The Sunshine Project Pt. 10

"Beck, I told you. I don't like going out on a Monday night. Maybe you can come by for another girls' night this weekend? Saturday or Sunday?" I saw how upset Jess was over the last girls' night, though she lied about it to me and pretended to have a bad dream. I know she was lying, but if I tell her that, it'll open the door for that conversation we can't have. I can't tell her we are not happening as a couple because it will break her. She'll leave me. I need her.

Beck shows her first hint of anger as her forehead creases. "I told you I can't get the money back."

"I told you, I can't stay out late. Beck, you have to respect that I have boundaries. I need to catch up on my laundry and eat something healthy. I need a shower, and to sleep early." I touch her hand lightly. It's not a romantic thing. At this point I know Beck and I are not compatible. She is too controlling. I just have to keep her happy until we do something with the guns. But I can't keep them at my place, and they can't be at Jess's place either. There is no other place to put them.

"You're really just going to stand me up?" Beck scowls at me, and I watch her nostrils flare. She hugs the stack of casefiles to her chest and shakes her head.

"It isn't like you asked me before you made the plans. You just made them and expected me to drop everything. You should've communicated." I realize I sound cold, so I calm myself with a deep breath and continue. "I promise, this weekend we'll make it up to you."

"We?" she asks, huffing.

"Me and Jess. Okay? We'll do girls' night this weekend. Saturday is great for us." Wow, I'm talking to her as if Jess and I are a couple. What's wrong with me? That's the fastest way to make her think we really are a couple.

"I have plans Saturday evening."

"Then Sunday. We'll have a great time..." I continue talking as I walk away. "I'll let you know later this week what works." I know Beck has court all week, that she won't be in the office much, which is probably why she wants to do something tonight before the hearings begin tomorrow. I just don't have emotional energy for her today.

I head home, jamming my Beartooth as I drive. I always use the drive to reflect over my workday or prepare for it--whichever way I'm going--but today I find myself thinking of Jess. She's been on my mind so much lately I feel like maybe I'm never going to be able to go back to friends like normal. Maybe I don't want to. I can tell she doesn't want to, but that puts me in a very sticky situation. Mainly because I don't see it ever working out between us. Jess is so perfect. I don't measure up to her in any way. I want her to be happy too, but I know I can't keep her happy. Just look at the way she drinks and passes out at times. If I were enough for her, that wouldn't be happening.

I should be heading home to do what I said, clean and shower, but the only thing I want to do is go straight to Jess's house. I want to have that important talk, watch a girly movie, and then relax. In fact, I want that so much my brain switches to autopilot, and I find myself parking in front of her house without thinking about it. It's scary how that happens sometimes. I'll be driving and thinking, and I wind up at my destination wondering how I got there safely because I don't remember any of the drive at all.

There's another car here too, one I don't recognize. I cautiously slide out of my Jeep and shut the door, leaving my bag there. Jess never told me she would have company tonight, and she tells me everything. Like, everything. So now I'm nervous that I'll be interrupting something. Maybe she met someone and invited them over. She isn't expecting me at all because I told her I was going home. If she met another woman I don't know what I'll feel. I mean I went out with Beck, but that isn't working out. How will I feel if I'm the other woman?

The thought wrenches my gut and instead of just barging in, this time I knock. I have a key. I don't need to knock. Jess told me her house was my house, and I could come right in any time. We discussed living together for a while, but I shied away from that. I know she likes her place tidy, and I'm a slob. I couldn't put her through that as a friend and now, more than ever, I'm glad I made that choice. This hair and nails thing has gotten so intense at times I feel like I'm going to ruin everything just by leaving the lid off the milk jug in the fridge--at my place.

Jess opens the door, white as a ghost and my heart stops. I instantly wonder if I've interrupted something, but she doesn't look flustered, she looks scared. "You okay?" I ask her, and she steps back so I can come in.

On her couch, Dean sits with a black, leather binder in hand, staring at me. Glenda perches next to him in a pink three-piece suit which is the only thing I've ever seen her fucking wear. I step into the home suddenly acutely aware of what Jess is feeling. They're putting pressure on her, and Cora is shrunken in this house somewhere, and she has to be sweating bullets.

"Hmm...." Glenda snorts and purses her lips at me. She knows Jess is a pushover, and I'm not about to let her walk all over her.

"What's this about?" I ask, shoving my keys into the pocket of my skinny jeans. The last time Glenda was here she was trying to take guns. This time, they're safely locked in the closet. Fuck, we really need to get them off this property.

"This isn't really any concern of yours," Dean says, slapping the binder shut.

Jess closes the door and walks around me. "They came to offer me money for the property and the barn. Instead of paying them the money I owe, I could sell the thing and make fifty-percent more." She bites her lip. She's actually considering this? That land is worth twice that, especially with the barn and the horse.

"Babe, what about Jackson? Gus gave him to you." I take her hand and squeeze it, a comforting gesture, not to be confused with holding hands. I make that very clear by not weaving our fingers together. I'd do this a million times a day as a friend. But God I feel the comfort of touching her, and it makes my heart long to remove her pain.

"Well, it's a good offer..." I see the hesitancy in her eyes. They've really gotten to her, and she's almost convinced. What fucking bastards! I feel my chest get so tight I almost scream at them. But I don't. I calmly tuck her away behind me and stand in front of her with my shoulders squared. She can't defend herself to people who are trash.

"The answer is no. And we're not paying your twenty grand either. Fuck off. We're getting a lawyer." I glare at them and Glenda glares back. Dean calmly stands and tucks the binder beneath his armpit and straightens his too-tight tie.

"Suit yourself. We have the money and means to fight this all the way. Good luck finding a pro-bono lawyer to get you out of the mess you're in." Dean walks to the door and turns over his shoulder. "Glenda, dear."

Glenda stomps across the room, and they walk out and as soon as they're gone I turn and pull Jess into my arms. "What the fuck, Jess? You can't give Jackson away. You love him."

Jess wilts, laying her forehead on my shoulder, but she doesn't hug me back. Something is really wrong. She's given up entirely. It's like she doesn't care what happens to Jackson anymore, or Shep, or us. After Saturday night with Beck she didn't even lock Cora up. Hasn't since. Even when Cora treated her like a liar and I put her in the basket, Jess went and got her out. What the hell is happening?

"Babe, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Jess says, turning and walking toward the kitchen. I follow her as she pulls out a bottle of liquor and a glass and fills it to the brim. Not a few fingers, I'm talking the whole fucking glass. It's a third of the bottle in one glass full; then she walks to the couch and sits down and has a huge gulp.

"We have to talk about this."

"No, just get the key out of the silverware drawer and bring the guns out here. I have a plan." She sets her glass and the bottle on the end table and rubs her face. I'm not sure what her plan is, but doing something is better than trying to force her to talk. I'm sure as we do whatever it is she's wanting to do, I can bring up some of this emotional stuff. I don't want her drinking the whole night until she passes out again. It's not healthy, and it breaks my heart. I feel like she's doing it because of me, because I'm dating Beck. But I'm not--not really.

I do as she said, getting the key from the silverware drawer and bringing the tub of guns to the living room. I set it on the floor next to the couch and sit next to her. "Where's Cora?"

"Upstairs." She sighs. "When they showed up I made an excuse of taking laundry upstairs and locked Shep up really quickly. I put her in my room in the hamper, but she's not locked in. When she saw them, she was as scared as me."

"Hmm..." I want to touch her, reach out and comfort her, but I know for me touching her is a bad idea. Touching will lead to so much more, and I want that more, but we have to stop before it gets too messy. "What else did they have to say?"

Jess looks into my eyes, and I feel her pain, like physically feel it in my chest. She's afraid, and it's not just about the house either.

"They filed a missing persons report for Cora. They wanted to know if I'd seen her. Said she went missing twelve days ago and she's nowhere in sight. Hasn't reported to college, blah, blah, blah." Jess talks with her hand and then covers her face, and I hear her crying. "What are we going to do?"

Oh my God, I want to hug her so bad, but I have to restrain myself. "Look the first thing we're going to do is hear your plan. You said you had one? So tell me. What is it?"

It takes her a moment to collect herself. She uses the sleeve of her t-shirt to dry her face then leans down and sorts through the box. She lays the freeze gun and the arousal gun on the table, and I'm confused. These are the ones that we know do something. We've tested them on animals or food, but we've never used them on each other. I definitely don't need an arousal ray at this point because I'm so fucking horny for her she doesn't even have to do anything to get me going.

"So?" I ask, praying her plan is not to do something ridiculous with these guns.

"Well, I need money to pay Dean and Glenda to fuck off. And we have these things. They have to be worth something to the right person, right?" She looks at me with pleading eyes and bites her lip. "We can sell one? Or if not, we at least have to go hide them somewhere, your place maybe?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Beck knows where I live. But yes, if Dean and Glenda suspect you of having Cora then we can't keep them here." I stare at the two weapons on the table. Rightly, she hasn't put the shrink ray here. I am happy about that because I sort of like it. I want to shrink her so she can get that experience; it was incredible. Our problems, however, are bigger than that. "You think the cops will come looking though? If we're selling weapons online?"

"I can't fucking do this!" Jess blurts out. She stands and paces the living room, then picks up her drink and starts chugging.

"Woah!" I snap, rushing to her side to take the glass from her. She can't chug all of this or it will kill her. I pry the glass from her hands and set it on the table, and she drapes her body over mine, wrapping her arms around me.

"Allie, this is so fucked up. I don't want to do this anymore. Can you take Cora and the guns and leave?" Her words are slurred. She must have been drinking before I even got here. I sway with her a bit while she cries, and I realize how bad I have it. Her tits press against mine and in any other circumstance I'd be laying her out on the carpet for a snack, but all I can think about is holding her.

"Babe, it's going to be okay. Let's just make Cora and Shep normal in the morning and we can send Cora on her way with the guns. She wants them, and they are a nuisance to us. Alright?" I rub her back in a small circle, and she nods against my shoulder. With the amount of alcohol she's had to drink just in my presence she'll be passed out in an hour. But there is no telling how much she had before I arrived.

I walk her to the couch, and she sits down, and as I sit next to her, she tries to kiss me again, cupping my cheek and pulling me in. Her eyes flutter shut and her lips part, and I am so fucking tempted to do it. To just put my lips against hers and go to town, but I know it will change things, and we can't do that. Not this soon. I'm not ready for our friendship to end over something as stupid as a kiss. I turn my head to the side, and she finds my earlobe and nibbles it.

"Make me come, Allie," she whispers into my ear, and I feel a shudder jolt through me. Her hot breath is electric, sizzling my skin. My pussy goes from zero to sixty in one point two seconds.

"God, Jess, you always do this to me," I groan, and she pulls away. I didn't mean it like that though. I take her hand and guide it to the waistband of my jeans, then unbutton them and let her slip her fingers into my moisture. "This..." I tell her, letting her fingers search. "You do this to me."

Jess grins and shoves her hand deeper into my pants until two fingers are hooked behind my pubic bone, buried in my pussy and searching for my pleasure zone. I whimper as I try to yank the pants off. I can't get them off fast enough, and I want her to get me off, because fuck, she knows what she's doing.

"You were already wanting this?" she asks, innocent eyes peering into mine. I wanted release all night, yes. I wanted her all night, double yes. Fuck, I've wanted her for days and now it's here, and I want her tomorrow already, and every day.

"Shit..." I hiss as she finds my g-spot and strokes it, her delicate fingers rhythmically swirling over the rough bundle of nerves. I rise up on my knees and shove my jeans down, but all that does is pinch my knees together, locking her hand in my pussy.

She leans forward and kisses my hip, then trails kisses down the inside of my hip bone to the crux of my mound. Her tongue pushes across my clit causing a jerk. I plant a foot on the floor and she steadies my hip with a hand, and all I can do is twitch as her tongue works me over.

"Mmmm," she hums against me as I manage to balance. As I lift my left leg, yanking it out of the jeans and panties, she aids me, pushing my thigh wider and pulling the pantleg off my foot. Her lips wrap around my sensitive nub and knead it gently, and her fingers thrust in deeper finding the base of my g-spot and rubbing it cautiously.

"Jess..." I hiss, bracing myself to balance, using her head. It's different this time, not at all hair and nails. I can feel it in every touch she offers. She's working me too slowly, agonizingly slowly. It's like she's drawing the sensations out of my pussy, but they're coming from my mind, from my heart. Maybe she doesn't even know she's doing it either, like subconsciously she's connected to me on a different level. Or maybe it's me, because I've been aware of how in love I am, and I've been refusing to feel it.

Her eyes look up at me as she pulls away, and I yank my sweater off and toss it, then remove my bra. My jeans still hug one calf as I watch her fingers thrust in and out of me. It isn't the way her fingers work that has me so fucking turned on. It's the way her eyes look at me, like I'm the only human on the planet, and she is wanting to make every one of my fantasies come true. So innocent. So fucking hot. I cup her cheek gently and instantly realize my mistake, so I cover by pulling her face toward my pussy.

Jess eats me in one glorious sensation after another. Her tongue slides through my slit finding the silky skin beneath it, searching for my entrance. I'm so wet, and she slurps at the juices and drinks them in. It makes me shudder, my knees going weak. I have to force myself to stay upright.

"Oh God... oh my God, Jess." I grab her head as she really goes to town, shaking her head back and forth, her tongue swishing over my lips. It's so amazing; she's so amazing. God, I'm so in love with her, and I want to say it, but I bite it back. I can't.

"Hmmm," she sighs softly and pulls away. I am so close, and she is savoring the moment. She stares up at me with a soft smile, not her normal cheeky smirk, not a grin of arousal--it's different. Her thumb presses over my hooded clit and her fingers work my insides. "What next?" she asks, still massaging me.

I close my eyes and have a deep breath. Clenching my pussy around her fingers, I bring my other leg off the couch and put my foot on the floor. "Next you take your clothes off." I want to do really bad things to her, like so bad she'd never look at me the same way again, only it's not her style. She's not like me; I have to remind myself of that.

Jess stands, swaying a little, and undresses slowly. The entire time she does she keeps her eyes seductively locked on mine. I've never had a sexual encounter where the tingling chemistry between me and my partner continued to increase even after I'd been penetrated, but there is a first time for everything. Because Jess and the way she makes me feel only gets more intense as we stand there inches apart staring into each other's eyes.

"Can I shrink you?" I ask playfully, my own fingers now touching my soft folds. She's lapped up all my moisture but my body'll make more. All she has to do is look at me and that happens.

"Ah," she giggles, "I'm not sure." She kneels, and I think she's going to eat me again, but she only tugs my jeans off my right leg and then stands. I've strictly forbidden kissing, and she knows that, but I never put a limit on anything else and maybe I should have, because Jess takes me by the hips and pulls my body against hers. We meld together from shoulders to knees, and she grabs my ass.

"Oh God," I whimper. She's wasted and has no clue what she's doing to me, and I'm stone-cold fucking sober and loving every bit of it, except the agony of knowing I can't have this. I can't enjoy this. I can't love her. But God do I want to. "Oh my God."

"Put your pussy against mine, Allie." Her breath is thick with alcohol, words so slurred I barely understand. And her lips are dangerously close to mine, and now she wants my pussy on hers? This is so fucking intimate. This isn't just fisting and oral to get off; this is soul damning connection, and I am her fucking pawn to do as she will.

"Okay," I mumble not able to resist her perfect pout. She takes my hand as she sits on the couch and raises one leg. Her left calf stretches along the back of the couch, while her right foot remains on the floor, and she looks up at me with pure affection in her eyes. She relinquishes my hand and touches herself, and I stare down at her spread legs, devouring the sight of her moisture. It's smeared down both thighs, lips spread. Her tight little hole begs to be stretched, so maybe I'll stretch it, but first I kneel with my right knee between her legs and my left leg on the other side of her right one. My pussy is only inches from touching hers.

I'm experienced, had sex with several women already, but this is something I've never done, and not because I didn't want to. When I told Jess lips are for love I meant these lips too. My pussy has never touched a woman like this, though plenty of women have touched me. And if Jess was a virgin a few weeks ago, I know it's a first for her too.

I look her in the eye and lower myself slowly. I feel the heat from her pussy radiating upward, her moisture against my inner thigh as I sink.

And then--an explosion inside my chest as my lips brush against hers, my juices mingling with hers. I grind against her, rubbing my pussy over and over across hers. She moans softly and rests her hand on my thigh. It's phenomenal, better than I ever anticipated. I have to take my eyes from hers because I will cry if I don't. I hug her thigh to my chest as I grind on her so painfully slow, I feel her lips crushing mine. Her clit is hard and swollen, and her fingers push between us to touch mine.