josephine lee
I push up on my tippy toes to look through the peephole like a creep waiting for Jack to walk up to the door even though he texted me a minute ago that he was putting the code in. I wait for him to knock, watching him click out of an app, and put his phone in his pocket. I open the door listening to him laugh into my neck while we hug when he calls me out on already being at the door and still waiting for him to knock.
"You're ruining my mysterious front." I tell him, locking the door once we're both inside. He furrows his eyebrows, pretending to think to himself before pointing out that I am the one destroying the front I had put up for so long. I roll my eyes, softly rubbing my hands over his shoulders. He groans, tossing his head to the side at the contact, squeezing my hips to silently ask me to continue.
I press my thumbs over the fabric of his shirt and ask, "What's going on with your shoulders?" Wondering what he did to make them feel so tense and full of knots. I walk him over to my couch as he mutters out his response. "Really fucking sore." he sighs. I kiss his neck from behind before running off to grab some lotion and oil to help me rub his back better.
I make my way over to him with both bottles in my hand and tell him to take his shirt off while I pull off my rings from my fingers. He chuckles and lifts his shirt over his head. "Just got here and you're already trying to make me strip." He teases under his breath. I shush him as I hand him the remote to let him play whatever he wants while I massage him.
He clicks on New Girl to pick up where we last left off as I pump some lotion onto my hand. I rub my hands together to warm the lotion up before starting on his left shoulder, pressing my thumbs into his skin as I look for the knots that I intend on rubbing out. His head falls to the side, groaning softly as I knead his skin with my hands.
I listen to him wince over the TV show and say, "Josie, this feels amazing." He says slightly out of breath. I move my hands in circular motions to get out as many knots as I can and move on to the other side. I grab some more lotion and press my hands onto his skin, making him tense up from how many knots there are. "I need you to relax, so I can rub them out." I murmur against his skin pressing a kiss onto his shoulder, feeling him drop his shoulders under my lips.
I use the palm of my hand to get into certain places that need a deeper rub and by the time I'm finished, most of his knots are gone. He rolls his shoulders back without a groan and lets out a sigh of relief. Using the excess lotion I rub his neck to help loosen him up for tonight. Once my hands are dry I pat his shoulders and press another kiss to the side of his neck, making him hum.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" He asks as I jump over the back of my couch to plop down right beside him. I look at his red shoulders and tell him how Theo used to make me give him a shoulder massage every other day, because of his poor posture "The kid looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, so I just got good at it over time."
He nods along with what I'm saying maintaining eye contact while I flick my eyes down to his lips when I catch his tongue darting out to lick his lips. I look away to notice that he's watching me eye him with a smirk on his face. His hand gently grabs my jaw and pulls my face closer to him. "Backs not the only thing that's sore. My lips could use a good massage." He jokes as my lips hover over his, feeling them brush against mine with each word.
He meshes his lips with mine, putting one of his hands behind him to slowly lower himself onto my couch. Once he's fully laid back I crawl over him to straddle his waist and continue to kiss him as if I have been starved of his affection. I roll my hips over him, doing everything that feels natural, and turn the kiss into more after he takes my shirt off.
We don't even realize we didn't pause New Girl until after we've both climaxed and settled back into reality. Which is that Jack snoozed the alarm he set to leave my house three times before ditching the alarm completely. To save him as much time as possible I pull him into the shower at my house, feeling him tug on my arm to get me inside since we both have to get clean.
His words, not mine.
The minute he steps under the warm stream of water coming from the shower head he's quickly washing his hair with my shampoo that sits on one of the shelves and uses my Snickerdoodle body wash to scrub off the sweat he accumulated. Once he rinses off his body he washes out the hair mask I tossed at him. I swear I washed my body and hair at a slower rate than Jack but ended up finishing at the same time as him.
As I turn off the water Jack whips open the glass door and grabs two towels for us. Mine hits me right in the face, making me chuckle. "You could've left multiple snoozes ago." I tell him, wrapping the towel over my body while I go through my entire skincare routine. Jack scoffs at what I just said and comes back with, "Right, while I was inside of you." He shakes his head.
He closely watches me put on the rest of my skincare as he dries himself and throws on whatever underwear he left in my drawers. Once I'm done putting on my serum I say, "Hey, your turn." jerking my head towards the bathroom. He follows me in, "My turn?" he nervously chuckles as I spread some cleanser over his cheeks, and stubble letting my hands work into his skin.
I push the few stray curls out of his face to get some of the face wash onto his forehead. He rinses his face off, patting his face dry before asking me to quickly do the rest. Because I know he's in a rush I do as he asks and finish off the entire process with some Aquaphor because this boy never carries any chapstick with him.
I pat him on his shoulders, explaining to him where the suits that I keep in my house are while I dry my hair. I hear him push hangers to the side as he finds a suit that he thinks will look good on him. Once he picks one out he's quick to pull the pants on and moves over to the mirror while he shrugs on a button-up. He buttons his shirt up before grabbing the brown suit jacket and moving his hands through the sleeves.
I turn the hairdryer off, brushing my hair out while looking through everything in my closet before changing into my outfit for tonight's game. I get ready at the same intensity as Jack using the mirror in my bathroom to make sure everything looks fine. I step out of the bathroom, watching Jack adjust the suit before throwing his sneakers on.
"You look cute in Reggie's clothes." I compliment him, playing with his curls which are starting to dry. He grins up at me, slipping into his shoes. He straightens up, looking at me up and down with a lustful look in his eye. "You look good." he says quietly, bending down to kiss my cheek, jaw, and neck making me giggle.
I'll never get tired of feeling his lips against my skin. It feels so much better knowing he really likes me. He presses one last kiss to my lips and runs out of my room shouting, "See you later babe! Oh, and rewind 30 minutes in New Girl!" before another voice chimes in. I walk towards my bedroom door as if I don't recognize her voice and see Meredith walking inside, kicking the door shut with her heel.
She gives me a big smile and runs into my room, launching herself onto my bed. "You're both wet." she points out, wiggling her eyebrows making the connection in her head. I nod, throwing one of the pillows on the floor up at her. "Nothing gets past you." I say when she catches the pillow before I make my way back into the bathroom to put some makeup on.
I start blending my foundation into my skin and notice that Meredith is quieter than ever. I squint my eyes at her and wait for her to crack under my gaze. "Fine!" she shouts with a loud and dramatic sigh. With a goofy grin, she shifts onto her stomach resting her chin in her hands while I bring the rest of my makeup out of the bathroom.
She looks for the words, moving her hands around a lot, and pursing her lips before I scoff at her to urge her to spit out the words. "Quinn Hughes." is all she says. Her face stills as she waits for my reaction turning red just by saying his name. I raise my eyebrows, tapping the end of my eyeshadow brush against the palette before applying the shadow to my eyelid.
I wait to see if she'll say anything else but when she doesn't I shrug and say, "Enough said honestly." with a laugh since not too long ago I was in the exact same boat as her. She nods, finally going into a bit more detail about her situation since she already got the biggest part out. She tells me about how hard it is crushing on someone on the other side of the continent.
"We're planning to see each other when he plays in New York but it's just annoying." She says, taking a deep breath before continuing her small, frustrated rant. "Oh, and another thing is that I don't know what he's doing in Vancouver." she points out the door as if he was standing around us, letting all of her insecurities from her past relationships get the best of her.
I nod to show her that I'm listening while also unbiasedly reassuring her that he is a really good guy even though I am only seeing a certain side of him. The one reserved for his brother's girlfriend. I know him as a brother and as a friend, I'll never know him as a partner but I can only assume he's just as good as a partner as he is a friend.
"The fear of not knowing what he's doing when he's away isn't enough for me to ghost him though. I think we could actually work." She says disregarding all the doubts she just had with a hopeful smile. I spray on some setting spray and throw my hair up into my ponytail with the front pieces of my hair sticking out. She continues to flood the space around us with her endless thoughts and opinions on Quinn while I look for my keys.
She finds my keys before I do and tosses them into my hand I lock the front door and walk out to my car, doing my best to help Meredith. "Karma is biting you in the ass." I tease her as I start driving to the rink. Reminding her of how she'd laugh at me and put me in situations that would make me tense up. She quiets down for the rest of the ride giving Quinn's name a rest.
When she gets bored of the silence she'll break and ask about the new music I've worked on, doing her best to not let out a single peep about Quinn. I pull my phone out and go to my voice memos to show her one of the songs I worked on while I was at Long Pond. She looks at all the titles and clicks on 'Good Riddance' which I might rename 'Best' once I talk it over with Aaron a bit more.
Mere holds the phone up to her ear before realizing it's connected to my car and instead turns up the music. Her hand covers her mouth which hangs open ever so slightly as the song progresses. Once it ends she hands the phone back to me and begins praising me for not only working on one project but two.
"You're so talented it makes me sick." She says, squeezing my hand. I thank her with a laugh and squeeze her hand back with the same intensity. We let go of each other's hands as I pull into the parking lot and start walking up to a separate entrance since it's become clear that we can no longer hang out in the lower bowl with the fans.
After greeting the people opening the doors for us and walking through security we continue our talk about my album. This is also Meredith's way of proving to me that she can talk about something else that's not Quinn. The funny thing is that I don't even mind that she's talking about Quinn I just wanted to tease her.
I step through the metal detectors, grabbing my bag once I'm all clear while answering Mere's questions. When will it come out? Do you have a name for the album yet? Do you have a date for the EP? How much space will be in between the two projects?
"I have a name for both, dates are set, and there will be like 5 months in between. I don't want to wait very long to release it." I tell her as we make our way to my family suite to watch the game. She claps her hands in excitement with a nose-scrunching smile. I'm very thankful to be surrounded by people who are so supportive of me.
We settle into our seats watching the game progress throughout the three periods. Our eyes focused on the puck while we went on and on about other things. "Sorry to bring Quinn up again but," Mere said about four times each time making me giggle before asking her to go on. The final time she says it she tells me to lean in for a photo she's going to send to him to show him we're at the game.
He responds with my name in all capital letters, telling me that he's missed me before complimenting Meredith. She pulls her phone closer to her, chewing on her bottom lip as she formulates a response. I pat her leg once the boys start hugging our goalie, not even the goal horn could distract her from texting Quinn back.
Her head snaps up to look at all the guys and says "Oh shit!" in shock, getting up to start clapping for the guys. Once most of them are off the ice three players are brought back for the stars of the game. Tonight the stars are Jack, John, and Erik. I take a picture of Jack getting interviewed on the Jumbotron and listen to him babble.
I say babble because half of what he's saying is "uhh" and "umm" I'll have to get him some serious media training. Lucky for him I know a person. Once he signs the camera and runs through a carpeted pathway through some fans we start making our way to the family room. On our way out of the suite, we bump into my Dad who looks very ready to go home.
Meredith crashes into his side the same way I do and leans into my dad's side with his arms around both of our shoulders. He walks us to the family room asking questions about our day. "What are your plans for the night?" he asks, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. Meredith answers letting my Dad know that we're going out for drinks with a few of the guys.
He hums out a response, resting his cheek against the top of my head as we step inside the family room for him to drop us off. "Well have fun, do you need money?" he asks, patting his pockets as he looks for his wallet. I tilt my head to the side and shake my head. "No. I have a job, father and it pays well." I laugh, smiling at the women watching our interaction.
"Sorry, it's a habit." he says, giving both of us hugs before saying goodbye and walking out of the room. We step further into the room, approaching the other girls shyly since I'm still not used to being friendly with them. One of them asks if Meredith and I are sisters because of the way we walked in with my dad, and at the same time we sigh and say, "Ugh, I wish." making us giggle.
"I mean we're basically twins." Mere says, putting her face right beside mine. I drop my chin to my chest before humoring her and pressing my cheek to her cheek making the same face as her. Our features couldn't be more different and I love it. I have dark brown hair, she has blonde hair, I have brown/hazel eyes, her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, and lastly Mere has this angelic presence. She looks like a breath of fresh air and well I don't think that about myself but it's fine.
As we're laughing about something new I catch Jack speed-walking over to me with a straight face and concerned eyes. "Am I glowing?" He asks me in a serious tone, turning his cheek to me. I furrow my eyebrows, leaning in to kiss his cheek before saying "Sure?" with a shrug, unsure of what he's talking about or what he wants me to say.
He sighs, dropping his shoulders as he explains the context behind the question. "I'm the laughing stock of the locker room, and today they were trying to figure out if I'm glowing because I'm in a relationship, pregnant, or have makeup on." he says with a dry laugh, waiting for Nico, John, and Dawson to walk out.
Meredith points and laughs at Jack similar to how his brothers tease him, her mannerisms cause Jack to fight his own fit of laughter shielding his smile with his fist. I smile at their laughs before I feel my smile drop wondering if I'm glowing for a different reason that's not makeup. "Oh god, we're gross." I whine with a laugh, referring to how coupley we are and have become.
After laughing along with us and at us the girls reassure us that it's natural when you get into a relationship but give me some piece of mind when one of them adds that we're not as gross as everyone else. Meredith presses her lips together and mumbles, "That song you wrote is gross." under her breath for everyone around to hear.
"Oh, the nonsense song?" John asks, walking out of the locker room in his suit and beanie. I groan, covering my eyes as I shake my head from side to side. John starts humming what he knows and sings a lyric that he remembers. "Wait why has Marino heard it but not me?" Nico asks, tapping my phone screen for me to pull out the voice memo.
I cup the sides of my face in embarrassment, wondering why I even showed the song to the loud-mouthed boys. There was a reason they had to give me a nickname and it's because they would've name-dropped me whenever they felt like it. With my cold hands trying to cool down my face I explained that John was at lunch with Jack whenever I was in the studio with Aaron.
Dawson joins the circle and puts his arms around Nico and Mere, asking what we're talking about ready to chime in. Unfortunately for Nico, this will be how he finds out that Dawson has also heard the song. John fills him in, unlocking a memory Dawson forgot he had. "Oh the one that's like something, something arms around me oh, it feels so good." I cover my whole face, forgetting how weird it is to have someone sing your songs to your face.
I start backing out of the circle ready to take off but Nico holds me by my arm, blocking the exit with his body. "You're driving with me so I can hear this song." he says, making my cheeks heat up with discomfort. Music is so personal I sometimes forget that soon it'll be for everyone to hear. Jack smacks Nico's hand off of my arm starting an argument that if anything he should be the one to ride with me even though he brought his car.
After several minutes of the guys talking over one another, they come to an agreement to both drive in my car. "Jack, I'll drive in your car so you don't leave it here." Mere offers, cupping her hands so Jack can put his car keys in them. He hands them off to her and says goodbye to the girls and his teammates.
"So dramatic." I mouth, rolling my eyes as I walk out of the room behind the rest of my friends. I stand behind Jack, reaching for his fingertips before letting go of his hand once we're outside of the arena. I unlock my car, watching Nico and Jack start another argument. This time it's about who gets to sit in the passenger seat.
Jack flicks Nico's forehead and opens the back doors, buckling himself into the seat behind mine. Once I'm situated in my seat I feel his hand rest against my shoulder, feeling his cold knuckle run up and down my skin. Nico impatiently waits for me to play the song, drumming his fingers against the center console.
I play the completed song which Jack hasn't even heard yet. I showed him what was done at the time but after we hung up Aaron and I added a few extra lyrics just to elevate the song a bit more. Nico turns the music up with a massive smile, watching Jack sing along to the song that is about him.
When the new lyrics boom through the speakers Jack fumbles over his words and listens to them closely, making a knot of anxiety bubble up in my chest. I flick my eyes to the rearview mirror watching him smile before feeling his fingers brush up against my ear. I lean into his touch before the song switches to another unreleased song.
Nico pulls my phone away from me before I get the chance to turn it off. I feel goosebumps lace my skin after hearing the beginning chords. I guess I don't really mind if they listen to the song but it's not happy or cute it's something I wrote at my worst. This one is called 'Breaking Me Down' and I've been wanting to make it into something better than what it is.
"Til I neglect all the ones that I love. All the ones I love. And I've noticed a pattern of everyone leaving, happens when I open up with my feelings." I listen to my voice ring through the speakers. Nico pauses the song and sighs softly, looking back at Jack before putting his hand on my shoulder. I purse my lips, feeling my shoulder sink under the weight of his hand.
Nico pats the top of my head and asks how I'm doing with big brown eyes staring into my side. "I'm alright." I laugh, knowing that this is the happiest I've been in a long, long time. I wrote that song at my lowest and recently wanted to work on it. That song is nowhere near how I'm feeling right now.
He chooses to believe me and gets out of the car once Mere parks beside us. We walk into the lonely bar, looking for John and Dawson. When I hear a loud laugh coming from the one and only Dawson Mercer I start walking up to their table in the corner, taking the seat beside Dawson.
Meredith sits beside me putting Jack in front of me. He sits sandwiched between Nico and John, who looks like he's already a drink or two in. They ask Nico about the song and even fill him in on the rhyming I will be doing at the end of the song. "God, can you guys keep a secret?" I laugh, rubbing my forehead.
John shakes his head no in a sassy way, taking a sip of his beer and advising the rest of us to have a drink since that's what we came here to do. Jack gets up from his seat and makes his way over to the bar, asking for his favorite beer. I watch as he waits on one of the stools before my attention moves over to Nico.
He subtly checks his phone, looking over his shoulder before typing a response. He puts his phone face down on the table and jumps into the conversation Meredith is having with the other two boys at the table. Currently, Dawson is trying his best to convince Mere to set him up with some of her model friends.
"You're probably not their type." Nico says, popping his fingers before resting his intertwined fingers on his phone. His friend's face screws up in confusion, putting his hands out in shock. He asks what Nico meant by his statement to which Nico says, "They probably like boys with teeth." He says, getting back at Dawson for teasing him for being the last one to hear my song.
John starts cackling, putting his fist out to bump Nico's because of his great comeback. With a shy but proud smile Nico thanks John for his reaction then checks his buzzing phone again. When Jack comes back, he settles into his chair taking a long gulp of his beer. Nico grabs his phone and heads to the bar, once again checking his phone.
I get up and follow him over to the bar, sitting down on the stool right beside him. "You're checking your phone very often." I tease Nico once I meet up with him at the bar. He jolts in place, pocketing his phone, and shakes his head trying to deny the observations I've made. "Who is she?" I ask, bumping him with my shoulder.
He starts smiling at the thought of whoever she is and looks behind him while he contemplates telling me about the girl. Before telling me he holds his pinky up and makes me swear to not tell my boyfriend. "I know you're both gross and relationship-y but like actually keep this a secret." I nod my head holding up my pink to lock with his.
He takes a deep breath and says, "Her name is Athena, she's a professional soccer player here in New Jersey." he says making my jaw drop at the fact that he actually told me when I know for a fact he hasn't told anyone else. I smack his shoulder multiple times genuinely feeling so happy that he gets to experience the same thing I am.
Nico's smile morphs into a shy grin, looking behind him before pulling his phone out to show me a picture of her. "Nic, she's stunning. Holy shit." I say, covering my mouth with my hand. He nods agreeing with me, clicking out of the photo then tucks his phone back into his pocket.
"She is beautiful and incredibly talented." He adds finally relaxing after getting to talk to someone about her. He orders a beer for himself and water for me while we talk away from the group we came with. We wait for our drinks pretending like we're not having a top-secret conversation. "I'm sure you of all people get it but I just want to keep it private for right now." He says with a nod.
I totally understand where he's coming from and tell him how happy I am for the two of them. He thanks me before tensing up once his phone vibrates in his pocket. He whips it out and says yes under his breath. I watch him type out a response before he says, "Alright got to go." with a smile. I chuckle at his urgency to get to her and watch as he waves at the rest of the group.
He leaves me at the bar causing Jack to run over to me to ask what he said to me. I point at Nico's beer and say, "Oh he just said you can have his beer." I smile, knowing that I am trusted with information and shouldn't betray Nico's trust. Jack looks at me with a disappointed look on his face, trying to get me to tell him about Nico's secret girlfriend.
I shake my head to his displeasure, grabbing my water and walking away from him. "What? I'm your boyfriend shouldn't you have a moral obligation to tell me everything." he says, grabbing the beer Nico left before following me back to our table. I shake my head once again with my lips pressed against each other. "We pinky sweared." I break it to him with a shrug.
He scoffs, putting on a careless front while he says, "Alright well, I know something you don't." He says, taking a sip of his beer standing only a few feet away from the table. I laugh at his childlike response and cross my arms before leaning in close to his face. "I'm sure you do." I whisper to him, patting the side of his face.
He's close to folding before he says, "No, really I do know something." but after sneaking a look at Meredith who nods her head at me I realize that Jack knows about Quinn and Meredith texting, most likely because Quinn texted her when her phone was facing up on the table. And if I'm right Jack saw the notification, asked her about it, and Meredith unloaded on him but not before forcing him to pinky swear to not tell him.
"Jack, honey. I already know." I grin at him, turning around to walk back to our table beside my best friend.
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a.n// Hi my friends:)) So sorry that it has taken me forever to write a chapter, I've been focused on my final exams but I am almost done. I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I hope you enjoyed this:)
Thoughts on 'Risk' I was jumping for fucking joy!!!! I love it so much and cannot wait for the rest of the album. I am ACTUALLY INVESTED!!!!
I love you all!
Stay safe, stay kind, and DM me if you need anything!
Love Lottie 💐💐💐