Ride or Die

“And that’s a bad thing because…” Jesse trails off and pulls back to look down at me.

“Because he purposely flirted with that blonde to make me jealous and then tried to make it up to me by kissing me. What was he thinking Jessie? That oh, I know she likes me so I can make her jealous to make sure and then kiss her to fix it?”

Jesse chuckles and pulls me back to his chest as the tears keep rolling, “you know he probably thought it was a good idea. Vince isn’t the brightest or sharpest tool in this garage.”

I can’t help but crack up laughing, sitting up and wiping my eyes as Jesse smiles at me, “that’s better. I hate seeing you cry,” he states.

I take a deep breath and sigh at the dull roar in my head as my eyes start to get heavy, “Jesse, are you going to be in your office all day?” I ask him through a yawn.

“Probably until Brian gets here with your parts; promised you I’d fix your car in time for the races tonight,” he tells me as he goes back to looking at the specs for his own car.

“Then you won’t mind if I crash in here?” I ask him, resting my head once again on his shoulder.

“Not a problem Em,” he mumbles as I drift off to sleep.

A few hours later I’m woken up by Jesse talking quietly to someone, “…red, green, whatever.”

“Hey man, you should be going to MIT or something.”

“No man, I got that attention disorder.”

“Oh. ADD?”

“Yeah, that shit.”

“Doesn’t mean you aren’t good at what you do Jess,” I mumble, sitting up and wiping my eyes.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, sleeping beauty,” Jesse states, grinning down at me.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, shush.” I mutter, stretching out and noticing Jesse’s eyes roam down to my bare midriff for a split second before he turns his eyes back to the screen while Brian takes that as his cue to leave.

I narrow my eyes in thought before coming up with a brilliant idea and immediately putting it into action. With a sly smile, I lean back against Jesse and nuzzle my head against his chest, and in an instant, his heart rate picks up. I try to keep myself from chuckling as I move to the side and look up at him, almost startled to see him looking down at me at the same time, his eyebrows raised, “is there something I can help you with Em?” He asks me.

“Actually Jess, there is…” I trail off.

I notice that his face is close enough to mine that I can feel his breath on my face. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out and it seems as if any words I had planned on saying are caught in my throat as he leans a little bit closer. Without realizing what I’m doing, I find myself leaning up and meeting his lips with mine. As our lips start to move together my mind goes into overdrive; Jesse’s hands find their way to my hips as I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer to him as he deepens the kiss, his lips opening and his tongue sliding across mine. Slowly, I part my lips to grant him access to my mouth, as his hand travels up to rest on my bare side, his fingers play with the hem of my shirt as he tickles the skin under my ribs.

A knock on the door startles us apart and I nearly fall on the floor if it wasn’t for his hands on my waist. The knock comes again, “Jesse are you going to fix her car or not?”

I feel my face get red as I recognize my brother’s voice on the other side of the door. Jesse chuckles and pulls me close to him as he replies to Dom, “uh yeah I’ll uh be out in a few minutes.”

“Oh like that didn’t sound like you were up to something,” I mutter, chuckling and resting my forehead against his.

“Is this weird for you?” He asks as his thumbs rub circles on my hips.

“Yeah it’s just a little awkward but it’ll work.”

“What will work? I’m a little confused here Em.” He states, pulling back and looking me in the eyes.

“It just occurred to me that you can help me. You can do me a huge favor and I’ll owe you big time.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” He asks, looking slightly confused still.

I shrug and grin at him, “Well, the reason I kissed you was because I wanted to see if we could make it believable, and we can. You and I just need to keep making it believable. Let’s make Vince notice me.”

“That might not be the best idea,” Jesse states, looking apprehensive about it.

“Oh come on, is it really that bad kissing me?” I ask, grinning.

He cracks a smile as I lean towards him and press my lips against his again.

“What the fuck?”

We break apart, and instead of looking up, I stare at the floor, my face extremely red as Dom asks a new question, “What the hell are you guys doing in here?”

“Uh…” Jesse trails off and I can feel him shrug.

“Get out there and get to work on the car,” Dom snaps.

Jesse loosens his grip on my waist and lets me get up before he stands up behind me, his hands still on my waist as he maneuvers around me. Before he gets too far away from me, I grab his hand and pull him back, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to his lips and smiling shyly up at him. He grins back at me before leaving the room in a rush. Dom sighs and looks over at me, “first Vince and now Jesse?”

“What’s that supposed to mean Dom?” I ask him, feeling offended.

“Vince told me he kissed you, so you go and make out with Jesse? What are you trying to accomplish here?” Dom asks, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.

“Did Vince also tell you that he cornered me in your office and had me backed up against a wall when he kissed me?” I snap, crossing my arms as well.

Dom’s jaw clenches as he shakes his head, so I keep going, “did he tell you that he intentionally started hitting on some blonde bimbo in front of me to make me jealous after I asked him to fix my car or that he watched me get into my car crying all before he kissed me?”

“I get the point,” Dom snaps, “but that doesn’t mean you can just go around making out with whoever you want. Jesse has feelings and if you lead him on Em…”

“I’m not leading anyone on. I’m trying to figure my life out just like anyone else, so who cares if I kiss my best friend? If I like him, who cares about how Vince feels? Jesse isn’t playing games with my head, he’s being straight forward. Vince obviously doesn’t care about me, so I’m not going to sit around pinning for him and waiting for him to notice me when Jesse has been waiting around for me to notice him for who knows how long!”

Dom nods his head and starts to walk out the door, but looks over his shoulder, “I wouldn’t be so sure about Vince not caring.”

I glare at his back as he walks off before taking a deep breath and leaving Jesse’s office. I head over to my car and notice that the taillight is already replaced and the bumper has been primed for paint, no signs of a dent anywhere. I smile and look around for Jesse, frowning when I don’t see him. When a pair of hands cover my eyes I grin and pull away, turning around to find Jesse smiling at me.

“Hi,” I greet him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

He grins back but looks nervous, so I pull him closer to me and rest my head on his shoulder, “Dom isn’t going to kick your ass, and if Vince says anything, just ignore him. His problem should be with me, not you; and if we don’t play this off well enough, they’ll really know something is up,” I tell him.
He pulls back and leans down; pressing his lips against mine briefly before pulling away, “gotta finish the paint job before letting you take off in it.”

I nod my head and let go of him, letting him get back to work before I head back into the garage to find Letty.