The Game

Helping J.T.

"This is not going to become a thing," I say when I finally catch my breath. I didn't expect to spend the night with J.T. and I most certainly did not expect to give in again this morning, but I couldn't help myself. J.T. is very good at distracting me from the chaos of real life. 

"What do you mean?" J.T.'s hands haven't stopped roaming my body for the past few hours. He leans into my side, breathing deeply, inhaling me. I've never seen this side of him and it's starting to freak me out. I sit up, moving away from him and he looks hurt. I want to move back to him but I'm not ready. He's my friend, just my friend. "I get it. It's too much, too fast. We can slow down."

"No," I start but J.T. pulls me back to him and plants his lips on mine to shut me up. I want to protest but then again, I don't want to have the conversation, so I lean into the kiss instead. 

We finally pull apart, for good, a few minutes later, and J.T. releases me. We lay side by side in silence for a few minutes, the only sound is our heavy breathing.  

"What did you need my help with?" I bring up the conversation from the night before. J.T. looks over at me confused. "With your brother," I say to remind him. His look turns serious and he sits up. Running his fingers through his hair, I can see his stress returning. 

"Oh, right," J.T. starts then he pauses and gets out of bed, going into his closet. When he comes out, he has a t-shirt on and sweatpants. He also is carrying a shirt. He holds it out in my direction while looking away from me. I'm suddenly very aware that I'm fully naked in his bed and the sheet that was around me while we slept is now down around my waist. 

"Thanks," I say and he nods, still looking away from me. I take the shirt from him and cover myself then I slide off the bed and hunt around the room for my panties. When I don't find them, I settle for my pajama shorts. The shorts disappear under his shirt anyway but I feel more comfortable with them on. I sit on the couch, to distance myself from the bed, and the memories of what we did there last night. "So, your brother? What do you need my help with?"

"To find him," J.T. says when he comes to sit near me on the couch. 

"Okay?" I ask, needing him to elaborate. "How can I help find him? You said Tom is already helping, I'm not sure how I could add anything." I try to be honest, it's not that I don't want to help him but Tom is the best option for finding someone.

"His last known location," J.T. continues, "was at a cabin in the middle of nowhere." When he says that, I think back to Emily's message from earlier this week. Our parents took her to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, which I realize could describe a lot of places but something doesn't seem right. 

"Where?" I jump in to ask. 

"I don't know, Nat, he couldn't tell me. Tom tried to pinpoint his location but found a general range, from the last cell tower his phone pinged off of," J.T. pauses again and I jump up. 

"I'll be right back," I leave his room before he can say anything and jog across the floor, back to my hall. It's still pretty early so everyone is still asleep. I find Tom's room and quickly pick the lock. When I enter the room both Tom and Theran are fast asleep. I walk silently to Tom's bed and a grin takes over my face seeing a sleeping Tom. I kind of want to slap his face for how he spoke to me and after learning he spied on me. But I can't J.T. needs him now. "Hey, wake up," I say when I kneel next to him. Tom's been woken up like this before, by me. 

His eyes fly open but he spots me and is able to stifle his scream.

"What...what are you doing in here?" Tom yawns and reaches for his phone to look at the time. "It's not even 5 am yet. How did you get in?"