Cocky

Chapter 13 #2

“Jabari McKingsley.” Her tone goes dangerously calm. “Can you please. Please. Stop calling me Jelly?”

I blink. “Why? It suits you.”

“Fuck you.”

The bite in her voice makes my chest tighten. “Woah. Woah. Woah. What’s wrong?”

“Don’t play dumb. You started that stupid nickname.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So why are you acting dunce when I say I don’t want to be called it?”

There’s a misunderstanding here. I need to clarify because she’s vicious when she’s upset and I don’t want to be her target.

“Frankie, I call you Jelly ‘cause you used to like jellies. Remember?”

She stills and her eyebrows knot. “…Huh?”

“When we were kids. You and Za used to run through a whole bag in our living room. Did you actually forget, or are you playing again?”

The tension calms a bit and I see her scanning her memories mentally.

“I remember that,” she says, but she’s staring at a poster behind me now. “I didn’t even like them like that. I only ate them because Za liked them and your mum wouldn’t let her have them. So I pretended they were for me.”

“That’s cap.”

“Excuse me?”

“You liked the green ones. You always picked them out first.”

She hesitates then puts her hand on her hips.

“Well… who doesn’t like green apple?” — yeah but you loved green apple, Jelly — “And that’s not even the point. When you called me that in front of everyone at school and all your little mates, the name stuck.”

“And?”

She goes quiet again. I wait for clarification but nothing. Something’s not adding up.

“And?” I repeat.

“…It wasn’t perceived that way.”

My stomach drops slightly. “Then how was it perceived?”

She exhales slowly. Like she’s choosing whether to give me something I don’t deserve.

“They thought you were joking. About my weight. About how my body moves when I walk.”

Everything in me locks. The room suddenly feels smaller.

“Francine—”

“It’s fine.”

But it’s not fine.

“It’s not fine.”

She shrugs, but there’s tension in her shoulders. “It really is. I should’ve known you weren’t clever enough to think of that on your own anyway.”

Normally, I’d clap back but I don’t feed into this very obvious diversion.

“I’m sorry,” I say instead. And I mean it. “I swear to God I’m sorry.”

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“It still hurt you.”

She finally looks at me properly and there’s no game in her eyes now. I feel something twist in my chest.

“Another way I messed something up for you,” I mutter, more to myself than her.

“Hmph…” She steps closer. I don’t move away as she examines me. I don’t know if it’s forgiveness or if she decided the whole conversation wasn’t worth having anymore but she relaxes from her earlier defensiveness and I silently hope she believes my explanation.

“…You know,” she says softly, “now that I think about it… I guess I don’t mind you calling me Jelly.”

I search her face. “Swear down?”

She nods. “Just… don’t overdo it.”

We’re inches apart now and I can feel the warmth coming off her.

“I won’t,” I murmur. “Jelly.”

She rolls her eyes but there’s a smile fighting its way through. “I regret this already.”

Relief hits me before I can stop it. I huff a small laugh but there’s still something we gotta address.

Why did she ask me here? Why now?

Why soften me up like this?

My guard is still halfway up.

“So,” I say, voice lower now, testing the air between us, “what game we playing?”

Her smile shifts again. And that’s when I realise I might not be the only one who was thinking I had the upper hand.

“Oh,” she says, stepping even closer. Her hands move to my trouser, tugging at it so it can give way.

“I see,” I grab her hands. “The game was a trap to lure me into this she-cave you call a room.”

Her head turns as she takes in my realization. “Wow. You’re only just now getting that?”

“I’m a straight talker. I don’t speak in code.”

“Okay well. I wanna fuck. You came over to fuck right? So let’s fuck. Lay down.” She points at the bed.

“No.” I’m surprised at myself.

Her face screws up. “No?”

“I wanna talk to you some more.”

“Why?”

“I want to do this with you for a while so I wanna talk about it.” I say honestly.

“Jabari—”

“And I want to know some things about you. You confuse me more and more every time we interact. What’s with this new look you got for yourself?

Why’d you choose to act like you didn’t know me?

Why’d you even sleep with me? Why’d you run out after?

Why’d you invite me here if you’re so opposed? Why are you and Za—”

I’m cut off by her pulling her hands out of my hold.

“Enough,” Frankie says simply. “I thought you came over here to hook up but if you want to play head doctor you can fuck off back to your hotel, yeah?”

“You could talk to me, you know?” I press. “I’m a good listener.”

“Yet you’re still here after I said to fuck off.”

“Let’s start with something simple. Why’d you fuck me that night?”

She looks at me with annoyance in those green eyes. But I see the pain behind it. She’s more sensitive than she cares to admit but it’s so obvious to someone who is paying attention.

“I could ask you the same question. Million girls in London begging for your attention as you love to point out. What do you get from hanging your briefs with me?”

“That’s simple. I find you very attractive, Frankie.”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh please. I haven’t said a kind thing to you since you got back. We fight more than anything and I’m the polar opposite of you in every way there is. What’s your attraction to me based on?”

“For one, obviously you’re fucking peng. I love the way you carry yourself. You can be funny even if the jokes are usually aimed at me. You ain’t afraid to tell me what you think and honestly, for some reason I like to be around you.”

She softens. “Really?”

“I like you, Frankie.” I pull her close again. “You can’t see that?”

Her lips fold in as I see that confession crash around in her mind. The process is messy for her, that’s for sure.

“A part of me thought you were only doing this to mess with Za.”

My eyebrows furrow. “Chinaza? Why would I want to mess with my sister? And what does that have to do with you?”

“Come off it, Jabari. You know what your relationship with your parents and Zaza is like. You know your mum will let you get away with anything so you use that to pick on Zaza.”

I stare at her. Really stare for a long time with my mouth pinned close.

“For a smart girl, you should be ashamed of the nonsense coming out of your mouth right now.”

She looks genuinely surprised. “What?”

“I used you to mess with my sister? Are you mad, blud?”

“You know how your mum treats you over her so why are you acting like it’s a weird concept?”

“Right. Well, why haven’t I told Za about it then?”

That shuts her up.

“Exactly. If sleeping with you was the end goal to my evil master plan, why didn’t I go around bragging about making you cum over and over and over again?

You let me leave it in overnight to, remember?

Your best friend's brother who you claim messes with her relentlessly had you spread in his bed for hours while you begged for more. At one point my dick slipped out and you put it back in yourself! If anything, you’re the one who’s fucked in the head, Jelly. ”

All the color in her face pooled to her cheeks. I don’t care though, the reality check was needed.

“I wasn’t thinking straight,” she says in a soft voice.

I scoff. “Which part? The fucking me for hours or not telling the person you claim you care so much about?”

“I do care about her!” She gets in my face like that was supposed to show me her undying loyalty. “I wasn’t thinking straight, okay?”

“Yeah,” I agree, looking at her clearly.

I should be mad at her throwing my character around so carelessly, but all I feel is understanding.

She clearly wants something or someone to put the blame on.

To her, my motivations serve only as a way to get under my sister's skin because to her that’s the only thing that makes sense as a reason for me to be standing here still.

My feelings are transactional because that’s all she knows me as.

The big bad brother.

The bully.

The one who coaxed her in and used her as a way to make my sister's life a living hell. If I fell for this little show she put on, I’d be labeled as a mindless clown too. Slinging dick to whoever offered just because they called. Making her opinion of me fall even further.

Still, I’ll play along. Just not the way she hopes.

Giving us a moment so we both caught ourselves from the things we said I cup her face. Her eyes are still wild, waiting for me to start another argument with her. Instead my thumbs drag across her cheeks, like I’m smoothing the redness away.

Calm down. It’s okay.

I don’t have to say it out loud for my demeanor to convey it and she actually puts her guard down. I stand closer in her space as she keeps those eyes on me.

“What about now?” I lean in, slowly so she can take it in. My lips meet the skin on her neck with a soft kiss that unnerves her. “You thinking straight?”

She moans quietly in response.

“Let me guess? You invited me over to try and throw me off you by emasculating me, right? Want me to tuck tail and run so you could feel justified in your actions? Want to write me off as an emotionless meathead who used you to torture his sister while his parents cheer him on? That’s what you think of me?

You think I’m that heartless that I’d use you as collateral damage? ”

“Jabari—”

My arms wrap around her thighs as I pull her up, making her legs secure around my torso. “I like you, okay? I like you a lot. I respect you. Try your best to respect me.”

When her back hit the bed, her whole attitude changed.

She arches into me and exhales. Pretty green eyes look stormy and glossed over, like she’s in a daze.

My lips find hers immediately, kissing away all her fears, letting her know she can enjoy this moment.

She mumbles something against my mouth and I try to press through it but she mumbles on and on until I pull away.