Justin pushed her hair back over her shoulders and stroked the back of her neck as he kissed her temple, "You don't have to be afraid with me, Kerri."
She looked up into his eyes. They were pleading with her for a response. She wanted to tell him that she was a wreck without him. That she had played back his saved voicemails a million times just so she could hear his voice. That she couldn't close her eyes without staring at the picture of the two of them in London that she had on her nightstand. She wanted to tell him all of those things and so much more, but instead said, "Wow! Have your eyes always been this blue?"
Justin sucked in his teeth at her. "Girl, stop trying to change the subject." He moved closer, forcing Kerri to step backwards against the car. He wrapped his arm around her lower back, smoothing his hands against her shirt. He rested his forehead against hers and said, "I think about you constantly…Even when I don't want to."
Kerri furrowed her brows at him. "When you don't want to?"
"Kerri…Come on." he looked up, sighing heavily.
"You said it. I'm just trying to understand."
"Times when I should be focused on work, I'm sitting there wondering what you're doing...Wanting to have you around. I just wanna know I'm not alone with these thoughts."
Kerri looked down at his shirt, running her hands up his forearms slowly before finally saying, "No. You're not alone, Justin."
Justin could hear a group of men down on the corner at the liquor store arguing back and forth. He let his lips lightly graze her nose before asking, "Why don't we go back to my place and finish this discussion?" He lifted his head slightly and kissed her forehead once more. "Maybe watch a movie?"
Kerri chuckled lightly, looking up to meet his gaze. "A movie huh? What about your car?"
"I'll get it tomorrow." he smiled, placing a light kiss on her cheek.
"Oh, are you planning on having me spend the night?"
"Only if you want to." he whispered softly in her ear, causing her to shudder slightly.
This was dangerous. He was flirting and she was flirting right back. He was touching and she was touching and Kerri knew it was only a matter of time before they ended up right back where they started. "Come on, J. We should start heading back so you can get your car." She tried to free herself from his embrace but he was too strong.
Justin nibbled at her neck, "You don't wanna watch a movie with me?"
Hell no, she didn't want to watch a movie with him! She wanted him to take her back to his place and bend her over the couch and dive into her so hard that she would feel it the following week! She wanted him to smack her ass and ask her "You like that?" just so she could tease him by not responding, forcing him to smack her ass even harder, leaving his palm print for her to see in the morning. Kerri shook the thoughts from her head and tried again to push his body away from hers. "Justin…Please."
"Please, what?" he whispered as he kissed her neck.
"Mira! Kerri!" a voice yelled out. "This puto botherin' you?"
They both turned they heads and saw two large and burley Hispanic men covered in tattoos stalking towards them. Justin backed away slightly from Kerri when he spotted the one man cracking his knuckles as they made their way closer. "No, Papo." She smiled as she skipped over and gave both men a hug. "He's cool."
Kerri introduced to the men and they talked briefly before Papo said, "You should stop by da crib. Carlos and Nina are there. Some of da old crew are over. I was just grabbin' another case of beers. I know they'd love to see you, Mija!"
"Well we were about to head home." She said, not sure on whether or not Justin would be comfortable going back to Papo's. "It's been a long day."
"Alright. But if you change your mind..." Papo smiled pointing back to the case of beer his friend was holding up, taunting them with it as he walked backwards towards his car.
Kerri laughed and yelled that she would catch him later. As she was starting up the car to leave, Justin looked over at her and asked, "You don't wanna go?"
"No, we can head home." she shrugged, her response tipping him off to the fact that her decision was more to appease him than anything else.
"Come on. Let's go." he patted her leg. "I'm always dragging you out with my friends."
Kerri sat there for a moment thinking. She wanted to go, but wasn't sure that it would be his type of scene. Papo may only have a few friends over hanging out or it could end up being a house full of people and inevitable drama. But...he did only have one case of beer, she thought to herself. So it might be okay. "You sure?"
"Yeah." he smiled. "Let's go."
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, hesitating slightly as she removed her lips from his skin. Justin turned his face in towards hers, wanting to kiss her, but she backed away. "We'll just stay an hour and then we can go." she assured him, adjusting her seatbelt.
"Whenever, Kerri. It doesn't matter. I want to meet your friends."
The two of them drove down the block and around the corner to a small light blue ranch styled house nestled at the end of the street. They could hear music blaring from the backyard. Kerri turned off the car, leaving the windows rolled down slightly. Justin was weary about the windows being open but Kerri assured him that no one would mess with her car while it was parked in front of Papo's. Justin looked around and noticed three old rickety chairs sitting on the front stoup near the front door. There was barely any grass on the lawn. It was mostly dirt with a few patches of green here and there.
As they made their way around to the back of the house he observed the rusted black iron bars on the windows. They entered through the back gate and could hear Dr. Dre's "Ain't Nuthin' But A G Thing" booming through the speakers which were propped up in the window. Justin could see a group of guys sitting around the patio table playing cards and drinking beer. There were a few girls off to the side sitting on a porch swing chatting it up. One of the guys sitting at the table turned his head and spotted Kerri and Justin walking towards them and yelled, "Oh shit! My favorite DJ's in da house!" He got up from his chair and walked over and gave Kerri a big hug. "You lookin good, Mami!"
"You lookin skinny, Carlos!" she pointed out as she gently jabbed him in the ribs.
Carlos smacked her hand away and looked over at Justin. "Who's your friend? Walkin up in here trying to look like Justin Timberlake and shit." he laughed.
Kerri chuckled lightly, "Carlos, this is Justin. Justin…Carlos."
"Get da fuck outta here!" he looked at Kerri in disbelief before returning his gaze back to Justin.
"Nice to meet you." Justin smiled outreaching his hand to shake Carlos'.
"Get da fuck outta here!" Carlos said again as his grin widened, realizing that the singer was indeed standing two feet in front of him.
"Stop drooling, Carlos." Kerri joked. "He likes pussy."
Carlos shot her a look and jokingly gestured like he was going to back hand her.
"Kerri!" a girl called out to her from the swing.
"Nina!" she yelled running over to hug her, leaving Justin to deal with Carlos on his own.
After getting over the initial shock of meeting him, Carlos walked Justin over to where the girls were sitting on the swing. Kerri had her ear pressed to Nina's pregnant belly and was too busy talking to her stomach to introduce him, so Carlos did the honors instead.
Everyone seemed very nice and welcoming, which made Justin feel a little more at ease. Carlos invited him to play a game of spades with them, stating they needed a fourth to make it a real game. Justin didn't know anything about the game but they quickly went over the basics with him before Papo started shuffling and dealing. Kerri eventually found her way over to the table, handing Justin a beer and watching as he tried his best to play. He was about to put a card down when she grabbed his shoulder, "No. Put that other one down."
"You sure?" he questioned.
Kerri smiled and nodded as she brought the bottle up to her lips. Justin set down the card and Papo cursed under his breath before finally throwing a card out. "That's what I'm talking about, partner!" Carlos yelled to Justin, high fiving him before grabbing up the cards.
"Kerri, if you're gonna be helping him, then sit your ass down. We don't need you walking around the table cheating and shit." Papo complained.
"Oh shut the fuck up! I don't cheat." Kerri looked around the backyard for a seat but didn't see any empty chairs. "I'm just better at this game than you. I always have been!"
It was Justin's turn again and he was unsure about which card he should put out next and wanted Kerri's help. He grabbed the back of her jeans by the belt loop and pulled her in towards his lap. Papo's watched quietly as she sat down on his knee. She could feel Papo's eyes on her and she quickly leaned her body away from Justin's towards the table. Judging by the look in his eyes, she could feel the questions were coming. Especially after Papo had seen them earlier outside of Mama's Restaurant. She saw him open his mouth to speak and prepared herself for his interrogation. "So you two dating or what?" he asked.
"Nah. We're just friends." she quickly replied, bringing the bottle back towards her lips to take another sip of beer. Papo gave her another look. She craned her neck and asked, "What?"
"Eso es mentira! Quiere vete a la mierda!" he nodded towards Justin.
Papo was right. It was a lie. And at the time when he saw them at the restaurant earlier, Justin may have wanted to fuck her. But right now? Right now they were just two friends hanging out. "Don't be crude, Papo. He's just a friend."
Justin felt uncomfortable with the two were having a conversation about him while he was sitting right there. Kerri seemed to be handling things just fine and he didn't want to screw it up by interrupting and saying the wrong thing. They continued to play cards, Kerri helping him along the way. Papo and his partner had already lost three hands to Justin and Carlos and he was tired of losing. "Alright, Kerri. He's got the hang of it. Go over there with Nina so us men can get back to playing!"
The buzz from the beer and the sensation from Justin's free hand gently rubbing the side of her thigh were not helping her effort to try and leave the table. It took all the strength Kerri had to keep her legs from sliding apart, giving her an opportunity to rub herself up against his thigh to get some much needed friction. "I'm only getting up cause I wanna go talk to Nina. Don't think I'm doing it just cause you said so!" she pointed out as she started walking past Papo towards the swing.
"Get your ass outta here!" he said as he smacked her hard on her butt as she walked away.
The temperature outside seemed to drop more and more as it got later and everyone decided to retreat into the house. The girls sat at the table in the kitchen talking while the guys sat in the living room watching football highlights. "She still got that scar on her thigh?" Papo asked, never turning his gaze from the television.
Justin had barely heard the question but knew exactly what scar Papo was referring to. It was high on the back of her thigh and shaped almost like a half moon. He had asked Kerri about the scar months ago when they had started sleeping together. She had told him that she accidentally fell into a glass table and cut herself, but judging by the way Papo brought it up, Justin figured it wasn't the complete truth. He feigned any knowledge of it.
"She take you by her old house on the way here?"
Justin shook his head. "I'm not sure. She never mentioned it."
Papo sipped his beer. "You should ask her. Only reason I say this..." He started, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Kerri wasn't within earshot. "...And don't tell her I said this. But she doesn't bring outsiders around here. So you must really be close for her to have brought you out here."
Justin turned his head and looked back at Kerri. She had her head on her friends shoulder swaying back and forth with her as they sang a song he didn't recognize. He turned his attention back to Papo who was eyeing him carefully, "Kerri's stubborn when it comes to letting people in. We all are. We grew up the same way. Just be patient with her, man. I've known her for twenty years. I don't think I've ever seen her this carefree. I don't know if that has anything to do with you, but if it does, then you're good in my book. But if you hurt her." he turned his body to face Justin and looked him square in the eyes. "I'll hunt you down and kill you."
Justin was immediately gripped by fear, the beer bottle frozen centimeters from his lips. He could see Papo's facial expression turn as he began to laugh. "I'm just fuckin with you, Bro!" He grabbed Justin's shoulder and shook him. Justin exhaled, not realizing that he had actually stopped breathing for a moment.
Papo's laughter was interrupted when "Bye Bye Bye" started playing. He scrunched up his face and looked back at Kerri leaning over the stereo. "What the fuck, Kerri? Turn that shit off!" He looked back towards Justin. "No offense, Bro."
"None taken." he grinned.
"Wait. I want Carlos to do the thing…" Kerri motioned before bouncing her way over to the couch, finding a seat between Papo and Justin.
Carlos turned his head and rolled his eyes at her. "No I ain't doing it!"
"Come on Carlos! I want Justin to see it." she smiled.
"See what?" Justin asked.
"Just wait. Please, Carlos?" she whined.
Carlos eventually got up from the couch and made his way out to the patio. He made Nina restart the song and as soon as the beat dropped Carlos bounced hard on his feet and began to do the routine for the song. Everyone had gravitated outside to watch him and the entire backyard was howling. "Oh shit!" Justin laughed, jogging over next to him to join.
Carlos continued to dance, adding his own flavor to the routine and Justin found himself not being able to keep up. He walked over and stood next to Kerri who was cheering him on. "He's good, right?" she asked, entangling her arm with him to get warm.
Justin rubbed her arm gently, "He's great!"
The party began to die down around midnight. Justin took Carlos' number and told him that he'd have his choreographer set up an audition to see about getting him a job on tour. Being too buzzed to drive, Kerri had Justin drive them back home. He sat at the red light, pondering to himself whether or not he should turn left towards Kerri's place or turn right towards his own. She was fast asleep in the passenger seat and all he wanted to do was take her home with him, crawl up beside her and just be close to her. To hear that he was only one of a few that had met her oldest friends was shocking to him. This was the first time in a long time that she had let down her guard and allowed him to get to know her better. He didn't want to spoil the night by making Kerri feel uncomfortable so he reluctantly turned left.
"I had a great time tonight, Kerri." He smiled as he walked her to her door.
"Yeah? My friends weren't too much for you? I know Papo can be a bit scary at first." she turned around grinning as she walked up the stairs.
"Naw. They were cool. Your friend Carlos is hilarious!"
As Kerri lifted her arm to put the key in the door, Justin grabbed her hand. He slowly closed to distance between them, placing his forehead against hers, staring down at their hands. "I don't usually have a good time like that unless I'm home…You gave me a little bit of home tonight. So thank you."
"You're welcome." she blushed.
Kerri could feel the intensity of his gaze in every cell of her body and didn't know how much longer she could fend him off. He rubbed the top of her thumb with his own and asked, "You sure you don't want to reconsider about that movie?"
"I'm sure." she slowly nodded. "Nothing would top off this night better than going back to your place and watching that movie all…night…long, but-"
"No. I get it." he whispered in her ear before placing the softest kiss on her cheek.
Kerri's eyes began to drift shut and her body began to betray her. She began to move her free hand up to caress his face, but he moved back too quickly. All Kerri could do instead was ball up her first and pretend she was planting an imaginary punch to his jaw.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall as she started to unlock the front door.
"Cleaning. Why?"
"Come Christmas shopping with me. I need to get some last minute gifts and I need a woman's input on what I should get my mom and granny."
"okay." she nodded.
"Great! I'll pick you up at 9? Gotta get an early start." Justin leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He pulled his head back slightly, crookedly smiling down at her mouth before leaning back in and giving her several more pecks. Kerri pushed him away while laughing, "Go home, Geek!"
She stepped inside and watched him as he disappeared down the steps, smiling at her the entire time. She closed and locked the door, lingering there, wanting to go after him. She rested her back against the door looking up, smiling to herself as she ran the night over and over in her mind.
"What is with all the smiling? Serena asked as Kerri made her way into the living room. "I thought you said you guys weren't gonna to have sex anymore."
"We didn't…" Kerri sighed as she fell down onto the couch next to her friend. "God, Serena! I had so much fun with him tonight! And we didn't even do anything special! He was just…And the night was just…just perfect."
The next morning Justin showed up bright and early to pick Kerri up. He had invited Serena but she declined the invitation to be their third wheel. With Wes' help, Justin and Kerri were able, for the most part, to maneuver in and out of the stores without too much chaos. One of the boutiques even shut down to allow Justin to shop, giving him an opportunity to actually talk to Kerri without any interruptions.
"…So you have a second interview with this Winter's guy in Memphis? You excited?"
"Nervous mostly." she said, looking through a rack of clothes and showing Justin a top. "You think she would like this?"
"It's not low cut enough." he chuckled.
Kerri shook her head and continued to look. "If I get the syndication, I want to renegotiate my contract with 104.7. I want to be able to travel and go and meet more of these artists, interview them, get them live on our video stream…It'd be a great opportunity to bring exposure to more indy artists. There's this guy in Germany that I would love to go and check out in person."
She showed him another top and he nodded. "And what about DJ'ing? You seem to love that just as much, if not more."
"I love it, but this town is saturated with DJ's and I have yet to stick out enough to make it a fulltime gig. Plus I like my show, I just hate having to punch a clock. Pre-tell why I plan on renegotiating my contract if this meeting with Mr. Winter's goes well. I should drag you with me to my interview and use you." she joked.
"I wouldn't mind." he smiled, showing her a dress for her opinion.
"That's cute. And I was joking about the using you bit."
"Okay. You see anything in here you'd like to get your mom?"
Kerri stopped looking through racks and starred off into space for a moment. "Ummm…No. We can go."
He paid for his purchases and they continued on to the next store. Justin found it odd that Kerri hadn't done much shopping at all. She had gotten Serena and some of her crew a few things, but he'd never heard her mention getting gifts for anyone in her family. "You done all your Christmas shopping or something?"
"No. Coming out here with you is the first time I've been able to shop. Why?"
"You've got like four bags compared to my ten." he joked. "What's up? Your family doesn't celebrate Christmas or something."
"No….I just…" Kerri tried to change the subject by pointing to the golf shop they were passing and asking him, "Didn't you say you wanted to get your stepdad a new set of clubs?"
He stopped in the doorway. "What's up? Why are you avoiding talking about your family? It's Christmas. I'd think-"
"Yes! It's Christmas!" she cut him off looking towards the gawkers standing around taking pictures of them. She quickly lowered her voice. "And I'd rather not talk about my family right now, Justin."
Justin had assumed the two of them had made some progress since she had been so open with him the night before. He didn't expect her to push him away so quickly after letting him in. "Then when?" he huffed, lifting his arms in the air.
Wes approached them in an effort to control the growing crowd of people forming close by. Justin couldn't hear himself think over people shouting out his name to get his attention. He grabbed Kerri's arm and pulled her into the store and down an aisle away from the windows. "You know me. You know my family. Shit! You've met my family, Kerri! I'm on the outside trying to look in and every time I start to get through that wall you keep building around yourself, you push me away!"
"I'm not pushing you away." she whispered loudly, trying not to cause a scene. "I just don't want to discuss it right now. Later…but not right now, okay?"
Based off of his past experience with her, Justin knew 'later' would never come. "This friendship is one sided! I'm the only one sharing here while you stay locked up tight like Fort Knox. I'm sick of you always telling me 'later' or 'just drop it.' You know the best Christmas present you could give me this year? Opening your damn mouth and fucking speaking for once about something other than the superficial bullshit we talk about."
Kerri could hear the hurt in his voice. Tears had begun to well up in her eyes and as much as Justin wanted to stop and apologize and tell her that he'd drop it, he couldn't. He had to get it off his chest.
"Please, just leave it alone." she begged, turning her face away from him so she could wipe away a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye.
Justin balled up his fists, restraining himself from punching something--anything within arm's length. "Fine!” he said through a clenched jaw, "Just fuckin fine!"
He stormed out of the aisle and over to a store attendant to ask about the set of golf clubs he was looking for. When they reached the car Kerri sat silent, waiting for Justin, who was outside taking photos and signing autographs for a few fans. He took one last picture and climbed into the SUV. His diaphragm sank as he exhaled and tried to relax. Wes was doing his best to pay the valet while keeping the paparazzi at bay so they could leave without any snags. The silence in the car was almost deafening. Kerri refused to even look in Justin's direction, focusing her attention on a woman pushing her bichon frise down the sidewalk in a stroller. After a few moments Justin turned to her and said, "I wish you would trust me enough to talk to me."
Kerri scowled, "So because I don't want to discuss the subject of my family with you when and where you want me to, all of sudden I don't trust you?"
Frustrated by Kerri's attempt to spin his words around against him he slapped his hands against the seat. "Goddammit, Kerri!" It came out louder than he intended, startling her. He gently touched her arm, trying to get her to look at him. "If you trusted me you wouldn't be afraid to open up to me, to tell me how you feel. You don't trust me to care about you regardless of what you tell me. It hurts that you don't trust me as much as you say you do."
Kerri turned her body towards him, her back pressed hard against the door for support. She crossed her arms underneath her breasts and inhaled deeply, "Fine! You want to know why I didn't get parents anything for Christmas? She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know who the fuck they are, Justin! Is that open enough for you? Did that satisfy your curiosity?"
Silence. He stared at her, the expression in his eyes shocked by her admission. Just as he was about to speak, Kerri turned around, leaning her body over the backseat into the trunk and gathered up her bags. "Wes!" she yelled out the window. "I'm getting out!"
Kerri opened her door to leave but Justin grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Home!" she ripped herself free from his grip and stared coldly into his eyes. He could see the tears beginning to form and all he wanted to do was reach out and hold her, sooth her, and tell her he was an idiot. "Merry fuckin Christmas, Justin!" she said harshly before exiting the car and slamming the door shut behind her. He went to get out of the car to chase after her but the SUV was now surrounded, leaving him no choice but to sit there helplessly watching her as she walked away down the street , disappearing around the corner.
Incomplete
DesperateThoughts is the author of 6 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 18 members. Members who liked The Polaroid also liked 680 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 18 members. Members who liked The Polaroid also liked 680 other stories.
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers girlontop bathroomsex kitchensex blindfold soloj
