Page 22 of Not Your Enemy
“Okay, and I need a top to go with it,” I said, letting her take the lead in picking my entire outfit. She skimmed her hands over a few blouses before handing me a pink one I’d yet to wear.
“Here you go,” she said, walking back over to sit on the bed. She looked over at me expectantly, raising an eyebrow as if I were going to change in front of her.
“No, ma’am,” I said with a chuckle, heading back to the bathroom.
“I just wanted to make sure everything fit correctly, seeing that I’m your stylist and all.” I snickered as I got changed in the bathroom. Sliding on a pair of flats I brought, I grabbed my purse and looked over at Jade.
“Ready?” I asked this time. She nodded, walking over to me.
“You look beautiful,” she said, intertwining her fingers with mine. I took in her loose braid and black jumpsuit. Albeit casual, she looked stunning without even trying to.
“So do you,” I statedhonestly.
After a thirty-minute drive, we pulled up at a local grocery store. I grabbed a cart and pulled out my phone to look at my notes app as we walked through the automatic sliding doors.
“Why am I not surprised you made a list?” Jade asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Ha ha, I just wrote down a few things that we ran out of so I wouldn’t forget. It’s a pretty normal thing to do,” I said with mock irritation in my voice.
“Is my princess giving me an attitude?” She asked with thinned lips. The way she spoke sent chills down my spine. I thought about apologizing, but knew she’d have a field day with that, so I just let it go.
We grabbed the basics like eggs, milk, and produce. I grabbed some chocolate chips for pancakes in the morning and some stuff to make Mexican food since I knew Jade liked it. She mostly let me lead and just pushed the cart for me, smiling at me whenever I looked over at her. Her intense gaze caused me to blush if I looked in her direction too long.
Pulling up to the register, Jade grabbed some sodas from the mini-fridge for both of us and then helped me place our items on the line. I went to pull my wallet out of my bag after loading some of our now-bagged items back into the cart.
“I got it,” Jade said, paying for our items quickly. “It’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve been at the house. Besides, I asked you out on this date, right?”
"Right," I agreed with a smile.
Jade and I ate dinner together before making our way to the living room. We turnedPride & Prejudiceback on since we somehow still hadn’t finished it. Not that I was complaining; it was my favoriteafter all. We cuddled up together in the middle of the couch, the wool blanket loosely covering both of us. Looking over at her, I saw her eyes were pinned to the screen. Since she didn’t seem to notice me looking, I took in her messy bun that was barely holding up her heavy, long hair, the thick eyebrows that framed her light eyes so well, and her high cheekbones that blushed for me at the sweetest times. I thought about other scenarios in which I could bring a blush to her cheeks.
“What are you staring at, princess?” Jade asked, still not turning to face me.
I looked away, kicking myself for being caught. I scooted away from her a smidge, trying to reposition myself to fill the awkward space.
Grabbing my thigh, she scooted back over to me and turned my face to hers. There was barely any space between our lips as she spoke. “Why are you trying to hide from me?”
It wasn’t necessarily what I expected her to ask, but it struck a chord in me regardless. Her breath filled my lungs and overwhelmed me. I couldn’t think of anything to say, not that my words would come out clearly.
Leaning forward barely an inch, I pressed my lips against hers. She pulled away quickly, placing a hand on my shoulder to hold me back.
“You need to tell me, Libby. It’s getting to the point where I can’t hold back anymore. I want to kiss you everywhere, make you moan and squirm from my mouth and my hands. I want to make you come while you say my name like a prayer. But I don’t want to do any of those things until I know you won’t regret them. And as much as I love your sweet kisses, they can’t cover up how clearly your thoughts show on your beautiful face.”
She rubbed her thumb over my cheek while I panted from her words. They were so dirty, delicious, and true. I was in my head with her, always overthinking everything. It was just mynature, unfortunately, to over-analyze every situation, plan out things so they wouldn’t catch me off guard.
“Jade, I—” I swallowed, getting myself together. “I wouldn’t regret anything we did. It’s just that I don’t want to hurt my best friend. The pain I’d cause her would hurt me too. But I’d never regret you. I care for you so much already, in a way that makes little sense to the overthinker my brain is.” I smiled at her, hoping that she understood what I was poorly conveying. She kissed my forehead, pulling away from me and turning back to the TV.
We didn’t speak as the credits rolled or as we both walked up the stairs to our separate rooms.
“Goodnight,” I called to Jade before opening Jana’s door.
“Night,” she returned without looking back at me.
Chapter 14
Isat on the edge of Jana's bed with my face in my hands, contemplating all my life decisions. You know, a typical Saturday night for me. How did I get myself into this situation? Why couldn’t I allow myself to be happy without thinking about the pain it would cause me later? It was just so out of character for me not to think before I acted. Jade liked to live in the moment, to be spontaneous and loud. While those qualities attracted me to her, they weren’t ones I possessed.
Then I thought about Jana's lie to me, Jade never reaching out when she had. Jana was clearly holding on to a version of Jade that no longer existed. And that was her business, but it’s just like Jade said, Jana may call her an enemy, but that doesn’t make her one. And she’s definitely not mine.