Matt

Even though Jerrika looked pissed as hell as she stormed away from me, I couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. I hated making her feel worse today, but it was good to finally have that secret out in the open. It had been eating me alive for damn near two years now. How I could remember every moment of that night.

“What are you doing here alone?” Jerrika asked, nearly stumbling right into my lap. She took a long drink, draining the glass of whiskey in her hand.

“Drinking my problems away,” I said.

“You don’t have any problems, you and Val are like a power couple!” She giggled and climbed onto my lap, burying her head against my shoulder. “You smell good Mattie!”

She pressed her nose against my neck, sniffing deeply. “You know I’ve always thought you were cute!” I never realized how flirty drunk Jerrika was.

“You’re so gonna regretting saying that tomorrow morning,” I joked.

She sat up suddenly and kissed me, not even giving me time to think. I started to pull away but she grabbed both sides of my face and held me there. The kiss lingered and then I was kissing back. Maybe this is what I needed to get over that argument with Val. What was I thinking? Jimmy was in the next room! “Whoa, that’s enough of that!” I said and tried to put her back on her feet. She tightened her arms around my neck and refused to let go. “You’re drunker than I thought. I think it’s time to get you into bed before you embarrass yourself anymore.”

I broke her hold and scooped her up, bridal style. “Hey Jim! I’m gonna take Jerri next door to my place to sleep this off!” He started to follow me. “No dude you keep partying, I’ve got her!”

He went back to his previous place and I managed to get out the front door without banging her head on anything. I noticed Val still wasn’t home after storming out after our fight. Probably off talking to her ex. That’s what the fight was about. He still wanted her and she wouldn’t stop encouraging him by constantly texting him.

I blinked and looked around, I’d somehow made it up to the bedroom on autopilot. I gently put her on the bed and turned to leave.

“No, Mattie. Stay with me.” I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed wondering if this was a good idea after her kissing me earlier. I know she didn’t mean anything by it, but it definitely didn’t need to happen again.

“You’ll have a killer hangover tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this wasted.”

“You can be my nurse. Nurse Mattie. I like it!” She giggled and then suddenly sat up. Our faces were only inches apart. When she tried to close the gap between our lips I should have stopped her. That would have been the right thing to do, but for some insane reason I didn’t want to. So instead of leaving like a good friend would,I pulled her to me and kissed her.

I could live for a million years and still I’d never be able to figure out what the fuck I was thinking that night.

Jerrika

“What happened?” Zack asked when I made it back to him and grabbed him by the arm.

“Please take me home. I can’t be here anymore,” I said thickly. I didn’t want to completely break down here in front of everyone.

“Okay.” We made the walk back to his car in silence. The second I climbed in and closed the door behind me the waterworks started. I rested my forehead against the dash and turned into a blubbering mess, jerking when Zack started rubbing my back to comfort me.

“Jerri what did Matt say to you? I’ll go kick his ass if you want me to. Well try to kick his ass because let’s face it he’s a fucking giant compared to me.”

“He said that he remembered the night we...you know. He did it to get back at Val because they were fighting. He completely turned my life upside down. He made me lose Jimmy and I missed all this time I could’ve spent with him.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Zack growled and flung his door back open. I was right on his heels as he stomped across the sand to where Matt was standing, looking at the water. He grabbed Matt’s shoulder, spun him around, and punched him in the face. The crack as Zack’s fist collided with Matt’s nose made me flinch.

“You know what you did!” Zack spat and then grabbed my hand, pulling me back to his car before everyone could make it over to see what was going on.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” I cried in amazement. Under normal circumstances Matt would’ve beat the shit out of someone for that, but this time he had to know he deserved it.

“I think I need a drink, care to join?” He was opening and closing his fist over and over. I could already see redness forming on his knuckles.

“Fuck yeah I’m in.”

He drove us across town to Johnny’s Bar and we settled in at a corner booth, mostly hidden in the shadows. He ordered a shit ton of shots and I knew I would leave here tonight completely fucked up. I welcomed that, I was tired of dealing with all the emotions today had brought out.

-x-

I rattled off my address to the cab driver, neither of us were sober enough to drive Zack’s car back, it would have to be picked up later.

“I haven’t been this drunk in...I can’t even remember right now.”

Zack grinned and threw an arm around my shoulders. I snuggled in close to him, having forgotten how much I craved affection when I was drunk.

“Hey Jerri,” he whispered. I looked up, but before I could even think about responding his lips were on mine. I tried to pull away but he pulled me onto his lap and suddenly pulling away wasn’t such a good idea anymore. I’m not sure how long we made out in the back of that cab, but before I knew it the driver loudly cleared his throat to let us know we were there.

Zack tossed a wad of cash at him and pulled me out of the cab behind him. He attempted to let me hop onto his back but that only resulted in both of toppling over onto the ground. Giggling, I helped him to his feet. We walked the rest of the way into the building only attached by our hands. I fumbled for my keys and let us into the apartment where Zack immediately pushed me against the wall. Looking up at him, I finally stopped to think for a moment.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said and tried to wiggle out of Zack’s grasp. He only held on tighter.

“Nonsense. This is what we both need right now,” he argued and captured my lips with his. He parted my lips with his and I didn’t object when he stroked my tongue with his.

“It will make us feel good now, but what about later?” I pulled away again, staring up into his striking green eyes.

“I see you still have that habit of overthinking everything.”

“Oh just shut up and come here!” I pulled him back to me, his arms scooping me up.

He carried me through my apartment and gently placed me on the bed. He peeled his shirt from his body and worked on getting my jeans unzipped. He pulled those off of me and tossed them to the floor before adding his to the pile.

I slowly pulled my shirt up and over my head, aware of his eyes on me the whole time. He pounced on me again, lips going straight to my throat. His nipped softly at the soft flesh and a moan slipped past my parted lips.

He reached around to unclasp my bra and let my breasts fall into his hands, squeezing gently.

“You can be more rough than that, I won’t break,” I murmured and he responded by biting down on the skin over my collarbone hard enough to leave a mark. I sighed in pleasure and felt his lips curve into a smile.

All of my previous arguments floated away. We were both single adults who needed to forget about reality for a few moments, there was nothing wrong with this.

Notes