Jennie

"I'm going to miss this," Lisa said, her eyes glued to the yard. "I forgot how nice it is to do nothing and relax."

Her profile was toward me, highlighting the straight line of her nose and her square jaw. I'd forgotten how it felt to like someone. How it felt to crave someone.

I would miss this too.

We'd started this as a fling but it had morphed into an eye-opening experience. Lisa had reminded me how it felt to be touched. How it felt to be kissed. She'd reminded me how it felt to race home so excited to see another person that you stood beside the door, bouncing on both feet, practically coming out of your skin until finally they arrived and it was the best part of your day.

Saying goodbye this week would be brutal, but I was grateful she'd come into my life. Lisa had shown me what I'd missed with Taehyung, what our relationship had lacked—passion, trust, friendship. She'd shown me what to expect down the road when I was ready to date again.

It would take time.

Lisa had stolen a part of my heart and I was planning on holding on to the piece I'd stolen from her, just for a while.

Since she'd told me about her father, our conversations hadn't been heavy. We'd spent most of our time hidden away in my house, mostly in my bedroom. She'd been so busy that our hours together had been limited. Tonight was the first time she'd come over before midnight.

So we were on the deck, drinking a beer and doing nothing. We were simply together.

Relaxing.

That was not an easy concept for me to grasp or practice.

I'd spent my childhood walking on eggshells. Even after I'd moved to Black Point, it had taken me a long time to calm my constant nerves. They hadn't truly settled until I'd lived alone. With my roommate—now landlord—I'd been on my best behavior, making sure I'd tidied up at every turn.

After she'd moved out, I'd kept it up because that was how I'd lived my life. Then one day, I'd left a pan in the sink to soak. Normally, I would have scrubbed it clean, no matter how long it took. Instead, I'd left it and gone to work.

I'd nearly had a panic attack that morning and had come home at lunch to clean it up, but it was the first time I'd let go a little.

That was harder to do with another person. What if they saw my flaws? What if I messed up and was punished or hated? Maybe the reason Taehyung and I hadn't worked was because I'd been too focused on perfection.

Or maybe he was just an asshole.

Asshole. Definitely.

Lisa had broken through my defenses and left me untethered. To the past. To my insecurities. To expectations.

She was leaving in five days, so why hold back?

I hadn't, and I was better for it.

"Thank you," I said.

She looked over. "For what?"

"For being perfect." I'd been so rude and cold to her at the beginning, but she hadn't given up on me. She was still here. She'd trusted me with her skeletons, and I was learning to trust myself. If I wasn't perfect in every way, she wouldn't leave.

"I'm not perfect, Jennie. I'm just a person, flawed like any other. The perfection is an illusion."

No, that wasn't right. She was perfect because she saw her flaws. Because they made her human. She embraced them. Owned them.

She'd shown me it was okay not to fear my own shortcomings and their consequences.

"Then thank you for being kind."

Lisa's forehead furrowed. "How else would I be?"

"Unkind."

Until I'd moved to Black Point, I'd known mostly unkind person. To this day, the jerks were easy to find.

"We don't talk about you," she said.

"No." I turned my eyes to the yard.

"Why?"

I lifted a shoulder. "I don't like my story."

It was not a movie I'd want to see.

Lisa reached over with her free hand and rested it on my elbow.

There was no question behind the gesture. She wouldn't pressure me into talking about my past. She told me without words that if I wanted to talk, she'd listen.

With the few days I had left with Lisa, I wasn't going to waste them with ancient history. I had a family, one she'd already met at the garage. I'd found them the day I'd started working there, and Drake had been the father I'd needed.

While Lisa had taught me it was worth trusting in a relationship, Drake had taught me how to trust a person, period. He'd shown me that unconditional love was no myth.

Drake had loved his children, and I liked to think he'd always lumped me in with them as an unofficial daughter. Drake had loved his wife. I'd never met Chrissy Slater, but Drake's love for her was undying. It was so strong, I loved her, a stranger, because he'd loved her.

I missed him.

I missed my sister.

I'd miss Lisa.

I was tired of missing people.

A sting hit my nose and I rubbed away the threat of tears. I'd been doing so well, seeing Lisa for all the good things she'd brought to my life. But she was leaving. She'd disappear and the only place I'd see her was on screen.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Who was the worst costar you ever had to kiss?" I blurted, wanting to change the subject.

Lisa squeezed my arm, then brought it back to the armrest of her chair. "Tzuyu."

"Really?" My jaw dropped. "I would have thought it was the time you had to kiss Aquaman on Saturday Night Live."

"That clip will haunt me forever." She chuckled. Both huge movie stars had cringed afterward and laughed hysterically, trying to regain composure to deliver their lines. "But no, it was Tzuyu."

"When?" I couldn't remember them being in a movie together. "What movie?"

"This one. I didn't want to kiss her because I wanted to kiss you."

"Oh." I blushed.

This person could deliver a compliment. I mean, Tzuyu was Tzuyu Chou. I was just . . . me. But Lisa Manoban wanted me.

"Does it bother you?" she asked. "Me kissing other women?"

"Yes," I admitted.

She grinned. "Good."

The doorbell rang and I hopped out of my chair.

"Expecting someone?" Lisa asked, standing too.

"No." When we got inside, I set my beer down on the end table beside my couch and walked toward the door.

Lisa stayed back, hovering close to the wall so she wouldn't be seen, but she was close.

I stood on my toes to check the peephole and my stomach dropped. A face I hadn't seen since I'd ripped his picture out of my frame waited on the other side. No.

What was he doing here?

I unlocked the door and opened it, staring at my ex-fiancé's face.

"Hey." He lifted a hand.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What do you want, Taehyung?"

"Can I come in?"

Was he high? He didn't live here anymore. "No."

Lisa's heat hit my back and Taehyung's eyes went wide, tipping up an inch. Lisa had inches on him, and Taehyung wasn't short at six feet tall.

Taehyung studied Lisa, recognizing her instantly. There was a gleam in his eyes, something I'd seen around town whenever anyone spoke of the stars visiting Black Point. It was that greedy lust when you wanted to be associated with someone powerful and popular and rich.

I focused forward, not turning to Lisa. She'd let me take the lead, though I felt her anger radiate from her chest to my shoulders.

Taehyung's lip had a dried gash in the corner. It had matching friends on the bridge of his nose and through an eyebrow. Were those from Chanyeol? How badly had Chanyeol beaten him up if they hadn't healed yet? That had been over a month ago. Or had Taehyung gotten into another fight since?

The pity I normally would have had for him was long gone. His bruised and battered face wasn't my problem anymore. So far, we'd heard nothing from the Warriors about retaliating against Chanyeol, and I was holding out hope it would vanish, but I didn't like seeing Taehyung back in town.

"Can we talk for a second?" Taehyung's gaze darted between me and Lisa. "In private?"

"No," Lisa and I answered in unison.

"Come on, Jen." He dragged a hand through his hair. The brown locks were longer now than they had been when we'd been together.

Taehyung was wearing a black leather Warrior cut over a rumpled white T-shirt. His jeans were dirty at the knees, and it looked like he hadn't slept. His motorcycle was parked on the street.

I hadn't seen him since two weekends before the wedding. I'd gone to Ashton to sign the lease on the apartment, and we'd gone to dinner together that night. I'd decided not to sleep over because I'd had packing to do.

He'd been so handsome in the restaurant. It wasn't a fancy place, but the light from the window we'd been sitting beside had made his hazel eyes dance and his smile glow. I remembered thinking, my God, I'm marrying him.

The man on my porch was nothing like that handsome man who'd, for once, bought my dinner.

Maybe he'd never been that handsome in the first place. Had Taehyung's lips always been that thin? His shoulders weren't as broad as I'd remembered. He was lanky and not in a good way. There was no grace or fluidity to his movements.

Had he changed that quickly? Or were my rose-colored glasses finally off? Maybe I was finally seeing what everyone had told me all along. Taehyung was not worthy.

Granted, I'd been sleeping with Lisa Manoban, so my standards had changed drastically as of late.

Take that, Taehyung.

"Jen, come on. Five minutes."

"You had your chance to talk to me. You had years to talk to me. But you didn't. You avoided everything."

"So did you," he fired back.

"You're right, I did. But I didn't do it to hurt you. I never would have hurt you like you hurt me."

"I apologized."

"And I don't care. You need to leave."

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me." He pounded a fist on the doorframe, then caught himself. "Please."

Lisa stiffened, inching closer. The rage roaring at my back was ready to rip Taehyung's head off, and I had a feeling she'd do far more damage than Chanyeol could have dreamed.

I placed my palm on her bulging thigh, hoping to calm her with a touch as I spoke to my ex. "Goodbye, Taehyung."

"I just need to borrow some money and—"

"Do not finish that sentence," I seethed. "You get nothing from me. Nothing. Don't come here again."

"Jennie—"

I stepped back, forcing Lisa with me, and slammed the door in Taehyung's face.

My chest heaved as I dragged in some air, blinking at the door. The sound of its slam echoed in my ears.

Lisa placed her hand on my shoulder. "Okay?"

"Yeah," I breathed, calming myself down.

When was the last time I'd stood up to Taehyung? I should have broken off our engagement when he refused to buy me an engagement ring. I should have told him no the first time he asked for money. I should have told him goodbye when he joined the Warriors.

I didn't have trouble saying no to other people in my life. I barked at Chanyeol or Kai or Kyungsoo whenever they pissed me off. Telling Lisa no was one of my favorite things because she'd turned it into foreplay. But Taehyung was so tied to my past, I'd never had the guts.

Until today.

I turned and looked up at Lisa. "That felt . . . awesome."

A giggle escaped and I pulled my lips in to silence it. Taehyung was still outside. I hadn't heard his boots on the porch steps.

"I should have done that years ago," I said, then spun for the door and whipped it open. As expected, Taehyung was still there. "You were never good enough for me. I didn't see it. But you were never good enough for me, or for Irene."

His jaw dropped but I slammed the door again.

I waited, holding my breath, until his footsteps drummed on the porch and he was gone. Then I laughed, this time not holding it back.

"So that was the ex."

I nodded, my cheeks pinching with a smile. "That was him."

"Kai and Sehun warned me he might come around. Asked me to tell them if he did."

"He's harmless." I waved it off. "And Kai and Sehun are overprotective."

"Jennie," she warned.

"I'll tell them about it if that will make you feel better." Or not. I didn't want the guys getting riled up about Taehyung's visit to beg for money. Now that it was clear he wouldn't get a penny from me, he'd disappear.

"Do you want me to—"

I launched myself at Lisa before she could finish.

She caught me, hoisting me up as I wrapped my legs around her waist. Her hands gripped tight to my ass as I wrapped my arms around her neck.

"No more talking," I whispered, then devoured her mouth.

Our tongues slid against one another in frantic sweeps. My hands dove into her hair, one hand in the short fringe at her neck and the other in the longer strands on top. My legs clamped around her hips as she walked us backward and away from the door.

I used my grip on her hair to steer her, left down the hallway, then right into my bedroom. We bumped and crashed against the wall and doorframe, eventually bursting into the room.

Lisa hoisted me higher, using one hand to hold me while the other dove into the neck of my tank top, yanking it down over a breast. The cool air hit my naked skin as she did the same thing to the cup of my bra. Her fingers pinched my nipple and I broke away from her mouth, moaning to the ceiling as she rolled it between her fingers.

There was a delicious bite as she plucked. My core throbbed and desire pooled.

"Down," I panted, but she shook her head.

Then she lifted me even higher, the muscles in her arms bunching and flexing tight as she brought my nipple to her mouth and wrapped it in her hot lips.

"Lisa," I whispered, my neck going limp as my head lulled to the side.

Her mouth was magic. She could bring me to the edge from a kiss alone. My center was against the firm ridges of her abdomen and I arched my hips, squeezing my legs to get some friction.

She groaned, the vibration of her deep voice running down my spine before she broke away, dropping me so we were eye level. Then she gave me a devilish grin. "I can't go to work bald tomorrow."

I loosened the grip on her hair. "Then put me down and let's get serious."

She chuckled and then I was flying, sailing backward as she tossed me onto the mattress.

I bounced, laughing as she came on top of me. I'd changed from a pair of jeans to a pair of tiny cotton shorts when I'd gotten home from work. It was hot outside and I'd planned on hanging out on the deck even before Lisa had come over to join me.

When I'd opened the door for her, she'd taken one look at these shorts and gulped. The same heated look was in her eyes now, and her fingers dove for the waistband.

I arched my hips and whoosh, my shorts and lace panties landed with a dull thud on the floor.

Lisa dropped to her knees.

My heart skipped.

I propped myself up on my elbows, my breast still exposed.

She reached up and cupped it with one hand as her tongue swirled on the skin of my knee. She moved from one leg to the other, leaving wet trails with each lick.

Up and lick. Over and lick. Sideways and lick. Down and lick. By the time she finally met the apex of my thighs, I was close to coming apart.

My hand went for her hair to drag her up, but she swatted it away and continued her ministrations, torturing me with that talented tongue.

"Lisa, please," I begged when she licked the edge of my folds. I didn't need her to kiss me there. I needed her to kiss me on the spot where she knew I'd unravel.

But did she listen? No. She kept licking until I was a quivering mess and the pulse in my core drummed harder than my heartbeat.

"Lisa." I gritted my teeth, ready to reach down and take care of it myself, but then, oh sweet Jesus, she found my center.

One fast lick through my slit and my body came off the bed. This orgasm promised to ruin me, and I vowed she'd get one just as powerful.

I squeezed my eyes shut, arching above the mattress. My arms reached above my head, fisting my pillows as my hips twisted, unable to keep still as Lisa worked her tongue up and down my slick folds.

"More," I begged. "More."

She flicked my clit, then sucked it into her mouth as I cried out. She alternated, toying with me before giving me punishing kisses until I couldn't hold on anymore. The burn was so hot and fast, I broke on a wave.

White spots broke in my vision and I pulsed, over and over while her tongue darted in and out, lapping me up with every twist and clench.

When I was wrung out and boneless, Lisa kissed the inside of my thigh and stood. I cracked an eye open and grinned, lifting a hand to motion her up with a finger.

Lisa had taught me about multiple orgasms. She'd turned me into a greedy, hungry woman.

Her clothes disappeared. She sheathed herself in a condom and stroked her long, thick cock as she knelt on the bed. I inched back to make room and opened my legs as far as I could.

Her breath hitched. "Fuck, you're flexible."

I was unguarded.

I was open and wanton.

For her.

Lisa's hands took my knees, pulling me close as she lined up to my center. "And beautiful. You are so goddamn beautiful."

"Sweet talker," I whispered into her ear, nibbling on the lobe and dragging in her spicy scent.

Then with one smooth, devastating stroke, she filled me.

"Oh, fuck," I hissed, stretching and adjusting to her size. It always took me by surprise, the feeling of us connected.

She gave me a second, then moved, slowly inching out and in. Her pace was unhurried and deliberate. She was taking her time, working me back up. She knew it took me a little longer after that first orgasm, so she'd work for it. She never left me wanting more.

"You feel so good," she groaned, her hips working faster and faster.

I nodded, unable to find the words as the build came on me again. My skin was too hot. My muscles too tight. The second my orgasm broke, I let out a string of incoherent noises. I was in a fog of lust and sensation, lost to anyone in the world but Lisa.

"Jennie." My name came off her lips in a low murmur, then she planted deep, shuddering through her own release.

We collapsed beside one another as we came down, the only sound in the room our heavy breathing. I righted the cup of my bra and tank top, then sighed. "Wow."

Lisa chuckled. "What an interesting development."

"What?" I looked over at her.

"Did you hear yourself?"

"No." My mind raced. Oh, hell. What had I said? I hadn't blurted out something stupid, like I love you. Because that would be crazy. I wasn't in love with her. I mean, I liked her. More than liked her. But love? We'd only been together for a few weeks. She was my fling. My rebound. My neighbor.

I wouldn't have said I love you, right?

Lisa's chuckle filled the room. "Jennie Kim, you are a grunter."

"What?" I sat up, my mouth hanging open, partly in relief that I hadn't said something stupid and partly in mortification. "I'm—no way."

"Baby, you grunted." She sat up and nuzzled her lips into my neck, tickling my skin. Then she mimicked the sound I'd made.

"Oh my God." I covered my face with my hands. Being left at the altar was humiliating. This? Definitely a close second. "We're never having sex again."

She laughed as I shoved off the bed, searching for my panties. I cast a glance over my shoulder, seeing her on her side, naked and perfect.

Somewhere along the way, she'd become more than Lisa Manoban. The fame had worn off. Now she was just the beautiful woman in my bed who made me feel special.

"Never?" she quirked an eyebrow.

I'd embarrassed myself and it was like she wanted me more than ever. I fought a grin. "At least let me nurse my pride until after dinner."

She chuckled and licked her lips. "I already ate."

I bent down and swiped a pillow that had fallen off the bed and threw it at her face. The sound of our combined laughter rang through the house.

I was really going to miss her.