She's wearing leather.
And denim.
The leather alone is still not registering in his muddled brain. Combine that with the tight, dark jeans and his mind is lost somewhere in the time-space contiuum loop between her walking in the bar and it occuring to him that she was wearing leather. A beautiful jacket made of soft leather in a gleaming black that seems appropriate for her. Her hair is falling in cascades of endless ebony curls, looping and ending at the small of her back. He can just see the strip of skin where her tank top doesn't quite reach the waistband of her jeans. Her hips sway, jaunting almost to their own beat. That beautiful, slightly shy smile illuminates her face and when she reaches him, he can clearly see the sultry pink lipstick that painted her full lips.
Oh damn.
He'll be the first to admit that in their puberty-addled high school years, having Melissa Wu as a best friend had been a whole hell of a lot easier than it was now. They were both twenty-four now and Lord help him, she was hotter than hot. Her hips had filled out nicely and her chest - well, she wasn't exactly struggling to keep up in the chest department. Melissa's ample cleavage had long been the reason Jackson spent most of their time at University of Southern California defending her from the freaky perverts who wanted her in their bed for a night.
"Damn, Mel!" Jackson's eyes swept appreciatively over her curvacious frame - he may have been her best friend but he was also male.
"Hey Jackson," Melissa leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'll go find us a table, order me a raspberry cosmopolitan please?"
Jackson nodded, tilting his head downward to press a kiss into the top of her hair. She slipped away from him and it was only after she was no longer visible in the throng of people did Jackson turn back to the bar to order their drinks. He ordered a beer for himself and her preferred raspberry cosmopolitan. The bartender easily popped the cap on his beer and made his best friend's drink with quick, accurate movements that spoke of her experience as a bartender.
"Here ya go, handsome." She winked, placing the dark amber bottle and the martini glass in front of him.
"Thanks," Jackson flashed her a smile and slipped a twenty out of his wallet, sliding it across the bar.
She picked it up and moved onto another customer, pulling liquor bottles off of the shelf for what Jackson recognized was to be a long island iced tea. He picked up their drinks and carried them through the crowd, looking around until he spotted her tucked away in a corner booth. She had an elbow on the table and was leaning her head on her hand, fingers knotted in a thick tangle of black curls. He set her drink down in front of her and slid into the booth across from her.
"What's the matter, Mellie?" He took a long drag from his beer, his blue eyes never leaving her sullen form, slumped at the table.
A cautious sip of her berry drink is enough to get her lips moving and the words spilling out of her mouth before she can stop them; "Nathan broke up with Daley. He claims he's in love with me."
"He what?" Jackson sputtered, unconsciously slamming his beer bottle back onto the table. "I'm sorry, did I hear you right?"
"Yes." Melissa giggled, averting her eyes to the martini glass filled with a deep berry colored slush. "He said that he was in love with me and that he wanted to give us a shot. Something about him being my best friend first."
"Oh?" Jackson's eyebrows shot skyward, disbelief clear in his eyes. "Then where the hell was he when you were hazed our freshmen year of college by that sorority? Where was he when those sorority girls left you in front of my dorm room, drugged and sick?"
Melissa shrugged - he was mad, saying something now would likely light his fuse, no matter how light she kept the conversation or how much she tried to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. Her brown eyes stared him down, analytical gaze watching every move. His forearms were tense, thick veins bulging from his wrists and she could almost hear the blood pulsing through them. His eyes were that same shade of hard blue she had seen the morning after he had rushed her to the emergency room to have her stomach pumped. She had been in and out unconsciousness, the anesthesia still slipping through her veins, when she divulged to him that the sorority she had been trying to join had hazed her.
"What'd you tell him?" Jackson released a deep breath, all to aware of the critical gaze of his best friend.
"Nothing." Melissa shook her head, sliding the fingers of one hand up and down the stem of the glass. "I didn't know what to tell him. No? That'd just make him try harder. I don't want that."
Jackson just laughed, huffing out a forced breath and willing his nerves to settle down. "I guess."
"I think I'll go get a beer. This drink is disgusting." Melissa pretended to gag and slid out of the bar. "Come with?"
A quick glance down at his own half-empty beer and the hungry eyes of every male in the crowd made his decision for him and he slid out of the booth to join her. He kept his hand pressed protectively into the small her back, growling under his breath at the wolf whistles and shouts of appreciation that reached his ears regarding his best friend and her ensemble. There was one comment though that stood out among all of the rest; "That is one hot piece of ass, man!"
That did it.
He wasn't sure if it was the comment itself or just residual anger at Nathan currently having a better chance of dating Melissa than he did in but something about the drunken fool's trashy compliment rubbed him the wrong way.
"Go get your drink, babe." Jackson nudged her toward the bar. "I'll be there in a second."
Melissa nodded, ducking her head as she made her way to the bar and waited for the bartender. Jackson made sure she couldn't hear him before he turned back to the self-righteous idiot, whose beady eyes had followed Melissa's body all the way to the bar, seething with a silent rage. He gritted his teeth and managed to ask the guy one question; "What did you just say?"
"I said that's a hot piece of ass." The pathetic idiot smirked, nodding toward Melissa's lithe figure leaning up against the bar, waiting patiently for the two beers she had ordered. "I'd tap that."
"You'll tap nothing." Jackson clenched his fists, digging his fingertips into his palms. "That hot piece of...no, you know what, your comment is a waste of oxygen. A total waste of oxygen. That woman that you just degraded...that woman's my best friend. My best friend. She's been with me through more than anyone. She's not a hot piece of ass. She is a woman, to be respected, not degraded to the likes of a piece of meat."
"I can say whatever I want about whoever I want!" His icy stare almost matched the cold anger in Jackson's hard gaze. "Your girl over there should be with me."
"My girl? You want my girl?" Jackson scoffed in disbelief, holding his arms out as if to physically manifest such disbelief. "You don't even know what to call her. First you degrade her then you call her a girl. She is a beautiful, strong woman. She is not some ass to be tapped when you need a cheap thrill. She is a woman. A woman that I respect. You...you are a pathetic waste of a human being."
"Pathetic waste of a human being? Look at yourself!" The guy waved his hand up and down, scoffing at the sight of Jackson's black shirt and dark jeans. "You are a pathetic waste."
"That may be true," Jackson moved closer, ready to swing his fist at the guy's face if necessary. "But at least I know how to respect a woman. Don't even waste the oxygen trying to defend yourself. It won't do you any good."
It all seemed to happen in a second. The music stopped and the crowd audibly gasped when in fell swoop the idiot that just a few seconds ago had been face to face with Jackson, clenched his fist and swung around, letting his knuckles collide with Jackson's cheek and crack the bone in his nose. Jackson grunted at the painful crack and immediately tasted the blood that poured out of his nose. He forced his hunched shoulders back and reached out with his foot, sweeping the drunken pervert's feet out from under him. He watched with a satisfied smile as the asshole crumpled to the floor, unable to keep himself upright. With a swift but hard kick to the ribs from Jackson, the drunken one could do nothing but curl up into a fetal position and whimper.
"Jackson!" Melissa yelled from the bar, where she had watched the entire scene play out, her brown eyes unnaturally wide at the sight of her best friend fighting.
Jackson turned to his best friend, visibly softening at the sight of her. She had a white-knuckled grip on the bar and looked ready to bolt for the door should someone so much as look at her the wrong way. He made his way over to her, cautiously reaching out to touch her arm; "I'll explain. I promise."
"I know." Melissa nodded, "Let's just go."
Jackson nodded, tossing a twenty on the bar to cover the drinks and let Melissa lead him out. She was angry and more than a little scared; he could see it in her eyes. He understood that. She knew that he had taken several martial arts and self defense classes during high school in order to work off the agression of so much bitterness toward the foster facility but she had never actually seen him have to use any of it before. Combine that with the fact that his nose was probably broken and he had one hell of a black eye forming and she was probably terrified by the sight of him than she was at seeing him fight.
xxx
"Sit."
He was in trouble and he knew it. If the silent ride home from the bar hadn't been evidence enough, the way she was clenching her teeth and angrily shrugging out of her jacket certainly made him all too aware of her anger. He watched her move around the bathroom, yanking a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from the cabinet along with the first aid kit. She set them on the counter by the sink and reached for a washcloth. She ran it under cold water and turned back to him. She was still silent as she cleaned the sweat and dried blood from his face.
"Mel -"
"Shush." Melissa shook her head, wiping away the last of the dried blood from his upper lip. "Not right now, Jackson."
Jackson sighed and nodded reluctantly. They needed to talk but he couldn't force her to talk, at least not right now. She was still processing and he knew it wouldn't do any good to try to talk to her. She would just shut down. He waited patiently while she carefully cleaned up his mouth and cheek, smearing some bruise cream under his eye, along his cheekbone. Her touch was tender but firm and he could feel the silkiness of her smooth hands gliding easily along his cheekbone. She used a Q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide to clear the dried blood from around his nose and disinfect the skin that had split open from the guy's ring.
"He called you a hot piece of ass," Jackson sighed, unable to hold back any longer. He winced slightly when she ran her finger along his nose to see if it was broken.
"I'll make you a doctor's appointment in the morning," Melissa muttered quietly, "You need to get the bone reset so it can heal properly."
"Damn it, Melissa!" Jackson stood up, jarring Melissa backwards into the bathroom counter. "He degraded you. He called you a hot piece of ass. He said he'd like to tap that."
"Jackson - "
"What?" Jackson snapped, glaring at his best friend. "You think I'm over-reacting? In case you're forgetting, he took the first swing! He called you a hot - "
"I know, damn it!" Melissa barked harshly, "I know! What I want to know is why you ignore everyone else but you had to confront him? What he said was no worse than what anyone else could have said about me! Hell, I've heard worse come out of Eric's mouth and you never broke any of his ribs! Why'd you have to do it to that guy?"
"I don't know, Melissa!" Jackson growled roughly, moving in closer to her.
"You want to know what I think?" Melissa snarled at him, glaring up at him through icy brown eyes. "I think you were upset at the possibility of Nathan and me. I think you were upset that I didn't tell Nathan no so you picked the one guy who said something far less degrading than everything else I've heard and you used it as an excuse. An excuse to take your anger out someone!"
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?" Melissa questioned, holding his gaze. "You think I don't know that you were angry after I told you about Nathan? You think I don't know that it didn't help when I told you I didn't tell him no?"
"That's not the point, Melissa and you know it." Jackson sneered, his blue eyes darkening to a stormy sapphire.
"Then what the hell is your damn point, Jackson?" Melissa practically yelled, "What is it because I'm sure as hell not seeing why you broke some idiot's ribs over one stupid little comment?"
It was then, in that one tense moment of him trying to form some type of response that he realized he had no point. He had no way of countering what she had already told him. He had acted like a damn fool because he was jealous. Plain and simple. He was jealous and petty over the fact that it seemed like Nathan had a better chance with Melissa than he did and he had used some lame comment to excuse his childish behavior.
"You're right," Jackson conceded softly, backing away from her. "I was mad because sometimes I think Nathan has a better shot with you than I do."
"A better shot at what?" Melissa crossed her arms over her chest in confusion.
If she hadn't of looked so damn sexy, he might have been able to form some sort of coherent response but at the moment nothing was processing. Her chest was heaving with every breath, white cotton pulled taut across her ample cleavage. Her hair was a mess and the angry look on her face was having more of an effect on him than anything. Unable to form coherent thought, he did the only thing he knew would get his point across. He grabbed the back of her head, soft curls knotting in his palm and tilted her head back. He held her gaze for a few seconds, unable to fathom what must have been going through her head at that moment.
The kiss wasn't exactly romantic as it was hard and bruising but she didn't seem to mind. Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him down as he practically bit her bottom lip. He shoved his hips against hers, grinding against her. Wherever it went from there was a blur of whimpers and groans from both of them. It only came to a halt when oxygen became a necessity.
"A better shot at doing that every damn day." Jackson panted, pulling his hand from her hair and bringing it to rest on her hip.
"Oh I don't think you have to worry about that." Melissa smirked, leaning up to press a softer kiss to his swollen lips.
"Why?" Jackson's confusion was clear in his eyes.
"Nathan's going to be getting a rejection soon. For right now though, we aren't leaving my bed." Melissa pushed him away and started toward the door, pulling him by his t-shirt.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Longest wait, TheOnceAnonymous14 has ever been through. Lol! Love ya, girl!