Just Friends Read online

  Just Friends

  Tina T. Kove

  Just Friends © 2020 by Tina T. Kove

  2020 Edition.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except for in the purpose of reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction and as such all characters and situations are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people, place, or events is coincidental.

  Just Friends is set in Norway, and as such uses British English throughout.

  Contents

  About

  A note from the author

  1. Tuesday, April 16th

  2. Wednesday, April 17th

  3. Thursday, April 18th

  4. Saturday, April 20th

  5. Monday, April 22nd

  6. Tuesday, April 23rd

  7. Friday, April 26th

  8. Saturday, April 27th

  9. Sunday, April 28th

  10. Monday, April 29th

  11. Friday, May 3rd

  12. Saturday, May 4th

  Want more?

  About the Author

  Also by Tina T. Kove

  About

  There is absolutely nothing between us.

  My name is Benjamin Lister, but don’t you dare use it. It’s just Ben. Always has been and always will be.

  I have been in love with my best friend for as long as I can remember. Since he’ll never love me the way I love him, I did a stupid thing years ago and am still doing it to this day: I’m sleeping with his older brother.

  There’s nothing between us, I swear. We just have some carnal fun once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with that. Except he has feelings and I do not. I really don’t.

  Right?

  A note from the author

  The characters of this book might sound familiar to you, but the title and a slightly different pen-name does not. Don’t worry, you’re not going mad and I’m not a plagiarist.

  This book was previously available under the title More than Friends. It has undergone some small changes, but the main love story is still the same.

  About the pen name; I’ve decided to start using my first name. I still go by initials too, like in my social media URLs, but this will make it easier for people to address me. Initials have been a pain in my arse for a time and that time is over now.

  As for the book, I have taken it upon myself to rewrite all my books. I wasn’t happy with the old ones and I wanted to write more about all my beloved characters. But who can write more in a series they’re not happy with, right? If you read the old series, forget everything you remember and dive into the 2.0 version. I promise this is lots better.

  So here’s the new and improved version of Ben’s story.

  I hope you enjoy!

  Tuesday, April 16th

  It wasn’t so much a downward spiral I was in as plummeting down an endless black abyss.

  Everything sucked. School, my living situation, my love life, my life in general.

  Hence why I held the doorbell in and didn’t let up until I eventually heard motion on the other side of the door.

  I stepped back to wait, not so patiently.

  The door cracked open and Tarjei glared blearily out. ‘What the hell?’

  ‘Hey.’ I shoved past him into the flat.

  ‘Ben?’ He turned around to look at me.

  The flat was dark, so the only light was the one from outside. Tarjei’s auburn hair stood up on one side and was ruffled on the other.

  ‘It’s the middle of the bloody night.’ He rubbed sleepily at his eyes.

  ‘It’s getting close to morning, actually.’ About four-thirty or so, if I should be sort-of-exact.

  ‘Even worse.’ He closed and locked the door, so he wasn’t about to throw me out.

  He never did. Tarjei was always up for a shag. He never said no to me. Not ever. Here was someone I could always count on.

  He headed into the bedroom without a word.

  I chucked my shoes off and followed, taking a long swallow from my rum. I’d kept it mostly hidden inside my jacket on the walk over, in case the police drove by and saw me. I was not up for getting a ticket for carrying alcohol around in public.

  ‘Get in bed, Ben.’ Tarjei pointed at the other side of the bed. ‘You’re drunk.’

  ‘So?’ What did that matter? ‘I’m here. I’m willing. I want to fuck.’

  ‘I don’t. I’m knackered. Get in the bed. And sleep.’ Tarjei rubbed his hands over his face, yawned widely, then fell back into bed. He pulled his duvet up to his shoulders and curled up with his back to me.

  ‘The hell?’ I took another quick swig from the bottle. ‘You’re fucking boring.’

  ‘We can fuck in the morning,’ he promised in a murmur.

  I frowned down at the dark lump he made on the bed. When he didn’t budge, I sighed dramatically and deposited the Bacardi on the bedside table. Then I shucked my jeans, socks, and shirt and slipped under the chilly covers.

  ‘I’m having your arse tomorrow morning.’ I glared at Tarjei in the dark. No way was I offering up mine when he was being such an uptight dick.

  ‘Fine,’ was the only mumbled answer I got.

  ‘You’re such a wanker.’ I turned around so I lay with my back to his back. After another sample of rum, I curled up, waiting for the sheets to get warm around me.

  I didn’t remember them warming up, because I fell asleep. There was just something about Tarjei’s bed that always made me sleep like a rock.

  I woke up warm and comfortable.

  I stretched, groaned, and inched my eyes open. The room was full of light now, from the window on the opposed wall. The curtains were drawn, so the sun shone straight onto the bed.

  ‘Fucking hell.’ I wanted to bury into the sheets, but as I turned my head I found Tarjei leaning in the doorway, watching me silently. ‘What?’

  ‘What the hell kind of stunt was that last night?’ He came into the room, to loom over me on the bed. ‘You can’t just show up in the middle of the night expecting sex. And reeking of alcohol.’

  ‘I do not reek.’ I hadn’t had that much to drink.

  ‘You do.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘Go take a shower. You can borrow some of my clothes, even if they’ll be a bit big on you.’

  ‘Since when did you get so fucking uptight, huh?’ Now I remembered why I’d avoided Tarjei lately. He’d been acting weird for a while now.

  I threw my feet over the edge of the bed and made to stand— then instantly regretted it as my stomach roiled.

  ‘Come on!’ Tarjei grabbed my shoulders and escorted me into the bathroom. He pushed on my shoulders next, and I willingly fell to my knees in front of the toilet.

  This wasn’t what I wanted to be on my knees in front of. But my stomach roiled again and next thing I knew the contents of it came back up.

  Fuck, but I hated throwing up. I almost choked on it.

  ‘Get it all up, Ben. You’ll feel better after.’ Tarjei was behind me, alternating between stroking and thumping my back.

  I hadn’t had that much to drink last night. Or maybe I had. I’d drunk rum straight from the bottle. Not bothered to go to the fridge to find something to mix it out with.

  I clutched at the toilet as I continued to retch, using it as my fucking lifeline.

  ‘There you go.’ Tarjei’s hand was a warm, welcome touch right now. Usually, I hated it when he pretended to care, like he’d done a lot lately—hence why I’d been ignoring and avoiding him. But right now it felt good. Like I wasn’t all alone. Like someone actually did care.

  I sat for a long while in front of the toilet, long after I finished retching. My stomach was still funny, but it was empty. I needed it to settle before I dared move away.
r />   ‘Here.’ Tarjei thrust a glass of Coke at me. ‘It’ll help with the nausea.’

  I took a tentative sip, not at all sure I should be drinking anything in case it came back up again.

  It didn’t come back up—so I slowly finished the glass. When I handed it back to Tarjei, who’d been standing there watching me the entire time, I finally managed to stagger to my feet.

  My toothbrush was where it always was, because yes, I had my own toothbrush at Tarjei’s place. I stayed over so much I had to have one on my own. It was the only thing of mine that stayed permanently in his flat though.

  ‘Are you up for a shower?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Not really, but I must stink even worse now after all the vomiting.

  ‘I’ll go make breakfast then.’ He left me alone in the bathroom, closing the door after him.

  Normally I would have suggested he join me in the shower, but I wasn’t in any shape to fool around right now. So I washed quietly—carefully, so I didn’t upset my stomach again—and then wrapped a towel around my waist.

  My clothes were strewn on his bedroom floor.

  A folded pair of joggers and a T-shirt lay on his bed.

  I grabbed my own underwear, but otherwise dressed in what he’d laid out for me.

  Then I padded barefoot into the living room and over to the kitchen area. He had an open floor plan, with a table separating kitchen and living room. I plunked down on a chair at the table and put my head in my hands.

  The smells of an omelette cooking nauseated me all over again.

  ‘Here.’ He sat a box of crackers down in front of me. ‘Better for your stomach.’

  I glanced over at the omelette in the frying pan. He only had one plate out, though, so he hadn’t planned on giving me any anyway.

  ‘Thanks.’ I took one of the salty crackers and nibbled on it.

  ‘Were you out on the town last night?’ He turned the oven off, put the omelette on the plate, and came over to sit across from me.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Why’d you start drinking rum afterwards?’ He stared at me intently. ‘And why come here?’

  I shrugged, avoiding his gaze. ‘Haven’t seen you around for a while. You started going somewhere else?’ He liked to go out for drinks. At the particular club where I’d been last night.

  ‘No. I started not going at all.’ He focused on his omelette now, cutting it up into pieces. ‘I want more out of life than to get drunk and party every night.’

  ‘What, so you want the white-picked fence and two and a half kids?’ I narrowed my eyes.

  ‘I want neither of those, but I do want a calm, quiet life. Preferably with someone.’

  My eyebrows climbed up my forehead. ‘You want a boyfriend? Going exclusive?’ That didn’t sound good for me. Tarjei was the one I went to for steady sex. Every other opportunity had dried up in this damn town. There didn’t seem to be anyone gay—or even bi or bi-curious—left.

  ‘Anything wrong with wanting that?’ He pushed the omelette around on his plate, not looking up at me at all.

  ‘Everyone’s shacking up.’ I sounded petulant, and I knew it, but I couldn’t help it. ‘Even Andreas has a boyfriend and he’s always only been a little bi-curious. Now they’re off spending Easter together.’

  ‘Isn’t it good that Andreas is happy?’ Tarjei asked. ‘You should be happy for him.’

  ‘I am.’ Insofar as I could be happy about anything. Tarjei’s words still stung. ‘But everyone seems to shack up with someone, and I’m left behind.’ Okay, not everyone was shacking up. Thomas wasn’t, Nik swore never to get tied down by anyone. But most people had someone in their life and I had no one.

  He sighed heavily. ‘You can shack up with someone too.’

  ‘And who would want to shack up with me?’ A bitter laugh left me.

  ‘You’re a great guy, Ben.’ He looked up at me.

  My eyebrows climbed upwards again. ‘You’d want that, huh? After four years of shagging with no talk about anything else?’

  ‘You were always clear on the fact you’re in love with Nik.’ Now he sounded bitter. ‘My fucking brother, Ben. I’ve always known you’ve only been shagging me for the past four years because you can’t have him.’

  Nik. Nik, Nik, Nik. Yeah.

  ‘He’s coming home for Easter, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Tarjei looked away again. ‘As if you didn’t know that.’

  ‘I don’t, actually. I haven’t heard anything from him in weeks.’ Even my best friend was abandoning me.

  He’d sworn we’d always keep in contact before he moved down to Oslo, but here we were, not having spoken for ages. He had a new life down in the capital. An education. New friends who liked the same stuff he did.

  He’d probably found a boyfriend too, he just didn’t want to tell me.

  I was such a pathetic wreck. And everyone knew it.

  ‘What is so special about Nik?’ Tarjei asked lightly. ‘What does he have that’s so fucking special?’

  ‘He’s my best friend.’ I shrugged.

  ‘And? There must be more to it.’

  I couldn’t answer him.

  Why did I like Nik so much? Why had I been in love with him all these years? Even now when I was pretty sure he was avoiding me—because I’d sent him texts, without getting an answer—all I wanted was to see him again.

  ‘Why do you care so fucking much?’ I didn’t need him to care. No one cared. Why should he pretend to be any different? ‘You don’t have to butter me up for sex, you know. I’m here, I’m willing. You can have my arse if you want if yours is off the table. We don’t have to talk, have this bloody heart-to-heart. Let’s just get down and dirty. That’s what we do best.’

  He sighed again, even more heavily this time. ‘I don’t want just sex, Ben.’

  ‘Then go find yourself some nice girl you can take out on dates and dinners and all that American bullshit. We don’t do that here, you know. People fuck. And if they continue to fuck, and end up moving in together, then they’re in a relationship. We’ve got the shagging down, but nothing else.’

  ‘God, you’re such a fucking twat.’ Tarjei’s fork clattered onto his plate. He pushed it away, untouched.

  I pushed off the table. A bit too quick for my still queasy stomach, but the crackers I’d consumed stayed down.

  ‘I don’t even know who you are anymore.’ He’d changed and I officially didn’t like it. ‘Where’s the guy who’d fuck everything that moved, huh? We had a thing going here. Hot sex. That was good. Whatever you’re all about now, I have no interest in it.’ I made a mock salute, then left without another word. Too late I remembered I’d left my clothes at his place. But fuck it, I wasn’t going back.

  If he wanted to turn into a big sap, that was on him. He didn’t have to drag me into it. Whatever it was he wanted, it wasn’t for me. It never would be.

  Who’d want someone like me anyway?

  Wednesday, April 17th

  Tarjei had texted me earlier that he’d put a spare key under the mat, so once the bars closed, I headed over to his place.

  He was fast asleep, but he woke up as I slid under the duvet and pressed up close to him. I’d shucked all my clothes, but discovered to my chagrin that he was in his boxers. My hard dick still poked his arse, but the damn fabric was in the way.

  Tarjei groaned as he turned on his back to blink sleepily at me.

  I didn’t give him the chance to wake up enough to be angry about me waking him so late again. I simply rolled on top of him and spread his legs with my knees. Ran my hands over his sleep-warm body, tweaking his nipples a little as I knew he liked that.

  Then I went for his underwear. That shit had to go.

  All was right in the world as our bare dicks rubbed together.

  Tarjei hooked his legs over my hips as I thrust us together. He pulled at my neck and I went willingly so he could kiss me. Tarjei liked kissing a lot. I preferred the sex, but as long as kissing got me sex, I was fine wit
h it.

  Both of us were leaking pre-come and it eased the friction of dry cocks rubbing together. It was wonderful.

  I’d originally wanted to fuck, but we kept on thrusting against each other until we both came. He came first, and I followed a little while later. His stomach was a mess of semen, but he didn’t seem to care.

  I rolled off him and collapsed at his side, rubbing at my face. My eyes stung for some reason.

  His leg brushed against mine.

  ‘Nik’s ignoring me.’ That fell out of my mouth. I knew Nik was home now. I’d seen it on the Snapchat map.

  Tarjei turned away from me and drew his duvet up to cover his body.

  ‘He’s ignoring me and he hasn’t got the balls to admit it.’ Usually, I was one of the first people Nik would seek out. Except for his parents and perhaps his brothers. But this time, I heard nada. Not so much as a fucking text message or Snapchat picture.

  ‘Can we go to sleep, please?’ was all Tarjei had to offer.

  He knew his brother was back, didn’t he? And he hadn’t shared that with me. He clearly wasn’t about to talk about it either.

  I stared glumly up into the darkness until I eventually fell asleep.

  When I woke, the room was bathed in light and Tarjei was pressed up against my side. I blinked, my eyelids heavy.

  He took my hard dick in hand, waking me up instantly. He pulled the foreskin down slowly, then stroked back up to squeeze some pre-come from my slit.

  ‘Fuck me, Tarjei.’ I needed his dick in me. Right now. ‘Fuck me hard.’

  He rolled over, reaching for his bedside table drawer. I turned on my stomach as he got the essentials, waiting for—yes. Lubed fingers circles my hole and pressed inside.