Reggie's Girl Ch. 04

Chapter 4

"Jasmine, sweetie, you might want to scrub your feet before putting them up," Billie Wells said, a concerned eye on her lounging daughter's feet, perched on the faded lilac fabric of the armrest. "That's the couch Augusta Bennington gave to me."

Jasmine moved to put her feet on the floor and the older woman's expression brightened as she went on, "Did I ever tell you how that came about? It's such a funny thing. You'd never expect it of Augusta, but there is nothing hoity-toity about her at all. She was all smiles when we met at Justine's gala last month, perfectly gracious, you'd swear she didn't know she had a thirty-seven karat sapphire on her finger..."

Her mother's comfortable chatter was always soothing to listen to. Jasmine had heard her girlfriends groan about their mothers subjecting them to nonstop prattle but unlike them, she had never found the inanity of it irritating. Rather, she had always taken it as a sign all was indeed well if even Billie Wells' ultra-delicate nerves were this relaxed.

The illusion of peace was never more necessary than now to Jasmine. It was jarred, almost shattered by the sudden vibrating of her phone in her jeans pocket.

"What, again?" her mother interrupted herself with a slight frown, eyeing the buzzing bulge at Jasmine's hip. "Are you sure it's not important, dear? I know you keep saying that it isn't-"

"It isn't," Jasmine affirmed with a wry smile. She was all but positive that it was Bailey again, texting the name of some famous attraction in Miami. She took out her phone and checked - of course it was. "Trust me, it's nothing."

"Alright honey, if you say so... Well! Ilona insisted it was nothing but condescension, refused in an absolute fit of histrionics to accept what she called insulting charity, but I said..."

Jasmine nodded vigorously at her mother's words while she tapped out a reply to Bailey.

"Can't wait!"

Then she set aside her phone and gave her mother her full smiling attention. After a minute or so, her mother trailed off then gave a tinkling little laugh, raising a hand to her cheek. "Goodness, what am I thinking of? This must be the last thing you want to hear."

"That's not true," Jasmine protested in all sincerity.

But Billie Wells just shook her head. "No. Let's talk about you, dear. You know, sometimes I feel like we've hardly met. You never discuss yourself. Tell me what's going on in your life right now, even if it's just your plans for the weekend."

"I don't have any plans."

"Oh, for God's sake-"

"It's true! Actually, I was wondering if I could crash here for the weekend."

Her mother looked at her for a long time without comment, her brow knitting in consternation. "You... you're not about to get evicted-"

"No! Mom, come on."

The older woman could not hide her relief. "Well, then, of course you're welcome to spend the weekend, I'd love that. We don't get nearly enough time together, do we? But first, shall I make us some more lemonade?" She stood up and went to get it from the kitchen.

Jasmine began to answer before her phone started buzzing again. She picked it up with a sigh and answered.

"Hello? Bailey, honey, I'm really excited about our trip tomorrow but could you not-"

"Hey Jasmine," came the quiet interruption.

She stilled then sat up very straight. "Ted?" she whispered, only half believing it was him. There was none of the acrimony of their last meeting in his voice.

"Jasmine." Suddenly, his voice sounded deep and passionate. "God, I've missed you, baby girl."

"I've missed you too." His pet name for her, almost forgotten now, brought the rise of foolish tears to her eyes. She was still "baby girl" after all. "Where are you? When can I see you?"

"It's not safe for you to be around me, Jazz, you know that."

"I don't know why."

"And you don't need to."

"Of course I do," Jasmine said simply. She didn't have to say anything else. She heard Ted release a hard sigh, then answer with obvious strain.

"I'm sorry, but it's better this way. I shouldn't even be calling you, it's just... well, I had a weak moment."

"I'm coming to see you," Jasmine announced, already rising to her feet.

"Dammit no! Jasmine, this ain't something you can just barge into and fix for me."

"Someone's got to!"

"Yeah," Ted agreed at once, "and that someone's not you, it's Reggie McComb. He's been doing just that, and I like it a lot better that he's the one exposed to the risks, not you."

"Reggie McComb," she repeated soundlessly with her eyes closed.

She had known Reggie was involved in this mysterious business from the start, had come to surmise that he wasn't exactly the villain of the piece either. She was not quite surprised at Ted's admission but just the mention of the man's name overwhelmed her with a nameless emotion.

"...Jasmine?"

Her eyes snapped open again. "I'm here. I just... why didn't you just let me know-"

"That I was getting help from a known gangster, a no-good bastard who made his fortune selling drugs?" A dry laugh left him. "Just didn't seem like something to shout from the rooftops, nahmean?"

Boy, did she ever know the shame of getting into bed with Reggie McComb. "I need to see you," Jasmine stated in an abrupt change of subject. "If I have to come over there right now-"

She stopped midsentence as her mother was returning with a tray bearing a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses. To leave now would be impossible without hurting her mother's feelings.

"Tell me what happened, Ted," Jasmine requested, keeping her voice low. "What is it that you did? You know you can tell me, you can tell me anything."

"Tomorrow," was all Ted said, resigned. "I'll tell you all you want to know tomorrow, but please, just leave it alone for now."

"Okay," she conceded, then her lips gave way to an irresistible smile. "God- It's so good to hear from you again, Ted-"

"Oh, is that your friend Ted, from NYU?" Billie Wells enquired with a bright smile. At Jasmine's nod, she went on, "Tell him I said hi! It's been ages since he visited here last, I hope he's doing okay."

"He's good," Jasmine replied, then at a query on the other end, she said, "It's my mom, I'm spending the weekend with her at her place. She says to say hi."

"Tell her hi right back. I gotta go now, Jasmine, you gonna be alright?"

"Me?! Of course, I'm not the one in some kind of trouble..." Her voice trailed off.

"I'll tell you everything tomorrow," Ted reiterated firmly, if somewhat tiredly. "Take care of yourself, Jazz."

Before she could respond he had hung up. She stared at the phone for a while in silence. The relief spreading through her entire body felt like a healing balm. For the first time in weeks, it felt like her friendship with Ted may yet be salvaged. She savored the feeling all day.

It was inexplicable, then, that that night her thoughts strayed very far from Ted's brotherly companionship. Lying in her narrow bed, her sleep-drugged mind conjured fragmentary images of long, dark-skinned limbs twined with her own, not a stitch of clothing between them.

The stiffness of her nipples chafed against her cotton nightshirt. All of a sudden they were being soothed by wet, languid kisses followed by gentle suckling.

A blissful sigh escaped her lips. Her head turned back and forth on the pillow as she slowly shifted to lie on her back. Her knees drew up so her open thighs formed a welcoming cradle.

A familiar weight settled above her and pressed her down into the mattress, a heaviness her young body had learned to associate with the promise of earth-shattering pleasure.

How long had it been since she and her mate had lain thus? Too long, her fevered body insisted. He would have to nail her, right goddamn now! Her hips lifted off the mattress in a shameless display of impatience.

She wanted, needed the impaling she was certain was coming, the solid heat sliding into her aching wetness, the joyous friction to follow.

Even in the dark, she could see his eyes, a smoldering brown flecked with gold, soulful with desire. He wanted her too, that was plain. So why, oh why was he holding back?

There was intense pressure between her thighs, an emptiness that throbbed with ever mounting intensity till she grit her teeth and moaned from the torture of it.

A tear slid down her left temple, another down her right, somehow escaping past her tightly shut eyelids. God, she was literally crying for him! Did he have no mercy? Did he mean to drive her completely out of her mind?

"Now." Her voice was little more than a whimper. "Reggie, please-"

The shock of hearing who her lips were begging for jolted Jasmine awake. Her eyes opened and all she saw was pitch-black air. No pair of predatory, hypnotic eyes holding her own captive. No hard waist between her knees and definitely no hope, none whatsoever of being made love to tonight. By Reggie. For who else would do?

She had thought she'd escaped him, thwarted his ridiculous plans to take her to Miami. But even in her dreams he made her his, with her wholehearted consent. He was under her skin, against her will, against all that was right.

A sob burst from her throat. She quickly rolled over to muffle the next one in her pillow.

Whether it was from bitterness at her body's betrayal or the acutest sexual disappointment, she could not sleep until the first gray light of dawn appeared in the curtains. Then she fell into the dreamless torpor of fatigue.

When Jasmine next awoke, it was late in the morning. After showering and nibbling half-heartedly at a bagel, she called back Bailey who had apparently spent the entire morning trying to reach her, judging from the number of missed calls she found.

"Yeah, I know, it sucks," Jasmine rasped, running a hand through her dishevelled hair, "but what can I do? My mom started talking about how we don't spend enough time together, she barely knows me anymore - I couldn't tell her to hold that thought till I came back from Miami with my awesome new friends who she's never met."

The sound Bailey produced from behind her clenched teeth was pure frustration. "Mothers! How do they keep doing this shit to us? It's not fair."

"I know. Trust me, I know," Jasmine commiserated.

"You know this means I have to stay, too. I can't go without you, I don't know this guy-"

"Obviously."

"Who is he, by the way?" Bailey queried, her tone just a shade too casual. "Boyfriend?"

Jasmine drew a blank there and in the brief silence that ensued, the doorbell rang.

"Jasmine, do you mind getting that?" her mother called from her bedroom. "Ilona was supposed to drop off some stuff today. If it's her, just leave it in..."

"Friends with benefits?" Bailey probed.

"You've got a dirty mind," Jasmine chided as she left the kitchen and went to the front door.

"And you don't, Mother Superior? The man is an absolute fox, if you tell me you've never had one dirty thought about him, we'll have to figure out a penance for you - getting on your knees in front him might do for a start."

"Please, you've got it all wrong." Jasmine snorted, fumbling with the sticky door chain. "Reggie is nothing to me."

Bailey sucked in a dramatic breath. "Is that your final answer?"

"Spread the word."

Finally the door swung open and Jasmine was staring at a face that made her gasp as well. "Ted!"

Without thinking, she hurled herself into his arms, ignoring the squawks still emanating from her phone. Prepared for her, he caught her with ease.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry, baby girl. Please forgive me."

"No, please, don't apologize; there's nothing to forgive." She pulled back to look at his dear face, blurred by tears. "I'm just so glad to see you again. I thought I never would-"

"Jasmine." Ted yanked her back into his arms for a fierce hug.

"I thought you hated me. Because I-"

"Listen to me," Ted ordered, setting her at arm's length once more so he could look into her eyes. "I could never hate you. Never, you understand? And I apologize for making you feel bad, but it was never you. I just feel so ashamed putting you through all this. I should've been there for you and I wasn't."

"Shh, stop." Jasmine placed her forefinger over his mouth. "It's alright, it all turned out fine. I wasn't hurt so don't blame yourself."

"But I-"

"Don't!" Conceding to the no-nonsense look on her face, Ted did not argue further but wrapped his hand round her finger and pressed a kiss to it. All at once, his expression was unreadable. She gave him a small, uncertain smile but didn't remove herself from his embrace.

"If you're gonna move in on my girl," a voice drawled, cool but with unmistakable menace, "you might at least wait 'til I'm out of sight."

She started to look to their left but then Ted's arms tightened around her, bringing her breasts in light contact with his chest. She paused, and sent him a questioning look.

"Seems to me, you're already out of mind," Ted replied without turning from her, his voice hardening. "So much for being your girl."

"She is if I say she is."

"Seems you don't realize she has a choice in the matter."

"And I don't think you realize, your triflin' ass ain't really a choice to her anymore."

"Said the dude she ain't even look at yet," Ted scoffed, lowering his face to the side of Jasmine's neck. His voice muffled, he continued. "We tryna have a moment here, if you don't mind. Go fetch the lady some tampons from the store or some shit, make yourself useful."

A single footstep scraped towards them. "You wanna repeat that without your human shield, junior?"

All of a sudden Jasmine was spitting mad. "Oh for God's sake, Reggie, get a grip," she snapped, turning to face him at last. Her lip curled in disgust. "Is this why you followed him here, to get into a stupid fight about who I belong to?"

"I didn't follow him here," Reggie replied with the quiet tones that denoted tremendous umbrage. "I brought him to see you." His gaze flicked to the back of Ted's head and narrowed as if trying to induce spontaneous combustion. "I didn't count on regretting it quite so soon, though."

Jasmine's concerned gaze flew back to Ted's face. "How come he's here too?" she whispered.

"He had to tag along, he's the one paying the bills right now." The irritation in Ted's hushed voice was clear but she still couldn't believe she had heard right.

"What?"

"He said," Reggie answered for him in loud, obnoxious tones, "that I'm the one feeding him, clothing him and putting a roof over his thieving ass. That about right, Teddy?"

"Hey, man, I never stole nothing," Ted stormed, turning to face Reggie at last.

"Sorry," Reggie sneered. "I meant your snitching ass."

At that moment, there was a sound at her back and without even looking, Jasmine sensed right away the nervous energy of her mother. She turned to face her with a brilliant smile.

"Mom, look who's here," she trilled. "It's Ted!"

"Yes. Yes, so I see. Speak of the devil, right?" Her mother bent a kindly smile on Ted then her wispy eyebrows rose as she appraised Reggie's tall, all-black attired form. "And this would be..."

"Reggie McComb, ma'am." He stepped forward flashing a sociable smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Jasmine's man."

"Oh! But I thought-" Billie Wells stopped and looked at her daughter, still wrapped in Ted's possessive hug then glanced back at Reggie with a rather brittle smile. "Of course. I suppose she was just about to tell me about you. Please, come on in."

Over Ted's shoulder, Jasmine blasted Reggie with her aquamarine eyes. He responded with a dark smile, but all the same refused the invitation in the politest of terms.

"I appreciate the invitation Ms. Wells, but as much as I've been looking forward to meeting you, there's actually something I need to go take care of right now. I hate to leave like this but, ah..." He surveyed Jasmine and Ted, still locked in each other's arms. "I don't think I'll be missed too much."

The perplexed glance her mother sent her was shaded with disapproval, but Jasmine could not feel sorry for leaving her "boyfriend" high and dry.

"Buh-bye," she said, fluttering her fingers at Reggie. Then turning to Ted, "Are you hungry?" she asked, all concern. "I could whip something up in, like, five minutes, just say the word-"

"Well, I guess I could eat a sandwich before I go," Reggie piped up.

"Subway's right around the corner, Reggie, God!" Jasmine gave a small can-you-believe-this-guy? shake of her head then looked deeply into Ted's laughing eyes. "Come on," she said softly, reaching to take his hand in hers. "Let's go to my room."

"Can I bring you anything back, baby?" Reggie offered, then in the next breath answered wryly himself. "Never mind. I think I got it."

Billie Wells was a sensitive, decorous soul and it was deeply unfortunate, Jasmine thought, that she thought she saw in Reggie a kindred spirit. Rallying to his side, she reached for his wrist just as he was turning to descend the stairs. "Wait!"

Jasmine had never heard her sound so assertive before.

"I can't let you leave like this, Reggie," her mother went on with an apologetic smile. "I'd like to get to know you better, seeing as you're Jasmine's boyfriend and all."

Reggie gave her a somewhat bemused look. "Well, I guess we'll be meeting again sometime-"

"Good! Come on in, please!"

There was the barest hesitation on his part. Then he inclined his head and this time his smile was genuine. "I'd like that, Ms. Wells. Thank you."

This unexpected development might have troubled Jasmine, except that it signified Ted's return. She refused to let Reggie ruin their reunion, forgot him the instant Ted asked what was available to eat.

"I hope it's real food," he said with a feeble wince. "I've been eating so much junk I just might be radioactive now."

With a worried exclamation, Jasmine rushed him inside the living room, sat him down and proceeded to fix him a hot meal. He really had lost weight, she realized later as she massaged his shoulders. He'd always been of a rather slight build, but now he was just gaunt.

While her mother and Reggie sipped their coffee and made small talk, Jasmine ushered Ted into her bedroom. Shutting the door behind her, she turned to face her best friend as he sat on the foot of her bed.

"So what's going on?" she asked gravely. "And don't bother giving me the clean version. We can count on Reggie to give me the one that paints you in the worst light possible."

"Lord knows he'd enjoy every second of it," Ted muttered.

"Well?"

"I got into an altercation with this cat, he calls himself Krow," he began on a heavy sigh. "He comes to my uncle's restaurant a lot, so I kinda knew him. He runs a numbers racket, nothing major but... well, he's ambitious. About two months ago, I was coming off work and he gave me a ride home. On the way, he starts talking about how he's got a plan to rake in some real money. He said he'd been watching me, that I look like a focused guy and he wanted to offer me an opportunity."

"To do what?"

"He called it 'building an empire'. It boiled down to getting into the dope business. He said he'd found suppliers, and their shit was good enough to compete out here. He planned on starting small so there wasn't room for a lot of people at first. He wanted to start out with me as his right hand man."

"And what did you say?" Jasmine asked through the constriction of her throat.

"I said I didn't see how he could pull off a major operation like that; he's small potatoes, everybody knows that. He just laughed, said not to worry about money. Said he had a serious investor."

"Who?"

"Didn't say. Anyway, it was never gonna work. Where was he gonna sling this stuff? Around here is Reggie's turf, and crossing that dude would be suicide."