Spring's Eve

I hung up the phone and waited to be buzzed in, maneuvering the box in my left arm so I could see my watch. Shit. Five after eight. Almost on time. Well, if I was going to be late, this was the night to do it. The normally frigid March weather was glorious. Most of the snow had melted and I'd opted for sandals instead of my usual choice of sneakers. How'd I gotten stuck babysitting on a Saturday night like this again?

My thoughts were interrupted as the door unlocked, and I bounded up the stairs. Waiting for me in the hall was a bright-eyed five year old boy. He wore a mischievous grin to go with his already bubbly personality. I smiled as he giggled and peeked around the corner. That boy was just like his mom.

"Eve!" he squealed as he ran to meet me and threw his pudgy little arms around my leg.

"Hi Brandon, how ya doin' kiddo?" I ran a hand lightly over his sweet-smelling hair and we began the trek to their apartment door.

"Good." He glanced up at the box, then to me. Let the questions begin. "What's that?"

"It's got some clothes your mom ordered inside." This satisfied him and he ran up to the door, opening it for me.

"Thanks, Hun." I was impressed. He was growing up fast and with the amount I saw him, the steps were huge. Looking over at him again as he let the door swing shut, I saw the grin again.

"Welcome. Did you bring the car?" Ah. This explained why he was being so sweet. I played along.

"Yes I did, in fact." The grin widened. He checked to see if Mom was within hearing. She was in the bathroom getting ready, so he was good.

"So we're gonna get movies?" I had to laugh. If only something so simple could make anyone's day.

"We'll see what Mom says." His blue eyes sparkled and he ran over to the bathroom. Raising a fist and pounding as hard as he could, he shouted through the door.

"Mom! Eve's here and we're gonna go get movies, 'kay?"

I heard an exclamation as I slid my jacket off, hanging it over the chair that sat at the computer desk. I set my keys down, now grinning myself. You had to love Jess. She was in her mid-thirties, and raising Brandon alone, but she somehow managed to be the most cheerful and vibrant person I knew. When she walked into a room she possessed it, but managed to do so without seeming pushy. Sales was definitely her field. I was only 18 and already I wished I had her energy.

I heard a cabinet close, then Jess followed Brandon into the room, obviously a bit exasperated. Her honey colored hair was perfect, but she fussed with it as she spoke.

"No, Honey. We just got movies, they're in your room. Maybe you can show Eve a little later; I'm sure she wants to know all about them." As she breezed past, she gave me a wink. "Hey Sweetie," I was greeted, her voice warm and her smile wide.

"Hey Jess. Sorry I'm a few minutes late." She shook her head and waved it off.

"Jeez, do I look ready?" Taking in the view, I decided she did. Fitted white button-down shirt and cute boot cut blue jeans were all utterly flattering on her. Upon further inspection, her bare feet revealed carefully kept, deep red toenails. She dashed over to the kitchen, moving a pitcher from counter to fridge. Poetry in motion? No, that wasn't quite it. A Dave Matthews tune in motion. Mm-hmm.

"Ah, you look great as usual," I chimed in. She Ohhed at me, trying to sound disgusted, but the laughter in her eyes and slightly blushing cheeks betrayed her. Distracted by her incredible cheer only momentarily, my mind did come back to the box I was holding. "Speaking of which, Mom got your order in yesterday."

"What? Already?" I nodded. "Wow, that was fast." She happily swept package over to the couch, tearing the tape off and holding up each piece as she took it out. They all looked about right for her; casual and smart, a little sexy. After working in the same office for several years, my mother knew her tastes pretty well.

"Eve, LOOK at this dress!" It certainly was an eye-catcher. She held it up to her body. Ice blue, sleeveless, and sleek, it complimented her sparkling hazel eyes wonderfully.

"I love this!" She looked at the clock on the wall. "I've got to try it on now. I'll need another girl's opinion, after all!" She began undoing her jeans, right there in the living room, and my eyes widened. It was a small, one bedroom apartment, so the only alternative was the bathroom, and after a moment's thought I understood her choice. She wasn't directly facing me, and as she tugged down those form-fitting jeans I turned away, returning the favor.

I looked at my feet for a minute, then out the window. I could see her out of the corner of my eye, kicking her jeans to the side and beginning to unbutton her shirt. For some reason, about then I had the urge to take a good look at her. I was of course immediately embarrassed to find myself thinking such a thing. I'd definitely never considered women attractive before, and I told myself so; I insisted. Still, my boyfriend's numerous requests for me to consider getting with another chick didn't seem so far-fetched now.

I got no further with that train of thought, as she suddenly struck up a conversation with me, mid-strip.

"Well, you should have an easy night. He was up late last night and didn't have a nap today."

I looked up without thinking and tried to bring my eyes back down, but they refused to budge. She undid the last button, looking me directly in the eye as she whipped off her shirt. I froze. Well, of course she was looking me in the eye. She was talking to me. I nodded, trying to appear relaxed.

"You remember how to use his inhaler in case he needs it, too." Again I nodded. God, look at those tits...the lacey black bra just barely held them in place. My eyes snapped back to her face as she spoke

"And if he wants anything to eat, there's some popcorn in the cupboard," she tore at the tag on the dress, removing it bit by bit, "and orange juice in the fridge."

"All right." I smiled my calmest smile, my heart pounding in my chest. "I think I can handle that." She shared her own perkier version of a smile and pulled the dress over her head. I caught a short glimpse of black panty-covered ass in the decorative mirror behind her before the dress swept down around her legs.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, turning away. This was getting ridiculous. I took a breath and decided to go hang with Brandon in his room while she finished up out here. I heard the snap of elastic against skin as she apparently adjusted things. I attempted to focus on the Power Rangers Brandon was glued to.

"Eve, I just LOVE this! Come here Sweetie, you've got to see." I tried to regain my composure and joined her. I pressed my lips together at the sight of her in something so gorgeous...No, at the sight of that dress on a creature as gorgeous as she. Now the tough part: what to say? I didn't want to sound like the pervert I was beginning to feel. I didn't want to hesitate and make her feel bad, but...

"What a great dress!" I rushed in exclamation, then closed my eyes, thoroughly disgusted with myself. How original.

Gracious as always, she replied, "Isn't it? The color's so perfect. I'm bringing this with when I go to Vegas." She made her way over to the full length mirror on the opposite wall, inspecting her reflection.

"Ooh, I bet that'll be a hit." I was breathing again. This was a good sign. This was probably directly correlated with the fact that she was clothed again.

"Well, I hope so. Now that I'm looking, I wonder if I shouldn't have gone a size larger." She smoothed her hands slowly down her sides from just above the waist nearly to her knees. "I mean look at my hips." I didn't need an invitation. They were perfectly rounded and the dress showed them off fabulously. Then again, being a woman myself, I did understand what it was like trying to assess yourself. Nothing ever looks right.

"I wouldn't change it unless you're uncomfortable. That's the most important thing." Wow. That had sounded vaguely useful. I was rather startled.

"Well I know, but I just hate to have people thinking I look dumb, ya know?" I knew. Her appearance was never less than stunning, now that I thought about it. "Eeh...Look, panty lines." I looked. Yes, there they were. Oh, come on Eve. Say something.

"Hmm." WELL, back to the really intelligent comments, were we? She seemed not to take notice and breezed over to the dresser that sat against the wall in the living room and pulled open the top drawer. Top drawer, mm? Dear me.

"I'm just going to try this out," she said, holding up a tiny black thong. She pulled the skirt up to her waist and hooked her thumbs in the panties she currently wore, then paused. It was her turn to appear self-conscious. I smiled a little and looked away.

"Sorry," she mumbled, letting the skirt drop slightly to cover her hips, and then pulling the one set of panties off. My heart was all aflutter again as she pulled the thong up her legs. I didn't see, but I definitely heard. The satiny scuffing of the fabric sliding against her skin elicited some new-found desires in me.

"Well Angie was going to go with, but she started feeling sick at the last second, so it looks like it'll just be me and the guys." I looked up as soon as she began; just in time to see the hem of the dress flip up and the thong slide into place, covering very little. She'd done it again. I knew I blushed this time and could feel my normally quite stable stomach doing 180s.

"Always fun..." I finally admitted to myself how thoroughly I was enjoying this and spoke as little as possible. She turned to look at her backside in the mirror.

"Oh yeah, they're great. Some of 'em are old friends just in town for the weekend." She slid her hand quickly over her ass. No lines. "I've so been looking forward to this." She paused, looking slightly disgruntled, and her eyes dropped to her hips.

"Well, I think maybe," she stopped and squinted, "that this is as good as it's going to get." I shook my head. Oh, what the hell.

"You look incredible," I declared, inwardly amazed that I managed to say it at all. She turned to face me, positively glowing.

"Thank you Sweetheart, how cute is that?" I would have been really irritated with most people for calling me cute, of course, but it was different with Jess. That was just such a 'her' thing to say. Besides, I was too busy being confused by my impulses to protest at the moment. Grabbing her jeans, she pranced off to Brandon's room and tossed something into the hamper. Then back she went to the living room, and I decided to take a seat on the bedroom floor. Maybe I'd be able to sort myself out there.

Absorbed in thoughts that I'd never even wanted to have in the past, her every action seemed to invite me deeper into fantasy. She continued to talk to me as she redressed. I gawked as she walked past the door, her white shirt not quite hiding the area that the thong completely failed to conceal. What would it be like to touch that soft olive skin? I stayed firmly put and tried, to no avail, to concentrate on anything else.

After she was fully dressed, she bent down to pull on beige leather boots. It would have been so easy to just walk over and slide my arms around her waist...to let my lips touch her neck...to let my hands wander down to-

"Hi! It's Jess. I'm doing great, thanks. Yeah, I think we should meet at The Tavern. Yep, I definitely do think that'd be the easiest. Then we can just go where ever from there."

She stood in front of the mirror again, phone in one hand, gleefully swinging a patchwork handbag in the other. A suede coat polished her appearance, and I casually glanced in her direction as often as I thought I could get away with it.

What was coming over me? Usually I was so in control. I'd certainly never had this problem (if indeed that's what this was) in the past. I shifted and noticed my nether lips slip against one another. My fingers rose, nervously tugging at a tendril of my dark curly hair, and I hoped with all I had that she didn't realize what was on my mind.

"Nope, she's got the flu, so it'll just be me tonight. Yeah, lucky you!" Laughter cascaded into the room and I found myself liking everything about this human being. I realized this wasn't a brand new feeling. This was the same thing that makes everything a guy says sound brilliant, as long as those sexy eyes stay locked on yours. It's what we call infatuation.

I floated back to earth and glanced over at Brandon as Jess wrapped her phone conversation up. He was on his side, snuggled under a blanket and facing the t.v. When I leaned over enough to see his face, lo and behold, the little guy was already fast asleep. Damn, she was right; it was going to be an easy night. Shortly after I'd grabbed an issue of Cosmo and begun to page through it, she popped her head in to say goodbye. Seeing her sleeping son, she just winked, left a twenty on the computer desk as usual, and asked me to lock the door behind her.

After she left, I curled up in her rocker and allowed myself to calm down. Brandon never did wake up. A few reruns of The Osbournes and one MTV countdown later, the shrill ring of the phone startled me out of my television-induced trance. I was feeling much more at ease by now. I lifted the receiver.

"Hello?" I heard Jess laughing, but waited for her to acknowledge she'd heard me. I didn't want her thinking I let strangers into the building

"Eve?" She dissolved into giggles again, and this time I was fairly sure I heard a male voice in the background.

"Hey Jess." I buzzed her in, hung up and then unlocked the apartment door. I heard feet running up the steps and down the hall, then a stumble and more laughter. Hoo...they'd gotten hammered.

I was just slipping my shoes on as I heard what sounded like a knock on the door. Opening it, I saw Jess' back and a guy who was busy falling toward Jess and me, since I'd moved the door he'd been leaning on.

"Whoa! I'm so sorry, you guys. I thought you were trying to..." I was interrupted by two very drunk, very startled, and now very on the floor people, howling at the mishap. At least they weren't upset.

Jess finally caught her breath as the man stood up (considerably taller than either of us, I now noticed) and helped her to her feet. The fall had knocked a few strands of black hair down across his pale forehead, which he straightened as Jess introduced us.

"Eve, this is my good friend Nate. Nate, this is Eve, Brandon's favorite babysitter." I offered my hand and a quick greeting, and was met by a strong, but controlled shake. I realized he was probably a bit more sober than I'd originally thought.

"Hey now, she looks plenty old enough to be spared the 'good friend' term." I grinned. Nice guy. "Jess, she's even cuter than you said." I blushed slightly, two piercing blue eyes smiling down into mine. I'd thought I was done with this for the night.

"Oh, leave her alone! She'll think you're a creep," Jess scolded just a little too loudly, hitting Nate's arm. Looked like my first assessment of her state was about right at least. "Besides, she has a boyfriend."

I chuckled, shaking my head as I slipped my coat on over my tank. "Yeah well, such as it is. He lives 7 hours away."

Nate's eyes left their spot on his "good friend's" smile and shifted over to study my face.

"I know how that goes, Baby. I really do." I donned a slight smile and nodded, trying to be polite though I really didn't know him from Adam. It didn't help that I was feeling a little lonely and bitter, to boot. Truly, did he know how it went? Well, how nice for him.

Still, his gaze was steady and comforting, and as Jess looked back and forth between us, a little grin came to her lips. She kicked her boots off and ditched the socks as well.

"You in a hurry Eve? Stay and have a drink." She strutted to the kitchen, and I saw Nates eyes follow that lovely ass, just as mine had done earlier. She wanted me here? I wondered to myself what she could have in mind, then shooed all the silly thoughts out of mind.

"Yeah, I suppose I can stay for a bit. I don't have any classes till noon tomorrow, but I'm gonna be driving home. No alcohol for this chick." She nodded, mixing herself a Bloody Mary.

"It's okay, I got it Doll." I looked up at this man, his sharp features accented in the low light of the entryway, and imagined he must be in his late 20's. "Go ahead and have a drink. I was a Coke junky for the night, I can drive you home."

"Great, thanks." I cast him a sincere smile this time. That'd be good. I was a little on edge and thought a drink might actually help. Soft fingertips trailed down my upper arm and my eyes rose to meet the person touching me so gently.

"Don't mention it," he said softly. I took a deep breath, wanting to know what tonight might hold in store.

I turned to Jess, swallowing hard before I spoke. "I'd love a glass of wine, thank you."

After a sip or two, we all three went to the living room. Jess grabbed Nate by the hand and sat him down on the couch, apparently preferring his lap to a chair. Taking my coat back off and tossing it over the back of my seat, I began to feel a bit awkward. I went to reposition myself on the rocker, as before, but was stopped by a reprimand suddenly shouted by Jess.

"WHAT are you doing, Silly? I made room for you here on the couch. Get over here!" As I moved over to the daybed they occupied, I noticed Jess undo the top button of her shirt. My mind flashed back to the uninhibited view of her torso I'd had earlier in the evening. Those recent memories raced to mind and yet again I found myself wet. Maybe the skin I'd seen earlier was less innocent on her behalf than I'd thought. I heard their voices again, but couldn't focus. They were saying something. To me?

Suddenly two thick fingers snapped in front of my face, and I jumped. "Eve. You there, baby?" I sucked in a quick breath.

"Oh, yeah. I was just," I stopped, trying my hardest not to stutter. "Just thinking about something I wanted to do tonight," I stated truthfully, my eyes crawling down the delicate feminine neck in front of me. The smile on my friend's face was constant, but I think Nate caught my drift, as a smirk silently crossed his lips. I took a gulp of my wine and adjusted my hair, trying to pull myself together.

"So," this new, very soft and rich male voice probed, "Seven hours, hmm?" I responded with only a nod, still slightly flustered. "That's a drag, Baby. It gets long between visits, doesn't it?"

"Oh, God," I sighed. He'd said it. "Yeah, it does honestly. We see each other maybe once every five or six weeks. Some nights I'd give almost anything to be on the receiving end of a good fucking." Yes I would. Wow, yeah. A good fucking.

Dear Lord, had I just said that out loud?

If I'd had to judge by the hand small, cool hands that now traced my jaw, I'd have had to go with "Yes."

"Oh, uhm, really I just meant-" And then I was hushed, two thumbs resting on my lips.

"So you wanna be fucked, do you Eve?" I blinked a few times, thinking I must not be awake. Was that deep, seductive tone coming from Jess? And was she offering? I was about to tell her yes, God yes, that she had no idea how I wanted to be fucked, but what would she say? Wait, no. Hell with her. What was I doing? That was the question. One that entirely failed to cross my mind.

Doesn't matter though. I suppose it's safe to assume she knew how much, 'cause before I could get word one out I felt her soft lips caressing my collar bone.

With that, the bottom dropped out from under everything I'd ever felt. A woman: female lips on my own skin. Not rough, no stubble, just soft, smooth, wet lips. As I finally remembered to let the breath escape my lungs, my eyes slipped shut and my mouth dropped open. I wanted to moan, but suddenly I could hardly remember how to move. The image of Nate letting his teeth scrape across the tender skin of her shoulder played before me, dissolving any last bits of self-control that remained.