Friends With Partial Benefits (17 page)

They took their seats in the nearly-empty, large theater just as the previews began. Jillian ran to the bathroom but passed Brian the bottle of rum first. He poured about four-and-a-half shots' worth of the rum into his Coke and poured the rest, which amounted to about half a shot, into hers. He mixed them up a little with the straws. Wanting to catch up with her at least a little, he sucked down about a quarter of his giant, super-strong rum and Coke while she was away.

Jillian returned and sat next to him. An older couple was many rows behind them in the last row, and four rows ahead of them sat two people. They sat in the very center of the theater. Brian set the popcorn bucket on his lap, and she held her drink. Slumping in her seat, a little woozy, she sipped from her Coke and said softly," Did you already put it in?"

"Yeah," he whispered.

"It tastes like nothing’s in here."

He glanced away shyly. "It’s, um, a really big cup."

Nodding in agreement, she reached into the bucket for some popcorn.

As the movie began, another couple entered the theater and rushed to seats in the same row as Jillian and Brian but across the aisle. They were about nineteen, giggling, and obviously dating. Twenty minutes into the movie, Brian looked over and noticed they were making out pretty heavily.

He nudged Jillian; she took a look, smiled, and whispered in his ear, "Get a room."

"They’re like animals."

The caffeine in Jillian's barely-spiked, giant soda was causing her to be both drunk and full of energy. Glancing over at Brian, she studied his profile as the light gently reflected off his face. Their bare knees were touching, and she closed her eyes to enjoy the feel of it. She reached into the popcorn bucket, grabbed a kernel, and tossed it into her mouth. She looked over at the amorous couple and saw, as a particularity bright scene filled the theater with light, that the guy was rubbing the girl’s chest through her shirt. As they continued to make out, the girl’s hand disappeared into the guy’s lap. Jillian nudged Brian to look, and when he did, they shared a smile.

The combination of the rum and Coke, Jillian’s sexy knee rubbing his for the last hour, her perfume, the couple practically having sex just twenty feet from him, and Jillian plunging her hand every fifteen seconds into the popcorn bucket right over his sensitive groin area had led to quite an uncomfortable crowding in Brian's shorts. Something had to be removed from that equation, or he was going to have a real problem. He decided the popcorn had to go.

He glanced at her. "You want the bucket?"

"No."

"You sure you don’t want any more?"

She shook her head with a smile as she stared at the screen.

After placing the bucket under his seat, Brian looked at Jillian’s bare knee, which was still touching his. She seemed to be pushing her knee more and more into him as the movie progressed. He looked over at the busy couple and saw the guy now had his hand under the girl’s shirt, and the girl was busy doing something to the guy’s lap.

Several minutes went by, but the removal of the popcorn bucket had done nothing to relieve his situation. Looking over to be sure Jillian was watching the screen, he slid his hand into his lap to quickly adjust his straining erection. Whatever he did inadvertently freed his manhood from the confines of his boxers. That relieved some of the pain, but unfortunately, it also made the problem worse, since his dick was now free to expand, which it rapidly did.

Jillian, her eyes glued to the screen, reached into Brian’s lap, feeling for the popcorn. She didn’t find any, but her blindly searching hand landed on something hard—really hard.

Instead of quickly pulling her hand away, she let it remain in his lap as he sat, frozen and unable to breathe. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and she appeared unfazed by her find, yet she still made no attempt to move her hand.

Jillian’s initial thought was that she had touched his cell phone, but as she felt the object a little more, she quickly realized what she had discovered and exactly what state she had discover it in. She decided to play it cool and attempt to not embarrass either of them by casually leaving her hand in his lap with a plan to remove it when the time seemed right. Looking down at his hands, she noticed his fingers were spread out and awkwardly gripping the top of each armrest. She fought back a smile.

Brian picked up the Coke, his hand shaking slightly, and took a long drink. He glanced at Jillian from the corner of his eye, and she still seemed unaware of her hand’s current location.

She was still feeling the effects of the alcohol as she glanced at Brian and saw the unprecedented look of distress on his face. Her hand remained still as she grinned, cupping her mouth to direct her comment only to him. Leaning over so that she was an inch from his face, she muttered, "Sorry about that. I’m going to take my hand off your penis now."

"Oh, is it...? I didn’t, uh, notice." He froze pretending to look at the screen. "You want some popcorn?"

"No," she whispered, and she slowly pulled her hand away from him. When she did, he exhaled deeply and finally relaxed in his seat. After quietly trying to adjust his shorts again, he took another long sip of his Coke, holding it out for her. "Want some?"

She sampled his drink and choked a little, because it was incredibly strong—much stronger than hers. She sat smiling for a minute and knew the only logical explanation was that he had spiked his drink way more than hers. She figured he was concerned about the condition she was already in when they met outside the theater.

Jillian said accusingly, "Yours is really strong."

Busted, Brian glanced at her. "I must not have mixed it up enough. It, uh, settled."

Holding back a smile, she sat thinking about what a gentleman he was, how he brought her that amazing breakfast in bed the other morning and how tonight he was protecting her. The only thing she wanted was to get him out of there and do things to him that she had never done to any man. She wanted to please him like he had never been pleased.

She glanced at him and then over at the couple still making out nearby and noticed that they were really starting to produce some noise with their activities. She nudged Brian and smiled.

Looking over at the couple briefly, he gave her an uncomfortable grin. "They’re practically going at it over there."

"Disgusting," she said in a sexy whisper.

Seconds later, Jillian was on top of Brian, kissing him passionately. He returned her enthusiasm, and they continued to kiss and grope each other from his seat. From a few feet away they heard, "Get a room you two," and they both stopped kissing to find the source. When they looked around, they saw the couple that had been practically screwing during the whole film, staring right at them while wearing silly grins. Both Brian and Jillian fired back evil looks.

Falling back into her seat, Jillian slumped down. "Maybe we should get out of here."

Brian looked at her and simply nodded his head yes.

They stood and quickly walked down the row, leaving their drinks and popcorn behind. As they approached the young couple, they found them still staring, and the guy said, "Couple of animals," as his girlfriend giggled.

Jillian glared at them both, before rushing with Brian to the lobby. Once outside the theater, Brian looked down and spotted the huge wet spot and an unnatural bulge in his shorts. While Jillian tried to remember where she'd parked, he quickly adjusted his shorts and held his hand over the telling wet spot as people walked past them on the street.

"I think it’s closer if we walk home. The car is at the top level of the garage, and I don’t think I should drive, anyway."

Before Brian could finish nodding, she turned and took off down the sidewalk. Two people never walked faster or with such purpose. Neither said a word. When they reached Jillian's front door, she searched her purse for the keys.

He leaned in close to her and put his hand on her neck. A shiver went through her body as he whispered, "If I don’t get inside you soon, I’m going to die." As she turned breathlessly to respond, the door opened, and Rob appeared.

Brian quickly removed his hand from her neck, and Jillian looked at her son, alarmed.

Rob lifted his palms up. "There you are. I’ve been trying to call you."

Brian stepped from behind Jillian, looked down at his crotch, and then moved his hand to cover the stain as he stammered, "I had my cell off. We, uh, were at the movies."

Rob gave him an odd look.

Jillian smiled nervously. "We ran into each other. I was on a, um, horrible date, and he saved me."

Rob said, "I didn’t hear you drive up."

"I... we... left the car at the mall. It was such a nice night that we decided to walk," Jillian said, a little flustered.

Rob narrowed his eyes at his mother, shook his head, then looked at Brian, and blew it off. "Laura has this girl she wants you to meet. They’re at the bar right now. Let’s go."

Brian glanced at Jillian before settling his eyes on Rob. "I, uh..."

"Come on. She’s waiting for you. She’s really hot."

Brian paused to think. "Okay. I just need to go to the bathroom first."

"Hurry up. I’ll be in the car."

Jillian and Brian entered the house as Rob went outside. She closed the door and then looked into Brian’s eyes. "What are we doing?"

"I don’t know, but it feels right," he said partially convinced.

"I think you... you better go. He’s waiting." Looking down at his shorts, she noticed the wet spot. "You’d better change."

He stared at her, unable to find the words. He needed to say something, anything, but what? "I… When—"

"Shhh." Closing her eyes, she put her hand on his chest. Gently, he placed his hand over hers and both felt the electricity of their connection for a few moments.

She opened her eyes. "He's waiting."

"Okay."

Brian ran up the steps as Jillian watched, both devastated and relieved.

At the bar, Rob and Laura introduced Brian to Dana. She was attractive, but Brian was too preoccupied and a little too drunk to really notice or care. Closing his eyes, Brian drifted away with his mind reeling.
What the fuck's wrong with me? I can't stop thinking about Jillian. I feel like I'm… It's not like what I felt for Natalie, or is it? Am I just a horny douche, trying to get laid? I thought I was in falling in love with Natalie, but was that only because she can bend herself up like a pretzel, and I'm lonely? Shit, I don’t know. And now that I've seen what a real woman is like, it's… it's… Jillian is amazing, but, I'm an idiot. There's no way she really wants to be with me. And it's obvious that Natalie's not ready for any kind of relationship—at least, not with me. Is Natalie just jerking me around? Or do I only think that so I'll feel less guilty now that I've been chasing my best friend's mother around like a pathetic moron? I've got to stop. I've got to fix this. Fuck, I'm so confused.

After glancing for the twentieth time at Brian's bored expression, Dana rolled her eyes at Laura. Then she tried to make conversation with Brian, but it just wasn’t happening. A few minutes later, Dana joined another group of friends, much to Brian’s relief.

Brian looked at Rob. "I’m not in the mood for this."

Rob glared at him. "You’re not still thinking about Natalie, are you?"

"Sort of."

"You’ve got to get over her, Dude."

"I’m just going to go. I can walk from here. It’s not that far."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Don’t worry about me."

"I’m staying at Laura’s tonight, but maybe we can do something tomorrow."

"Definitely." Turning away from his friend, Brian closed his eyes for a moment, wallowing in his own shame before he headed toward the door.

Brian ran most of the way back to Jillian’s. When he was within a block, he slowed his pace to a fast walk so he wouldn’t be panting like an idiot when he saw her. After entering the house, he searched and finally found her on the balcony off her bedroom. Silently, he stood watching her with his mind churning. He needed to talk to her; he needed to clear the—

He sniffed, picking up the faint but unmistakable smell of pot in the air. With his concerns suddenly washed away, he rushed out and plopped down in the seat next to her. "Do I, uh, smell pot?"

"Want some?"

He held out his hand, and she passed him the joint.

After taking a hit, he returned it to her and shook his head, a little stunned. "This is some strong stuff."

"Yeah." She looked at him seriously. "About what happened at the movie and what almost happened when we came back... I’ve been thinking that maybe this isn’t such a good idea."

His eyes met hers. "I’m so glad you said that, because this is wrong on so many levels. I’m still not sure what’s going on with Natalie, and you’re—"