Jennie

I obsessively cleaned my apartment for hours—after collapsing into my bed for a much needed ten-hour near-comatose nap. My hair was freshly washed and bound in a towel atop my head while I did my best to create a casual look with my makeup, briefly wishing that I could call one of the super-talented makeup artists from the show to help me out. My hands shook so hard I was afraid I'd blind myself with my mascara wand.

And there was no way in hell I was attempting liquid liner. No way. I could barely manage that when I was perfectly calm.

I tried not to be nervous, but who the hell wouldn't be? Sure, I'd been spending a lot of time with Lisa over the past few weeks, and we'd been flirting like crazy but this was…it was a date. And last night, that had been a kiss. A real one.

I'd never ever felt about a girl the way I felt about Lisa. Nothing else I'd ever had was even in the same ballpark. It was exciting and addictive and scary as fuck.

I wanted so badly to talk to Nayeon but I couldn't. Dammit. Of course, even if I wanted to tell her everything via email, she'd been radio silent since she left, probably too tied up with her sweetheart to worry about Wi-Fi. And until now, I'd been too busy to dwell on it, though I still missed her terribly.

I finished grooming five minutes before Lisa was due to arrive, and paced the floor until the knock at the door cemented my feet to the hardwood. I had to stand there and give myself a pep talk—the old 'if she hasn't run away screaming yet, maybe she never will' spiel—before I could manage a step in that direction.

"Coming!" I called, taking a quick peek in the mirror by the door. Hair and makeup holding up so far. Here's hoping I can do the same.

I swung the door open and was met with her dazzlingly perfect smile.

"Hey there, new girl. I brought ice cream and booze." She winked as I stepped aside to allow her entry. Without hesitating, she headed to the kitchen and began unloading the bags she'd been carrying. "I got mint chip and peppermint Schnapps, as expected, but I also grabbed rocky road and some marshmallow vodka, in case you were in the mood to change it up."

"They both sound amazing. Thank you." I put the ice cream in the freezer and turned back just as she was putting the bags in the trash.

She stopped and looked at the small, framed needlepoint directly above the can, reading it aloud. "Don't forget the booby trap." There was an image of an unhooked pink bra beneath the text. She turned to me with a baffled look, one corner of her mouth turned up.

I nodded, chuckling. "Inside joke."

"With who?"

"Nayeon." I was so thoroughly enjoying the look on her face that I hated to explain, but I ended up feeling bad for confusing her so I let her in on the joke. "The night I moved into this apartment, Nay came over and we watched the first few Pirates of the Caribbean movies—marathon style." I shook my head at the memory. "We were halfway through the third movie, munching on popcorn and drinking beer, when I shifted on the couch and realized how much popcorn had inadvertently fallen into the V-neck shirt I was wearing."

Lisa chuckled, waiting for the punch line.

"So, I came over to the trash can, pulled the bottom of my shirt and my bra away from my chest and let the wayward pieces fall into the bag. Nay, drunken loon that she is, leaned over from behind me and started singing 'gotta empty that booby trap' directly into my cleavage."

Lisa was shaking her head, laughing hard as she pointed to the frame. "And, what? She made this to commemorate the occasion?"

"Nah. You'd be surprised what you can buy on the internet." I pointed to the door. "I used to have one outside my door that said, 'Come back with a warrant,' but someone stole it."

She cracked up at the irony.

When she was done, she leaned against the counter and grinned, simultaneously calming me with her presence and amping up my nerves because she was so incredibly sexy when she smiled that way. "I have to admit, I was kind of nervous about tonight."

I did a double-take. "You? Why the hell were you nervous?"

"Why not? Because I'm a girl with extra thing?"

"No," I blurted. "Because you're Lisa-fucking-Manoban."

She smiled. "And you think because I've been on a lot of 'dates,'" she used air quotes, "that this is no big deal for me. Is that it?"

I found myself fidgeting under her intense stare. "Well…yeah. I mean, I know why I'm nervous. I've dated but not very much and not recently. And you're…well…Lisa-fucking-Manoban so that makes it even more intimidating."

"I don't want to intimidate you, Jennie. I just want you. I have for a while now. Everything about you is attractive. Hell, I can't even look at you without wanting to touch you and that's not something I've ever experienced before, so yeah, I'm nervous."

Gulp.

She didn't mean that, did she?

She gave me a steady look, letting me know she'd intended to say exactly that. "You seem surprised."

"Stunned. Seriously stunned."

"That I find you that damned attractive or that I was so blunt about it?"

I forced a swallow. "Both?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "I thought you liked bluntness."

"I said I am blunt."

She stepped closer, closing the distance between us until I had to tilt my head back to hold her gaze. "So, be blunt now, Jennie. Are you attracted to me?"

"Yes," I croaked, unable to look anywhere but her deep, emerald eyes.

"Because I'm Lisa Manoban?"

"No," I replied immediately, giving my head a little shake.

"Then why?"

"Because you're not what I expected."

"Meaning?" Her hands came up to rest on my hips, the heat of them practically burning through my clothes.

"You're kind and funny and sexy without needing to flaunt it in people's faces. You're famous, but you don't seem to like attention, and you're smart as hell, which is the sexiest thing about you."

"You're much more observant than the average person." She leaned down until her mouth was a scant inch from mine. When she spoke next, I could feel her breath skittering across my lips. "Which is why I'm so surprised you didn't already know how much I want you."

"I thought you just wanted to be my friend at first, then I thought maybe the flirting was all in fun, but I never thought…I mean, I hoped…but…" I trailed off, fighting hard not to close the distance between us.

"I am your friend, Jennie-girl, but I want to be so much more than that." She sealed her mouth over mine and in an instant, I was pressed against her, my arms snaking around her neck even as she pressed into me, forcing my back against the hard counter.

Her mouth opened slightly and the tip of her tongue traced my bottom lip, which was the sexiest thing ever…until she groaned a second later like the flavor had completely done her in. The next time her tongue made a pass, I reciprocated, finding it hard to pace myself. She was clearly taking her time, savoring this, and I wanted that too, but I also wanted her to throw me to the floor and take every inch of me as hers.

When I was bordering on desperate, needing more, dying for her to delve deeper, she pulled back and reached for the takeout menus on the counter behind me, a playful look on her face.

"So, Chinese?" She flipped through the stack as if completely unaware of how breathless she'd left me or the fact that I was pinning her with my best death stare.

"Really?"

She had the nerve to look all innocent. "What?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and smirked. "Nothing. Why don't you take those over to the couch and I'll make a big pitcher of ice water, you know…like last time."

"Need a little cooling off, do you?" The corners of her mouth turned up. "Because I thought staying warmed up for a while would make it more interesting later on." She waggled her eyebrows at me and, dammit, I couldn't bite back my responding smile.

"Tease," I grumbled unhappily.

"Nah." She moved back in and retook her grip on my hips. "I just want to give you as much time as possible to come to your senses before it gets past a certain point."

"And what point is that?"

She kissed the tip of my nose, simultaneously giving my hips a firm squeeze. "The point of no return, Jennie-girl, the point of no return. Because I have the feeling that once I have you, I'll never want to let you go."

Funny, I was thinking the same damn thing.

Lisa

"What does it say?" she asked, staring at the fortune cookie in my hand.

I cracked it open. Straightening the little strip between my fingers, I scanned the writing and smiled.

"Come on, Hollywood, don't keep me in suspense."

Instead of answering, I handed her the paper and sat back, feeling full and satisfied and incredibly at peace for the first time in forever. She was the reason why and she wasn't even aware of it.

She chuckled nervously as she read the fortune aloud. "The one you've been waiting for is closer than you think."

Was she blushing?

As if she wasn't already adorable enough.

"Your turn." I nodded to the remaining cookie on the table. "Let's see what Confucius says about your future."

She plucked the cookie off the table and I caught a slight tremble in her fingers as she cracked it in half. She read hers and passed it to me without reacting, probably because she was still blushing from reading mine.

"Love is for the lucky and the brave," I read, nodding. "Sounds accurate enough."

She blew out a breath. "Now that we've waded into awkward territory, how about we put away all this stuff and start drinking? With or without the ice cream." She didn't wait for my response, immediately standing and gathering the containers of leftover food.

I joined her in the cleanup efforts and then stood with her in the kitchen as she made us both drinks.

"Opting to leave out the ice cream?" I asked, watching her nervously flit around the narrow kitchen.

"Yeah, at least for now. The buzz is more important than the flavor at this point."

I reached to stop her as she moved past me with her glass in hand. "Hey, slow down."

She looked over at me and I thought she might be on the verge of tears she was so anxious. "Sorry, I just…"

"Jennie." I waited for her to look up at me. "Nothing has to happen tonight."

Her shoulders were so tense it looked painful.

I continued on, holding her gaze so she knew I was sincere. "And if this isn't what you want, we don't ever have to…"

"No, I do want this," she cut in, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I'm just worried about how I'll compare. You know, to the other girls you've dated."

That's what this was about? She was this tied up in knots because she thought she had to compete somehow?

Shit. I hadn't even considered how much she probably knew about my past, my dating habits have been tabloid fodder since I was twelve.

I took her glass and set it on the counter before turning so that our bodies faced each other fully. When she tried to look at the floor, I placed one finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "I don't know how to say this so that you'll understand how serious I am, so I'm going to tell you straight and hope like hell you take my word for it."

She quirked a brow. "Tell me what?"

I let go of her chin and ran a hand over my hair, stressing each word. "I would never compare you to anyone in my past because there is no comparison." I crouched until we were eye to eye. "You're so much more to me already than any of them ever were. I've never had this kind of connection with another woman."

Her eyes went glossy and she blinked rapidly to clear away the forming tears, her lashes moving so quickly they reminded me of hummingbird wings.

I pointed to the tiny scraps of paper on the counter, the fortunes we'd both chosen to save instead of tossing. "That fortune over there? I laughed when I read it. Want to know why?"

"Why?" Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

"Because it was around the hundredth time the universe had confirmed what I was already feeling. About you. About us." I looked to her lips before returning my gaze to hers. "Maybe I went about this all wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have been so forward about wanting you, because now I'm worried you think that's all this is for me, and it's not."

She swallowed thickly and nodded. "I know."

"I hope so. And I hope this doesn't freak you out because that's the last thing I want to do, but I have to be totally honest here. Yes, I want you, but I don't just want to take you to bed, Jennie. I want to take you around the world and to the pizza place around the corner. I want to make you mint cocktails and steal kisses every five seconds because the only way they could ever be appealing to me is if I taste them on your lips."

She chuckled and placed one hand on my chest as I continued. "I want to make you laugh and roll your eyes and threaten me with ice water baths because those are some of my favorite Jennie moments. I'm incredibly happy when I'm with you. And, yeah, it's fast and scary as hell, but that's exactly how I feel, and for once in my life, I'm with someone I know won't judge me for being one hundred percent honest." I cupped her cheek and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "And the honest truth is, you reminded me of who I am and I adore you for it."

Those hummingbird lashes were still fluttering but they couldn't hold back the two fat tears that streamed down her sweet, smiling face. In true Jennie fashion, she replied with, "How many times did you practice that little speech?" She wiped her tears away and laughed, stepping back a little to look up at me. "Because, while captivating, I feel like it was missing something. Maybe you could have thrown in a hand gesture or something."

I laughed along with her, feeling the tension inside me break. "Oh, I have a hand gesture for you, Jennie-girl. Here I am pouring my heart out in an only slightly practiced—but still phenomenal—speech, and your first instinct is to give me shit because it wasn't good enough?"

She shrugged, raising her brows in an expression that indicated I should have expected nothing less.

I didn't, which was what made her so damn great. "So, you're saying it lacked some sort of movement, a physical punctuation to give it depth." The directors had been working with her on subtle physical cues to add to her scenes, and apparently, she'd paid attention.

"Exactly." She nodded, giving me a crooked smile.

"Then try this punctuation on for size, new girl." I closed the distance between us, gripped the back of her neck, and pulled her into me as I crashed my mouth onto hers. It wasn't tender and tentative, not this time. It was rough and desperate. Her arms shot up and locked around my neck as I reached down and cupped the perfect swell of her ass. I pulled her off the floor until her legs wrapped around my waist, pressed her into me, and thrust up, rubbing the hardened length of my cock against her.

She gasped into my mouth and ground herself into me until I was the one gasping. She continued to cling to me as I spun and started toward the living room, foregoing the longer distance to the bedroom in my haste to find a soft place to lay her.

When I reached the couch, I let go of her ass and waited for her to unwind her legs. She didn't. Instead, she angled them down a bit and locked them tighter as she rose, her head higher than mine as she worked herself against the tip of my erection, which was already sticking partially out of my jeans—not intentionally, it was just how friction worked.

Or was it volume? Too much erection to be contained in my designer boxer briefs.

Yeah, it was definitely a volume issue.

She glanced down between us and her eyes widened when she saw the head of my dick exposed. Instead of blushing, though, she smiled and looked into my eyes. "Now that may be my favorite physical cue ever."

"Not so subtle, though, is it?" I practically growled the last part of that sentence as she pressed herself into me again.

"Nope. But I like directness, remember?" She leaned down and took my lower lip between her teeth for a moment before letting go.

"In that case, let me be blunt," I said, one hand coming up to knead her breast. "I'm going to use that physical cue—and several of my other assets—to make you come so hard you'll see fucking stars."

"I'm already seeing a star, Hollywood," she smirked.

I tweaked her nipple through her thin bra and she whimpered, losing all pretense of control as she bucked against me. "You're going to see a hell of a lot more than one, Jennie-girl."

"More than one star or more than one orgasm?"

"Yes to both." I winked as I bent over the couch and let her warm body drop into the plush cushions.

She looked around as if just noticing where we were. "Not a traditional bedroom kinda girl?"

I smiled down at her, gripping her right ankle and tugging off her shoe. "Oh, we'll get there. I thought we'd start here just in case."

"In case what?" Her eyes lingered on my exposed tip.

"In case of wet spots. Better the couch, which we can abandon than the bed where I plan to wrap myself around you for the rest of the night—after I thoroughly wear you out, of course." The left shoe went flying as I leaned over her, placing one knee between her legs and nuzzling the valley between her breasts through her shirt.

"Gonna hump my leg in your sleep again too?" she teased, breathless.

I ran my tongue over the dip between her neck and collarbone. "Probably. And I doubt I stop there."

"I don't want you to stop anywhere, Lisa." She reached up, gripped my shoulders, and pushed me back so that she could meet my eyes. "I've been waiting for you too."