The Friends Zone

by Tarrah Anders

  “Ready?” He asks.

  “As I’ll ever be.” I slowly walk over to him, thinking hard about putting one foot in front of the other, as if I’m being scrutinized. I wrap my arm around his waist once I reach him and let him lead me out to his car. We don’t talk during the ride home; my head is pressed against the passenger door window, as I rest my eyes. We soon arrive to his apartment settled nicely in Mission Beach, thankfully he has a garage space as parking in this area is close to impossible most of the time. We pull in and his cuts the engine.

  He shakes my shoulder a bit, assuming that I fell asleep. A goofy grin is on my face and I turn to him.

  “We’re here.” He says quietly. I nod and we both exit the vehicle.

  His hands are rubbing up and down my back as we walk the pathway to his door. Then as soon as we’re inside, he’s on me. My back is pressed up against the wall and his hands are running the course of my right side. His mouth is on my neck and he’s leaving a wet trail as he starts to unbutton my jeans. I moan audibly and he takes the advantage of my parted lips to capture them with his. He’s greedy with his kissing and his hand movements. I’m getting lost in the moment. My head is spinning, but I’m not sure if it’s from the bottomless drinks of the evening or if it’s because of Ryan. He has somehow removed my pants during my inner dialogue and he’s now working on his. I reach to him and as his pants are sliding past his hips, I lower myself onto my knees. His cock is directly in front of my face, inches away from my lips as it stands on command.

  My tongue lashes out and circles the tip of his erection and the underside of his shaft. I hear him pull in a deep breath above me.

  “That’s right baby!” He whispers as I take him in my mouth. My hand is at his base and I pull it up with me as I quicken my movements. I stoke his length up and down with determination for several beats but then he doesn’t let me continue any further, next thing I know he’s pulling me up and again has me pressed against the wall.

  “Not gonna last long baby, if you keep doing that. I wanna be deep in you when I come.” He murmurs against my lips.

  My arms encircle his neck and I pull him even closer to me. He’s now picked me up, our lips are still attached and my legs wrap around his waist as he leads me to his bedroom. Unlike earlier this afternoon in Julian, he slowly lowers me to the bed to make sure and not kill the mood or our momentum.

  He pulls his shirt over his head as I pull mine off frantically. I move up on the bed and his knee bends onto the bed as he comes up between my legs. His hand lowers to my center and he cups my mound. I push up into him and our kissing grows frantic. His hand disappears and next thing I know his cock is at my entrance. As he pushes in, I exhale. “God! I love you!” He stills for a second, his kissing stops briefly and then he commences his movements. His cock is swallowed up and my walls tighten around him as he thrusts in.

  Oh Shit! Oh Shit! Okay, so maybe it was okay that I said it first, Okay, ooooh! I am thinking too hard, about my drunken lip slip. He’s no longer kissing me, but he’s breathing heavily in the nook of my neck. I think that my thoughts have overrun my body and next thing I know Ryan is pulling out and is ejaculating on my stomach. I watch as his hand works over his erection and the hardness in his jaw of deep concentration eventually goes slack.

  Without a word, he climbs off of the bed and disappears into the adjoined bathroom. I stay laying on the bed, now raised on my elbows. He walks back in and is running his palm down his jaw.

  “I just remembered that I have to meet with a few new vendors for breakfast tomorrow, I’ll just drive you home now so I don’t have to wake you.” He deadpans.

  “Um, okay. Just let me go grab my clothes.” I awkwardly say as I get up.

  I run into the hallway and quickly put my pants on that were laying on the floor by the front door. Ryan comes out of his bedroom fully dressed and grabs his keys. We walk back down the pathway that we happily walked in only moments before to his garage. You can hear crickets as we drive the short distance from his apartment to my house. The air is so thick and I just know that I had fucked up by declaring my love for him in a moment of drunken passion. At least now, I’m feeling pretty sober. We pull up to my curb in front of my home. Ryan turns to me, offers me a smile. He unbuckles his seat belt and gets out of the car. I don’t wait for him to open my door and meet him on the sidewalk. I turn to him.

  “I don’t think this is working anymore.” He states coldly with both of his hands in his pocket.

  I can feel the shock resonate on my face and I feel the cat has a hold of my tongue. What the deuce! I’m speechless.

  “What we’ve had this past year, has been great – but I just… I just don’t want to string you along, I just don’t think we are in the same place.” He continues. “I think you’re a lot of fun. And you’re amazing.”

  “Stop! I’m still process what you first said a minute ago. “I stammered.

  “Listen, we can talk later. Yeah, let’s do that, after you’ve calmed down. I’m sorry, really. But I just think it’s best!” He suggested starting to back away towards his car.

  I stood motionless as he opened his car door. He took one last look at me and the drove off. I don’t know how long I stood there. I hugged myself and pulled out my phone. It’s late, or early depending on how you looked at it. It’s too late to text Dane or Betsy. So I turned around and walked up to my front door. A tear falls as I slip the key into the lock and turn the knob.

  DANE

  I haven’t heard from Sterling yet, and I could have sworn we had plans to watch the games today. While I know she’s not a mega-football fan, I do know that when we make plans, it’s very rare that she would flake. She’s not a flaker. I’ve sent her a few texts over the past several hours and there’s been no reply. Kendra texted, asking if I wanted to go to the beach with her today, in which I promptly replied that I had plans. But Sterling, nope – she hasn’t promptly replied yet.

  I met up with Kendra again last night. There’s a slight attraction there, what’s not to like with a beauty like her. She’s smart, funny and nice. It doesn’t hurt that she’s one helluva kisser. We went out last night to dinner and then again drinks downtown. Conversation is easy with her, and I felt relaxed in her presence, even though in the back of my mind there was hestitation.

  Kendra and I made out again, but I stopped things from progressing even though my body is yelling at me for doing so. Instead I jacked off as soon as I got home while thinking of Sterling, for the umpteenth time. I need to get pass this!

  There’s the part that I am die hard in love with my best friend which I can tell is preventing me to fully open myself up to her. Then there’s the part of me who yells at myself for not following through on whichever chick comes my way. It’s not like Sterling and I are ever going to happen and plus, she’s with Ryan, king of douches!

  Ryan. Where would I even start on him. He has a wandering eye, he’s a jerk to most people, and he is a sly dog. I’ve been to Shaw’s on a few occasions and have seen him openly flirting with a few bar patrons of the female variety. Granted, he’s a bar owner, and sometimes behind the bar and that comes with the territory, I just have never gotten the feeling that he’s all there with Sterling as she is with him. Man, I sound like a chick!

  I look down at my phone again and text Max.

  Me: Brews over fball?

  Max: tu casa or mi casa?

  Me: Here.

  Max: Gimmee 20

  I now pull up my one sided messages to Sterling.

  Me: Earth to Sterling…? Earth the Sterling…?

  I can see the “…” bubble pop up on my phone, anxiously waiting for her response. But then the bubble disappears. It reappears again, but then it’s gone quickly.

  Odd. Is she avoiding me.

  Then again the bubble pops up.

  Sterling: Ryan and I broke up last night. I’m just gonna hang out at home today. Sorry for cancelling.

  Shit! Now I feel like an ass. I should pro
bably go over there.

  I switch over to Max’s messages. Me: Change of plans dude. Something’s up with Sterling. I’m heading over to her place.

  Max: No Prob.

  I grab a clean shirt from my bedroom and switch out of the grimy shirt I’ve been wearing all day. I rummage through my kitchen cabinets and find Sterling’s stash of chips. Then I’m out the door to console her. Secretly fist pumping that they broke up, but regaling in that happiness to be a good friend, because that’s what she needs right now.

  My car pulls up her house minutes later and I park in the driveway behind her car. I race up the steps and use my copy of her house key to let myself in.

  The front living room blinds are drawn and it’s quiet in there. I peak around the hallway to the kitchen and dining room, more silence greets me. As I walk down her hallway to the bedrooms, I can hear her television in her room, her door is slightly ajar and she’s curled up in bed under the covers with her back facing where I’m standing in the bedroom doorway.

  I toe off my shoes and I slide in her bed behind her, I hear her gasp and she turns towards me. Her eyes are reddened and glassy. My arm goes around her waist and I hug her to me. She starts sobbing into my shirt and I rest my chin atop her head. She fits so perfectly in my arms. I hug her harder, because that’s what she needs. And I’m a dog enough to think that she feels good in my arms. We lay there in silence for what seems like eternity. Over her head I see that she’s watching some gruesome horror flick, as I hear blood curdling screams fill the room over her sniffing.

  “Hey kid.” I say pulling back wiping her tear stained cheeks. “I brought you some chips. How about we go into the living room and day drink?”

  “Can we stay here a little while longer?” She asked.

  “Whatever you need.” I agreed. Kissing the top of her head and pulling her back tightly into my arms.

  We laid there in silence and eventually her breathing evened out. She fell asleep, which was fine by me, except she had the remote on the nightstand several feet away from where we were positioned in her bed. I was stuck watching college kids get completely slashed and tortured. I looked over to her nightstand which housed her cell phone, her tissues, the remote and her alarm clock. It was close to dinner time, I maneuvered one of my arms free from her, shifted slightly to remove my phone from my pocket and brought up a web browser on the screen. I figured to order some pizza, since she wouldn’t be up for leaving the house and I didn’t want to cook. This left a good 45 minutes of her in my arms left. Her breathing was still evened out and soon my eyes started to drop.

  She awakes with a jolt and sits straight up! “What was that?!” She squeals as the doorbell chimes.

  “Probably pizza.” I yawned, starting to get off the bed and start for her hallway.

  I hear her bare feet behind me on the hardwood floor. “When did you order pizza?” She quizzes. “You were just asleep in there too.”

  “I have my ways.”

  The pizza guy smiles at me, he’s in his teens with braces and his red hair poking out of the sides of his pizza hat. He hands me the pie and is on his way. Sterling is in the kitchen grabbing plates and setting them on her kitchen counter when I bring in the two pies I ordered.

  We plate our food and bring them into the living room, she sits down and I place my plate on the coffee table. “Find something to watch, I’ll grab us some cokes.”

  After I sit back down, I see that she’s turned the television on yet another horror movie. This is her thing. When she’s down and out, she watches the goriest movies to take her mind off of what she’s feeling. It’s been that way since I’ve known her. She doesn’t like to talk about the sad feelings, because she deals with that a lot being an adolescent social worker as a living, so I rarely press her for information. I really don’t want to know why they broke up or how, I’m just happy that Ryan is gone, as bad as that sounds.

  She starts in on her pizza. After a few minutes she breaks the silence. “I told him I loved him.” She whispers.

  My hand freezes in the air, my mouth is awaiting the bite of warm gooey cheese and immediately my eyes snap to hers. My slice goes back on my plate and I put the plate down. Shocked more than anything that she wants to talk about this. “Oh damn!” Is all I can say and my hand touches her knee.

  Her eyes are still glassy, but she’s not looking like she is going to cry.

  “I told him I loved him for the first time ever, and he made up some excuse about me not sleeping over, and then brought me home and broke up with me on the sidewalk. He said that I was a lot of fun! FUN!” She emphasized the last bit.

  Fun. That’s not something that you really say to someone that you really cared for. And what… she loved him and he dumped her after she told him? That’s just not sitting well with me. I haven’t said anything. Purely because I am shocked at her reveal.

  “He said I was a lot of fun, and amazing. Nothing about me making a fool out of myself. I told him I loved him, he finished fucking me and then drove me home after he finished. I’m fun though. Fun! Fun! Fun!” She sputtered out angrily.

  Anger. That’s my feeling right now. I want to punch his face in, I want to ruin him. Instead I look at her, her eyes still glassy, angrily chewing on her pizza.

  “Then he’s not worth your love kid. He’s an asshole.” I think that’s the type of thing you’re supposed to say in this situation. I keep my voice level and I keep her attention on me. My hand is rubbing her knee still. “Do you want me to egg his apartment?” I snicker.

  She giggles. I feel like I made a tiny breakthrough. “Only his car, he loves that thing.” She responds taking another bite of her slice.

  My hand stays on her knee as we sit eating our slices while watching … someone’s head getting sawed off? Really? I quirk an eyebrow over at her mid chew. She catches my reaction and starts laughing.

  “You know this is how I unwind Dane.” She offers with a shrug.

  ***

  I stayed the night over at Sterling’s house. I slept in her bed with her and held her most of the night. I tried to keep my erection at bay when her ass snuggled in close to me early this morning. I don’t spoon, but I make the exception for her. I wake just before 5:30am – I roll out of her bed and walk into the master bathroom. I quietly shut the door and start a shower. Once I’m done, I wrap myself up in a spare towel and pad over to one of her spare bedrooms where I keep a few changes of clothes here just in case. Once dressed, I head into the kitchen and start making a pot of coffee.

  Suddenly, a yawning noise comes from the hallways and a second later, Sterling has entered her kitchen. She’s wearing a pair of pajama shorts with rainbows and clouds and a matching tank top. Her nipples are rigid and peeking through her top and I’m trying unsuccessfully to divert my eyes before she notices. She scratches her head and smiles. Her eyes are a little puffy, but she still makes my pulse race.

  “Morning.” She mumbles reaching past me to the mug I brought down for her, brushing my arm with hers. I’m trying to steer my thoughts away from the twitching of my cock and focus on her needs, but her arm felt so nice.

  “Hey. You alright?” I ask.

  “As peachy as can be after this weekend.” She tries to hide her pain so easily, still after all these years with me, she tries. I can see right through it and I drape my arm around her shoulder and pull her in. I kiss the top of her head.

  “It will all be fine kid. I’ll make sure of it.” I smile. I give her shoulder a squeeze and then release to fill up our coffee cups.

  “I’ve gotta get ready for work. Thank you for being here Dane.” She says stepping up on her tip toes to brush a kiss on my cheek. I lean into it and smile.

  “Always.” I say as she pads back down the hallways with her coffee. I finish my coffee and head out while Sterling is in the shower.

  ***

  All of a sudden, dainty arms wrap about my waist as I stand at the corner of 6th and G. I’m so lost in my thoughts that I’m completely s
urprised until I hear Kendra’s laugh. I’ve been dodging her all week to go out for drinks or dinner – that I finally made a lunch break available for her.

  “Hey stranger.” I say leaning down to kiss her. She wraps her arms around my neck to go in for the kill and the simple peck that I wanted to give her accumulated into a passionate kiss. Before the kiss turns too sexual, I pull back and lick my lips.

  “Hi.” She swoons. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “There’s a great deli somewhere around here that I’ve been meaning to try out. I just can’t remember if it’s on this street or the next.” I say looking in each direction.

  “Ummm, Okay.” She starts looking too. We never found the deli, but settled on a burger joint that was along our path and not too far from the parking garage we both parked in.

  As we’re sitting facing another in our booth, I can feel her foot trying to mingle with mine. I feel like it’s high school all over again. She’s smiling and absently picking at something on her hand.

  “So, do you have plans this weekend?” She questions.

  “Some of the weekend. I have some projects around my house that I’m working on, and then my best friend and I have our standing chill time.”

  “Max and you have standing… date nights together?” She starts to giggle.

  “No, no… my other best friend, Sterling.” I supply not adding much more information. I feel like I’m trying to keep Sterling and Kendra separate in my life, is that what I’m trying to do? “She and her boyfriend just broke up. We’ve been friends since before puberty.” I explain.

  I saw the quick bout of jealousy when I mentioned that Sterling was female and then flare back down once she heard how long we’ve been friends.

  “Oh, that’s a bummer. Well, if you feel like a break of house things, we could maybe watch a movie.” She says sounding non-committed as our burgers are placed in front of us.

  I smile and start in on my lunch. We make idle chat during the remainder of our time. We start our walk back to the parking garage where we both parked. I walk her to her car and start to lean down to kiss her goodbye. She quickly turns her head.