We managed to polish off a box of pizza and two Smirnoff’s each, sitting on the floor and laughing about the most mundane topics.  He regaled me with stories of recording with Pharrel, Hugo and Mr. McKnight himself, while I filled him in on all of the drama that had occurred recently.  I loved the fact that we could always find a grain of humor in everything that we talked about.  It was the one thing in our relationship that I could always count on.

“So you just played it off like you had no clue who she was?”

“Yup,” I nodded, laughing at his dubious expression.  We were already just the tiniest bit tipsy, but the incident sent me over the edge with giggles.  Justin, however, was a little less than amused.

“Why didn’t you just tell her?”  I looked up, and found his face to be very serious.  Shrugging self-consciously, he softened his tone.  “I mean, you had the perfect chance to just get it over with.”

“Right.  So that’s what this is about.”

He reached across me, grabbing a buffalo wing as if his previous statement was simply conversational, but I knew the real reason behind it.  For the third time this week, he wanted to start this conversation, already knowing how it would end.

“You didn’t need to ask me over here if this was you’re only reasoning,” I scoffed.  If you can’t tell, I was feeling just a tad bit bitter.

“You know it’s not like that.  I missed you.”  He waited to see my face soften before he continued to explain.  “I love spending time with you.  When we’re on the phone, we always have to be careful of who hears us, or what we can and can’t say.  When it’s just the two of us, we’re—well, there’s just something unique about the two of us together.  Besides, you can’t run away now.”

“Since when do I run away?”

He simply made a face, knowing that it would be best if he didn’t speak.  I ignored him, rolling my eyes and posing a question of my own.

“What’s there to tell her about, J?  We enjoy each other’s company.  We’re friends and we’re not doing anything wrong.”

“If we’re not doing anything wrong, why are you afraid to tell her?”  he countered.  God, I hated when he was right.  Once again, I didn’t say anything- he simply flashed me a ‘told you so, now I’m victorious’ look before moving on to a new topic.  “Honestly though, I didn’t invite you over here to argue.  I wanted to deliver some good news.”

“Well, what is it?”  my eyes rolling slightly before watching him skeptically.

“I talked to Johnny, and he told me that Britney’s serious about this hiatus thing.  She’s gonna’ take at least a year off.  I was hoping that you’d accept the position-“ he wiggled his eyebrows like the sophomoric jock that he is- “of being my events coordinator.”

Before I could even think of an answer, a beam broke out across my face.  “That is amazing.  Of course I accept- why wouldn’t I?”  I took a moment to think of my words before adding, “What exactly would I do?”

“You see,” he moved closer to me, a twinkle in his eye, “all the offers for appearances, performances or interviews would filter through you.  You weed out the worthless ones before sending them to me.  Of course, I have power to veto, but I trust your judgment.”

“What about Trace?”

With a shrug and a head movement of no commitment, he kissed my forehead.  “Plus, he’s already got a ton of stuff on his plate, and he wants to spend more time with Elisha.  Besides, this job would give you an excuse to hang around me, in public even.  You can take you’re time telling little miss Spears.”

Something inside of me frowned at the sneer in his voice as he made fun of my best friend, but on the outside, I was all smiles.  I couldn’t imagine how much persuasion it had taken to make Johnny reassign me.  I knew that he’d planned on me disappearing along with my cousin, but J had really thought everything through, just so he could have me around.  Closing the small gap of space between us, my hands cradled his neck and our lips moved to a familiar rhythm.

He pulled away, placing small kisses on my equally swollen lips.  “You’re gonna’ tell her, right?”

“God, you know how to kill the mood.”  He chuckled at my dazed appearance and raised eyebrows.  I took a deep breath and stood before him, still holding his hand.  “I’ll talk to her, I promise.  I just need some time right now.  Walk me to the door?”

“Leaving already?  You could stay, you know.”

I only returned his bashful grin, still leading the way to the door.  “I’m sure you wouldn’t object, but I think I should separate myself from you.  I can’t be held responsible for my actions when I’m around you.”

He only nodded before dipping in for another kiss.  And another, and another.  I’m not sure how long we stood against that door, but even as the lactic acid built up in my legs , I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.