Click.
Ari pulls her camera away and looks down at the digital screen; she smiles as the sees the nice picture of Maestro lying in the grass under a large tree. She sighs as she leans back onto the thick grass to look up at the sky. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining but a slightly cool breeze keeps it from getting too hot. She thinks back to the events of the night before and feels her cheeks warm at the recollection. She’d never felt so turned on before and had acted much more boldly than she ever had with anyone else.
He brings that out of her; she likes that.
After their…moment the night before, they’d settled down to watch a movie on the couch cuddling and kissing until they were both too tired to finish the movie. They’d gone upstairs where she’d slept in his bed again but this time she’d dared lie against him, resting her cheek on his bare chest.
She’d been pleased- well honestly, ecstatic- when he’d walked out of the bathroom in only his tight black boxer briefs.
Her cheeks had warmed and he’d noticed with a chuckle. “I was dying last night in those track pants and t-shirt,” he’d explained as he slipped into bed and rested his arm behind his head. “And well, you’ve pretty much seen everything now, so no point of covering up.” He’d grinned as he’d reached over and pulled her against him.
I’m really getting attached to him.
She smiles and sits up taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She is going home tomorrow. Her landlord had called her this morning to tell her that someone would be at her apartment to change the window tomorrow morning so she would be free to sleep there the same night. She was happy to go back, to be amongst her own stuff again, but she was sad to leave JC. It had only been a couple of days, but he’d done everything to make her feel at home. Their relationship and their interactions feel natural and she really likes that.
She looks down at her watch and sees that it is getting late; she has a meeting with one of her brides early this afternoon. JC had gone into the house a little earlier to go make a few calls and hadn’t come back out since. She feels her stomach grumble and figures she may as well make them a couple of sandwiches before she heads out for her meeting. She stands up and wipes her hands over the back of her jeans, grabs her camera and walks back toward the house.
She pulls the patio door open and steps into the kitchen surprised to hear another male voice that isn’t JC’s: she looks up to find JC and Justin sitting at the kitchen island.
Justin.
Justin Timberlake.
With a look of surprise evident on her face, she stops short near the table and sets her camera beside its recently opened box. “Hi.” She says softly and turns her eyes to JC’s. They both look very serious and she keeps standing there for a beat unsure of what to say or do.
You can’t just spring Justin Timberlake on a girl without advance warning.
“Justin, this is Ari. Ari, Justin.” JC motions between the two of them before he gets up off of the stool and makes his way to the fridge.
She smiles tentatively at Justin and isn’t rewarded with much more than a jerk of his head.
Guess the friendly demeanor is an act.
JC pulls two beers from the fridge and shuts the door with his hip.
“Did C buy you that?” Justin asks with a sour look on his face, he points to the camera sitting next to its box and the two white bags filled with the rest of the things she brought back from the camera store the day before.
“No,” she answers quickly with a shake of her head and crosses her arms over her chest.
“Justin, cool it.” JC says warningly."Let’s go down to the studio,” he adds, walking toward the basement door, pulling it open and handing him the beers. “I’ll meet you down there in a minute.”
Justin stands up, walks past her without a word and makes his way downstairs clutching the two beers in his hands.
“I’m sorry Ari, he’s just being an asshole; he’s fighting with Jess again.” JC says while walking toward her. He sets his hands on her shoulders and leans in to kiss her gently. “I might be down there for a while; he’s in pretty bad shape.”
She nods and moves forward to wrap her arms around his waist. “It’s okay, he’s your friend. Take care of him.” She gently kisses his cheek. “I have a meeting at 2 with the bride for next weekend’s wedding. I’ll be gone for a few hours. I can pick up a couple pizzas on the way home or something? Think he’ll still be here?”
He smiles and shrugs his shoulders. “Probably, but I’m not sure. Pizza is a good idea though.”
She nods and playfully gives his butt a swat. “Now get down there before he comes back up here and accuses me of stealing all of your time too.”
He laughs softly and kisses her lips gently once more, “He’ll get over it. He’ll be crawling on the ground apologizing later. I know him.” He grins wryly. “Have a good meeting.” With a return swat of her butt, he winks and turns around then shuts the basement door behind him as he disappears downstairs.
******************************************************
Shit.
Ari groans as she tries to balance two medium pizza boxes in one hand, her bag and a six pack of beer in the other.
Didn't think of the doorknob, dumbass.
She starts to leans down to set the six-pack and her bag on the front step when the front door opens and her eyes run up a long pair of legs, all the way to Justin’s face.“Let me help you with that,” he says softly, grabbing the pizza boxes from her hand. The sour look has left his face and he now looks sheepish.
JC was right.
He watches her walk through the door and shuts it behind her. He doesn’t move further into the house and stands there for a moment.“Listen, I’m sorry…” He starts to say slowly.
Ari smiles and shakes her head, “It’s okay, I get it.”
An unmistakable Justin smile starts to spread over his lips, “JC said you were cool.” He laughs softly, “I guess we should start again.” He wipes his free hand over his jeans and reaches forward, “Hi. I’m Justin.”
Ari returns his smile and grasps his hand, “Hi Justin, I’m Ari.”
JC comes through the living room archway and leans against it, “Are you guys going to duke it out or can I eat my pizza at least semi-warm?” He asks with a smirk.
“I think we can eat, I’m starvin’!” Justin exclaims hoisting the pizza boxes over his head triumphantly before walking past JC into the living room.
“You were right.” Ari tells JC as she sets her bag down under the entryway table.
JC shrugs and walks to her to grab the six-pack from her hand and kiss the side of her neck affectionately, “I’ve known him for a long time. Now come on, let’s eat. Knowing him for that long also teaches me that if we don’t get in there, there won’t be much left.”
*********************************************************
Later that night JC is moving around the living room, picking up empty pizza boxes, napkins and chip bags. He thinks back as he walks into the garage.They’d sat around chatting for a while before JC and Justin decided to battle it out playing video games. He always liked nights like this where it was just cheap pizza, cheap beer and video games. Although he definitely wasn’t a teenager any more these types of evenings always brought him back to a simpler time,a time when he and the guys were so close. They’d remained good friends and were always involved in each other’s lives, but it for sure was no longer like it was before. It was impossible for him to expect that they’d stay like that forever; they all had lives and different projects. Most of all they no longer shared hotel rooms and tour buses for weeks on end with only each other to distract themselves from the craziness around them. Tonight had been nice. He had been sure that Justin and Ari would like each other but he had gotten a little worried at first.
Ari.
She fits into his life so easily and with no drama. Sure, they hadn’t known each other but for a few months now but he loved the way she had just sidled herself near his heart with doing nothing more than being a decent, kind and most importantly: a real person. Those kinds of people are hard to find and when you find them; you hold on tight.
He wasn’t going to get down on one knee but he was starting to open up to the idea of identifying what they had as a relationship. Something he wanted to work on for the long haul and not just a few weeks until he got tired of her or they got into an argument and it was just easier to move on than to work it out.
It’s not like that hasn’t happened before.
JC shakes his head and lifts the trash bin cover before setting in the pizza boxes. He can feel that this is different. Their chemistry is just…there. She matches him tit for tat intellectually and their physical chemistry is…off the charts. His mind is always preparing itself for the time they’d finally sleep together. They’d only just scraped the surface of intimacy the night before and it had left him wanting more, much more. He has a feeling that she may not have been used to being so forward and open about her wants and needs, but he is hoping to change that. He doesn’t know about her past experiences and is not sure if that is something that she would be open to talking about. Of course, she may be wondering the same thing about him. Maybe she thinks he’s slept with hundreds of women and is intimidated by that.
Heh. Definitely not hundreds.
As he walks back into the house he sees her at the kitchen table, putting something away in the travel bag she’d brought the other night.“Going somewhere?” He asks, resting his palms on the top of a chair back.
She smiles and zips up a compartment, “I have to go home at some point. You’re going to start charging me rent.” She laughs softly and sets the bag on the floor. “My landlord called this morning and told me I’d be fine to go back tomorrow, the window will be fixed. You’ll be able to have your space back”.
He feels his stomach sink and his fingers tighten on the wood of the chair.
She’s leaving.
It surprises him how much that actually bothers him. It’s absolutely ridiculous since she’s only been there for a couple of days, but still. In the short time she’s been here, his house has been feeling warmer, more welcoming. He had forgotten how lonely it is to come home to an empty house day after day, night after night until there was someone else there again.
He clears his throat, “It’s fine, I was actually starting to forget that you don’t really live here.” He smiles and tries to change the look on his face to an amused one. “I think Maestro is really going to miss you.” He adds, looking at the dog that is lying at her feet below the table. He’d been following her everywhere around the house ever since she’d come over, so affectionate and excited. They say animals have a sixth sense about people, maybe there’s truth to that.
“I’m going to miss him too.” She crouches down to pet his fur for a moment, “I’m also going to miss his Master.” She smiles, walking forward to wrap her arms around his neck. He slides his arms around her waist and smiles back.
“We’ll still see each other though, you’re always welcome here and I’m sure I’ll show up at your door once in a while.”
“I hope you do.” She leans in and presses her lips to his softly. After kissing her for a few moments, he pulls back.
“Can I just say that…” He licks his bottom lip and takes a breath, “I’m-I’m not planning on seeing anyone else.”
Just tell her you want to be exclusive.
Her cheeks flush and her eyes look down for a moment in embarrassment. “Neither am I.” She says softly as her eyes find his again, “I’m not one to date more than one person at a time.”
Her eyes widen for a moment and he chuckles softly at her reaction, she’d used the word date although they had never established that they were dating.
“So basically what I’m saying is that, if you’re willing, I’d like for us to be…exclusive. And yes, that would mean that we’re dating.” He grins and leans forward to kiss the tip of her nose.
She laughs and nods, “I’m willing.” With another kiss on his lips she whispers, “And honestly, I can’t imagine finding someone else I like as much as I like you.”
We’re on the same page, baby. On the exact same page.
