He sat back in his seat, eyeing me over. “I can tell.”
“Oh, really? How so?” I asked.
“Well,” he began, crossing his arms with his lips set in a solid line. “You only like to sit by the windows in the lunchroom; otherwise, you'll eat at your desk when you think I'm not around.”
A rush of heat shot straight to my cheeks, my stealthy lunch habits outed as not so sneaky.
“You only use black pens, and you cut your sandwiches diagonally like a monster.”
My jaw dropped. “Okay, so you stalk me now?”
“Nah, I have a knack for details.”
He leaned over and pressed another frustrating peck on my lips, and then another, aiming at playfulness, but I had other ideas. I caught his jaw, holding his lips to mine as I deepened the kiss. He met the challenge, his tongue plunging in with a hunger I hadn't anticipated.
It was a kiss unlike any we shared before, each move a back and forth of power and possession. He wasn't merely kissing me; he was claiming me.
He pulled away, rigid beneath my touch. “I need this. I need you.”
His words fired like arrows, joining the crusade against the protective bubble, testing its resolve with every syllable.
“Let's enjoy this–each other,” he breathed, gesturing between us.
He wanted to be my boyfriend? Holy shit.
A thousand scenarios came rushing forward, from explaining to Dad I was banging my boss to hiding the fact from my nearest and dearest, Lee.
Despite being the best of friends, she couldn't keep a secret to save her life. There was no telling if she'd slip.
Aside from the other factors, could I handle dating him? He wasn’t exactly the run-of-the-mill guy. He was more intense than anyone I’d ever met.
“You want to date?” I asked, hoping like hell my voice wasn't quaking.
“No, like this.” He crashed his mouth back to mine with another round of devastating kisses, leaving me reeling as he pulled away.
He wasn't willing to give labels or promises, but he wanted me as much as I wanted him. It was unconventional and everything I didn't want at that point in life, but it was Jason.
“Like fuck buddies?” I asked, a knot in my throat.
“Maybe.”
A familiar burn crept across my cheeks, my heart plummeting. “But not exclusive?” I murmured, struck with sudden sadness.
He kissed me again, sinking a hand into my hair and yanking to break the kiss before resting his forehead against mine. “If another man touches you, I'll destroy him.”
Elena
It was scary how easy lying came with practice. I couldn’t believe the things that flew out of my mouth, each new detail leaving a web of deceit for a foot to ensnare.
I justified it as a necessary evil, our arrangement taking up enough time over the last few weeks I needed an identity for Bear. He couldn’t stay a carnivorous beast forever, though Jason’s voracious appetite for certain things warranted the moniker.
Before I knew it, I created Jay, a not-so-clever riff off of Jason. I pulled it out of the air one day, deciding it needed to be similar enough to the real deal in case I slipped up. Jay was a manager at a technology firm who traveled a lot on business, hopefully delaying any double date requests from Lee for a while. When she pushed again, I’d come up with another excuse, hopefully, better than my attempt at naming him.
In the meantime, we’d been hooking up regularly at his place, avoiding my complex as much as possible. It was No-man’s-land, not worth the risk of Lee showing up unannounced. She rarely did, but with my luck, she’d stop by with the kids while we were knocking boots on the sofa.
Luckily things were easier in the office, both of us far too busy to have to worry about tipping anyone off. He rarely wandered into the sales office, paging Marty as needed, conference calls and high-level meetings dominating his days.
On my end, the workload did even out as promised, and late nights at my desk were history, but Monica was worse than ever. She had daggers for everyone, mouthing off daily, hurling insults as she saw fit.
She was particularly ornery that Thursday, happy hour at Crow Bar a must for Lee and I. As usual, we perched at the bar, Lee nursing a daiquiri while I settled in with a mojito. The place was packed, college kids flooding the scene as Columbus Day weekend neared. They usually preferred the hipster scene, but since they were halfway through the semester, they were likely burning through parental funds AKA beer money and needed a happy hour to hang at.
“So, is Jay your boyfriend yet, or what?” Lee asked, stabbing at her drink with her straw.
I shrugged. “We’re exclusive without titles, I guess.”
Her lips pressed together for a long moment. “He still doesn’t call you his girlfriend?”
“I don’t really see a need,” I explained, shrugging. “I’m content with how things are.”
“Yeah right!” she shot back, swatting at me. “You aren’t the hit-it-and-quit-it type. You like to stick around for dessert.”
“Maybe eventually,” I lied.
Jay had an expiration date of January. I would have to come up for an excuse for that too. Just another lie to throw on top of the pile.
“I don’t see why not? He’s thirty-six, right? That’s old enough to man up.”
“Calm down, Mom!” I laughed. “Jumping into a relationship isn’t the best. Look at Justin and me.”
He asked me out on the spot when we met, and we were boyfriend-girlfriend a date later. If I took the time to smell the roses, maybe things wouldn’t have spun so far out of control. I never should have dated such a self-absorbed idiot.
“But look at Jesse and me,” she retorted, grinning.
She had me there. They married fresh out of high school and were one another’s first and only loves. It was a sickeningly sweet story that made my teeth hurt.
“You’re an exception to the rule.”
“Do you want to be
