Love After You

Chapter 1

It was Wednesday, which meant one thing.

It was game night.

Jessica and Adam always held game night at their home. They made the mistake of going to Jake's before, who had forgotten to tell his roommate about his plans and so sat next to them the entire evening shouting at the TV screen while some football game played. They all equally hated football, and more importantly, football fans.

Jessica, her husband Adam, and his best friend Jake all sat around their dining room table, glaring at each other as they waited for Jessica to roll the dice. There was a monopoly board sitting on the table between them all. Adam was winning, like he always did. He had the most money and the most property. Just like in real life, Jake supposed.

They were both the same age, but Adam had a house, a wife, and a great job. Adam had a rented apartment with a noisy roommate and a dead-end job, and his music career was basically non-existent.

He wasn't jealous of him, though it would be easy for him to be. But no, Jake was happy for him. He worked hard for what he had; maybe if he had the same work ethic, he could be successful too.

"Jessica, roll. You can't hog the dice all night." Adam sighed, leaning back in his chair as he examined his wife.

Well, maybe he was jealous of him.

Jake remembered very well the first time he met Jessica. Jess and Adam had been dating for a couple of weeks before Adam brought her to the annual Halloween party at his parents' house. It was tradition that they threw it at his parents house, and Jake always looked forward to it. Free drinks, usually some pretty girls dressed in some low-cut, sheer dress... What's not to like?

Adam's family were great. They treated him like he was one of them, and seeing as they basically raised him after he was taken into care as a child, he always felt a special bond with them all. Growing up, he practically lived at the Hughes household. Adams mother, Grace, made the most delicious cookies, and she always cooked a fresh batch whenever she knew Jake was over.

Back at the Halloween party a couple of years ago, Jake saw this girl walking towards him in a Jessie costume from Toy Story, and time seemed to slow down. She was curvy with a smaller waist and wide hips that made you want to run your hands down them. Natural long red hair that was braided down one side. Her cowgirl outfit hugged her body in all the right places as she walked towards him, her hat slightly too big for her head as she greeted him with a wide, warm smile.

Jake remembered it all vividly.

"You must be Jake." She said and extended her hand out to him.

He frowned slightly at such a formal greeting, but shook her hand anyway.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, curious.

"I'm Jessica, Adam's girlfriend." His heart stopped. Fuck. "He said you dressed as Batman every year." She explained and gestured to his costume, which was the same beaten-up costume he wore every year.

He gave her a tight smile and nodded. "Nice to learn how predictable I am."

She shrugged. "Hey, why change something when it works, right?"

He didn't reply; he just watched her carefully. She took a sip of her drink. Halloween-style dance music played around them as people danced to the beat. He noticed the slight sway of her hips as she tried to stop herself from dancing.

She was very alluring.

"So," he began, trying to distract himself. "I see you're wearing a Jessie costume from Toy Story because of your name, I'm guessing?"