Between Boyfriends (Book 1 in the Between Boyfriends Series)

Chapter 8

 "Ahh," Jan said as she sat up in bed and stretched her arms toward the ceiling. She glanced around for her phone and picked it up. The incident with Danny was a week old, but it felt fresh. She had experienced a few dreams in which Lisa and Becki had not interrupted them that night. They had all ended badly.

Last night, she had dreamed that Danny was about to attack her when Juan had swooped in on a white horse and chased Danny off. Instead of thanking him, Jan had stolen his horse and went after Danny to finish the job. The feeling of righteousness had persisted in her waking reality.

Jan began absentmindedly humming Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now". She was in a glass-half-full, don't-worry-be-happy kind of mood, thanks to her dream.

She glanced at the time. Or maybe getting up at, oh my God, it's only 9:30, instead of oversleeping was a good way to jumpstart one's day, she considered. Either way, Jan was going to ride this unexpected wave of positivity and do something productive for a change.

Going to work out seemed like the obvious answer. She hadn't gone since the first time she'd nearly collapsed more than a week ago. Perhaps she should finally give in and take the fitness assessment she'd been offered. She had called several times already to cancel — and each time had been rescheduled against her protests (pushy bastards) — but she was sure they could just fit her in whenever she felt like it.

However, her short burst of energy did amount to something. The number of things accomplished in those twenty minutes: three. Positive, important life changing things: sadly, none. Jan had gotten dressed, made some toast, and signed on to chat.

Her energy crapped out on her as soon as she saw a popup heralding yet another amazing new version of an app she needed to download.

How is a girl supposed to accomplish anything in life when she constantly needed to download new versions of the most important tools available to her?

On second thought, who wants to sit around and talk to weirdos on the computer all day? There are so many weirdos right here in this building that I can talk to in person. Jan headed over to Lisa's.

Sixty seconds later, Jan walked back into her apartment and went back to bed. Lisa wasn't home and Jan didn't know any other neighbors.

Three hours later, Jan woke up again, performed her morning ritual, and discovered one text message on her cell. This text inspired an idea for something productive Jan could do. It had been a reminder from Nichole that the Halloween deadline was three weeks away and for Jan to tell her the moment she shacked up with someone so she could collect her winnings.

She replied via text: friends don't bet on friends.

Nichole did not respond.

For the next week, Jan brooded on the subject. During the next Monday's class, she got a nice reprieve from her sadness when she received an hour massage. It was the first time the students had gotten to try the entire massage recipe they had been learning from beginning to end, and for once Jan was thrilled to be a recipient, now that Juan had eased off teasing her. His more relaxed attitude allowed Jan to relax as well. She realized his teasing must have been a cover for nervousness but wondered if his new familiarity was a good thing.

The end of the massage signaled Jan's turn to be the massage giver and a wave of stress washed away her relaxed attitude. Working on Juan when his nakedness was barely covered with a sheet was difficult. She was also scared of messing up the recipe, especially after he had followed it flawlessly. By the end of the hour, Jan was more than ready to return to her apartment sanctuary and unwind.