ROULETTE OF THE DAMNED 5: Magical Mystery Ride II

They found a spot on the far end of the dance floor and Mofe’s hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. Abbey wanted to melt into him as much as she wanted to run away from him. The warmth of his hands created an intense fire on her skin that burned slowly within her. Panic set in. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way about a total stranger? Why am I finding it impossibly hard to resist the urge to nestle against his shoulder, kiss his neck…?

Abbey tilted her head up and was struck by how close Mofe’s lips were to her own. She backed up a step, hoping her complete lack of ease didn’t show. Whether or not she liked him, she wasn’t going to drool over any man. She had too much self respect for that.

Mofe winked at her as if he understood her reluctance, squeezed her hand gently, and led the way back to their seats beside Bukunmi and Edirin.

Bukunmi leaned in close to Mofe as the pair approached. “You two looked like you’ve done that before,” she said.

“I must confess,” Mofe said, “I have danced before.”

Bukunmi’s lips held on to a smile that looked more irritated than genuine. “I meant you two look like you’ve danced together before.”

Mofe gazed at Abbey, meeting her eyes and holding them.

She smiled despite the storm raging inside her. She was too attracted to Mofe and she knew nothing about him. I need to tread carefully.  I don’t want to jump from the frying pan to the fire. I haven’t felt like this since…Jiro.

Oh my God…JIRO! Abbey felt like someone had slapped her back to reality. She had forgotten all about Jiro after a couple of minutes with Mofe. This was definitely frying pan to fire! She had to remember to tread carefully and watch herself around this man.

Mofe’s eyes narrowed, his attention focused somewhere behind Abbey. She turned to find Nnamdi staring at them from a distance. She turned back, groaning.

Mofe cocked his head. “Friend of yours?”

“No,” Abbey replied. “An earlier aggravation.”

“I see. So he didn’t pass the probation period.”

“No,” Abbey said with a laugh. “He didn’t.”

Nnamdi stepped closer. His voice was low and menacing as he spoke to Abbey, “Esther, I thought you weren’t drinking anymore.” He looked pointedly at the glass in front of her.

Abbey followed his gaze and stared back at him without remorse. “I changed my mind.”

“I saw you dancing with this guy a while ago.” Nnamdi pointed at Mofe and continued, “Did you change your mind about dancing too?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Good. Then you owe me a dance.” He grabbed at her arm.

Irritated, Abbey jerked away from his touch and Mofe was beside her in an instant. He took a step toward Nnamdi, towering at least four inches above him. For a moment, he simply stared at Nnamdi, his expression indiscernible. It was only when Nnamdi tried to walk around Mofe to get to Abbey that Mofe spoke. “Touch her again and I’ll break every bone in both your hands.” He walked closer to Nnamdi. “Do you have any idea how many bones that is?”

Nnamdi glared at Mofe, and went back several paces.

When he didn’t reply, Mofe continued, “Each hand contains twenty-seven bones. Come one step closer and I’ll break all twenty-seven in the hand you use to reach for her. Talk rudely to her again and I’ll break all the bones in your second hand just for the fun of it. I’ll break them slowly to give you plenty of time to count as I break them.”

The fear on Nnamdi’s face was unmistakable. He muttered a few incoherent curses at Abbey as he spun away.

Bukunmi’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Wow! That was a huge turn-on.”

Abbey shot Bukunmi a look of irritation before looking at Mofe. “Thank you, but I don’t want you risking a fight for me.”

“It’s no problem. I’m willing to take risks for a good cause,” Mofe said. “Besides, there wasn’t much risk involved with that.”

“Uhm…Mofe,” Edirin interjected. “That was a very convincing threat. Would you really have broken his hands?”

“Absolutely,” Mofe said without hesitation.

“Damn,” Edirin said. “My last boyfriend would have made such a huge fuss and run away if the guy had tried to beat me up.”

Everyone laughed. After a while, Abbey heard herself talking, being part of the conversation, despite her growing need to protect herself from Mofe by withdrawing. Mofe would have to be kept at arm’s length if she could even be around him at all. She couldn’t explain why she had to protect herself from Mofe but she felt it, and her gut was rarely ever wrong.

What the hell has gotten into me? This guy is a complete stranger….a hot, sexy, break-my-stalker’s-bones stranger… but a stranger all the same. I am not the kind of girl that meets a guy in a club and lets him get so close. He must be a player. Maybe he even planned the whole thing with that Nnamdi guy.

Abbey could already feel the effect of the alcohol she had consumed. Great! The alcohol is getting to my brain and I can’t even think clearly anymore. I need to get out of here fast!

Abbey searched her mind for a plausible excuse to escape… a good – no, great – lie to get her out of the club and away from Mofe.

“I have to go,” she announced. “I have an early start in the morning, church and all.” Avoiding Mofe’s gaze, she focused intently on her friends.

Bukunmi looked at her curiously and asked, “The last time I checked, you went to church on Sundays. Tomorrow is Saturday.” Her flawlessly made-up eyes narrowed. “When did you start going to church on a Saturday?”

“I… uhm…” Abbey noticing the unmistakable smile – or was it a smirk – on Mofe’s face and knew she wasn’t convincing anyone with her lie. It was too late to change her story now though. She had to stick with it. “You are right. I attend church services on Sundays, but my church is having a concert tomorrow and I can’t miss it.”

“Oh? A church concert?” Mofe asked. “I’d like to come, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m sorry but no. All the seats have been paid for and there’s no way I can get you an invitation at such a short notice. Maybe some other time.”

“I’ll drive you home, Abbey,” Edirin said.

“No Edirin,” Abbey replied quickly. “Stay here and have fun. I’ll catch a cab.”

“I can drive you,” Mofe offered. “No need for you to get a cab.”

Abbey grabbed her purse. “No, really, I’m fine. You guys enjoy the rest of the night.” She briefly met Mofe’s intense, questioning gaze. It was obvious he hadn’t bought a word of her lie. She said, “Thanks for the drink. I had fun.”

Before Mofe had a chance to reply, Abbey spun around and started weaving her way out through the crowd. She could feel his eyes following her through the crowd. She couldn’t explain why she enjoyed his company and why she felt unbelievably attracted to a total stranger. Her attraction to him and her reaction to his touch was what scared her more than anything.

***

3 am.

The creaking door reawakened Andrew. The brutal slam of the door during Jiro’s last visit an hour ago had pulled the door out of alignment.

“Jiro,” he sighed in his grogginess. “You’re still awake?”

Jiro appeared a little less hostile now; he’d had an hour to simmer down since his last ‘delightful’ visit. Hands still crossed over his chest like he was protecting himself from something truly evil, he spat out “Sure, only someone like you can sleep after what you did. You had absolutely no right to do that!”

“Do what?” Andrew inquired, still sleepy.

“Don’t give me bullshit. You know what,” Jiro said irritably.

“Not really,” Andrew said with weary calm. If his friend was going to make him answer questions in the middle of the night, he was going to make him say the words. “Why don’t you tell me what is on your mind and get it off your chest so you can finally go to sleep?”

“Why didn’t you just lie to me? Why didn’t you just pretend?”

“Sometimes, we think we want to hear something and it’s until only afterwards that we realize we wish we had heard it under entirely different circumstances,” Andrew said. “I was happy keeping it to myself but you insisted I told you. You cannot be mad at me for telling the truth after you insisted I come clean with you about my sexuality.”

Jiro sucked in a deep breath, clearly revving his engine up to go nuke on Andrew. “Maybe I can’t be mad at you for telling me the truth but I have every right to be mad at you for kissing me. You had no bloody right to kiss me like that… to kiss me at all!” he yelled, his anger reaching an all-time high.

Ah finally… Ok, let’s get this over and done with, Andrew decided within himself. “Did I not already apologise?” he asked.

“So?” Jiro knew he sounded childish but he didn’t care. “Fucking apologise again!”

“I’m sorry…”

Jiro’s perfectly stubbled-chin tilted up defiantly. “Why did you do it? Kiss me, I mean.”

“It wasn’t because I wanted to, not at all.” Liar, Andrew inwardly chastised himself. He had dreamt of kissing Jiro all week. “I let Abbey’s words get to me and, for the first time, I saw you as more than my best friend…I started noticing things that I’d notice in a man I found attractive. It only started after Abbey spoke to me in your office on Monday. Does that answer your question?”

Irritated again, Jiro hissed and said, “You bastard!” Then, he turned on his heel, stomped out, and slammed the door – or tried to. This time, the abused door didn’t have enough gusto for a good slam. Jiro had to jerk it a couple of times until it closed.

Andrew stared at it in amazement. Yeah, he’s very pissed, he thought. His anger phase is on steroids.

***

3:30 am.

The door didn’t slam open any better than it had slammed shut. The sound was still effective though. Andrew almost flew out of bed thinking he was in his own house and under attack by armed robbers.

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” he snapped, his voice raised. “Stop terrorizing both me and the bedroom door.”

“I’m mad at you,” Jiro said with venom in his voice.

“Oh yeah? I can tell. Take a number and get on the damn line with everyone else that’s mad at me,” Andrew said, his bitchy side finally coming through.

“I’m not gay!” Jiro said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

Oh, so that’s the issue. Now we are getting somewhere, Andrew thought. “I know. I never said you are,” he said gently, finally understanding the inward turmoil his best friend was facing.

Jiro looked like he was trying to piece his thoughts together before he spoke again. “I don’t understand why I didn’t stop you earlier. I especially don’t understand why I – sweet Jesus – why I kinda enjoyed it.”

Enjoyed it? No wonder he is mad at me. Tough concept to wrap your head around, especially at three thirty in the morning. Thinking about Jiro liking the kiss stirred up Andrew’s shaft again. He quickly hid his hard-on with the duvet. “I’m sure it was the booze or the stress of the week.”

“Stop making excuses for me,” Jiro said in an irritated tone. Just as quickly, his concentration went back to his own jumbled thoughts. “I keep thinking about it.” Agitated again, he paced the area in front of the door, his need for a viable escape route evident. “Why do I keep thinking about that damned kiss?”

Oh boy, explosive subject ahead. Andrew, however, didn’t feel like treading carefully anymore. He looked at the wall clock: Three-thirty-seven! He wanted to go to bed and forget he’d ever listened to Abbey in the first place. “Maybe it was curiosity? You are a healthy young guy with very high sexual desires. How long has it been since you and Abbey had sex? Maybe your body reacted to the first intimate human contact it got. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Jiro paused in his pacing. “Getting hard over kissing you and having a funny twitchy feeling in my ass is not nothing! It’s not supposed to be that way – I’m not supposed to be that way. Hell, I’m not gay!”

Andrew’s patience wore very thin. “Get over it. Pleasure is pleasure.”

“You are such an arrogant prick.”

“Go to bed,” Andrew said to Jiro like he was speaking to a child.

Like an army marshal, Jiro started swinging his arms. “Why bother? I’m all wired up. I can’t sleep, even if I tried. And I have tried.”

Andrew looked at Jiro with a straight face. “Well I can sleep. So if you are done ranting, get out so I can sleep. I think you broke your door, but check and see if it will whack you anyway on your way out.”

Hands shoved from his chest to his pockets, Jiro glared at him and mumbled something insanely profane under his breath.

Andrew was done feeling guilty. If his friend was going to ask him to leave his house in the middle of the night, he’d leave. He was too damn tired to deal with any more of Jiro’s crap. “You keep hanging around, and I’m going to assume you want me to kiss you again.”

“What!” Jiro said with a look of shock – and of excitement which he wasn’t able to hide fast enough.

Andrew saw it.

Well, he did say he liked it…There had been plenty of evidence. So Andrew pushed the topic. It was 3:40 am in the morning for Pete’s sake, and he was tired. And perhaps more than a little horny. No, grouchy. That was it. Grouchy. “You want me to get you off? Is that what this is all about? Are you sexually frustrated? Do you want to see what it’s like to kiss a man again and have something stuck up in your ass until you come? I could even let you fuck me first if you’d like.” Andrew knew he was pushing it, but Jiro had pushed him too damn far.

Jiro froze. His eyes were dilated and he looked almost ghost-like.

Good, Andrew thought. Be shocked. Get away from me now before I find myself pinning you down on this bed. “Go to bed,” he said again. “And I’ll warn you right now, if you come charging back in here again tonight, wrecking that damn door, stomping your feet, and cursing up all the demons from hell, I’m going to bend you over this bed and make you come so hard your knees will be too weak for stomping and you’ll forget to talk, let alone cuss me out.”

“Fuck you,” Jiro said, with a little less gusto than before.

“Get out,” Andrew shot back.

Anger activating his legs, Jiro stormed out, yanking the door behind him. It wouldn’t shut.

“Leave it,” Andrew shouted from the bed.

“Prick!” Jiro called out from the door before walking away.

No way he was going to fall back to sleep now. Andrew fell back into the pillow, rattled to the core. His shaft stirred inside his sleep pants, throbbing in time with the quickened beat of his heart. Knowing himself, it wouldn’t take much to get off in this state, not with every nerve on edge.

Closing his eyes, he imagined kissing Jiro again. Removing his vest and sliding his hand under the covers bunched at his waist beneath the elastic waistband of his pants, he stroked himself, a long slow pull that started under his balls and up to the hot sensitive tip. Crap. Almost there already. From one stroke. The slippery fluid seeping from his slit was as hot as blood as he smeared it around the head, circling the top. Any more stimulation than that and Andrew knew he’d cum. His balls felt tight and ready to burst. Each circling caress of his thumb sent a shiver across his skin. His nipples tingled. Craving the stimulation, he pinched one, and the shiver leapt into his spine, arching his back involuntarily. So close…

The door creaked open, and light from the hallway spilled across the bed, his naked torso, and the nubs of his stiff nipples. Jiro stood silhouetted against the doorframe, posture tense and hostile.

Andrew had warned him.

What exactly did Jiro want anyway? To talk? Receive absolution for getting a hard-on? To give him another punch in the eye? Did he also ache for release? Or was it just curiosity? Didn’t he know that curiosity kills the cat? Andrew couldn’t take it anymore, not with his release so close.

The duvet brushed heavily against his pulsing shaft as he pulled it back and swung his legs off the edge of the bed. As he stood, the light shone on him, the thickened length of his erection, clearly visible beneath the thin cotton.

Enough! Andrew wanted Jiro to notice his aroused state. He was done playing nice. He wanted Jiro to know what the kiss had really done to him, what his presence coupled with Abbey’s words, had done to him.

“Get on the bed or get out of the room,” he said, voice thick and commanding.

“I –” Jiro started.

“Shut up and get on the damn bed.” There was no room for excuses. They would settle this thing between them right now. Words weren’t necessary.

A low sound escaped from Jiro’s throat, not quite a word yet not completely a whimper; something needier and huskier. A minute passed – an eternity it seemed – as Andrew waited in his agonizing state of arousal for Jiro to decide whether or not to cross the threshold, whether he would give in and quit denying what he wanted to discover.

Finally, with a shaky sigh, Jiro crossed over.

Andrew walked over to the stereo, put on some music, and reduced the volume. He walked over to the door and shut the door but didn’t turn the key. He wanted Jiro to feel like he would be able to leave the room if he wanted to. Turning to face Jiro with his hard-on, Andrew walked over to where his best friend lay. He pulled his trousers down and revealed his full length for Jiro’s eyes to see, to admire, and to understand his dire need.

Jiro sucked in a shaky breath and Andrew smiled. He knew that sound anywhere.

Andrew reached out to touch him.

***

4 am.

She knew it was late but she had asked the cabbie to drop her off at Jiro’s. She knew she wouldn’t be staying long so she asked the cab driver to wait for her. All she had to do was tell Jiro she was ready to give him another chance. Somehow, her physical reaction to Mofe had made her feel like she was cheating on Jiro. She hated the feeling.

Maybe I’ve been unfair to Jiro after all. He’s been trying to reach out to me, and instead of hearing him out, I’ve been acting like a bitch. Everybody deserves a second chance. Besides, he didn’t really deserve all the horrible things I said to him. How could I have even said he and Andrew secretly wanted to be lovers? I really messed things up. It’s time I made things right, no matter the cost. I’ll wake him up if I have to. I’m sure he’ll find it ironically romantic.

As Abbey walked up to the steps leading to the front door, she knew Andrew was here because she had seen his car parked outside. After her conversation to him on the phone, she knew that he might not want to see her, but she also knew that Andrew wouldn’t turn her away either. He was always the gentleman. He’d listen to what she had to say at the very least.

I messed up big-time with Andrew too. Andrew has been my friend for a long time and I can swear on the life of my unborn children that he is not attracted to men. I have to make things right and apologise to both of them.

Using the bunch of keys she retrieved from her purse, Abbey unlocked the front door of Jiro’s house with her spare key and silently walked in.

Written by The Controvert