Tori

I looked at myself in the mirror and cursed myself for being so concerned about my appearance. Jay and I were just friends. Friends who flirted with each other and maybe sometimes kissed. Okay, and hopefully did some more racy things to each other too.

Who was I kidding? I wanted to jump him like he was holding the last pair Jimmy Choo’s in my size. It was so easy to forget his past and status as a player and focus on how he made me feel. I lusted for him. I liked him. I respected him as a person. I considered him a friend and confidant. Sleeping with him might jeopardize that.

Overthinking tended to get the better of me, so I decided it was best if I just focused on the here and now, not worry about what could happen. If we slept together, I’d worry about what it meant for our future then. Agonizing over it now was only going to give me high blood pressure and a stomach ache.

I sprayed the couch with the bottle of Febreeze I had bought earlier that day. I could already tell the difference in the smell of the old thing after the application I did a few hours before.

Glancing around the room, I took stock of my cleaning endeavors. Laundry was done, folded and crammed into the chest of drawers and the tiny closet in my room. I bought a duster and cleaned off all the flat surfaces in the place. I borrowed Kim’s vacuum cleaner and gave it a quick pass. I even washed all the dishes and tidied up all the odds and ends I had been throwing on the kitchen table the last few weeks.

I was proud of myself for being so domesticated. I always took for granted having someone to clean up after me. It was exhilarating to know I could take care of myself. Was the place clean enough to eat off the floor? No. But it sure as hell was cleaner than it had been, and I could take all the credit for it!

A knock on the door had me racing to open it. I stopped with my hand on the knob and took a deep, cleansing breath before opening it. Jay stood on the other side looking gorgeous with a bag in his hand from an Italian restaurant that I knew from experience had the best food. He was wearing jeans that were tighter than what I was used to seeing on him and a blue, long sleeve henley that made his eyes pop even more than usual. The sleeves were pushed up over his forearms, allowing me to see how strong and muscular they were.

His casual dress made me feel better about wearing yoga pants and a long, crocheted knit sweater that hung off one shoulder, with a cami underneath it.

Just looking at Jay made me feel more relaxed. I smiled at him and let him in the apartment. He set the bag on the kitchen table and took the place in with raised eyebrows. I suddenly felt really self-conscious, which sucked since I just got done feeling proud.

“Baby, you don’t belong in a place like this,” he commented after he walked the length of the apartment and poked his head into my bedroom. “A woman like you should be sleeping on fancy sheets and relaxing on a chaise lounge eating bonbons. Not spending her time in a bread box that smells musty and looks like it was last updated in the seventies. Not to mention that the lack of security here is alarming to the say the least.”

“You are such an asshole. How dare you come in here and judge me? This might not be the luxury you or I am accustomed to, but it works and I’m not ashamed of it. So you can go fuck yourself!” I said with irritation. I didn’t want him to think he could waltz into my apartment and look down his nose at me.

“Do you know where I came from?” He said with a deceptively calm voice. I had a feeling he was barely controlling his emotions.

I shook my head because I didn’t. Jay never told me anything overtly personal. It was usually me telling him about my life and thoughts.

“I came from the fucking projects. Cockroaches, stale food, and fucking holes in our furniture were the norm. I’m not putting you and your shit down. I’m stating a fucking fact. You aren’t safe here and you sure as fuck don’t belong here.”

I felt like a world class jerk for jumping to conclusions and assuming I knew what his motives were, so I chose that moment to point out a very stupid fact. “That was a lot of fucks for one statement, Jay. Even for you.”

He stared at me for several moments and I had to stop myself from fidgeting under his watch. Then his serious face cracked and his lips twitched. “Shit. A second ago I was ready to wring your neck for being a bitch, and now I wanna laugh.”

I shrugged and gave him a small smile. “It’s because I’m impossibly adorable and witty. You can’t stay mad at me.”

“Come here,” he commanded, and my body instantly complied. I walked the ten steps to him, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Give me some sugar, baby.”

My insides curled in anticipation at his words. I lifted on my toes to close the few inches between our mouths. As soon as my lips met his, he took over. His kiss was hard, wet and left me breathless. He rested his forehead on mine and stared into my eyes. “Dinner. If you give me that mouth again, all I’m going to be eating is you.”

“Okay,” I let out on a shaky breath. I really wouldn’t have objected to that scenario.

We piled chicken parmesan and spaghetti on some plates and sat on the couch, eating at the coffee table while we watched The Hangover on cable.

“I think it’s dumb that they’ve made so many sequels to this movie. I mean, how many times can the same group of people lose one of its members, leading them to go on a wild goose chase to figure out what happened the night before and where their friend is?”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to read into it so much. It’s supposed to be funny,” Jay replied with a chuckle like I was crazy. I was beginning to realize he did this a lot.

“Well, it isn’t funny,” I huffed. And it wasn’t. I liked ingenuity, not playing off the same idea over and over again just to make money. “Would you record a song about the same thing you already recorded, knowing it would make you a lot of money because the first one did so well?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Exactly!” I cried out. “There’s something to be said for originality. Give me something fresh and not overdone before you just regurgitate the same idea over and over again.”

A grin played at his lips. “Good point, baby. Since it's obvious you don’t care for this movie, why don’t you tell me your long story?”

I sighed and proceeded to explain to him about Annabelle and my father’s failing health. How she waited until he was too far gone to realize what she was doing before cutting me off. How she wouldn’t let me see him even though these were the last days I’d ever be able to spend with him. How my cousin was nailing her and screwing me over in the process. The further into my story I got, the tighter his jaw got and the darker his expression became.

“That’s fucked up shit right there. You don’t have to put up with it, baby. You want to see your dad, you’re going to see your dad.”

My breath caught in my throat. “What do you mean?” I whispered, afraid to hope and scared at how he planned on getting me in there.

“I mean this bitch doesn’t fuck with you anymore. Tomorrow we’re going to your dad’s house and you’re going to see him.”

“She won’t let us in, Jay. I’ve tried.”

His hand wrapped around my neck and pulled me towards him. “No one fucks with you as long as I’m around. I don’t give a fuck what she wants. I promise you, before the day is done, you’ll have seen your father and I’ll have gotten my point across to her and your dumb ass cousin.”

The take charge tone in his voice was turning me on. I never had a man stick up for me like that. It was so hot.

“Thank you.” It was an understatement. If I got to see my dad tomorrow, Jay would have given me my biggest wish.

I leaned forward and touched my lips to his, intending to pull back quickly. I never stood a chance, though, because his grip on my neck tightened and held me in place. His tongue traced my lips before I parted them and let him inside. He tasted heavenly. I couldn’t get enough.

I crawled on his lap and straddled him. His hands gripped my hips and pulled me tighter to him, grinding me down on him. My hands went to the hem of his shirt, pulling it up. Our kiss broke only long enough for the fabric to go over his head. As soon as I had full access to his muscular chest, my hands were all over him, exploring and memorizing every ridge and bump. The light smattering of hair on his chest felt so good under my fingertips that I just wanted to bury my face there and nuzzle him.

His lips left my mouth to travel over my cheek and down my neck. My head fell back as his soft, plump lips dragged along my collarbone, exposed by my shirt. I took my shirt off, needing more contact. He didn’t disappoint. He continued with soft kisses and light nips down to the lacy edge of my cami. His tongue ran along the seam, sending shivers from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.

His finger reached into my shirt and down into my bra cup. He hooked the flimsy material and pulled them both down over my breast before sucking my nipple into his mouth. Deep.

“Yes,” I moaned. My hands gripped his head and held him in place. I loved the way his tongue swirled around the nipple before biting and sucking again.

After lifting my cami over my head and unhooking my bra, his fingertips traveled down my back feather light. His eyes took in my pebbled nipples and the flushed skin he had revealed. It was fascinating how they darkened before my very eyes.

I closed my eyes when I felt his fingers dip below the waistband of my pants. They skirted around to my front, and I began rubbing myself on his jean-clad erection in anticipation of where I knew he was going. When his hand disappeared in my pants and honed in on the perfect spot, another moan left my lips.

“Jay,” I cried out when he slipped a finger inside me.

“Ride my hand, baby,” he encouraged. And I did. I rode his hand hard until I was splintering apart with a heady orgasm that left me weak and breathless.

I opened my eyes and locked gazes with him. Completely overcome by my orgasm and so in the moment that I didn’t even think about what I was doing, I slid off his lap, resting on my knees in between his legs. I reached up and undid his belt. Once his jeans were unbuttoned, he lifted his hips so that I could draw his pants and boxers down over them.

His cock sprung free and I finally broke our eye contact to get a good look at all that was him. He was utterly beautiful and masculine. Long and thick, with rigid veins running along the underside. My mouth watered, needing to taste him.

I ran my tongue up him, from root to tip. His hips rose slightly, wanting more. I curled my tongue along the tip before taking him in my mouth. He was too long to take all the way in without gagging, but I took as much as I could. I was greedy for him. His hand reached down and pulled my hair away from my face so he could watch. I raised my eyes and once again held his dark, hooded ones.

It was so intimate to have him in my mouth while he watched. He bit down on his bottom lip and kept watching as I worked him over with my mouth and my hand at the base.

“Shit, I’m going to come, baby. You don’t want it down your throat, you better stop now.”

I increased my suction and gripped him tighter. Within seconds, I felt him as he came in my mouth. I swallowed it all, loving how salty he tasted. I had never been one for giving blow jobs, but doing it with Jay could easily become an addiction.

The way I was feeling towards him was too much, too fast. We had only known each other for a little over a week and here I was half naked on my knees, letting him come down my throat.

What was I thinking?

That moment of clarity where the haze of lust fades sucks and the crash back to earth hurts like a bitch. My body grew tight, my face twisted and I felt like I was going to break out in a cold sweat at any moment.

“What’s with the face?” Jay asked. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back into his lap. I attempted to resist, but he was having none of it.

“I told you if you didn’t want it, you needed to stop. Don’t tell me you’re freaked about it now.” He incorrectly guessed why I was upset.

“That’s not it,” I assured him.

“Then what is it? I’m not a mind reader, baby.” He tightened his hold on me when I tried to pull off his lap again. “And stop trying to get away from me. You’re going to tell me what’s going through that head of yours. Then I’ll think about letting you go.”

“It’s too soon. This is crazy. We’ve barely known each other five seconds.”

“Too soon? You go from zero to wild in sixty seconds flat whenever I touch you. This is inevitable. Life is too short to hold back. To regret. I’ve seen people die and get sent to prison for the rest of their lives. I’ve learned to take what I want and not waste time. If you think I’m not going to cash in on the promise of you—especially after what you just showed me—then you’re crazy. I want to see how much more beautiful you are when my dick is in you and you’re breathless, saying my name when you come.”

That got a quiver in one prominent place. Damn it. I was trying to be sensible.

“Tori, look at me.” Once he had my eyes, he went on saying, “That was some of the best head I’ve ever had. We’re going to be hot as fuck together.”

Thinking of all the other women who probably had him in their mouths made me cringe. It was like a bucket of ice cold water washing over me.

“I know you’re a player,” I informed him. “Consider me a player hater.”

He threw his head back, laughing hard at me. “Shit, that’s hysterical. Player hater.”

I crossed my arms over my bare torso and narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t think this is funny.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. This is the funniest conversation I’ve had all day.”

I grabbed my shirts off the couch next to him and put them on, all the while huffing in frustration. Once I was back to being fully clothed, I located his shirt on the back of the couch and threw it at him. He pulled it off his face and set it aside. Bastard.

“T, stop fighting me. It just makes me want to win all the more.”

“You’re a jerk,” I continued to argue even though I knew there was no point.

His hands ran up my back, pressing me into him. “You like it when I’m a jerk. Now let me up, baby. I’m going to let you get that much needed beauty sleep. I’ll be back tomorrow at ten, so make sure you’re ready to go see your dad.”

At the reminder of what he had promised me earlier, my body melted into his.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Now we’re back to sweet. I swear you like to keep me guessing.”

“I warned you,” was all I got out right before he kissed me. It was soft, but included lots of tongue and a little groping. When he was done, he grabbed my waist and lifted me off him.

I walked him to the door once he was fully clothed and he gave me a chaste kiss before leaving.

Once the door shut, I leaned against it for a minute before running across the room and dancing with excitement.

Tomorrow I was going to see my dad and it was all thanks to Jay.