What They Deserve

THIRTY-EIGHT

Prior to Bailey getting to his place the night of the celebration dinner, Sasha had shown up.
          
"What are you doing here?" He gave her a confused look.
          
"I told Bailey to just meet us here." Sasha pushed past him, her body touching his enough to cause him to feel uncomfortable.
          
"But...why are you here so early?" He still didn't close the door.
          
"I figured we could work on us." She motioned to herself and then him. "You know, for Bailey's sake."
          
"We don't fight and argue. I think she's good with that." He was beginning to feel more unease.
          
"True. We make nice, but shouldn't we make more of an effort?" Sasha shrugged out of her coat revealing a form-fitting sweater with a plunging neckline. 
          
The need he hadn't felt in so long started to ignite. He cleared his throat, but Sasha ignored him.
          
"I mean, I'm sure the two of you are going to be together for a long time. And she and I are always going to be best friends. It would be best for all of us if we could get a little closer." 
          
He took a moment to decide to give her the benefit of the doubt. What she said made sense.
          
After closing the door, he made his way to the couch and sat down.
          
Sasha did the same but sat closer than he'd have preferred. She brought her left leg onto the couch, tucking her foot under her other leg.
          
He shifted when her knee bumped against his. "So..." He hoped his prompt would get her to start talking.
          
"What's your favorite color?" She took it.
          
"Seriously?"
          
"Yeah. Friends know these things about one another." He found her eagerness to be weird. 
          
"Green." 
          
"Like, lime green?"
          
"The color of grass." 
          
"Nice. Mine is purple. Any shade really."
          
"Is this really what you meant by us working towards a better relationship?" 
          
"Look, I just don't want things to be awkward between us." She reached out and laid a hand on his thigh, just above the knee.
          
He frowned a little before looking at her to see that she had leaned in closer. 
           
"Why don't you ask me a question?" She removed her hand and shifted so that she wasn't leaning in, but had moved over more. Her hip was close to his.
          
"How long have you known Bailey?" He struggled to keep his composure. 
            
"Since elementary school. We grew up together."
          
"Have you always had issues with her boyfriends?"
          
"No. You're the first." Sasha let out a snort as she rolled her eyes. "You are my challenge."
          
This made him raise his eyebrows. Before he could do anything else, she slid up against him and placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. 
          
"You aren't so bad, you know. I think I just jumped to conclusions. I mean, you gave Bailey the best birthday present. She wouldn't shut up about it." Her tone shifted, making her sound resentful. "Maybe I can find out why she's so hung up on you."
          
Sasha moved faster than he expected and placed her lips against his. She angled her body so that her breasts rubbed against his arm and she slid a leg over his.
          
"What the hell?" He pushed her with more force than he needed to, causing her to fall backward. Standing with his fists balled at his sides, he looked down at her. "This is how you want to become better friends?" 
          
The embarrassed look Sasha gave him didn't make him feel sorry at all. 
          
"Look, Bailey doesn't need to know about this." She stood up and went through the motions of straightening out her clothes.
          
"What?" He was beginning to lose his control. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.
          
"Nothing happened. And it's obvious nothing was going to happen." She sounded a bit upset that he had turned her down. "So we just pretend like this never happened, okay?"
          
His gums ached as he gritted his teeth together. Before he snapped, he heard the key in the lock. 
          
Sasha turned away from him and he worked to put a neutral expression on his face. 
          
Bailey walked in and made her greets. He'd made his best efforts to act like Sasha hadn't thrown herself at him. But things were awkward, which was no different than usual, and he couldn't focus on Bailey. So he gave the excuse of not feeling well and left early to work on finding Sasha's final place.