Malinda swatted at him. “Are you trying to kill my daughter?”
“She said she eats General Tso’s at home all the time!”
“Not extra hot!”
“She should have specified.”
Malinda bounced a chopstick off JC’s head, which Junior promptly pounced on, thinking it was food. Laurel gained control of her voice long enough to call JC a big jerk, causing him to roar with laughter again.
“I hope your fortune cookie says you will lose a limb or something,” Malinda told him.
“I think I’ll put needles in your bed,” Laurel added evilly.
That shut him up quick. He shuddered at the thought and returned to his Chinese food without a word. Malinda smirked. She finished her chicken with broccoli and put her garbage back in the bag the food came in, Junior following at her heels the whole time. As she was cleaning up the kitchen, Laurel came in with her own and JC’s garbage.
“Who’s first? James Dean or Drew Barrymore?” JC called from the other room. In response, Malinda and Laurel each gave a different answer; Malinda said James Dean while Laurel was in favor of Drew. Following a pause, JC replied, “Just for that I should go pick something else.”
“Okay, we’ll watch Ever After first,” Malinda consented. “It’ll only be the fifty millionth time we’ve seen it. We burned one tape out, cracked a DVD. Sure let’s watch it yet again.”
“You don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to, Momma,” Laurel said.
“Well, what will I do instead?” Malinda asked. “Sit here and twiddle my thumbs?”
“If you get bored with that, I can find other things for you to twiddle with, “JC cracked as she came back, one side of his mouth forming a wry grin.
Malinda’s eyes and mouth widened at the suggestion and she shushed him with her finger, pointing at Laurel, whose back was to them. JC shrugged, as if to say, “what?”
“It was all innocent, baby,” he told her.
“I bet it was,” Malinda settled onto the couch and JC wrapped his arms around her. She was somewhat glad Laurel had chosen to sit on the floor with the puppy, right in front of the television. The lights had been shut off to enhance the movie theater effect of JC’s widescreen TV. Malinda had to stifle a giggle when the theater imagery became even more real to her. JC’s presence so close to her made her feel younger, like a girl making out in the back of a theater with her boyfriend.
“What?” JC whispered, nuzzling her neck, and she told him what she was thinking. “You’re damn right,” he mumbled against her ear. She turned her head and JC got his kiss.
By the time the movie was over, Malinda’s hair had been tousled out of style, and instead of being the one leaning into JC’s arms, JC was now leaning into hers. Laurel pretended not to notice as she switched the Ever After DVD with Rebel Without a Cause.
Malinda shoved JC away from her. “I actually want to watch this one. Leave me alone.”
Forty minutes into the movie, it became increasingly apparent that JC didn’t like that plan. Laurel cleared her throat and announced that she was going to bed.
“Goodnight, honey,” Malinda called after her, and then said to JC, “Look, you drove her away.”
“I don’t think it was me so much as it was those little noises you keep making,” JC countered.
“Well if you’d keep your hands and lips to yourself instead of applying them to areas you know are sensitive—“
JC interrupted by leaning in and kissing the spot on her neck where it meets her shoulder.
“– Like that one, we wouldn’t have this problem, would we?”
“Then stop offering them to me.”
“What am I, a sacrificial lamb? I’m not offering anything.”
“You don’t think that if you didn’t lean your head to the side, I would still go after your neck like that?”
“I wasn’t trying to bare my neck to you, I was merely trying to lay my head back and still be able to watch my film.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hush,” Malinda silenced him by pushing him down and crawling over him. She kissed him slowly and deeply, feeling his arms slide around her waist and up her back, tightening their grip. She settled on top of him, burying her face in his neck.
JC’s eyes were half closed in a state of blissful relaxation. He knew Malinda was well on her way to being sound asleep in his arms. “Hey, baby, I thought you wanted to watch this.”
“I am watching it,” came the muffled reply.
He twisted his neck to see her face. All he could see was her mouth, visible slightly next to his chin. “Your eyes are closed,” he bluffed.
“No they’re not.”
“Well, my head’s in the way.”
“No it’s not.”
“Sweetheart, from where you’re laying right now, even if your eyes are open, the only thing you could possibly see right now is my hair.”
“I’m looking through your ears at the TV.”
“Are you trying to say I have nothing between my ears?”
“Maybe.”
“Jerk.”
“Jerk? Well then, no lovin’ for you tonight.”
“You weren’t going to anyway.”
“How do you know? Tonight might have been the night.”
“Riiiight.”
“Okay, you’re right.”
“That’s the only time I’ll ever hear you say that, isn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“Damnit.”
“Baby, can we just sleep here? I don’t feel like moving,” Malinda asked a few minutes later. When she received no answer she lifted her head slowly. Her answer lied in the fact that JC’s eyes were already closed, his mouth slightly open. She smiled, kissed his cheek, and returned her head to his shoulder.
JC dozed on a chair on the terrace from his bedroom. The sound of Junior’s barking and Laurel’s shrieking in the pool infiltrated his dreams. Malinda and Madison laughed at the girl and her puppy. Eventually the giggles and screams died away, but in his blissful state, JC was none the wiser.
“Wake up,” a sing-song voice lilted in his ear, causing him to jump.
“Oh, hey. No more swimming?” JC nodded at the towel Malinda had wrapped around her body.
“Yeah, I’m done for the day. Madison took Laurel and the dog to the beach, or a park, or something. I’ve had enough of the outdoors for today. She said that works out fine because then we get some time alone.”
“Oh really?” JC showed a silly grin.
“Really. I’m going to take a shower,” Malinda turned on her heel and dropped her towel, letting it trail behind her, making JC praise whatever store sold her the bathing suit she had on.
A few minutes passed before JC was able to fully comprehend what had been insinuated. He shook his head and rose from his chair. Entering his room, he noticed that something was a bit off. The sound of water running was just too close.
It was coming from his own bathroom.
Taking into consideration the scene on the terrace and the fact that she was in his shower, JC strode towards the bathroom, removing his shirt and unbuttoning his pants. Pushing open the door, he was greeted with a wall of steam, through which he could see Malinda behind the glass doors. She had her head bent back, rinsing her hair, causing her entire upper body to arch just slightly backwards. The profile caused stirring sensations that made JC wish he’d put on sweats that morning instead of jeans.
“She is dangerous as hell,” he mumbled to himself, leaning against the sink, watching her run her hands down her body.
“There’s a ten-dollar admission charge for the show, buddy,” Malinda said without ever looking at him.
“Oh I see,” JC retreated into his room for his wallet. When he came back he opened the shower door and held out a credit card. “Max it out,” he said. “I think I have enough for a couple years on here.”
The plastic was plucked from his hand and thrown out onto the floor as he was grabbed and yanked roughly into the stall by the waistband of his jeans. Water splashed over both of them as he kissed her hard. His tongue explored her lips and mouth and his hand slid down her slick skin to her tailbone, pressing her against him. Her fingers were tangled in his damp hair and she knew this was the moment she’d be able to let go.
His hands were persuasive, his lips demanding as he brought her hands to his pants. She fumbled with the zipper, her fingers quivering with excitement. She pushed the soaked heavy denim over his hips, and he kicked them to the side when they hit the floor.
“Malinda,” JC whispered. “This is the wrong time to say this, it sounds bad to say it now, but it has to be said before we do this,” he cupped her face and slammed his eyes into hers, “I’m falling in love with you. I wish I’d said it sooner, but I’m telling you now.”
Taken aback for a moment, Malinda could do nothing but return his gaze. “I… I love you,” she breathed after recovering, and pressed her mouth against his. She kissed and teased, nipping at his neck.
“You’re killing me,” JC said, his voice ragged, wet curls falling over his forehead. He retaliated by tracing a line with one finger down her stomach and past her belly button. She lifted one leg to rest on his hip, allowing his easier access to touch her.
Malinda could barely breathe, scarcely think. She wanted to touch him, to hold him, but her hands flung out against he walls as JC stroked her with sweet torment. “JC,” she whispered, “please.”
“You’re ready?”
“I couldn't be any more ready. This is all I want; I want you. I love you and I want you,” she opened her eyes wide and fixed them on him. “Now.”
JC’s eyes turned a dark, erotic blue as he crushed her mouth with his. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he pinned her between himself and the wall. He nudged at her softly and she stiffened. He kissed her tenderly until she relaxed, one of his hands under her behind to support her. Once she had relaxed her body and again locked her eyes on his, JC prepared to try again.
“Malinda… I… I… Oh God,” with one slow stroke, he plunged deep.
Her breath got caught up somewhere between her lungs and her throat as he withdrew so slowly she imagined being beaten as the only worst torture. She dug her fingernails into the strong muscles of his back as he thrust again, giving in to his desperate ache. Malinda pressed her body forward, moving with him, each of his thrusts more forceful and deeper than the last one. JC held her close, his own breathing shallow, his mind spinning like crazy.
“Oh sweetheart,” JC whispered against her lips, kissing her deep, touching her so intimately tears rolled down her cheeks.
A low, raspy, animal-like tone rumbled in the back of Malinda’s throat, “JC… aahhhh.”
“Just let it go, baby,” he coaxed her, sensing that she was still holding back after all this, “Come on. Just open up and let it go.”
Malinda closed her eyes, gasping, couldn’t find her breath, and she clung to JC as the mind-blowing spasm hit her. Her entire body quaked against him, again and again, as she let her tears rage freely down her face, washing away with the shower’s spray.
JC's hoarse cry came merely a heartbeat later, “Malinda… sweetheart,” he threw his head back and held her like he’d never let go, his body straining hard before his head collapsed on her shoulder. “Oh, baby, I knew that it would be perfect when the time was right.”
Malinda’s eyes remained closed and she stroked his wet hair as they remained there, holding on to one another, Minutes that felt like hours passed as they stood in each other’s embrace before words were spoken again.
“I think my legs just locked up,” Malinda said.
“You’re lucky you can still feel yours,” JC pulled one of Malinda’s hands free from his hair and examined it. “You’re getting raisin-y.”
“We should get dressed before they get home.”
“Should is a relative word, don’t you think?”
“Baby, we can’t stay here all day.”
“And why not?”
Malinda tried to wriggle free, and her eyes widened in shock when she felt JC, still inside her, react to the friction.
“You do strange things to me,” was all he offered as an explanation.
“I guess so. But we really do need to be dressed by the time they get back.”
“Are you kidding me? I have needs, woman,” JC groaned, and gave one thrust to show he meant it.
“Mmmm…. As do I…”
“So Madison, how come I never hear you mention any leading men in your life?” Malinda watched the other woman’s reaction.
“Because she’s too overprotective of his identity!” JC shouted from across the yard, where he and Laurel were trying to teach Junior some tricks.
“Because you must be wearing a miracle ear! Mind your own business!” Madison turned back to Malinda, “That is half true. I imagine you’ve probably only told your closest friends about JC, right? It’s standard practice. But I can trust you, obviously. Have you seen The Lord of the Rings?” When Malinda answered yes, Madison continued, “You know the elf? The blonde one?”
“No way. He is so adorable.”
“Wait until you see what’s next. Pirate movie. Hot hot hot.”
“Sounds interesting. How did you meet him?” Malinda asked, and Madison went on to discuss some awards show to which she’d gone as JC's date.
“It was almost immediately after his whole dramatic break-up with Bobbie, so he had no one to go with.”
“Ah, Bobbie. I’ve never really heard too much about her. What was so special about her that she was around for such a long time?”
“Not a damn thing. All the other guys hated her. I think she’s the most cold-hearted bitch in the world. Nothing about her says ‘affectionate’ in any way, shape, or form. And you know JC is very affectionate. When he cares about someone, they know it, and the whole world knows it. But that bitch, no. I have no idea how a man who cares about you could have ever liked someone like her. You’re even more opposite than night and day. I don’t understand. Probably never will.”
“How did they break up?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. As long as it happened, I was happy.”
“So you really didn’t like her, huh?”
“Didn’t? What’s with the past tense? Do you think at some point I stopped not liking her? I don’t like her. At all. She fucked with his head, the mind games. But then again, she worked for some teenybopper magazine, so that should explain a lot.”
“Stop talking about her like I can’t hear you. Especially if you’re planning on raising your voice,” JC called.
“I’m entitled to my own opinion. You have a few of your own too. Why you haven’t shared them with Malinda yet is beyond me.”
JC rolled his eyes and sauntered over to the patio where the two women were relaxing in the shade. “Because I choose not to talk about her. And I’m asking you to do the same.”
Malinda evaluated his level of annoyance and judged it to be pretty high. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to know about her. Old flames and competition and all that.”
“Not your fault. She’s no competition anyway. But if someone had been using their brain they would have stayed away from the topic.”
“And if someone else used their brain as well, they’d stop being such a dick.”
JC and Madison squared off for a few moments before JC gave up. “Forget it,” he grumbled, disappearing inside the house.
Malinda glanced over at Madison before deciding to follow. She found him in front of the refrigerator, guzzling one of the many bottles of water that was stored inside. “Honey, I really am sorry. If I’d have known it was such a touchy subject, I wouldn’t have asked. I’ve just heard about her and how you were together for so long and all that. I wanted a peek into your past.” When he didn’t answer, she ventured to ask, “Are you mad?”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m mad, but not at you and not at Madison. It’s just… thinking about her makes me sick. I shouldn’t get so upset, but I hate talking about her. I feel like I wasted so much of my life when I was with her. Those are years I can never get back, you know? There is a huge part of me that really hates her. And I know my friends hate her, and I still get defensive for her when I hear them talking about her. I really wish I could tell you everything, especially after you shared so much of your painful past with me, but I can’t do it now. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to talk about her.”
“Hey, that’s okay. You told me I didn’t have to tell you anything if it hurt too much, and the same goes for you.”
“Fair enough,” JC grinned his sexy, lopsided grin and pulled Malinda to him. Bowing his head slightly, he kissed her delicately. “Laurel’s a heavy sleeper, right?” he mumbled against her lips.
“Not that heavy,” she told him, knowing exactly where he was going with that.
“Boo.”
“Sorry. Maybe we can get Madison to take her away again.”
“Or maybe, maybe you can just keep it down.”
“Are you implying that I’m loud?”
“Your screams imply far more than I ever could, my dear.”
Malinda’s back hit the edge of the island’s countertop and she felt herself being pushed backwards onto it. “Patio. Not far away,” she gasped.
“Oh well. Madison’s a grown woman. I’m sure she’s heard worse.”
“JC! Stop it silly," she giggled and pulled herself out of his grasp.
“Oh, alright,” he groaned and reached for his water again.
“Hey, you have a text message Malinda!” Madison hollered from the patio.
“It’s probably nothing personal; read it to me!” Malinda knew she still looked too flushed to go outside and submit herself to Madison’s merciless teasing.
“Okay… it says… day you’re home, game, pre, F-L-A, bench, 3. The sender is…. Rhett’s cell,” Madison read.
“What is that, some sort of code?” JC asked as he and Malinda returned to the patio.
“Rhett sends text messages like he’s being charged by the pixel. Either that or he’s lazy as hell. That means that the day we get home the Sabres have a preseason game. F-L-A is the NHL symbol for the Florida Panthers, which is Rhett’s old team, so that should be a fun game. I’m assuming he wants us to go and has seats for us three rows behind the bench.”
“You and him are pretty devoted to each other, huh?”
Malinda sensed the underlying meaning behind JC’s comment and tensed. She had known ever since she and Rhett became friends that if she ever met a man she truly cared about, things would get complicated. It was her biggest fear that one day it would eventually come down to a choice, one Malinda prayed she would never be forced to make.
“I hope that was rhetorical, because it doesn’t look like she’s going to answer,” Madison laughed.
“It is now, I guess.”
“Sorry, I just never know how to answer questions about Rhett and me. He’s one of my best friends, and he’s always been there for me and helped me through a lot of stuff. And… I don’t know, it’s just nice to have a man around. All that stuff about a woman being just fine without a man is true, but sometimes there’s just that little part that really craves male emotional support and all that, and he kind of does that for me,” Malinda glanced quickly at JC before continuing, “Not that I really need that from him anymore. That’s really all there is to it. It’s not like we’re secret lovers or something. What you see is what you get.”
“So you’re really close,” Madison asked, “like an old married couple or something?”
“Something like that. We know each other, you know? Stupid habits, favorite foods, all that.”
“You’ve never considered or entertained the idea of sleeping with him?”
Malinda noted that JC looked away before she answered, “The only time that the idea ever pops into my head is when someone asks me about it. And the mental image just makes me laugh.”
“Laugh? Why?”
“I kiss Rhett all the time, usually pecks on the cheek. Special occasions might call for a little peck on the lips. But they’re very platonic kisses. The very thought of he and I kissing passionately, let alone doing anything else, just seems so ridiculous to me.”
“Do you think he thinks about it?” Madison never acknowledged that JC rose and went back to Laurel and Junior.
“Well, I’ve never asked.”
“You should. It might be amusing.”
“Do you ever think about it with JC?”
The face that Madison made displayed that the answer was a resounding ‘no’. “He’s far too much of a pain in the ass for me to even get far enough to have a mental image.”
Malinda smiled and gazed at her daughter and JC. She had many mental images of that man. There were spots on her body that sill burned from his touch. Her lips were eternally afire from his kisses.
“You’re thinking about having sex with him right now, aren’t you?” Madison followed her gaze.
“No.” she lied.
“Yes you are. You’ve got that ‘I’m thinking about something naughty’ look on your face.”
“I do not!”
“You can’t lie to me. I’m very familiar with that look. I have it all the time when I watch Lord of the Rings. Just admit it.”
“Fine. You got me. I’m thinking of all the various ways I can hurt that man,” Malinda groaned and shook her head. “I have to stop this. I’m removing myself from the sexual tension. I’m going to call Rhett back.”
“Hmm… If you’re looking for relief from sexual tension, maybe Rhett’s not the one to call.”
Malinda had already pressed Rhett’s speed dial number, but paused just before she hit the ‘send’ button. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s just say your daughter could have a very successful career as a gossip columnist,” Madison’s lip curled teasingly and her eye sparkled as she pushed herself out of her seat and strolled into JC’s house.