"Here," she said grasping his hand and placing it on her breast.
"I'm really more of an ass man," Pacey noted with his hand still on her boob.
She grunted in frustration. "Fine, then grab my ass." His left hand remained on her chest and his right hand moved to her ass. "Pacey, I am not supposed to have to tell you how to do this. If I wanted to do that, I would have corrupted the innocent freshman," Jen stated as she exhaled loudly.
"You don't have to tell me how to do this. Believe me, I know how," he responded defensively. "When did you become so bossy, anyway?"
"Hey, we said that we were allowed to be … instructive to ensure we each were properly … satisfied by our arrangement," she reminded him.
Pacey leaned in close to her, the stubble of his facial hair brushing against her baby soft cheek, "And what an exciting arrangement it is," he growled into her ear. Pacey pressed his body against hers. Jen closed her eyes feeling his hands begin to roam both of them settling on her ass. Her lips pursed in a near kiss until she began to giggle. "You've gotta be kidding me!" he said throwing his hands in air.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said through laughter. "Come back, I'll try again," Jen promised reaching for Pacey's hand.
"Why is this so hard? I mean we are two red-blooded, hormone-crazed teenagers who have a clear track record of satisfying sexual indiscretions," he asked.
"Maybe it's because you're trying to seduce me in your place of work. I mean the dusty back room of Screen Play Video does not really inspire a woman to be super sexy," she offered.
"I'm sorry," Pacey said. "It's just that the number of suitable locations are limited for a teenage boy."
"It must not have been a problem before," Jen remarked.
"Well, my previous partners always provided the location. I mean, Tamara was an independent woman, so she always had options," Pacey paused. "Though why we chose the woods that first time, I do not know," he said as an aside. "And Andie? She really never had any adult supervision, so we didn't need to sneak around there," he shrugged.
"Well, New York Jen would have had you in my Grams' bed, but Capeside Jen is not going anywhere near that house with intentions of sexual exploits," she concluded. She sensed the meaning of the look on Pacey's face and quickly added, "No, we are not going to give the Witter Wagoneer another try," Jen said recalling their highly unsuccessful attempts at a sexual encounter the previous day.
"Grams' bed, huh? I love it when you talk dirty," Pacey said pulling her back into his body. His embrace was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing at the front of the store.
"Saved by the bell," Jen observed. He gave her a wounded look. "Oh please, that line was terrible," she stated bluntly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Pace." Jen then stood on her toes giving him a kiss on his cheek, and walked out the back exit.
Pacey adjusted his clothes and walked to the front of the video store to help the customer. The man merely wanted to exchange his copy of There's Something About Mary because part of the video had mistakenly been recorded over by a gruesome scene of Saving Private Ryan. Pacey gave the man a new copy of his original rental and a coupon for a free night. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for bringing it in. Please enjoy another movie night on us for your trouble," Pacey suggested.
After his only customer left, Pacey had no choice but to ponder why his "perfect" friends-with-benefits agreement was going so badly. He had genuinely thought that hooking up with Jen was a great idea. If his attraction to Joey was just about missing sex, then being intimate with someone else should squelch that desire. Unfortunately, kissing Jen definitely did not have the desired effect. All it had done was make him think critically about what caused the jolt of electricity to pass through his entire body when he had hugged Joey in the house two days prior. A hug was not supposed to elicit such a response in him, a man with multiple sexual partners. Pacey had purposely spent less time with Joey over the last two days. He had of course driven her to and from school, but they hadn't worked on True Love together at all. Luckily, Joey worked at the marina on those nights.
Pacey knew that Jen was wonderful. She displayed a raw honesty that somehow uncomplicated even the most difficult of situations. She was a strong realist who also managed to be gentle and vulnerable. Pacey truly valued her friendship and was confident that their relationship would survive any sexual misgivings; he would never have considered it otherwise. He recognized that Jen was the quintessential blonde bombshell. Yet every time he tried to actually follow through with their promise of sexual promiscuity, he saw brown hair and dark eyes staring back at him.
Joey glanced at the clock on the wall. She had worked late at the marina last night and now had to rush to get ready before Pacey showed up at her door. She did not want a repeat of the Cyndi Lauper incident. Hearing the Witter Wagoneer pull into the driveway, Joey retreated to the bathroom. She had to at least brush her teeth before he was in her kitchen talking about whatever nonsense filled that head of his today. "Morning, Potter," she heard Pacey holler as he walked in the front door. "What are the chances that you might actually be ready to go when I get here of these mornings?" he asked rhetorically. Joey finished rinsing her mouth and turned off the faucet. She began searching for her hairbrush as Pacey continued talking. "I mean, seriously, what's the over-under because I may want to get in on this action. Where are you anyway?" he asked. Joey could hear his footsteps getting closer until he appeared in the open doorway of the bathroom. She was in the process of pulling her hair up into a ponytail. Pacey's eyes instinctively wandered down to the hem of her shirt that had risen slightly exposing a sliver of skin. She was wearing her favorite jeans, or at least Pacey assumed they were her favorite because she wore them frequently. He was sure they were his favorite because they hung a little lower than the others and hugged her ass perfectly. Trying to will himself out of the trance her completely clothed body had put him in, Pacey cleared his throat. "Umm … where's Bessie this morning?"
"She's in the back with Alexander. Why?" Joey asked pulling her hair tight. She looked flawless, which was particularly impressive because Pacey knew she probably woke up no more than 20 minutes earlier. He also knew that her morning routine resembled his: wash face, brush teeth, and put on moisturizer. Of course his moisturizer was called something much more manly, but it was basically the same thing. For fancy occasions, Joey added lipstick, blush, and sometimes that black stuff women put on their eyelashes. Pacey couldn't remember the name of it, but he knew she didn't really need it because her eyelashes were naturally dark and curled up just slightly at the ends. Having grown up with three sisters Pacey knew the saga that comprised the morning routine of other girls, yet here she was standing before him every bit the goddess she would be if she had woken hours before.
"I have something I want to show you guys," he answered gesturing to the bag in his hand.
Joey raised an eyebrow at him. "OK, you go get her. I'll get my bag together and meet you in the kitchen. I can quiz you in the car on the way," she stated authoritatively.
Pacey frowned, "Quiz me?! What is there to quiz for trigonometry?"
"Pacey, must I remind you that it was not too long ago that you didn't know what a cosine was," Joey explained.
"Cosine is equal to the ratio of the side adjacent to an acute angle to the hypotenuse. Shall I repeat sine and tangent because I know those now too. How about pi? 3.14159265 …" Pacey began.
"Nobody likes a smart ass, Pacey," Joey said ending his recitation prematurely.
Pacey shrugged. "You seem to like me just fine," he offered.
"Meh, I tolerate you," she responded without skipping a beat. "Now hurry up before we're late."
Having gathered Bessie and Alexander, Pacey met Joey in the kitchen. Both sisters looked at him expectantly. Bessie bounced a fussy Alexander on her hip and Joey kept glancing at the clock. "Well, since I see that I have your undivided attention," Pacey began ignoring his impatient audience. "In this bag I have our first samples for the Potter B&B. Here we have Lea Reynolds' maple syrup," he said lifting a glass bottle out of his bag and placing it on the counter. "Next we have fresh honey from the Cramer Farm. They also suggested you try their jam, so we have blackberry, strawberry, and honey pear," Pacey continued pulling small jars out of his bag. "I'd never heard of honey pear jam before, but I may have tried some when I visited, and let me tell you, it is good. Now I know we didn't talk about this one, but I thought some fresh bread might be a good addition," his eyes shone brightly as he pulled two small loaves of bread from his now empty bag. "These are from Owens Bakery. They smell great, if you ask me."
"Pacey this is amazing! How did you do all this?" Bessie asked excitedly as she surveyed the inventory on her counter. "Seriously, this is such a great idea!" she said happily as she picked up each of the small jars on the counter. "Don't you think, Jo?" Bessie asked looking at her sister whose attention was fixated on the items in front of her. Joey slowly nodded her head yes.
"We better go," Joey said breaking her silence. She picked up her backpack and walked out the front door. Confused, Pacey gave Bessie a bewildered look and then followed Joey to the car. They drove in silence for what seemed an eternity to Pacey. Joey hadn't even attempted to change the radio station. He had left the volume low in the hopes that she might say something. "Did they know it was for us?" Joey asked quietly. "The people you talked to, did you tell them it was going to be the Potter B&B?" she asked slightly louder.
"Yeah, Jo. Yes, of course I told them," Pacey said carefully.
"OK," Joey responded simply. "Because we aren't trying to deceive anyone. And we certainly don't need to start our business owing people things."
Her words betrayed her fear and allowed her cynicism and pessimism to shine through. "Joey, I know you think that you will always have to carry your father's transgressions. And I know that some people in this town have placed that burden on you, but it is not yours to bear," he began carefully. "I get that you don't want to owe people things, I do. Most local businesses have to start out that way, and that's OK," his words were measured because he wanted her to know that he was hearing, not dismissing, her concerns. "Everyone I talked to was excited by the idea of being involved with the Potter B&B, Jo. It's not charity or a loan at all. It's good business sense for them too. When one local business thrives the whole town benefits." Stopped at a red light, Pacey looked to examine his passenger. Joey's tension appeared to have dissipated slightly. "These are just samples. You aren't committed to anything. That is for you and Bessie to decide. I want to be involved, but it's not my place to make decisions for you."
"Thank you, Pacey," Joey stated.
"For being such a keen business consultant?" he suggested with a smile.
"For believing in and supporting something that doesn't even exist yet. Your confidence helps me to be slightly less pessimistic," she stated.
Pacey's face lifted into a big smile complete with twinkling eyes. "Admit it, you need me. Go ahead and say it, 'Pacey, I am so glad to have you and your intellect around. What ever would I do without you?'" he said in a less than stellar Joey impression.
Joey rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever explained to you the difference between confidence and cockiness? Because sometimes you are truly insufferable."
"Are you suggesting I did not accept your gratitude gracefully?" he asked only to receive Joey's best 'duh' look. "Let me try again … It's my pleasure, Potter."
"That's better," she said with satisfaction. "You should come over on Saturday. Bodie is going to be in town and we can try out the maple syrup with some fresh pancakes!" Joey said excitedly.
Recognizing that Joey rarely shows excitement, Pacey relished the moment. "I'd love that, Potter," he answered honestly.
Pacey and Joey walked together in the hall on the way to Math. "Remember to show all your work, Pace. I know how you like to take shortcuts, but you will lose points on the test for that. So suck it up and write everything down," Joey instructed.
"Yes, ma'am! I will write everything down, well most things," Pacey responded.
"Your grade, punk," she said rolling her eyes at his inability to simply agree with her.
"Hey guys," Dawson before they reached the classroom. "Big test or something?" he asked, but continued without waiting for a response. "I'm having a screening of 'Escape from Witch Island' tonight and you guys obviously have to be there."
"A screening?" Pacey asked.
"Yeah, in preparation for showing it to the class on Friday. It'll be you two, me, and Jen," Dawson replied.
"Dawson, that's really not a screening. That's four friends watching a movie," Joey corrected.
Clearly frustrated by Joey's lack of enthusiasm, Dawson protested, "No, it's an advanced screening prior to the official release date."
"OK, D. Call it whatever you like, but I actually have a date with True Love tonight," Pacey said.
"Yeah, and I was going to help him," Joey added.
"True love? What are you guys talking about?" Dawson asked confused. "Oh right, your boat thing. Umm … just come over about 7:00pm. That should be enough time to watch the film and discuss feedback," he instructed. He smiled and waved to his friends as he headed to his class. "Good luck on your test!" Dawson yelled over his shoulder.
"Well, looks like we don't have time to work on my 'boat thing' tonight," Pacey stated with slight disdain.
"We don't have to jump just because he says so, you know," Joey remarked. Pacey looked at her with disbelief. "Fine," she acquiesced, "but we don't have to ask how high."
"You tell 'em, Jo!" he encouraged.
"Shut up, smart ass. We'll head to my place right after school. Grab a quick dinner and get a couple of hours of work done before going to Dawson's about 7:30," Joey decided.
"7:30, eh? That'll show him!" Joey punched Pacey in the arm. "Don't you usually have to work Thursday nights?" Pacey asked. The two took their seats in the classroom.
"Not tonight," she responded. "Now focus on your test." Joey opened her backpack to obtain her pencil, and calculator.
"Hey, Jo?" Pacey said turning around to face her in the seat behind him.
"Hmm?" she muttered without looking up. Pacey placed his left hand softly on her right one. Her gaze shifted from her calculator to his hand on hers. Her eyes widened as his index and middle fingers came together grasping the pencil she held in her hand. He smiled as he pulled it from her fingers. "Thanks, Jo," he said. Pacey turned to face the front of the room. He heard her release a deep breath and then rummage through her backpack for another pencil.