I watch from the couch as consciousness slowly finds Jayme.  I see her open her eyes and then squeeze them shut quickly, letting out a moan of discomfort.  I grin and pad over to her with a glass of water and two aspirin.

“Hey.”  I saw as quietly as possible and she still shushes me by placing her hand over my mouth.

“Did you run over me with a truck…”  She starts to sit up but thinks better of it and pulls a pillow over her head.  I stifle a chuckle and carefully place myself on the bed next to her.  “Wait.”  She removes the pillow and chances a glance around the room.  “Did I…?”

I give what I think is a reassuring smile and shake my head no.  “You passed out on the deck last night, so I carried you upstairs and put you in my bed.  I slept on the couch.”

She spots the blanket and pillow on the couch and then takes a peek under the blankets to find the jeans she was in last night.

“Well that would explain why I’m so damn uncomfortable, and why I have the world’s worst headache.”  She groans when I sit her up further and make her take the pills.  After she’s sipped most of the water from the glass I let her settle back into the pillows.

“I’m going to go make some food; I think that should help your hangover.”  She answers me by throwing the blankets over her head and grunting.  I take that as a go-ahead and I shuffle out of the room and down the stairs into the kitchen.  I stare at the tiled room and pray for some culinary skills because I know that this is going to be a disaster.

I can’t believe I’m about to make breakfast for a chick that’s still in my bed and I didn’t even get any last night.  If Trace were here I wouldn’t hear the end of this.

Speaking of the Devil, he’s found his way into the kitchen and managed to get the refrigerator door open.  I’m not sure how though, because I’m pretty sure he’s still asleep.

“Dude, wake up.”  I yell at him and laugh when he jumps a foot in the air.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to scare a dwarf, I’m telling you now that it’s funny as hell.

“Fuck, JT.  That was so not cool.”  He flips me the bird and continues to forage through my mostly empty kitchen.  I guess I’m not making anything for Jayme to eat.  Not unless she likes a mushy apple and some frost bitten broccoli.  “You have no fucking food in this place.  What am I supposed to eat?”

An idea strikes me at that moment and I move over to Trace to place a hand on his shoulder.  “You go pick up food from that diner down the street.”  I grin as he shoots me a dirty look.

“Get the food yourself, you lazy shit.” 

“OK, I don’t know what you’re going to eat then.”  That earns another dirty look and I watch him slip on some sandals that are sitting by the back door.

“What do you want?”  I knew I still had pull over this kid.  He’s been my bitch for ever now, that’s not about to change anytime soon. 

I rattle off an order for both Jayme and myself and then hand him some bills from my wallet.  I don’t trust him to buy his own food and leave mine, so I figure I’ll be safe and just pay for myself.  I’ll be damned if anyone is gonna call me a cheap bastard.

A few minutes after Trace leaves I’ve managed to make a decent pot of coffee and I sit down at the kitchen table to relax.  A noise from the doorway turns my attention from my steaming cup over to find Jayme slowly making her way into the kitchen.

“I don’t see any food, Justin.”  She seems grouchy and it’s a treat for me to see her in a not-so-put-together attitude.  Makes her seem a little more human.

“Trace is picking it up.  You don’t want me to cook for you, Darlin’.”  I grin at her but she doesn’t seem too amused.  Instead of responding, Jayme grabs a mug and pours herself a cup of coffee before sitting down with a grunt.

“Did I tell you that I’m leaving tomorrow for New York?” Uh, no. 

“I don’t think you mentioned it, no.”  I’m hoping this is just the hangover talking. 

“I have a business conference in New York and I’ll be gone for two weeks.”  Two weeks! Shit, that means it’ll be over a month before I get laid!  Well, by Jayme.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”  I sound like a whiny bitch, but whatever.  I’m mad now.

“Because I really didn’t think you would care.  I was of the opinion that I was just another conquest for you and that you’d get tired after I didn’t have sex with you.”  She finishes off the cup of coffee and sets the mug down with a little too much force, making us both cringe.

“I’m glad that I was wrong about you, JT.  I’m going to miss you when I’m gone.”  That little confession shocks me because Jayme is not the clingy type at all.  She notices it too, because shortly after she says it she covers her mouth and gives me a disgusted look.  “Remind me not to let you give me alcohol again, ok JT?”

I laugh uncomfortably but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Are you feeling any better?”  Her face looks a little green and I can only imagine the headache that she’s got.

“Nope.”  I decide that I don’t want this chick throwing up in my kitchen, so I move her to the couch that’s nearest the bathroom.  I head back into the kitchen and start to pace a little.

First off, I’m upset that she’s leaving, and then I’m upset because I’m upset.  If that makes any sense at all.  I don’t want to be attached to this chick, really.  I mean, she’s proved to be one of the coolest people I know, especially because she’s a female, but I was really just hoping to get her into bed a few times and leave it at that.  Friends with benefits seems like a good plan to me.

Now I feel like she’s the one with the upper hand here.  She’s leaving and I won’t get to see her for two weeks and that’s just not cool.

Trace comes in the back door loaded with bags and I’m thankful for the break from my thoughts.

“A little help here.”  He barks at me and I almost don’t move to help him, but the food smells damn good and I’m fucking hungry.

After we sort everything out I put the food on some plates and bring one in to Jayme.  She’s passed out on the couch I put her on and she looks cute with her hair all a mess and her clothing twisted around her body.  Wait…did I just say ‘cute’?  Aw fuck.

“Jayme…hey.”  I nudge her a few times until she stirs.  She gives me a blank expression until she spots the food and then she sits up quickly and snatches the plate from my hand.  “Damn girl.”  I’ve never seen anyone eat like that.

“Sorry, I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”  She slows a little bit and I can tell she’s embarrassed.  We eat in silence for a little while longer until I can’t take it anymore and I have to say something.

“So you’re gonna be gone for two weeks?”  So much for letting that go.

“Yeah.  My company is looking to pick up some new clients so we have a conference with some prospects.”  Her hangover seems to be subsiding now and the mood has turned silence.  Jayme works for an insurance company, she does a lot of the liaison work, or so she’s said.

I don’t really know what to say to her now.  I mean, I don’t want to sound like a complete ass and say something about not caring if she leaves.  And then, I don’t want to solidify my title as a pussy and tell her I’m going to miss her.  Jesus, it wasn’t supposed to get complicated.

 I did miss her, too.  I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone, ever, but I realize noticed her absence when she was gone.  I’d come to like having her sarcasm around, and it was nice that she wasn’t afraid to put me in my place.  I don’t know what it happened, but I was hooked on this girl. 

Shit, I need to check and make sure I still have some balls.

 Of course, as soon as Jayme left Trace decided that I needed to get out and party.  I wasn’t about to protest because I really didn’t need to hear him go on about how I’d changed.  And I didn’t think that a little booze and a dance or two would be a big deal.  I was wrong. 

You know, I don’t even know why I’m tell y’all this shit, because it makes it look like I’m wrong a hell of a lot more that I really am.  I’m totally in control of my life and my masculinity, I swear.  

The club was packed and I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with crowds yet, so I headed up to VIP with Trace in tow.  My usual table is set aside and it’s been stocked with my favorite booze.  I knew I loved this club.

After about twenty minutes I’ve got a strong buzz going and I’m feeling good.  There are a couple of hot chicks that Trace has brought up and I can’t see any harm in dancing.  This one girl has been shaking her ass at me all night and it would look really bad if I passed up this opportunity.

We start to dance and I have to give this girl credit, she’s good.  It’s funny though, because I find my mind starting to think about Jayme and those incredible legs she’s got.  I’m starting to realize that I’m whipped and that needs to stop.  So I focus on the ass on this girl and try and get my mind to think of anything but Jayme.

Trace brings me a couple more shots of Jack and I’m pretty sure I’m drunk.  In fact, I must be drunk because there are a bunch of flashing lights around me and I’m starting to get dizzy.

The girl that I’m dancing with turns to face me and she wraps a leg over my hip  I grind into her harder and smile when she lets out a whimper.  She does this move where she travels down my torso and I can feel her hot breath through my jeans.  Hot damn.  She makes her way back up slowly, but her hands stay near my dick and I know I’m really turned on.  Her lips attach to my neck and I’ll probably have a hickey tomorrow but I don’t give a fuck.  It’ll be gone by the time Jayme gets back anyway.

Shit, Jayme. 

I try and push the girl off of me but she’s gotten in a couple of kisses and it’s then that I realize the flashes aren’t from the alcohol but from the dozen or so photographers that have zoned in on me.  Fuck.  I don’t know how they got up here, but this isn’t going to be good.

I manage to get this girl off of me and I motion for my bodyguards to get me out.  Trace is bitching about having to leave but I really don’t care at this point.  It hits me that I’m really concerned about Jayme getting wind of this little escapade and I don’t want to mess up anything with her.

I’ve stopped caring about getting her into bed and started caring about her.  I really like this chick and I have the feeling that she’s different than all the others.  The last thing I want to do is fuck it up because my dick feels lonely.  I know that it’s too late to avoid pictures and I think I might be starting to panic.

I don’t know what to do.  Normally I would just say ‘fuck it’ and forget about any feelings that may be hurt.  But this time, if Jayme is hurt enough to leave, that means that I’ll get hurt too.  Shit.