Girl Gets Her Man

Daniel Langier opened his eyes. Everything hurt. Well, not everything. Some parts felt pretty good. The pain in his knees and neck overrode most of the pleasure. He wasn't sure how they'd managed to do it, but he and Jo were wedged onto the tiny narrow mattress together. 'Oh yeah, I had to say we wouldn't fit. She had to prove me wrong.' He was bent like a pretzel with his love cuddled up on top of him. He wanted to move to straighten out his neck or legs, but she felt so good. He raised his hand off of her back and touched her hair. The soft springy jumble of curls hid her face. He slowly moved his fingers in and lifted the locks to get a good view of her dreaming face. She pressed her cheek into his chest and let out a smiling sigh.

'Hell, I'm not moving after that.' He let his hand drop on her head and looked up at the ceiling. 'It's taken so long to get here. God, she's beautiful! If she sleeps forever...'

The bedroom door opened quickly and closed loudly. He raised his head and saw Jesse looking him directly in the eye.

"Get up!" The hissed words didn't hold their usual malevolence. "Girl, get your ass up! They're here!"

"Whuh?" Jo raised up and looked sleepily at him. "Danny," she smiled. "I thought you said we wouldn't both fit."

He smiled but responded with a flat, "We didn't. I think my legs are broken."

"Look, didn't you hear me? They're here," Jesse hissed a little louder with her hands waving.

Jo slid off of Dan and hit the floor with her knees. She let out a groan and grabbed her back. The night hadn't been comfortable for her, either.

"Shhhh! Your dad and mom are sitting on the damn couch!"

Dan straightened his body and thumped his head on the wall above her headboard. He didn't let out a sound but he wanted to. 'Shit! They already hate me.'

Jo stood up and pushed at his knees so that his legs straightened out. The pain eased slightly to be replaced by the rush of blood to his lower legs. He clutched at his calves with a silent cry of pain on his face.

She picked up his nearest leg and wrinkled her nose at him. Jo asked the air as she ran her fingers roughly down his leg. "What are they here for?" He couldn't help but let out a low sigh as the pin pricks subsided under her quick pressure. She switched to the other leg and pressed her fingers in to loosen the muscles.

"I don't know. They're your parents," Jesse grumbled. "I told 'em you were sleepin'. I left out that part of it," she pointed to Dan.

"Oh, you don't have to hide him. It's not like we did anything wrong." Jo sounded so calm.

Jesse let out a slow, "Yeah, right," as she slipped back out of the room much quieter than she'd come in.

*

When Jesse left, Jo dropped his leg and turned toward her dresser.

"Okay, what are we gonna say? I don't know... I need to be dressed," she reasoned as she rushed for her drawers.

Jo pulled off her shirt and dropped her pajama pants before she remembered Dan was still in the room. She turned in her bra and panties to see him watching.

"Don't mind me. I'll just wait here while you sort them out," he half-smiled as he sat at the edge of the bed moving his left foot in slow circles. "Hopefully, I'll be able to walk when you get back."

'You do look better scruffy, don't you,' she mused as she got a shirt and pulled it over her head. His dark brown hair stuck up in all directions and his stubble went partially down his neck. 'He must shave that bit of his neck everyday. Why doesn't he just do the rest?' She straightened her shirt and turned to see him avoid her gaze quickly. 'You were peeking, weren't you?' Joanne remembered the way he'd held her the night before. She thought she'd responded the way that he wanted her to. She'd given him what he'd asked for. It was a little awkward to have a person touch her bare skin in places that hadn't been touched before. The feel of his warm lips on her shoulder had felt too good. When she jumped, she saw the look on his face. She didn't want him to be ashamed. Jo turned to face him and pulled on her jeans. 'I'll let you do more.' She saw his eyelashes flutter. 'Go on, look.' She hopped the last few inches over her hips and zipped them up. She watched his eyes travel up the zipper, across her abdomen then stop as he realized she'd seen him. 'I caught you!' She gave him a smile and walked over to him.

"You know, you can look. It doesn't hurt my feelings if you do," she said as she put her fingers on his scratchy face. "If we're gonna do this, you should be able to look at me." 'And, I'll work on letting you touch me. I mean, it's supposed to be a good thing.'

"Oh, we're doing this," he softly said in that voice just for her. "We're definitely doing this. But, maybe we should do this at some other time?"

"Are you talking about what I think you are?" 'Nah, he's not talking about sex, right now. Huh! Obviously, I am.'

"Are you sure you're ready for this kind of heat? You can just pretend I'm not here, and I didn't spend the night. You don't need to get them frantic, right now. We can do that when you flash that ring."

'What? No crazy talk right now. I can't deal with that and them at the same time.' "Dan..."

"It's planted in your mind, now. You'll see. You won't be surprised at all when it happens. You'll probably say its about time," he smiled as he put his hands around her waist. "You'll see." He gave her a kiss on her chin and a shove toward the door. She

*

"Baby," Joanne's mother, Karen called out as soon as she saw her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you guys doing here. I figured you'd humiliated me enough for one month."

"See, bay. She's fine. We can go home," James grumbled. "We don't need to find anything out. We talked to Jerry, last night..."

A flash of lightning went up her spine. 'What now? What did he say?'

Karen must have seen the look on Jo's face, because she went right into mommy mode. "Honey, Jerry isn't coming to family functions anymore. He says that's why you didn't go to the last reunion. I just thought the internship ran a bit long, but I think I knew in the back of my mind..."

"That's not what happened. I really was busy. Tell him, it's okay for him to visit you. I mean, I'm sure he'd miss you, if you cut him off like that," Jo worked to smile convincingly. "And, I'm not home too often."

"Don't do that," her father snarled. "Don't pretend nothing happened last night." Jo hadn't seen him this mad since she'd managed to decorate a nearly finished painting with little paper dolls. She was only six, but he'd fumed for weeks. He was blaming her, but this was different. "You made your point. You don't need a man. Not one we like, anyway. Why do you have to hurt him?"

"James don't..." Karen tried to warn him off.

"No, bay. I want an honest answer. What could that boy have done to make you walk out like that? You should have seen him. He was miserable."

"Last night, or before then, Dad? I've been avoiding him for a long time. Did you even notice? Did mom tell you what happened last night?"

"I know what happened. That Langier boy took after his father and stole you out from under Jerry's nose."

"Stole me? Please! I never wanted Jerry. So, if he didn't have me, nobody can steal me."

"Listen to yourself. What happened to my quiet innocent little girl?"

Jo looked at her mother for support, but the woman seemed unable to move, let alone speak.

"Aren't you gonna say anything at all?" 'You saw. Why don't you say something?'

"Don't look at your mom. Was it that boy? What makes him better than Jerry? Is he why you treated Jerry the way you did? Is that why you've got this attitude."

Joanne pleaded, "Nothing, mama? Not anything?" 'Don't make me do this, Ma.'

"Joanne Melissa Croix. You look at me and tell me you're still a virgin, and I'll believe you," James faltered toward the end.

Joanne shook her head at this absurd conversation. Her father hadn't even asked how she was before he jumped into this. It was nothing but an attack, because she'd disappointed him. "I'm not a virgin, Daddy. I haven't been for years. I don't know where you got the impression that I still was."

There was no gasp coming from Jo's mom. The poor woman had nothing under control anymore. After the events of the previous evening, she might have suspected. Karen let out a long sigh and frowned. James apparently hadn't been ready for that response. He took a step back.

"You can stop treating me like I'm twelve. If you want to blame somebody for how I acted last night, blame me or Jerry. I'm the one that told Jerry to leave me alone. He's the one that didn't listen. I wasn't 'pure' when Dan met me, so he couldn't have corrupted me. So, don't put this on him. He's been nothing but good."

"Joanne..." Her father tried to say something she didn't particularly care to hear at the moment.

"You know, you're right, Dad. I did treat Jerry pretty bad last night. Maybe, I should have let him hit me. Would that have made you happy? I don't think one punch woulda been enough. Would two or three?"

"Baby..." Her mother finally had something to say.

Jo raised her hands toward both of them and spoke slowly, "I need you guys to leave. I can't do this, right now."

They moved toward the door, but her father didn't want to let it go. "When? When do you want to talk about this, 'cause I want the truth. Nobody's been closer to you than Jerry, until now. So, I really don't have to ask who it was that... did the deed." He shook his head at her in anger, "You had to have liked him well enough, then. What changed? So he got mad. Maybe, because you've just thrown him away like garbage. You owe us and him an explanation. And for damn sure, you are not going to talk to me and your mother like this."

'I can't believe he's wanting to talk to me about this!' "Why should it matter how I talk to you? Who the hell do you think started this? Who did you leave me with," she said with her hands on her hips. "You left me alone with a man. You had him baby-sit me when I was way old enough to take care of myself. What did you think would happen? You don't want to know, and I'm sure not gonna tell you." She felt the tears sliding down her face. "Why couldn't you just have gone home when I told you to? Why couldn't you be on my side for once?"

Joanne felt a pair of arms wrap around her. "This is why," her mother soothed. "This is the first time you've cried in front of me in a long, long time."

Joanne closed her eyes and shuddered in an attempt to stop herself, but it was way too late. She clutched at her mother. 'Now, you help me?'

"I love you, honey," Karen softly said. "I knew you'd need me, today." Her mother nearly crushed the life out of her. "I'm so sorry I didn't see it. I should have known better. I thought the way Jerry looked at you was the way your father does. I didn't realize how wrong I was until I saw Danny. "

"Karen," her father said from nearby, "let's not say how Jerry feels..."

A bit of her mother's commanding presence returned, "That's all you've been doing, Jimmy. If you paid attention to anything but how you feel, you'd have seen it, too. The boy doesn't love her. He wants her, maybe because Dan does, but he doesn't love her."

Karen pressed a kiss on Jo's face and wiped at what was left of her tears. "We're gonna hang around town. I'm hoping to meet with Danny tomorrow at David's shop. I hope I can see what he's really like. Could you get him there? I don't think he'd come, if I asked. He probably thinks we're crazy. Or, one of us, anyway," Karen looked at her husband. "Until then, we'll let you study or whatever you need to do." Her mother pulled at Jo's lower lid and said, "Why don't you get some sleep, dear. You look exhausted. It's unattractive." Just as the thought that her mother wasn't as superficial as she remembered, she had to go and ruin it with one last crack. 'Yep, that's my mommy. At least she didn't say anything about ugly crying.'

*

She watched them walk down the stairs for a bit before ducking back into the apartment. She let out a sigh, 'Why does my life have to be like this?' Dan peered out from the hallway. When he'd made an assessment of the room, he strolled up and put his arms around her waist.

"So, we're gonna meet the parents, again?" She heard his inviting voice close to her ear as she felt the shock of something on her shoulder. She hadn't meant to jump, but it was a surprise. 'God, I don't know what's wrong with me. I want you to touch me, Dan. I do!' She reached out for his arm, but he'd moved away with his head down.

Without acknowledging her attempt to get him to do it again, he rubbed his hands together and headed for her cabinets. "So, how about some breakfast?" He'd pulled on his wrinkled dress pants and undershirt, which matched his disheveled hair. He looked in the fridge and pulled out a pint of strawberries then put them back in.

"No. I'm not hungry," she said.

He turned to look at her with a spatula in one hand. "You barely ate, last night. You're hungry. You'll see."

She watched his fluid motions as he cracked the eggs into a bowl and looked through her spice cabinet. 'Wow, he's good at that. Duh! He lives at a coffee shop. Look at that! He knows where everything is. No, don't look at his ass. Well, it is pretty nice. I'm not sure what to gauge it with though. Jesse says it's fine. Jesse. Shit! What am I gonna say to her? Maybe, we can work something out, until she can move out.'

"What?" She looked up from her thoughts to see Dan looking at her. "Do I have something back there?"

"Sorry," she blushed. "I hope you don't mind."

"You think I mind? Yeah, I mind." He'd seemed a bit angry in those words, but smiled as he set the pan on the stove and whisked the eggs.

"Why? I thought we were straight on this. It's okay for you to look at me..."

"It's not. Not right now. I shouldn't look at you like that," he said to the bowl.

"Then, how should you look at me. I mean, if you're not attracted, you wouldn't look like that."

He dropped his whisk into the bowl of eggs and faced her. "Truthfully?"

She nodded at him to continue. He was definitely upset and she wanted to know the real reason why.

"I'm having trouble being this close to you. I want to do things. Lot's of things that would take a lot of time and privacy. But, we're not ready for that. Let's just say it's better if I don't look, and you don't either, for the time being. First, I feed you. Then, we can sit down and talk about what happens next with a table between us."

She thought, 'He's being crazy, again. Not ready? He wants me. I know that, but why is he being so strict about how he gets me? I mean, after last night, I thought it would be okay if I let myself look at him in that way. I don't want him to treat me like that.'

He went back to the whisking for only a few seconds and glanced up at the look on her face. 'See, you're looking, right now!' He set the bowl down on the counter and walked over to her.

"Would you still want me, if I'm not so much of a gentleman?" He didn't wait for the answer. Dan scooped her up into his arms and pressed a kiss on her. She clutched at his arms for a few seconds before she pulled him closer by his neck, "Yes. Absolutely."

He rested his forehead on hers, "That's better. Little tighter?" He eyed her as he pulled her to his chest. "Yes, much better." He pressed his rough face to her cheek.

She kicked her legs slowly as they hung over his left arm and asked, "What am I doing in the air?"

"You said I could carry you around. I'm taking you up on it," he purred as he moved her toward the counter.

*

Even after the parental ambush, she was the most steady thing he'd ever seen. 'I don't like it when you shy away like that. I'll fix you breakfast, and we can go to my place, so I can get you out of your pants. Maybe, out of your pants. Not forcing it. No flinching. I gotta see you naked sometime!'

"That was last night, when I saw you struggle up those stairs. I didn't think you'd heard me," she grinned.

He set her carefully on the edge of the counter and leaned into her. "I listen to everything you say." 'And everything you don't.' "I just choose to disregard some of it, for both of our benefit."

She frowned playfully at him and took his face in her hands, "Let me down, please?"

"What did you say? I didn't quite hear that," he grinned.

"Danny, honey," she purred. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as she ran her little fingers over an earlobe. 'Christ, woman, I was only playing.' "Could you let me down so we can get some food together. I'm hungry."

"Absolutely, mi lady. But, you must pay the toll," he murmured less than an inch from her lips. "With what will we be pay..."

She bridged the gap with her soft, warm lips. He easily parted them and tasted her tongue. He ran his hands over her back and deepened his entry to her mouth. Her breath mingled with his as he felt her hands move up his chest. She let out a little moan, and he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. He flinched away from the second blow. "Fuck!"

Jesse held a wooden spoon in her hand like it was a club, "Get offa her, you pervert."

Dan easily moved Jo to the ground and faced Jesse for his safety.

"Good morning to you, too, Jesse," Jo grumbled.

"Ya'll are disgusting. I should go back to my room."

"Just for that, you won't be getting any pancakes. I'll make scrambled eggs and toast," Dan eyed her as he turned the heat on under his pan.

Jo let out a sigh, "We need to talk. Now."

Jesse huffed, "I know I'm out. It don't mean I have to watch the white boy slobber all over you."

Jo cringed. She didn't think Jesse was racist. The girl was doing that for effect. Daniel didn't bother to turn around and said, "I've been called worse than that, cher. You'll have to do better than that to get a rise out of me, this morning."

Jo pointed toward the living room. Jesse ducked her head and stomped over to the couch.

*

Jo stood there for a moment, in front of Jesse. 'Calm and collected.'

"Jesse, I'm sorry about yelling at you last night. I was angry."

Jesse eyed her, "I know. Doesn't mean I'll be cool with him in here."

"You don't have to be cool. You don't have to be rude, either. You don't even need to understand. I don't get it myself." She let out a breath for emphasis.

Jesse crossed her arms under her breasts, "Joanne. It's just. I thought you were different, but you're not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The man's cooking you breakfast. You were in bed with him. It's just what I would do."

"Huh?"

"Look. I know I've been a bit too strong, but I thought that's what you'd need to act normal."

'She thought I was strange?' "Normal? I've always been normal..."

"But, you've never even once shown the least interest in any of those guys I showed you. I can't believe the way you looked at Hot...Danny just now. After all of that work, all I had to do was show you a white guy?"

"It's not about Danny being white. It's about Danny being Danny."

Jo knew that Jesse was completely confused. She didn't quite understand why she liked him. 'He was so interested in me. It only made me interested right back.'

She sat down next to her friend and sighed, "Do you have the faintest idea how many times I sent that man away before I let him kiss me? It took months. At first, I couldn't even think of any man touching me, let alone kissing me. He took the time to let me know I was worth the wait. I believed him, Jess. Then, I found out about Candy." She let the silence hang between them before she continued, "He was embarrassed to tell me what was really going on."

Jesse frowned at her, "I told you what was going on."

"You left out the part about her sleeping around," Jo frowned right back.

"So, what. He wasn't keeping his legs closed, either."