Jules just laughed and rolled over to look at me. "You don't even know who you are, VV. One week of cock and you think you know all about love? Well, I've loved you longer and better than he ever will. When you have your little vanilla wedding night fantasy, you'll remember this and wish I was there!"I couldn't say anything. Instead I covered my ears with my hands. I'd always known she loved me, but it was then I realized what I'd done. I'd kept her waiting all these years, with unspoken promises of someday, maybe, perhaps ... There were no words to repair this.Sitting up, she began putting her own clothes in order. She put on her shoes, picked up her purse and stared down at me with ice in her eyes."Please, wait," I begged. "We need to talk about this.""This?" she cried. "We could have had this for years! When you kissed me, back when we were still girls, you knew I loved you then. You joked about it, but you knew, you just didn't care. And once I realized I could never have you,
"So how did you get beat up? And don't tell me it's complicated.""Jules came over. I told her everything and we kinda fought about it." There was a word that would explain everything. A word that could give a name to what had happened, but I couldn't make myself say it. I felt guilty of it, too."So how did you cut your lip if she didn't hit you?"I didn't speak, the scenery flowing by the window seeming to have a hypnotic effect on me. I was so tired I think I fell asleep with my eyes open. But then my mouth chose that moment to speak for me. "It got cut when she kissed me."Holly didn't say anything after that, so I shut my eyes and rested my head against the glass. The next thing I knew, she was helping me out of the car. I managed to make it to her couch before I collapsed.She put my suitcase and bag next to the door. "Go to sleep. You're safe now."I don't know how long I'd slept when I heard my phone ring. I was vaguely aware of Holly pulling it out of my back pocket. I dreame
Taking the bus to Denny's gave me too much time to think, but Holly had refused to help me at all. Sitting on the bus, I kept seeing visions of my blood on Jules' lips, but it wasn't her mouth I saw, it was the torn fabric of her panties and her delicate inner lips that I'd tasted in my madness. I could no longer deny that a part of me wanted exactly what we'd shared, and it was that desire that tormented me. I forced myself to focus on John and my promises to him.Jules was already seated when I'd gotten to Denny's. After sliding into the booth across from her, I glanced up at her face. She looked like she hadn't slept any better than I had. Her hair was tousled and she was wearing a rumpled black sweater.When the waitress came around, I ordered a coffee while Jules just stared at me, her face unreadable. I refused to speak, until finally she said, "I didn't know if you'd come.""We need to talk," I shrugged. "I'm here."When I took a sip of coffee, she noticed me wince when it touc
There was a faint buzzing in my ears and my mouth suddenly felt slick, like I was about to be sick. I knew her inside and out, there was no way she was bluffing. "You're serious.""Yes, I am. I can't stand by and watch what I know is going to happen," she replied, taking out her wallet and putting some money on the table. Before she walked away, she bent down and kissed me tenderly. I couldn't stop myself from kissing her back, but it felt like everyone was staring at us. Touching my face, she whispered, "Come today or not at all."All the way back to Holly's apartment, I sat on the bus and stared out the window. My mind bounced back and forth--my best friend, my boyfriend, her lips, and his eyes. The scale was balanced, but as my heart went one way and the other, the world shifted under my feet.When I got back to Holly's apartment, she was sitting on the couch watching a game show. She looked up at me and frowned. "You're going to her, aren't you?"I didn't acknowledge the question
After hanging my clothes and putting my shoes on her shoe rack, she stored my suitcase in the back of her closet. When she came out, I saw her robe had fallen open. The curves of her breasts, her smooth stomach, and her bare mons filled me with an unfamiliar longing, and I had to look away.We'd spent plenty of time together throughout the years in various states of undress. We'd done everything from trying on clothes together in stores, to putting on our bathing suits together in her room, to doing each other's toenails in nothing but towels. I knew what she looked like from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. And even though she was the same person, I saw her differently. We'd kissed with my blood on our lips. I'd tasted her.The air moved against my face when she drew closer, pushing her sweet scent along with it. She was almost as tall as John, I thought, the same moment she put her arms around me and drew my face against her chest. My hands slipped inside her robe and r
At the foot of the bed, she kissed me, but only once, before walking into the closet. "I have a robe that shrunk after I washed it. I got it for free with some make-up I bought one time. It's too small for me now, but I'll bet it fits you." When she came back, she was holding another white robe and helped me put it on.I caught our reflection in her dresser mirror. "We look like X-Art models."Standing behind me, I could see her sad smile over my shoulder in the mirror. Her expression shifting between affection and fear as we stood there staring at each other."What?" I asked."The two worst things in life are not getting what you want, and getting what you want."I turned to face her. "You asked for this," I said, unable to stop looking at her mouth. They were such full lips, but the delicate curves along the top made them seem sleek as well."Yes, but I'd like you to want me, too, even a little bit."I was close enough to feel her breath. "I do want you," I whispered. "Damn me, but
"Sweetie, if you've found the man you wrote about in your journal, you'll have to fight me for him," she said with a laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes."He's real," I said, because I knew in my heart he was."And so am I, and I'm getting real hungry. Want to share some fruit with me?""Sure," I sighed. "Do you have any cottage cheese?"Getting up, she started pulling out a few things from the fridge while I grabbed a couple of plates and spoons. We put some cut fruit, cheese, and French bread on plates and sat at the table, eating together like it was a normal day. Except we were naked under our robes, and I was struggling with the change in our relationship. She was the same old Jules, but everything else was different. We'd kissed like lovers and talked like old friends. It hurt my head to think about what I was feeling for her. I was still angry at her for what she'd done to me, still wounded by her ultimatum, and yet I wanted nothing more than to be exactly where I was."I did
"There's a reason they say love is blind.""You need to meet him," I said. "I bet you'd fall in love with him.""Sorry, but I've only got room for one in my heart," she replied, then kissed my forehead.I had to hold my breath to keep from crying. "One week. Oh, God, how can you make me choose?"I turned around in her arms and kissed her then. Holding me close, she whispered, "We don't have to do anything."She seemed as scared as I was. "But I want to."We sat kissing on the couch for a long time. There was no sense of urgency, except for our growing arousal. Compared to John's, her skin was so soft. He'd often had a growing beard that I loved to feel against my cheek and thighs, but I found her smooth skin just as thrilling in its own way.She kept her lips soft and relaxed, where John's were firmer. And when I kissed her, her lips reminded me of eating a ripe peach, the flesh so soft and wet it seemed to melt in my mouth.My hands moved slowly, slipping inside the soft robes to fin