"Get out of bed, old girl!" a voice shouted.

I jumped up so quickly, I almost fell out of bed. I wasn't sure who it was, but they used the most horrific English accent I'd ever heard. I dragged off my mattress and walked into my open space.

"Adonis Noie, you'd better have a good excuse for waking me up at..." I turned to look at the clock. "1:48 in the afternoon."

"I didn't even expect you to be here. I thought you'd be with JC or something," he said.

I shook my head. "No! Friends, remember?"

"I know that's total bullshit, but alright, whatever you say," he replied.

"We are good friends, it's scaring me how we're clicking so well," I replied.

"I don't know why you'd think that. I'm the same sign he is and we've been best friends since 4th grade," he said.

"Donni, you're a basket case, no one else would want you but me anyway," I teased.

"I resent that, thank you. But, regardless I still believe JC might be the one for you. You guys are working on building a friendship and who knows what can come of that," he said.

"True. But it doesn't help that we have a strong physical attraction to each other. To me, it's weighing out everything else. That's why I wanted the sex to just happen," I said.

"Okay, so let's say the sex does happen but the lust between you both doesn't calm down.....then what?" he asked.

"Then I guess you, Evalyn, and Justin will get to bask in your sea of right," I responded.

"Oh that sounds marvelous, I like being right.  But, I know you Esamar and you've never been one to see things unreasonably," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Tell me why you're denying what's obvious. You always see what's irrational, but why is this thing between you and JC rational?" he asked me.

"Because I need to be able to think clearly. I've seen what the penalty can be for going with my feelings," I replied.

"You haven't experienced it though, so you can't continue to hide yourself because you fear what MIGHT happen. You're a fiercely strong person, but it's sweet how sensitive you really are. If me and J have the same taste, he'll definitely like that about you," he explained.

"I can't just lay it on the line, Donni. I've spent so much time building my walls, it's hard to just knock them down," I said.

"You said yourself that you trust him. You have to trust that he won't hurt you."

As always, I listened to the advice of my best friend and let his words pierce me. I excused myself and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I came out and sat on the couch next to Donni.

"I wanna hit up the mall, get something for tonight. I need some vagina," he said.

I pushed his shoulder as I rose from the couch. "Ewwww, I don't wanna hear all that."

"Who cares, go get ready so we can bounce," he said.

I rolled my eyes and hurried to my closet. I picked out something simple but cute to wear. Adonis was such a shopper; I'd go crazy when he used to come to the mall with me and my mom. We'd never leave!

Adonis really was my best friend, that's why I listened to him about JC. I understand everything he was telling me, but I did notice Josh's past relationships and he's been with a lot of women. I just wanted to know why those didn't work and why he and I would.

I grabbed my bag and followed behind Donni out the door. He decided to hit up the Beverly Center and as always, I cursed him for taking me there. He knows I can't always buy just one thing.

"So have you and JC already......ahem...?" he asked me.

"Ahem?.........oh, oh, OH! Oh no, we haven't. But there's a reason for that," I replied as we walked into H&M.

"Which is?"

"We're friends!" I responded.

Donni looked up from the clothes rack. "Bullshit," he said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"It's obvious," he replied.

I rolled my eyes. Adonis knows something and he knows that I know he knows something.

"Be right back," he said. I nodded as he went to go to the dressing room.

I already decided what I wanted to wear for later on tonight, but that didn't stop me from picking up a few things that caught my eye.

"Psst!"

I looked up, confused. Was it me or did I just hear something? It was probably just me. I continued looking through the rack, searching for a cute tee.

"Psssst!"

I looked up. This time I turned around and somebody was behind me. I almost screamed. It was some guy in a hoodie with dark shades on, and a hat.

"Um, sir?" I asked.

"Esa, it's me, Justin," he whispered.

I tried to hold in my laughter. "Dude, are you nuts? Do you know what'll happen if people see you?"

"I know, I had to do a quick shop, but I recognized you and came over. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here with Adonis, just getting some stuff for tonight. Thanks for the VIP invite, by the way," I replied.

"No problem. Anyway, I gotta go, there's a girl over there staring too hard. Save me a dance?" he asked.

"No problem, now hurry up, before you get caught," I replied.

I watched as he went off. I really had the urge to scream 'Hey! It's Justin Timberlake!' but I wouldn't be able to post bail for inciting a riot. Donni finally came back and he shook his head when he saw the items I picked up.

"Come on, I found what I wanted, let's skidaddle," he said.

I chuckled softly as we made our way to the cashier. I was excited about tonight, but also a bit nervous. I wonder where JC wanted me to go with him.

-------------

I was running all over the place trying to get myself together.  I told my mom I was going out and that JC wanted to meet her. I was just as shocked as my mom.

"How old is he?" she asked.

"33, mom," I said.

"33?! Since when have you started dating older men!" she shouted.

"Maaaa! He's just a friend. Remember that group of white guys I used to have pictures of hanging in my room? You'd buy me their cd every Christmas?"

"Yeah, what about them?" she asked.

"He's one of them," I replied.

Her jaw dropped open. Eva and I tried not to giggle. She suddenly became more welcoming of him. My mom is a silly character. But I know that if she didn't like him, there was something I needed to watch out for.

I got into the shower, doing all the female primping I needed to do. I put on a black satin, spaghetti-strap bubble dress that stopped an inch or two above my knee. I wanted to keep with my theme, so I put on my satin textured ankle booties. I'm not too big on makeup, but I used some silver eye shadow lightly and dabbed on some lip gel. I had already straightened my hair the night before so I did a touch quick touch-up, gave myself some side bangs, and left the rest down.

I walked downstairs and all eyes were on me. Everyone seemed shocked by me, but I was more shocked that JC was already here. I wasn't expecting him so early. I walked over to him; he took my hand gently, greeting me.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you so early," I whispered.

"I know, but I wanted to meet your mom in the right way," he said.

I chuckled. "What do you think?"

"She's sweet and funny, I love her accent, too," he replied.

"I'm glad you understood her. Wanna hang out here some more or.....?"

"What do you wanna do?" he asked.

"Let's goooo, I'm not up for embarrassing pictures and stories tonight," I replied.

He smiled and shook his head.

"Ma, we're leaving!" I called.

She came out and I watched how polite he was to her. I let him go out the

 door first so I could turn around for my mom's approval. She mouthed 'wow' and gave me two thumbs up. I laughed and closed the door behind me, locking up.

I walked to the car where he was waiting for me with the door open.

"Thank you, sir," I smiled.

"You're very welcome, madam," he responded.

I waited for him to get in the car and I gave him a small hug.

"God, you smell good and you look sexy. Don't know how I'm gonna keep my hands off of you," I complimented.

"Well thank you. I return that compliment to the 10th power because damn, you're looking good enough to eat, twice," he said.

I giggled like a school girl and swatted his compliment away. I know I'm blushing like crazy but I'm glad that it was dark so he wouldn't be able to see my face.

"Where are we gonna go?" I asked.

"I gotta go back to my place to take care of a few things then by 9 we'll be on our way," he replied.

I agreed and made small conversation with him to see what he's been up to for the past two days. It didn't take us anything but 15 minutes to get to his place. I ran to the living room and quickly took off my heels while he went upstairs to take care of his business. I threw back against the couch, inhaling the mixture of both our scents. I closed my eyes as I kept my head back against the couch, I could hear him come back downstairs, but I was to deep in the process of calming my nerves to lift my head.

I didn't hear anything else, so I figured he'd went to go finish whatever else he had to do. That is, until I felt something on my thigh. I tried not to panic and opened my eyes, slowly lifting my head. I looked down at my lap; JC was laying his head across my lap, with his legs crossed and kicked up on the couch's handle. I smiled.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Chillin' on your lap," he replied.

"You're lucky that I tolerate you," I joked.

He chuckled. "This really is comfortable, maybe we should just sleep instead of going to the club."

"JC, I put on a dress and heels, we are freakin' going out. Even though, I would love to have a sleep party," I teased.

"We still have an hour and honestly, I'm not ready to move yet," he said, looking up at me.

I smiled, running my fingers through his hair. "Well can you move so we can be more comfortable?"

He got up and I moved so I could put my head on the side and put my feet up. He kicked off his nice dress shoes and came to lay on my right, his head on my shoulder and arm across my waist. I put my right arm around him, continuing to run my fingers through his hair.

"Now, I'm comfortable," I whispered. He looked up at me, pulling my chin to give me a small kiss on the lips, going back to lay his head on me. I didn't know when, but feeling his body warmth and the caressing of his fingers against my stomach, put me right to sleep.

I felt something soft against my skin, I shifted slightly. Then I felt a light trail across my chest, it gave me chills.

"Mmm," I moaned a little, opening my eyes and JC was there smiling at me.

"I'm sorry, but you wouldn't wake up, I had to use......force," he said, giving me an innocent look.

"What kind of force was that, I kinda liked it," I laughed.

"I can't reveal that information, it's my secret," he smiled.

"Aw, you suck! I seriously didn't know I feel asleep, though," I said.

"Don't worry about it, I fell asleep, too. Go ahead and go freshen up, I'll be in the car waiting," he said.

I nodded and got up. I went to the bathroom, used a wisp, and fixed my hair and makeup. I went back to put on my booties, grabbed my clutch, and closed up the house. I quickly got in the car and we were on our way. He still didn't tell me where we were going, but the breeze coming in from outside suddenly became cooler.

"You're taking me near the ocean?" I asked.

"What makes you think that?"

"No one loves a coastal breeze more than I do," I replied.

He smiled. "In that case, yes I am. I'm good at guessing, huh?"

"Yeah you are, I'm not big on swimming, but being by the ocean is probably a sure way to take me home," I flirted.

"Oh really? Hmm, I can't wait," he responded.