Jason was singing in the shower. His deep toned voice was humming through the walls as he belted out the final note of a song he recently heard on the radio. The smell of his soap had floated through the crack under the bathroom door into the rest of the room filling it with a smell that reminded Caden of the men's cologne department in Macy's. In the mirror, she saw that her nose had taken on a reddish color from all the sneezing she had just done. She was allergic to cheap smelling stuff like that and he knew it but he continued to wear it despite her constant pleading.
Jason had come home in a rush, busting into the room, barking orders for C.K., at the time lounging in her favorite chair, to get dressed. He had rushed into the bathroom and as he undressed and turned on the faucet to the tub, he explained that Beatrice was having a black and white party. While in the shower he continued to tell her random things that happened to him. Random, unimportant things like how he had met some photographer she had never heard of. Every time he finished his story he would add an 'isn't great, baby Cay' just to make sure she had really been listening
"Yeah, that's great." She replied once he ended his third uninteresting story. Then he had begun singing, which brought C.K. to where she was, standing in front of the mirror staring at herself. Her hair, as usual, was an un-kept nightmare that she adored. She was entertaining the thought of not even combing it through for the party. She was already dressed, wearing the same black dress she wore to Collins get-together and this time she sported a black bejeweled flower on the side.
Caden didn't even notice when Jason turned the water off until he was standing behind her drying off his skin with a hand towel.
"That's a hand towel, J," she said. Jason looked down in mock surprise and smiled. The white of his teeth was a stark and scary contrast to his Mediterranean colored skin. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was hoping she would ask him to remove the cloth that covered all the major parts.
She didn't.
"I know," he said slowly. "You wanna grab me a big towel from the hallway?" There was a pause before Caden walked past him to the hallway and returned shortly with a big blue towel. When she outstretched her hand to hand it to him, he pulled her in, turning her around so her back was pressed to the front of him. His damp arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and C.K. fought off a bout of annoyance as the sides of her dress stuck to her skin from water droplets.
His breath tickled her neck as he whispered "I missed you today."
Caden couldn't help but smile. His familiar Macy's scent tickled her nose.
"I missed y—"sneeze "too."
His smile pressed against her neck. "I forgot you were allergic to this stuff." She let her head lull back against his shoulder as his body fell back onto the wall behind him. They stood there in silence, Jason's face fitting nicely in the crook of her neck leaving small kisses. C.K. felt her skin begin to heat and knew it was time to pull away from him and when she tried he tightened his grip turning her around quickly to face him.
"What's wrong with you," he asked softly. Forehead touched forehead so that when Caden looked up at him she was met with dark handsome eyes. "What's wrong, baby Cay?" His big hand went up to smooth out the back of her hair.
"I don't know what you mean," was her answer, as she tried to avoid his grooming. She had hoped to keep her hair untamed for the party but had a feeling Jason wouldn't allow it. That was an unspoken rule.
'When your out in public with Jason Maldonado, then you'd better look like a million bucks'
Caden looked like a million dollars.
But only when she felt like it and right about now she didn't feel worth anything.
"You know what I mean,' his perfect lips, met hers briefly. "You have barely said a word to me since I got home. I thought you would be going on about how great your breakfast with Collin was. Speaking of which, how'd it go?" Another kiss
"It was alright," her eyes were closed in expectance of another kiss. "I'm just...I don't know, baby. I just got a wake up call today."
Jason gave her a confused look and shifted his stance, spreading his legs a little and releasing his grip on her till it was just his hands on her waist. He held away from himself a little so he could look at her directly. His face had taken on a hard edge letting her know that he was serious. A heavy atmosphere had settled in the room.
C.K. was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and she had no safe place to put her eyes. If she looked to her left or right it would seem that she didn't care about the situation. If she looked up, she would look like she was about to cry or say something equally dramatic and if she looked down she would be staring face to face with a different part of Jason's anatomy that she wasn't, at that time, in the mood to meet.
'Maybe later,' rang in her ears and she couldn't help but smile. "Your naked," she stated, looking down at him unashamed. His black eyes followed hers looking down at himself, half erect and proud.
"So I am," his mouth tugged at the sides. "I'm worried," They're eyes met again. "You're resisting me tonight. The hand towel thing and this is kind of a ploy, if you hadn't noticed.
Despite Caden's semi dark skin, Jason could tell she was fighting off the color that threatened to over flow her cheeks. "We only have thirty minutes to get there and you, sir, are not even dressed. We don't have enough time for extra curricular activities."
"Thirty minutes is plenty of time."
She didn't know what to say to that. It was plenty of time to do what he had in mind, but like she was going tell him that. Instead she pushed away from him after a brief yet satisfying kiss and a quick slap on the butt.
"Get dressed."
She returned to her spot in front of the mirror disheveling her hair until she saw Jason return to the bathroom. She let a small sigh pass through her lips and closed her eyes rubbing her temple. How close had she been to telling him about her encounter with Jon? The words had been right there, threatening to spill over like an overfilled water bottle. And if she had told him...dear God, that would have been a train wreck.
"Hey C.K.?" Jason called from the bathroom.
"Yeah?" Caden's answer was quieter and she saw through the mirror that Jason poked his head out to see if she was still even in the room. "Baby?" He asked again, obviously not hearing her before. Instead of answering she turned and faced him. "Eh, baby, I want you to think about this before you answer me ok?" his whole body emerged from the bathroom and she saw that he was fixing the collar of his shirt.
The word 'no' was already playing heavily on her lips.
"I invited a friend from work-"
"A girl?" C.K. interrupted him.
"A friend...that just so happens to have a vagina, yes — but not one that I am interested in though. I love only yours, b—"
"You invited her to the party?" She hated it when he went off on a tangent like that.
When Jason nodded slowly she felt her blood heat. "And...can we just stop by her apartment and, you know, give her a ride?"
The shocked look that super glued itself to her face came faster than the understanding of his words. Had her boyfriend seriously just asked her to allow him to pick up a 'friend from work' and take her to a party with them? Was she seriously losing her mind?
"You're joking."
Jason cocked his head to the side a little and gave her a look that made her prepare for the excuses ready to come.
"Baby Cay, she is a nice girl. I work with her, its nothing. She's just looking for fun and new people. Nothing serious."
There was a thick pause in the air before Caden blinked a few times then said, "I'm sorry, I was just losing my mind for a second there, did you just ask me to let you pick up another women, and let her come to a party with us?"
"Baby-" he began.
"No no no no no no no. Are you serious?"
"Caden, you're overreacting. It's a friendship. Stop acting jealous. It doesn't suit you."
