and didn't.

  Paula gave a slight chuckle, but it wasn't an overly pleasant sound. "She wouldn't remember me, Jess. She was buried in a book last time I saw her."

  "Paula and John were fucking for a while," Chad said.

  Without meaning to, Janine grimaced.

  "Chad, watch your mouth," the third girl said.

  "What?" Chad asked. "She knows what it means," he said, gesturing to her stomach.

 
"It's her brother, dickhead. She doesn't want to hear who he's sleeping with," Jess said, shaking his head.

  Janine looked over to see who was yelling at Chad and saw a cute little redhead with a smile. "Hi, sweetie. I'm Karen, Chad's girlfriend. Don't mind Paula. She's a grump, but every crowd needs one, and Jess just isn't quite sullen enough to fill the quota."

  Paula and Jess both shot Karen a look.

  A little girl with blonde hair came toddling into the room, holding a book. "Book, book," she said, holding the book up and waving it in the air.

  Karen leaned down. "Hope, honey, go on in the living room and look at your book."

  Janine's eyes lit up. "You have a baby?"

  Karen looked up and smiled. "Oh, yeah. This is Hope. Hope, see Janine. Say hi."

  Hope put her little hand up and waved.

  Janine grinned and walked over to them and leaned down. "How old is she? About two?"

  Karen smiled and nodded. "She just turned two."

  "Aw, she's adorable."

  "Thanks," Karen said, ruffling Hope's hair.

  After eating pizza, they all gravitated into the living room. Chad offered Janine a seat on the couch next to Paula, but Hope was drawn to her, as most younger children were, so instead she sat on the floor. Candace started filling them in about a friend that Janine didn't know, so she talked quietly to Hope. Within ten minutes, she was off in the corner reading books to Hope and clapping when she pointed to a ball and said the word aloud. Hope got a kick out of it, so she started pointing to everything and saying it, and Janine continued to clap and act excited.

  Janine ended up spending most of the evening playing with Hope. She made an attempt to join the adults again when Jess glanced over at her, but by then Hope was quite attached to her companion. She grabbed Janine's hand and led her back over to read some more books.

  "You're pretty good with kids, huh?" Chad remarked.

  She nodded with a little smile, idly playing with Hope's hair. "I like kids."

  "And they obviously like you," Karen said, smiling at Hope. Hope grinned back, but she stayed right by Janine.

  "Kids and animals," she said with a nod.

  "Like Snow White," Paula remarked.

  Janine half smiled. "Sure, something like that."

  Hope tugged on Janine's arm so she turned her attention back to her. "What, honey?"

  "Dress up," Hope said.

  "Honey, leave Janine alone," Karen said. "It's almost time for you to lie down, anyway. No time for dress up."

  Hope didn't seem too upset by the news, instead tugging on Janine and going back to reading her book. Janine continued to clap when she was supposed to.

  She really didn't pay attention until Paula asked, "So, Jess knock you up?"

  Janine looked up with slightly wide eyes. "Hm? Oh," she said, blushing a little even though she didn't mean to.

  "Of course I knocked her up. She's my girlfriend, isn't she?"

  Paula shrugged. "She doesn't really seem your type. You've never gone for the preschool teacher type before."

  Janine frowned slightly, trying to figure out if she was being insulted or not.

  "Yeah, well, I got tired of the hooker type," he returned.

  "Ashley said you never called her back."

  "Heroin addicts also aren't my type," he replied.

  "She isn't a heroin addict," Paula said, rolling her eyes.

  "Not into meth heads either."

  "She definitely isn't a meth head."

  "She's not my type, okay? Back off."

  Paula rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't be so judgmental, Jess. It doesn't suit you."

  "Oh come on, you know Rosie's never been into addicts," Chad said dismissively.

  "Ashley isn't an addict."

  "She's also not having his kid," Karen returned, shooting Paula a look. "Back the hell off."

  "Whatever," Paula said, standing up. "I'm going. See you later. Bye, Jess," she said. She paused by Janine. "Tell John I said hi." Then she smirked and walked out.

  Janine watched Paula leave.

  "Sorry," Karen said with a smile.

  "Wow, she hated me," Janine said.

  Jess shook his head. "It's not you. She's just not overly fond of John. You're his sister, so you get to be gifted with her disdain, too."

  "Yay," Janine said without enthusiasm.

  He smiled and draped an arm across her shoulder, then went back to talking to Chad, Candace, and Karen, although Karen had moved to the floor, so she was paying more attention to Janine and Hope than the others.

  "She went out with John to get to Jess, but Jess wasn't interested. She's just jealous, don't let her bother you. Chad's exes still treat me the same way. When it comes down to it, we won, so screw them."

  Janine half smiled and nodded. "Got it."

  Karen smiled and turned her attention back to Hope while Janine looked at Jess and sighed before turning her own attention to Hope.

  ***

  "See, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Jess asked as they walked.

  "No, not so bad."

  "Of course you spent most of the night in the reading circle with the youngest person there, but..." He trailed off with a smirk.

  She smiled. "You didn't even tell me they had a baby. How old are they?"

  "Chad's twenty-two, Karen's twenty."

  "They were pretty young, then," she remarked with a nod.

  Jess raised an eyebrow. "You're eighteen."

  "Well, yeah. Karen was only eighteen when she had the baby, probably seventeen when she was pregnant. That's young."

  He nodded. "She was eighteen. Never seen a guy shape up so fast," he said, shaking his head.

  Janine smiled. "Chad?"

  "Yeah. He was a total player, but the minute he found out there was a baby on the way, he did a complete turn-around. It was bound to happen. He slept with everyone, and on more than one occasion he remarked that he was out of condoms before the fact."

  "Part of your reason for the protection obsession?"

  Jess nodded. "We were friends when it happened, and I remembered his initial horror when he found out. He got drunk off his ass, then spent the rest of the weekend obsessing over it. Then he went to see her and when they came back, they were a couple." He shrugged. "No idea what she threatened to do to him, but it worked."

  "I'm sure it involved dull scissors and a very sensitive and important part of his male anatomy."

  He gave his own horrified look. "That's horrible."

  She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. "I have a pair of dull scissors. If you ever cheat on me, I'll enlighten you to what I can do with them."

  He shook his head. "I'm not that curious, but thanks for the offer."

  She nodded. "Anytime."

  "I'll probably have nightmares tonight, just so you know."

  "I'll be there to comfort you."

  He just shook his head. "Evil woman."

  She raised her eyebrows innocently. "Hey, if you never cheat on me you have nothing to worry about."

  "I think you might be certifiable."

  "Nope, just territorial. You think Othello was bad? He has nothing on me."

  "Why the sudden territorial streak?"

  She didn't say anything for a second, just watched the sidewalk. After a few seconds she said, "Paula didn't seem to like me much, did she?"

  He rolled his eyes. "If you're not a junkie or a whore, Paula isn't interested in you. You're exactly the kind of person she doesn't like. I didn't know she was going to be there or I would have warned you."

  Janine wrapped an arm around Jess's waist. "Well, I had a good time."

  He nodded. "I'm glad you made friends."

  "Yes, I'm very popular with the under-ten set."

  "Karen isn't under ten. She liked you."

  Janine nodded. "I liked Karen. She seemed nice. And she has a baby, too. Are you and Chad good friends?"

  "We're pretty good friends," he told her.

  "When the kids get older we
could get together for play dates."

  He nodded. "You'd like Karen. You guys should hang out sometime."

  "Does she work?"

  "Part-time," he verified.

  She nodded thoughtfully. "It would be nice if I could make friends with some of your friends."

  He tugged her hand so she followed him across the crosswalk, then he said, "Yeah. I think you'll like Chad and Karen when you get to know them."

  "And Hope," she added.

  He smirked at her. "Fine. And Hope."

  She grinned at him. "I think it's very promising."

  "Good," he remarked.

  She smiled and turned her attention to taking in the new sights while he tried to get her back to Manhattan before dark.

  Chapter Thirteen

  On Sunday, Janine finally got a phone call about a job—as a server at a retirement home. It was all evening work, so she would be gone when Jess was home.

  The woman asked her if she could come in for an interview that day. They agreed to meet at 3:30. Janine hurried to take a shower and throw on a suitable outfit. She pulled Jess away from the computer long enough to look up directions, then gave him a kiss and was out the door.

  The interview went very well. The woman who interviewed her was in her fifties, and seemed to like Janine. She asked Janine if she was available to start immediately. Janine assured her that she was, and the woman told her to be there Monday at four.

  When Janine got back to the apartment, she kicked Todd's clothes out of the way and sat down next to Jess with a grin.

  "I got the job," she said.

  He half smiled. "Did you? Good. What are the hours?"

  "I work Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4:30 to 9:00, but tomorrow she wants me to come in a half hour early so she can show me what I'm doing."

  "Aren't you feeding old people?"

  She shot him a look. "Nice phrasing, but yes."

  He raised an eyebrow. "Does she need to show you how to do that?"