Brian Quinn: A New Man

Chapter 11

The warmth of Jacki's hands lingered his own as Brian hailed a cab. Something stirred in him when they touched. He had been so busy hooking up with Kelli that it never crossed his mind that he should consider anything other than friendship with Jacki. He also knew she had been through her own rough patch and didn't want to subject her to any kind of games. But is that what it would be if he truly had feelings?

He was confused, bewildered, puzzled.

He took the cab back to his house and gave the driver a generous tip. He sat down on his sofa and was immediately surrounded by his beloved cats. He played with them and gave each the attention they wanted. Half an hour later he went upstairs to his bedroom.

He wanted to text Jacki but after she bolted from the pub he decided to play it cool.

"There's nothing wrong with inviting her to a party, though. Especially if I'm hosting it."

He quickly typed a text and sent it to the whole crew and was waiting for replies. He ordered his favorite pizza from his favorite pizza place and turned the TV on to the New York Rangers hockey game. As the game went on his phone buzzed with friends sending their rsvps to his party. The one person he was waiting to hear from never replied. But he didn't lose hope as he finally crawled into bed.

A few days later it was the night of the party at Brian's house. He made sure there was lots of beer, especially his own R&H, and pizza. As the house filled with people, Brian kept one eye on the door, in case Jacki showed up. He also tried to avoid Kelli, who had brought a guy with her. When Brian had to excuse himself to the restroom he figured he would have a few moments of peace.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and he zipped up his pants quickly. When he opened the door there was a tipsy Kelli on the other side. She pushed the door open further and kissed Brian on the mouth. He felt her hands reach for his zipper and then pull. He gave in and let her reach into his pants and pull out his hard dick.

Her mouth was soon on the tip and she licked it then licked the rest of his cock like it was a popsicle. He moaned and grabbed her hair. Then her mouth went all the way down his shaft and he pulled her hair. And then suddenly she stopped, stood up and said,

"Now you know how it feels."

She walked out, leaving him standing there with his pants around his ankles. He pulled his pants up and headed back down to the party. He finally spotted Jacki. Before he could make his way to her his own regret stopped him. What was he doing? He just let Kelli go down on him and now he was going to try and flirt with Jacki?

He went to the kitchen and started drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. When that went dry he started chugging beers. Somewhere along the way he ended up on the couch. He remembered someone asking if he was okay and then everything went dark.

The smell of bacon woke him up the next morning. He had a horrible headache and moaned as he lifted himself from his position. He looked over the back of the sofa and saw Jacki in his kitchen, wearing one of his old t-shirts and his house robe. He had no recollection of sleeping with her, or anything else.

"Hey sleepy head," she chirped when she spotted him awake.

"Got any coffee in there?"

He stumbled off the couch and into the kitchen. She'd only cooked for him one other time, when he was driving her back and forth to work and she needed groceries. He'd entertained her at the grocery store and in return she made some of the best steak he'd ever tasted. And now, he had to admit, she looked good, and comfortable, in his kitchen.

"You didn't have to do this, Jacki."

"I know. But you were obviously out and I didn't think it was a good idea to leave you alone. And I like sorting through things to put in the recycle bin."

She smiled as she set a plate in front of him. He looked around and realized that his house was clean. After a few bites he asked her about cleaning up his house.

"It was nothing. You gave me all those rides, the least I could do was clean up a little bit."

"A little bit?"

"Don't worry, I left the vacuuming for you."

"So what are your holiday plans? Going home?"

"Not sure really. I may be in California by then. Just waiting for some things to pan out."

"California?"

"Yeah, after the season wraps. But there's a few weeks left. How's your head?"

"Feeling a little better."

"Let me get you some water."

As he watched her get up from the table and fetch a glass of water Brian let himself wonder what it would be like if she was always around. She had a calm presence and made him feel like he was safe. They'd both been through so much.

"So you're not sticking around here then?"

"I don't know, Q. Just waiting to hear back from a few places I applied to."

He hadn't thought about the fact that she might move away. And there he was, the night before, fooling around with some young woman, instead of spending his time with someone who actually interested him.

"So, Jacki, did you ever watch that movie we talked about?"

"Remind me, what movie what that?"

"Evil Dead, the original one!"

"You know, I never did."

He stood up and took their empty plates to the kitchen. Before Jacki could put up any kind of fight, Brian directed her to the living room. They sat down on the couch and he found the classic 1980 Sam Raimi film on one of the streaming services.

"Okay, get ready because this movie is so great!"

"How great?"

"So great that Stephen King himself liked it!"

"All right, I'll give it a try."

They settled in for a movie that was once billed as horror, and now more of a dark comedy. But Bruce Campbell was one of Brian's favorite actors and this was one of Brian's favorites that Bruce Campbell starred in. He was glad to share this with his new friend.