by Tamara Black
We had always gotten shit from other people for being friends, but we didn't care. She encouraged me with my painting, and I tried to pay attention to her interests in life. The problem was that they changed constantly. One week would be all about fish while the next might be about butterflies or even something totally unrelated like architecture.
She never failed to captivate me with her broad range of knowledge about various subjects. I thought that was one of the main reasons we got along so well together. That and the fact that we really cared about each other. Time and time again, I had stood up for her or she had done the same for me. The more the world at large hated and laughed at us, the stronger our friendship became.
Did she really want to give up what had taken us so many years to build? Her body turned me on, a lot, but I'd always managed to keep my hormones under control when around her. The fact that I'd been able to do that for so long was a testament to how much she meant to me. With a sigh, I stood up and got out of the tub.
After drying off, I threw on some pajama pants and a t-shirt. I thought about painting for a while, but all I really wanted to do was sleep. A thousand thoughts were still running through my mind. As I fell asleep, I wondered if Mercedes would bring up the kiss again or if we could just continue on like we had been for years and years. There was no telling with her, and that was one of the reasons I truly loved her.
THREE
Mercedes
When I woke up the next morning and didn't see my usual text message from Logan on my phone, I began to regret the move I'd made. The kiss was stupendous, but was it worth losing my friendship with him? I was pretty sure he was still in love with Melinda, which made me really mad. She treated him like shit, but he never seemed to see it.
As I got out of bed, my phone began to ring on the nightstand. I looked over and saw Logan's name and number. Why was he calling and not texting? Things were already weird between us after the kiss and I hadn't even seen him or talked to him yet. I decided to ignore the call. I wanted more time to think about what happened. The best way to do that was to head to the library.
By reading books and learning something new, I could push my thoughts of Logan to the back of my mind. He was still present, but I wanted to process everything and come up with what to do next subconsciously. The method had worked for me many times before. After I got dressed, I walked to the library to hang out before my shift at Dotty's Diner.
I was really hoping that the library would be practically empty on a Tuesday afternoon so I could drown myself in a book about Tahiti, but as soon as I walked in, I noticed Big Ben. He was a friend, but not a close one. We had never really clicked before. A lot of it had to do with the fact that he'd had a thing for me. He always teased me about leaving Logan and dating him.
“Hey, girl,” he said before I could sneak out.
“Hey, Ben. How you doing?” I asked.
“Not bad, not bad.”
He waved me over to the table where he was sitting. I walked over.
“You ready to start dating a black man now?” he asked.
I stifled an urge to roll my eyes. “Sorry, Ben. Single and loving it for the moment.”
“That's a shame. Where's Logan at?”
“Logan?”
“You two are always together.”
“Not always,” I said, a little too defensively.
“What you doing now?”
“Gonna read some before work. Why?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to go see a movie or something.”
“Maybe some other time, okay?”
He smiled at me. “Okay, then. I'll hold you to that.”
I walked away before he could keep the conversation going. He was a decent guy, but I wasn't interested in dating anyone if it wasn't Logan. When that thought hit me conscious mind, I stopped for a moment. Had I finally admitted to myself that I wanted him as more than a friend? I sighed then headed into the shelves to try to find a book.
After I randomly picked something about gardening, I sat down in one of the recliners and opened the book. The words and pictures had no meaning as my eyes glanced over them. All I could think about was Logan. Specifically, my thoughts centered around our kiss. His lips had tasted so sweet, but was it worth the risk of losing him as a friend? I still didn't have an answer by the time I got up and headed to work.
FOUR
Logan
When Mercedes didn't answer my call, I kicked myself for leaving the night before. I had thought about kissing her so often that when it actually happened, I freaked out. Getting the call from Melinda made it seem even worse. Even though I hadn't called her back, Mercedes, my best friend, didn't know that. Was she mad at me?
Usually she let me know when she was upset, but this was something different. Our kiss had changed everything between us for some reason. Instead of bugging her, I started painting before I had to go into work at the gallery. While I didn't make a lot of money helping out downtown, I got enough to keep going while I slowly sold my paintings online.
I decided to head down to the library on the off chance she stopped by there before she went to work. It was one of her favorite spots. When I got to the block, I parked my car then walked inside the first set of doors and stopped. I saw Mercedes talking to Ben. She had told me many times before that he had hit on her or flirted with her. I had warned her against getting involved with him because they weren't a match.
When I saw them talking together, I frowned and walked back outside before either of them could see me. I drove away not knowing what to think. At the end of the day, I just wanted her to be happy. Then again, after the kiss we had shared on her couch, I knew that I could never think about her exactly the same way ever again. And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She had awakened feelings in me. Words that had been unspoken between us for years were materializing in the real world.
FIVE
Mercedes
After my half-shift at the diner, I got off the bus on the block where Logan lived. I usually stopped by when I got off, but I knew this night was going to be different. The kiss between us had set into motion a series of events that couldn't be taken back no matter how hard we tried. I stared at his door for a moment before knocking. Was I ready for what was about to happen?
I knew him well enough to know that he would insist on talking about what had happened. For better or worse, we were going to have to confront the situation head-on. Hopefully, even if he wasn't interested in a deeper relationship with me, he would still want to remain friends. No matter what happened, that was my goal. I took a deep breath and knocked. The door opened.
“Hey,” he said, motioning me in.
“Hey.”
I walked in and went straight to his couch. He joined me, sitting on the opposite end.
“I tried calling earlier,” he said.
“I know. I've been thinking. I just needed some time alone.”
He frowned slightly as he nodded his head. Did he really not believe me?
“It's all good. We've been friends a long time. I don't want to lose that.”
“I don't either. That's why I think we should talk about the kiss.”
“The what?”
I scooted closer to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips before he could react. “That.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Well, what do you think? Which way should we go?”
“What about Ben?”
“Huh?”
My face scrunched up in confusion.
“I saw you two at the library today.”
“What? Really? You're tripping about that? You know how I feel about Ben.”
“Things change,” he said seriously. “We've changed.”
“I don't want what we have to change. I just want it to get better.”
“Maybe we already had it perfect and the kiss ruined it.”
“That's just crazy,” I said as I slid back toward the other end of the couch.
�
�I was just about to watch The Daily Show. Want to join me?”
“Sure...” I said, not really happy that was the extent of our conversation about the kiss and a possible relationship.
Jon Stewart was hilarious and insightful as usual, but Logan and I had been around each other so long, we both knew our laughs were hollow and empty. After the half hour show, I got up to leave.
“I'm going to go.”
“No Colbert?”
“Nah, I'm feeling a little tired.”
“Okay. Good to see you.”
“I'll talk to you later,” I said as I waved and headed toward the door.
Outside, I walked the five blocks to my apartment. Logan and I were so close, but at the same time it seemed like an entire universe stood between us. Did I really want us to be more than friends?
SIX
Logan
Something had definitely changed in the relationship I had with Mercedes. Jon Stewart was usually enough to get us in the zone and feeding off the energy of each other, but last night had been horribly awkward. She had kissed me briefly on the lips again, and once again I'd not followed through. I was too weak to be the main man in her life.
My next realization was even sadder. If I truly loved her and wanted her to be happy, I had to stop spending so much time with her so that she could find a real boyfriend, someone who could give her all she wanted and deserved. The thought tore me up on the inside, but I knew it was what I had to do if I truly wished for her to be happy.
Then, as often happens in life, I got a phonecall that changed everything. I knew better than to answer Melinda in the early evening when she liked to drink, but I answered so that I didn't have to keep thinking about spending less time with Mercedes. From the moment I answered, I knew I had made a mistake.
“Hello, Melinda.”
“You don't have to be so formal, do you? I mean, you've had your penis inside me.”
“Why do you have to be so vulgar all the time?”
“You didn't seem to mind when I was sucking your dick and talking dirty.”
“That was different. We were in a relationship.”
“We're still in a relationship.”
“No, Melinda, we're not. I broke up with you.”
“Well, in my world, both people have to break up. I refuse to break up with you, so you're stuck with me.”
Her giggle made me nauseous.
“Whatever. Look, I have to go. Have a good night drinking.”
“Fuck you, Logan...”
Before she could launch into a full tirade, I disconnected the call. Then, I did something I hadn't been able to do up to that point. I blocked her number in my phone. That single act was a spark that ignited a fire inside me. I suddenly knew exactly what I had to do. Without a second thought, I got up and left my apartment.
My first stop was the liquor store. After I bought two bottles of Mercedes' favorite red wine, I headed toward her apartment. The sun was setting in the sky as I walked. Dusk was always a magical time to me. I had tried to capture the essence of those few moments between night and day in my paintings, but I'd never been able to do it justice.
When I got to her apartment, I boldly knocked on the door while I shuffled the bottles in my other arm. A moment later, the door opened. I'd seen Mercedes almost every single day for many years, but in that moment, even before I'd had any drinks, she looked different to me – in a good way. Her hair was pulled back neatly as usual, but that wasn't it. As a smile spread across her face, I knew what it was finally that attracted me to her.
SEVEN
Mercedes
When I heard the knock at the door, I hoped that it was Logan. When I opened it, I had to smile. He stood on my porch with two bottles of wine.
“Come in,” I said.
We headed to my kitchen where I opened one of the bottles while he leaned against the sink. Neither of us said anything, but it was a comfortable silence that had taken us years to perfect.
“Here you go,” I said, offering him one of the two glasses I'd poured.
“Thanks.”
“To friendship.”
I raised my glass.
“To love,” he said as he clinked his glass against mine.
To mask my surprise as best I could, I took a long drink of wine. Before I could say anything, he set his glass down and reached for mine. I let him take it from me and set it next to his on the table. Something was different about him, but I couldn't tell what it was exactly.
He moved forward and held my cheeks in his hands as he slowly and deliberately bent down to kiss me on the lips. I wrapped my hands around his waist and pulled him close as we kissed. This one was even better than our first. It was as if years of sexual tension were finally being released.
“I just had to do that,” he said when he pulled back. “You want to dance?”
“I'd love to dance with you.”
We both finished off our glass. I poured another and we made our way into the living room. The Pandora station I turned on was something I had been working on for many years. It was a combination of the music we both loved to listen to over and over again, along with some love songs.
After just one slow dance, we broke away. We finished our second glass of wine. I was about to go pour us one more when he surprised me even more by walking over to me and kneeling in front of me. I looked down, amazed, as he lifted up my shirt and began planting kisses on my stomach.
I moved backward slowly with him following, his hands on my hips. When I reached the couch, I stopped, still looking down at him. He looked up and straight into my eyes as he pulled down my sweatpants. This was a moment I'd been waiting on for a long time. Was it about to happen?
Next came my pink panties. His hands ran over my smooth, chocolate skin as he kissed me again. Then, slowly and gently, he had me sit back on the couch. He leaned forward and took off my shirt. As soon as it was off, he began kissing my breasts. My nipples hardened as my hands ran through his hair.
Then I began pushing him lower. He got the idea. His kisses moved lower, to my stomach. Bypassing my neatly trimmed bush, he kissed my inner thighs. I spread my legs further as I rubbed his head, trying to get him to make contact with my most sensitive spots.
He teased me for a moment or two, his mouth getting closer and closer to my pussy. When he finally made contact, I sucked in air quickly. It felt as good as I had imagined many times before – perhaps even better. His tongue traced the outline of my outer lips, teasing me even more.
I moaned as he licked me with a flat, broad tongue. He was an expert, something I'd never known about him. I had joked with him about it before, but I had never realized he was so talented. My skin was his canvas and his mouth a brush. He knew just how to touch me.
Slowly, as his hands roamed over my body and he continued to eat me out, I felt an orgasm approaching. The feeling was familiar, but I knew this one was going to be special. As I got closer, the rest of the world faded away. All I could feel was him making love to me with his mouth.
With a final touch of my clitoris, I felt myself thrown over the edge. The universe exploded in my mind as waves of pleasure washed over my body. I pushed him away and looked down. My juices were all over his face. He smiled at me.
“Wow, that was amazing,” I said even though I knew words didn't do justice to the way I felt.
“Do you want to continue?” he asked, continuing to look into my eyes.
“We've gone halfway.”
“I want to fuck you so bad right now,” he said.
“Stand up.”
He obeyed, and I began taking off his clothes. I'd seen his flaccid penis once before for a few seconds when we were both really drunk, but he was already starting to get hard when I pulled down his underwear. After he stepped out of his pants, he kicked them away and took off his shirt.
I looked at his naked body, and I couldn't believe that we'd never gotten this far before. He had always turned me on in a physical way, but this
was on an entirely different level. I reached out and tugged at his cock a few times before sitting on the edge of the couch with my legs spread.
Once down on his knees, he moved forward and bent to kiss my breasts. I felt the tip of his hard cock poke me as he took one nipple into his mouth. Then, slowly, he moved up and kissed my lips as he pushed into me.
The moment he penetrated me, I knew I was going to come again. I felt so wonderful as he began moving in and out slowly. I wrapped my legs around him. He stopped kissing me. Our eyes locked as we found a natural rhythm.
Our bodies became one. We had been friends for so many years, we were able to anticipate the needs and wants of each other. I slid my hands down and cupped his ass cheeks, trying to pull him further into me. He filled me completely, but I wanted more.
Time began to lose all meaning as I listened to his quick, short breaths. He seemed to get even harder inside me as he continued pushing into me. I didn't see how it could get any better. Then he took what we had even further as he called out my name.
“Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes...”
I screamed as I came. He followed a moment later when his cock throbbed inside me and he grunted as he stopped moving in and out.
“Stay inside me,” I pleaded as I held his body tight.
We kissed again. Slowly, he slid out of me. I joined him on the floor where we stared up at the ceiling. My breasts rose and fell as I tried to catch my breath.
“That was even more amazing,” I said.
“I love you,” he whispered.
I sat up, leaned over and kissed him. A sudden sense of joy exploded inside me. After all our years of friendship, we had taken it to the next level.
EIGHT
Logan