“I’ve been seeing a counselor on and off for a couple years, and she says I need to cut them out until they can respect me and my boundaries, but it’s hard when you love someone… anyway, sorry to be a downer.” She picked up her slice of pizza and bit into it, speaking around a mouthful of crust and cheese. “We can watch a lighter movie if you want.”
“No, Jess, I appreciate so much that you shared that with me.” I ran my finger along the hair at the nape of her neck. “I realize now that maybe I was waiting to watch To Swim With Swans with someone I could really share it with.”
She stared at me, swallowing her pizza heavily before she pulled me into a kiss. It was slow, gentle, but there was an intense passion to it nonetheless. That connection I always felt when my skin came into contact with hers.
We ate, then watched the movie with Jessica’s head in my lap.
I loved thinking of how many people wished they could be me right now, running their fingers though The Jessica Black’s hair. Except she wasn’t The Jessica Black to me anymore. She was just Jess.
“You know I actually auditioned for this movie?” she said.
“No shit!” I stared down at her head in my lap. “Why didn’t you take the role?”
She snorted a laugh. “They didn’t offer me one.”
“You mean you were turned down? I didn’t know that happened to you.”
“You’re adorable.” She looked up at me, dimples pressed deep into her cheeks.
By the time the movie finished, my head was drooping. It’d been a long day and allergy meds always made me drowsy.
“Do you want to come to bed?” Jessica asked before adding quickly, “I mean, just to sleep. I don’t want you to think...”
She let her words trail off and I wished she’d finished. I wanted to know where she planned on taking this relationship… sexually speaking. Because I’d go anywhere with her… sexually speaking.
I was too tired to broach the subject though, so I just said, “Sure. Thanks.”
She led me into her bedroom which was just as cozy as the rest of her house. All her decorating involved soft carpets, warm colored paintings and extra blankets thrown over the backs of chairs. Nothing in her bedroom seemed overly expensive, but all the colors and textures worked together to give an impression of wealth and good taste.
Of course, I wasn’t looking at anything but Jessica’s body when she stripped her shirt off and let her pants fall to the floor.
“Mind if I sleep in my underwear?” she asked. “I get kinda hot when I sleep.”
You’re kinda hot all the time... I shook my head and stripped my own clothes off, feeling a little self conscious of my less voluptuous frame, but the way Jessica’s eyes followed every inch of skin I exposed made me feel… well, it made me feel sexy.
We tumbled into bed exhausted, hands roaming one another’s skin affectionately, but not exactly sexually. It was a king-sized bed, but there was hardly an inch of space between us. There was something nice about just being close to her, feeling the heat of her body, the soft rhythm of her breath. I took a deep, relaxed inhale, loving that I was close enough to smell her fruity shampoo.
I was about to slip into sleep when I heard the door creak open, followed by little padding feet and then Marshmallow jumped up onto the bed, nestling in between us. Even though the allergy meds had started to wear off, and I felt a twinge of itchiness in my nose, I couldn’t ask the sweet snoring puppy to leave. I stroked a hand over her back, laughing as her snoring synchronized to match Jessica’s sleepy breathing. I could’ve stayed like that forever.
***
I woke to itchy eyes, a runny nose and an empty bed. I sat up and grabbed a tissue from Jessica’s night stand. Why had I thought it would be okay to let the dog sleep in the bed?
I let out a huge sneeze, fumbling in my discarded pants for another pill that would help alleviate this hell. I swallowed it down with a gulp of water from the master bathroom.
Where was Jess? I pushed open her bedroom door, stopping when I heard voices.
“I appreciate you coming to me with this, but I’m not interested in something like that right now. I’m focusing on filming Real Love.”
“Do you think this little cinematic novelty is going to fix your money problems?”
“I told you, I don’t have—”
“The director was very excited when I told her you would audition for this film. Do you expect me to go back and tell her that you let her down?”
“I didn’t let anyone down, because I didn’t promise anyone anything.” Jessica sounded frustrated like I’d never heard her before.
I crept forward quietly to see who she was speaking to and guessed immediately by the woman’s appearance that it was her mother. Same blonde hair, same dimples, same strong jaw. The woman had a small frame that was draped in so much clunky jewelry that it looked like it could’ve crushed her to death. Her manicured fingers drummed against her leather handbag.