“Hi Jodi.”
She turned around to face him, “Hi A.J. Where’s your sunglasses?”
“I left them at the hotel
.” “Along with your earrings, necklaces, and rings. What happened?”
“You don’t like?”
“I don’t know. I’m used to the other way. I like the fact that you’re not afraid to be yourself. By the way, this is David.”
“Nice to meet you,” David said, taking A.J.’s hand. A.J. took his hand reluctantly. They each ordered drinks and sat down at a table. About 20 minutes later, a girl asked David to dance. He smiled at Jodi and accepted.
“So what’s up with you A.J.? You’re never this quiet.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Whatever, let’s dance.”
They got up and moved to the floor. A song by Orbital came on.
“You know, Aly, Rae, and Ericka have taught me the dances to all your songs.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’re a lot of fun.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Jodi stood there, clueless while A.J. walked away. About two minutes later, he came back. The song ended and the opening beats for “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” filled the room.
“You didn’t.”
“I did. Now show me the dance.”
Everybody, rock your body.
Everybody, rock your body right.
Backstreet’s back, all right!
They started doing the routine and the crowd moved back. By the time the song was over, there was a large open space in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone around them had stopped to watch. The music stopped and All-4-One’s “I Swear” came on.
“May I have this dance?” A.J. asked, holding out his hand.
“Certainly.”
I swear, by the moon and the stars in the sky, I’ll be there.
“You seem more relaxed now,” Jodi said.
“Huh?”
“I said you seem more relaxed,”she shouted in his ear.
David’s here. “I don’t know, I don’t think I’m any more relaxed than when I came in.”
David and the girl walked by and A.J. tensed up slightly.
“Hi A.J., hi Jodi,” David said as he passed.
“What’s wrong A.J.?”
“Nothing,” he lied.
She looked at him with uncertainty, “Is it David?”
“No.”
“You look a little uncomfortable around him.”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“Because…” he sighed, deciding to tell her the truth, “You said that you weren’t ready to date anyone, but you’re seeing him.”
Jodi let out a laugh, “You think I’m dating David? Not only is he my best friend, he’s gay.”
A.J. just stood there, shocked.
Jodi managed to get him moving again, but he was still tripping out.
She leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Let’s get out of here.”
She pulled him out of the club, waving to David.
“What hotel are you at?” she asked.
“The Plaza.”
“Figures,” she said and hailed a cab.
“Plaza hotel, please.”
“What’s with you Jodi?”
“Nothing. I just need to talk to you, but I’d rather do it in private.”
They were quiet for the rest of the ride there, occasionally stealing glances at each other. A.J. brought her up to his room, which was, surprisingly, clean. Jodi sat on the bed and A.J. sat across from her in a chair. For the first few minutes, neither said anything. Jodi finally broke the silence.
“A.J., I want to tell you something.”
“Please don't tell me that you're gay too." She laughed, "No, I'm not," she cleared her throat, "For the past month, I’ve grown to care about you. One day, I could even love you. You’ve been a friend, and that is what I needed at the time. But I have that in David. I want more, I want you.”
His eyes widened a little and his jaw dropped slightly, “What?”
She smiled at him and pulled him off the chair over to her, kissing him softly.
“Does that answer your question?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Lemme try again.”
She ran her tongue over his lips, wetting them for him. He opened his mouth slightly to gasp, and she took the opportunity to explore inside. Kissing her was everything he’d imagined and more. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Breaking the kiss, she moved to his earlobe to nibble for a bit. She started to fumble with his shirt, trying to get it off.
I love her. Over the past month, I’ve allowed myself to fall in love with her. She doesn’t love me back though. Why are we doing this? I can’t take advantage of her right now. I care about her too much.
She managed to get his shirt halfway off when he stopped her.
“Jodi, we need to stop before this goes too far.”
She looked at him, puzzled, “You don’t want me?”
“Believe me, that’s definitely not the case. But do you love me?”
She sat back and thought for a second, “No, but I could.”
“But you don’t yet. We should wait until then. When we finally do make love, I want it to be special. I want to make love to you, not just fuck you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Please don’t cry Jodi, I’m sorry.”
“No one has ever wanted to make love to me before. It’s always just been sex.”
“I’m not everyone else.”
She laid down beside him, “Then just hold me.”
“Anything for you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.