“Does this mean what I think it means?” Maddie said, practically jumping as she approached Jenny.

“You were in on this?” Jenny gasped. 

“Yup. As of yesterday after you went to work. I gotta say, it took some doing, but he sold me on the idea. I knew you’d liked him, so once I knew how he felt, his plan for all this, of course I told him I’d help out.”

“You didn’t throw this party just for this, did you?” Jenny asked, looking at Justin.

“I may be the star on the basketball team, but I’m not God, I don’t have that much pull,” he laughed.  “No, but I knew it was happening and thought it was a perfect opportunity.”

“Ok, I can go find Jake now, right?” Maddie asked. 

“Yeah, go,” Jenny replied, waving her off. The song was still playing, Justin pulling her back into his arms. 

“So, what now?” Justin asked. “I feel stupid.”

“Not stupid. It’s new. I know what I wanna do though.”

“What?” he chuckled. 

“Pick up where we left off last week.”  She pulled his lips to hers, her tongue pressing against his lips. He opened, somewhat hesitantly, Jenny pulling back. 

“What’s wrong? Pretty sure we both want this, we’re together now.”

“I know, and I do, but I wanna take things slow. I don’t wanna be the guy you think I am, or at least who you thought I was a few weeks ago. I wanna be different for you, Jenny.”

“I know you’re not that guy anymore.  You’re a good kisser, I’d like to keep that at least…”

“I can work with that,” he smiled before kissing her again.  

…

They spent the entire weekend together as much as possible, Jenny ignoring JC’s texts and calls. She felt like she was finally in a good place, and JC wasn’t going to mess with that. She knew Justin was different, they had decided to wait a bit before having sex.  It had barely been 24 hours when he dropped her off at her dorm room for the night Sunday night. 

“I’ll miss you,” Justin said between kisses.

“I’ll miss you more,” Jenny replied. 

“Can I say how cute it is that you two finally got your shit together?” Maddie laughed, opening the door.  “Curfew is midnight but that’s when they lock the doors. Once you’re inside, no one will give a fuck what you do. Though, I’m sure your roommate is used to it by now.”

“I don’t have a roommate,” Justin said sheepishly. “My parents paid for a single…”

“So what the fuck are you doing dropping her off here when you can go up to your room and kiss some more?” Maddie laughed. 

“She makes a good point,” Jenny said, biting her bottom lip.

“Only if you want to,” Justin replied. 

“Trust me, she wants to.  Pretty sure you do too or you’d have made up an excuse by now,” Maddie pointed out.

“Shall we?” Jenny asked, taking his hand. He nodded slowly, walking her up to his room. 

“I don’t know why I’m nervous,” Justin said as he unlocked the door. “Maybe because it’s you, and I don’t want to fuck things up so early on.”

“I don’t think that’s even a possibility, so don’t worry about it,” she smiled. 

She looked around, seeing the one bed in the corner. He had awards on a shelf, pictures on the wall over his desk, some music posters on one wall and a guitar and digital keyboard next to his desk. It was surprisingly neat for a 21 year old guy that lived by himself. The bed was made, but the blankets a little messy.  Jenny thought to herself how it would look when they were done.

“So…” Justin sighed. 

“Make out on your bed?” Jenny suggested. 

“Yeah, I’m ok with that,” he smiled. 

They sat along the long edge of the bed, Justin cupping his cheek with her hand. “You look so beautiful, the way the light from the streetlight outside hits just right…”

“Justin, are you saying you want more than kissing? I’m not gonna lie, I want to know what it’s like waking up next to you.”

His eyes widened, his hands were starting to sweat.  “Jenny, I mean…”

“Relax, I know we aren’t rushing things.  I just mean I want to stay over, fall asleep in your arms. Don’t tell me that’s not ok with you.”

“Just sleep, I want to be that different guy for you.  That does sound nice, having you in my arms when I wake up. Just wake me up before you get up so I know this wasn’t just a dream.”

“This feels like a dream, but it is very real,” she said before crashing her lips into his.  Their tongues danced back and forth.  Justin struggled with keeping his hands to himself, his brain and body wanting to go on autopilot.

Jenny groaned as she leaned back, having them lie down on the bed.  Her hand ran down his arm, Justin pulling back as her hand grazed over the fly of his jeans.

“Can you not do that?” Justin asked, his voice shaky.

“I’m sorry, I just kinda went for it.  Are you not enjoying it?”

“No, I am, trust me I am… but I’m trying really hard to not jump into things.  Listen carefully, please.”

“Ok,” Jenny said with trepidation in her voice. 

“You can press your hand there, over clothes, just to see what effect you have on me. Know that I’m fighting every instinct I have right now, but know what you do to me.”

She pressed her hand against him, feeling his hardness twitch, getting a rough idea of his size. 

“No matter what happens, know that seeing you, kissing you, just thinking about you makes this happen. You may think I don’t want you, but trust me, I do.  Now, I’d like to kiss you until we’re ready to sleep, then I’ll hold you in my arms.”

“That sounds wonderful…”

…

Jenny woke up the next morning to Justin’s alarm clock going off.  Her eyes opened enough to see what time it was.  “5:00?  Why the hell do you get up at 5:00, Justin?”

“The gym opens early for athletes.  I don’t always go, this morning being one of them.  Once the season starts and I have to be at training and practices, yeah, but right now it’s optional.  I’d much rather stay here with you.”

“You certainly know how to charm a woman, don’t you?” she giggled.

“Let’s not pull at that thread,” Justin sighed.  ‘Did you sleep ok?”

“Great, actually.  Usually when I don’t sleep in my bed I toss and turn all night, but with you, I settled right in and that was it.”

Justin’s hand was around her waist, Justin pulling her close to him so he could kiss her neck.  She giggled at feeling her ass pressed against his morning wood.

“Is that because of me, or because it’s morning?” she asked with a laugh.

“Definitely because of you.  Ok, maybe a little the other, but mostly you.  I gotta say, I like waking up to you.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but how many times did you and Marie do this?  Wake up in each other’s arms?”

“Not that many given how many times we broke up and got back together.  This, though, I see becoming a regular thing if you want.”

“You sure you can do this for a while without wanting sex?” she wondered, turning to look at him.

“I’m sure it’ll be difficult sometimes, but I’d like to try.  Not asking for every night, maybe on weekends or something.  Right now I really want to kiss you…”

“That I believe,” she smiled, pressing her lips to his.  Things felt so right in that moment, like this was where she was meant to be.  “Do we have to go to class?” she giggled.

“I do if I want to keep my grades up.  Not like we’re doing more that we’d want to stay in and be at it all day.”

“Not gonna lie, that sounds amazing…” she purred, feeling his arousal twitch at her words and tone.  “Pretty sure you like that idea, too.”

“One day.  Just, not right now.”

“Sorry, I’m sure you want to kinda reset, I know I probably should.  My ex and I were hot and heavy, even after we broke up.  I honestly don’t remember how to go slow at this point.  I was in a pretty serious sexual relationship, but that’s over.”  She meant it, she couldn’t imagine seeing JC beyond class anymore.  She admitted to herself that as much as she wanted to have sex with Justin, that if he wanted to wait, show her he wasn’t the guy she’d heard he was, then that was fine by her.  If this was it for both of them, she could wait.  

They kissed for a while, hands remaining in innocent places, Jenny following Justin’s lead.  They talked about boundaries, so Jenny knew what was off limits based on Justin’s desire to keep things slow.  It was going to be difficult, but she didn't want to screw things up either.

They watched the sun rise as they laid in bed, Jenny resting her head on Justin’s chest.  It felt perfect; romantic, no expectations on her, she wished she really could spend all day with him like that.  They soon went their separate ways so Jenny could get ready for the day.  It was still late summer, the weather not feeling like fall yet, so she opted for shorts and her Queen shirt, remembering how she saw Justin at the first party they were at together.  As much as it had pained her to see Justin kissing Marie, she smiled knowing that was now her reality, Justin Timberlake’s girlfriend.

They walked hand in hand to class, sitting next to each other.  Both were focused on the lecture, Jenny wanting to make sure Justin kept his grades up, that she wouldn’t be the reason he started slipping.

Between classes Jenny went into the bathroom, Justin waiting outside.  She was washing her hands when she heard a voice.  

“Good luck,” the voice said.

“Excuse me?”

Marie emerged from a stall.  “You’re Justin’s new girlfriend, so I’m wishing you luck.  More like warning you, really.”

“About what?  Things are great.”

“That’s how it always is at the beginning.  Just wait.”

“What happened between the two of you?”

“Well, all I know is things went from hot and heavy before school started, to next to nothing.  I expect you’re the reason why.”

“When you say nothing…”

“In all the times Justin and I were together, we never had sex.  Got pretty damn close, but when it came to it, he couldn’t do it.  So I’m letting you know it might be the same with you, or maybe you’ll be able to get from him what I never could.”

“Thanks, I think.”  She dried her hands and left the bathroom, joining Justin as they walked to their next class.  She shook off the warning from Marie as a jealous ex wanting her boyfriend back now that he was with someone else.  She soon found out Marie wasn’t the only jealous one.  All through JC’s class he practically stared at her, seeing Justin sitting next to her, closer than he would like, Justin touching her arm or resting his hand on her back.  She knew if looks could kill, Justin would be splattered into a million pieces, and then turned into ash.  

As they left the classroom hand in hand, JC watched her with contempt.  They went for lunch, Jenny’s phone vibrating.

We need to talk.