Chapter 25
Warning Sign

Present

“Aww baby.” Jessica started, rubbing Justin’s knee underneath the table. “Don’t listen to him. I think you look cute with the glasses.” giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Trace snickered. “Yeah…I’m pretty sure Velma from the Scooby Doo Gang thinks so too.” Placing the glass of water up to his lips, as he snorted back his laughter.

Justin glared over at his best friend. “I don’t know why you’re laughing Midget Man.” he started. “At least I only have to wear them for awhile, you on the other hand will always be short.” he retorted back with a satisfied smirk. Justin, Jessica, Trace, Rachael along with Nicole and Chase sat in booth in LA, having lunch. From the moment Justin and Jessica had sat down to join them, Trace had had been giving him shit about the prescribed glasses Justin had to wear for a few weeks.

“Midget man.” Nicole repeated, laughing, glancing over at Justin from across the table. “I haven’t heard that in so long.”

Trace glared. “Shut up Nicole.”

“You can dish, but you cant take?” Rachael asked sitting next to Nicole, and shaking her head in disgust. “You’re such a baby.”

“Oh, c’mon its better than Tracey-” Nicole piped in with an amused look on her face. She snorted back her laughter, sliding her arm through Chase’s and ducked when a fry came flying her way. She turned to face Chase and explained. “There was this girl back in the 9th grade that was in love with him. But Trace thought he was too cool for her.” frowning slightly.

“Shut up Nicole.” Trace repeated.

Justin burst out laughing. “Man, how could I forget about Tracey!?” He glanced over at Rachael, who sat across from him, hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Justin turned his attention over to Nicole and Chase. “Trace pissed her off one day-”

“And he still wont tell us what he did.” Rachael added, giving Trace a long look.

Justin gave a small nod in agreement as he glanced over at Jessica and continued. “Whatever he did or said to her, really pissed her off, because the next day in school she went around telling everyone that Trace really was a Tracey.” He heard everyone around the table laugh except for Trace.

“I still don’t know how she convinced so many people, but she did.” Rachael finished, giggling.

“She was fucking crazy.” Trace mumbled. “For the rest of freshman year I was known as Tracey and no girl would even come near me because of her.” Nicole covered her mouth, her laughter bubbling over. Trace rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, its fucking hilarious.”

Justin glanced between his friends, a light smile tugging on his lips as he watched, glad he had agreed to meet up with everyone. Trace had sent him a text earlier, asking if he wanted to meet up to have lunch. Justin had been a little hesitant when Trace mentioned Nicole and Chase would be there. Not that Justin had problem with them being there, he just wasn’t sure how comfortable Nicole would feel about it.

It had been a little over a month since the kiss in the backyard, and just like the kiss in Mexico, they had not talked about it. In fact, they truly hadn’t talked in the past couple of weeks. A lot of it had to do with the fact that they were both busy. Nicole had work, school finals, the house and now Chase. Justin on the other hand had been spending his time in New York, moving into the new apartment he had purchased, he was also writing and producing for different artist and working on new ideas with Trace for WilliamRast. Lately, it just seemed like it was never a good time to talk to Nicole. Especially when they were on opposite coasts.

They would randomly send each other texts and messages about the stupid shit that was going on in their daily routines, but it didn’t go further than that. Neither one mentioned it, they both acted as if it had never happen. A part of him was okay with it not being talked about. As bad as it sounded, it just meant he didn’t have to deal with it. But there was the other part of him that knew Nicole and him had to sit down and talk it out. Whatever “it” was. It wasn’t as if it had been erased from his thoughts, quite the contrary, he thought about it too much. The way she had been pressed up against him, her soft breasts crushed against his chest, the way her fingertips traced along his jaw as Justin’s lips took hers, molding his lips to hers…

He felt a twinge of guilt hit the pit of his stomach when he met Jessica‘s eyes. He forced a small smile onto his face when she smiled warmly at him. Things between them in the past couple of weeks had been strained. They seemed to have hit a rough patch in their relationship and neither one could pin-point how it had started. But the bickering and arguing they did behind closed doors was taking a toll on Justin. Especially when they were arguing over little and stupid things. He was hoping the trip to Vail in the next couple of days would give them a fresh start. He was getting tired of pretending around their friends that things between them were okay.

He blinked back to the present when he heard Nicole’s giggles across the room. His felt something in his stomach stir, watching her place one arm on the table, letting it gently press against Chase’s, reaching out and tangling her fingers absently with his. Justin swallowed the lump in his throat, pretending with himself that it didn’t bother him seeing her with someone new. Pretending he didn’t care how comfortable and happy she looked with Chase. Pretending it didn’t bother him, that she didn’t look a little more uncomfortable with him being there. Pretending the kisses they’d shared never truly happened. What the fuck was his problem? He was acting like a damn woman.

He reached out for his glass of ice-tea, and brought it up to his lips, looking away for a brief moment. He was mad at himself for feeling…jealous? He laughed silently, was it really jealousy that he was feeling? Did he really have a right to be feeling such an emotion? Nicole wasn’t his girlfriend, she hadn’t been in years. Jessica was his girl. And he loved her. He did.

Then why the hell had he kissed Nicole? That question kept running over and over through his head. He knew kissing Nicole had been wrong, not a mistake, just wrong. He should have walked away. But walking away from Nicole had never been easy for him. His connection to her was unexplainable. He gave up trying to figure it out a long time ago.

What he did know was kissing her had felt good, and natural, like his music, like breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night…

Nicole buttoned up the top button of Chase’s shirt before she leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back.” He cupped her face with one hand, his lips back on hers in a long kiss, while his other hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging her back down to him. Nicole broke from his lips, and smiled. “Hmm, maybe I just wont go…” she murmured.

Chase smiled back at her, nuzzling the side of her neck. “Good.” he paused. “You look good in my shirt.”

Nicole giggled, feeling the tip of his nose on the back of her ear. She closed her eyes, smiling and enjoying the moment as she sat back down on the bed. “You know…I might need a little more persuasion.” she teased, pulling away from him.

“Oh really?“ Chase asked, smiling widely at her, the dimples on each cheek making Nicole’s insides go to mush. God, there was something about his dimples that made her forget about everything.

Nicole nodded innocently at him. “Uh, uh.” licking her lips. “You are a lawyer right?” she challenged.

“Hell ya I’ am.” he said, pushing her back into the pillows, his face hovering over hers.

Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to hers as she giggled again. “You’re kind of cute, you know that.” she asked teasingly.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, the smile never leaving his face.

“Yeah.” Nicole said. “And will you stop smiling.” she pleaded teasingly.

“Why?” he chuckled.

“Do you realize that you have the cutest dimples I’ve ever seen?” she blurted out, a slight blush hitting her cheeks. Chase continued to grin from ear to ear. Did she really just say that? She groaned to herself. Way to be sexy Nicole, she thought to herself with light frown. She looked back up at him and groaned again but this time it was a good groan. “Seriously, you need to stop.” she warned him.

Fantastic. Rachael had been right. She was sprung. But for the first time in years, Nicole truly had allowed herself to open up to someone that wasn’t Justin. And it felt nice. It was refreshing. Chase had brought a fresh of breath air into her life in the past three and half months, she never thought was possible. Slowly, Nicole found the walls she had build around herself many years ago beginning to tumble with every moment she spent with Chase. He made her smile and think, and she enjoyed that. She found herself letting him see the real her, which she always felt she could never do with any of her other boyfriends. She wouldn’t say she was in love, it was too soon for that. But she was enjoying the process of their developing relationship. They were still getting to know each other… in more ways than one.

She had never been one to rush into sex, unless of course it was with Justin…She slapped her hand mentally. She shouldn’t be thinking about Justin. Especially not when she was in bed with Chase.

She looked up at him, and found herself smiling, forgetting about Justin again, as she lifted her head up just enough to touch her lips with his. She moaned as he pressed his body to hers. They continued to kiss, hands groping and rubbing on each other. She moaned again when his hand slid underneath the shirt, and his fingers gripped on to her hip. She shivered when his finger touched her bare skin. She wasn’t going deny it, she was enjoying the sex. It was good, and new. They were slowly but eagerly getting to know each others bodies.

He was attentive, and he knew how to please, he was caring and sweet to her. In a way, almost calming. It was different. It was new. She hadn’t been with many men in her life, but with the ones she had been, she sometimes felt like she was being rushed. She wasn’t the type to complain over having an orgasms, but sometimes she felt something was lacking…except with Justin.

With Justin it was raw, passionate and sometimes even animalistic. At times unpredictable, but he always knew what she needed and what she wanted.

Nicole broke from his lips and her thoughts when she heard the familiar barking coming from outside her window. She groaned in annoyance. The barking continued. “Chase…” she muttered, pushing him gently off her. Chase sighed and fell back against her pillow as she got back up. “I just need to take them back inside.” she told him. “Or they wont stop barking.”

Instead of going back to Chase house, like they’ve been doing for the past couple of months, they had gone back to her place, or rather Rachael’s. Rachael had flown back home earlier that afternoon for a few days to see her family, so Nicole had the guest house all to herself. At first she hadn’t planned on Chase spending the night, but neither Trace or Justin were home. Trace was out, probably out drinking, and Justin was with Jessica.

So they were alone, except of course for Buckley and Brennan who were outside barking a storm. With everyone out, except for her, she was looking after the dogs. She had fed them earlier and had let them out to run around the huge backyard, and now they were barking, letting her know they wanted to be back inside.

“I’ll be right back.” she promised, slipping her feet into her flip-flops, and leaning back down to kiss his forehead. She gasped in surprise when she felt his hand, reach and squeeze her ass. “What are you doing?” she asked after she regained her composure.

“Making sure you’re wearing shorts underneath my shirt.” he retorted with a light smirk on his face.

Nicole rolled her eyes over at him before making her way toward the door. “There is no one here but you and me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicole opened the backdoor to the main house, stepping out of the way as Brennan trotted into the kitchen, wagging her tail and disappearing down the hall. Nicole glanced over at Buckley who barked loudly, still outside. “C’mon Buckley get inside.” she ordered, waving her hand at him. Buckley barked again in the direction of the guest house. “What? I’m allowed to have friends over.” she said as if she knew why he was barking. “Get inside Buckley.” she repeated.

The dog barked one last time before finally stepping inside. He barked up at her and wagged his tongue, watching her shut the door. Nicole turned back to the dog. Buckley stood in front of her, looking up at her curiosity in his eyes. “Don’t look at me that way.” she said, bending down to scratch the back of his ears. Even though he couldn’t talk, Nicole had feeling she knew why he was looking at her that way. “Sometimes you’re worse than your daddy.” she murmured. Nicole wrinkled her nose and cupped the dog’s face with both of her hands. “I don have to explain myself to anyone.” she told the dog. Buckley barked again, before licking her cheek. She giggled. “You silly dog.” wiping the slobber with one hand.

She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the door open. She felt a familiar flutter in the pit of her stomach when Justin stepped inside. He stopped for a brief moment, blinking in surprise through his glasses when he saw her. “Hey.” he greeted, closing the door behind him.

Nicole stood back up, and gave him a nervous smile. “Hey.” chewing on her lower lip. “I was just bringing them back inside.” she explained, nodding toward Buckley, who made his way toward Justin.

Justin bend down in front of the dog, smiling. “Hey big guy.” he cooed, rubbing the top of Buckley’s head. He glanced back up at her, the smile still on his face, she saw the look in his eyes, he looked tired, but she saw something else, she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Thanks.”

“It was getting dark, and they were barking and-”

Justin stood back up. “Nic, you don’t have to explain.” he interrupted. “I gave you a key remember?”

She nodded. She remembered. “I know, I just didn’t want you to think I was…” trailing off.

“As long as you don’t steal my beer, then I don’t care.” he joked, watching Buckley disappear down the hall, disinterested in the conversation Nicole and Justin were having.

Awkward silence quickly set in between them. Justin eyes locked on her, and Nicole could see the wheels turning in his head. They hadn’t talked much in the past couple of weeks, they’d both been busy. Nicole sucked in a large breath, hating the tension between them. She swallowed the lump in her throat, it was as if there was a large elephant in the room and neither one wanted to talk about it. Nicole knew what the elephant was, the kiss. Or rather, the kisses.

Justin blinked, and looked away from her, walking around the kitchen island to get to the refrigerator, not saying a word as he opened it, with his hand on the refrigerator handle, he finally spoke. “Do you want anything?”

Nicole shook her head. “No, thank you.” she watched him take out a bottle of water, and shut the refrigerator door, before placing the bottle on the counter. She didn’t like weirdness. She was so used to having him joke around with her, tease her, annoy her. She missed him, she missed talking to him. Yes, they talked, about the weather, about the plans for the day, and it was usually for a few minutes, but they hadn’t really talked in weeks. Not just about what had happened in Mexico and in the backyard, but about everything else in their on going life. Nicole knew something was bothering him, she couldn’t place it, but she knew. She heard it in his voice whenever they were on the phone.

Justin glanced back over at her, trying his best to pretend he didn’t notice what she had on. Pushing aside the feeling of jealousy that hit him knowing she was in Chase’s shirt. He remembered when she used to walk around in his shirts, and when she took them off, they always smelled like her. Now, there she was standing in his kitchen, wearing another’s man shirt. He watched as she pulled on the sleeves of the collar shirt nervously.

She opened her mouth to speak. “I thought you were staying with Jessica?” she asked, as she sat on the bar stool across from him.

Justin opened the bottle of water, as he snorted. “Yeah…” he started. “That was the plan.” At least before they started fighting. Again. He placed the bottle up to his lips, and took a large gulp, then placed it back on the counter. After lunch, he had packed and both decided to head back to Jessica. It was closer to the airport. They hadn’t been at her home for more than 20 minutes before the bickering started.

Nicole wrinkled her nose. “Did you guys have a fight or something?” she asked in a sincere voice.

Justin placed his elbows on the counter, as he leaned in. “More or less.” he muttered, as he played with the top of the bottle.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Justin looked back up, in surprise. It wasn’t as if it was the first time he had talked to Nicole about Jessica, but he hadn’t been expecting that response, not after what happened. He shrugged. “It was a stupid fight.” he stated.

“About?” she pushed.

“The wedding present.” he said simply.

Nicole raised an eyebrow. “You were fighting over that?” she asked.

“Exactly!” Justin exclaimed, and raised his hands up in the air. He rolled his eyes. “She got mad because I told her I didn’t care what we got them. Whatever she wanted to buy was fine by me.” he muttered bitterly. “For some reason that pissed her off, demanding to know why I didn’t care more about it.” he paused and mumbled under his breath. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” Lately it just seemed everything he did wasn’t good enough for her. “And I know it isn’t that time of the month.”

“Justin!”

“What?” he said defensively. He really didn’t care at that moment. He gave Nicole a warning look. “And if you’re going to agree with her, then I don’t want to hear it.” he mumbled.

Nicole put her hands up in defense. “Whoa, relax.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” he apologize. “I just- I’m not use to us fighting.” he said honestly.

“It’ll blow over.” she said. “Its just one fight.”

Justin shook his head, a small laugh leaving his lips. “Its not just one fight Nic.” he murmured as he licked his lips. “Its fights, as in plural. As in we fight all the fucking time.” he said, locking eyes with her. “That’s all we’ve done in the past couple of weeks. And its over stupid shit that we shouldn’t be fighting about!” he exclaimed.

“Relationships go through rough patches, you know that.” she reminded.

He sighed. Nicole was right. It wasn’t the first fight he had with her, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last time. But the things they fought about were stupid. When the fighting first started, he was the first to apologize, the first to admit he was wrong, but now he was starting to get tired of it. He didn’t know if there was more underneath the fighting or if it was just because they had been spending a lot of time together, but he just wanted it to stop.

“Have you guys talked about it?” Nicole asked, interrupting him from his thoughts.

He blinked and answered. “Talk about what?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “About why you guys have been fighting so much!” she exclaimed. “You don’t want to fight with her-”

“I don’t.”

“Then talk to her J.” Nicole suggested. “I mean really sit down and talk.”

“I know.” Justin agreed. “That’s why I’m glad we are taking this trip.” he paused. “Some time alone is what we need.” At least that’s what he kept telling himself. He loved her and he wanted to work it out. He wasn’t sure what they needed to work out, but whatever it was he was willing to fix it.

His gaze fell on Nicole’s face, she only smiled as he opened his mouth to thank her for listening to him, but instead he found himself starring, his stomach doing a summersault. He sighed, as his eyes scanned her face, trying his best to keep the image of Nicole lying in bed with another man. He swallowed, blinking the image away.

She tilted her head. “What is it?” she asked him curiously.

Justin shook his head slightly. “Nothing.” he said. Even though his head was running with questions. “Thanks for listening. I haven’t really talked to anyone about it.”

“To be honest I haven’t noticed anything different between you guys.” she told him, looking anywhere but his eyes.

Justin snorted back his laughter. “Yeah well, we’ve kind of done that on purpose.” he explained. Around their friends and families, they acted like the nothing was wrong. But as soon as they were alone and behind closed doors, the fighting would begin. It had began with bickering, but slowly it had progressed to yelling, and slamming of doors, and crying-at least from Jessica’s part. But he hadn’t told anyone that. As far as everyone knew, they were still perfectly happy.

“Is that what’s been bothering you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

Nicole shrugged. “The past couple of times I’ve talked to you on the phone, you’ve sounded a bit on the edge.”

Justin gave her a small smile. “That’s been part of it. I’ve just been feeling a bit stress with everything else going on.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked him, as she pressed her lips together. He narrowed his eyes at her. “What?” she asked.

“C’mon Nic,” he started. “We haven’t had a real conversation in weeks.” he blurted out. She opened her mouth to speak but Justin interrupted. “And our 5 minute conversations about the weather and how much Rachael is annoying me, don’t count.” As if reading her mind.

She glared over at him, as she got up from the bar stool. “I haven’t been the only one cutting the conversations short.” she mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Seventy-five percent of the time they end because of you.” he accused. “But you are the one that keeps avoiding it.”

Nicole blinked, a look of surprise in her eyes. “Avoiding what?” she asked cautiously.

Justin wasn’t sure what he was doing. But he also knew they needed to talk about what had happened. The conversation was about to turn, it was no longer about him and Jessica, it was now about him and Nicole. They needed to let it out in the open, not only for his sake, but for the significant others in their life’s. He knew they couldn’t continue to allow themselves to forget about the consequences that their reckless actions could cause. He knew better, she knew better.

“You tell me.” he challenged, making his way around the counter and faced her.

She looked up, nervously, he had sandwiched her between the counter and him. “I should-should go.” she stammered.

Justin looked down at her, hiding his smile, satisfaction hitting him when he realized he could still make her nervous. But still annoyed at the fact that she continued to avoid the conversation. “We eventually have to talk about it.” he stated.

“Fine.” Nicole said. “We will. But not right now.” she finished, unfolding her arms.

“Why not right now?” he asked.

“Can we not do this?” she pleaded.

Justin took a step back, and shrugged. “Okay.” he said bitterly.

She sighed, “Don’t be an ass Justin.” she paused. “Right now is just not the best time-”

“Because you have Chase waiting for you in bed?” Nicole only narrowed her at him. He cursed silently as she began to push past him. Justin quickly reached out for her elbow. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” he apologized, as he sandwiched her back between the counter and him. “That was wrong of me to say.” making her face him again. “You’re right. I’ am an ass.” he agreed. She only raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m sorry.” he repeated in a sincere voice.

She sighed, her face relaxing a little bit again. “I need to go.” she told him. He let go of her elbow, but didn’t move. Nicole pressed her lips together, and nervously brought a hand up to her neck, rubbing it gently. “J…” she trailed off.

“What?” he asked, but he did not budge. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he did not want her to leave. He did not want her to go back to him. It made something in his stomach turn at the thought of Nicole going back to bed with him.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“I don’t know.” he mumbled, as his hands moved up and down her arms. What was he doing? Why all of a sudden this attraction toward her? He knew better. He was always able to keep it in control. He dropped his hands from her arms. “I’m sorry.” he repeated. And he was. He needed to stop before he got himself in trouble. He was fucking crazy. He had a girlfriend, and Nicole had Chase. He shouldn’t be this close to her. He should take a step back and let her walk away. But he couldn’t seem to move from his spot. Because all he saw was her face, her brown eyes burning deep into his, and her inviting soft lips….

What the hell had gotten into him? He was never like this, there was always an unspoken attraction between him and Nicole, but he was always able to keep it in control. They had an understanding. There was a line they never crossed when there was other people involved. But in the past couple of weeks that line had gotten blurry for him. And deep down he knew the reason the line had began to get blurry was because there was someone new in her life. He became in a sense, possessive. As selfish and immature as it sounded, he hated the idea of sharing her.

“What are you doing?” she repeated, swallowing the huge lump in her throat.

Justin chewed on his lower lip, as his hand hesitantly, moved back up to her arms. “I’m trying really hard to be good here.” he murmured honestly.

Nicole glanced over at his hand. “With what?”

He sighed loudly. “Its driving me crazy, the idea of you and him together.” She gave him a surprised look. Obviously she hadn’t expected that kind of response from him. “You and him… in bed together.” he blurted out.

Nicole’s look of surprise quickly disappeared and it was replaced with a look of annoyance. “You don’t own me Justin.” she retorted. “I’m sorry that you are having such a hard time with this, but that’s not my problem. I can do whatever I want.”

“I fucking know that Nicole.” he said bitterly.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked. “Why? What’s the point?” she pushed.

Justin shook his head. He wish he had answer for her. “I don’t fucking know. All I know is that I don’t like it.” He didn’t like it? What kind of answer was that? When did he turn into such a fucking pussy?

Nicole scoffed at him. “You don’t like it? Are you fucking kidding me Justin? I’m not some kind of possession!” her voice raising. “I don’t fucking belong to you or anyone else for that matter.” she placed one hand over his chest and gave him a rough shove. “Move the fuck out of the way.” she demanded.

Justin quickly clamped his hand over her wrist tightly. “Let me go.” Her eyes filled wih pure fire. “I don’t know where you get off thinking you can forbid me from-”

“I never said that.” he said defensibly, the grip still on her wrist. The electricity between them, hitting him in the pit of his stomach. After all these years, the chemistry between them was still raw.

She tried to break from his grip, still glaring. “Fine. You never said it, but that’s what you’re trying to insinuate.” she broke from his grip, eyes blazing. “You have no right to tell me who I can and can not see!” she exclaimed. “I’m not one of your damn employees you can boss around!” She shoved his chest again. “Fucking asshole.” she spat out as she started to push past him.

Before she got a step away from him, Justin hands curled around her arms, pulling her back to face him. “Calm the fuck down.” he said. Why were women always so damn over dramatic? Nicole glared. If looks could kill he would have dropped dead by now. “Cant you for once try and act like an adult?”

Nicole took in a shaky breath. “Let go Justin.” she said through gritted teeth, her back pressed against the edge of the counter. Justin’s fingers uncurled from her arms as she spoke up again. “Try and act like an adult? I’m not the one acting like a jealous old boyfriend.” she accused.

Justin clinched his jaw. “You can be such a bitch sometimes.” His body inches from hers.

He could hear the beating of her heart deep within her chest. “I’m not the one standing here, confessing-”

“Someone has to do it!” he said, his voice raising. His frustration getting the best of him.

“What?”

“You fucking act as if everything is perfectly fine between us. As if nothing has changed!” he yelled. “Like today at lunch-”

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. “What did you want me to do?! Did you want me to tell everyone at the table about what happen? Is that what you wanted?” she sucked in a large breath. “I’m done. I’m not going to do this. It leads us nowhere.” she said, and pushed past him again, stomping toward the door. Justin quickly caught her, and that time she couldn’t break from his grip.

“Nicole-”

“NO!” she yelled. “You cant just come out and blurt out all these things and expect me to be okay with it!” she paused for a second, her chest heaving. “I don’t know what you expected me to say-”

“Will you just let me try and explain!” he exclaimed, his nails digging into her arm.

“But it doesn’t change anything.-”

“Will you shut up-” he said gruffly, but she only raised her voice over his.

“-so I don’t know what you’re trying to prove. But its not going to fucking work.”

“Are you listening to yourself?” he gritted out. Maybe, he wasn’t the crazy one, maybe she was. She had to be. He wasn’t trying to prove anything, all he wanted was to try and figure out where they stood. He hated the tension and awkwardness they had created. He expected her to reply back, instead she began to turn away.

“I’m tired of playing games.”

Before she even knew what was happening, Justin quickly spun her back around, his tongue sliding forcefully into her mouth as his hands cupped her face roughly. He knew it was wrong, but he had lost all sense of right judgment at that moment. All he wanted, was her. He didn’t care if it was wrong. He didn’t care about the consequence, all he wanted at that moment was Nicole.

He heard a low whimper leave her lips as his fingers combed through her hair, gently gripping on the back of her neck as he tugged her head back to let his lips trail along her jaw. Desperate for a feel of her skin.

“Justin.” she breathed breaking from his lips, her hands clutching to his shirt. A small part of her conscience knew what they were doing was wrong. But the thought quickly left her when he closed his mouth back over hers. His lips sucked on hers, as his warm and soft tongue licked at her teeth. This kiss was different than the last two. The first one had been unexpected, the second one had been sweet. But the kiss they were sharing right at that moment was passionate, raw, needy.

His hands slid down and gripped on to her hips, his fingers impatient for more of her. Every fiber of his body feeling as if it was on fire. A deep growl died on the tip of his lips as his hands slipped around to grip on her ass. She gasped in surprise when he pulled her up, lifting her up the floor. Instantly, Nicole locked her legs around his waist.

Her hands quickly went to his face, holding it in place as he stumbled back toward the counter, their lips still attached to each. She gasped again when he sat her up on the counter. Their mouths bumped and nipped eagerly at each other as Justin’s fingers shakily worked on the buttons of the shirt she wore. Nicole wrapped her ankles around his waist and pulled him in closer to her. Her body aching for his expert touch.

“Jesus, Nicole…” he muttered as he got the last button undone and one hand slipped inside her exposed flesh and landed on her ribcage. She sat on his counter, shirt unbutton and opened, her breasts exposed to the cold air. He licked his lips as his eyes fell on her breasts, without thinking he cupped one in his masculine hand while his lips sucked on the crook of her. She moaned and it echoed loudly throughout the kitchen walls.

“Oh god Justin…” her whole body heaving from his touch. She whined softly as his mouth met hers again.

He moved the hand that had been on her ribcage back up to the back of her neck, once again tilting her head back, as his mouth kissed along the side of her jaw. It had been so long since he had seen Nicole this way. He had forgotten how good she looked and felt. He heard her moan again when his thumb rubbed on her hard nipple.

“I’ve missed having you like this.” he whispered into her mouth. “I’ve missed you…” he said trailing off, as his lips devoured hers. His lips frantically needing to taste her, to feel her. He was so focused on her that at first he didn’t feel the vibration in the pocket of his pants.

Nicole broke from his lips. “J?” pushing him back slightly. “Its-its your phone.” she breathed. Hearing the buzz in his pants again.

“Ignore it.” he told her, leaning back down to kiss her again. Nicole shook her head, and he placed a kiss on the side of her cheek instead. He sighed in frustration, but stood up straight again, as he slipped his hand into his pocket, gripping on to the vibrating phone. He frowned at her before he glanced down to see who was calling him.

All of a sudden he felt as if someone had tossed a bucket of cold ice down his spine when he saw the name blinking on the phone. He glanced back up at Nicole, and licked his lips nervously. She had a look on her face and he knew she knew who was calling. He took a step back from her and sucked in a large breath before finally answering.

“Hello?” He was a fucking idiot. He was fucking cheating idiot.

He felt his stomach turn when he heard Jessica’s familiar voice. “Justin, baby I’m so sorry. I’m sorry about earlier today. It was a stupid fight.” he heard her sniff. “I hate fighting.”

Justin glanced back at Nicole. She had her head down, and was quietly buttoning back up the shirt. He blinked, and looked away. “Babe,” he said into the phone. “Slow down.”

He heard a sob. “I just don’t want to fight anymore. And I’m just scared…”

“Scared of what?” He glanced back over at Nicole, and met her gaze for a split second. “Jess? Have you been drinking?” In spite of everything, he chuckled lightly. His girlfriend was drunk calling him. Who would have thought it?

He heard her sniff again. “Just a few…” she answered truthfully. “Some of my girlfriends came over after you left and convinced me to go out. But being out without you is no fun.” she told him. “I don’t ever want to be without you…” she told him. “I don’t want to loose you.”

“Whoa. Whoa. Who said that was going to happen?” he said, and rubbed the back of his neck with the palm of his hand.

“I just don’t want us to get to the point where we cant stand each other. I love you so much.” as she sniffed again.

Justin felt his heart squeeze as he listen to his girl. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke. “I love you too.” He heard her let out a shaky sigh. “Now go back inside with your girls and have fun.” he urged. “I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning to pick you up.” He looked back over at Nicole, who had gotten herself off the counter and was tugging on the shirt nervously.

“Okay.” was Jessica’s response. “And we can talk.” she told him.

He pressed his lips together. “And we can talk.” he promised, watching Nicole from the corner of his eye. She turned her back to him and was almost to the door, Justin felt a sense of panic in his chest at the thought of her leaving. Before he even realized what he was doing he quickly made his way toward her, with the phone still to his ear and reached out for her hand.

Nicole jumped slightly and gasped in surprise at his touch. She looked wide-eyed at him. He looked pleadingly at her as he mouthed for her to not go. He felt like the biggest duesh bag. But he didn’t want her to go. They needed to figure things out, and he knew that if he let her go right now. It would probably be another month before he got to talk to her again. Nicole had always been good at the avoidance game.

He was interrupted from his Nicole’s thoughts when he heard Jessica’s voice again. “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.” she said.

Justin winced at her words, but replied back. “I love you too.” and with that they hanged up. He didn’t deserve her. Not after what he had just done. God. What would have happened if she hadn’t called? He glanced back over at Nicole. “Nic-” he started, still holding on to her hand.

She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when they heard the light tap on the back door. Justin quickly let her hand go. They both knew who it was. She placed a strand of loose hair behind her ear and said without meeting his eyes. “I‘ve been gone for a bit now.” pressing her lips together. “He’s probably wondering what happen.” she whispered. “I’m going to go.” she informed him and without waiting for a response turned her back to open the door.