Page 39 of Anyone But Me

“Would it be okay if I asked my coworker if she and her husband want to come over for lunch or dinner this weekend?” I asked Jax as we both lay naked in her bed.

I needed to get up and ready for work, but it felt so good to be lying here with her. Starting my day with sex definitely wasn’t something I was complaining about, even if I was now going to have to rush to get ready.

Ever since our ski trip a week and a half ago, we had been going strong in bed.

Any opportunity we had to rip each other’s clothes off, we took.

That was why I wasn’t sure if Jax would be okay with me having people over during our potential alone time.

I wanted to make sure Annika knew that I valued this friendship though, and the only way to do that was by making time for her.

“That sounds great!” Jax said excitedly. “I work early both days, so I can do dinner either night.” She hesitated for a moment, suddenly looking shy. “That is, if you want me here when they come over. If you just wanted time alone with your friends, I completely get it.”

I grabbed Jax’s hand. “Of course I want you here.”

“Good.” Jax leaned in and gave me a kiss. “Now, go get ready for work. I don’t want to be the reason you get fired.”

***

I was oddly nervous walking up to Annika to ask her about coming to dinner at my apartment.

Rationally, I knew it was no big deal. She was my friend.

I had spent time at her house. It was only right she would spend time at mine as well.

It was just different for me, and even though I knew it was a good thing, it was way outside of my comfort zone.

Unless she was busy, I didn’t think Annika would say no, but the fear of rejection still had me on edge.

“Anything I can do for you?” Annika asked with a laugh.

Shit. I hadn’t even realized I was standing right in front of her. “I was just wondering if you and Wren were free this weekend.”

“Totally free. We have nothing going on at all.” Annika tilted her head at me. “Did you have something in mind?”

I nodded, but it took me a few seconds to speak again. “I was wondering if you two wanted to come to my apartment for dinner on Saturday night.”

Since she said she was free all weekend, I didn’t want to mention Sunday since that was my prep day. Even Jax had learned the hard way that no sex was happening on Sunday until I had everything sorted out for the week.

“Of course! That sounds wonderful.” She lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “Is your roommate going to be there?”

“Yes. Jax will be there.” I took a deep breath. “There’s actually been some developments with that.”

Annika looked across the room and back at me. “It’s late so you probably already ate lunch, but do you have time for a fifteen-minute snack and gossip break?”

I looked back at the clock and realized it was already past two. I was so caught up in my work, I had totally forgotten about eating lunch. “I actually didn’t take my lunch break yet.”

“We can’t have that. If you end up having a mental breakdown from working too hard, yours truly is the one who has to deal with it.” She quickly stood from her seat. “Plus, I know I won’t get any work done until I hear what these developments are.”

We each filled our trays with food and found a table in the cafeteria, which wasn’t hard now that the lunch crowd had dispersed. My butt had barely hit the seat when Annika waved her hand at me. “Spill. I’ve been very patient. I need you to start talking.”

“Well,” I stared down at my tray. My face warmed as I thought about everything Jax and I had done together.

I had to figure out how to censor it enough to make it appropriate to talk about at work.

Plus, the details of what had happened would always remain between me and Jax.

I was sure my face was beet red as I thought about the different person I became when I was naked with Jax. “We had sex.”

My head shot up in response to Annika’s squeal.

She clapped her hands together and danced in her seat.

Thank God the cafeteria was fairly empty, or else she definitely would have caused a scene with her reaction.

“That’s so amazing! Who’s idea was it? Was it good?

When did this happen? Have you done it since?

Are you two, like, a thing now? If I’m overstepping, you can tell me to shut up at any time. ”

I laughed at her excitement. “You’re not overstepping.

I’m just trying to keep track of everything you asked so I can answer your questions.

It was my idea. It happened for the first time the weekend after Thanksgiving and has happened many times since.

” I racked my brain trying to remember what else she asked.

“Oh yes. It’s very good. Jax is… well, yeah. It’s great.”

“And you two are…”

I shook my head as a knot formed in my gut. I was sure Annika would be just as disappointed with my answer as I was. “It’s just supposed to be a fling.”

Annika sighed. “And given the look on your face and what you told me a few weeks ago, I can tell that’s not actually what you want.”

I shook my head once again. “I want it all.” It was scary to admit those words out loud, but they were true.

“What about Jax? Have you actually asked her what she wants?”

I could tell by the way she asked the question that Annika already knew the answer. She knows me way too well already. “I’m scared. I think she feels the same way I do, but I’m letting myself enjoy what we have right now before making it deeper.”

Annika picked a french fry up off of her tray and popped it into her mouth. “That makes sense. Either way, I’m very excited to meet her this weekend.”

***

Early Saturday evening, after Jax was home from work and I made sure Annika and Wren didn’t have any allergies, we got to work making dinner.

We decided chicken parmigiana was a safe option that we hopefully couldn’t mess up.

Jax put rolls into the oven while I started boiling water for the pasta.

We worked together to season and cook the chicken.

We had gotten so used to cooking together that we now had a system down.

It had gotten even better these past two weeks when we started stealing kisses every chance we got while we were making dinner.

I kissed Jax before flipping the chicken and adding cheese to it. Jax kissed me as she grabbed the pot with the pasta off of the stove to strain the water out of it. She kissed me again when she put it back on the stove.

Once everything was done and set to a low heat to stay warm, Jax somehow lifted me up and set me on the kitchen bar. She positioned herself between my legs and leaned in to kiss me, this time deepening the kiss as my arms wrapped around her neck.

I could have stayed lost in this moment forever, but a knock at our apartment door jolted us apart.

Speck ran to the door and spun in circles while he waited for us to open it.

Jax helped me off of the counter, and I ran my hands over my wrinkled shirt before walking over to the door.

When I opened the door, Annika and Wren were standing in front of me.

Annika was holding a small chocolate cake and Wren had a bottle of wine.

Wren waved the bottle of wine. “For all of us who are able to partake.”

Annika held up the cake. “And this is all for me, of course.”

I stepped to the side so they could walk in, and as soon as I did, Jax stepped up beside me. She reached out her hands toward Annika and Wren. “Here. Let me take that for you.”

She grabbed the cake and wine, set them on the counter and was immediately by my side once again. This time, she held out one hand. “I’m Jax. It’s very nice to meet both of you.”

Annika accepted her handshake first and shook it hard. “It’s so very nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Jax laughed heartily. “All good things I hope.”

“Only the best.” Annika looked at me and raised both eyebrows, then winked at Jax.

Note to self: kill her later.

Jax moved her attention from Annika to Wren. “And you must be Wren. Very nice to meet you as well.”

Once introductions were over, we walked the rest of the way into the apartment. While Annika and Wren pet Speck, Jax and I plated the dinner we had prepared.

Jax set two plates on the bar and two more on the coffee table, then gave Annika and Wren an apologetic look. “Sorry. There’s not much space here. You two can take the bar and we’ll eat at the coffee table.”

“Ah, so I take it Carter hasn’t told you too much about how dinner goes at our house, huh?” Annika asked. “We have a table and still choose to sit in front of the TV. The bar is perfect.”

Throughout dinner, we talked about our jobs and families and Wren and Annika shared more about their story.

“How long have you two known each other?” Annika asked after talking about her and Wren’s disaster of a first date.

Since she already had background knowledge about my relationship with Jax, I figured she was only asking to try to feel out Jax, so I stayed quiet so she could answer.

“We’ve known each other since college.” Jax elbowed me in the side. “This one just didn’t seem to think too highly of me until a few months ago.”

Did Jax really think that? She actually thought I used to have a problem with her? That wasn’t the case at all. Sure, she made me nervous, which always made my anxiety worse, but that had nothing to do with her .

“How did you two meet?” Wren asked.

I couldn’t tell if he was also in on the interrogation or just genuinely curious, so I took this question.

“She was my sister’s roommate freshman year of college, and then they ended up living together every year after that.

My sister decided to move to Philly around the same time I got my job at VisuSphere, so I took over her part of the lease and moved in with Jax. ”

Jax leaned against me. “Lucky me.”