The Good Life

*Alex*

Today was the big day, Jack was coming over. I talked Rian into taking Cassadee on a date so I could have the apartment for the night. I honestly don’t know why I was so pumped about spending time with Jack. I barely said two sentences to the guy when we were in high school, and now I want to learn his whole life story. I tried to shake off the weird feeling as I set up for Jack and me; he should be here in forty five minutes. I made pizza for us to eat while we drank beer and talked.

It was 7:15 when I heard a knock on the door. Butterflies filled my stomach as I walked over to open it; I really wanted this to work out. Jack stood there with a six pack of Bud Light in his hands. I couldn’t help but notice he was wearing another Jagk shirt.

“Hey! Come in.” I welcomed Jack in our flat as he walked in with a big silly grin on his face.

“This is a nice place you have, it feels all cozy.” He sat the beer down on the counter and turned to face me.

“Thanks, but you didn’t have to buy beer, I bought some for us already.”

“Oh… well, think of it as a gift.” He looked like he was holding something back, as if he wanted to tell me something. I laughed and gestured for him to follow me to the living room.

“I made pizza if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, I’m starving.” He walked over to the kitchen, grabbed a pizza, and came back to sit on the couch with me. I turned on the TV to get rid of the awkward silence that was happening every now and then.

“So Jack, what do you do for a living?” I asked. He looked at me, mouth full of pizza and pointed to his shirt.

“Ohh! You make T-Shirts!” I exclaimed. That explains why he was always wearing those JaGK shirts.
He giggled cutely as he swallowed his food and begun laughing. I sat there confused; I didn’t get what was so funny.

“Alex, how do you pronounce the name of this clothing line?” he asked still laughing.

“Jag the K is silent, right?” He laughed even harder as I sat there still confused.

“What if I told you it was pronounced Jack…like my name.”

“Then I would say you were lying,” I hated to be proven wrong.

“Well, I would hope I know how to pronounce the name of my own brand,” he laughed as I just sat there for at least a minute trying to process what he had just told to me. It all made sense; him wearing Jagk and his expensive car, he wasn’t lying. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Jack asked me if I was okay.

“Yeah I’m fine, I just feel like a huge idiot for letting this all go over my head.”

“No, you’re fine. Lots of people pronounce the name wrong, don’t sweat it.”

I laughed and asked him more about his job. We sat there and talked for what felt like days, but were actually just two hours. Everything was fine except for when our hands accidently touched and he jumped as if it hurt him. There was something about Jack that I couldn’t explain, I really liked him.

We had somehow got onto the subject of relationships; I knew that he was gay and it didn’t bother me. Jack told me he dated two guys in college, one that was a jerk and the other moved to Texas. I found myself angry at the fact that anyone could dream of hurting him and a little bit jealous, to be honest. But why the fuck was I jealous? I told him that Lisa was the last serious girlfriend I had and I was currently single. He had a small smile on his face when I finished talking. We reminisced with our high school days for an hour, but then Jack said it was time for him to go. I got up and walked him over to the door.

“Thanks for having me over Alex, it was really fun. We should do this again.” he said in a shy tone, as he opened the door.

“No problem. I enjoyed spending time with you. And yes, we’re doing this again.” his eyes lit up as soon as the words left my mouth. The next thing I know he was leaning in and his lips were on mine. I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Do I push him away? Will I kiss back?

But before I could even contemplate what I should do, he was already pulling away.

“Shit Alex, I’m so fucking sorry! I-i.. I didn’t.. I.. I’m sorry.” He gasped and quickly scrambled out the door without another word. I just stood there, not knowing what to do with myself. I wasn’t angry or annoyed, I was just shocked. Not shocked that he did it, but shocked that it felt natural.

Rian and Cassadee walked in a minute or two after Jack left, and I was still standing there replaying what just happened in my head.

“Dude we just saw some guy with the 2014 BMW pull out of our building. That’s crazy, right?” Rian asked, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer I just stood there, petrified, still replaying the moment over and over in my head.

“Alex? What’s wrong?” I heard Cassadee ask.

“Nothing.” I whispered not even sure if they heard me. I couldn’t even hear myself. I was in a state of shock where I couldn’t even think properly, nor act like one. All I could think of were those plum lips connecting to mine. I felt normal, it felt right.

“You’re scaring us man, what happened?” Rian demanded. After much consideration, I finally concluded that I liked the kiss with Jack, but didn’t know how to tell them.

“I-i.. I had a friend over f-from high school while you guys were out, a-and he turned out to be the owner of Jagk,” I pronounced it right this time. “And on his way out the door h-he.. He..”

“He what, Alex?!” I heard Rian say impatiently.

“He.. he k-kissed me… and.. and I think I l-liked it…” I stammered but was able to say it, as I looked up to see them staring at me.

“Aw! Alex, you like him.” Cassadee yelled as she came over and hugged me. I flinched at the thought because it all seemed so foreign. I turned to see Rian smiling, and pulling me into a bro hug, telling me everything would be alright. I smiled genuinely, happy with all the support my friends were giving me, but it faded quickly when I thought back to how hurt Jack looked as he hurried out of the apartment.

I decided I would think about what I wanted to do with this whole situation and call Jack in the morning. I told Rian and Cassadee good night, got ready for bed, and laid down thinking about what to say to Jack tomorrow when I call. But we’ll just burn the bridge when we get there. Right?

Notes

I'm posting the first five chapters first just to see how well the story does.