"Kiss me, James."
The words cascaded from her lips, the same words he'd been dying to hear since she'd first stepped foot in the building a year ago. Los Angeles was so different from North Carolina, and her doe brown eyes had dripped with naivety.
Now those same deep brown eyes were clouded by hurt, a pain that James himself had not caused, though he was guilty of lending that same look of betrayal to others of her kind. But not this time, her sorrow was all Kendall's doing, and James couldn't deny how strange it felt, having their roles reversed. James was always the boy that went around breaking girls hearts, suffering no consequence and leaving Kendall to clean up the shattered self-esteems he left in his wake.
The pout of her cherry-stained lips screamed seduction, but the rest of her expression was broken. James's hazel-eyed gaze traversed the length of her frame, scantily clad in a racy red lace number, something she'd probably bought for Kendall's eyes only, but now, all bets were off. Even though she'd been the star of many of his nocturnal fantasies, he couldn't deny how strange it was to see her like this in the flesh, to have his best friend's girlfriend of almost a year practically begging him to touch her.
In the back of his mind, James knew he was about to cross that line, to break an unspoken rule, but he'd never been the type to listen to his conscience. His eyes met Jo's once more, both of them fully aware that the details of this interaction wouldn't leave this room.
Blonde curls rested along her collarbone, French manicured nails digging into her hipbone, and as James sauntered closer, he could hear her breath catch in her chest, an almost fluttering sound.
He couldn't help but think, as his fingertips caressed her jaw line, that it would be so easy to pretend, to pretend it had been James that she had picked first instead of Kendall, to pretend that he loved her.
But Jo didn't want to pretend, she only wanted to forget.
"Just kiss me." Her honey smooth voice was sharpened, harsh, with an underlying frantic nature to her words.
James obliged, his lips grazing hers subtly, slowly, his actions countered by the forcefulness of her kiss. Her fingers gripped his scalp in desperation, pulling him closer to her as she tugged at the shaggy chestnut strands, winding locks around her index finger as her lips parted.
As the kiss began to intensify, his touch instinctively ghosting down her sides, palms cradled in her hipbones, James broke away, his gaze meeting hers once more.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He usually didn't bother to ask, but there was just something about Jo. Despite having been in LA for a year, she still retained that small-town innocence, and a part of James felt as if he was robbing her of that quality in some way.
Biting her lower lip, she nodded, her gaze drifting past his face to his bed behind them.
Intelligence, in the traditional sense of the word, wasn't exactly James's strongsuit, but he wasn't blind.
As they eased over to his bed, James shed his black v-neck, the cotton floating over his tanned shoulders before falling to the carpet at his feet. He couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself as he witnessed her expression, her eyes widening as they skimmed the defined muscles of his chest and abdomen. Her perfect teeth gnawed at her bottom lip nervously as she reached out to stroke his stomach. She'd never been with anyone other than Kendall, and though they were friends, James couldn't have been more different than her ex-boyfriend.
Jo couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious; she knew how many girls James had been with, so it was difficult not to mentally compare herself to each of them. But that wasn't what this was about. She wasn't trying to spark anything with James, he was merely a distraction.
And he was at pro at what he did, his lips leaving a trail of kisses and nips down her neck. With her eyes closed, all her cares seemed to vanish beneath James's fingertips. They didn't waste any time; James had never been one for foreplay and Jo was no exception to the rule.
After wriggling free of his jeans, James settled himself in between Jo's thighs, the warmth almost intoxicating as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck. The delicate scent of her floral perfume flooded his nostrils as his lips curved around the thin stretch of skin covering her pulse point, the dull and water thud of her heartbeat reverberating through the fragile flesh. With each drag of his lips, her muscles loosened more as she writhed beneath him on the bed, her back arching off the mattress so that her hips met his as they formed their own rhythm.
His thumb hooked beneath the strap of her bra as he eased it down her shoulder, coating the newly exposed skin with light kisses. As he began to make work with the other strap, he took a moment to look up at her, to soak in her expression. Even though James couldn't have been more detached, he couldn't deny that she was gorgeous with her lips parted, fair cheeks flushed, and curls strewn across the pillowcase, but he was unable to shake the feeling that something was missing.
"Open your eyes," he whispered softly as he gave her upper arm a quick squeeze.
Those soulful brown eyes fluttered open, staring at him in infatuation from beneath lush, spider-like lashes.
Her cooperation was rewarded as James crushed his lips against hers in a slow-burning kiss. As their lips blended and blurred together, James's touch ventured further, anxious to see exactly how far she was willing to go. Fingers crept beneath the waistband of her panties, his thumb casually massaging the ridge of her hipbone, eyes focused on her face to gauge the girl's reaction.
Jo didn't protest, her head lolling further back into the pillow with each touch. A soft whimper formed in the back of her throat as he began to stroke her, slowly at first before his motions grew harsher and faster, causing her hips to buck against his palm as the eyelets of the lace rubbed against her.
She helped him shimmy her underwear down her thighs, wriggling her hips before kicking the flimsy material from around her ankles. Being completely vulnerable and completely exposed around James felt less awkward than she had expected. The frenzy of hormones coursing through her veins seemed to dilute any inhibitions, and without a word, her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer as her foot grazed the muscles along the back of his thigh.
Her fingers threaded through his tousled hair, their lips fumbling clumsily against each other's as they gasped for air, both desperate to get off.
It didn't take much for James to send her over the edge. As much as she hated to even think it, James was much more skilled when it came to matters of the bedroom than Kendall had ever been, probably because he had been with so many others before her. He knew the female body better than most boys his age, and he wasn't afraid to show off his talent.
Neither of them said a word afterwards, both struggling to catch their breath as two pairs of eyes stared up at the ceiling, both of them in awe of what they'd just done.
The best part was that this night was destined to stay between the two bodies sprawled across the bed, their own dirty little secret. Kendall would never have to know, and it made Jo smirk to herself to know that she finally had something over him, even if it made her a horrible person.
Even though every ounce of rationality in her mind seemed to scream a warning, Jo couldn't help but let her head rest against James's chest and listen to the beat of his heart as she held him in the dark, even though they both knew this was anything but love.