From Friends to Forever: Episode 4 – Trying to Avoid

KELLI

I blinked my eyes awake and groaned the second my tired eyes caught a glimpse of the sunlight pouring in through my windows. 

I inhaled the air and detected traces of the earthy clay I worked with and the natural oak wood of my shelves where I stored my pottery projects, both completed and in progress. My lavender and eucalyptus essential oils lingered in the air as well, but there was something new I smelled.

Not new in terms of never smelled before. Just new as in never smelled in my bedroom and when I first wake up.

The slight shifting motions in the bed to my right had me holding onto my inhale. 

And when I turned to glance in that direction, my eyes grew like flying saucers when I saw Ryder asleep next to me.

I gasped and immediately slapped my hand to my mouth. I turned my head away and shut my eyes really tight. For only a moment, I could see an array of colors with my eyes closed so tight.

A montage of memories from last night flooded my consciousness in such a rush I found myself using my legs to help me slide off the bed until I fell to the floor with a soft thud. 

I poked my head high enough over the mattress edge like a mole out of a molehill to peek up at Ryder and found him turned over onto his stomach now, still asleep.

I sighed with relief as I moved onto my hands and knees to crawl out of the room. On my way out, I grabbed the jeans and shirt I wore the day before. The clothes Ryder took off me right before we had sex in my bed.

We had sex.

Ryder and I had sex.

I had sex with my best friend. 

“Oh, my God.” I shook my head as I stood to my feet and tiptoed to his bedroom. 

Instead of going into my bathroom to get ready and head out—because I was most definitely about to head out even if I didn’t have anywhere to go, which I did—I decided to use his bathroom. 

And quickly. 

My mind raced with thoughts as I pushed open his bedroom door and dashed into his en-suite. 

Ryder always kept his room minimal. Dark wood furniture and the rest of his room’s decor colored in deep, rich tones. 

The sun glowed behind his drawn white curtains as I passed them, and his bed was covered in dark linen. 

I had to move his guitar, which was off its stand and randomly blocking the en-suite’s doorway, to access the bathroom. I went straight for the sink once I was inside.

I met my reflection in the mirror and noticed my tired red eyes almost immediately.

Damn. I knew my ass shouldn’t have agreed to smoke and drink with that man last night. Ryder was used to that shit. Getting drunk and high and waking up the next day like it was nothing. 

I pulled open his vanity’s cabinet and grabbed a spare brush head he kept in a bowl for his electric toothbrush.

As I replaced the brush heads on his toothbrush and switched on the unit, my eyes locked with my reflection in the mirror again and all I could do was shake my head.

Last night was so unreal. I don’t even understand how we went from talking to fucking.

That has never happened between us. We have never so much as kissed in our friendship.

And I couldn’t completely blame it on the alcohol or the weed because we’d done both before.

We’d done it enough times for me to know I didn’t like combining the two because of how I felt the next day. 

Not because I often wanted to fuck my friend whenever I was high and drunk.

I groaned as I leaned forward to rinse my face next. 

His scent was everywhere in his bathroom, mixed with the cedar and sandalwood from his face wash I had to use since my face wash was in my bathroom. 

After I was done with the sink and a quick shower, I grabbed one of Ryder’s graphic tees from his closet, jumped into my jeans from the day before, and then approached his door, peeking my head out. 

I couldn’t believe myself. But I simply did not know what I would do if I ran into Ryder right now. 

The coast was clear as I made my way to the door, but the moment I thought about stopping in the kitchen to brew some coffee real quick, I heard the flush of my toilet and literally grabbed my bag, and my denim jacket off the coatrack, and ran out the front door. 

It was by the grace of God that when I got in front of the elevator on our floor and pressed the call button, the doors peeled open. 

I was in the car so damn fast I nearly broke a nail stabbing at the elevator button so the doors would close.

Out of the elevator and heading toward Bellyful, my mind and my thoughts were centered on last night. 

I reworked the events, coming up with all the things I could’ve done to stop what was transpiring. But I just kept remembering how good it all felt. How comfortable I was. I hadn’t felt comfort like that since…

I stopped walking for a moment to rear my head back.

Because… I had never felt comfort like what I felt last night with Ryder.

“Oh my God,” I said, pressing my fingers to my temples.

I continued my walk and was in front of Bellyful’s door less than five minutes later.

A quick peek through the picture windows gave me a glimpse toward the back where Serenity and her fiancé Trey stood inside talking.

“Hey, y’all,” I said to the both of them. “Serenity, can I speak with you?”

“Hey,” Trey greeted. He bent his tall frame at the knees to meet my eyes. “You okay?”

“Great,” I lied, forcing a smile. “Never been better.”

“Uh-huh.” He moved his eyes to Serenity as he chuckled. “I’m gonna open the register and get the seating area set up outside.”

“Sounds good, babe,” Serenity replied. Her focus was on me when she asked, “What’s going on?”

I gestured toward the kitchen and led the way, and she followed.

“You’re scaring me,” she said once we were on the other side of the kitchen’s swinging door.

I spun to face her. “Ryder and I had sex last night.”

Serenity stared at me for a moment before she burst into a laugh. A loud, genuine laugh which made me scoff a laugh. Because if I wasn’t the one about to tell her this story, I’d laugh too.

“You are so funny,” she said through her laugh.

“I’m not joking.”

Serenity’s smile slowly morphed into a slack jaw. “You are joking. You must be.”

I shook my head then plopped into a seat on the island’s stool. 

“Wait, hold on.” Serenity gathered her strawberry blonde highlights and brown curls into a quick bun and pulled another stool closer to me. “You’re for real, Kelli?”

“Girl.” I released a stuttered exhale.

Her jaw dropped. “Shut the fuck up, Kelli.”

I squeezed my eyes closed. 

“So wait.” She leaned in. “Y’all just hooked up… just like that?”

I nodded then shook my head. “I mean, yes and no. I don’t even know how to describe what happened.”

“Was it just that one time?” She blinked. “Like y’all just had sex that one time and that was it?”

“Well…” I bit my bottom lip. “No?”

I was half asleep when I felt Ryder use his grip around me to pull me closer to him. My eyes were so tired and even more heavy but there was no denying what his touch was trying to tell me. 

“Kellz,” he whispered into my ear before pressing his lips to my neck. 

I recognized the voice, recognized who the voice was coming from. But instead of it seeming alarming in that moment, the voice did things to my body it never did before then.

He pressed his lips to my neck again, and I laid a hand against his head which made him moan against me.

“Ryder,” I said low. “We gotta chill.”

The liquor was certainly wearing off and so was the weed, and still I felt high off something.

“I want you so bad right now.” Ryder took my hand and directed it beneath the covers and against his hard-on. “See?”

Just touching it sent a zing between my thighs and made me moan as soon as I felt how hard he was.

His lips were at the edge of my ear when he exhaled into it. “Can I?”

“Ryder,” I whined.

“Please, Kelli,” he begged in my ear with more breath than tone. He covered my hand with his around his dick and used our grip to stroke him slow.

“Ugh, Ryder.” I bit my bottom lip.

“Put it in for me,” he breathed into my ear. 

“Ryder,” I panted. “We gotta stop.”

“Please, Kellz, come on.” He kissed my neck again. “I want you too bad right now it don’t even make sense.”

The feeling was mutual. So without another thought, I lifted him high enough until he was in line with my warmth, and I guided him inside me, the two of us moaning his entire way in.

“What?!” Serenity shrieked.

“Shh,” I shushed, stretching my neck to steal a glimpse through the vista view’s counter.

Serenity’s hands were over her mouth. “Yo!”

“Shut up!” I whispered.

“Wow.” She giggled. “I can honestly say I am genuinely shocked out my ass. Like, what a fucking plot twist.”

I closed my eyes then ran my fingers through my braids. “Tell me about it.”

“So what happened this morning?” Serenity asked next. “Did you two talk about it? What happened?”

“Girl, I snuck out the condo this morning.”

She jerked her head back. “You snuck out of what condo?”

“Our condo.”

Serenity hollered a laugh. I tried to cover her mouth but she slapped my hand away. “Eww, you better not touch my mouth with your hands you had on Ryder’s dick. Are you kidding me?”

“I’m gonna punch you in the throat for talking so damn loud, shhh!”

Serenity tucked her lips into her mouth.

“What y’all laughing about in here?” Trey asked as he pushed the kitchen door open.

“Nothing,” I said before Serenity could fix her mouth to say anything. I focused my attention on her and widened my eyes, signaling her to stay quiet.

Trey and Serenity had been together for years. They were engaged and business partners and the most perfect couple you’d ever see.

“Okay…” Trey chuckled, running his fingers down the sides of his mouth. “Tori just called and said she won’t be able to make it in at the Hoboken location so I’m gonna head into the city to open and manage—”

“I can go.” I shot up from my seat, nodding. “I can manage Hoboken tonight.”

His brows shot up. “You hate the Hoboken location. You complain every time you have to go there because of the club that’s two doors down from Bellyful and their loud music.”

“Well.” I cleared my throat. “I’mma love it tonight. I can supervise.”

He blinked in response.

“I don’t even need to go home,” I added. “I’ll go right now.”

“What?” Trey asked.

“Yeah.” I fanned my hands in the air. “I’m due for some new clothes anyway because of the new season. I’ll stop in the city before opening to pick up something for the night and that will be that.”

Trey glanced over at Serenity and she looked away, avoiding his eye contact.

“I can get a room in Manhattan close to the tunnel.” I nodded. “It’ll be cool.”

“Kelli.” Trey gestured with his hands. “Why are you acting weird right now? What’s up with you?”

“I’m… I’m cool. I’m not acting weird.” I forced a smile. “I just want to help out. You know how I do.”

His eyes moved to Serenity and she simply stared back at him. They were doing that thing when they communicate with their brows and eyes so I shoved her against her shoulder making her break eye contact with him and into a laugh.

Trey laughed in response. “Look, whatever. Cool with me. But instead of getting a room at a hotel, stay at my loft in Tribeca.”

“Oh, for real?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, dipping his hand into his back jean pocket. “My plants need watering and I need to get the mail out my mailbox so if you can do that, we can call it even.”

He pulled out his set of keys and singled out a ring of three keys, holding them up for me to take.

“The silver key is for the building, the gold for my loft.” He pointed at the smallest key on the ring. “This tiny one is the mailbox key. Make yourself at home when you get there. Aight?”

I smiled. “Will do. Thanks, Trey.”

“No, thank you,” he replied, approaching Serenity and running his hand down her cheek. “I don’t have to spend a night away from this one so I’m more than grateful.”

I blushed at the two of them. “Okay, let me go.”

“You sure you don’t want to go home and get some stuff, girl?” Serenity asked, wearing a grin.

“Ha, ha,” I mocked, rolling my eyes and hearing her giggle. “See you two tomorrow.”