My Best Friend’s Brother

The girls are among the pillows and blankets in the room. I get up because I need something to drink. My mouth is dry. I know I shouldn’t have drunk vodka.

I am just finishing my juice when I hear footsteps on the stairs.

He approaches me, opens the refrigerator, and I say:

”Hi.”

He turns around immediately.

”Molly?”

I end up laughing at the way he’s startled. He looks uncomfortable now, a rare scene to see.

He asks, smiling:

”Why are you in the dark?”

”I didn’t want to wake them up.”

He goes back to the refrigerator and says:

”My sister is not usually a light sleeper.”

I know this and laugh.

He approaches me with a glass of water and stands beside me while we look at them lying in the living room. Thank goodness he can’t see my face and how I start to blush when he pulls in next to me.

Damn it, Molly, get a hold of yourself.

He brings the glass to his mouth, then says:

”What was that all?”

”A party to badmouth the guys.”

He looks at me, surprised, and then laughs.

I don’t think he’ll say anything else, but he does:

”Julie has no reason to do that because Brennan is lovely. Chantal has it written all over her face that she does. But what about you? Where’s Jack?”

What? Is he asking that?

I take a deep breath and say:

”He’s at his house.”

He puts his glass aside, turns around to face me, and approaches me, saying:

”Well, I think he should be somewhere else right now.”

I swallow to disguise how this closeness is affecting me.

”Where?”

He looks at my mouth, then looks me in the eye and says:

”With you.”

He moves even closer, pinning me to the sink counter behind me while his hands are around my body, but he doesn’t even touch me.

I question, trying to keep my posture:

”Why?”

He says:

” I don’t know. Why were you badmouthing Jack?”

He is very close now, inches away from me. I try to pull myself together and say:

”I wasn’t.”

He smiles, and along with his smile, that dimple shakes me to my core. But what does he intend to do with it?

I don’t know, but he is still coming closer and closer and still leaving me frozen without reaction.

Only my breathing insists on getting heavier and heavier, while he looks pretty calm.

He moves closer to me and strays to my neck, and I close my eyes now at the shiver I feel when his lips slowly brush my skin.

A weak moan comes unintentionally from my mouth.

He smiles, tickling my skin.

He traces a light, lingering path as his mouth moves up to my ear and says:

”What? Are you telling me that Jack doesn’t make you feel this way?”

I’m not going to tell him that I’m not with Jack anymore.

My thoughts don’t stay focused because he is looking me in the eyes.

He looks at my mouth.

He is going to kiss me. I know.

He closes his eyes.

Wow, he’s going to kiss me.

I close my eyes too. I’m already getting ready to feel Chris’s lips.

He laughs.

When I open my eyes, he is still smiling and biting his lips and then says:

”Good night, Molly.”

I want to die now!

… Chris…

Nothing in the world could be better than the face Molly made when she found out that I wasn’t going to kiss her.

I am still laughing at the situation, even now, after coming to my room.

I swear I had to resist not kissing that mouth, but she must learn that she shouldn’t accept being kissed by me and then pretend it never happened.

I hated knowing she was still with that guy, even after we kissed. So I had to make her taste what I went through.

Someone knocks on the door.

What?

I stand up. I open it, and just as I do, Molly comes in, very angry and pointing her finger at me:

” What do you think happened between us in there?”

I say:

”Nothing.”

And I conclude laughing:

”Literally.”

But she seems even more annoyed and keeps coming back at me and saying:

”You’re no good, Chris. You’re a idiot who takes advantage of women’s vulnerability and does these things….”

I still find it amusing the nonsense she says to me, trying to keep her voice at a reasonable level so as not to wake up the girls in the room.

”Stop laughing!”

She demands. I try not to, but it isn’t easy.

She now looks at me with hatred and says:

”Damn it! I hate you! You’re an asshole!”

Oh, shit!

She looks hurt. But I’m not going to let my guard down now.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

She came here to insult me because of a joke.

She still looks angry at me.

I mean it now:

”Apologize to me.”

She laughs ironically and says:

”What?”

I say slowly and still serious:

”Apologize to me for calling me an asshole.”

”I won’t do it!”

I look at her for a moment.

” You won’t?”

”Yes, I won’t!”

I take a few steps back and turn the key in the lock.

”Okay.”

” What are you doing?”

”You’re going to stay here until you decide to apologize.”

I lift the key in the air, she tries to pick it up, and I say:

” Uh-huh.”

I take the key, show her and tuck it into my pants, more precisely into my underwear.

She can’t believe what she has just seen me do.

She whimpers.

”Holy shit Chris, let me out of here.”

I dare you:

”You know where the key is. Just come and get it.”

I’m laughing, and she’s not.

She turns, goes to the door and turns the knob a few times, turns to me and says:

” I’m not kidding. If you don’t give me that key, I swear I will scream until Julie gets here.”

”Really? And how will you explain what you were doing here at dawn?”

She seems to weigh what I said.

I still look at her, arms crossed and smiling.

”Did you decide to apologize?”

”Never!”

I turn around and say:

”So, good night.”

She looks at me incredulously while I go back to bed and cover myself up.