Kristen barely had time to put her key in the slot when the door of the hotel suite she shared with Joy swung open with Joy on the other side.
Joy looked at her with teary eyes and a big goofy grin. "Get your butt in here slut!" she yelled, pulling Kristen inside and slamming the door shut.
Kristen laughed nervously and combed her fingers through her hair. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me look at you."
Joy took Kristen's arms and spread them wide, looking her up and down. Kristen blushed and looked down at the floor, avoiding her scrutinizing gaze.
"Oh my God. You fucked him, didn't you? You lost your virginity. You fucked Roman!"
Kristen eased her arms out of Joy's grasp and walked to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. Suddenly, she needed even more caffeine. "What are you talking about Joy?"
Joy was in hot pursuit, following closely behind her. "Look at you! You're glowing so hard.... I can tell. I haven't heard from you all night. You've been M.I.A. since yesterday afternoon... No one could get you on the phone, not even your parents and that's saying something."
Kristen started the coffee maker and placed her wrapped plate on the counter. "My phone died."
"Yeah, along with your virginity." Joy looked at her closely and squinted her eyes, assessing her. "Come on, tell me. It was Roman, wasn't it? I know it wasn't Diego because I called him."
Kristen widely looked at Joy. "What did he say?"
"He said he hadn't heard from you since last night. Something about Roman coming to the room and acting like a jealous ass. He said he left shortly after and he hadn't talked to you since."
Joy picked up Kristen's plate and lifted the top. Kristen immediately took it back and went to put it in the refrigerator.
"What's that?" Joy eagerly asked. "Is that food? Did you bring me something to eat?"
"No. It's mine. Roman cooked it."
Joy's eyes grew as big as saucers. "He cooked breakfast for you? Holy shit."
"Will you stop saying that?"
Joy pulled Kristen back to the living area and practically pushed her down on the couch; then sat across from her in one of the single chairs.
"Wait a minute Joy. My coffee."
"Oh fuck that damn coffee. Don't be coy with me Kristen, tell me the truth. And I want all the dirty details. Did you sleep with Roman?"
Kristen tucked her hair behind her ear and gnawed her lip, glancing up at Joy with a cat that ate the canary grin. "I did."
Joy started screaming and grabbed Kristen's hands, wiggling in her seat and jumping up and down. "I knew it, I knew it; I knew it! Oh my God, you actually did it! You fucked Roman Dean! Holy shit!"
"Calm down." Kristen worriedly glanced towards the door of the suite. "Where's your mom?"
"What are you worried about her for?"
"You know how your mom is."
"She's next door packing. She'll be over here in a minute to say goodbye. Enough about her. Come on, tell me! Fill me in!"
Kristen put her hands together to her lips and helplessly shrugged, still grinning. "I don't know what to say."
"How was it? Where was it? What was it like? How big was he?"
Kristen quietly giggled. "Slow down Joy."
"Did he go down on you?"
Kristen uncomfortably squirmed. "I'm not telling you that."
"Why not? When I lost my virginity, I told you. I still tell you everything."
"Yeah sometimes too much."
"Come on, we're best friends. You know I'm not going to tell anyone."
Kristen chewed her lip and thought for a moment. Should she talk about her and Roman's private business? What they'd shared had been deeply personal, an intimate moment between the two of them. Sacred. It meant something to her and she prayed it meant something to him. But Joy was her best friend and they talked about everything. She knew she could trust her.
"Kristen, come on, don't leave me in suspense! How was it? Was it everything you expected?"
Kristen dreamily sighed and leaned back against the couch. Her luminous brown eyes glazed over with emotion. "It was."
"Okay, you're taking too long. Let me just ask you this: Was he good?"
Kristen's eyes crossed for effect. "Fuck yes. Beyond good. He was... amazing. Fucking fantastic!"
Joy adamantly shook her head and held up her finger. "It was your first time, you might have been blinded by your obsession and fascination with him. So let me ask you this: Did you come?"
Kristen nodded.
"Every-time?"
Another nod.
"How the hell... I can't even do that. Wait a minute. Did you come when he was inside you or just when he was, you know..."
"Every way."
"Bitch."
Kristen blushed and fiddled with her dress.
The coffee machine begin beeping and Joy irritably glanced back at it. Seeing Kristen was too far in la-la land to notice the annoying sound, she got up and went into the kitchen to shut it off. She promptly made Kristen and herself a cup and brought them back into the living-room. She reached Kristen a cup but Kristen's eyes were still dreamily glazed over. Sighing, she set the cup on the table and sat back in her chair.
"Kristen."
Snapping out of her reverie, Kristen looked over at her.
"Do you know how rare that is?"
Kristen quizzically looked at her.
"Coming from sex. So many women have a hard time with that, myself included. I mean, I can in other ways, but... Okay. Wait. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but... Is he... You know. Generous?"
Kristen cocked her head in question. Joy held her hands up to indicate.
Kristen vigorously nodded. "Oh. Yes. Absolutely."
"How big?"
Kristen put her hands up and spread them, indicating length.
"Get the fuck out of here," Joy gasped.
Kristen put her index finger up and made a hook.
"No!"
Kristen put her thumb and index finger up and spread them widely apart.
"No wonder. Lucky bitch." Joy was grinning as hard as Kristen. "So, how do you feel?"
Kristen shrugged and fluffed her hair. "I don't know. Happy. Peaceful. Excited. Dreams do come true. And then some!" She giggled uproariously and Joy shook her head at her.
"Did you cry?" she asked Kristen.
Kristen nodded with tears in her eyes.
"From pain or pleasure?"
She sniffled and wiped her nose. Her eyes sparkled with emotion as she answered. "Both."
"Did he go down on you?"
"Multiple times."
Joy giggled. "You always told me you thought that was nasty. How did you like it?"
"Let's just say now I understand what all the fuss is about."
"Wow Kristen. Wow."
Kristen discreetly wiped a tear from her eye. "I know."
"I know we always talked about it but did you really think you'd end up sleeping with him?"
"No. it wasn't planned. You know how things have been between me and him. We had been going at it back and forth all day, since the day we met really..."
"Sexual tension will make you act a fool."
Kristen kept talking as if she hadn't heard her. "And... I don't know. He came to the room last night and something just clicked. It's like we couldn't hold back anymore. All that we'd been feeling, all these feelings we had been ignoring just boiled over and came to the surface."
"Yeah. About that. That's what I meant to ask you. What was Diego doing here if you and Roman had a date? I thought you were there all day."
Kristen closed her eyes and shook her head, the fatigue of the past twenty-four hours catching up with her. "It's a long story Joy. I really don't want to-"
Joy put her foot under her butt and crossed her arms, getting comfortable. She took a sip of her coffee and shrugged. "I don't mind hearing it. Go on. What happened?"
Kristen took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. Noticing her cup for the first time, she picked it up and lifted it to her lips, drinking languidly. Cautiously, she explained to Joy what happened during dinner the previous night with Roman. She left out more than a few details about how ugly the argument had gotten, including how Roman had hurt her feelings and accused her of being like his ex, mainly because she wanted to respect his privacy and she knew Joy would hold a grudge, no matter how excited she was about their relationship. Against her better judgment, she gave Joy the edited, cleaner version of their heavy make out session in the garage and detailed how Roman had come to their hotel room staking his claim to her after leaving her stranded.
"Holy shit," Joy said with wonder after Kristen was finished. "That is the sexiest story of seduction I have ever heard in my life. I wish I had a man coming to my door, barreling his chest and demanding to throw me over his shoulder like a cave man if I didn't budge. I love shit like that."
"So," Kristen breezily began as she sat her empty cup down and lay back sideways across the couch. "How was your night?"
Joy chuckled and shook her head, putting her own cup on the table. "No bitch, you're not getting away with it that easily."
"I told you everything."
"No, no, no," her best friend softly scolded, wagging her finger. "There are more than a few minor details you left out. Like how you had Diego and Roman ready to claw each-other's eyes out over you. Two Next Level members. Girl, hi-five."
She held her hand up to Kristen and Kristen warily looked at her hand. "Hi-five," Joy repeated. Kristen softly tapped her hand. "You are officially in slut territory."
Kristen immediately retracted her hand and sat up, scooting farther to the other side of the couch. "What are you talking about? I'm only technically involved with one of them."
"Yes but you have sucked face with both of them and they're best friends, or at least they were until you came along. That officially makes you the top tier of the hoe hierarchy."
Kristen said nothing to that and sadly looked down at the floor. She felt bad. Shame washed over her like a cold breeze. She'd momentarily forgotten about the discord her indecision had caused between Diego and Roman and she felt horrible about it. "Don't kid like that Joy. I don't feel good about what happened."
"It's not your fault you're beautiful as hell and you had three Next Level members wanting to get into your pants, including one of their brothers."
Kristen looked at her in question.
"Alex."
Kristen rolled her eyes and sighed. Damn. She'd forgotten about Alex.
"Man, and I thought I had problems."
"Back to you," Kristen started, wanting to get off her own Days of Our Lives soap opera for a moment. "How are things with Damian? You guys have a good time last night?"
Joy plaintively nodded, keeping her face expressionless. "We did."
"Well, come on. You spill the beans now."
Joy pursed her lips and looked away. "There's nothing to tell."
Kristen closely regarded Joy for a moment, then sat up straight, scooting close to her again. "Did you sleep with Damian Joy?" Joy refused to answer. "Did you?"
Joy twisted her lips and sneakily cut her eyes at Kristen, still not answering.
Kristen groaned and put her head in her hands. "Damn Joy. Why do you have to make your life so damn difficult?" She looked up at her. "When?"
Joy swallowed and fidgeted with her hair, which was unusual for her because she never felt ashamed or nervous. "You and I both got lucky last night."
She gave Kristen a blow-by-blow low-down of her night with Damian, from the unlimited conversation over dinner at a restaurant to walking along the beach holding hands, to going to his own impressive mansion, sitting in front of the fireplace for more long-winded conversation before one thing led to another, resulting into what Joy called the most passionate night of her life. Ever.
"Better than with Beau?" Kristen eagerly asked her.
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Damian is just so much different than Beau. He sees me. He really sees me. He wants to know me. He likes me for me."
Kristen looked at her closely. "I feel a but coming."
"But... You know how much I like Beau."
"But from what you've told me about the two of them, the two of you have absolutely nothing in common."
"Not really. We're a lot alike. It's weird and all kinds of wrong but I do feel a connection with both of them. Damian is obviously more emotional but Beau is like a drug for me. It's just so intense."
"Have you guys been out since you slept together?"
"No. But I'm supposed to see him later today." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know Kris. I know it's wrong but I really do like them both."
"Well Joy, you can't have them both."
"I can't?"
Kristen tilted her head and gave Joy a stern look.
"Yeah, I know, I know."
"Girl, you have gotten yourself into some deep shit."
"Tell me about it. And I have no idea how to fix it."
"I have no idea what to tell you."
"You have your own drama to worry about." Joy briefly paused. "So, where do you go from here? We are leaving tomorrow."
Kristen felt sadness gripping her tight like a wounded lover. "I don't know," she soberly answered. "I can't imagine going back to Charlotte and going on with my life as if the past couple of days never happened. The thought of never seeing him again makes me want to... I know it sounds cliché because he took my virginity but it's so much deeper than that. I can't explain it. I just can't imagine living the rest of my life without him in it."
Joy looked at her for a minute; then her eyes widened in alarm. "Holy shit."
"What?"
"You love him. You love him, don't you?"