“So how big is the damage? I mean I see everything is ruined, but how much time will you need to fix everything?” I asked the contractor that was pacing across my previously flooded apartment.
“Well, the floors need replacing, you wanted to paint the walls anyway, and with a couple of minor fix-ups of the plumbing and probably a few other unexpected glitches...” I already started to huff and I covered my face in concern, assuming the man will say two months or more, “I’d say it shouldn’t take more than two weeks,” he finished and I was incredibly relieved.
“Two weeks?” I said with a smile and he was surprised with my reaction.
“Well, give or take a day, but yeah about two weeks. You seem rather thrilled,” he waved his head and went to the kitchen.
“Well, it’s much better than what I thought you’d say.”
“Whoa! I knew you couldn’t take good care of yourself, but this is ridiculous,” suddenly I heard my friend Jared teasing me, while he was coming inside the apartment and looking at all the mess.
“Ha-ha, very funny,” I said and started to Google hotels nearby, because I was officially homeless for the next two weeks.
“No really, how does a girl manage to ruin an apartment this bad,” he was still on his teasing mission, but I couldn’t handle the joke right now.
“Very funny, Leto. What are you even doing here? You were supposed to meet me downstairs,” I gave him a stern look.
“You know I hate waiting, and I was sitting in the car for at least ten minutes,” he said, continuing to examine the wet living room. He checked the hardwood floor, the walls, and looked at almost every corner, as if he knew how to fix it. The curiosity in this man was sometimes so annoying.
“Yeah, well, as you can see I had quite a problem. But we can go now,” I said walking towards the front door, “Buy, Sam, see you in a few days!” I shouted to the contractor and Jared went after me.
“So, what do you feel like eating?” Jared asked me while we were going down the stairs.
“Pasta. Anything Italian, I’m craving some delicious Italian food,” I answered and heard him huff because I was still on my phone. Jared hated when you didn’t give him attention while he was around. We were friends for ages, and no matter how busy he was, in the last couple of years we had a deal that we were gonna give our best to keep off our phones when we were hanging out.
“That’s enough, you’re putting this thing down,” Jared took my phone once we entered his car, instantly maddening me.
“Give it back,” I opened my palm, requesting my phone, when all he did was raise his eyebrow and smirked at me. “I’m serious, give me my phone back,” despite wanting to stay angry with him, the corner of my lip curved and I barely managed to stop myself from laughing.
“No, you’re not texting anymore,” he said and wanted to put the phone into his pocket when I threw myself at him.
“I wasn’t texting, give it back,” I said as he waved his hands up and around, but there wasn’t enough room for him to escape, since we were sitting in the car. I was about to straddle him, when after a few seconds of our little battle our sudden movement pressed the horn and we both stopped goofing around. We were out of breath and our faces were so close we could feel each other’s breaths. We didn’t keep our eyes off each other, and it was one of those moments when you just know it’s the right time to kiss.
But Jared and I were friends. For ages now. And even though I always had that harmless crush on him, and we flirted on and off, nothing has ever happened between us. I just knew he felt the same way about me, but for some reason we never went a step further from flirting and teasing each other. Both Jared and I had multiple relationships throughout the years, we were incredibly supportive of each other, but we used every free opportunity to show one another that we actually felt like we were more than just friends. Still, none of us would ever make any other move. We’ve never even kissed. There were always those cute pecks on the cheek, and he even accidentally kissed my neck once, and I swear I thought I was gonna disappear that very second.
Having seen his attention was now completely on me, I used an opportunity and snatched the phone out of his hand that was bent behind his head. As I grabbed the phone, I kissed Jared on the cheek and sat back on the passenger’s seat.
“Really? You need that stupid...”
“I’m looking for a place to stay, you big nag!”
“What? Why?”
I looked at him and tilted my head, giving him that Seriously look, “You’ve seen my place. It’ll take two weeks to fix, and I’d rather be in a hotel than sleep in front of my building.”
“Can’t you stay at David’s?”
“David is not in the picture anymore, really,” I said with a little bit of irritation in my voice.
“Since when?” Jared was surprised.
“Since he told me he never planned for us to be, and I quote ‘This serious’, whatever that meant.”
“Jerk,” Jared said with a low voice.
“What was that?” I asked and giggled.
“You’re not checking into a hotel, you’re staying at my place,” Jared said and took my phone for real this time, putting it immediately into his pocket.
“I’m not staying at your place!” I protested, as he turned on the engine. “Lord knows that place has always been a man cave, and I have no intention of interrupting your bachelor life.”
“You’re moving in, missy, and we’re not going to discuss it anymore,” Jared said and we went to the restaurant for lunch.
After having spaghetti, and something vegan that Jared actually called food, we were headed to his house. I’ve always felt welcome there, but living in his house for two weeks made me a little nervous. I don’t know if it was the fact that we would be together more than usually, or the fact that there were always so many people coming and going, and the possibility of others thinking we were together or something, but I just didn’t think I would feel at ease.
“Look, J, I really think I should check into a hotel...” I tried to persuade him, as I followed him through a hallway. Passing by his bedroom, the door were slightly opened, and I peeked for a glimpse of a second, when at the same time Jared turned around.
“Your room is right here,” he pointed to the room right across his and I was a little embarrassed that he saw me looking at his room so curiously.
“I don’t have any of my clothes, and I wouldn’t want to impose...” I tried one more time, but Jared acted as if I wasn’t talking at all.
“Bathroom is right next to the room, and I’ll borrow you some of my clothes for tonight. We’re going shopping tomorrow. Make yourself at home.” He said and kissed my forehead, before he left to the studio.
When Jared set his mind to something, there was no way anyone would make him think otherwise. I gave in, and decided it’s better if I just went along with what he wanted. He was my best friend after all, and I know that if tables were turned, I’d do the exact same thing for him.
The next day we were up early, and went shopping for some new clothes, because that horrible flood ruined almost all of my clothes. Well, at least everything that I could wear now, so Jared accompanied me to the mall because he wanted to help me pick out the best pieces. He loved fashion, and unlike many men, he actually enjoyed criticizing my fashion sense, and loved to irritate me when he spoke his mind about some of the tops, or pants I’d choose for myself.
“Absolutely not,” he rolled his eyes and made a disgusted face when I showed him the pair of pants I wanted to buy.
“Why not? They’re so comfy, and...”
“Because they make your ass flat,” he protested.
“Why do you care if my ass is flat?” I placed my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrow, tilting my head intriguingly.
Jared lifted his eyes from his phone, and looked at me, “I don’t,” he answered and swallowed hard, sighing deeply at the same time, ”But you should. So, don’t pick out the clothes that’ll hide it, but go for the one that will make it attractive. No guy is going to fall for a flat ass.”
“Wow, since when are you that superficial? You know I care much more about what someone thinks of my character, rather than about my physical appearance...”
“Yeah, yeah, just go and change. You’re not buying those.”
“Fine,” I said rolling my eyes, before I went into the dressing room to try on some other clothes. After trying a few more blouses, shirts, and pants Jared luckily approved, I was finally going to put on a dress that I hoped he’d like, because I needed a guy’s opinion.
“What about this one? Too revealing?” I went out wearing a white laced dress with thin straps, and I twirled so he can see my back and front nicely.
Jared just looked at me, and didn’t say a word. From the look on his face, I couldn’t tell how he was feeling, because he just kept staring at me.
“So?” I asked again with a low voice, thinking that he might not find it appealing, “What do you think?”
“Too revealing, too short.... just too much,” Jared answered and licked his lips, making me quite nervous all of a sudden.
“OK, now tell me how it looks from a guy’s point of view,” I said cheekily.
Jared frowned and grinned, licking his lips, “Oh, so that’s for a guy?”
“Yeah, I have a date tomorrow, and I thought about wearing this.”
“Well, if you want him into your pants before the dinner is over, that’s definitely the right dress,” he answered arrogantly and started to type on his phone.
Was that jealousy in his voice, or was I just feeling overwhelmed with almost a half of day of shopping with one of the most picky persons in the world? Whatever that was, Jared was not thrilled about my date, but I could tell the dress did leave quite an impression on him, which meant it really was the right choice.
“Perfect, I’ll take it then. Thanks, J,” I said and winked at him, running back to the dressing room. I peeked through the door before I started to undress and I could see Jared was very disturbed by this, which was a little confusing. He was always protective of me and he had met every one of my ex boyfriends, so he could estimate him and tell me whether he’s OK or not with my choice. When I mentioned that David and I were through, he sounded as if he was a little happy, even though he called him a jerk. I didn’t really know what to think, but luckily I was gonna spend the next two weeks closer to J than ever before, and we’ll see if my speculations were correct or wrong.
By the time we were done shopping, it was already one o’clock so we decided to grab lunch to-go, and eat at home. Jared took some noodles for both of us and we picked up a few cupcakes for me. I loved to eat sweets after lunch, and cupcakes were one of my favorite treats. We were home and I went to leave the bags to my room, and freshen up a little before lunch. Coming to kitchen, I saw Jared wasn’t there, and a second later I heard water in the hot tub slowly splashing. I looked through the window and saw Jared sitting on the edge of the hot tub, eating his noodles.
“Seriously?” I crossed my arms over my chest and laughed, seeing Jared sitting by the hot tub, with his feet inside plopping like a little kid.
“I thought it would be cool to have lunch here,” he smiled and ate some of his noodles.
“OK, let’s try it out,” I said and went to sit next to him, after I had taken my shoes off and rolled up my jeans. I was wearing a grey t-shirt and a pair of washed up ripped jeans, which I managed to get out of my ruined closet.
We’ve been sitting outside for some time, laughing, talking and enjoying each other’s company. At some point, our eyes would meet and we’d just stare at one another without a word. It was really strange, but kind of heartwarming at the same time. The day went from sunny to windy in just half an hour and as we were finishing our lunch, the wind started to blow quite hard, giving me goosebumps.
“Oooo, this wind means business,” I said and rubbed my upper arms, getting ready to get up and go inside to put on a jacket, when Jared took off his hoodie and gave it to me.
“Here, I’m not that cold anyway,” he offered me his hoodie, and he was now only in a t-shirt.
“Thanks,” I smiled and put it on, feeling so warm and cozy.
“I should go to the studio, by the way; we need to wrap this album up and we’re not even close to ending,” he said and went inside, leaving me to sit alone by the pool.
“OK, I’ll see you later,” I said and finished my lunch. It was really breezy outside so I went to my room to watch a movie. It was Saturday afternoon and I felt like doing absolutely nothing. Curling up in the bed and turning on the TV, I suddenly started to smell Jared everywhere. I took the collar of the hoodie and smelled it only to realize that the hoodie had absorbed the mixture of Jared’s natural body scent and his favorite perfume. It was so intoxicating I never wanted to take the hoodie off. I just rubbed my arms and nuzzled my nose into the hoodie as I tried not to think about Jared lying next to me.
Why were all these crazy thoughts running through my mind all of a sudden? It was just a comfy hoodie, smelling like Jared. Big deal. I should be thinking about Ian and our date tomorrow, instead of Jared. Just as Ian crossed my mind, I got a text from him cancelling on our date tomorrow. He had some work related emergency, and he was so sorry but he had to take a raincheck. Oddly, I wasn’t so upset as I’d usually be. If anything, I felt relieved. The weather outside was horrible, it started raining, and what seemed to be a wonderful Saturday, had suddenly turned into a lazy day indoors. Without realizing how, I dozed off and was asleep for almost three hours. When I woke up, I saw Jared sitting on the edge of my bed, looking at me.
“Mmmmm,” I stretched and rubbed my eyes, “Was I asleep?”
“You passed out,” Jared teased me, “For a minute I wasn’t sure if you were even breathing. Do you ever sleep at your home?” he asked and laughed.
“Aren’t you a big comedian,” I said and yawned, “What time is it anyway?”
“It’s almost 6.”
“Wow, I slept through an entire day,” I was shocked, “I could use some coffee.”
“Already made it, let’s have it in the living room,” Jared said and offered me a hand to get up.
“You’re the best,” I said and smiled.
We’ve spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house, and it was as if we were alone in this world. We had the time to catch up, since we didn’t have the chance to spend so much time together in the past few months, so this was quite refreshing. I had almost forgotten how much fun we had when we were all alone.
The next day, I got up earlier to make Jared breakfast. He loved vegan pancakes, and I made sure to make them just the way he liked them. I also made some sweet vegan pudding cups, and the fridge was always packed with plenty of fruit, so we were in for a deliciously healthy breakfast.
“Mmmm, something smells nice,” I heard Jared coming to the kitchen just as I was putting the last pancake into the platter.
“You’re up, great,” I said and took the food to bring it to the table, “I thought the least I could do to say Thanks is make you a little something for breakfast,” I finished all chipper.
“This looks awesome, let’s dig in,” Jared said and we started eating, “So, what are you up for today?”
“I am not sure... I have no particular plans, actually,” I said and took some pudding.
“Aside from your big date tonight,” Jared wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“That’s not happening, either,” I said and got up to have a glass of water.
“Really? I thought you said...”
“He stood me up,” I said, “As usual,” I added in a low voice before sipping some water.
“Where do you keep finding these idiots?”
“I’d rather not talk about them, OK?” I said and came back to finish the breakfast.
“OK, then we’re having some us time. Deal?”
“Sure. It’s been ages since we had some alone time,” I was happy Jared wanted to be with me. He’s always so busy that I’m glad if he manages to dedicate an hour to me, much less an entire night.
That night Jared decided to take me out to dinner, and I put on the dress I originally wanted to wear for Ian. I decided not to stay in touch with Ian, considering he didn't make much of an effort to show up on our first date, and I cared about Jared much more anyway. We had an amazing night at some fancy restaurant, and we went for a walk afterwards. We ended up at the beach, where we've spent almost an entire night talking, listening to the waves and almost kissing again. I didn't know was it the wine I had, the setting at the beach or just us being alone together, but suddenly every time we were this close and no one was around, I had an incessant need to kiss Jared.Regardless of the urge, I controlled myself, knowing I could only make things weird between us.
The next few days went by quite quickly. I was working almost through an entire day, went to check on how the work on my apartment was going afterwards, and by the time I was at Jared's I was so exhausted, we have barely seen each other. Still, even when we would run into each other Jared would give me that sexy little smirk and I'd instinctively bite my lip which was only adding to the whole tension between us.
A week has gone by in a blink of an eye and it was finally Friday. I got back from work a little bit earlier than usually, so I thought I should go to the studio and surprise Jared. I looked through the window and saw him taking of his sweatshirt, and he looked really frustrated.
As I walked in, he sat down on a stool, and started to play a few notes on the guitar. His back was facing the door so I snuck up on him from behind.
"Guess who?" I covered his eyes with my hands and giggled.
"Hmmm," he touched my hands and went up my forearms, when he tugged me into his lap, "The best roommate ever," he said happily and started to tickle me, making me hop on his lap.
"Hahahaha don't Jared," I tried to stop him, pushing his hands away, but he was to strong, "Hahahaha you know.... hahaha how ticklish I am..." He stopped to let me catch my breath, but I was wheezing so hard I thought I'd faint.
"You're crazy," I said calming my breathing, " Are you trying to kill me," I finished and started giggling again, when I noticed he's not taking his eyes off me at all.
"I love that hoodie on you, btw," he smirked and put a strand of my hair aside, caressing the edge of my face with the back of his hand, going down to the jawline and touching that sweet spot behind my ear.
"Sorry I kind of claimed it as mine for the past few days," I looked down at the hoodie, trying to get Jared's hand off my face, but the minute I looked up at him, his hand was back up, while the other one was lying on the small of my back.
"It looks 10 times better on you anyway, you can have it if you want to," he said flirtatiously and tilted his head, his eyes glued to me.
"Thanks, it's so comfortable I'll wear it all the time," I said and got off his lap, when suddenly Jared grabbed my hand and swirled me back to his lap, this time making me straddle him.
"Whoa, what are you..."
"Shhhh...." Jared touched my lips with his index finger before his hands gripped my waist, "I think it's time we both stop pretending and just admit what we have here, hm?" Jared said and put his hands underneath my hoodie, setting my body on fire that very instant.
"Jared... I don't think we should..." I couldn't even finish the sentence with his hands roaming all over my back and gripping my waist, slowly moving to my thighs to scratch them lightly. My breathing was accelerating, pulse raising and all I wanted was to get rid of that stupid hoodie, now.
"No? We shouldn't..." he whispered, and cupped my face to kiss me so hungrily, "... kiss like this," he whispered in my ear as he broke the kiss and I felt like I was gonna faint on the spot. Ears ringing, heart thumping, temperature rising, and the want for Jared building up so fast, that I feared my leggings weren't the best wardrobe choice for this moment.
“We’ll mess everything up,” I said with a low voice, fearing that Jared and I could ruin this amazing friendship, over something that we’re not even sure is love, lust, or just some hidden desire.
“We don’t have to mess anything up,” he said back and kissed my jawline, “This could be the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”
Or the worst, I thought to myself but couldn’t dare to say it out loud. I wanted him just as much as he wanted me. Maybe even more, and I decided to just let go and see what happens. I kissed him back, cupping his face, as my hips started to writhe and all of a sudden I could feel Jared’s desire slowly rising, as his moans became in synced with mine. When he couldn’t hold on this pent up frustration any longer, he squeezed my bum, and bit my lower lip, breaking the kiss and lifting me up as he stood up.
“Whoa, easy tiger, you don’t want to hurt your back,” I teased him, as he was holding me in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist and arms gripping his neck tightly.
“Shut up,” he said cheekily raising his eyebrow and kissing me again, determined to carry me all the way to his bedroom.
We didn’t stop kissing all the way to the bedroom, and the minute we were in front of the bed Jared threw me on top of it, and took of his t-shirt, tossing it on the floor. I lifted myself up only to see Jared already crawling towards me, with a burning desire in his crystal blue eyes. I grabbed the necklace he was wearing and tugged it to pull him closer to me, longing for his kisses. He pushed me down and pinned my arms above my head with one hand, as the other one lifted my hoodie to reveal my stomach. He trailed kisses all over my upper body, finally taking that big hoodie off me. He kissed my chest going up to my neck, and reaching my lips, only to go back down to my neck, when suddenly his leg made spread my legs wide open for him. He slid his hand between my thighs sneakily, and the minute I felt his touch on my mound I started to whimper, as if I was begging him to take my leggings off, without uttering a single word. Luckily, I was suggestive enough, so he didn’t wait a second longer, and his hand slid inside my panties, as he continued to kiss me. I moaned through the kiss, while his hand felt so divine rubbing me.
“See, I knew you wanted this as much as I did,” he whispered after breaking the kiss and finally taking those tight leggings off me.
Taking his sweatpants off, Jared was on top of me again, looking me deep into my eyes, caressing my cheek and kissing me softly, before I felt him sliding inside me, making me gasp in surprise. I wrapped my legs around him as he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck and started thrusting deeper and faster with every second. My arms roamed over his back, scratching them slightly, only to find their way to his gorgeous butt, squeeze it from time to time, as I wanted him inside me so bad. Everything was so passionate and divine; I never wanted it to be over. We were both so wrapped up into each other, enjoying every second of pure pleasure followed by an insane ecstasy that felt like an out-of-body experience.
We were lying next to each other holding hands, and playing with our intertwined fingers, for a few minutes, when Jared rolled on his side, looked at me and started giggling to himself.
“What?” I asked curiously.
“Nothing... just thinking... about us I mean.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“How great this was, and how we can become so much more than what we used to be.”
“Having you as a friend was always a blessing to me, but I guess we’re going to have a lot of fun from now on too,” I said and rolled over to Jared, placing my head on his chest.
“You were always more than just a friend to me, by the way,” he said kissing my forehead, and I melted right away. I don’t know about before, but I know that from this moment on, we could never be just friends, and I secretly hoped we’ll never have to be just that again.
Jera!!! I've been trying to find your blog for weeks I missed you 😔 💓💓
DAWG ME TOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭
like i had a moment where i was like “damn shit has been so much more boring without sam SOB SOB” and then THERE YOU ARE WITH YOUR GAY ASS back in my follows
