More than ‘JUST’ Friends

by Ford, Mia

  “Do I come here often” Naomi asked with a smile.

  I nodded.

  “Sorry, but that just seems to be the stereotypical question, right?”

  “Well, I’m new in town,” I said. “I’m still learning how things are done here.”

  “Oh, where are you from?” Naomi asked.

  “I’m from a bit of everywhere, but I’d say that I grew up in Ohio. You?”

  “I’m a Kentucky girl through and through,” she said. “I was born and raised in Louisville. I even went to college there. I know it sounds so boring, but when you love where you are there isn’t a lot of reason to leave it.”

  “I hear that,” I said. “I guess I’m more of a rolling stone. I hate to be in one place too long. It makes me a bit crazy.”

  “Well, we can’t have you getting crazy now, can we?” Naomi asked.

  “I’m pretty good at reeling it in,” I replied.

  Roxy came back with my burger and fries.

  “Wow, that looks perfect,” Naomi remarked. “You see how the grease has almost demolished the bun so it falls apart at first touch? That is how you know you’ve gotten a Big Nick burger.”

  I took a bite and savored every bit of the greasy goodness.

  “That’s right,” I said. “You’d never know it, but I usually eat very healthy. Some people might even say I have a problem with walking on the wild side, but today is just one of those days.”

  Naomi laughed. A moment later the waitress brought her country fried steak.

  “Yeah, I have that same problem,” Naomi said.

  The two of us continued to chat a while and I couldn’t believe how easy the conversation between us was. After a few minutes Naomi moved her plate so she was now sitting right across from me, much to Roxy’s chagrin since I was now preoccupied with Naomi and much less interested in Roxy’s…um… assets. In fact, I found it almost annoying now that the waitress continued to try to flirt with me. Each time she left the table Naomi would make another hilarious remark about Roxy.

  Naomi was interesting and fun. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a good time talking with a total stranger. By the end of the meal I knew that I did not want the evening to end so suddenly, even if it was Wednesday and I had an early day tomorrow.

  “So, I’ve satisfied my burger craving, but now I have another craving that needs taken care of,” I said.

  Naomi’s eyebrows rose and she looked at him skeptically. “What’s that?”

  I could tell from her tone exactly what she thought I was thinking, and she wasn’t far off the mark, but for the moment I decided to keep that fantasy to himself.

  “Would you like to join me over at Shady’s for a beer or two?” I asked.

  Naomi smiled. “Absolutely.”

  * * *

  “Nice break,” Naomi said.

  I looked over at her and smiled, trying not to let on that I was impressed with myself for that last shot. The pool table break shot was hard and fast, and the balls scattered everywhere with three stripes and two solids sinking on the break. It had actually been a little while since I’d shot a good game of pool, but it was nice to know I hadn’t lost my touch.

  “I guess I’ve got the little ones.” I said as I slid over to line up a shot in the center pocket. I was vaguely aware that my ass was on full display for Naomi to take a gander at if she so chose to do so, but I tried to keep it looking as natural as possible. Hey, I was just playing pool; if she couldn’t help herself but to check out my anatomy then that was beyond my control.

  I smiled to myself as I drew back and made the shot easily.

  “You’ve played this game before,” Naomi teased.

  She had a fun, playful style about her that I found very appealing. That combined with her intelligence and her beauty was a killer combo and it was captivating me more by the minute. It was funny how when you least expected it you would run into the most interesting woman you’d ever met and there would be a spark, a real connection that happened as naturally as breathing. I’d never really had it happened that way before. Usually it was mild flirtation and then we headed to the bedroom. At least, that was the way it used to be.

  Naomi was definitely not the type of girl I would expect to get into bed easily. Something about her and the way she carried herself told me that she liked to take her time and when she decided she wanted a guy she let you know. But no amount of seduction on my part was going to make a bit of difference. I liked that.

  “It’s actually been a while,” I said honestly.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. Is that the ruse? You pretend to never play and then wipe the floor with me? That’s not fair. If we were waging money I’d accuse you of hustling me.”

  “If I was going to hustle you I’d have to lose a few first. You know, it wouldn’t work if I showed you immediately that I was awesome and probably a better player. No one is going to take that bet.”

  Naomi grinned widely. “I see. So, you’ve done some hustling before I take it.”

  I laughed. “No, not in pool, anyway.”

  “Really? Well, now I’m intrigued.”

  I sighed. “I used to do competitive martial arts. Friends of mine used to bet other people on my fights. And they would bet on other fights. Sometimes the other opponents would obviously be on the take and be trying to throw the fight, which—not to toot my own horn—but I didn’t need. So, any time I saw my opponent obviously lying down and not fighting hard, I’d sit down across the ring from them. This was usually enough to get them up and going for fear of being found out and kicked out of the league.”

  “That’s interesting,” Naomi said. “But you never took any money for lying down, did you?”

  I looked her square in the eye and spoke honestly. “Not a penny.”

  Naomi smiled and nodded.

  I missed the next shot and sat down at our table to sip my beer. Naomi made her first two shots and now it was my turn to check out her sweet ass in a tight pair of jeans without being obvious about it. I wasn’t sure if I was pulling that off or not, but her back end was rather mesmerizing.

  “Wow, nice shot!” I said as she sank a hard to hit bank shot.

  She just smiled and winked at me.

  “You might be in trouble,” she said.

  I didn’t care; I was having too much fun watching this beautiful woman move around the table.

  Naomi finished sinking her last ball. Now she was aiming for the eighth ball.

  “Wow, I think I might be finished,” I joked.

  “Don’t count yourself out yet; that’s a hard shot,” Naomi insisted.

  “I think you will manage,” I said.

  The eight ball was hugging the side close to the corner pocket while the cue ball was just passed midway and hanging in the center. It was a tricky shot for some, but definitely not impossible.

  Naomi took a long breath and leaned in closely. She was now right across the table from me where I was sitting at the little table holding my beer. As she bent over the table right in front of me I could see the most amazing looking cleavage out of my top peripheral. My eyes wanted to follow the line, wanted to drift downward and see the glory that was waiting just inches below my current line of sight, but I could not take my eyes of Naomi’s. She was staring right into me now, as if looking through my soul and just taking bits and pieces of everything she saw and putting it back together in a much better place than when she’d found it.

  “Here we go,” Naomi said.

  She pushed the cue stick through her fingers and I heard it hit the cue ball with a faint bumping sound. The ball moved across the table and connected with the side of the eight ball to give it just the right, gentle nudge into the corner pocket where it finally fell.

  I couldn’t hold back my applause.

  “Wow, that is very well played,” I said.

  “Thank you,” Naomi replied. She stepped forward and grabbed her beer off our table. After finishing the last few drops from her bottle she sai
d, “So, next round is on the loser?”

  I smiled and waved at the bartender to bring us two more beers.

  When we finally left the pool hall it was getting close to eleven. We’d both had a few beers a piece and played about seven games, but I had to admit I’d lost count. It was the best evening I’d had in a long time, by far.

  As I waked Naomi to her truck, I kept wondering if I should try to push things further and ask her if she wanted to come back to my place. I wanted to take her there so badly. I wanted to inhale her sweet perfume, hold her softness in my arms, kiss those pouty, seductive lips, and wake up next to her in my warm bed tomorrow morning. All of those things sounded like a little slice of paradise I’d not come close to in a while.

  But I knew that it wasn’t the right time. I didn’t have to ask; it was just something I felt in my gut. So, for now I was fine with just enjoying the evening for what it was and hoping that another evening would soon follow in the near future.

  “Well, I had an excellent time tonight,” I said when we reached Naomi’s car.

  “So did I,” Naomi said. “Believe it or not but I don’t go out much anymore.”

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “Ugh,” Naomi said. “Painful memories.”

  “I see,” I replied, even though I wasn’t sure what she meant. “Well, I’d love to do this again sometime. I’ll call you and we can work out a time to get together again.”

  I handed her my phone and she quickly typed in her name and number.

  “Great,” I said. “You drive safe and I hope none of your patients bite you tomorrow.”

  Naomi laughed. “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  I was turning to leave but then I felt something stirring in my guts. We were looking into each other’s eyes, smiling, our bodies mirroring each other. Before I realized what I was doing I was leaning forward, as was she, and our lips were meeting in a soft, sweet kiss.

  The tingling sensation that rolled over my body right then was unparalleled. I’d never felt anything like it. I can’t explain it, but it felt right, as if I was supposed to be right there and then to meet this woman. I had been thinking about finding the one for a long time and no one I’d met had come close to being that woman, but this woman right there and then had awakened something in me. It almost felt like two souls that had been ripped apart at birth had finally reunited together at last.

  “Goodnight,” Naomi said as the kiss finally broke.

  “Goodnight,” I replied.

  Naomi stepped into her sedan and drove away. As I sauntered over to my truck I found myself whistling and feeling amazing. I knew that I’d just met the woman I was going to spend my life with. I never thought that sort of thing was real—love at first sight and all that—but here it was right there, staring me in the face and it was the most amazing thing I’d ever witnessed.

  I was actually giddy. And it took a hell of a lot to bring me anywhere close to being giddy.

  But as I drove home I thought that I could definitely get used to the feeling.

  Oh, yeah…

  Chapter Four

  Naomi

  By the time I got to work the next morning I was feeling strange. I kept replaying the previous evening over and over in my head, as I had most of the night. It was so weird. I was too wired, too happy to even sleep. I laid in my bed for several hours trying to close my eyes and get some sleep, but I was too happy, too excited over what had just happened. I’d just spent the evening with the best guy I thought I’d ever met. I thought I’d met the perfect man before—multiple times in fact—but it had never come close to matching the way I was feeling after my evening with Jay.

  When I sat down at the diner it never occurred to me to start speaking to some random stranger. But then I happened to glance at him. He was so handsome, so sexy. There was something about the way he carried himself with so much pride and honor. I loved that. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but I pretty quickly put it together that he was a soldier.

  I swore to myself that I would never get involved with a soldier. It was a hard and fast rule I’d always lived by, yet I couldn’t deny how drawn to them I was. Their loyalty to country, their bravery, their strength, and their confidence was so inspiring. I’d always had a thing for soldiers, or really any man in uniform. But I wasn’t about to let myself get mixed up in one.

  If you let yourself fall in love with a soldier then you were just setting yourself up for heartbreak. They moved around constantly, they were always on duty and often had a tough time turning it off to be present for you and a family, and there was always the chance they could become injured, or killed in combat. I admired what they do, but I had made a decision that I would never let myself fall for one.

  So imagine my surprise when sitting in my favorite diner when I suddenly opened my mouth to make a joke with a complete stranger. By the time I realized I’d said anything it was too late to take it back and this handsome stranger had engaged me in an interesting conversation.

  And then it had built from there.

  I kept replaying that kiss over and over in my mind as well. I’d never intended for anything remotely physical to happen. It was just a fun evening with a new friend, but I knew what he did for a living and I was devout to the oath I’d sworn.

  But there I was leaning in and kissing him back just as he was kissing me. And it was so damn good.

  I wanted it again. I needed more of that in my life. It had opened up some things inside of me that I’d buried and kept dormant; things which I didn’t know I was ever going to let see the light of day again.

  And there I was having crazy and confusing feelings for this beautiful man, this soldier.

  “I don’t believe it!” Heidi squealed when I told her the good news. I wasn’t sure why I did; I knew how she would react, but she was my best friend and I was bursting so badly at the seams to tell somebody.

  “I’m already starting to regret this,” I said. We’d just sat down to lunch together in the small lounge room. Theresa, the other vet in the clinic, had gone out to eat. We assumed our receptionist had done the same unless she was hanging around somewhere just to eavesdrop.

  “This is so huge,” Heidi said. “See? Didn’t I tell you that it was easy?”

  “It was, but I didn’t really do anything. I mean, I was there and just made a joke for some reason. Then that was all it took; we talked all evening.”

  “I’m so excited,” Heidi giggled. “Are you going to see him again?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “I mean, I gave him my number. I don’t know why. I was just so caught up in the moment and I was having fun, but now that I’ve had time to think about it I just don’t know if I’ll answer if he does call.”

  “What do you mean ‘if’? He is going to call. There is no doubt in my mind. But why would you not want to go out with him again? It sounds like a perfect evening, well, except he didn’t jump your bones in the back of a car somewhere.”

  I laughed and shoved some leftover pasta into my mouth. “It’s just not that simple. I had a great time and he seems like a wonderful guy.”

  Heidi leaned in. “I’m still not hearing the bad part here.”

  “Well, he is a soldier. Actually, he is a Sergeant. His career is in the Army.”

  “Oh, that’s hot. I love military men. They are so rugged and tough. It really gets me going.”

  “Well, that may be true, but you know how I feel about dating men in the military. I’m terrified of getting my heart broken.”

  “Look, I know you have good reasons to be afraid of that, but who says you are dating? You had an evening where you hung out a bit. And you might hang out again and do even more, but you don’t have to consider it dating. You could consider it just two people who want to have fun with each other without any drama or weird issues. I’m sure he’d be down for that.”

  I leaned back and looked at my friend. I could feel the sarcasm emanating from my gaze. “Do you ever actual
ly hear yourself speak?”

  Heidi laughed. “Yeah, I know. But you know you should listen to me on this.”

  “I hear what you are saying and I agree it’s a bit immature on my part, but I can’t help the way I feel. I’m afraid to let myself get emotionally involved.”

  “You aren’t listening to me,” Heidi said. “Who says you have to get emotionally involved? No one is saying that. You can still just date casually and have fun. You might be friends with benefits, or whatever the cool kids call that nowadays…? Something about cold Netflix…? I don’t know, but you get what I’m saying. You can just be honest with him and straight up say that you don’t want to get into a relationship right now. Just be honest. You’d be surprised how often guys are into that.”

  I smiled and finished eating my pasta. Heidi always left me feeling better when I was in a weird mood.

  “But that’s the problem. I’m not sure I can do that. If things start happening, how do I keep my heart out of the picture? And if I do start to have real feelings then what? It’s going to be devastating to break it up and I just don’t know if I’m emotionally able to do that right now.”

  Heidi groaned. “I swear. It’s depressing talking to you, sometimes. It really is.”

  “I know you love it,” I said. “You wish I was out there painting the town red with you every night, don’t you?”

  Heidi smiled. “No, actually. I don’t go out that often anymore. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but it seems lately I enjoy just hanging at home a lot more and reading a good book or watching some television and going to bed at a normal hour, even on weekends.”

  I laughed. “Well, you are twenty-seven. You had to grow up sometimes. It happens to the best of us.”

  “Now that is depressing. So, why didn’t you sleep with Jay?”

  “I just met him a few hours earlier,” I said. “It’s… it’s not my thing and it just didn’t feel right. Besides, he didn’t really push for that. Maybe he wasn’t interested in that either.”

  “So, you don’t want to sleep with him?”