Chapter Eight

After the Party Is the After-Party

Even though Jucee was singing her heart out along to the mix I had playing, the ride back to my house was too quiet for my liking. I wasn’t distracted enough to not be in my head wondering about Jackie’s laugh and the suddenly inexplicable feelings I was feeling for my friend. Jucee was being extra playful, flailing her hands as she sang, leaning over the console to caress my face, and grinding in her seat. There was nothing over-the-top about it, but for some damn reason it was turning me on something serious.

We’d danced for nearly three hours straight, tearing it up on the dance floor and up in VIP, but somehow Jucee still smelled like she’d rolled around in flowers plucked from a pussy garden. The air was blowing in the truck and my lil air freshener was doing its thing, but tendrils of her scent still made their way to my nose. It fanned the flames of my arousal and brought illicit images of tasting fruit from that garden to my mind.

Had her perfume always been this heavy duty? This...sensual?

As close as we were, I couldn’t exactly ask her that. Maybe she was tipsy enough to laugh it off, or, best case scenario, give me an actual answer. The more likely result was that question would make things awkward. I’d have to explain where the question came from, and that would take me down a rabbit hole of explaining the weird thing with her and Jackie’s laugh. Yeah, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with that, so I didn’t say anything at all.

It was almost four in the morning when I pulled into my garage.

Climbing out of the car, I headed to the door and pushed it open before stepping back to let Jucee in first. When she didn’t go in, I turned around to see that she hadn’t even got out of the car. Laughing, I walked up to the passenger door and opened it. Her eyes were closed and her head was leaning back against the headboard.

“I’m not ’sleep,” she murmured. “I’m just resting my eyes.”

“Mmhmm,” I hummed, reaching in and unbuckling her seatbelt. “Come rest your eyes in the house.”

She stepped out of the truck but shook her head. “No, ma’am. I’m sure Lil Miss Afro Puffs is on her way over. I’d rather not hear y’all fuckin’ all night, so I’mma just head home.”

Rolling my eyes, I pushed her toward the door and into the house. For all the shit she was talking, she went without a fight.

“Man, be for real, ole jealous ass.”

Jucee scoffed. “I’m into some kinky shit, but that’s a bit more than I can handle right now. That don’t make me jealous.”

“Sure, Jan,” I laughed, giving my best Marcia Brady impression.

In our three years of friendship, I’d never had a woman over while Jucee or Amani were over. Hell, I barely had women over, period. I was more lowkey than that, and on the rare occasion that I messed around with someone who didn’t understand what casual and temporary meant, it was easier—and safer—for them not to know where I lived. The truth was, when women knew where you lived, they tended to pop up whenever they felt like it, and I wasn’t one for unannounced visits from people I didn’t like like that.

Inside the house, I dropped my keys and wallet onto the table by the door and trailed Jucee to my bedroom, where she headed straight for the bathroom while I went into my walk-in closet to remove my jewelry. I heard the toilet flush as I slid my shoes into their designated cubby in my built-ins, so I walked back into my bedroom to check on Jucee. I knew she was tired, but I wanted to confirm her level of inebriation so I could gather anything she might need in the morning. I’d only seen her finish one drink and one shot, and that wasn’t usually enough to get her tipsy, but there was always a possibility she had something when I wasn’t near her.

Eyes closed, Jucee sat on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped in her lap. The sight was hilarious.

“You know, you’d be more comfortable if you actually laid down.”

Cracking open one eyelid, she peered over at me. “You laughing at me?”

I nodded and started to unbutton my shirt. “Absolutely.”

Jucee released a deep, exhausted sigh and moved to stand. I moved in front of her and grabbed her hands, pulling her onto her feet. She came faster than I was expecting, making me stumble backward a couple of steps so that we wouldn’t collide. Instead of standing still, Jucee moved with me, dropping my hands and grabbing handfuls of my shirt.

“Damn, girl,” I chuckled once we were steady on our feet.

She didn’t say anything, just stared at me, and that’s when I realized just how close we were. Eye-to-eye. Chest-to-chest. We were so close I could feel how fast her heart was beating.

I watched her pupils dilate as she focused on my face.

I felt her nipples harden into pebbles.

My bra wasn’t padded, so if I could feel hers, then she could definitely...

Shit.

Quickly, I stepped back, almost ripping out of her grasp in my haste to put some space between us. The last thing I needed was my reaction to her becoming public knowledge. I just needed to think, that’s all. A couple of days of space between us so I could focus and figure out what this was and how I could make it go away.

I had to make it go away.

Whatever this was, I couldn’t lose my friend because I was suddenly horny for her. So, yeah, I just needed to sleep on it.

Two sleeps, max, should do the trick. I was sure of it. This was just...my mind playing tricks on me because I hadn’t seen Jucee in forever and it had been so long since I’d had a hook up. I’d been working hard for several months and had at least seven more weeks where my schedule was booked solid. I really did just need to rest.

As if she could hear my thoughts, Jucee blinked and her eyes focused. She shook her head like she was trying to shake the last few drops of water out of a bottle, turned away from me, and shimmied out of her dress.

Good Lord.

I was fucking losing it.

No. I’d already lost it! Whatever it was, it had fallen off, probably somewhere in the club.

I don’t know what the fuck was wrong with me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her ass. We’d been friends for years and I’d seen her in various stages of undress a million times. This was nothing new. Hell, the first time that we met, it was right after she’d been on stage at Sanity, so I knew that Jucee was draggin’ a wagon, and yet it was like I was seeing her for the first time. Instead of her just being my hella thick friend, now she was this curvaceous, stacked, sexy as hell woman that was in my bedroom with me. And when those type of women were in my bedroom with me, it was because I was going to get to sample each and every one of those dips and curves that caught my attention.

But this wasn’t that.

I shook my head, tripping off the fact that I had to remind myself. I’d never had to do that before.

This was my friend.

My friend who I was suddenly lusting over like a horny teenager. A teenager who had just discovered what attraction and arousal was. This was a little bit more than your standard, run-of-the-mill schoolgirl crush. It wasn’t just hearts in my eyes when I looked at her; my pussy was beatboxing to the rhythm of how I’d sound saying her name while I was cumming. It was that intense.

And now that we were at my house, it was quiet enough for me to replay that laugh of hers, and all of our interactions at the club that led me to this moment. But I was doing the wrong thing—I wasn’t supposed to be thinking of Jucee like this, because she was my bestie.

I would never—could never—think of Xeno this way.

But...Xeno was like one of my brothers.

And Jucee was...

Nope.

I couldn’t finish that. Didn’t really know how to—not if I wanted to retain any of my sanity that night. So, to distract myself, I started up my teasing again. Anything to get me from staring hungrily at the way those round globes of her ass ate up that black thong.

“Man,” I drawled, slipping out of my button-down. “I still can’t believe you were actually jealous about that chick at the club.”

I could tell from the way her shoulders stiffened that I had been successful in not only distracting myself, but also distracting her. Why I felt like I needed to distract her, I couldn’t say, it was just a feeling that I had.

Jucee spun around, slapped her hands on her hips, and glared at me.

“You know what, Poppa? Maybe I am jealous.”

“Wait, what?” I stared at her, my mouth ajar. I hadn’t expected her to admit that in a million years, and even though I really did get a jealous vibe from her when we were at the club, it wasn’t really a big deal. I was truly just teasing her, but now she actually seemed upset instead of just annoyed, and I was...intrigued. Because big emotions over something little like this were new. And if she was experiencing something new just like I was experiencing something new, then maybe we could figure this out and get past it together.

Jucee threw her hands up in the air and paced the length of my room and into the closet before turning around, coming back to me, and doing it all over again.

“I don’t know—shit, it’s just something about that girl that got to me. I didn’t like she was hugged all up on you, and whispering in your ear and shit, and had her titties on your arm and pressed against your chest. I didn’t like that at all.” She spun around and stared at me, her face scrunched into a scowl. “It most definitely has something to do with the shady way that she tried to get information about you from me, but that’s not all of it. I can’t explain it.”

I stared at her, my mouth gaped open, at a loss for words. She was serious, and suddenly, the need for distraction evaporated and something else crept up in its place. Something both unrecognizable and undeniable. As quickly as possible, I dropped my eyes from my friend to the floor in an attempt to get myself under control. Because I did not understand what the fuck was going on inside of my head, but I knew that if I didn’t stop staring at her, she would cease to be across the room from me and would likely be in my arms. And we didn’t do that—I didn’t do that.

Not with my friends, and never with Jucee. I couldn’t lose what we had. Refused to.

But also...

“I—” Before I could get out my words, Jucee blew out a heavy breath and shook her head.

“Uh uhn. Don’t even worry about it. Forget I said anything.”

She waved a hand in the air and turned to walk back into my closet, likely to find something to sleep in, but it didn’t matter, because she didn’t make it. I grabbed her hand to stop her. Before I could even think about what I was doing. As I pulled her back toward me, I moved closer to her, eating the space between us in double the time.

“Jucee...”

“I said forget I said anything,” she began, already shaking her head when I opened my mouth to speak.

At that point, whatever she was talking about was no longer a concern of mine. I shut off my thoughts and moved on impulse, instinct. Honestly, I really had no idea what was going on between us, and why I was pulling her to me, and why I was staring down into her chocolate-brown eyes and giving her an intense look like one I’ve never given her before. Looking down at her plush-ass lips that were still painted with the gloss and lipstick ombré. Why I was suddenly so turned on by seeing her in her bra and panties even though I’d seen her in this and less over the years that we’ve known each other. But while I had no idea why that was happening the way it was happening, I was very keenly aware of Jucee’s response to what I was doing. Her voice trailed off, words disappearing as she gave me a questioning look. But when I stood in front of her, peering directly into her eyes, I watched as her eyelids lowered and she went from being an annoyed friend to being a woman aroused.

The change was magnificent to witness. I could see it all over her and could damn near hear her heartbeat elevate. The stiffness in her shoulders relaxed, her nostrils flared, and her chin dipped. It was like she realized that she was prey and I the huntress, and she just...surrendered. Those pretty brown irises softened, flickered from mine down to my lips and back up before lingering on my mouth, and my God was that so fucking sexy.

I trailed the fingertips of one hand up her arm, gripping just above her elbow, while the other went right for her neck, resting at her nape, my thumb brushing the sensitive skin below her ear. I should’ve waited, should’ve asked if we were on the same page of the same book, but when she tilted her head back and licked her lips without me saying a word, the words in the rulebook blurred and my instincts took over.

Stretching my neck forward, I pressed my mouth to hers softly, intending to just...test it.

I just wanted to see.

I needed to know if the change in her sound meant something. If a different kind of kiss from this woman who meant so much to me would align with the shift in how I saw her tonight.

She pushed up on her toes just slightly, meeting me quicker than I anticipated, as if she wanted this just as much as I did and I was taking too damn long for her comfort.

I was unprepared for the jolt to my senses when our lips made contact. Why did it feel so familiar? Why did my body relax, unrealized tension draining out of me like water from a tub? Why did I breathe a sigh of relief, blowing the breath out through my nose to keep from breaking the kiss? Why was this kiss flipping switches and turning knobs in my brain?

I’d fucked up.

I realized it nearly immediately but was stubborn and kept going, relishing in her softness and the way her lips moved in against mine. It wasn’t until the tip of her tongue slipped between my parted lips that I jerked back, dropping my hands from her body and putting some space in between us.

“Shit, Jucee. I’m sorry. That should’ve nev—”

She shushed me and I snapped my lips closed with a quickness. Before I could reword my apology, Jucee had sunk her fingers into my tank top, pulled me back toward her, and kissed me again.

Well, shit.

There went any argument I had. I kissed her back with a fervency that I hadn’t experienced since the first time I’d eaten pussy. That’s when time sped up and I got mental whiplash trying to keep up.

This was Jucee.

My bestie.

My ace.

And she was pulling my shirt out of my pants and tugging it over my head. She was kissing my neck, and licking my lips, and moaning when I grabbed her ass and massaged her cheeks.

And fuck me, I was grabbing her ass!

What the hell was I doing?

I had no answer, and after a minute, I stopped trying to figure it out and just...went with it. Yes, this was Jucee. No, this wasn’t the type of relationship we had. But I loved her and I knew she wouldn’t hurt me, at least not tonight. So I reached behind her and unsnapped her bra, palming her delicious-ass titties, kissing around her wide, dark brown areolas, and sucking her stiff nipples into my mouth.

Fingers gripped my biceps before sliding up my arms and over my shoulders. A hand cupped my chin and lifted my head up where Jucee took my mouth in another searing kiss. I replaced my lips with my hands, pinching and twisting her nipples as she sat on the bed and scooted backward. I moved with her, not wanting to break the connection of our lips—not wanting the moment to end. This felt like a fever dream, and I dreaded the moment the clock struck twelve.

In the middle of the bed, Jucee’s hands fell from my face down to my body. I met her hands at my belt, and we worked together to get my bottoms off. Pushing up onto my knees, I broke our kiss to remove my remaining article of clothing. The moment my titties fell free from their binding, Jucee caught a nipple in her mouth like a baby bird who’d been waiting impatiently for their turn to eat. A gasp caught in my throat, and my head fell back as pleasure shot through me. My back bowed, and I didn’t even realize I was pulling back until Jucee’s wide eyes were staring up at me.

“What you doin’?” she asked breathlessly.

“I—I’m just...” I snapped my lips shut as I realized I didn’t have an answer—not one that wouldn’t sound ridiculous. How did I explain that the way she was taking charge had my mind frazzled? I was a top. I ran the fucking show.

From the way Jucee licked her lips and twisted them into a sensual smirk, you’d have thought I’d spoken out loud. Had I spoken aloud? Had she read it in my eyes? Oh, duh.

She definitely read it in my eyes. Jucee knew me too damn well.

Or maybe she knew me the perfect amount.

Because the way Jucee crawled toward me and placed her hands on my hips had me trembling. Yeah, I always topped, but maybe just this once I could try something different. She kissed me, and I was pretty sure my fucking knees almost gave out on me.

“Lay back.”

Her command was punctuated with a nod of her head toward the pillows near the headboard, and I did what she said without hesitation. I settled in amongst the goose-downs, naked as the day I was born and filled with a sense of nervous anticipation. She trailed her hands from my ankles up to my knees before she pushed my thighs apart and straddled one. Leaning over me, she held my gaze in her own, and I was fucking stuck. My chest heaved under the intensity of her attention. We’d locked eyes a million and one times, but never had it felt like this before. Like she was peeling away the layers of my persona until there was nothing but my soul bared raw and vulnerable for her.

And when she found it—found me there—she leaned forward and captured my mouth in a searing kiss at the same time that she ground against my thigh and slid her fingers through the wetness between my thighs. I met her greedily, neck stretched as I stuck out my tongue to meet hers while I pushed up my hips, searching for more of her digits. Suddenly I wanted the friction, needed the pressure, wanted her to touch me more than anything in the world.

And because she knew me the way she did, she gave it to me. Her ring and index fingers breached me, and I gasped as her pointer finger brushed my asshole. It didn’t go in, but the idea that it might sent me over the edge. It was so deliciously illicit and unexpected that her steady pumps coupled with her sucking on my tongue had me cumming within minutes, her name a curse and a cry on my lips. I didn’t even have a chance to be embarrassed, because she immediately sat up and lifted her sticky fingers to her mouth to suck them clean before putting them right back while declaring that she needed another one from me.

My eyes fluttered closed and air whooshed out of my lungs. I pushed my head back into the pillow, moaning as she nipped at my collarbone before licking up my neck and taking my bottom lip into her mouth.

Who was this woman and what the hell was she doing to me?