Just a Friend

AUTHOR'S NOTE -- This is the second part of a trilogy. Reading the first chapter will be essential in order to follow the story.

Chapter Two: Just a Kink

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With both hands on the steering wheel, Mark took extra care to manoeuvre his way through the last few corners as he made his way back home. Allowing himself a quick glance at the dashboard, he saw the time was 7:57 a.m. But Mark couldn't focus as he knew the clock only told half the story. In truth, it was reckoning time.

His eyes were darting all over the place, tortured by the early brightness of the Sunday morning and the fact that he hadn't slept in almost 24 hours. It didn't take long before Mark's eyes shot a lingering glance to his wrists as he clutched the wheel. Thin, raw, red welts, in almost perfect circles, reminders from squirming in Lana's handcuffs all night. As he pulled into the small car park just outside the window of his and Jess' ground-floor flat, Mark switched the engine off and started to take as many deep breaths as he could, desperate to find the answer...any answer...to this predicament.

Sat perfectly still in the driver's seat, with one hand slackly holding onto the wheel, his heart sank as the reality of the situation made itself clear to him. Was he really the kind of guy to cheat on the woman he loved? The reflection only flooded his mind with fragments of the ecstasy Lana put him through. Fighting the memory, Mark knew what he had to do. He had to tell her...he had to tell Jess. He had to tell her everything...

The sound of the passenger door swinging shut couldn't derail his train of thought. As soon as he told Jess, he would be flushing his relationship down the drain. And it would be all his fault. As Mark made his way inside the apartment building's main door, he walked slowly down the corridor to the front door of his flat and tried the handle. He was surprised to find it was still locked, exactly as he left it when he hurried to Lana's rescue the night before. Mark was sure Jess would've been home by now, even if he'd let her down by not picking her up from Anella's.

Taking a second to dig his keys from his back pocket, Mark unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. There was no sign of Jess in the living room, and a quick dash to the bedroom revealed she wasn't there either. The flat was empty. With his heart pounding, Mark sat on the couch and tried to see how this would all play out. He simply had to tell Jess the truth, but what would happen after that? Surely, inevitably, Jess was going to ask him to leave, no matter how contrite and sincere he would be. With Jess away, Mark reasoned the best thing to do would be to pack a few essentials and stay at his mother's until he worked this all out.

Springing to his feet quickly, Mark went into their bedroom and grabbed his black gym bag. He took a few minutes to stuff some of his work clothes inside, long-sleeved shirts, trousers, underwear and socks. Despairingly, he ran out of space too quickly so went into the closet and stared at his suitcase, but that felt like too much for the moment and rummaged in the closet until he found an old Nike shoulder bag he had from his days at university. The clock ticked by as Mark darted around the flat trying to decide what items he'd need over the next few weeks. After cramming a pair of shoes and trainers into the second bag and struggling to zip it closed, Mark retreated to the living room and sat back on the couch, with the bags sitting on the couch seat to the left of him.

Mark reasoned Jess must have stayed at Anella's and could be home any minute, but he knew he had to wait and tell her about Lana face-to-face. He picked his phone up and thumbed through the menus until he called his mother, but after a number of rings, there was no answer. It was still early on Sunday morning so he decided against calling again and instead sent a quick text, asking his mother to call him when she saw his message. With another anxious glance at his phone, he saw it was 8:45 a.m. The time was flying by. Mark leaned back into the couch and cursed himself for being so fucking selfish.

Stirring from her slumber, Jess was so exhausted that the noise coming from Anella's bedroom was struggling to wake her. But once the clang of Anella's wardrobe door shut for a second time, Jess' eyes shot open and she felt a rush of panic wash over her. Jess sat up, bolt upright, and realised she was on the living room floor. The cold hardwood floor was pressing into her bare cheeks as her mouth hung open and she saw the pink pyjama shorts she slept in lying on the floor next to her. Anxiously, Jess grabbed them as she heard Anella's footsteps on the floor coming towards the door. Jess jumped to her feet and frantically stepped into the shorts, before desperately yanking them up past her knees and into place.

Jess made it with only a few moments to spare before Anella walked into the living room to greet her. Anella took a long stretch with her blonde hair tied into a ponytail and glanced at Jess. "Hey...did you get some sleep? That couch isn't the best for your back, I don't think..." As her stretch drew to an end, Anella allowed herself an exaggerated yawn. "Oh, did Mark get in touch after I went to bed?"

Jess' heart was racing from almost being caught with her pants down on her best friend's floor before the thought brought her to the same panic stations from a moment ago. Her panties, where were they? It was then that she reminded herself of the way she tore them off her hips only a few hours earlier, like she was on heat, and she looked down to scan the floor. It was then that she saw them, little black panties lying in a small heap just next to the couch.

With a nervous glance back to Anella, Jess took a literal hop across to the end of the couch and subtly kicked her panties under the couch and out of sight. "I...I just woke up the second before you came in, I haven't checked..." The alarm bells were going off in her head as she tried to work out why she couldn't think of a better answer than kicking her torn underwear under Anella's couch. At that point Jess glanced at the time, it was 8:01 a.m.

It was obvious that both girls were tired as Anella paced across to where Jess stood and reached down to adjust the couch cushions now that Jess had woken up. While she smoothed out the back cushions, Anella couldn't shake the feeling that Jess was so jumpy. What was that little hop she did a moment ago?

"Yeah...I'm sure he's probably called...or at least texted you to let you know where he was. Did you...did you hear anything weird through the night?" Anella gave the last back cushion a firm slap to restore it to its proper position. "I don't know what it was, a sound? Some kind of noise?"

With no appetite to get involved in this discussion, Jess reasoned that it was time to just get out of there. With each passing moment that she was awake, she was becoming more familiar with what exactly had happened the night before. Hearing Anella talk about text messages just had her mind swimming with what Lana had sent her. The very thought of what she did on Anella's floor...how many orgasms she had...it was starting to feel like it wasn't a fever dream, it was starting to feel real. "A sound? Maybe...maybe I heard something from the upstairs flat?" With that, Jess dashed over to the sofa seat and picked up her jeans before she hurried into the bathroom to get changed.

The change in Jess' demeanour was too much for Anella to overlook, she was just acting so strangely. Anella tilted her head back as she watched Jess dash to the bathroom, knowing that the flat upstairs from her had been empty for the last three months. Raising her voice slightly so it would carry into the bathroom, Anella called. "So...you're in a real hurry this morning? You don't want to stay and have breakfast? We can stay in or there's a nice place around the corner..."

The words carried to Jess, but she could only pay them a sliver of her attention as she kicked Anella's shorts aside and stepped into her jeans. Jess was only too aware that her panties were missing when she pulled the denim up her thighs and fastened the top button. Jess stepped back into the living room and placed a hand on Anella's shoulder. "No, no...it's ok. I'm just going to get the train home. I...we can... We can have a nice lunch at work tomorrow if you want?" Jess put her black shoes on and reached for her coat and bag, putting her arms through the sleeves of the coat and slipping it on.

Anella couldn't work out what was going on, maybe Jess wasn't feeling great? Either way, she knew that Jess was desperate to get out of there, for whatever reason. "Ok, yeah...that would be nice. As long as you're feeling alright? Jess...you look like you need to get some rest..."

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Jess leaned in and gave her friend a soft, platonic kiss on the cheek before she stepped towards the front door. "I know...I know...it's...it's ok. I think you're right, maybe a day in bed would be just what I need..." As Jess opened the front door and stepped outside, she pictured herself lying in bed all day and knew that the last thing she'd give herself was rest. Knowing that she was about a half hour away from her flat, the thought was terribly inconvenient.

Mark was thumbing through his phone as the clock ticked past 9:00 a.m. He was in the middle of considering when his mother would return his call when he heard the front door opening. Sat there, frozen, he looked up and saw Jess as she walked into the living room.

As she entered, she saw Mark sitting there and felt her stomach rise until it was lodged in her throat. For a moment, she couldn't take a breath as she looked him up and down. Her eyes were drawn to the clear and obvious red circles around both wrists. Jess let her eyes flutter and close, but that just let her mind show her the images of Mark lying trapped in those cuffs...with Lana's lips pressing against his...and the same heat started to build between her legs.

Jess knew she had to say something, but had no idea how to conjure the words. It was then that she noticed the two bags sat to Mark's left, swollen to bursting, was he about to tell her that he was leaving? Where was he going to go?

The silence had long since passed the point of awkwardness when Mark stood from the couch and then felt himself sit back down again. He looked to Jess and proceeded with caution. "Jess...the reason I didn't pick you up last night..." Mark trailed off then felt himself stand back up again as his heart felt like it was about to stop beating. Parts of him wished it could be that simple as he looked Jess in the eye. "The reason I didn't pick you up was because I...was with her..."

The theatre of the discussion was almost ludicrous to Jess, she knew exactly where he was last night...and what they were doing. The evidence of which was burning a hole through Jess' pocket as she was fighting the urge to study the footage in the cold, sobering light of day. But Mark's disclosure was tearing her apart. What were his intentions in the first place? How was this all going to play out? Were they going to fuck each other behind her back? Would they have said nothing at all? But then Jess realised, Lana told her everything...even going as far as to send the clips the same night it was happening. And here was Mark about to do the same? Jess felt herself dig her heels into the living room floor and tried to stand her ground against the onslaught of everything coming at her...all at once.

After taking a half step towards her, Mark sensed it wasn't right and then stepped back. Sheepishly, he reasoned he shouldn't be close to her. Not while he risked tearing her apart like this. Despondently, he attempted to clarify. "Jess...I was with her...I was with Lana..." With a shameful glance upwards to catch her gaze, he heard himself speaking once more. "I stayed the night...I stayed the night at Lana's..."

As he saw Jess' lips slowly part, at that moment he'd have done almost anything to stop her from speaking...stop her acknowledgement of his confession from becoming reality. Panicked, Mark's pace became rapid. "I was here in the flat last night, Jess. I knew that you'd get in touch when you needed a lift home. I was working on my presentation for this week when she...she just...Jess, she said she needed my help...She said she was stuck...she said that her friend couldn't pick her up and she was stranded..." Mark was staring into Jess' eyes desperate for some kind of non-verbal clue that his words were somehow making the situation better. "When I got there, everything...everything just got out of hand...Jess, it just got out of control. And it just...it just happened so fast...it was like I was walking into..." Mark heard himself making excuses and decided to bite the bullet. It wasn't time for anything but the truth, the least Jess deserved was the truth. He loved her; how could he have lost sight of that? "It's all my fault...Jess, I'm so sorry...I'm just...I'm so sorry..."

Despite her knowledge of the situation, every word of Mark's confession felt like a small surgical blade carving her into pieces. Jess felt her chest rising and falling, at pace, as a slight ringing in her ears started to make itself known. Her boyfriend, the man she loved, cheated on her and she was standing there taking it all in. Whatever high ground Jess imagined she stood atop started to crumble as her mind started to fill in the gaps for her. Only hours ago, on her best friend's floor, she watched Lana slithering up and down Mark's cock for only a few seconds and the sight made her explode, over and over again, until she passed out. All of it was driven by the same thoughts that had plagued her for eight days straight...thoughts of how she manipulated the situation to get Mark to keep in touch with Lana...

Jess felt light-headed as her own truth started to make itself known. From somewhere in her mind, Jess heard Lana's taunts from the night before. That familiar seductive purring reverberated around her skull as Lana goaded her. "Picturing you just standing there...refusing to stop me...daring me to do it..."

Jess knew that she was part of this too. She pushed her man into a situation that a saint would've struggled with. Jess set Mark on a collision course with the most beautiful seductress she'd ever known, and all because it was getting her so fucking wet. As for the truth? Once it happened and Jess had the clips in her hand...she loved every last second of it...

Sensing Jess was still processing his barrage, Mark felt compelled to slow the pace and seek some form of clarity. "Jess, I know that you're going to want me to leave and I know...I know...that's what I have to do. I can stay in my old room at my mum's place, and...I guess..."

The moment Mark suggested moving out, both parts of Jess that had been so divided this last week united for the first time. Like her brain had been separated cleanly down the middle, one part rational, one part becoming enslaved by the kink. But Mark's intentions acted like the connective tissue to snap both halves together...at last. Jess felt her fingers closing on each hand, knuckles tight, before finally speaking.

"Stop! Mark...just...stop..." Even Jess was taken aback by the mental gymnastics she was performing. That she'd been performing for days now. She realised that she was becoming quite adept at it. Mark was more than her boyfriend; he was the love of her life. A future husband that she could start a family with and spend the rest of her life with. There were no conditions where she was remotely interested in breaking up with him. Her mind kept reminding her of her own role in this. Yes, he shouldn't have slept with her...if they even slept at all...but she manipulated him. They're both in the wrong...but he gave her what she craved. He cheated on her, but she used him as a toy and was reckless. She loved Mark and needed him to stay.

Jess looked Mark dead in the eye and addressed him. "Please...just sit. Just sit down...there are a few things I need to tell you..."

Mark took a step back and sat on the couch. He hadn't had much time since leaving Lana's to predict how this conversation would go, but Jess' behaviour this last week had been catching him off guard.

Jess remained standing and kept Mark's gaze. This was her moment to keep the train on the tracks...at all costs. If he left, there'd be no more relationship...and no way to scratch the itch. "I haven't been honest with you either...Ever since that night at the bar, I can't really explain what's been going on. It's like...something's come over me...but it's in my head. It's like...imagine a virus in your mind, and no matter what you do...you can't get it out."

Jess felt the rush of blood to her cheeks as her embarrassment started to peak. "I need you to know that the very first time I saw you talking to her...at the bar...something went off in my head. Like a spark...like...like a bomb went off...I don't know...I've spent this last week trying so hard to understand..." Jess moved to Mark's right-hand side and slowly sat down. "I can't stop thinking about you two...together..." The confession drew both of Jess' thighs together as her fingers gripped the couch cushion she sat on.

With a hint of trepidation, Mark started to consider Jess' revelation, but couldn't begin to fathom what she meant. "You mean...were you...you mean you were upset? That...you were jealous I was talking to her?"

Shaking her head slowly, Jess' heart sank when she realised that she'd have to be crystal clear. To remove all ambiguity and help him understand. "If you can...try to give me a few minutes to attempt to explain..." Jess cautiously slipped her left hand onto Mark's to try and give herself the strength to continue. "The first time I saw her...Lana...leaning across the bar at you...and that gorgeous face...and those fucking tits...I don't know why...but...I felt it. I've never felt anything like it in my whole life..."

Mark kept his hand in place, before letting it turn and began softly holding Jess' hand as she spoke. He glanced down at her hand before looking back up and into her eyes.

Buoyed by Mark's touch, Jess kept onwards. "When I came over to the bar, that bet...everything inside me was telling me...screaming at me...to just tell the truth. But then, whatever this virus is...the feeling just got stronger and stronger...until it felt like it had taken over me." Jess shifted nervously as she ground her backside into the cushion. "I was horrified, scared, confused...but when I told Lana that you were just a friend...and she took your number...Mark, I swear...I can't explain why...I was so fucking turned on..." The disclosure jolted through Jess' body and she clutched tightly onto Mark's hand. "I could have had the biggest orgasm just standing right there...right in front of her...and it's been over a week and I just...I just can't think about anything else..."

Softly, Mark, open-jawed, rose to his feet and pondered Jess' bombshell, before softly sitting back down. Slowly, the pieces of the jigsaw started to fall into place in his head. "So...when I came to you and said that we should cut her off...that we should cut ties with her...just ghost her..."

Jess realised where Mark's train of thought was headed and looked away for a moment, before glancing back towards him. "Babe...it's not that simple. Whatever I've said about her...or what we should do...it's like I'm trapped in my own head. It's just feeding me thoughts and images...it's just taken me over. The power of it, the strength...the weight of it...I just can't act rationally when it to comes to you and her...you and Lana...and the thought of you together...babe, it just gets me so fucking wet..."