Friends With Partial Benefits (27 page)

After checking in, they hurried to the room, arriving exactly at four. Once inside, they placed their bags on the bed, opened them, and began frantically pulling off clothing.

"I’m going to beat you on grass," he quipped as he pulled off his shirt. "I’ll be diving all over the court, and I won’t get a scratch. You won’t be able to pass me."

She scoffed. "You
will
be on the grass a lot. But you’ll be looking behind you at the ball."

She was down to just her panties, and he was in only boxer briefs when he made the critical mistake of looking at her. There she stood, tossing items from her suitcase, in search of her sports bra, with her gorgeous, uncovered breasts just steps away from him. Standing frozen, breathlessly watching her, he didn’t make any attempt to find his clothes. She located the bra. "Found it." As she prepared to put it on, she noticed him staring and not getting dressed. Glancing at Brian in his underwear, she was sidetracked a little herself. "What are you—"

Before she could get the question out, he rushed to her, wrapped his arms around her, and their mouths flew open wide as they kissed.

Almost an hour later, Jillian rested blissfully with her head on Brian’s stomach, as she lay perpendicular to him, gazing up at his face. "That was amazing."

"I might have been able to make it to the court if you’d found your bra quicker. I saw your, uh, and I couldn’t—"

"I thought about wearing it on the plane."

Nodding in agreement, he smiled at her. "You know, it was pretty presumptuous of you to think you could just whisk me away to this fancy hotel and rush me right out to the court. I’m not your tennis whore, you know. I need to be wined and dined and... other things… first."

She bit her lip, fighting back a laugh. "Well, you got your
other
things."

"Yeah, but you didn’t plan it that way. Sometimes I think you take me for granted." He looked away from her, mock-standoffishly.

After pausing a moment, she started, "Maybe..." She covered her mouth to stop a laugh and cleared her throat to compose herself. "Maybe I’ll buy you something really nice later. Will that—"

"Like what?" He looked back at her, unconvinced.

Flipping over, she slid next to him with her head on his chest. "How about something new to wear on the court? A new pair of shorts, maybe?"

He gave her a pursed lip nod as if that wasn’t going to cut it. She kissed his chest and then looked at him. "We could have a light dinner first..." She kissed her way up to his neck. "Then maybe you could put on your new shorts, and we could go to one of the tennis courts." After kissing him on the lips, she finished with, "... not the grass court, but one of the others, and then we could just see what happens."

"Okay," he grumbled.

They both held serious faces for a moment, but then became all smiles. She grinned. "When did you come up with this bit?"

"In the lobby. I was going to use it on the court, but it worked here, too, with a new opening. It was killing me to wait... It was a play on the whole thing. You know, if I was the woman, and you were the man and—"

"No, I get it. Very clever." She shot him an arrogant look. "I think I played my part well."

"Oh, yeah, you were great. Do you think if people heard us, with our constant pseudo-sexual-slash-tennis banter, they would want to kill us?"

"Definitely. After five minutes, they would beat us to death with our own racquets," she replied with a casual nod.

"Personally, I love us," he said a little sarcastically.

"Oh, so do I. We are a lot of fun."

He looked at her with a grin. "So, can I get those shorts now?"

Rolling her eyes, she pushed away from him and slipped out of bed. He tilted his head, and with his gaze glued to her shapely naked ass, he watched her disappear into the bathroom.

Jillian called her editor, who somehow pulled the right string and was able to secure a special after-hours slot on the grass court for them the next day. The blissfully-happy couple had a great match that he, in fact, was able to win. They spent the rest of the time eating, drinking, playing tennis on the hard courts, and having amazing sex.

Jillian’s plane was scheduled to depart before Brian’s, so he waited with her at her gate. When her section was called to board, they shared a long goodbye kiss. Afterward, she pulled away, gazed into his eyes and smiled. "I have a big thing planned for you for after graduation. I can’t wait... I’ve been working on it for weeks."

Narrowing his eyes, he gave her an intrigued look. "Don’t ruin it... I can stay until June 6. I don’t have to report to the bank until Tuesday now."

Her smile faded a little when she was reminded they would see each other for only a week before he had to start work. Together they walked to the empty gate. After handing her ticket to the agent, she turned to him with her smile only a faint memory. "Goodbye."

He gave her a quick kiss and smiled. "Hey, when you finally finish the book, e-mail me the last chapters. I’m dying to find out how it ends."

Nodding slightly with her expression unreadable, she turned and then rushed away before he could see her tears. As she walked into the tunnel, she softly said, "Me, too."

Brian spent most of his flight smiling, remembering the weekend and thinking of her. Jillian was also thinking about him, but she was fighting to hold back her emotions. After wiping away her tears, she opened her laptop and typed the ending to their story. Upon returning to Miami, she submitted the draft of her completed novel to her editor.

At the graduation for the Georgia State University Class of 2011, Jillian had two men to be proud of: her son, for whom she could openly celebrate, and Brian, for whom she had to cheer secretly. She saw Brian alone for only a few minutes during the few days she was in Atlanta. Brian’s parents and younger brother, Jim, were also in attendance, and the two families went to dinner together after the ceremony. Outside the restroom, Jillian and Brian shared a few words and a quick kiss, but only on the cheek, which was within the F.W.P.B. rules. Back at the table, Jillian proposed a toast, which she prepared for the two new graduates.

She smiled. "I’m so proud of you, Rob. You’ve grown into a responsible, caring, and motivated young man, and Brian, although, I’ve only known you a couple of months, I feel, um..." she began to get choked up a little and curled her lip as everyone at the table looked on, moved by her emotion. After taking a sip of water, she started again, "Sorry. My baby boy is now a college graduate, and it... um... I can’t explain it..."

Rob rolled his eyes, and Laura squeezed his knee under the table.

Jillian sniffled. "Anyway, good luck to you both, and I kind of stole this off the Internet, so don’t hate me... I’m a writer, and I should be able to come up with this stuff on my own, but this was so good I had to use it."

She held the note card with one hand and her wineglass in the other as everyone lifted their glasses. "I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your imagination, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart..." She began to really lose it. "... has ever longed... for."

Both of Brian’s parents and his brother were tearing up a little, along with Jillian, Laura, and even Jillian’s cheating bastard of an ex-husband, George. They lifted their glasses, all said cheers, and took a sip.

After pausing to collect herself a bit, she smiled. "I did change, like, three words in that, it was pretty perfect already, but I kind of had to make it my own."

Jillian and Brian shared a glance and a knowing smile. He was fighting back his own tears, and he wondered what percent of Jillian’s getting choked up was related to Rob and how much of it was related to the fact that their secret relationship probably had to come to an end at some point—maybe soon. He estimated it was in the fifty-fifty neighborhood.

She was thinking the exact same thing and feeling horrible that she had put herself in this position to begin with. But she thought if she could go back, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. As she pondered the percent question, she decided on a figure that he would have been ecstatic to hear—something closer to seventy-five percent Brian, twenty-five Rob.

The next day, Brian drove back to Delaware with his parents, and Jillian returned to Miami with her son.

A week later, Jillian picked up Brian from the airport. On the way to her house, they spoke about how she had sent Rob and Laura on the longest cruise she could find. Discovering an eleven-day cruise to the Caribbean, which set sail on the exact day of Brian's arrival, was a blessing for her, if not one hell of a graduation gift for her son. Neither said much else during the short drive, although Jillian did comment on the mustache that Brian had grown since graduation. It looked ridiculous on him, but she told him she liked it. She reminded him that she had that belated graduation present for him, and he told her he had a surprise for her, as well.

When they arrived back at the house, they went up to the bedroom. After tossing his bag on the floor, he grabbed her. "I missed you."

They kissed, and it grew heated as they began groping each other like they hadn't seen each other in months. Placing her hands on his chest, she pulled back from him a little, flustered. "Me, too, but, uh, let’s save this for later, after my surprise."

"Yeah, I’d like to wait until later also." He widened his eyes as he took a step back from her, trying to regain his composure.

She shrugged. "So, what should we do?"

After sharing a knowing look, he grinned. "Do you want to hit some?"

She ripped her shirt off, as did he...

It was late in the day; the sun was blaring onto the court at an annoying angle, and they both wore sunglasses to fight it off, especially while serving. Jillian won the first set, and Brian took the second. The third set was tied six-all, and they went into a tiebreak.

After a quick rest and drink at the bench, he stood and pulled off his wet shirt to change it. She walked to the baseline as he picked up a new shirt. After pausing to think, he grinned, deciding to go bare-chested. He walked back to his side of the court.

When she saw his half-nude body, she scoffed. "That’s not fair. I’ll be distracted."

"This," he began by motioning with his hand up and down his chest. "This is going to distract you?"

"It might."

"Take your shirt and bra off then. We’ll be even-steven, as you say." Placing his hands on his hips, he wore a smarmy smile.

She returned a scowl. "You know I can’t play like that. They’d get in the way."

"Not my problem. Just serve, and stop whining."

She was a little distracted by his sweaty muscular body, and he was up four–two in the tiebreak when they returned to the bench to get a drink and switch sides. As he walked back into position, she secretly stripped off her panties and tossed them into her bag. While walking to the baseline, she wore an evil grin.

He gave her an odd look. "What are you smiling about? You’re three points from losing this."

"Nothing." She batted her eyes at him before turning away coolly. He shook his head, now even more perplexed.

She walked back to retrieve a ball, put her legs together, bent over way too much, and flashed her naked ass to him. His pulse quickened at the sight of her.

"Are you wearing a thong? That is not cool."

"I might be," she teased.

"Maybe I’ll just pull
it
out right here. How would you like that?"

"That would be against U.S.T.A. rules, and you would automatically forfeit the match."

"And a thong is not against the rules?"

"No, it’s not." She stared back at him with her head held high.

He was obviously distracted while she played some focused tennis, winning four straight points and going up six–four. Smiling in preparation of her next ploy, she was just one point from victory. A ball sat on his side of the net, and he began walking to retrieve it. She stopped him. "I’ll get it. You’ll need all your energy."

He watched suspiciously as she walked all the way to his side and knelt down to pick up the ball. After pulling her sunglasses off, she lifted her skirt up in the front and used it to wipe off her lenses. This exposed her fabulously-trimmed female parts, which were just twenty feet from him. He had an unobstructed view of her as she wiped the glasses for nearly ten unnecessary seconds.

Stunned, he watched as she dropped the hem of her skirt and walked slowly over to him.

She got really close and said softly, "When your shirt was wet, you took it off..." Running her index finger slowly down his sweaty chest to his belly button, she smiled. "My underwear was soaked, so I did the same."