Out Of The Friend Zone

by Stephanie Nicole

  "Oh, that's too bad," Zaiden said, and winked at her. He seemed to be the most outspoken one.

  After that, everyone started talking again, included Brynn in all the conversations, and made her feel welcome. The food was great, but Brynn kept her vow to Chandler, and didn't eat too much garlic.

  When dinner was finished, they all headed to the club across the street. Chandler took Brynn's drink order, then went to the bar to get it for her. He came back with three of the drinks she asked for.

  "Why did you get three?" Brynn asked.

  "Well, I promised you a nice dinner, a few drinks and tons of dancing, right? We've already had the nice dinner, now we're working on a few drinks. So drink up, then we'll dance," he explained.

  "It's been so long since I've had any alcohol. I think these three will get me pretty smashed," Brynn said, looking a little embarrassed.

  "Nothing wrong with that!" Chandler told her as he sipped on his beer.

  Brynn started her first drink, and after tasting it, she decided the best plan of action was to slam it. After it was all gone, she put the glass back on the table, and picked up the next one. Chandler's eyes got wide as he watched her, and he began laughing. "Easy killer, you keep going like that, and you'll really be paying for it tomorrow!"

  "Sorry. The first one is always the hardest, had to get it over with," she smiled.

  A little while later, Chandler pulled a slightly buzzed Brynn out on the dance floor. "I might be a little rusty," Brynn told him. "It's been a while."

  "It's okay, I'm rusty too," he told her.

  They found an empty spot on the dance floor and started to move, a little awkwardly at first, but as the music played on, they started to loosen up and get more comfortable. They were really getting into it, when the music turned from a fast song to a slow one.

  Chandler looked at Brynn. "How about it?"

  Brynn nodded and moved closer. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her in until her hips were touching his. She rested her hands on his shoulders as they moved to the music.

  "Are you having fun?" he asked.

  Brynn looked up into his eyes. Even in the dark, she could see the beautiful shade of green. "I'm having a great time. I don't think I've ever had so much fun. Thanks for making me come out tonight."

  Brynn laid her head on his shoulder. Her heart was racing as she smelled his cologne, and she ran her hands up and down his nicely muscled arms. She felt like her world was spinning out of control, and at that moment, she didn't care.

  Chandler tightened his arms around her waist, picked her up, just slightly, and hugged her body to his. He nuzzled his face in her neck, before putting her down. "You smell so good," he whispered, as he looked back into her eyes.

  "So do you." Brynn said breathlessly, while the space between their lips lessened. Before either one could find their common sense, their lips touched. Tentatively at first, then harder, until they were engaged in a full-on liplock.

  Chandler removed one of his hands from her waist, and put it at the base of her head, on the back of her neck. He closed his eyes and deepened the kiss, enjoying the tingling feeling in his lips, not to mention what was happening to the rest of his body.

  Brynn allowed his tongue to enter her mouth, and massaged it with her own. This was the last thing she had expected, but right now it seemed like the best thing that could have happened. He felt just as good as she thought he would. Every part of her body was reveling in the joy of what was happening.

  When neither could breathe any longer, the kiss was broken. Both Chandler and Brynn's face registered the surprise of what had just happened between them. There was no point in hiding what it did to them - both were blushing and panting.

  "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that," Chandler whispered.

  "It's my fault too. I'm sorry," Brynn told him.

  "This just isn't the right time. I don't want to ruin our friendship," he explained.

  "I know, me either. I think we just got carried away."

  "Yeah...we did."

  They stared at each other for a long moment. Brynn broke the silence with a smile. "How about we blame it on the alcohol, and forget it ever happened?"

  "That sounds good," Chandler told her, but wondered if he would ever forget that marvelous kiss that awoke so many feelings in his body.

  Brynn wondered the same. No man had ever made her feel like that from just a kiss before. But she knew how badly she needed a friend, and he needed a friend too. Something like this happening again could ruin that, and what was better? To have a chance, or to have a friend? Right now, for Brynn, it was definitely the latter.

  "Maybe we should head home. It's getting late," she said.

  Chandler nodded, and led her out of the club. The ride home was quiet, with small conversations about his friends and the dinner they had had. Neither of them mentioned the kiss. When they got home, Chandler walked her to her door to say goodnight.

  "Thanks for tonight. I really did have a great time," Brynn said.

  "I did too. Thanks for coming with me. Tell Willow to come home when she wakes up in the morning, please?"

  Brynn nodded. "Good night," she said, her voice a little shaky. She took her key out and unlocked the door. Chandler stood there behind her as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he did what he was sure was the right thing, and let her go.

  "Night," Chandler said, and left.

  Brynn paid the babysitter, then locked up the house behind her. For a moment she looked over at the neighbor's house and wondered what Chandler was doing over there. She wondered if he felt as lonely as she did.

  She then headed to bed, for a long night of passionate dreams.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, Brynn woke up with a monster headache. She rolled out of bed and headed straight for the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. She shook out three pills from a bottle of Advil, and put them into her mouth. After turning on the water faucet, she scooped up a handful of water and poured it into her mouth, washing the pills down her throat.

  After taking the Advil, Brynn headed for the shower. The pulsing water seemed to soothe the pounding inside of her head. She turned it up as hot as she could stand it, then gradually turned the water temperature down until it was blessedly cool against her overheated skin.

  After finishing her shower and drying off, Brynn dressed in a pair of comfortable navy yoga pants and her white Yankees jersey. She headed downstairs to get breakfast started for Barrett and Willow.

  Just as she was finishing making French toast, Brynn heard the scampering of little feet running down the stairs. She grinned - the kids had impeccable timing where breakfast was concerned. Barrett and Willow jumped up onto the stools at the breakfast bar, ready to eat.

  "Good morning. Did you two have fun last night?" Brynn asked.

  "Yeah, it was pretty cool," Barrett said. "Are we still going to the arcade today?"

  Brynn wanted to go anywhere but the arcade. She knew that once she got there, her headache would go from bad to worse, with all the bells and whistles, and little kids running and screaming...all the wonderful attributes of the arcade!

  "Of course. I promised that we would go, so we will," she said, putting on a brave face.

  After breakfast, Brynn called to let Chandler know Willow was on her way home. "Just wanted to make sure you were awake. Willow's on her way over, then we're going to head to the arcade," she told him.

  "I'm up. Send her over," Chandler told her. He paused for a minute, then said, "Do you still want me to go with you to the arcade?"

  "Just try and get out of it. I'm not suffering alone!" Brynn mock threatened him. "Meet us outside in about half an hour?"

  "We'll be there," he said, then hung up.

  After Barrett changed into the clothes Brynn laid out for him, she asked him to take Jeter out to go potty before they left. He was doing a good job being responsible when it came to his puppy. He never whined about having to take the dog out
or to feed him. She was now convinced that getting him that puppy was a very good idea.

  After Brynn had cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast, and the puppy was put in his crate, Brynn and Barrett headed outside to meet Chandler and Willow. When Brynn walked out their front door, her stomach started doing somersaults, remembering the kiss they had shared on the dance floor the night before. She could still feel the way his lips felt against hers, the way his tongue had begged for entrance into her mouth, and the way her lips tingled after the kiss was broken.

  He sent a nervous smile her way as she walked towards the SUV. Brynn smiled back and kept a sedate pace as she walked to the vehicle. Barrett, on the other hand, ran over to the SUV and jumped into the back, talking excitedly with Willow about how much fun they were going to have. Brynn climbed into the front passenger seat, and as soon as everyone was buckled in, Chandler put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of his driveway.

  The ride to the arcade was quiet between Chandler and Brynn, but Barrett and Willow did enough talking for everyone. The two kids liked to spend all of their time together, and never ran out of things to talk about or say to each other. For once, Brynn was thankful for their incessant chattering, to make up for the lack of words between her and Chandler.

  At the arcade, Brynn and Chandler both bought the kids twenty-dollar access cards, so they wouldn't have to worry about them losing their money, or coming back to beg for more. After they got the cards, both kids took off to the game area, leaving Chandler and Brynn to fend for themselves.

  The two parents walked over to the restaurant portion of the arcade and got a couple of Pepsis to drink. They sat down at an empty table and looked out into the sea of kids. Neither one could look at the other, both of them thinking about their kiss. Chandler was the first to break the tension that was hanging in the air between the two of them.

  "So, do we need to talk about what happened last night?" he asked.

  "Well, I thought we were going to blame it on the alcohol," she said. "It doesn't seem to make it any easier though, does it?"

  "It's not that the kiss wasn't nice, because it was...it really was. It's just that I like our friendship, and I don't want to lose that," Chandler said, his words now coming in a rush. "Say something more happens between the two of us, and then I suddenly realize that even though I thought I was ready to move on after losing Brooklyn, I really wasn't ready, then our friendship will suffer. I just can't do that to you, or to us. You are the first person who has made me smile and laugh, besides Willow, since I lost Brooklyn, and I don't want to lose that. I don't want to do something that will potentially hurt you in the end."

  Brynn took a deep breath. She was glad the ice was broken, and they could talk about this like adults. "I agree. I don't think I'm ready for anything after what Nico did to me. I think I am going to have some serious trust issues, and I don't want to make you hate me for some stupid neurosis that I have because of him."

  "So, friends then? We can move on after last night?" Chandler asked, offering his right hand for her to shake.

  "Friends," Brynn said, as she shook his hand.

  "Now things feel easier," he admitted.

  "So, the kiss was nice?" she teased, a huge smile spread across her face.

  Chandler laughed. "Yes Brynn, it was nice, or better than nice, but I thought we were moving on."

  "We are, I was just making sure!"

  "So, how are you feeling this morning?"

  "Ugh, remind me not to drink so much next time. I have had the mother of all headaches this morning, and this arcade isn't helping much! How about you?"

  "Actually, I feel fine, but I had a lot less to drink than you did!"

  Brynn and Chandler sat around talking while the kids played in the arcade. When Chandler's cell phone rang, he got up from the table and walked outside to answer it. Brynn got bored when he didn't come back right away, so she picked up her phone and called Nyla.

  "Hey girl, haven't talked to you in a while, where've you been hiding?" Nyla asked her.

  "Oh, I've just been busy, you know, work and Barrett...How's everything with you?" Brynn asked.

  "I've been good. How's that neighbor of yours, and when are you going to set me up with him?" Nyla asked. She had asked the same thing every time Brynn talked to her since she met him at Barrett's birthday party. Brynn had been pretty good about being able to brush her off each time, but lately she was getting persistent.

  "Nyla, I don't think he is ready for any of that stuff. He's still trying to get over Brooklyn."

  "Well, it's not like I'm looking for a relationship from him, just a night of wild sex. Everyone needs that now and then," Nyla told her.

  "Not everyone," Brynn laughed. "I think you'd probably give him a heart attack or scare him away or something."

  "Well, anytime he wants to take me up on the offer, I'm available for him," she told Brynn.

  "I'll let him know, but I have to go now," Brynn said. They said their goodbyes, and Brynn hung up her phone.

  She wasn't sure why she had never told Chandler about Nyla's offers. If she was being honest with herself, she would have admitted that she didn't want to have Nyla be the first person that Chandler had sex with since Brooklyn's death. She wanted to be the first. She wanted to be the woman who made him smile, who made him laugh, and who drove him over the edge of his orgasm.

  Brynn started to blush as she thought about bringing Chandler to an orgasm. She chastised herself as she sat there, blushing like mad at the thoughts in her head. She needed to stop thinking about that. It wasn't going to happen.

  Meanwhile, Chandler was on his phone talking to his friend Zaiden. "No, man. I told you that Brynn and I aren't together. She and I are just friends. She's free to see whomever she wants." Chandler should have known that Zaiden would try to hook up with Brynn. He wanted to punch the wall behind him, frustrated that Zaiden was acting on his attraction to Brynn so fast, and that he was trying to go through Chandler to get to her.

  "Well, if you and she are just friends, you think you could set up a date between her and me? You think she'd go for me?" Zaiden asked.

  "Dude, I couldn't tell you. Why can't you just ask her yourself, and leave me out of it?" Chandler asked, trying to not let his irritation show.

  "Because I don't know her that well. Besides, I need you to put in a good word for me, buddy," Nate said. "Well, that is, as long as you meant what you said when you told me you were just friends."

  Chandler sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I'll talk to you later." He hung up the phone and walked back inside.

  Brynn looked at the scowl on Chandler's face as he approached the table, and got worried. "Is everything alright?"

  "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Zaiden just frustrates me sometimes. He was calling to ask about you."

  "About me? And that put you in a bad mood?"

  "I just hate it when he tries to use my friendship with him to get what he wants," he said, trying to cover up the fact that he was just annoyed that Nate had wanted to go out with Brynn. "So, he wants me to talk you into going out on a date with him, and I know he won't leave me alone until you say yes, so will you go, please?"

  "Zaiden was the loud one, right?" Brynn asked.

  "Yes," Chandler said, a little reluctantly.

  Brynn saw where this was going and nipped it in the bud. "Well, I'll go, on one condition. You go out with Nyla and we have a double date. She's been bugging me about hooking her up with you since Cole's birthday," Brynn proposed.

  "Ugh, she better not try to get me into bed with her," Chandler said, wrinkling up his nose.

  "She will, but just be clear that you don't want to sleep with her," Brynn told him. After she realized how it sounded, she added, "I mean, as long as that's what you want...As long as you don't want to sleep with her," Brynn stammered.

  "No, I definitely don't," Chandler told her, chuckling a little at how jealous Brynn sounded. "So, I guess it's settled. We have a double date."

  Brynn
wasn't looking forward to going out with Zaiden, and she was even less enthusiastic about Chandler going out with Nyla, but she was happy to know that Chandler didn't want to sleep with anyone.

  "What are we getting ourselves into?" Brynn asked, and shook her head.

  Chapter 7

  Friday came all too quickly for Chandler and Brynn. Neither one was really looking forward to their dates, and on more than one occasion, both had tried to think of ways to get out of it. In the end, nothing worked, and the date was going to happen as planned.

  Nyla showed up at Brynn's early, to help Brynn get ready. Brynn would have preferred to get ready alone, due to the fact that she resented Nyla for forcing this date on Chandler, and wasn't really in the mood to make nice with her. Instead, Brynn bit her tongue, and tried to act like nothing was bothering her.

  While Brynn worked on her hair and makeup, Nyla busied herself in Brynn's closet, trying to pick out the 'perfect outfit'. She laid out a short black cargo mini skirt on Brynn's bed, along with a tiny red tank. When Brynn came out of the bathroom to get dressed, she looked at the clothes on the bed and got annoyed.

  "Where are we going tonight, street walking?" Brynn cried. "I'm going to have people coming up to me all night asking me how much I charge for my services!"

  "Oh, stop," Nyla laughed. "You're going to look great. No one will mistake you for a hooker. Just don't wear those over-the-knee vinyl boots that I saw in the back of your closet."

  "You're funny, Nyla. You know I don't own anything like that!" Brynn grumbled. "Fine, I'll wear this outfit. Tonight is going to be such a mistake!"

  "Not if I have anything to do with it," Nyla mumbled. "So, where are the kids staying tonight?"

  "Oh, they're staying at Chandler's house. They stayed here the last time we went out, so he thought it would only be fair for them to stay at his house this time," Brynn told her. She knew that wasn't the only reason they were staying over at his house. Chandler had begged to let the kids stay with him, so that Nyla wouldn't get any ideas about trying to go back to his place after they went out. He was trying to do everything he could to let Nyla know that he didn't want to sleep with her, without coming right out and saying it.