by Jamie Knight
I knew I should stop, and I did. I wasn't that much of an asshole, but the anger just seethed inside me, which why I was so mean to her when I saw her again. I hadn’t been thinking that maybe she was interested and didn't want to do it right then.
I would always regret treating her that way. I wanted to tell Whiney that but knew there were some some hurt feelings there too with what happened between her and Kora having a sort of falling out, or at least fading away from each other compared to the strong friendship they’d had since they were kids.
I knew it was at least partly my fault.
Another item for my list of regrets.
"Great," Kristen said, as the leaf fell into place, "now there are some veggies in desperate need of chopping in the kitchen."
"Why do I get the feeling you asked me over as a labor-saving device?" I asked.
"Because you are a keen observer of the human condition," Kristen said, almost making it sound like a compliment.
"Well, since you put it that way."
I knew her little plan to get me over here had worked. And now I might as well stay and make the best of it.
Chapter Four - Logan
Chopping vegetables could almost be a zen-like experience.
The steady rhythmic thumping of the steel knife blade on the wooden cutting board.
The crisp snap of veggies being cleaved.
Kristen had actually provided a cleaver for the job, which made the task a lot easier.
Soon, I could hear the first of the guests arrive and I knew she had been successful at snagging me into her little party. Most of them were bearing gifts of wine. Some of them came empty handed; a few others with a dessert.
One of them was wearing a black, sparkly dress that reminded me of what Kora had worn to a band concert that she and Kristen had played in. Our parents had wondered what my sudden interest was in attending their performances.
I’d never admit to liking band or Kora— this was before we had hooked up— but there it was. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from finding any opportunity to go see her, and even to pay attention to and remember what she was wearing. And I knew it was something a lot like the dress this other woman had on now.
As a matter of fact, I couldn't help but notice a particular theme among Kristen's friends. Like she said, I was a keen observer of the human condition.
All of these friends she had tried to make since parting ways with Kristen— and there were a lot of them— were all versions of Kora, but none of them lived up to her spirit. The similarities were difficult to miss, but the differences were also quite obvious.
I'm not sure why she bothered. Her friendship with Kora was obviously irreplaceable. Not that I couldn't relate.
"You okay?" Kristen asked, coming in to check on me.
"Yeah, it's just the onions," I said.
"That's a parsnip," she pointed out.
"Which are related to the onion," I said.
"I don't think so," she said.
"Oh," I said.
"Did you cut yourself?" she asked, gently examining both my hands.
"Not that I know of," I said.
"You would probably have noticed," she agreed, releasing me.
"Were you planning on starting a winery?" I asked.
"Yeah, I know. A bottle of wine seems to be all anyone can think to bring. A hot entree or a pie certainly wouldn't go amiss," Kristen said.
"I hear you, dumpling," I said.
Soon everything was done and everyone seemed to be waiting around for something to happen, like side characters in a Shakespeare play.
"Should we eat soon?" I asked. “Since you kind of roped me into being here?”
"So you noticed that,” she finally admitted.
“Sure did. And it would have been kind of hard to miss even if I wasn’t a keen observer, like you say.”
“Ha. Well, soon, yes, but not yet, since I am still waiting for one more thing."
I was about to ask what she was waiting for when I heard Kora's voice coming from the dining room. It had been three years, but I would still know it anywhere.
Without thinking, I went to the kitchen door and looked out. She was a bit older but still sexy, dressed in a modest fashion that hid her luscious curves, but I knew what was hiding underneath.
The huge boobs.
The tight, smooth little pussy.
That was always wet for me, just like I was always hard for her.
I wondered if she was still a virgin like she had been when I put my hand down her pants.
I wanted to fuck her right then and there. Bend her over the table, hike up her skirt, rip down her panties and slide my cock deep into her pussy.
I didn't, of course. Not least of all due to the fact that my little sister was right there and it would be so wrong on so many levels just because of that, but it still took every fiber of will-power I had not to act on my natural animal impulses.
I just watched as she took one of the available seats at the table.
"Oh, good, she's here," Kristen said, coming up behind me.
"You knew about this?" I asked.
I guess I had stupidly assumed that one of Kristen’s guests had invited Kora, but that made no sense, since she had mentioned that she was still waiting on something.
Stupidly, I had thought she had meant there was still a dish in the oven waiting to be fully cooked.
Boy, was I wrong.
"I invited her," Kristen said.
Finally, the penny dropped.
We were being set up.
Not in a bad way, though I had to wonder if Kora knew that I would be here. I somehow doubted it. One thing I didn't doubt was Kristen's motives. Pure as the driven snow.
I'd never known her to have a cruel bone in her body. If things ever turned out bad it was because something went wrong, which was more than could be said for me.
I still had scars from my stint in the proverbial "bad crowd." We did almost everything. Theft, drugs, even assault on occasion.
The scars originated from a guy we jumped who had been taunting us, who just so happened to have a knife with him.
I unconsciously touched my side, the scars seeming to burn at the memory. The pain returned to my mind as though the wounds were still fresh and not four years healed. Like the ones on my heart from what happened with us all.
Near as I could figure, this was meant to be some kind of peace offering on Kristen’s behalf. She hadn't been wrong, wanting to keep Kora away from me. Even if it was partly a selfish need on her part.
She was always pretty protective of Kora and their friendship, earning a few scars herself over the years, only from much better motivations and reasons. Kristen's were almost badges of honor. The red badge of courage as they used to say in the army movies. Fact was, times were hard when we were younger, and we all did things that we regretted.
"Get out there and mingle," Kristen said, pushing me gently from behind. “Go see her.”
I went over to the table, doing my best to hide the hard-on forming in my pants, half hoping Kora wouldn't notice and the other half hoping that she would and would know it was because of her.
There were only two places left and Kristen had already claimed the one at the head of the table. I pulled out the chair beside Kora before sitting down next to her, cursing the fates and my luck.
"You look familiar," I said, pretending to just notice her.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, you look just like a girl I knew in high school. Well, not exactly. You look more mature. She was only 16 at the time."
"Ran off, did she?"
"I'll never stop looking," I said.
"How romantic," she said, picking up her wine glass.
"I have my moments," I said with a shrug.
"Or maybe she was trying to get away from you," Kora said.
"True. Then again, some kids want to run away and join the cir
cus," I said.
"What would her act be?" Kora asked.
"Likely a knife throwing act."
"Oh, skilled, was she?"
"Certainly. I mean, she stabbed me in the heart," I said.
"I don't think that's the idea of a knife throwing act," Kora said.
"Could start a new trend," I said.
"She sounds hip," Kora said.
"Oh, she was. In more ways than one," I said with a wink.
"Dangerous curves?"
"Absolutely deadly," I said, looking her in the eyes.
She looked down, blushing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kristen wink.
Her smile told me she thought her cunning plan had worked.
I wasn't so sure.
I definitely couldn't get over this woman but wasn't sure what to do now that I had seen her again. Something I'd never thought would happen.
Fuck.
Now what?
Chapter Five - Kora
Kristen’s place was nicer than I remembered. I'd only been there a few times. Before things blew apart entirely.
I think she had updated the décor. But there was still an odd feeling of familiarity. Like nothing had changed since the last time I was there.
I sort of hoped that was true. That maybe Kristen and I could pick up where we had left off like nothing had happened. Not very likely, I knew but it was a nice idea.
I couldn't see Kristen anywhere at the table. Just people I didn't know and lots of wine. I found one of the last available seats and claimed it. There was an empty one next to it and I started wondering if someone was going to arrive even later than I had.
I had been nervous to come but had finally made myself.
Better later than never, I supposed.
"I'm Lara," said the girl next to me as I sat down, holding out her hand.
"I'm Kora," I said, shaking her hand.
Then I heard a voice I could have sworn was Logan's and turned so fast I nearly fell over. Lust and hate collided in my head I couldn't decide whether I wanted to punch him or fuck him. Probably one and then the other, if I was being honest. I wasn't usually into the kinky stuff but that was just the response he brought out of me.
I went more towards fucking him when I saw his huge cock hard in his pants. I just knew it was because of me. Then he came out with that opening line about me looking like someone he used to know.
My surprise at seeing him again first turned to anger at Kristen for setting me up. Though, to be fair, I didn't ask, and I could have and really I should have. I even should have assumed that she might have invited him.
From what I knew, Kristen and Logan had always been really close. Even during the nastiness that happened back in high school, she had always seemed more concerned about him than mad.
She couldn't really be blamed for doing something she thought was nice for two people that she loved. I could have sworn I saw her winking at us when she saw we were talking. Blissfully unaware that the whole thing had a good chance of devolving to a gun fight at the O.K. Corral.
Things went surprisingly well for the rest of the night, though, the barbs kept to a minimum, and always mixed in with gentle flirtations. Some girls might have taken it as a back-handed compliment but I had encountered the type enough times since to know what was going on.
He was still acting like an arrogant ass, but a flirtatious one, and I got the feeling that Logan was as conflicted as me.
Was it possible that he had changed over the years?
I was a bit suspicious, once bitten and all that, but still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Listen, I have to get going. I have an early shift at work tomorrow,” I suddenly announced, sick of trying to figure this whole thing out, and just wanting the peace and quiet of my own bedroom. “Thanks for inviting me, Kristen. It was nice to meet you, everyone.”
“Hey, you can’t leave without giving me your number,” Logan protested.
I looked at him, considering.
And then I made a decision on impulse, because I didn’t want to regret not doing it.
“I should know better than to do this. But here is my number."
I pulled out a receipt from my purse from a gas station— for gum and a brush, since I had been in a hurry to get here, which was a little embarrassing, but oh well— and scribbled my number down on it. I always carried a pen, just in case. Another habit I picked up from my dear old dad, who was nerdy like that.
"Thanks," he said, seeming surprised.
And I was still surprised at myself too.
Ripping off a piece of the receipt and gesturing to borrow my pen, he wrote out his own number and gave me the tiny paper. Telling myself it was no big deal, when really I knew it was, I folded it and put it in my purse before heading out.
I didn't really have the money for an Uber but I had drank far too much wine to be able to drive home and the bus hours were awful. They wouldn’t get me home for at least an hour, and I was in a hurry to jump under my bedspread and analyze tonight’s events. That was my idea of a fun Friday night.
"Sixth and Pike," I said, as I got in the back of the car that came to pick me up.
My Uber ride pulled away from the curb and I sat back on the faux-leather seat, trying to stop my head from swimming. It wasn't just the alcohol making me dizzy. I pinched myself experimentally. Still awake.
I had really just walked into a dinner party and seen both Kristen and Logan for the first time in years. And it hadn't even gone horribly. Take that, Murphy's Law!
I reached into my pocket and took out his number. After a moment's hesitation to tell that little voice in my head to shut the fuck up, I took out my phone to enter his number into it.
Then I saw that he had already texted me.
Did you have to run off for late-night knife-throwing practice?
Smiling, I texted back, That was fast!
Couldn’t resist.
Careful, or you’ll look desperate.
I could look like a lot of worse descriptors than that. Where are you?
In an Uber. You?
Back of a limo.
Really?
Yeah.
Fancy.
I guess.
I forgot, you're rich, right?
Now, yeah, it was my family that was rich before the trust fund kicked in.
Living on the diamond studded razor's edge.
Exactly.
Shit.
What?
Did your dad die?
My grandpa. I went from a millionaire to a billionaire overnight.
Serious?
As a firing squad.
Wow, that is serious. Sorry.
About being a billionaire?
No, about your grandpa.
Right, thanks.
Was it penny stocks?
Heart attack.
No, I meant the billions that you got out of nowhere.
Sailing tours and selling sailboats. He owned the company; now I get his shares.
Oh, good, much less evil.
We like to think so.
Is your seat real leather?
Oh yes.
Lucky. Mine’s not.
It's okay. A bit slippery though.
Poor baby.
And sticky.
Sticky?
Yeah.
I'd never noticed.
Only when I'm not wearing pants.
I see. Does that come up often?
Not so much anymore.
They have pills for that, you know.
Oh, that's not really a problem.
So I noticed. ;P
You saw that, huh?
Hard to miss. Was that from me?
Of course.
One should never assume.
Sorry.
Don't be.
"Sixth and Pike," the driver announced from the front seat.<
br />
I turned off my phone and got out of the cab.
Chapter Six - Logan
The limo dropped me off at my door, its driver going to park in the lot before heading to his quarters. That's what he did every night when he dropped me off. I had the surveillance footage to prove it.
I knew it was paranoid but at least I knew it. It was the people who had no idea that they were paranoid who tended to get into trouble.
I got through the door quickly, closing it with my heel, unzipping my pants before it had clicked shut, releasing my my huge, aching cock. I had been hard since I saw Kora at the table.
There was something about her that just made me want her, even when she wasn't there. The thought of her was enough.
I went over to the leather couch, taking my pants all the way off as I went, my cock standing rigid, sticking out of the fly of my $85 boxer shorts. I lay out on the couch, not having to care who was around to see. One of the few perks of living alone.
I didn’t need to look at porn to relieve myself of this aching hard-on. There was really only one woman in the world who I wanted. I closed my eyes. I could almost feel the warmth of the fire. Smell the wood burning.
I could see in Kora's eyes that she wanted to kiss. There were signals. Sometimes they got crossed but hers were loud and clear. I could almost smell her excitement.
In my mind, like in my memory, we kissed softly. I knew she was a virgin and didn't want to shock her. I didn't know how far she had gone before.