Best Friends Ch. 02

Jessica was the same way when Lucas invited her and told her Justin would be there. "That's fine, baby," she said comfortingly. "I mean, I'm sure it'll be a little awkward at first, but I can't avoid seeing your best friend forever, right?"

So that was that. That Saturday, Jessica arrived at Lucas's place so that they could head over to the party together. When he opened the door, he had to pause for a second and take in how amazing Jessica looked. She was wearing a red dress that clung tightly to her slim figure until just below her waist, where it got a little more loose and flowy before stopping around mid-thigh. Thin straps held up the top, which was low-cut and revealed a tasteful amount of cleavage without looking slutty, although it was clear she was not wearing a bra.

Lucas's pants grew at the sight of her, but the dress also made him a little nervous. Was it a good idea for her to be looking this sexy when Justin was going to be around? Hadn't she thought about the impression she might make on him?

Jessica simply felt like she was wearing a nice-looking but not too revealing dress. It was a party, and she wanted to look pretty. But like a lot of girls, she wasn't fully aware of just how attractive men found her. Justin's presence had crossed her mind, and she had intentionally not worn some other outfits that were a lot sluttier. She was still a college girl, after all, and had plenty of clothes that she knew screamed "fuck me" for when she wanted to communicate that message. This dress didn't fall into that category, from her perspective. She liked it and felt good in it, but she didn't think it would give Justin the wrong idea.

If Lucas had been making this decision, he certainly would have picked something a bit more conservative. But he didn't want to make her feel bad or be a neanderthal about it, and it wasn't like she was going to go all the way back to her place and change into something else, so saying something about it would just make things awkward. Instead, he just eyed her up and down admiringly, smiled, and said, "Wow, you look incredible."

"Aw, thanks, honey!" Jessica said, leaning in and giving him a kiss.

Lucas wrapped his arm around her waist and took advantage of the looseness of the bottom of her dress. He easily slid his hand up her thigh and playfully squeezed her butt, which was mostly bare thanks to whatever skimpy pair of panties she was wearing. She giggled and slapped his arm. "Sorry," he said with a sly smile. "Seriously, though, the guys at this party are gonna be so jealous of me."

Of course, as soon as he said this, both of them were thinking about Justin. They both felt nervous about the three of them being together for the first time since that night. For Jessica, it was a "butterflies in the stomach" kind of nervousness, an anxiety twinged with excitement and even a little arousal, though she didn't want to admit that to herself. Lucas's feelings were similarly jumbled. He couldn't help but be afraid of some kind of repeat of last time, but it was a fear mixed with a queasy kind of desire that he tried to repress. At the same time, he was getting a thrill out of the idea of having Jessica on his arm in front of Justin, like they had competed for her and Lucas had won.

"Hey, let's not stick around the party for too long, okay?" Lucas said as he slid his wallet, phone, and keys into the pockets of his jeans. "I have one last joint. Maybe we could have a few drinks at the party, then come back here and smoke it and...ya know...?"

"Ooh, sounds like fun," Jessica said, smiling suggestively at him.

They walked arm in arm to the party, which was only a few blocks from Lucas's place. Both of them tried to calm their nerves and act casual, brushing any awkward thoughts about Justin to the back of their minds. When they got there, Lucas's friend Chris greeted them, clearly impressed at Jessica's appearance. Chris and Lucas were friendly but not super-close, so he hadn't yet met Jessica. Lucas introduced them and Chris welcomed them inside.

They were a little on the early side, so the party was not yet in full swing, but about ten people had arrived so far at Chris's fairly spacious apartment. Upbeat music was playing, but quietly enough that people could still have conversations. Cups and bottles of wine were laid out on his kitchen counter along with an ice bucket full of beers and an array of liquor and mixers. Chris invited them to make themselves at home and grab a drink.

They walked to the kitchen counter, where Jessica poured white wine into a plastic cup while Lucas popped open a can of beer. They looked around. Justin wasn't there yet. They both secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like they could use a drink or two before he arrived. It caught both of them off guard how nervous they were feeling. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal, but now that it was imminent, he was all either of them could think about. Jessica was even re-evaluating her wardrobe choice, wondering why she had thought it was okay to wear something so form-fitting and that revealed even the modest amount of cleavage that it did.

They downed their drinks quickly as they mingled through the small crowd that was there. Lucas knew a couple people there and they chatted with them for a while, then introduced themselves to a couple others Lucas didn't know. Then they returned to the kitchen counter and got started on their second drinks.

The apartment began filling up as more people arrived. Justin was now about an hour late, and the thought crossed both of their minds that he might not show. They each felt a strange mix of relief and disappointment at the idea of him not coming.

But then there was a knock on the door, and there he was, his tall, unmistakable frame in the doorway. Lucas and Jessica both stood silently and sipped their drinks as they watched Chris welcome Justin inside. He was wearing jeans and a simple, dark blue button-up shirt that fit snuggly to his muscular physique, the sleeves rolled up.

Justin quickly spotted the two of them, then smiled and waved as he made his way over. "Hey, dude," he said to Lucas, slapping his hand in a casual handshake, then pulling him in for a hug.

"Hey, Justin," Lucas said.

Then Justin turned to Jessica. As with every straight guy at the party whom Jessica had introduced herself to, Justin's eyes couldn't avoid traveling up and down her body, but he quickly got self-conscious and began glancing all over the room, trying to look anywhere else. He even started blushing a little, which Lucas knew was pretty unusual for him.

"Hey, Jess," he said finally, managing to make eye contact with her without his eyes darting down to her cleavage.

"Hi, Justin," Jessica said, smiling up at him even as she was now really regretting wearing this dress.

They all looked at each other in nervous silence, then burst out laughing at the same time. "Um...I really didn't think it would be this awkward," Lucas said, laughing.

"Nah, come on, it's cool, it's cool," Justin said, speaking as much to himself as he was to them. "We're all...we're all good, right?"

"Right," Lucas said quickly.

"Right," Jessica said with a nervous giggle.

"Okay...cool," Justin said, taking a deep breath. "Um...yeah. I definitely need a beer."

They laughed again. "Uh, yeah, we could actually use another too," Lucas said, shaking the empty can in his hand and glancing at Jessica's empty cup. They all went to the kitchen counter. Justin grabbed a beer, cracking it open and taking a big swig. Lucas and Jessica got their drinks as well.

"So how many drinks ahead of me are you two?" Justin asked.

"These are our third ones," Jessica said.

"Oh, damn, I gotta catch up," Justin said, taking another big swig.

They laughed, and it seemed like the discomfort was beginning to pass. They chatted for a few minutes, just talking about their weeks. Then Lucas took advantage of what was now a pretty big crowd of other people and peeled Jessica away to mingle and talk to some of his other friends. Justin too mingled with the crowd.

The next hour passed this way, the three of them occasionally reuniting and chatting, then splitting up and mingling again. Lucas and Jessica were both feeling more relaxed now that they had a few drinks in them, and Justin was indeed catching up to them, downing a couple beers quickly and taking a shot.

They all knew it was perhaps not the best idea to get too drunk, and they were doing their best to avoid it, but all three of them were feeling nervous and awkward, so they used that to justify their alcohol consumption. After a couple hours, all three of them were pretty tipsy.

Not that it was terribly noticeable, as everybody else at the party was taking advantage of the free alcohol too. The party was in full swing. Chris had dimmed the lights a little and turned up the music, so that you had to lean in pretty close to the person you were talking to and speak loudly to make yourself heard. Nobody seemed to mind, though, as it was now turning into a bit of a dance party. Chris had moved all the furniture to the edges of the room for just this reason, creating an open space for his guests to dance.

Like a lot of guys, Lucas wasn't that into dancing, but he knew Jessica enjoyed it, so he pulled her into the crowd. They grinned at each other and danced together, leaning in close and feeling their hot breath on each other's skin. Lucas was actually having fun despite himself, and they started working up a sweat. Feeling her body against his was definitely turning him on, and he was now really looking forward to taking her back to his place at the end of the night.

Justin, meanwhile, had found a girl in the crowd, just as Lucas had suspected he would. She was a foxy looking redhead, wearing the type of "fuck me" outfit that Jessica had chosen not wo wear, a very revealing crop top and a pair of cutoff shorts. Lucas laughed to himself. She was definitely Justin's type of girl. He relaxed as he watched them dancing together, the redhead grinding her butt against his crotch. His worst fears for the night were averted now that Justin had paired up with her.

The only thing he had to worry about now was the question that began gnawing at him: why was he feeling weirdly disappointed?

Jessica too spotted Justin and the redhead dancing together and felt similarly relieved, no longer having to worry that Justin might drunkenly make a move on her or something. But she thought she felt something else as she watched Justin's hands slide down the redhead's bare waist, gripping her body and pulling it closer to his. Was it...jealousy?

That's when Justin and Jessica made eye contact from across the room. Justin was of course already getting turned on with this hot, slutty redhead grinding on his dick, but his hard-on swelled when he locked eyes with Jessica. The look of desire on her face was familiar and unmistakable. He held eye contact with her and slid his hands up the redhead's body until he was lightly cupping the bottom of her tits as Jessica watched. The redhead just smiled and leaned back against his chest, not worried about all the people around who could see her getting felt up.

Few in the crowd seemed to care. They were having their own fun, dancing and laughing. Only Jessica was paying particularly close attention. But her eyes were locked on what was happening, even as Lucas stood there, following her gaze until he saw what she was looking at. Lucas saw Justin holding the redhead tightly against his body, squeezing her tits. But he also saw the way Justin was staring intensely back at Jessica the whole time. They only held eye contact like that for a few seconds, but it was clear in those few seconds that everybody else in the room might as well not have existed.

When Justin broke his gaze, he looked down at the redhead who was pressing herself against him. All of a sudden, he felt a kind of disgust toward her. She was pretty sloppily drunk and had thrown herself at him without even telling him her name. It almost felt too easy to take her back to his place, where she would probably let him do whatever he wanted with her. He gently pushed her off of him and quickly walked off the makeshift dance floor, sitting down on a couch against the wall. The redhead looked around, confused for a second, but then she spotted Justin on the couch and walked over to him, smiling seductively. He smiled politely back at her, but when she leaned down toward him, he put a hand up and said, "Hey, sorry to give you the wrong idea, but I'm not really interested tonight!"

"What?" the redhead said, offended.

"Sorry," Justin said simply. He was a little surprised at himself for turning down an easy piece of ass like her, but frankly, the thought of taking her back to his place bored him.

The redhead stormed off, rolling her eyes at him in disgust.

He glanced back over at Jessica, who had been observing all of this. She quickly darted her eyes away and saw Lucas watching her. She hoped he hadn't noticed any of this.

Lucas had seen everything, of course, but he pretended to be oblivious. He awkwardly smiled back at Jessica and kept dancing as a range of emotions swirled inside him. Obviously Justin and Jessica still felt drawn to each other. He felt hurt, jealous, and stupid for having thought they could simply forget the night they'd had together. But that wasn't all he felt when he witnessed that intense look between them. Jessica's cheeks had flushed red and her mouth had opened slightly as she watched Justin feeling up the redhead. There was no denying the lust in her eyes. In that moment, Lucas felt certain that she was picturing herself in the redhead's place, imagining Justin's hands moving over her breasts...maybe traveling down her body and underneath her dress...groping her butt or even reaching around to rub his fingers against her--

Lucas shook himself out of his reverie, trying to ignore the throbbing erection that had just sprung up in his jeans.

Jessica smiled back at him, too focused on acting like nothing had happened to notice that Lucas had been staring vacantly into space. They kept dancing for a little while before Lucas said he needed another drink, and they both walked over to the kitchen counter.

Meanwhile, Justin had been sitting on the couch, drunk and horny and frustrated. He was a little mad at himself. Why had he rejected that tight-bodied redhead? She would have spread her legs for him in a second. Of course, he knew the answer. It wasn't her legs he wanted to be spreading, it was Jessica's. And he could tell by the look on Jessica's face that she wanted it too, badly.

But obviously that couldn't happen. What was he going to do, tell Lucas that sure, they'd been best friends since grade school, but his girlfriend just made eyes at him for a second, so he was going to have to take her home and fuck her brains out like she deserved? He took a deep breath and decided he needed another drink.

The three of them arrived at the kitchen counter at the same time, and all of them stood there uncomfortably, trying to smile and look normal as they suppressed their true feelings.

"Uh, hey, dude," Lucas said to Justin. "Looks like you struck out with that redhead?"

"Oh, yeah," Justin said, waving a hand dismissively and pretending to laugh it off. "She was just being a tease, ya know?"

"Damn, that's rough, dude," Lucas said sympathetically. "Maybe, uh, maybe Jess should go talk to her and tell her what she's missing out on!"

He had no idea why he would say such a thing, especially at this moment, after seeing the two of them making eyes at each other. It just kind of popped out. Justin and Jessica both looked at him, kind of shocked.

Lucas looked away, blushing and forcing a laugh. "Sorry, uh, just joking around," he said.

Jessica and Justin looked at each other, then laughed awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I'm happy to talk to her and provide a testimonial or whatever!" Jessica said.

Again, they all laughed awkwardly, all of them somewhat in disbelief that they were actually referencing the fact that Justin had not only fucked Jessica, but had done an amazing job at it.

"Um...thanks, but I actually think I saw her grinding on some other dude already," Justin said.

"Aw, that's too bad," Jessica said, now smiling slyly at him and biting her lower lip a little.

Again, the two of them held eye contact for an uncomfortably long time while Lucas could only stand there and watch, but this time it was even more obvious. Both of them knew Lucas was right there, but still, they held their gaze, almost unable to look away. Finally, Justin glanced back over at Lucas and saw that he had the familiar, slack jawed expression that had been on his face for most of that night with Jessica. Justin felt something slowly bubbling up inside him, the same competitive instinct that he'd felt when Lucas was taunting him about his dick pic being fake. He reminded himself it was his lifelong best friend standing there. Deep down, a voice - his conscience, he supposed - was telling him to be decent and respectful and loyal. But at the same time, there was a darker, more primitive, more cruel side to Justin's personality. That side of him looked at Lucas and saw nothing more than an inadequate wimp who couldn't possibly be giving Jessica what she really needed.

Still, he wasn't about to just toss Jessica over his shoulder and walk out with her. So they just stood there. Justin stared Lucas down for a few seconds, watching him blush, break eye contact, then look down at the floor uncomfortably.

Jessica was fighting her own instincts. She felt like a feather could blow her over whenever she looked into Justin's eyes. She could feel the heat emanating off his body as she stood next to him. He had unbuttoned the top couple buttons of his shirt, and she could see a sweat stained white tank top clinging to his muscular chest. It looked so sexy. She thought about how the redhead had probably felt his hard-on pressing against her ass as they danced. She could feel herself starting to get wet just imagining it.

Of course, she loved Lucas, and felt strong pangs of guilt that she was feeling this way. But she also knew that if Justin made even the slightest move to take her to bed with him, she would be completely unable to resist. Besides, Lucas had just brought up that night with Justin out of nowhere, completely unnecessarily. When she looked at him and saw that open-mouthed, helpless (the word "pathetic" popped into her mind, but she pushed it away) look on his face, she couldn't help but remember the way he had enthusiastically jerked off watching them, the way he had obediently told Justin that her pussy belonged to him from now on because he knew he couldn't satisfy his own girlfriend.

Lucas, meanwhile, was trying desperately to ignore the weird fantasies that were playing out in his mind, but the alcohol had weakened his will power, and now the sight of the two of them staring at each other with lust in their eyes was too much to take. All he could picture in his mind was Justin peeling Jessica's dress off and having his way with her. And...he wanted it. As fucked up as it was, he felt like if somebody so much as brushed up against his crotch right now, he'd cum in his pants just thinking about the two of them together.

So even as a part of him was insisting that this was a bad idea, he took a sip of his beer and said, as casually as he could, "So, um...I'm pretty tired from all this dancing. I think maybe we should call it a night." He hesitated, knowing he'd be thanking himself later if he just stopped there, said good night to Justin, and took Jessica home with him. But instead, he swallowed uncomfortably and continued. "Uh, Justin, if you wanted to, like, head back with us and have another drink at our place...that'd be cool."