Two Weeks Between Love and Hate

Jillian casually pulled down her pants, underwear, and all, leaving herself completely naked. Jason’s face flushed as she stripped right in front of him.

“Well, I’m not gonna take a bath in my clothes, now am I?” she asked like it was obvious.

“But why now? And while I’m in the room?”

As much as he was complaining, Jason couldn’t take his eyes off her freckled backside as she leaned over the tub and turned on the faucet.

He just barely caught a glimpse of the plump lips squeezed between her thick thighs as she was bent over. It was the first time he’d seen her completely nude in the light. Sure, she had flashed him earlier, but this was a new level of erotic. His dick quickly became as hard as a diamond from the tantalizing sight. He tried to hide it the best he could. Something about the view being slightly hidden was so damn arousing.

“Because I had a feeling your mom had something like this tucked away,” Jillian grinned, gesturing to the large spa tub that dominated the space.

It was a rather fancy tub, with jets lining the walls and a strip of soft pads running along the bottom for lounging. Jason took a moment to check out the tub. He couldn’t recall seeing it during his childhood. Not that he really went into his parent’s bathroom as a kid. But the tub definitely looked new and very modern with all the electronics on it.

“When did she get this thing?” he wondered aloud as he watched the water slowly filling the massive tub. He shook his head, muttering to himself.

“That’s not the point. Why are you taking a bath here and now?” he managed, finally asking the specific question he had been trying to ask.

He looked back at Jillian, who was sitting on the edge of the tub, with her legs crossed, casually testing the water’s temperature as it rose, running her fingers along the surface with a smile. She seemed completely unconcerned about his question.

“I figured it might be nice to freshen up before she arrives, and I wanted to relax a bit,” she said with a shrug, her attention thankfully still on the filling tub and not the bulge in his pants.

“Wanna join me?” Jillian asked with a sweet smile, looking up at him while the sound of running water continued to fill the room.

Jason felt a surge of nerves as his heart thudded in his chest. Part of him was very tempted, but another part knew that getting in the tub with her would likely lead to more than just a bath. His brain couldn’t stop from overthinking every little thing at this point. He wasn’t sure why he was putting so much pressure on a moment that was basically inevitable?

“Uh, I’m not really into baths,” he stammered, resorting to yet another lame excuse.

His chest ached with how much she had been riling him up this last week. But Jillian just smiled knowingly, seeing right through his flimsy reasons. It was obvious to her that he just wasn’t quite ready yet. She reached out, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

“It’s okay Jase, you don’t have to,” she reassured him, letting out a slight sigh before beaming happily once more. “More jets for me then,” she teased, winking playfully.

Once the warm water reached the perfect level, Jillian turned off the faucet, stopping the rushing water. She glanced back at Jason with a smile.

“Stay and keep me company, at least?” Her words were sweet and sincere.

He nodded, pulling out his phone to check for messages before setting it down on the sink counter. There were no new texts from Lina since she said she was on her way. Aside from the one where she said she loved him but he paid those no mind. Her constant texts and calls over the past year and a half had only made him feel more irritated than anything else. It only became even more crystal clear that he had zero interest in dating her, while she seemed to only fall for him even more.

“Sure, I’ll stay with you,” Jason said, giving Jillian’s hand a gentle squeeze as he helped her step into the tub full of steaming water.

She winced a bit at first, but soon settled in with a contented sigh, sinking into the near scalding warmth. Her body slowly slipped beneath the water, leaving only her head and the top of her shoulders above. Jason stood for a moment, looking down at her.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“Mmmm, yeah,” she whispered, a pleased hum in her voice.

“Good,” he said softly, before lowering himself to the floor and leaning back against the tub. Jillian shot Jason a big grin and he looked back over at her, making him curious as to why.

“What? Why are you smiling at me like that?” he asked, a small smile coming to his own, like hers was infectious.

“Nothing, just feeling content and happy,” she replied, still beaming. “And when I’m happy, I smile. Is that a problem with that, Mr. Grumpy?” She teased, reaching out of the water to grab his hand resting on the tub’s edge.

“Yeah, it’s a big problem. Smiling is against the rules,” Jason chuckled as he joked with her, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. They locked eyes, feeling the tension between them building. Both of them seemed to itch for another kiss.

“Um, so, how do these jets work?” Jillian asked, breaking the tension before things got too heated.

“Huh… oh, well they… wait, why would I know?” Jason grumbled, as their moment faded.

“Heh, some help you are, Mr. Tech-degree. Guess I’ll just have to wing it and see what happens,” Jillian teased with a mischievous smile.

“First Mr. Grumpy, now Mr. Tech degree… really? Not like there was a class on hot tub maintenance,” he teased back.

She glanced at the control panel on a flat part on the rim of the tub. She quickly began experimenting with the different buttons. Pressing one activated side jets that sprayed against her, causing her to squirm and giggle unexpectedly.

“Ah, haha, oh god, turn off, turn off!” Jillian squirmed as she quickly turned the side jets off. Jason couldn’t help but notice her reaction to her sides being tickled, filing away that information for later.

Jillian finally located the button for the back jets and they surged to life, sending powerful bursts of water to massage her back. She let out a satisfied moan, her eyes rolling back in bliss.

“Oh fuck… that’s the one,” she murmured with a smile, sinking deeper into the tub. As the tension of the day began to get blasted away, Jason sat there casually, watching her enjoy the fancy tub. They were still holding hands, but hers had gone rather limp. Lost in thought, he watched the redhead in the tub, his mind drifting elsewhere.

Being back home and running into Jillian again had brought him both pain and pleasure. The painful moments made him want to go back to Florida, but the happiness brought along the opposite. His mind finally wandered to the question he had no desire to answer.

“What is going to happen when I go back home? Back to work…”

It was the biggest question looming over every kiss, touch, and smile they shared. His life for the foreseeable future was in Florida. Apart from his mother, all that tied him to his hometown now was Jillian. But he couldn’t shake the doubt:

“I couldn’t ask her to move there. It’s way too early and we aren’t even officially dating.” His stomach churned with his anxiety ridden thoughts.

She had just reunited with her family, and he doubted she’d leave them so soon, even if he asked. June was probably the biggest anchor for her; she needed her big sister as much as Jillian needed her. It felt like someone was going to get hurt in the end, no matter what. There was still the fact they weren’t even a proper couple yet.

“It… might be best to call it off before we both get hurt even more.” But the thought only increased the sick feeling in his stomach.

“Jase…Hey?”

Jillian’s voice cut through Jason’s mass of depressing thoughts.

“Huh? What?” he said, scanning the room as if expecting someone else to be there, which made Jillian laugh.

“Haha, over here, space case. I just wanted to ask what you do for fun when you’re not training or working?” Her question caught him off guard, but it was refreshingly innocent.

“Oh, well, usually I hang out with my buddy Marco or just mess around on my computer,” he replied, his thoughts still lingering on the troubling topic.

“Right, that totally real friend you have back home,” Jillian teased, earning an unamused glare from Jason. “Hehe, so what do you and this Marco usually get up to?” she asked with a small giggle, turning her head to give him a sweet smile while still enjoying the jets.

Jason let out a sigh but smiled slightly as well.

“Well, we usually will go out and find a popup club, food truck, or bar. There are a ton of Latin American restaurants that have events as well. I go mostly for the food and drinks. Marco… has other tastes.”

Jillian’s eyes widened a little, not expecting such a social pastime from the man.

“That sounds really fun actually. I half expected you two would be holed up playing video games all the time like my little brother.” She got a slight glare for that comment, but it lightened quickly.

“I don’t play a whole lot of games anymore, really. I still have a PC I built. I threw like ten grand into the whole setup, but I am ashamed to say it mostly just gathers dust now,” he said, letting out a sigh. He felt bad for letting it just sit there, mostly unused, but his work laptop had everything he needed on it and that’s where most of his screen time went these days anyway. Which actually reminded him that he had done none of the work he had planned to do since arriving.

“Well, what do you do once you get to those bars and clubs?” Jillian asked, moving to drape her arms over the edge of the tub and rest her chin on them, gazing at him with a smile.

She vaguely remembered Jason telling her about what he and Marco did, but the whole night with him and Mika was fuzzy still.

“Well, like I said, I focus mostly on the food and drink specials. Unfortunately, I attract a lot of unwanted attention. I get a lot of women coming up to me. Especially if I am sitting alone. They think just because I am alone, that I’m looking for sex or whatever crap they want.”

This made her frown a bit. She hadn’t thought about how much attention a guy like Jason attracts and felt an immediate pang of jealousy.

“No dirty skanks better touch him ever again,” she growled internally, unable to help the jealous and protective thoughts.

“What do you normally do when they approach you?” Jillian asked, the need to know was more intense than she realized.

Jason turned slightly to lock eyes with Jillian as she leaned against the rim. The fierce look in her eyes gave him a few goosebumps, but he was honest with her.

“Well, it depends on how they approach me first. If they are super forward and start touching me or rubbing up against me without a word..I usually push them away and tell them to not touch me or to fuck off.” This caught her a little off guard as her eyes widened.

“If they talk first, and it’s really vulgar or sexual, I will be as rude as possible to them. Say something about their appearance or insult them in some other way. Like telling them I am not interested in foul-mouthed diseased bitches or something like that.”

Jillian’s jaw dropped slightly as Jason continued to explain.

“If they come up and just say hi or something simple, I will politely decline and tell them I am not interested. Some simply accept it and walk away, others take it more personally or get upset. Then I revert to one of the other options. I try to only be as rude as they are. Though I might get harsher sometimes. I never accept drinks bought for me. For obvious reasons.”

“And this… happens a lot?” Jillian asked, still a bit stunned.

“Mmhmm. Not every night, but more often than not, really. Thankfully, Marco usually comes back around that time and helps calm things down. Honestly, the guy is like magic when it comes to soothing crazy women. I am just glad it mostly happens later in the night.”

Her eyes narrowed at this comment, the stench of foul play wrinkled her nose.

“Oh? And you say this usually happens when you are alone? So, does Marco usually go to the bathroom when you guys are about to leave?” Jason nodded.

“Yeah, I mean I do as well. We drink a bunch, so it’s not uncommon for someone to have to pee after.”

“How often does he show up before or while a woman is flirting with you?” Jillian asked but was met with a long pause.

“Umm…” That was all he got out before she spoke up again.

“Pretty much never, huh?”

“No… I mean, I am sure he came back… a few times before anything happened.” He now felt pretty unsure about his own words.

“He did show up one time when that guy started hitting on me.”

It was pretty much the only memory he could remember of his friend showing up in the middle of someone flirting with him.

Jillian growled a bit. “So Marco basically waits for you to reject these women and get them all upset and riled up. Then swoops in at the last minute to capitalize on their emotional distress.”

Her eye twitched at the scummy tactics, especially since he was basically using Jason as bait.

“Uhhhhh.” Jason was rather lost with the sudden change in direction their conversation took. “I mean, he just talks to them mostly, it’s not my business what they do after. I have seen him get slapped on many occasions, so it’s not like he is forcing them into doing anything,” Jason said, trying to defend his friend.

“Yeah? Well, how many times has he left you behind shortly after just talking to them?” There was another long silence between them.

“Jason, please don’t let him put you in that position again. It’s wrong, and you are the one suffering for it.” She gave him a pleading look. He gave her a confused look in return.

“It's not like I have control over what he does or what the women who approach me do. He’s my friend, and he has had my back in a lot of crap situations where he could have just said nothing. I’m not gonna assume he’s acting maliciously just because you think so, Jill.”

A frown crossed both of their faces at this as silence took over again. It felt like another fight was brewing.

Jillian wasn’t happy to hear how Marco was using Jason to pick up women. “How could he do that to his friend? If I ever meet Marco, I swear I’ll give him a piece of my mind for pulling such sleazy tricks, using my Jason as his bait.” Her thoughts were boiling in her head. It took her a moment to realize, but she had started thinking of Jason as her own.

She felt her anger fade, as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She was getting attached way too quickly, and it was freaking her out. They hadn’t even slept together yet, and here she was feeling over protective. He didn’t need physical protection, but emotionally, she knew she had to be there to be his support.

The two of them just sat there quietly for quite a while. Neither knew quite what to say to ease the tension, so they both just remained silent. Jillian kept messing with the jets, while Jason resorted to playing some mobile game he downloaded at random. Both were trying to distract themselves from the stressful topic on their minds. An hour passed like this, and Jillian was seriously wrinkled from the water, and the jets were starting to hurt.

“I think I’m gonna hop out and head home for a little bit,” she suddenly said, standing up and grabbing a towel to wrap around herself.

Jason quickly got up as well. His butt ached from sitting on the tile floor for so long. He had several questions he wanted to ask her; how long she was going to be gone, what she was going to do, if she was alright. But he found himself tongue-tied. And in the end, he wasn’t able to get another word out. So he just nodded and reached out to help her out of the tub.

Jillian took his hand and stepped out. There was silence as she dried off and put on her old clothes again. They walked out of the master bathroom, through Katia’s room, and down the hall to the front door. Jillian turned to Jason, her face a mask of neutrality.

“I’ll be back once I’ve changed into something a little nicer.”

Jason gave another nod in response, expecting her to turn and leave. But instead, she just stood there, gazing up at him. He started to wonder why she was just standing there, staring at him. With each passing moment, her annoyance became more and more apparent until she finally burst out.

“Well!?” she said in an exasperated tone.

“Well, what?” He was clearly confused.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Jillian shouted, “Kiss me goodbye, you dense idiot!”

Taken aback, Jason’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh… right, sorry,” he muttered, trying to brush off the insult. Leaning down, he gave her a quick peck on her lips before straightening up again.

Watching Jillian’s eye twitch and her scowl deepen, Jason felt a knot of apprehension tighten in his stomach.

“Jason... if you want this to work, you are going to need you to kiss me properly. I know you can do it. Kiss me like you actually want to. Or did I miss something and you don’t want to anymore?” she said, speaking rather bluntly.

Jason hesitated, feeling a bit of irritation. With the position he was in he had little choice but to kiss her. So he leaned in and kissed her deeper. She kissed him back, but both of them could tell there wasn’t any real passion in it. But it would have to do for now. After the kiss ended, Jillian nodded.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit.” Then she turned and walked out the door.

Jason watched as she walked out of the house, feeling the familiar knot in his stomach. Things were getting weird and just plain unpleasant. But Jillian was gone. The door had closed behind her, and she’d left Jason standing there trapped in the silence, feeling that all too familiar, painful ache in his bones. He wrapped his arms around himself, scowling deeply.

“Fuck,” he muttered, unhappy with how things turned out. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out. He was hopeful it was Jill wanting to make up already… It was Lina.

“Heyyyyyy! We’ll be landing soon. I had daddy lend me the faster jet, just for you. Kisses!”

Jason felt an overwhelming desire to spike his phone into the floor as hard as he could.

“Hey, I’m sorry for acting so stupid and saying all that stuff. I didn’t mean it, I just got a little frustrated. I’m still outside, can we maybe talk a bit and sort things out before we fight again? Please?” Jillian leaned against the garage door of the house, narrowing her eyes at the text she wrote, feeling her nerves fray one by one. She knew she should hit send. It would keep them from fighting and bring back that happy feeling she had just an hour ago but her anxiety was through the roof and giving her second thoughts.

“Ugh, just fucking do it,” she muttered to herself. With her phone gripped tightly, she hovered her thumb over the send button, trying to force herself to push it with all her willpower. But instead quickly moved down and promptly deleted the entire message.

“Seriously, why am I like this? I’m such a fucking coward!” she sighed sadly, slipping her phone into her hoodie pocket. Pushing off the garage door, she headed back home, hunched over and moving slowly. Another stupid argument that could’ve been easily avoided if they both weren’t so damn stubborn.

Jillian stepped into the quiet house, reasonably sure that everyone had gone out for lunch early. It was both a relief and a slight worry. But she trusted her little sister to keep their moms occupied for the time she asked for. As she made her way upstairs, she caught some intriguing sounds—a few giggles followed by chatter. Slowing down to avoid making noise, she tiptoed along the upper hallway, drawn by the voices. Pressing against the outside door of the twins’ room, she heard more giggles and what sounded like a girl talking. A mischievous smirk spread across her face.

Grabbing her phone, Jillian opened the camera and hit record. As she swung the door open, she exclaimed, “I caught you, Ree—” But what she saw made her freeze up and her eyes widen in shock.

“Jill?! What the hell are you doing?!” Reese said, growling and shutting his textbook as he glared at his sister.

Beside him on the bed was a girl with dark, chocolate skin and frizzy, black hair that poofed out as it was tied back into a ponytail. She wore a large, frumpy CSU college sweatshirt that left everything to the imagination. Thick-rimmed glasses, braces and moderate acne dominated her features.

“Um, uh...?” Jillian stammered, utterly perplexed. Reese stood up, visibly irritated yet somewhat embarrassed.

“Could you please stop barging into my room? We’re trying to study here,” he said, getting up from the bed and walking over to her.

Jillian was too shocked to speak or move, so her brother gently pushed her out of the room and closed the door behind her. She could hear him talking to the girl who was still sitting on his bed from the other side of the door.

“Sorry about that, my sister has a few screws loose. I keep telling Mom she needs to be committed, but she won’t listen.” His words were followed by some giggles and muffled words she couldn’t quite catch.

Jillian looked down at her phone, and stopped the recording.

“There’s a glitch in the matrix… I just know it,” she muttered to herself before finally shuffling back to her room.

“Anyway, where were we?” Reese said as he walked back over to his bed and grabbed the textbook, sitting down next to Brenda.

“We were discussing the differences between sign and cosign.” The young girl’s voice slurred slightly from her freshly tightened braces.

Reese nodded and got back into studying. He was going to get kicked off the football team if he didn’t get his grades back up. Math had always been a struggle for him and he was having to retake trigonometry. Thankfully, one of his longtime class buddies offered to help tutor him after seeing him stressed out in class. He was super thankful and offered his house to study at. Aside from his stupid sister barging in, it had been going really smoothly, and he was able to retain a lot more information than normal. After another half hour of studying, Reese was at his limit.

“Okay, I need a break. My brain feels like mush,” he complained, rubbing his eyes.

“That’s fine, it’s not good to overdo it too much. Or it will end up having the opposite effect,” Brenda said, flashing her smile full of metal. Reese closed his book and put it aside. Looking back at her, he smiled as well.

“I really appreciate this Brenda, I was for sure going to fail Mr.Davidson’s class. But now there might be at least some hope,” he laughed a little, as their eyes met.

“You are actually really smart, Reese. It’s just that this stuff doesn’t interest you, so you can’t keep focus. All I did was teach you how to remember things easier.”

Reese gave her a hard stare in silence for several moments. She felt her face warm at his firm gaze.

“W-what? Did I say something wrong?” Brenda said, looking away in embarrassment, wondering if she had something stuck in her braces.

“Huh, oh no, it’s just no one has ever called me smart before. Haha, it’s just kinda weird hearing it from someone like you. I appreciate it though, Brenda, you're the best,” he said, laughing with a toothy smile, Brenda couldn’t help but stare back at him.

“Oh well, I just said what I thought, and I mean it,” Brenda said, feeling her previous calm starting to unravel.

Her cheeks took on a hint of pink as she tried not to think too much about his compliment.

“Hey.”

Her head snapped back to Reese as he spoke.

“Huh?”

“Hold still for a second,” he said as he leaned in slightly and reached out for her cheek.

“What is he doing?! Oh god, is he going to kiss me?! Do I want him to kiss me? I have never kissed a boy before. His lips look so soft. Should I push him away? No Brenda, you’ve had a crush on him since freshman year. Now is your chance. Carpe diem, Brenda!” Her thoughts went a mile a minute and as Reese leaned, hand brushing past her cheek, she closed her eyes and leaned in as well and pushed her lips firmly to his. Her head was full of sparks, feeling the sensation of his lips against hers.

“I did it! I can’t believe I did it! Does this mean we are dating now? What do I tell my parents? They said they don’t want me dating till after I’m done with school. Screw it, this is worth it. Don’t look back. My future starts n-… Wait, why is he pushing me back?”

Reese used one hand on Brenda’s shoulder to push her away after barely a second of kissing. She opened her eyes to see a rather disappointed look on his face, holding a small spiky object.

“Why did you kiss me, Brenda?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Huh… but you… you leaned in to kiss me… What is that in your hand?” Her whole body began to tremble.

“It’s a burr that was stuck in your hair. I saw it earlier but didn’t want to interrupt, and it was bugging me.”

Her entire face went pale at the revelation.

“S-s-so you weren’t trying to k-kiss me?”

He shook his head in response. “I am dating Samantha Jordan, I thought you knew that? We are friends, Brenda. I like you, but I… Hey where are you going?” Reese said as he watched Brenda shoot up from her seat on the bed and start packing up her stuff quickly.

Her face had gone from pale to beet red. “I’m sorry, I need to go,” she said, offering no explanation, though it was obvious.

She shoved things into her backpack, at a frantic pace.

“Brenda it’s alright, I’m not mad. I just-” Reese tried to calm her down, but she just shook her head rapidly.

“I have to leave. I’m sorry.” With that, Brenda quickly rushed out the bedroom door and slammed the door shut behind her as she ran down the stairs, leaving Reese alone in his room.

“Shit… I’m gonna fail this class,” was all Reese could say.

While Jillian was in her room, she rummaged through her limited wardrobe. She had nothing fancy to wear and she didn’t want to face this rich bitch in yoga pants and an old tee-shirt. So, after a quick scavenger hunt in her mom’s closet, she found a nice, lacy short-sleeved white blouse and a pencil skirt that ended just above her knees. Pairing them with some black pantyhose and her mom’s pumps, she felt pretty darn good about how she looked.

There was one snag in her plan: the building anxiety of facing Jason again after the way she left. Sitting on her bed with her phone in hand, she scrolled through their texts, trying to think up a bunch of different apologies for her bitch coming out earlier.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Jill glanced at her phone’s corner, watching time seem to slip away faster than she’d like. She needed to get back so they could be ready for Lina’s arrival. Her phone buzzed, startling her. It was Jason.

“Hey, sorry about earlier. Just wanted to let you know that I’ll handle this whole Lina situation myself, so don’t worry about coming back over. I will be okay. Thanks for your support.” His message made her groan loudly.

There he was again, pushing away her help. Not that she could really blame him this time. She had gotten annoyed and took it out on him. Now he was planning on facing the world alone again. She wanted to hit him for apologizing and kiss him for being sweet and apologizing when he didn’t have to. Somehow, at the same damn time.

“Not a friggin’ chance. I was just working on picking out an outfit. And Jase, seriously stop saying sorry for stuff that’s not your fault, you idiot.”

Jillian hit send and smacked her forehead.

“I need to stop calling him an idiot! Ugh, why do I do this!?” she groaned unhappily, frowning at herself.

“Sorry, you’re not an idiot. I’m the idiot. I got upset hearing that you get used by your boss. And when it sounded like your friend was using you as well, I just couldn’t take it. I really am sorry, I care about you Jase. I’ll be back over soon.” She hit send before setting her phone down and getting up from her bed, straightening her clothes and fixing her hair a bit in the mirror.

There was a sudden slam of a door and the sound of feet running down the stairs.

“What the heck?” Peeking her head out of her room, she looked up and down the hall.

Shrugging, she went back to looking into the mirror. She actually kinda liked how she looked for once. It made her feel professional and classy. She left her room, went downstairs, and headed out to the Merris’ house once again

.

Jason read through the messages Jillian had sent him. He felt mixed up inside from her two texts. Emotions swirled inside him, but he couldn’t quite put them into words. With a sigh, he shook his head and walked back to the front door, unlocking the deadbolt. He’d locked it after texting that she didn’t need to come back, but he knew that a simple lock wouldn’t stop either of them from somehow coming back together. Not with all the new and intoxicating feelings and sensations they recently shared.

Despite the uncertainty of what would unfold after he went back to Florida, Jason tried to convince himself to live in the moment, a skill he’d never quite mastered. Still in his tank and basketball shorts, he had no intention of giving Lina the satisfaction of dressing up for her.

For now, taking a rest in the living room seemed like a solid plan to him. He flopped down on the couch and rested his head on the armrest. About fifteen minutes later, he heard the front door open and shut.

“Jase?” Jillian’s voice echoed through the house, but she quickly spotted him sprawled out on the couch.

“There you are,” she said, smiling shyly at him as she entered the living room and kicked off her heels.

Jason, who had been facing the back of the couch, rolled to see her standing beside him. His eyes followed her from her thighs up, taking in the high-class secretary-style outfit she was wearing. It was more than a little sexy. There was no doubt about that, especially in his eyes.

Jillian grinned as she watched his expression shift as he took in her new outfit. The look of desire in his eyes made her happy. Even with their small fight, he still wanted her, which was good, cause she still wanted him. More than just physically at this point.

“Scooch in, handsome.” Her tone was playful and affectionate.

Jason was still laying on his side as he shifted back on the couch, giving her space to lay down with him. She maneuvered herself onto the couch, pushing him to lie flat more so she could rest her head on his chest. Quickly getting comfy, her fingers traced gentle circles on his chest while they lay together. He put his hands behind his head and gazed down at her mop of red curls.

“What are you thinking about?”

A very typical girl question. Jason just shrugged lazily. “Nothing much,” he replied, with a typical guy answer.

Jillian’s fingers paused their playful dance on the fabric of Jason’s tank top as she turned to nestle her chin on his chest, her blue eyes meeting his, transitioning into her next question.

“Are you feeling nervous?”

“A little,” Jason admitted, his gaze drifting lazily to the ceiling.

“I just hope everything goes smoothly, and no one gets hurt.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Jillian agreed, turning to rest her cheek against his chest once more, hearing his heart thud in his chest.

She wrapped her arms around his midsection and held him close, feeling a sudden drowsiness wash over her. Unable to resist any longer, Jason moved his hands from under his head and wrapped them around Jillian. He pressed her against him tight. She let out a happy squeak at the tight squeeze, but snuggled closer to him, far from deterred. Jason felt that same sleepiness take over as his eyelids grew heavy. The warmth and sensation of being pressed together lulled them both to sleep.

The two of them ended up falling asleep together on the couch, without really planning to. It was all too easy to doze off, snuggled up like they were. It wasn’t until they were both startled awake by someone knocking loudly at the door and then ringing the doorbell twice. Jillian jolted up from Jason’s chest, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Grrrr... who the hell is that?” she mumbled, a bit of dried drool in the corner of her mouth.

Jason, still mostly asleep, simply scratched his neck, before dozing off once more. The knocking came again, and Jillian suddenly remembered who it probably was.

“Oh crap, she’s here!” she said, scrambling off the couch and trying to straighten her rumpled clothes while she wobbled on her feet, not fully awake either.

The realization hit Jason like a ton of bricks the moment Jillian announced who it was, waking up quickly he gave his cheeks a firm smack before calling out, “Be right there, just a second!”

He scrambled to get up, but before he could even stand, Jillian was already making her way to the front door.

“Jill, hey, hold on! Let me!” he called after her, but it was too late. She was already opening the door as he hustled over. Jillian was met by a towering dark figure standing on the front steps. He was even taller than Jason. She stared up at the man in astonishment, his imposing secret service attire adding to the surreal moment. His eyes were concealed behind dark sunglasses and his chiseled jaw was clean shaven.

“Uhh, can I help you?” she blurted out, utterly bewildered by the unexpected visitor. For a moment, the fear that one of Luis’s goons had found her shot panic through her.

“Maurice, move, you big oaf!” came a shrill voice from behind the man.

“I let you be the first at the door. Now move it!”

The voice had an edge to it, and Maurice eventually obeyed, sidestepping to reveal a woman who was about an inch shorter than Jillian.

She had golden blonde hair pulled neatly into a bun, with a few curled strands framing her face. Her flowy white blouse looked like it cost way more than it was actually worth, and her mini skirt had a stylish split down the side. The sparkling white tennis shoes she wore looked brand new as she walked up to Jillian, her earrings jingling with each step.

“You must be Katia! I’m so happy to finally meet you! Can I call you mom?” she said with a big friendly grin.