JESSIE:
"You didn't have to come back with me, you know." Easing me back against my apartment door, Dean plants a light kiss on my sensitive, overworked lips. I should purchase stock in Blistex if we're going to have many more nights like last night. Not that I'm complaining, of course.
"We've been apart for weeks. Do you really think I'm letting you ditch me? On Valentine's Day? You cray."
Pressing my lips together, I refuse to laugh. It would only encourage him. "Do not. Ever. There are many things I can deal with, but you attempting hip, post-millenial lingo is where I draw the line."
"Come on, Jess. You're telling me you don't want to go out with me tonight and get turnt?"
"Oh God… I think I just died a little inside." I clutch my chest in mock agony while he just grins at me like an idiot. "What's with you anyway? You're so goofy today."
Toning down the dork, he manages to be mildly serious. "It's not every day that I get to spend half the night and all morning in bed with the love of my life having mind-blowing make-up sex. Tends to make a guy a little giddy. Sue me." He sticks his hands in the pockets of his dark denim jeans and shrugs matter-of-factly.
Shaking my head, but unable to hide my smile, I run my hands up his chest and link my fingers around his neck. "I'll take giddy Dean any day."
No sooner do our lips connect than the apartment door swings open and a hand snags me by the elbow. "Sorry, gotta borrow her. Good to see you, Dean! Come on in."
Kelsey wastes no time dragging me through the apartment and I have a second to look back at an amused Dean before she pushes me through her bedroom door and slams it behind us.
"Girrrl, you are never going to believe what just happened."
DEAN:
Kelsey kidnaps my girl and I can't help but shake my head and laugh. Some things never change. I close the front door behind me, but it's not until I step further into the room that I see Jamie leaning against the counter in the kitchen, smirking at me.
"You're certainly proud of yourself, huh?" I cross my arms over my chest and take a seat on the arm of the couch.
"Judging from that smile on your face and the fact that you just brought home my sister, who left the apartment about eighteen hours ago, I'd say I've got pretty good reason to be. Wouldn't you agree?"
The guy makes a good point. "I suppose I should thank you then."
"Oh, my friend, you don't even know the best part." He reaches into the fridge and pulls out two beers, twisting off the caps and handing me one. "Have a seat. I'll enlighten you."
JESSIE:
"Wow," I say when Kelsey finishes her story.
"I know! Jamie is a friggin' mastermind. I don't know how he knew it would work out, but it was like straight out of a movie. A totally cheesy movie with a bubblegum pop soundtrack based on a best-selling teen romance novel."
I giggle because I know exactly which movies she's referring to. "So, wait. How did Jamie even know that he would show up here?" I'm still trying to wrap my head around the logistics of what occurred while I was with Dean this morning.
"It really was a total coincidence at first. But that boy has a knack for spur of the moment scheming. He's kind of my hero," she explains with a look of admiration.
"Hmm," is the only reply I can come up with. I'm still a little surprised.
"Hey," Kelsey taps my knee with her hand to get my attention. "Are you cool with this? I mean, you're back with Dean now, and there was never anything going on between the two of you, right?"
I quickly shake my head. "No, no way, nothing like that. We're friends. But he sort of made it known recently that he was interested in more. I'm just a little surprised. But it's a good thing."
She gives me a skeptical look and I roll my eyes. There's never enough drama in the world for Kelsey. "Seriously. I have zero interest. I promise. After last night, and this morning, I don't think I'm going to notice another guy…like, ever again." I grin and head for the door since I know she's not going to let my last comment go without demanding every detail.
"Oh come on! You can't just leave after that!" She leaps up and comes after me.
"Nope, no details. Looks like you're just going to have to survive on the soap opera from this morning." I pause with my hand on the door knob and shake my head once more. "Christina and Landon. Who'd have thought?"
DEAN:
"Hold up. Start over, you lost me. How the hell did you hook Landon up with Christina when he just left a message asking Jessie out this morning?"
"Never underestimate the power of a Maddox, my friend. Now keep up. I called Christina this morning to pick me up so I could grab Kelsey's car since you two love birds ditched it last night. I'm just hanging up when pretty boy comes a-knocking, looking for my lovely twin. He tells me his intentions and I just hate the fact that I'm going to crush the poor guy. He is adorable, have you noticed?"
Rolling my eyes, I gesture for him to keep it moving. I don't plan to add my two cents about how attractive the guy is who was planning to ask out my girlfriend just a few hours ago.
"Right. Well, anyway. I reluctantly told him that you and Jessie were recently reunited, and he was pretty bummed but tried to hide it. It struck me that our friend Landon happened to be exactly Christina's type. That poor girl has had the worst luck with men. The wheels started turning. When Christina showed up, I introduced the two of them and she already had stars in her eyes. When he started stumbling over his words, I knew I could hook them up easily. So I 'suddenly remembered' that I had to turn in an electronic assignment. When I asked if Landon would mind riding with her instead, he jumped at the chance. By the time they came back half an hour later, they'd already exchanged numbers and he left telling her he'd see her later tonight. Done and done."
He sat back and finished off his beer, looking very self-satisfied. I had to give it to him, that little stunt was brilliant. Plus, there's the added benefit that I no longer have to worry about that awkward moment where I have to confront the guy and make sure he isn't going to be a problem for me and Jessie.
"Gotta hand it to you, Jay, that was pure genius." I tap my bottle against his empty one just as Jessie and Kelsey enter the room.
"Very sneaky, bro. Your scheming knows no bounds." She wraps her arms around his neck and leans down to kiss his cheek.
"I take it from your reaction that you're okay with my match making?"
I eye her to gauge her reaction. It's not that I think anything was going on between Jessie and Landon, but sometimes a guy needs a little confirmation that he's the only one.
"Of course. You know I love Christina, and Landon is a nice guy. I think they'd be good together. And you saved me from a seriously awkward conversation." Jessie winks at me, echoing my earlier thoughts, and the minuscule shred of insecurity I felt a moment ago dissipates.
"Happy to be of service. Again," he says pointedly with a nod to both of us.
"Yeah, yeah. We know. You'll never let us live this one down, will you?" I question, wrapping my arm around Jessie's waist and tugging her down onto my lap.
"Single-handedly putting back together the most epic romance in, well, in this apartment at least, should entitle me to unlimited gloating. Don't you think?"
She looks at me and I look at her. The smiles stretch across both of our faces at the same time. "Unlimited gloating rights granted," I say to Jamie, not taking my eyes off of Jessie's face.
"Ugh, what have you done? They're so cute it makes me want to puke," Kelsey jokes from behind us.
"Yeah, but they belong together. How could I not? Come on, Kels. I'll buy you lunch. Let's let these two crazy kids have some privacy."
Once they're both gone, Jessie gets up and heads for her bedroom. "What are we doing tonight? I want to know how much time I'm going to need to get ready."
"Tell you what," I start, getting up from the couch and backing her against the wall, "Grab a nice dress, and preferably nothing else to wear under it, and you can get ready at my place once we're done 'making up'. I think we've got at least another couple of hours left in us. Sound good?" I trail kisses down her neck, hoping she'll agree quickly.
"You're relentless, anyone ever tell you that?" She pushes weakly against my chest, her breathy voice shooting straight to my groin.
"You can tell me anything you want once I've got you back in my bed."
"Seriously, I need to take a shower."
"Now that's an idea I can get behind." I drag her towards the bathroom, not that it takes much effort, and get started on those couple of hours of making up that I promised her.
A/N: I hope those of you who were beginning to feel a little sorry for Landon approve of my happy side story for him :). There was no way I could let him come between Jessie and Dean. They've got enough to contend with, trust me ;). Until next time... 3 SAM