 
## A Story With No Title

## Moving Forward

by Erin Lancaster

© 2014 by Erin Lancaster

Published by Erin Lancaster at Smashwords

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this independent author.

This is a work of fiction. Any names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the writer's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, or locations is purely coincidental. The author recognizes the various trademark owners of the various products referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The use and publication of these trademarks are not associated with, authorized or sponsored by those trademark owners.

## Foreword

In this eBook, the character named Erin Lancaster is not me personally (we just share a name). The character Jesse Gillespie is merely the inspiration for the Jesse Gillespie in Guardian Angel _,_ so he's a bit different.

This story centers around a few main characters with secondary characters sometimes taking the focus for a moment or two, and the point of view changes occasionally. I point out these changes by putting their name in larger, bold print when it switches. Occasionally, as these point of view switches are made, I may back up in time for a moment or parallel the time before bringing the story back to the "present."

**Table of Contents**

Chapter 1: In A Mood

Chapter 2: Scoring Points

Chapter 3: Time Technicality

Chapter 4: Rising Tides

Chapter 5: Freaked Out

Chapter 6: Hurricane

Chapter 7: Don't Stop Believing

Chapter 8: Simply Complicated

Chapter 9: Double Meaning

Chapter 10: Dirty Laundry

Chapter 11: Freight Train

Chapter 12: After So Little Time

Chapter 13: Slowly

Chapter 14: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Chapter 15: Feeling Uncomfortable

Chapter 16: Burn

Chapter 17: A Fabulous Idea

Chapter 18: Strangers

Chapter 19: Mufasa the Stag

Chapter 20: Troublemaker

Chapter 21: Convincing

Chapter 22: texting

Chapter 23: "nice" texting

Chapter 24: Home

Chapter 25: The Volcano Gods

About the Author

Other titles from this author

Connect with Erin

# Chapter 1: In A Mood

### Bryce

"Trust me, Erin. She can handle it if he pushes it too far." I try to reassure her about Jesse and Marie.

"Why did you do that? Now you've made it obvious to everyone you're trying to set them up," she complains.

I shrug. "So what if I am?"

A few customers walk up to Jones and me. They only want basic drinks to go. How boring.

Suddenly, Jesse is on the floor, curled up into a ball. _What the...? I guess he went too far_ , I think as I try to figure out how I feel about the scene in front of me. On the one hand, I want to laugh, but that would be mean to Jesse, even if I am pissed at him. On the other, she just knocked down my best friend. She looks up and over at me as I scowl at her. I look down at Erin when I hear her letting out little bursts of air as she laughs silently. I decide to let Erin have her vicarious victory through Marie. No doubt he deserved it anyway.

_How many times have I told him that doesn't work on all of them? He's lucky they fall for the whole 'adorable idiot' act as often as they do_ , I think as I walk over to at least be nearby in case either of them try anything else violent. Marie looks like she's satisfied with her results, and Jesse looks incapacitated. I doubt the fight picks back up.

Ginger comes over and talks with Marie before Desmond interrupts her. Then he and Ginger argue -- like always, and walk off. Marie goes to have a seat at the bar since the place is empty again.

I stand here and contemplate what to do next. Jesse deserves to get punched in the face. Hell, he'd do the same thing to me.

"Get up, Jesse," I mildly order. He slowly stands up like he's getting ready to pay the piper.

Then he actually looks me in the face and sees how pissed I really am. I remember last Sunday when Erin told me he'd kissed her _after_ she'd told him we were dating.

"Shit," Jesse says quietly.

I decide to keep it simple and just punch him once. After all, he did sincerely apologize. Still, I can't let this slide totally. My fist collides with his jaw enough to turn it to the side and knock him off balance. He lands on the floor with a thud, probably wishing he'd not gotten up in the first place. Erin turns around and gasps when she sees what happened. I ignore her for the moment. I can hear Ginger screaming at Desmond a little ways away.

Lynne was apparently on her way up the stairs. I hadn't noticed.

"Oh my god, Bryce! What gets into you two?" she asks as runs over to Jesse. His lip is bleeding.

Jesse rolls his head in Lynne's direction with a small moan, but he's actually looking at Marie. I don't really care to see the new girl's reaction. She may as well get used to scenes like this one if she's going to work in a bar, not that it happens all the time.

"Get up, you pussy," I taunt him.

"Bryce!" Erin gasps out. She doesn't get it obviously. Honestly, the punch was a lot weaker than it could've been. I didn't want to break his jaw; I only wanted to get my point across.

"Are we even now?" Jesse asks me.

"Almost, but I don't want you laying down for the next thing." I actually step over and offer him a hand up. Lynne looks up at me with a severely annoyed expression. I raise my eyebrows up, daring her to say something. _Oh good. Here's Troy. He'll distract her from the 'mother lecture' that she looks like she's ready to give._

"What else are you wanting out of me?" he complains as I help him up.

"You're going to apologize to Erin," I say.

"What," I hear Erin say flatly. She doesn't sound too happy. I'd worried that this part would be hard for her, but I don't want things to stay weird between my best friend and my girlfriend.

Erin looks extremely uncomfortable. _I'll apologize later. In fact..._ I get distracted for a moment when I look over at Jesse. _Wait a minute. Is he looking at her rack? Does he_ want _me to hit him again?_

I get distracted again when I see Bernadette walk up. _And look who decided to show up. Bernadette. She has a lot of nerve showing up here,_ I think as I watch her stand to watch what's going on with a curious air. I don't have the energy to tell her to piss off.

"I was going to do this anyway," Jesse starts talking to Erin - finally looking at her face. "But apparently Bryce demands that I do it now." _Prick._ "I know you're uncomfortable around me, so I'll just keep it quick. I'm really sorry, Erin. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I crossed the line."

Erin mumbles some kind of acceptance, glares at me _(uh oh)_ , and takes a step back when Bernadette practically pushes her out of the way. I start to calm down. I hate that I put Erin through that. I really do. _I'll have to pay for that later. Damn. Tonight of all nights too!_ My mood really improves when I consider what night it is. _She'll forgive me quick enough, surely she'll understand where I'm coming from._

I feel Simon come up behind me and hit me lightly on the shoulder as a greeting. I can tell from reading his expression that he's curious about what's going on. Then, Bernadette surprises everyone - especially Jesse - when she pulls a couple of flowers out from behind her back and tries to give them to him. Alright, now it's official. That woman is mental.

Erin actually smiles when she sees what Bernadette did. At least there's hope for her mood, and if that mental woman's actions make her happier, I'm happy about it. Jesse doesn't act too thrilled. I nudge Simon with my elbow and laugh silently. He looks at Bernadette with a concerned expression.

"I said no thank you," Jesse reiterates. Her head droops as she mutters some response, and the flowers get placed limply on the table next to her. _I had no idea she had a thing for Jesse. Maybe if she wasn't such a bitch..._

Jesse watches her walk away with a confused expression on his face before he turns back to me to ask, "Are we good now?"

"Yeah, I guess," I answer him. Then he gets this look on his face like he's about to crack up laughing.

Simon silently shakes his head in confusion, deciding to not get involved, and heads over to the bar as Jesse walks up to me.

"What the hell was that?" he laughs as he gets it out. _My best friend is back._

I can't help but laugh a little myself as I say, "I have no idea. Did you?"

He shakes his head no. "Not a clue. I mean, she's cute and all... until you get to know her." We both laugh, and I almost feel sorry for Bernadette. Almost.

Happy to have my friend back, I work at running my bar and the huge crowd of patrons/guests I have.

The sun sets, and Erin hasn't spoken to me since I made Jesse apologize. I can see her through the crowd standing over at the far corner table and talking to Pam about who knows what. As I make my rounds, I go and have a small chat with Bernadette where she sits at an empty table.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bernadette?" I ask.

"You said the whole island was invited," she points out.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd show your face so soon after being fired."

She slams her hand down on the table to throw her head around and glare at me as she says, "I quit, and damn it, if I want to be here, why is it any of your damn business?"

"Alright, so it's not," I say and walk away. I was only curious. Honestly, I don't care that much, certainly not enough to argue over it.

Having had enough of her silence, I walk over and pull Erin out to the middle of the floor, intending to dance with her and get her to talk to me.

### Erin

I'm mad at him. He did not _need_ to punch Jesse like that, not unless his goal was to make me stop disliking Jesse and instead feel bad for him. I can't help but feel some of it is my fault.

"Talk to me," he says once he's pulled me away from the spot I decided to hide in once Pam went to go dance with Simon. I'm happy Bryce's sister and her husband still go out even though they have a toddler. I'm also surprised that Adele is here at the bar tonight, but I guess she has to since all of her caretakers are _here_.

"Please talk to me," he interrupts my meandering thoughts. He's looking at me like _that_ again, and he's pulled me real close. I glance up at him for a split second before going back to staring at my hand. That intense look is back in his eyes, and I feel like I need to go sit down. He brings the hand that's not around my waist up to tuck some of my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering a little too long on the outside of my ear.

"Tell me exactly what's bothering you or I'm going to nibble on your ear right here in front of everybody. I'm sure they'll be very entertained," he threatens quietly.

I gasp a little and look up at his smiling eyes. Now I don't know what to say.

"Well, that at least got you _looking_ at me." He sighs and continues, "You're mad at me about how I handled the Jesse thing, aren't you?"

I nod quietly and go back to looking at my hand.

"Look, I'm sorry that I made you talk to him like that, but honestly, if I'd let that drag out then things would've gotten steadily weirder. I had to stop that from happening."

"That did make me very uncomfortable..." My voice trails out.

"But?"

I look up at him accusingly. He looks back at me and swallows before I ask, "Did you have to _hit_ him?"

"Yes," he answers without pause.

Since I'm quiet for a few seconds, he continues, "I guess I don't expect you to understand, but yes. I had to hit him." After I scowl at him he lets out in a huff. "It's a guy thing."

"To punch your best friend."

"When my best friend kisses my girlfriend, yes. But we're good now, so all that's over," he answers my statement and takes my hand off his chest to a more standard dance position as we sway on the spot.

As our bodies lightly brush up against the other, I can feel his changing mood.

"Erin, don't be mad at me," he lightly pleads.

"I'm not mad. Not really. Not anymore. I'm confused as hell. How did you forgive him so fast?"

"You don't think I should've?" he asks. Then that slow smile spreads across his face as he further asks, "You think I should still be mad at him so the two of us can fight over you some more?"

"What?!" _Okay, now I'm mad._ I take a deep breath so I can really lay into him.

However, I'm stopped from doing that when he all of a sudden kisses me. I try to lean away, but he just follows me like his lips are glued to mine. I hit him on the back of his shoulders. I do _not_ want to kiss this publicly! That's all I need is someone to pull out their cellphone and take a picture for all the world to see once it's uploaded. ...Then Sean could find it... find me.

Panic fills me, and I successfully jerk out of his grasp. I have a really bad feeling all of a sudden.

He reaches out to grab my hands as he asks, "Hey, what is it?"

_I can't tell him._ "Nothing," I say.

"Please don't give me the 'nothing' answer," he huffs. "It's obviously something. Look, I'm sorry I had to punch him. It's just the way he and I work!"

He sounds like he's about to really go into a long explanation, so I interrupt him, "It's not that."

He looks at me with a squint like he's trying to figure me out as he says, "Because I kissed you right here in front of everybody?" He waits, and when I don't deny it, he says, "I was kidding about the whole 'fighting over you' thing, and you looked like you were about to get really mad. So, I stopped that like that."

Again, he tells me probably exactly what he's thinking, or at least close to it. How does he do that?

"There's something else, though, isn't there?" he asks with that same look. Then he starts pulling me off to the other seating area... where we went last week. _It's only been a week?!_ I follow him, my knees locking a little with every step. _The last time we took this walk he wound up kissing me. Well, that wouldn't be bad, but what if he has something else up his sleeve? Obviously, he has no problem kissing me in front of everybody now. Maybe he's pulling me down here for my comfort level. That's gotta be it._

I walk ahead of him a little, like last time, and go lean back against the fence, staring at my feet. The spot I choose this time is much darker than last week. I prefer it that way tonight.

He walks up to me and takes my chin in his hand as he asks, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"It was the kissing in front of everybody thing," I answer. _That feeling is probably nothing._

"You're doing it again. Please? You can tell me anything."

"It's nothing. Just a weird feeling. That's all," I tell him and look him in the eye to let him know that that really _is_ all there is.

He takes a breath in such a manner that I think he believes me. "I'm sorry. I guess that was more than you can handle. I forgot that you're a little shy."

" _What_?!" I snap. "I'm not shy! I might be a little timid sometimes, but don't call me shy!" I quietly yell at him.

We hear a little high-pitched squeal coming from somewhere behind me a little ways away. Bryce lifts his face up, looks behind me, squints a little, and mumbles, "About damn time."

"What is it?" I ask and start turning my head to see.

He gets a firmer hold of my chin to stop me from looking and kisses me. I let out an aggravated noise. He pulls back for a second to whisper, "It's Desmond and Ginger. Shh." My eyes widen with that knowledge as he goes back to kissing me.

_Whoa. I thought they hated each other. I guess I didn't give it much thought since Desmond is such an ass._ Bryce's arms tighten around me as he starts _really_ kissing me, and I forget all about whoever it is that's doing God knows what behind me.

His hand moves down to my butt, and he presses me against him as he starts kneading it with his hand and slowly, suggestively, moving against me. He's really turned on.

He pulls back to thankfully let me breathe and asks, "My beautiful Erin, do you know what tonight is?"

"Friday night."

"Exactly. And last Friday, a _week_ ago, I kissed you for the first time."

"Yes, and then I freaked out and ran away." _And wow, I've really come a long way._

"The point I'm trying to make is that it's been a week."

_What?!_ "No it hasn't," I say a little breathlessly.

"What?! Yes it has," he argues, and he sounds deflated a little.

"We weren't a couple until Saturday," I try to explain. _Believe me, I've been thinking all day that it's tomorrow._

He snorts, "You were counting from then? That's not how I thought of it."

"Huh? Then how did you think of it?"

"You wanted to make sure you weren't a 'flavor of the week,' so I started counting from when everything got started. 'Things'... didn't always happen the first night with... them."

_Oh holy shit, he started his count from last Friday, meaning it_ has _been a week._ I start panicking. "Bryce... that's not how I thought of it. I.." _Damn it if his way of thinking about it makes more sense. I guess I should be happy that he doesn't count from when he first started to chase me. Or, maybe that's the conclusion he came to... that last Friday's party, before I ran away, was when he really started to chase me._ "Saturday," I say in an annoyingly-meek voice. _I'm going to be a nervous wreck tomorrow._ Why _did I plan it?_

"Saturday." He states his question.

I nod, unable to find wherever it was my voice went. My eyes glance up at him to gauge his mood from his face. He looks... calculating. _What are you up to, Bryce?_ "Are you mad at me?" I ask, still in that annoyingly-meek voice. _Tomorrow is soon enough as it is._

He jerks his head back like what I asked surprised him. "No. Why would I be mad at you? I'm not mad. I love you, and if that means waiting until tomorrow, then I wait until tomorrow."

I suddenly stand up on my toes, throw my arms around his neck, and kiss him passionately. I hadn't expected that out of him. I'd thought he'd try to convince me to change my mind. After a few seconds, he hungrily kisses me back.

Of course, that doesn't change his mood, but I don't worry about that. He's not pressuring me. I love him.

# Chapter 2: Scoring Points

### Jesse

I am _really_ not having a good day. When I'd gone to pick up Ginger, she asked me where the rest of her costume was. She'd asked me not to get something too short! How was I to know she was going to complain about what the top looked like? I was just so happy she was helping out that I offered to get the thing for her as a thank you.

Not that it mattered after all... For a while there, I wondered if Bryce took care of finding someone for me _for_ me. Why else have the new waitress dress up like that? And she's blonde. And her eyes are green. And her name is Marie. And she has great legs. Unfortunately, those great legs have knees... mean knees, surprisingly-powerful, well-aiming knees.

"Get up, Jesse," I hear Bryce order. _I don't want to. I think I'll lay here on the floor for a while, thanks._ Like an idiot, I get up.

"Shit." I should've expected this. Of course, I deserve a good punch in the jaw. He went easy on me, even if I lose my balance anyway and fall to the floor. Then Lynne comes over and starts trying to clean my face up. Lynne has a great rack.

I seriously need to get laid.

I turn my head and watch Desmond stomp after Ginger after she disappears behind the building. _Well, there goes my sort-of partner in crime._ I look over at Marie now. At first, I think she looks like she doesn't know if she should laugh or be concerned, but wait no... that's not it, there's more to it than that. As soon as she sees me really looking at her, the look of pain I see in her eyes quickly leaves to be replaced by a calm mask. _Interesting._

Bryce distracts me from further wondering what that look was by making me get up again and apologize to Erin. _Geez, Bryce. Can't you see she's uncomfortable? I was gonna do this anyway, but on my own schedule, when I thought Erin could handle it. Now you're forcing her to talk to me._ I don't know if I completely buy her acceptance of my apology, but I drop it. I need to sit down anyway.

Unfortunately, I don't get to yet. Bernadette gets my attention.

"Here. I brought these for you," she says as she hands me a couple of flowers.

What the hell? I need to get laid, but not that bad.

Yet.

I decline the emasculating flowers as politely as I can. I really don't need this crazy woman and her probable truckloads of baggage. I'm shocked she did something like that.

I glance out of the corner of my eye to see if Marie saw any of that. She didn't. She looks like she's getting hassled by an underage kid trying to pass himself off as eighteen.

### Marie

_Yeah, right. You're not any older than my little brother. I'll go get you some frozen Kool-Aid,_ I think as I take the boy's order for a strawberry daiquiri.

The place has picked up all of a sudden. Too many people stand around without drinks in their hands. This is my first Friday night, and I won't let myself screw this up.

Only a few Fridays ago I was out with Daniel... then that bitch Cristina showed up.

Don't think about him, about anybody. Just. Work.

I walk over to Jones. He winks at me like he understands completely when I ask him to fix me something that looks like an adult drink, but isn't, for the kid behind me.

"You know," he tells me as he makes the drink, "I know you're upset with Bryce about the whole outfit prank thing, but you look really good in that."

"Um," _Huh?_ "thanks... I guess," I stammer back. He laughs a little to lighten the atmosphere and hands me the drink.

I walk around from person to person and get a whole slew of drink orders. After I've handed some of them out, a brunette walks up to me.

"Hi. You must be the new waitress. I'm sorry," she says.

I decide to be friendly even though I can sense some animosity coming from her towards me. "Um, yes. I'm Marie. Can I get you anything?"

"Why the hell are you dressed like that?" she asks instead of answering my question. She glares at somebody walking behind me. After a few seconds, I see it's Bryce when he walks by.

"Practical joke. It's some orientation thing I'm sure," I say laughingly even though I want to knock down my boss at the moment.

"That's funny," she says like it's not. " _I_ didn't have to go through any such nonsense. It makes me wonder if he had you dress this way since he knew Jesse would be dressed like that. How does it feel to be set up?"

I want to hit her. _Must... not... hit... customers. Somehow I doubt Bryce would tolerate that._ "Oh, I didn't know you worked here. Are you the waitress that got fired?" I ask sweetly. Satisfaction courses through me with her split-second glare before she can mirror my plastered-on smile.

"Oh no. I quit. I'd had enough of watching my boss flirt with anything that moved."

"Funny. I've only seen him flirt with his girlfriend."

"Oh, well this was before," she waves her hand and looks around. "So, do you _like_ being set up with Jesse?" she asks again just to get on my nerves.

"The way I see it, it's a coincidence. He came here with someone... though she left I think." _Is she jealous of the fact that it looks like Bryce wants to set me up with Captain Brainless?_ I wonder if I should milk this jealousy just for the fun of it. So, I shrug and say, "But who knows, n'est-ce pas? Anything could happen. Maybe he thinks it's a good idea." I watch her expression cloud over with a feeling of increased satisfaction.

"Well, then maybe I should warn you. He flies through women faster than your new boss used to," she snips.

"Which means nothing to me since I have no idea what you mean." _Do I detect a hint of jealousy about Bryce as well?_

She sighs dramatically and says, "Well then, I suppose you'll simply have to learn the hard way. Don't say I didn't warn you." She pauses for a second to see if I'll say anything. I don't, so she says, "Yes. Go get me a drink. A Word of Wisdom. I'll drink it in your honor." She grins.

"Augh, you don't need to pay me the compliment, and I'll get that for you right away," I say, my voice dripping with false sweetness as I swish my skirt and turn towards Jones. I listen intently behind me for any sudden movements in case she tries something. I hope she does. Self-defense can be so rewarding.

I get an idea. _Where did I put those eye drops in my purse? All it takes is one drop._

### Jesse

_Life is unfair,_ I think as I watch Troy and Lynne dancing for a moment once Adele has finished teasing me about my attire. She enjoys a good practical joke as much as her father I think. Only - my costume isn't a practical joke. Marie's is.

It didn't work, Bryce, she hates me already.

I guess I was a dick.

I probably should apologize. Second one for tonight... if she'll even let me talk to her long enough to get it out.

I turn around a little to see her prance away from Bernadette while Bernadette stares at her with her hand on her hip like she's mad. That woman's always mad. Both definitions. Then I turn away and rest my cheek on my hand.

I need to change up my game.

I sit here and think about how I might go about doing that. Everything I've done lately has earned me a picture thrown at me, a knee to the groin, and a punch in the jaw \-- not my finest moments. I ponder that look I saw in Marie's eyes as I'd laid on the floor when I lost my balance after Bryce punched me. That was a look of fear and pain that she quickly hid when she saw me looking at her. I turn around to figure out where she is. She's standing over by the bar. _I swear it looks like Jones is flirting with her._

You're not going to come and ask me if I want anything, Marie? I'm sitting here at a table...

Bernadette suddenly gets up and runs to the bathroom. I watch Marie as she looks at her with a smirk on her face. Pouting, I turn back around to face the table when I see Bryce pull Erin out on the dance floor. Not too much later, I breathe a sigh of relief when they disappear off to the overflow seating. _Still jealous of my best friend._

I decide to go ahead and try to talk to Marie again -- this time just being nice. I walk up behind her right when as she makes some remark about how Bryce just vanished to Pam, and she sounds a little pissed off. That's about the time that Pamela tells her that she's his sister. The 'oh shit' look on Marie's face is priceless! I don't score many points when I can't help but crack up laughing behind her.

"What do _you_ want, anyway?" she says in her cute accent with a scowl on her face as she turns around to me. Pamela looks at me as if to say 'what are you up to, Jesse?'

I keep my grin on my face as I tell Marie, "Well, I was sitting over there at a table and you never came over to take my order, so I thought I'd get up and find you myself to ask for a beer." I instantly feel bad about complaining. It was supposed to be all in good fun, but she looks panicked that she thinks she screwed up again. "No, don't worry about it, Marie, it's fine. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me," I say quickly to keep her from getting further upset.

The worried look is still there as she says, "I'm sorry. That's no excuse. I still should have come over. What would you like?"

Not quite knowing what else to do at this moment, I tell her the brand, and she hurries along to get it.

I can't win for losing. Now I've made her feel worse.

I look at Pam and say, "Don't be mad at her for her trash-talking Bryce. She's not had the best night."

"Oh, I'm okay with that. I just wanted her to know before she really said something stupid that she didn't need to say to a customer anyway." She walks off to go talk to Simon or something.

Marie comes back with my bottle in her hand. She hands it to me real fast. Too fast. I don't have a chance to try and catch her hand with my fingers like I like to do. She still looks panicked. "Hey, Marie. Hold up a sec, would you?" I ask.

"I can't. I have to apologize right now to that other woman," she says quickly and darts away. I resolutely watch her as I go ahead and drink the beer I didn't even really want in the first place.

### Marie

I have no idea where Bryce went. The last I saw of him, he was walking off with his girlfriend, but I looked where they went and didn't see him. The place is getting crowded, and I can't do it on my own since Jones has to stay behind the bar!

Then, oh great, I mouth off to his _sister_ of all people. What was I thinking?! Next, Captain Insano has to remind me what a terrible job I'm doing at my job.

After I, finally, get everyone's order taken care of and make sure they're all happy -- they're mostly easy-going people I've noticed -- I go and plop myself down at a bar stool. I work at not crying. I'm exhausted. I'm angry. I'm homesick. At first, Jones tries to cheer me up, but he gets distracted by a patron running his mouth like we really care what he has to say.

"Everything okay?" I hear from behind me. _Mon dieu. Jesse again._

"I'm fine," I say, tight-lipped.

"You don't look it."

_Go away!_ I let out a huff. "Do you need me to get anything for you?" I ask automatically. I forget I'm sitting right at the bar, and if he wanted anything, he could order it his damn self.

He smiles like the same thought just occurred to him as well. I fight the urge to faceplant right into the bar's counter.

"Just a moment of your time, if you don't mind," he says.

I get mildly irritated at my shaking hands, so I clench them together tightly on the counter in front of me. "Well, that depends on what it is that you have to say."

"You shouldn't hold your head that way. You'll get a crick in your neck," he says and reaches up to massage the back of my neck with one hand while he leans one elbow on the bar next to me.

_Oh damn, that feels good._ "Is that all? I can't believe you came over here to just comment on my posture," I almost snap, working hard at not showing how I think what he's doing feels really good at the moment.

He laughs softly and says, "No. I came over here to apologize for earlier, and... earlier." I throw my arm back in an irritated manner to get his hand off the back of my neck. He drops his hand and says, "And... sorry for that too, I guess. It's just you look incredibly tense, and it was bothering me."

"I'm fine. I'm just waiting for this crazy evening to end," I say, not sure what to do with the apology.

"Yeah, and I contributed to the craziness. Ginger's right in a way. Sometimes I just don't think."

I work hard at not snorting. _No shit._ I decide to be nice anyway. "I accept your apology," I say before I watch a wide grin cover his face. I also see an un-amused expression flit across Jones' face when he looks at Jesse for a second. _So, he doesn't think much of the boss's best friend either._

"Thank you, Marie," he says with that same adorable, boyish grin. He then leans down on the counter on his elbows and puts his chin on his hand. He looks ridiculous - but in a cute way like he's giving me his full attention. He asks, "So, where are you from?"

_Great,_ I think sarcastically. I can see no way to avoid the question without being completely rude, so I say, "Bergerac, in France."

He blinks a few times and says, "Wow. That far away, huh? Why did you decide to move here?"

His question is simple enough, but I don't feel like getting into the answer right now. "Look, Jesse. I'm really sorry, but I don't have time to sit here now. We're getting ready to close up, and I need to straighten a few things before I can go home."

"Would it help you if I helped?" he asks as I get off the bar stool.

I let out another huff and say with a shrug, "Knock yourself out." _I like that phrase._

He does a decent job of helping me get things cleaned up while Jones closes out the register. As we work, he tells me all about himself. I don't really care if he runs a store or if his family used to come here every summer, but he tells me anyway. I hardly pay attention, and I'm too tired to tell him to simply be quiet.

After a while, I sit at a table and wait for Jones to finish up so I can go home when I hear Jesse's boots sounding overly-loud as they cross the floor towards me.

"May I walk you home?" he asks me while I stare at his shoes.

# Chapter 3: Time Technicality

### Marie

I sit here and continue to stare at his shoes. _Walk me home? Why?_ I go ahead and ask him.

"Why not?" he asks me in return.

"It's not that far." I point to my right, in the direction of my apartment building. "I can walk myself."

"You walk home alone all the time?" he asks.

I sit up and snap my head up to look at him as I say, "I am more than capable of taking care of myself. Wouldn't you agree?"

"But you're not taking into account what you're wearing and how it could attract trouble," he says, and he looks serious for once. I didn't think he knew how.

"Oh, you think?" I ask in a smart-ass tone.

A huge grin splits his face. "I guess I deserved that. And I guess you proved you can take care of yourself just fine," he says. "But I'd still like to walk you home anyway."

"Fine," I say in a huff as I stand up and head for the stairs.

"Besides, I can't help but feel responsible for the prank Bryce played on you," he says as I hear his boots following me.

I spin around and say, "So it _was_ a prank. He's trying to set us up!" I angrily cross my arms in front of me.

He starts laughing quietly, and I want to smack him. His eyes smile at me as he says, "Is that really so bad, Marie?"

"I don't want to be set up with anyone," I state with no emotion.

"Oh good. I worried it was just me," he says. I didn't expect him to say that. I'd expected him to ask me why.

I look at the ground before I turn around and start heading for my apartment again.

"Hang on a sec, would you?" he asks unexpectedly. I turn around yet again to the creaking sound of the driver's side door to his classic beetle. He looks a little exhausted as he doffs his hat and coat before he tosses both into the car. Then he breathes a sigh of relief and shakes out his hair. It still sticks to his head. The white shirt he had on underneath the coat sticks to his muscular form since he'd sweated so much earlier.

I start a little when I realize I've been staring at him. He smiles when he looks at me. _Crap._

Without another word, I turn back around and walk in the direction of home at a determined pace.

He moves fast to catch up with me. "So, why did you move here?" he asks, and I want to scream in frustration. I thought I made it clear earlier that I didn't want to discuss this.

"I don't want to talk about it," I quickly answer. I'm still walking fast.

"What's the rush?"

"I want to go home."

"You're not giving me a whole lot of time here."

"That's the idea," I say.

"Then how can I slowly build up to asking you out?"

I trip a little when my feet get caught up with one another after the shock of what he just said sinks in. Before he can do anything to try to catch me, I quickly regain my balance. Then I glare at him when I see that catching me is just what he'd hoped to do.

"See?" he points out. "You're walking too fast."

"I don't want you to ask me out."

"Why?"

"Because I've had it with all of that!" I nearly yell. I realize how quickly I've lost control of my temper, but I don't know if I care. "You are the last thing I need right now," I growl.

"You've had it with all of that? You mean dating?" he asks, wanting me to clarify. We've stopped ever since I caught myself from tripping, and we stand here facing each other. He's wearing a concerned expression on his face.

My hair blows into my face, so I'm saved from answering him immediately because I have to get it under control. That moment is short-lived, however, and I realize I have to answer him. "Yes."

"You're too young to have that attitude," he states, his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Oh, I am?" I ask, more attitude lacing my voice.

"Yeah. What the hell happened to make you decide that?"

I let out an extremely-aggravated noise and snap, "You're not going to shut up asking about all that, are you?!" I take a deep breath and ask, "If I tell you, will you leave me alone?" I don't wait for an answer but continue on anyway, "My ex-best friend is also my ex-boyfriend who is also the younger brother of my first ex-boyfriend, and that younger brother is also the ex-best friend of another of my ex-boyfriends! Then they, all three, go after me at the same time! This is when my best friend became my boyfriend after his ex-girlfriend moved to live with her aunt for a while, and I chose to date him exclusively. Then she comes back and wants him back and his brother, my first ex-boyfriend, comes over and takes me to go see them making out so I would break up with him and date him instead!" I take another big breath. "So, yes, I'm sick of it all!" I stomp away.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"I'm not repeating that ever again. Sorry if you didn't get it the first time," I throw back at him as I start walking away.

I hear him running to catch up to me. "No, I didn't catch all of that, but I do wonder why I have to pay for whatever they did." He trots along next to me. "That's not very fair."

"Fair," I say in a scoffing manner.

"Yeah, fair. What they did isn't my fault."

We've arrived outside my apartment building, and I stop just outside the gate. "I'm sorry, Jesse. I don't want to date anybody."

"Not even a little bit?" he asks with a grin.

"No."

Why is he smiling? I just turned him down, and he's smiling.

He's not taking me seriously.

"Jesse, I'm not kidding," I say and fold my arms defensively.

"Sure," he says plainly, but I know he still hasn't given up. He's still smiling.

"Goodnight, Jesse," I say and lift the latch on the gate.

"Are you off on Wednesday?" he asks and gently places a hand on my waist.

I freeze and look at his arm in aggravated shock. "Yes," I answer brainlessly.

"Okay," he grins like he caught me.

"That shouldn't matter to you," I say and glare. I wiggle out of his hold, and he drops his hand immediately.

"What are you planning on doing?" he asks.

I grit my teeth as I answer, "Sleeping."

"All day?"

"As far as you're concerned, yes."

"How about I give you a tour of the island? Not a date, just hanging out."

"Uh huh," I say like I don't believe him in the slightest.

"Great! I'll be by about ten. Let me guess... you're in the pink one," he says, and I'm shocked he guessed right. The complex is broken up into different colors.

"Huh? That's not what I meant!" I stammer.

"Why not? There's nobody better! I could show you places even some locals don't know exist."

"I don't want to see those places. I'm perfectly happy laying out at the beach all day."

"We could do that."

"No."

"But you just said..."

"No to the 'we.'"

"Cruel, Marie, and all I want to do is get to know you."

"No, you want more than that, and I told you, I don't want to date anyone."

"But it's not a date."

I sigh in exasperation and put my face in my hands. "Jesse, please don't do this to me."

"All I'm asking you is to spend a little time with me. It doesn't even have to be the two of us alone. I think Belinda has Wednesdays off as well. Then there's Troy and Bryce." He's stepped closer to me. I don't dare remove my hands.

"I just want some down-time. I can't have down-time around you."

"Why not?" he asks just on the other side of my hands.

I don't know how to answer him.

"Hm?" he hums his question right at my ear.

I feel my heart skip a beat.

"Why do I prevent you from having down-time?" he asks quietly. He smells sweaty, but it's not bad. I find that strange as I stand here with my face covered. I don't want him thinking I'm hiding, so I put my hands down.

He is way too close!

"Because I'm constantly worrying about what you're going to do next," I say and watch him warily.

He grins and still stands too close. _If he tries to kiss me, he'll regret it._

His face gets closer, and I mentally prepare what I'm going to do should he try. I glare at him.

"Wednesday is still several days away," he says, and I can feel his warm breath on my cheeks. He lets out a big sigh and says, "Goodnight, Marie."

Then he walks away while I stand here watching him. He turns around to see, and he quietly laughs when he sees that I'm watching him.

_Jerk,_ I think as I spin around to storm into my apartment.

### Erin

Bryce and I continue to kiss in the darker seating area off to the side after he makes his discovery about Ginger and Desmond. I'm so glad he's not pressuring me about tonight, that he's perfectly okay with waiting until tomorrow.

He pulls back a second to look at me as he asks, "But still... Adele is sleeping at Pam's tonight. I'd asked her about it earlier."

I feel my face flush. _He asked Pam... so she knows._

"Bryce..." I start to say.

"What? It's not like we have to worry about what Adele will think in the morning." _That is what he means. He still wants me to spend the night._ "It's not unusual for her to spend the night at my sister's. Jones and Marie can handle the bar for the rest of the evening. Let's go back to my place." He gently pulls me towards the parking lot.

"But, um..."

He pulls me into his arms and holds my chin to keep me facing him. "You don't want to go to my place?" He sighs. "Listen, I meant it when I said Saturday. Why can't you spend the night?"

I close my eyes, and he lets go of my chin. _How can I tell him that I'm worried if I sleep with him that I'll_ sleep _with him?_ I think as I lightly crash my forehead into his shoulder. _He gets it, but still..._

"I'll beg if I have to," he says quietly into my ear, and I work to suppress a shiver with the thought of what I could do to really make him beg.

"You planned this all along, didn't you?" I ask into his shoulder.

"Of course. You know I thought it was a week already," he says with a shrug. "Why not come over anyway? We could use the hot tub again... go by your house on the way to get your suit... or just not wear suits." He chuckles quietly.

"No, we don't need to use the hot tub," I say.

"Aw man, I'd started looking forward to it." He pauses. "Okay, we'll just go straight upstairs." He laughs a little louder when I lightly hit him. Then he leans down to talk into my ear again. "Please?" he begs almost as a whine.

I let out a small sigh before I nod a little. _What's the harm anyway? I love him._ "Alright," I say after a small pause. Then I pick my head up to see him with this huge, child-like grin on his face. I make an exasperated growl, but I also can't help but smile back.

Before I know it, I'm upstairs in his bed with him on top of me. He keeps slowly inching my dress higher, and I'm actually getting aggravated that he doesn't just finish the job and pull the whole thing up and off in one fell swoop.

Another inch up.

I growl and reach for the hem to pull the whole thing up and off real fast. He groans and buries his face between my breasts. _Holy crap, Bryce! You're not wasting time, are you?_

Then he pushes himself upright and removes his shirt while he looks down at me. After tossing the shirt to the side, he throws himself down, being careful not to really land on me, and places a hand on either side of my head to support himself.

He gently places a sweet, simple kiss on my lips before pushing back up to say, "Erin?"

"Hm?" I ask.

"I feel the need to point something out to you."

My eyes widen as I wonder what he could possibly mean. "What?"

"I even made sure when we walked in. I checked the clock. It's Saturday." Then he kisses me before I can say a word.

# Chapter 4: Rising Tides

A pathetic, little, high-pitched noise comes out of me. He reaches up and strokes my face, obviously making an attempt to calm me down.

"Erin," he says as he starts kissing me down my throat, "just because it's Saturday doesn't mean we have to." His magic hand reaches around and massages my butt inside my underwear. He groans before he says, "I just wanted to bring up the," he takes a breath, "possibility."

_Yeah, right,_ I think and moan from how good what he's doing feels.

"But you want to," I gasp out as he starts heading south again.

"Hell yes," he answers me.

"And you'll do whatever it takes to convince me."

He lifts his head up and looks me in the eyes. "What?!" I feel so glad he didn't just automatically and brainlessly agree with me. "No. Oh, I want to convince you but not like how you said... like what you just implied. If you really don't want to, then I'll..." He takes another breath. "I'll... I'll get over it," he finishes weakly. He starts kissing my neck again. Then his tongue circles around my earlobe before he sucks on it.

"Ha-a-a-a-a-ah!" I let out the strangest noise as my whole body tenses and tries to curl up. It would if Bryce's body wasn't in the way. I uncontrollably reach for his head and grab fistfuls of his hair, instinctively trying to cease the strange reaction I have. He doesn't seem to mind that I'm trying to rip his hair out by the roots. My back arches, and I'm hyper-aware of everywhere there's skin-to-skin contact.

"Bryce, please!" I beg as the words fly out of my mouth.

"That's right," he says while I try to catch my breath. "There's still plenty of unexplored area to discover." He shocks me as he undoes my bra in two seconds.

Several shaky breaths escape me when his hand reaches up under my loose bra. His teeth clamp down on the strap, and he pulls it down my arm.

"Hm," he says as he withdraws his hand to finish pulling off the strap. I get concerned when I look up and see a mischievous grin on his face when he holds onto my hand. Then I begin to guess what he's up to when he starts kissing my fingers. Another shaky breath escapes when he licks the palm of my hand before going back to my fingers, this time taking each and every one into his mouth one at a time.

I whimper when he leaves my hand to work his tongue along the under-side of my wrist. He has to tightly hold onto my arm as he works his way to the inside of my elbow because the closer he gets, the more sensitive the area becomes. By the time he reaches it, I'm shaking. I see his grin before he tightens his hold of my arm and leans down to work his tongue inside the crook.

I let out a cry when he doesn't stop. "No! That's so weird!" I get out. _There has to be a way to fight back. Something I could do to make him stop before I lose my mind._ I muster together whatever shreds of sanity I can and lightly run my fingertips against his stomach. The muscles instantly tighten, and I smile a little when he pauses. My hand moves lower.

"No," he states and grabs my hand. I feel my face register my shock that he stopped me. "You're trying to distract me, and it's not going to work." He goes ahead and finishes pulling my bra off before he recaptures my hands to hold them on either side of my head.

"But Bryce, that was too weird."

"And it's only going to get weirder," he says and grins down at me.

"My elbow?" I ask, incredulous.

His grin widens. "I was curious, and I was right." He lowers himself to kiss me before pushing back up to ponder, "I wonder where else I'm right?" Then he lowers his mouth to my breast.

I gasp and fight his hold of my hands as I say, "But you already knew that one!"

He laughs and mumbles against me, "Mhm, but it's one of my favorites."

Intertwining his fingers with mine, he pulls my arm straight and towards his mouth. I realize what he plans to do just before he does it. A quick 'no' escapes me as his tongue attacks the inside of the opposite elbow. He securely maintains his grip of my other hand as I thrash around, trying to escape.

After I let out a quick whimper followed by a slightly-enraged squeal, he laughs and looks at me to say, "Damn, this is fun."

"Fun?! Fun, Bryce?! Why you..."

"What?" he asks when I never complete my threat. "Why I what?" he asks again with that same grin that I love.

I let out a breath and close my eyes as I think, _No way in hell could I ever resist him._ Then he's all of a sudden kissing me passionately. He releases my hands so that he can wrap his arms all around me.

"I love you so damn much!" he exclaims against my lips before continuing the kiss.

When I'm totally breathless, he says, "I need you... right now." His hand gets hold of my underwear at my hip, and my eyes widen as he says, "However, there's still lots left that I haven't explored!"

"Bryce!" I gasp when he suddenly sits up and yanks my panties down and off.

I attempt to cover my recently-exposed self with my hands, but he doesn't notice because his attention is focused on my knees. My eyes watch him as he starts slowly kissing one of them, and I let out a concerned whimper when his hand covers the opposite knee to gently push it away from its neighbor. I start panting when I realize what he might be up to as his tongue journeys up the inside of my thigh.

"Bryce, no," I whisper as I fight to keep him from spreading my legs further apart.

"Don't fight me, Erin," he requests.

I manage to get out, "I'll go ahead and tell you. I'm sensitive there."

He stops and laughs while I struggle to back away. He quickly puts a stop to that when he grabs my hips and pulls me back to him.

"Which is one of the reasons I like it," he says huskily just before he dips his head down between my thighs.

I cry out and try to grab his hair. Without much pause, he lets out a little grunt and reaches up to catch my hands in his before slamming them down on either side of my hips.

_More than I can handle right now,_ I think as I continue to try to fight my way free.

He stops so he can lift his head and say to me, "Don't fight it, my beautiful Erin. Just allow yourself to feel it."

_Oh holy shit he just said that,_ I think rapidly.

"But... I just can't handle it," I say. _That would usually stop Sean._

"You'd better figure out how because I'm not stopping," he says and goes back to his previous occupation.

_Oh dear God!_ I whimper loudly, hoping that he'll take the hint and stop. He doesn't. "Bryce, please!" I whisper, but he still won't stop.

I can feel that I'm losing the battle against the rising tide of pleasure as it threatens to engulf me. I thrash my head back and forth trying to ward it off while also continuing to try to free my hands. Still, Bryce just won't stop!

I lose.

I lose the fight against being consumed by the pleasure of what he does to me with his blessedly-dexterous tongue. I'm dimly aware of his hands riding up my arms to just above my elbows. He doesn't have to hold them anymore anyway. I no longer have any control over my own body.

His hands drift over to cover my breasts, and as he plays with them, my world ceases to exist because everything explodes in a massive supernova when I come. I hear myself cry out his name in a loud whisper as my body quakes with aftershocks.

I find myself still gasping for air many unknown moments later as he lazily kisses my neck. As my hazy reality becomes more solid, I realize I desperately need more. I lean down and attack his lips with mine, surprising him as I also encourage him to roll over onto his back. I happily discover that he'd removed the rest of his clothing while I was indisposed.

He gasps as I straddle him, and we both cry out when I join our bodies. I have this sudden energy inside of me as he moans with pleasure when I undulate around him. Then I get an idea. I do it again, this time very much on purpose. I get the same reaction, and I know now what I must do.

"Oh holy shit," he gasps out as, on the outside, I'm perfectly still on top of him. I'm anything but on the inside. "Erin! Oh God!" he lightly yells in between looking up at me in wonder to closing his eyes tightly shut. "Shit!" he truly yells now.

I bite my lip, hard, to keep myself from smiling. Oh, don't get me wrong, what I'm doing to him feels real good, but it's nothing to how I'm guessing he feels. I learned about this 'technique' from watching a documentary about how men would pay thousands to have this done to them. They said it was addicting, so I thought I'd try. Sean used to beg. Funny, he still cheated on me.

Bryce brings me fully back to the present moment when he lets out a very loud moan. "Oh, fuck, Erin, move!" he yells.

"No," I say calmly.

He starts writhing and grabs my hips to move me himself. I stop.

"You didn't like that?" I ask with mock innocence. _He looks so cute catching his breath like that._

"No, I loved it! Why did you stop?" he asks, his eyes wide.

"Because you moved me. That messes up my rhythm," I say and greedily run my hands across his chest. I prefer to not be moved.

"Moving messes you up," he states with chagrin. He looks like he wants to cry.

"Mhm," I answer him simply. Then I test him to see if he's ready for more. He whimpers, closes his eyes real tight, and gets a death grip on my thighs, but he doesn't ask me to stop. So, I don't.

I look down at him as I work my magic, and I can't help but wonder at how fucking gorgeous he is. _And he's all mine. I wonder if anyone else has done this to him before me?_

He interrupts my thoughts when he cries out, "Erin, I can't take it!"

"Yes you can," I answer almost sternly. I can't stop now. If I do, I'll have to begin again with the build-up. If he keeps wanting me to stop at this point, then -

"Please!" he screams.

_Turnabout is fair play, Bryce,_ I think as I watch him try to behave and not force me to move. I can tell he's getting close, and he starts up with this almost-constant moaning cry.

"Oh, sweet baby," I croon to him and run my fingers through his chest hair.

He suddenly curls his back as he sits up a little, yelling loudly as he comes. Then he grips my hips as he comes again, letting out another yell. Now it's his turn to shake with a few small aftershocks as cute, little whimpers escape him. I lean down and kiss him sweetly. I don't want to overdo it since he's trying to catch his breath. His hands finally loosen their grip of my legs and hips as he moans incoherent nonsense. I lay my head on his chest and listen to his accelerated heartbeat.

Then he's really quiet and still, and I begin to wonder if he's gone to sleep when his arms come up around my waist. I decide to go ahead and lift up off him, and he moans again as I do so. I curl up next to him, and he absentmindedly strokes my arm.

"Holy crap, Erin," he says quietly, and I stifle the urge to giggle. His hand travels up my arm again to grip my shoulder as he moves to face me. I look up at him for a few seconds before he crashes into my lips. He moans again as he kisses me passionately and brings his hand up behind my neck.

I keep waiting for him to back off from the kiss so that I can ask the ridiculous question of whether or not he liked it, but he only increases the fervor of the kiss.

"That was incredible," he says quietly once he's finally pulled back to hold my face in his hands. "I mean, I heard about stuff like that, but never had the... pleasure... of experiencing it for myself before."

"Really?" I ask. I'd wondered, but I thought surely he had sometime or other.

"Really," he answers with this far-away look in his eyes. Then he closes them and groans as he holds me tighter. "And I guess I'm going to have random flashbacks." He takes a deep breath as his legs stir a little, and he opens his eyes. "But... you didn't, did you?"

"No, but that's okay after what you did before," I explain.

"Nope," he says suddenly, and he rolls over on top of me. "Not okay."

_Oh crap, he's hard again!_ I think just before he pushes into me. _He's supposed to be exhausted!_

"Bryce, you're not tired?" I ask.

He laughs a little. "Almost, but I'm a very determined man, my beautiful Erin."

"No shit," I say before I can stop myself from saying it aloud.

He laughs louder, and I blush. Then I groan when he starts moving against me.

_And I thought the man had magic hands,_ I think after I noticed he was acting like he had something to prove. He does.

I'd only ever had sex with Sean. More than a couple of times, he left me wanting and acted like he really didn't care very much that I was. Oh, I'm not saying he was _bad_. It's just... I had to make sure myself that I would get something out of it. I had no idea that I could feel like this in the missionary position. Bryce knows -- _Oh holy crap!_ \--

I realize I moan at the same time he does as his hand circles around to the small of my back. He slows down a little, and I open my eyes because I wonder why. I see him looking down at me with an incredibly intense expression in his eyes. All of a sudden, I have the strangest urge to burst into tears with the realization that I am head-over-heels in love with him.

His arms continue to circle around me as he comes to a stop, and he kisses me with desperate passion with his arms wrapped tightly around me.

"I love you, Erin," he says. He beat me to it. _I_ was supposed to say that. He doesn't give me a chance to tell him before he picks up where he left off in the kiss.

_Oh well, I'll tell him later,_ I think as I reach up and get a fistful of his hair to hold him down to me. I feel like we're having a competition to see who can out-kiss the other one.

He puts a stop to it with a groan before he starts moving again. _I still haven't caught my breath!_ I think as I desperately try to catch it while he continues to take it away by what he does.

I must somehow be disconnected from my body from the way I feel, I guess because I'm hyperventilating, yet I still feel everything. Somehow, this disconnected feeling makes me feel everything _more_ because all I _am_ is feeling.

His hand slowly travels up my hip to continue up my side as he says, "Damn, this is so good." I wish I had the breath to verbally agree with him.

Then, before I realize it's coming, an orgasm rocks me. This ridiculously high sound comes out of me that I can't control. In the furthest corner of my mind, I wonder what he's thinking, but I'm quickly distracted by aftershocks. As I'm recovering, he seeks his own release, and I hear him let out a loud moaning when he does.

......

I have no idea what time it is anymore. It's just sometime early, early Saturday morning. _Saturday._

I'm lying on Bryce's chest, and his arms are tightly wrapped around me. I don't know if he's awake or asleep. Maybe he's awake and I'm asleep. If I am, this is a very nice dream. As his arms adjust their hold of me, I mumble, "I love you, Bryce." I guess I'm awake too.

His once-steady breathing stops all together, and I feel him move his head so that he's probably looking down at me. "Erin?"

"Mm?" I ask quietly.

"You're awake," he says plainly.

"Yes."

"Then I must be dreaming."

Something about the way he said that makes me giggle quietly before I ask, "Why do say that?"

"Because of what I thought I heard you say."

"What, the 'I love you' part?" I ask and hear his heart rate increase.

"But..." he says and starts running his fingers through my hair. Him doing that makes it harder to fight off the sleep that threatens me. I feel him shake his head no. "Erin, you don't have to say that."

I feel my eyebrows come together in a scowl. _I tell him I love him, and_ this _is how he reacts?!_ My eyes fly open. I'm wide awake now as I turn my head to rest my chin on his chest as I ask, "Why would you say that? I know I don't have to say that. Don't you know that?" He keeps looking down at me like he doesn't believe me. "Why don't you believe me?"

"I want to. Dear God, I want to." He speaks up before I can say anything, "But Erin, it's just too soon after -"

"I didn't love Sean as much as I love you right now," I interrupt. He mouths the word 'but', but I interrupt him again. "Too soon?" I shrug and continue, "Maybe not. No buts, Bryce. I love you." Then I kiss him, and I enjoy about five or six seconds of shocked Bryce before he rolls us over and kisses me back.

"Don't leave me," he says when he pulls back suddenly, and I really do fight off the tears this time.

"Of course I won't," I say before he picks up the kiss again.

Right before I close my eyes, I see the pinkish hue outside the window indicate the sun is coming up.

# Chapter 5: Freaked Out

### Bryce

I wake up to the tapping sound of fingers hitting a keyboard. My hand drifts over to the other side of the bed only to find it empty. Peeking my eyes open, I see she's sitting at the computer desk, writing.

"Erin..." I groan. "Come back to bed." _Dammit I love having her here._

"I couldn't sleep," she answers without taking her eyes off the screen. My eyes open a little more to see that she's gotten herself completely dressed in the stuff we rushed over to get at her house last night. "I'm sorry. I have to type this up."

I groan again and go face-first into the pillow. I really, really want her to come back to bed... dressed or not. It wouldn't take me long to get her undressed.

I peek over at her and see that she hasn't even glanced my way. That damn computer has her complete attention. Her side of the bed is cold, and I picture in my mind her lying here next to me and how I'd pull her, naked of course, up close. Then her side of the bed wouldn't be cold.

"How long have you been up?" I ask.

"About an hour it looks like," she answers quickly.

"Get more inspiration for your book huh?" I ask, smiling now.

She bites her lip as she answers, "Kinda."

"Please come back to bed," I request quietly.

"But I'm up and dressed and fixed my hair and everything. I don't wanna come back to bed only to have you fall asleep on me."

"I have absolutely _no_ intention of falling asleep on you. In fact I..." I pause as something occurs to me that makes me wake up real fast. "Oh shit!"

She finally looks over to me with a look of concern.

"Erin!" I say and sit up straight in bed, my panic changing my mood completely.

"What?!"

I can feel my eyes are wide as I say, "Please tell me you're on birth control."

One of her eyebrows raises as she says, "Fine time to ask now."

"I'm about three seconds from jumping out of this bed and -"

"Chill. I am," she says. I don't even bother to try to determine her mood; I'm so relieved as I flop back down on the mattress. There I was thinking we were going to have to rush over to the pharmacy to get a morning-after pill before they closed.

I lie here and try to recover from my adrenaline rush.

"Why?" I hear her ask. She's facing the computer monitor again, but she's not typing. "You don't want me to have your baby?"

It takes me a little bit to figure out that she's only teasing. Still, I say, "Don't be ridiculous."

"You do?!" she asks, now a little more serious and looking over at me again.

I feel like I've been backed into a corner. "Um..." She sits in the desk chair and stares at me. I don't want her to think that I want her to have my child _now_ , but I don't want her to think that I'm not serious about her. I don't know what to say!

"Don't worry about it, Bryce," she says eventually, and she goes back to typing.

_Huh? Hold up! Don't you dare go and get all pissed off at me._ I hop up and out from under the covers.

"Hold on. Don't go 'Leandra' on me," I say. I meant it as a way to get her attention, but I think I may have hit the nail on the head.

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" she almost snaps as I reach down and grab her hands up off the keyboard while leaning down behind the chair she sits in.

"You once asked me to tell you if I want you to get off the computer. Well, I'm asking you to now, please." I glance at the screen and from what I can gather from all the exclamation points, my guess is correct. Lance and Leandra are fighting. I glance outside. "Did you sleep at all?"

"For about an hour and a half," she answers as she tries to get her hands free from mine.

I sigh. "Stop," I say in response to her hands fighting mine. "You're just tired."

"Bryce! Give me back my hands!"

"Only if you stop typing and get away from the computer," I say sternly.

She growls at me, but she also does as I ask.

I drop her hands and wrap my arms around her as she stands up. At first, she's stiff like she's still mad, but that doesn't last long. I hold her tighter as she wilts into me.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly into my shoulder.

"It's okay," I whisper.

"It's just... I had so much on my mind, and my mind wouldn't shut up about it. And then I started thinking about my book and all the stuff I wanted to write up that doesn't fit exactly right where it is and I'll have to move it later, but yeah. I couldn't sleep," she quickly mumbles out.

So much on her mind and her mind wouldn't shut up about it. Hm.

Because of what you told me? Because you said you love me?

_She's freaked out,_ I think and feel her hands on my lower back.

I start rocking us slowly back and forth before I turn my head a little to whisper into her ear, "I think you're sleepy now."

"No I'm not," she mumbles sleepily into my shoulder.

"Mhm. Yes you are. Come back to bed, Erin. We don't have anywhere we have to be today until this evening when I have to work."

"What about Pam coming over? Doesn't she visit on Saturday?"

"Well, she invited us over to her house, but I thought you might want to stay here instead."

"No, we can go. It's Saturday. You should spend it with Adele."

"Okay, but later. Right now though, come back to bed."

"I'm not sleepy," she obstinately mumbles.

"Want me to make you sleepy?" I ask with a grin before she lightly slaps me. I succeed in pulling her back to the bed. We lie down, and she's asleep within minutes. Her words earlier to me before the last time she fell asleep run rampantly through my mind. _More than Sean huh? More than someone you were going to marry._

_And she's freaked out. She may try to disagree with me if I point that out to her, but she is. I guess I'd be more worried if she weren't freaked out. After what she's gone through, I can't believe she'd admit that to me. Huh. She's freaked_ because _she admitted that to me. That has to be it. I'd better be really good, or I could ruin everything quicker than blinking an eye. I know from personal experience the risk she took in telling me that. She's probably worried that she'll lose me too, even if the thought is irrational._

I hold her tighter, and she stirs a little before she goes back to resting her head on my shoulder. _Fat chance, Erin. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you if I have anything to say about it._

A few hours later, she wakes me up and insists that we go to my sister's. I'm hungry and don't feel like cooking, so I agree.

She acts determined to not interrupt Adele's life too much. I think about this as I watch her get out of my car at Pam's. The sun flashes on her hair as she moves around the car, taking my hand and giving me a quizzical expression. I wait for her to ask me what I'm thinking, but she doesn't.

"Everything okay?" she asks finally.

If Jesse were here, he'd tease me about goo-goo eyes. I probably look a bit ridiculous. "Yeah," I answer simply as I try to put a lid on the mushy stuff going through my head like how she's an angel sent from heaven to put my life back together... my daughter's too by making me a better dad.

_If we ever broke up, it would kill me,_ I think as I suddenly pull her into a tight hug.

She tries to guess where this is coming from and asks, "I guess you finally believe what I said last night, um, this morning?"

I notice that she didn't say _it_ again but only referred to it. That's okay, I guess. _She's waiting for me to answer the question._ "I'm starting to."

_Pull yourself together, Bryce, before Simon sees you acting like this. He'd tease you about it._ I clear my throat, and we head up the steps to the front porch of Pam's ranch-style home.

### Pamela Drake

I answer the knock on my door and get surprised by my brother's appearance. _I won't have leftovers after all._ I smile in reaction to the obvious, yet trying to be hidden, happiness on both of their faces.

"Come in!" I say warmly, close the door, and hug each of them in turn. Erin still acts shy around me. Then I yell out to my husband at the grill, "Bryce and Erin are here so cook everything!"

"Daddy!" I hear coming from the hallway just before Adele bounds out of it and into Bryce's embrace.

Not really understanding what all the excitement is about but wanting to be excited anyway, Jer-Jer toddles down the hallway as well and then stands a few feet away with a confused look on his face and his finger in his mouth. Adele starts filling my brother in on all the stuff they'd done this morning.

"Byes," Jeremy says, using his form of 'Bryce,' and he reaches up for his uncle once he figures out what's going on.

"Hey Erin! Come see what we built!" Adele blurts out, grabs Erin's hand, and pulls her into Jeremy's room. We have a bedroom here for her, but Jeremy's room is bigger and easier to play in. I smile at Erin's surprised look as she gets yanked away.

"Thank you for keeping her, as always, Pam," Bryce says to me while also keeping Jeremy from trying to grab the tiny hairs on his face.

_Bryce never really looked comfortable holding Adele when she was a toddler either,_ I think as I watch my brother and son.

"Oh, it's nothing. You know that. Besides, it's like _she's_ become _my_ babysitter for Jeremy." I laugh.

"Speaking of babysitting," he adds with a smile and puts Jeremy down, "you and Simon need some time alone. Maybe I could attempt to make up a small part of what I owe you?"

"You owe me nothing," I say.

"I knew you'd say that," he says as he walks around the counter, grabs an apple, and bites off a piece before walking back around the counter.

He looks like he can't decide whether or not to sit in one of the chairs. Then he speaks while he chews, "But I'm offering anyway. Just work something out with me. I bet Simon wouldn't mind."

"Wouldn't mind what?" I hear my husband ask as he walks in the kitchen.

"Bryce, don't talk with your mouth full," I scold. He's being gross.

"I will if I want to," he says and smacks his mouth in an even more annoying fashion.

Then he takes another bite and does it again.

"It's a wonder Erin hasn't run screaming from your horrible manners," I growl to his Cheshire cat grin... that's full of mashed up apple.

"Oh, my manners around her are just fine. I reserve this special for you."

He takes another bite, chews for a second, and opens his mouth to show me.

"What wouldn't I mind?" Simon asks again before I launch myself at my irritating little brother and start trying to snatch the now-sticky apple from his hand.

"Ew! Stop opening your mouth!" I yell at Bryce when he starts laughing and stuff comes flying out of his mouth. "That's so gross!" I successfully swipe the stupid apple from his hand.

"Hey! you made me drop my apple!" he accuses me with a mockingly-hurt voice. "Five second rule!" he hollers and tries to reach for it again.

That's when the slap-fight begins.

I'm so mad, and he keeps laughing! In his efforts to get the apple, he's wound up lying on the floor at my feet while I keep slapping his hands away.

"Five seconds is up," I say and kick the apple onto the carpet.

"Well, you know the time is actually relative. It's still good, and I'm hungry."

Simon speaks up and says, "I burned the hot dogs."

Bryce starts laughing again, and I lightly punch him. He makes me lose my temper faster than anyone else anywhere, anytime.

"Well then, we need those apples even more or we'll starve!" he laughs.

"When you two children," Simon speaks up again like he's bored, "are ready to stop fighting maybe we can figure out what to eat?"

"Apples!" Bryce roars with laughter. I'm really surprised Adele or Erin haven't come out to see what's going on. Bryce keeps dodging my hits. "Chill, Pam," he says finally and grabs my fists before tripping me with his leg. I tuck myself in to keep from landing hard on the floor.

Just as quick as my temper flared up, it's gone before I say calmly, "I'll make a salad and something."

The doorbell rings. I'd invited Jesse.

Bryce hops up from the floor to answer it, and I see out of the corner of my eye that both are surprised to see the other one.

Jesse is like a second brother to me, and I sensed this feeling of dejection coming from him last night. That's why I invited him today. He says he divorced himself from his parents, and I hate that. I'd give anything to have my parents back. Still, over the years, I've considered him part of the family. I thought inviting him would be good since I didn't expect Bryce and Erin. I was surprised he took me up on the offer since neither of us expected Bryce to come. He's more comfortable around him than me.

I plan on getting whatever it is that's bothering him out of him if I can help it.

"So how was last night?" Bryce asks him, and my ears perk up. _Maybe I won't have to resort to tricks to get it out of him._

"I don't know if tricking her into that outfit was the best idea," Jesse says as he leans on the counter.

"Really?! I thought it was genius," Bryce says back with that devilish grin of his. I roll my eyes and get the stuff out of the fridge that I need for the salad.

Still... a her. Oh boy, here we go again.

"It made her uncomfortable. She thought you were setting us up."

"I was," Bryce says with a shrug.

Jesse laughs. "I guessed as much, but she didn't appreciate it. Turned me down flat."

Jeremy pulls up and holds onto Bryce's leg as a very thoughtful look comes across his little face. Bryce slightly leans over while he laughs at what Jesse said and pats his nephew's head.

"Am I going to get to hear who you two are talking about?" I ask.

"No," Bryce says, but Jesse interrupts him.

"The new waitress," Jesse answers me. Bryce looks at him with a 'why did you tell her?!' expression. Jesse shrugs. Jeremy grunts.

Bryce continues on with the conversation, "Flat-flat or flat-but-maybe-later flat?"

Jesse rests his chin on his hand before he says, "I hope it's the second one."

I jump in. "Just what you need."

"Yeah, but she's probably not going anywhere," Jesse answers me.

"That's true," I admit. I've lost count how many times Jesse's gotten rejected for anything long term.

"Um, Pam?" Bryce interjects. "I think Jeremy's..."

"Yeah, I figured as much," I say. I'd given up on potty training Jeremy for the moment. He doesn't act interested, and I don't want to expend the effort if it's not going to work.

I hear a bedroom door open as Erin and Adele walk out of Jeremy's room. Adele walks into the bathroom and Erin walks up to Bryce, looking a little nervous.

As I walk by her, I hear Jesse say, "Hello, Erin."

"Hi," she almost whispers back. _Well that was a little weird._

By the time I come out of Jeremy's room, Bryce and Erin are flirting and Jesse's staring at the napkin holder, brooding about something or other. I walk back into the kitchen, worrying about Jesse, and I finish up the salad before I take care of the burnt hot dogs.

A few content minutes pass as we all get ready to watch the game this afternoon.

"No!" I cry out when the dishwasher suddenly makes a sputtering noise before water starts flooding into the dining area.

Jesse, who'd been talking to Simon in the living room, walks over and says, "Just back off and let me handle it." Simon starts trying to say he'll do it, but Jesse adamantly insists that he be the one to fix it. Erin starts mopping up the water. I'd forgotten I'd left the mop propped up in the corner.

"No, Erin, you don't have to do that," I start trying to tell her to stop.

"Nonsense. I got it."

"Be careful, Erin. You don't want to be standing in the water just in case," Jesse says.

"I'm careful. _You_ try and not get yourself electrocuted," Erin says back to him as the two work side-by-side in my house. I sigh and fix myself a plate of food. Jesse says something to make her laugh as Bryce comes up behind me and gets his own plate.

Jesse continues to fix the dishwasher as I eat, finish, and give Jeremy a bottle. Simon walks out to get the grill cleaned up before the game starts.

Jesse's a Wolves fan, so he's not very liked by Simon and Bryce at the moment as the guys debate the game before it starts.

Still, we all have a good time watching the game.

"Why do they have to run their mouths so much at halftime? Neither of them have any idea of what they're talking about!" Bryce complains to the television. "Augh, I guess this is a good time to get to work."

With that, Bryce and Erin leave for the bar with Bryce saying he'll watch the rest of the game on the bar's big screen.

### Erin

I stay at Bryce's bar until the game ends. The Alpacas lost, and Bryce complains that he'll have to tolerate all the heckling from Jesse about it.

I tell him I have to go home and work on my book. Honestly, I think if he could, he'd keep me with him every minute of the day. I like that, but still, I have to get my book written and published before I can relax with my little cushion of money intact. Hopefully.

I laugh when I remember Bryce's antics while the game was going as I park my scooter and turn off the engine.

" _There_ you are," I hear a sickeningly familiar voice say from the direction of my front porch steps.

# Chapter 6: Hurricane

A sudden jolt of adrenaline rushes through me as the frighteningly familiar voice carries over to me. _No,_ I think as I can't get enough air into my lungs to respond. I can't move. I don't want to turn my head. Seeing him would only bring on more of the reality that he's here. _How did he find me?!_

"You know, you really should wear a helmet if you're going to drive that thing," he says to me as he gets up and walks over.

"Sean," I let out as a whisper.

"The one and only!" he says joyfully. Hands on my shoulders turn me to face him, and I see that boyish grin and those blue eyes that I used to love so much smiling at me.

"What are you doing here?" I breathe.

"I had to find you," he says, his hands on my shoulders feeling like lead weights. He puts on a more serious expression before he says, "Damn it, Erin. Do you have _any_ idea how much it hurt me when you just up and disappeared? You didn't even tell Bill, and I had to deal with him asking me what _I_ did with you. Then your mom tells me you moved out of town!"

I try to turn my face away from his eyes, but he snaps his hands up to hold it in place.

"I had to hire a private damn detective to find you. Why did you leave?"

"Because I could no longer stand to be in the same town as you," I answer him with a glare. "You or her."

"I never should've listened to that slut. I've told you this! She caught me in a weak moment, and I don't know what I was thinking. Nobody can compare to you," he says and moves one of his hands so he can start to kiss my cheek.

I try to back away, and that earns me his arm going around my waist to stop me. "Let go of me," I snap and push against him, dropping my keys in the sand in the process.

"The last time I did that you left me. Now, why the hell should I do it again?" A small scowl covers his features as he says, "I've missed you, Erin."

"Well, I haven't missed you. I'm happy here."

"You want us to live here? I can pull a few strings and probably get a transfer," he says with a touch of hope in his voice.

"I don't want _us_ to live here. I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

"Please don't say stuff like that," he says as he runs his thumb across my lips with his free hand. "I know. I was stupid, and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if that's what it takes. Erin, you've just got to forgive me! Here I made this tremendous effort to find you. I don't want it to be worthless. Did you think that I'd just give up and let you go? Give me a second chance. You can't just throw away all we had just like that."

"Oh yes I can! You slept with my best friend," I snarl back to his plea.

He growls, "And it was a mistake. We can work this out. I'm trying to _fix_ it!" He starts backing up towards my house. His feet hit my keys, and quick as a blink, he bends down to pick them up. I use that opportunity to try and get away again.

"No," he says in reaction to my escape attempt. "Let's go inside and talk about this. We can start over here, if you want. Take things slow." His eyes tell me that his definition and my definition of 'taking it slow' are two totally different things.

I do _not_ want to get in that house with him! My heart starts beating like crazy in my chest with the implication of what he meant when he said 'talk about this.' I know him too well to believe that all he wants is talking.

"No, Sean!" I yell quietly as my feet start sliding in the sand.

"Please, Erin," he breathes just before he pulls my neck towards him and his lips press against mine. I try to scream and push away from him, but he uses that chance to invade my mouth with his tongue. My next noise is too quiet.

I continue to try to get out of his too-tight hold of me as happier memories flood my mind. For instance, I remember the time when someone had bumped me on purpose in the hallway at school and then laughed when I'd dropped all the books I carried. Sean had been nearby at the time and caught the dickhead that did it before forcing him to come over and apologize to me. Then he asked me out as he helped me pick up my books. I start shaking as I remember how nervous I'd been.

_Nooooo,_ I think as I try to shove those good memories away and remind myself what an asshole he is. I'd begun to kiss him back as I'd been remembering, and I stop that right now as I shove against him.

He growls in aggravation as he finally abandons my mouth for my throat instead. "Don't say you feel nothing for me because that would be lying. Let's go inside and talk." He tries to pull me with him while he backs up without completely leaving my neck and shoulders alone.

"No! Leave me alone, Sean!" I yell. _I'm in danger, and I can't get him off of me by myself. All those people that frequent the diner, and no one is coming out to help me. They don't know._

"Help!" I yell, hoping that someone hears me.

"Stop it, Erin," he snaps.

_Wait, what was that I'd once heard someone say? In this situation, you get better results with..._ "Fire! Help! Fire!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asks as he starts to pick me up.

"I think the lady isn't interested in kissing you, mister," I hear a voice from behind me say. I think it's my neighbor, Mr. Strong. He's a widower in his late forties with a teenage daughter at home. His age really shows in his face, but that's all. I worry whether or not he'll be able to really help me against Sean, but right now, he's all I have.

"Go mind your own damn business," Sean snaps.

I continue to fight Sean. "No! Help. Please," I beg my neighbor.

"You need to let go of her," he says plainly, a threat in his voice.

"So I can kick your ass?" Sean asks before throwing me to the side. "I'm giving you two seconds to turn your geeky ass around and get lost," Sean threatens as he advances on him.

Behind his glasses, Mr. Strong's eyes jerk to the side in a wordless command to run. I don't think twice and make tracks to Bryce's house.

"Erin! Get back here!" I hear just before a punch gets thrown. I don't turn around to see who punched whom. I swear it sounds like _Sean_ grunts in pain as he hits the dirt, but that can't be. Maybe I misjudged Mr. Strong.

I keep running and pull my phone out of my pocket. My hands shake so much that I drop it in the dirt. Cursing, I pick it up and dust it off, not bothering to look around me. I'm afraid that if I see him coming I'll freeze up, so I keep heading to Bryce's house. _Please, Bryce. Pick up your phone!_

_He's just_ got _to have a key hidden somewhere!_ I think frantically since I've realized there's no one at home. Pam and Simon are at _their_ house, not Bryce's like they were last weekend. I'd forgotten, and I'd have to pass by my house again to get to them since they live down the road a little past my house.

I hear Bryce's moderately-happy voice answer the phone, "Erin! Did you -"

"Please tell me you have a key hidden somewhere," I interrupt quietly and frantically.

"Huh?"

"Please, just tell me where!"

"Erin, what's going on?"

"It's Sean. I need to hide in your house. Please! He could be right behind me!" Even if that _was_ Sean that hit the dirt a few seconds ago, no way did he stay down.

### Bryce

"Go around to the back. The left deck chair as you face the house. Lift up the left armrest. There's a little pocket carved out." I give her quick instructions, and Marie's head pops up as she watches me with alarm.

"Got it," Erin says quietly. The slight crying in her voice tears me up. "I can hear him!" she whispers frantically while I grab my keys and sprint towards my car.

"Get inside!" _What's happened to make her so terrified?_ "Hide in the bathroom." There's nothing but a whimper on the other end of the line as Marie gets in the passenger side of my car.

"What are you doing?" I ask Marie. Then I rethink and say, "No, wait. I could use someone like you."

"I know," she says as we peal out of the parking lot, leaving Jones to manage the bar alone.

We get to my house, and sure enough, I see a man wandering around, looking around all over the place like he's lost someone. Marie hops out of the car silently and hides behind my bushes. The man, Sean, turns around when I push my car door closed, and I finally see the face of the bastard that hurt Erin so bad. He has a buzz cut like he's in the military, I notice. He smiles in a friendly way and walks towards me.

"Hello. I wonder if you can help me. Did you see a blonde run this way?" he asks with that irritating smile still on his face. _He has no idea who I am._

_Well, time to let him know._ "You mean my girlfriend?" I ask, and the smile disappears.

"Um, no. Her name is Erin and -"

"That's the one," I interrupt, watching his every move and happy I have a 'ninja' hiding near me. Still, I'd better not get interrupted as I beat the crap out of this motherfucker in a matter of seconds.

"Well, now I can guess where she went. Who the fuck are you really?" he asks, glaring a little and standing with his feet apart. He watches me as closely as I watch him.

"I'm the man that's picked up the pieces of her life and started putting them back together. Though, I need to thank you for being an asshole. If you weren't, she wouldn't be here." I shift my weight to my left foot. "And here is where she's going to stay, where she's better off."

"Like you have any say about it." he snaps, and I can see the rage quickly building inside of him. I'll bet he's furious that Erin's moved on. He seems the cocky type.

I shrug. "I don't, but I'm not the dick that cheated on her."

The tense atmosphere around us ignites, and he charges at me after he says, "All you are is a fucking rebound!" I side-step and grab hold of his neck when his shoulder rams into my stomach.

A distant roll of thunder rumbles through the sky as it starts to cloud up directly overhead. I waste no time in ramming my knee into his chest before I shove him into the dirt.

Before he can get up, I pounce on him with my hands around his throat. For a moment, I'm reminded of last Friday night when Erin ran away from me. Her brokenhearted expression crosses my mind. This asshole never deserved her, and the world would be better off without him.

I hear Marie behind me say, "Bryce, don't."

"I'm no fucking rebound," I growl. "She loves me."

"Bullshit," he croaks. Then, unexpectedly, he somehow throws his legs up against my back, and I go face-first into the grass. As I work on spitting out the mouthful of dirt and grass I have, he gets up off the ground. "So, she's in your house." Then he starts walking towards the front door.

I work on getting up as fast as I can when I hear Marie again, "Oh, I don't think so. You're going to leave now."

"I don't have time for this shit!" Sean yells, aggravated. "Get out of my fucking way or I'll move you myself."

"Hah!" Marie scoffs as she side-steps again to block his path.

Another peal of thunder happens as Sean goes to punch Marie. _Asshole! You'd really hit a girl?!_ Marie, of course, dodges him.

_I've got to get her to teach me how to do that. It's like it's automatic with her... like she doesn't even think,_ I think as Marie throws Sean to the ground. His head smacks the shell-filled pavement of my driveway, and he doesn't move. He's still breathing. _Damn._

She stands fully back up as I say, "Well, he's not going anywhere."

Marie's pride is almost palpable as she stands and watches him quietly.

"Let me go check on Erin. I'll call Jesse, and we'll take and dump this asshole somewhere." I'm happy she took him out, but I wish I'd done it. I'm not finished with him; however, I still need to go check on Erin.

I check the downstairs bathroom first, and I find her there, crying while curled into a tight ball. "Erin," I breathe as I crouch on the floor next to her. I desperately want to hold her, but the tight ball she's curled into prevents me from doing so.

"Is he gone?" she asks as I tilt her head up. Tear stains cover her cheeks, and I reach up to wipe them away. A loud crack sounds overhead as a lightning bolt must've struck somewhere nearby. It's going to pour any minute now with as hot a day as it was.

"He's... down for the count," I say quietly before I quickly text Jesse:

come by house need help with problem asap

Then I return my attention to her. "Tell me what happened," I request as I try to get her arms to let go of her legs. _I get that she's a little afraid he showed up out of nowhere, but this is more than that._

### Marie

I'd foolishly gone and watched the gathering storm from the beach. I didn't expect the asshole to get up.

After a few minutes, I hear someone yelling for Erin from the other side of the house. _Shit._

"I thought I told you to leave," I say harshly as I run over to him.

He half-turns in my direction and looks at me like I'm nothing but an annoying fly. "You again. Mind your own business and get lost, you little French bitch."

I let my anger from the insult cloud my thinking for only a few seconds, and I don't see the punch coming. I feel my body falling to the ground, and I'm unable to stop it from landing hard on the grass. My world gets a little fuzzy.

### Jesse

I get a text from Bryce after I get home from Pam's. Scowling as I read it, I wonder what the heck is going on. _A problem. What problem?_ I think as I walk over to his house.

When I get there, I see Marie of all people running up to some strange guy. I hear him call her a bitch and punch her.

Rain starts pouring, and rage boils instantaneously inside of me.

_"I am more than capable of taking care of myself"_ runs through my mind as I remember what Marie said just last night.

The asshole growls down to her, "I owed you that. Now leave me the fuck alone. This isn't your damn fight!"

He turns away from her and acts like he's about to try the front door. I have no idea who this guy is, but I want to rip him to shreds.

He doesn't see me coming before I grab the scruff of his shirt, pull him back and slam him against the side of Bryce's house. The rain gets heavier as he looks at me with a 'what the fuck?!' expression on his face.

"So you like to punch girls?" I ask him threateningly.

The previous expression leaves his face as he replies, "When they've karate-chopped my head into the pavement, yes."

I punch him. In doing so, I've released him from the wall a little. He recovers and tries to punch me back, but I lean away from his swing. He knows what he's doing, but so do I with all the fights I've gotten into in the past. We continue our fruitless scuffle for a little while, sometimes making contact, sometimes missing.

I hear a groaning sound come from Marie, and I decide I've had enough of this bullshit. As much as I love a good fight, I need to cut this one short. I kick him hard in the ribs, and he lands a few feet away after it sends him back.

The bastard lies on the ground as the rain continues to pick up, and he coughs. Marie looks out of it, and she closes her eyes to keep out the rain.

"Marie?" I ask as I crouch down and reach over to shield her face from the rain. I need to get her inside. She looks over at me like she's annoyed I'm here. I guess that means she's okay. "Marie, we need to get you inside."

"I'm fine," she almost snaps. "It's not the first time I've been punched in the jaw."

"Let me help you up," I say, ignoring her wordless gesture she does with her hands to tell me to leave her alone. As she tries to bat my hand away, I get hold of hers and also get my other hand around the back of her neck to help her sit up. Once she sits up, she holds her head like she's dizzy.

"You sonofabitch!" I hear Bryce growl from behind me. I see Erin watching everything from the other side of the window on the side of the house.

"Holy shit," the bastard says as he props himself up on his elbows to see Bryce standing above him with a pistol pointed directly at his face.

"Go inside to 'talk' huh?" Bryce continues. "You thought you could just waltz in and try something like that?"

"I love her, and I had to try to make her remember she still loves me. I _was_ planning on talking..."

"Would that be before or after you rape her?"

Holy shit. This must be the ex.

A siren sounds in the distance as I silently convince Marie to let me help her stand up.

"Don't, Bryce," Marie tells him. "He's not worth jail."

"He was trying to break into my house and take what's valuable to me. I'm well within my rights to shoot him," Bryce says with forced calm as he explains to Marie a mostly-obscure law and cocks his pistol.

"Look, she never mentioned to me a boyfriend!" Sean cries out. "I'd never guessed she'd rebounded this fast."

"I'm no fucking rebound."

The man must've picked up Bryce's name from us. "Listen, Bryce, I came here to..." He pauses as a squad car pulls up on the street next to the house.

Marie wobbles around now that I've pulled her up to a standing position.

"Lower your weapon, Bryce," we hear Deputy Keilani say as he walks up to us in the pouring rain. He's been a deputy here for as long as I've been here and probably long before then too. He's a good patron of The Flamingo, and we've raised many a glass together. Of course, he's also broken up several parties I attended.

"He's trying to break into my house... among other things," Bryce growls, but he puts his hand down at his side and uncocks his weapon.

"He also left Julian laying in the street. Maggie called, and I've come to get him."

"What?!" the ex exclaims.

Our friendly neighborhood cop comes over and arrests the ex. I can _feel_ the irritation coming from Bryce since he didn't get to shoot him. I'm distracted by all this, however, when Marie stumbles again and holds her head.

"I'm fine, Jesse. Leave me alone," she mumbles and continues to hold her head after I've rushed over and stopped her from falling by catching her arm. _Damn, she's stubborn!_

"No, you're not. Let's get you inside and out of this crazy weather," I try to reason with her. She might need a doctor if she can't get her balance back.

"I said leave me alone!" she snaps and jerks her arm out of my grasp.

"I'm only trying to help!"

"I want to go home," she says.

Bryce speaks up from where he stands watching the bastard being led to the squad car, "I can take you home in a few minutes, if you'd like, Marie."

"Thank you," she says stiltedly.

I jump in. "I can take you." Then I turn to my friend and say, "Bryce, you don't have to. Stay here with Erin."

Marie glares at me and says, "No thank you. I'd sooner walk. It's only water after all."

"What is your _problem_?! It's only a ride!" I yell after she looks to be getting her balance back, and she walks away from me.

"Not from you, it's not," she argues back, and I stand here in the pouring rain, dumfounded and mad, as she walks farther away and goes to sit in Bryce's car.

### Erin

The police officer asks me to come down to the station by tomorrow at the latest so that I can give them my story about what happened in front of my house. I don't know what I can tell him. I ran away before any of whatever happened happened. Still, I agree to do as he asks, of course.

Bryce looks exhausted for a moment as he looks at me and climbs the stairs. I don't care that he's soaked; I throw my arms around him anyway. I may despise Sean, but I'm glad Bryce didn't kill him.

He sighs and wraps his arms around me, the gun still in his hand. He'd run off to get it after I told him what I feared Sean might have done if he'd gotten me inside my house.

"Put that damn thing away, please," I say as I start to let go of him. He quickly stuffs the thing into the back of his pants and re-wraps his arms around my waist in an unspoken plea to just let him hold me for a minute. A few tears escape as I go ahead and let him. He holds onto me like his life depends on it.

He clears his throat before he says quietly, "I'm going to call Pam and explain what happened and ask her to keep Adele for another night. Please stay here tonight."

"I was hoping to," I get in quickly before he continues.

"I'll help you upstairs if you want me to since I have to put the pistol away anyhow. Then I'm going to drive Marie home and be right back after I tell Jones to just close up the bar for the night." His arms tighten as he says, "Or, you could come with me if you want."

The squad car drives away with my ex-fiancé inside before I say, "I just want to go lie down." I feel exhausted from everything that's happened, and I don't think I can stand bouncing around everywhere while Bryce ties up all the loose ends of the day.

"Okay," he almost whispers. I see him hold up a single finger for Marie to wait a minute before we go inside.

Once we get upstairs in his room, he puts the safety back on his gun and kisses me quickly but intensely before he tells me he'll be right back. I lie down on the bed while I wait for him to come back. The rain comes down in buckets outside in the hurricane-like weather.

I fall asleep almost immediately and dream about being back in high school, and I've forgotten my locker combination.

# Chapter 7: Don't Stop Believing

### Marie

Growing up, my best friend was a boy named Daniel. When I started secondary school, I got noticed by his older brother, André. After we dated all year, André graduated and broke up with me. Daniel's friend Armand called me and asked me out the very same hour that André did that. Armand found out what would happen because Daniel told him what his brother was about to do. Later, I found out that Daniel was furious at him for doing that, and that's why they stopped being friends. I'd always wondered. Then, after a nasty, cruel fight after our graduation, Armand and I broke up. Daniel asked me out, saying he'd always liked me. I'm sure that Cristina, his long-time girlfriend, moving away to her aunt's house played a part in him asking me out too.

Things got very dramatic when Daniel and I started dating. Armand begged forgiveness, and I almost wanted to give it to him. He was so sincere. So, I dated both Armand and Daniel at the same time when André reminded me of what he'd once told me - that he'd still cared but wanted to wait for me to grow up when he broke up with me. I'd not thought that André still cared. Three men chasing me, and two of them brothers: I almost couldn't take it. I finally decided to only be serious with Daniel. Then, Cristina came back and André and I saw her and Daniel making out at the old ruins near town. André had a feeling that his brother was cheating on me, and he was eager to prove it.

When I saw Daniel with Cristina, I lost it. I'm not proud of my behavior. I beat her up. Then, my father recommended that I move elsewhere, to leave the craziness, and see how I'd do.

Maybe I attract craziness.

I don't need someone like Jesse.

Bryce's words to me echo in my head after he drops me off. _"Cut Jesse a little slack, would you?"_ and _"It's my fault I tricked you into that outfit. I was trying to set you two up. I'm sorry."_ To which I told him that it wasn't _him_ that acted like an oversexed pervert. Then he tried to tell me that Jesse didn't mean anything bad, and that he thinks he seriously likes me. _Hah!_

"Cut Jesse a little slack, would you?"

"A little slack?!" I ask harshly to my walls. "No. Not so that I can be another in a long line."

_"He moves through women faster than your new boss used to."_ Now I hear the crazy lady that used to have my job's voice.

"I don't need that," I say. "I've had enough of that."

_'From whom?'_ my inner self asks me just who was the womanizer before. _'_ _Armand never dated anyone but you. Daniel? There's a chance it was all Cristina's doing.'_

"He still didn't stop her."

_'_ _André?'_

I feel a pang of regret. "He broke my heart first."

'He also waited for you to grow up after he finished school, just like he said he would. He said he'd wait for you, and you dated his brother.'

"He also made sure to bring me to see that scene so that I'd break up with Daniel."

'Can you blame him?'

"Shut up!" I stop my inner voice. Then I think, _Oh no. I'm as crazy as my mother! No. No, I'm not. That whole damn town is crazy! That's why I had to get out of there. I didn't fit. My little brother fits because he's one of them even though I love him dearly._

I storm into my bedroom and try to come up with something with which to blame André. I can only remember that he broke up with me because he'd graduated and he didn't think it would be right for him to date someone still in school because I was too young. I can't argue with his reasoning if that's what he wanted, so I have to throw that out. Then I remember how he'd made a play for me when I'd shown up to go on a date with Daniel. However, that was when he reminded me how he'd waited. I'd been so hurt as a young teenager that I'd forgotten he'd said that. Next, I try to convince myself that what he did in 'reporting' to me about Daniel's cheating to cause me to break up with him was bad, but I also can see the situation from his point of view. He was right, and he must've been ready to do anything. He didn't want me hurt, but he also wanted me for himself.

"There," I say aloud. "He was out to get his brother hurt just to get me back. I'm better off not coming between them." Somehow, I can't convince myself. André had not interfered after I'd started seriously dating his brother until something bad really happened. It wasn't like he set out to make it happen. He didn't _make_ Cristina move back from the states. He didn't _force_ his brother to fall under her spell again.

"It doesn't matter. I'm through with all of them!"

I sigh and decide meditation is what I really need. So, I sit myself down on my bed and try to relax.

"Cut Jesse a little slack, would you?"

I take a deep breath in for six seconds and let it out for twelve.

"I was trying to set you two up."

_"Is that really so bad, Marie?"_ Now Jesse's voice intrudes on my thus-far failed meditation. I love the way he says my name. It literally rolls around in his mouth like he's tasting it. Mah-ree.

That does it. My breath in gets expelled in only one second, and I tense up. _How does he do it? The more I try to not think about him, the more I end up thinking about him._

He's a womanizer. I have to stay away.

_That won't be easy since he's my boss's best friend,_ I think as I remember how I watched for Jesse all day, almost dreading what I thought was inevitable. He never showed. I'd say he was out chasing women, but he came over to Bryce's too fast for that. He must live in that house behind Bryce's.

_That was a nice kick,_ I think of earlier when my hazy reality had started coming back to me after slamming into the ground. After I'd not really watched for him all day, seeing him fighting the asshole made me mad. _That_ was when he finally showed up?

_'Were you watching for him or not, Marie?'_ my inner self asks me. I don't want to answer.

The moments before that 'nice kick' run through my mind. I got punched in the jaw by a man who intended to knock me down and did.

Painful memories that I often try to block out come back in force, and they hurt me more than Sean's punch. My mother was caught cheating, and my father lost it. I remember as a child trying to keep Xavier, my brother, from screaming. He was younger than me, and he didn't understand why there was so much yelling. Dad has regretted that moment for the rest of his life. The strange part was I still sided with him in their divorce. (They've since remarried after loads of counseling.) He'd been a better parent to me than she had. Dad really made my taekwondo lessons very serious after that. He hated himself for what he'd done, and he never wanted anything like that to ever happen to me. I'd made it my goal to never have it happen either. I failed. Sure, I'd been punched before, but they were always girl fights at school.

I test my jaw for the nth time tonight and think, _And Jesse got him back for me._

_I wonder how Jesse would do learning taekwondo?_ I think as I remember the kick again.

.....

Uf, no. I don't care how good a student he'd be, I'm not putting myself in that position.

Besides, I'm not good enough to instruct others, regardless of what Dad said.

### Jesse

Bryce asked me to simply hang around his house for a little while as _he_ took Marie home and other stuff. I'm still drenched, and I'm tired. I want to sit down, but I don't want to drip all over Bryce's furniture... Pam, not Bryce, would get upset at me. I sit on the arm of the couch as a compromise.

I prop my foot up on the corner of the coffee table and sit here brooding.

What did I do wrong tonight?

_"Not from you it's not,"_ her voice says in my head. She's pretty much got me there. Had I gotten the opportunity to drive her home, I would've tried my hardest to get her to talk to me about how ridiculous it is that she refuses to date anyone, especially me apparently.

Still, there was more to it than just that. Is she mad I insisted on helping her stand up?

I sit up for a few seconds to twist and stretch my back. _That ex of Erin's can sure pack a punch if given the chance._ _I hope Julian is okay. He's not what he used to be I guess. I wonder what happened?_

Even more upsetting to me is the knowledge that the bastard punched Marie hard enough to knock her out. I feel my fist clench tighter the more I think of it. _I hope Marie knocked him hard into the pavement like he'd said. Obviously wasn't hard enough if he got up._

She didn't snap like she did at anyone but me. So I'd asked her out yesterday. Does that mean she has to act like she's in a permanent bad mood around me?

Bryce walks in the door, and I turn my head towards him.

"Thanks, man," he says wearily.

"No problem," I respond before I say goodnight since it looks like he just wants to go upstairs. For only a second, I want to tell him that he couldn't be a rebound, but I don't think he wants to hear that from me.

On my run home to get out of the rain, I decide to just back off from Marie for a little while and see what happens.

### Erin

Fingers gently stroke my face as I slowly wake up. I open my eyes and see Bryce sitting on the bed next to me and looking down at me with an unreadable expression.

"I fell asleep." I state the question.

"I guess so," he answers me quietly.

I notice he's changed out of his wet clothes and into some pajama pants with no shirt. He looks so hot that I worry he might set the sheets on fire. We each look at the other one like we want to ask each other how we're doing.

"I'm okay," I tell him.

"Are you?" he asks with doubt in his voice.

"You don't think I am? Well, I mean, I could be better, but I could also be a hell of a lot worse."

He lets out a long exhale and moves to sit on the edge of the bed. "I know," he says simply, but there's also so much emotion in those two words that I just want to curl up. So, I do.

Memories of only a few hours ago assail me mercilessly. I don't want to think about any of it for now, but I don't have much of a choice. I can't imagine what Bryce is thinking as he sits there, quietly watching the storm, and I don't know if I'm ready to ask him.

I feel the bed move like he's twisting around to look at me. I peep up over my arms at him to see a concerned expression on his brow.

He's quiet and still for a few more seconds before he gently pulls me to him and across his lap. Then his arms wrap around me, and he holds me to him like he's afraid the strong winds outside will blow me away should he let go.

"Bryce..."

"Are you still in love with him?" he blurts out. "And don't answer me right away. I want you to think," he quickly adds.

I close my mouth from the 'no' I was about to say. I remember back to earlier when I'd kissed Sean back. Those memories made me feel something again, something like a memory of an emotion... something hollow. Sean never treated me with the care and love that Bryce does, but does that mean I don't still love Sean?

"I was in love with someone who didn't exist. So, it's quite reasonable to say I never loved him," I say, content with my answer and wondering how it never truly occurred to me before now.

Bryce lifts my chin and does one of his 'Bryce kisses' as he starts out simple only to quickly take it to the brink of insanity. I do my best to keep up, but the more I give, the more he wants. There's a sense of desperation with the way he now clutches me to him, and for some reason, I picture him as a child who was lost and alone only to be finally rescued. Rescued, and in no way is he letting go of his security now.

_Oh, what am I thinking._ I'm _the one clinging to_ him _for security._

_"Get rid of the hurt,"_ his voice sounds in my head. _"When I said that I wasn't thinking. I know for a fact it's not that easy."_ _No, it isn't, is it? No, instead..._

"I can't stand it Erin," he says all of a sudden.

I open my eyes a little to see a pained expression on his face now. "What are you talking about?"

"Whether or not this person existed, you were still in love with him enough to want to marry him. That doesn't go away quickly."

"I didn't really expect it to, not quickly."

He's quiet for a few minutes before I pull myself up to kiss him. He doesn't respond, and that scares me. "Bryce?" I ask, hearing the fear in my voice.

"When you came to me last week on the beach, you said you wanted me to try to take away the pain," he says, swallows, and looks like he's waiting for me to say something.

"And you said it's not that easy." _Where is he going with this?_

"It's not, but are you still expecting me to get rid of the hurt?"

"You _are_ ," I say, and he closes his eyes like I just gave the wrong answer. I quickly try to work at digging myself out of this hole I might have made. "Just being with you helps like a soothing balm. When I'm with you, I'm shown how powerful love can be." _Please believe me, Bryce!_

He takes a deep breath with his eyes still closed, and I start running my fingers through his hair. He's still holding up most of my weight like it's nothing, but I squirm a little anyway, worried I'll make his arms tired. His eyes open, and he asks, "Are you uncomfortable?"

My eyes widen for a fraction of a second before I answer, "No. I was worried about your arms getting tired."

"Don't worry about it," he says quickly. Then he adds, "Is that all you wanted out of me, at least last weekend?"

"All I 'wanted' out of you?"

"Yes. You came to me and said you wanted to let me try to get rid of the hurt as I'd put it the night before... before you ran away."

"But like you said, those were your words."

"But I also wanted you for you," he says, and I'm a little tiny bit overwhelmed. " _Want_ you for you," he clarifies.

"Bryce, I want you for more than just to help me get rid of him," I say, finally realizing where he's going with this.

"Erin, if I'm going to help you get rid of him, then you have to be completely, brutally if necessary, honest."

"But I don't want to hurt you."

He lets out a huff and asks almost angrily, "Am I a rebound?!"

"What?! I'll admit I worried about that for a moment, but can it even be _called_ a rebound relationship if there's been _months_ since I broke it off with him?! No, you're not a fucking rebound, Bryce!" I almost glare at him until I see his brows come together for a moment and his lips pinch together a little like he's trying to hold back an emotion. "Now who's not being brutally honest? You don't believe me, do you?"

"I'm... worried," he says like it took a lot out of him to admit that.

I decide to elaborate on my earlier statement. "Yes, I need help getting rid of him, but I also decided that night before finding you on the beach that I _wanted_ a relationship again, and I wanted it with you. I said those things because I know men like to 'fix things' and that maybe that would -"

I let out a little high-pitched noise when he suddenly kisses me again. Happy relief practically pours out of him.

Then I remember hearing Bryce say something about rebound when he had the gun pointed at Sean. I think that's what he said anyway, the rain was so loud that I couldn't quite make out the words from inside the house.

As Bryce moves down to start kissing my neck, I ask, "He said that, didn't he?"

"Yes," he mumbles into me, and I let out a very aggravated noise. Bryce laughs a little as he twists around to deposit me on the other pillow. Then he gets up and turns out the overhead light and the lamp on the other side of the bed.

He lays himself down next to me, but then he quickly rolls over to lay his head on my chest and wrap his arms around my waist. I like this, and I run my hands through his hair.

"Erin, they can't hold him forever, and I'm guessing he'll be here at least a week. I really don't feel comfortable with you being in your house alone."

"I don't want to be," I say before he sighs.

"I'm sorry for imposing myself on you, but-"

"You're not. I'm running to you for protection." I quickly keep him from finishing his needless apology. His arms tighten around me as he takes a deep breath, and we lie here quietly for a few minutes.

"Do you have any idea how good that feels?" he murmurs to me as I continue to run my fingers through his hair.

I giggle a little and reply, "Yes, I do actually."

We fall asleep just like this, but I have a hazy memory of us rolling over sometime in the middle of the night, putting _my_ head on _his_ chest. Either way, he never lets go of me.

# Chapter 8: Simply Complicated

_How on earth am I going to tell Bryce about kissing Sean yesterday? I don't think he's going to be as accepting of this as he was of that time with Jesse. I kissed Sean back. That's a major difference._ Small tears escape my eyes as I lie here in Bryce's arms, the early-morning light only just recently making an appearance in his bedroom.

"Hey, what is it?" he asks me quietly while wiping away my tears with his thumbs. I jump a little because I didn't realize he was awake.

I can't look him in the eye. _Be brutally honest if necessary, he'd said._ "I have to tell you something."

He takes a deep breath and says, "Okay."

"Yesterday, um, last night..." I take in a deep, shuddering breath.

"Yes?" he asks expectantly.

"Well, obviously, he showed up and scared the hell out of me. He told me he'd hired a detective or something to find me. Then, I don't know, he started up on all his apologies and stuff that I've heard before." My heart starts racing in my chest. "Of course, I didn't believe him, and he wouldn't let go of me and he kissed me and I... kissed him back." I can't look at his expression. I just can't.

He's quiet for about half a minute before he says, "But then you ran away to here."

"Yes."

"When, exactly?"

I feel like I have to explain myself more, so I take a very roundabout way of answering his question. "Um, well, I was remembering the first time he asked me out, and I hardly even realized what I was doing until I'd done it." I quickly add, "Once I did, I started trying to get away from him, but I'd dropped my keys." After a very short pause, I exclaim, "My keys! He still has my keys!"

"Calm down. We'll get them back."

"Oh Bryce, I'm so sorry!" I blurt out.

"Shh!" he says as he continues to try to get me to calm down.

I let out a pathetic, hiccupping cry and say, "I love you. I feel awful I let him get to me for just a second. I know him, and I know he's gonna take what I did and run with it."

"Erin, calm down. No, I'm not happy you kissed him back, but that can't be helped now. The important thing is you stopped doing it. What happened to make you drop your keys?" he asks, trying, I guess, to get me to continue with my story, that or change the subject.

"It was when he first wouldn't let go of me. Well, then... after... he picked them up and started pulling me to my house. I started yelling and then Mr. Strong moved his eyes in such a way as to tell me to run. I don't know what I was thinking when I ran here since no one was home. I just ran. I heard what I guess now was Mr. Strong punching Sean after Sean yelled at me to get back here."

"You ran here without thinking," he says, almost like he's talking to himself as well.

"Yes."

Bryce pulls me close, and I cry while he strokes the back of my head. He intermittently squeezes me as goodness knows what runs through his head. I'm just so happy he's not pushing me away in disgust.

"Erin, don't cry anymore."

"I'm so sorry," I whisper.

Bryce makes a slight growling noise and rolls me onto my back before he says, "Haven't I told you before that it's hard to _not_ kiss someone back when they're kissing you? The bastard played upon whatever emotion he could dredge up in you before you could come to your senses."

"Why does there have to be anything to dredge up?" I ask with an angry sniff.

Bryce doesn't answer me. Instead, he stares wordlessly down at me with a hungry expression in his eyes. His arms shake a little like he has trouble holding himself up, which I know can't be the case. I figure out another probable cause when he quickly crashes into me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me desperately.

He groans a little into my mouth, and I feel him reach for the bottom of my shirt. In about two seconds, the shirt comes off to be replaced by his eagerly-claiming hands that try to touch every inch of exposed skin all at once. Once again, I'm shocked to discover how quickly he can remove my bra. _How come I can't get it off that fast?_ I decide not to even consider the possibility that he's removed more bras than I have over the course of our lives. At any rate, I'm distracted by his mouth trying to devour my breasts while I gasp for air.

Since his mouth has taken over from his hands, they find employment elsewhere with the unbuttoning of my jeans. In an almost-annoyed exhale, he pushes himself up, hooks his hands on the waistband of my jeans and underwear, and pulls everything down as quickly as he can manage.

"Birth control, right?" he asks in a matter-of-fact tone as he reaches to remove his own pants as well.

"Yes," I answer, sitting up a little because I'm slightly miffed he wouldn't let me have the chance to remove his pants myself. He wasn't wearing underwear underneath.

"Okay," he says, parts my legs, and pushes me back against the mattress. He quickly drives himself inside me while I let out a small cry.

He waits a few seconds to wordlessly make sure I'm okay before he almost roughly pushes in still farther. He pauses for half a beat before beginning with his circular, almost elliptical motion that makes me curl my toes while my nails dig into the flesh of his back.

I groan and begin to counter his movements, bringing on still more pleasure. He lets out a quick exhale when I make sure to tighten myself around him, and I hear him moan his appreciation. Very soon however, I do this uncontrollably in response to the quickly-building tension forming in my lower abdomen.

I can't help it. I can't keep myself from loudly crying out from how fucking good Bryce makes me feel. My back arches, and somehow I manage to rest the top of my head on the mattress. All the while, Bryce refuses to let up on the intensity of his blessed movements.

"Shit, Bryce!" I yell in an almost-whisper.

"That's right," he says as if to say, 'who else?'

Another moaning cry escapes my lips before my body convulses into his. He moans and jerks his hips forward again and again to mercilessly make me experience each wave of insane bliss until my body will no longer respond.

I'm dimly aware of the fact that I'm shaking and whimpering quietly while he almost patiently waits for me to recover.

"More?" he asks into my ear after, I'm guessing, a few minutes go by.

I can only continue to whimper instead of responding another way.

"Doesn't my beautiful Erin want more?" he asks again, and the laughter in his voice tells me how much he enjoys that he's turned me into this quivering ball of flesh.

He moves against me once more, and I cry out from the unexpected, intense pleasure of it.

"Oh," he says like he's been let in on some great secret, "she does." Then he picks up where he left off.

"Oh shit!" I hear cried out, and it takes me a few seconds to realize I was the one to say it.

_How can it be that I'm this built up already?_ I wonder as Bryce slows down but adds more pressure. He continues like this, and I picture myself on some small boat with him. The waves lap up against the sides of the boat with every controlled movement of his hips.

"So... good," he loudly whispers.

"This is torture," I whine up to him.

That roguish grin that I love spreads across his face as he says, "Yes, it is." Then his lips attack mine while his hips maintain their slow tempo.

When his lips release me, I scream, "Bryce, please!" I surprise myself by how loudly I yell.

The smallest of laughs escape him before he says, "Please what? Please stop? Hm, no I don't think that's it. Please... make you come again? Well, as my beautiful Erin desires."

"Oh-hohohohoho," I cry out again when he picks up the tempo with a sense of purpose. After screaming his name several more times, I finally succumb to his body's demands on mine.

"You're exquisite, Erin," I hear from what sounds far away but is actually spoken quietly right into my ear. I'm unable to really respond because I'm too busy trying to find myself.

He doesn't wait for me to recover before he starts up again. His movements this time around are a little more selfish, but I'm so worked up that it no longer matters.

All of a sudden, he holds my hips on him while he works himself to where he sits on his ankles. Hands still on my hips, he pushes and pulls us apart and together, apart and together, again and again while gradually increasing the tempo.

Then he moves to stand next to the bed and hold my hips against him while my shoulders, neck, and head rest upon the mattress. I don't know where to put my legs, and he answers my unspoken question by pulling my legs up over his shoulders.

Oh.

The simple act of bringing my legs nearly together while he continues to fuck me brings on a new experience, one that's so good that I cry out again. Bryce swiftly and repeatedly pounds himself into me, and my legs pull off his shoulders as we both come simultaneously. I watch his face as he continues to milk himself with my body. He wears a small scowl, and I wonder why.

Bryce slowly pulls himself out of me and lays my hips down on the mattress before crashing face-first into it next to me. The only movements he makes are slow, breathing motions.

I lie here next to him, not quite sure what to do with myself. Bryce has gone distant. I can feel it. _Self defense from what I told him earlier?_ I start lightly running my fingertips up and down his back, and I smile when he moans. _Maybe I'm imagining it._

He sits up, lightly kisses the tip of my nose, and tells me he's going to take a shower before swiftly getting up and closing the door behind him when he's entered his bathroom. _Maybe not._

### Bryce

I think my heart is breaking again.

She kissed him back. She didn't mean to, but for a few seconds, she did.

_I can't let Erin see me like this,_ I think as I silently sob in the shower.

What I just did was not making love. It was sex. Just sex. I needed it. I don't quite understand myself, but I know I needed it after what she told me. I just fucked the hell out of the woman I love as some jealous way to claim her.

_That's it,_ I think now with a possible answer.

He got to her. He found her, and he got to her.

I only had her for a fucking week!

I want to punch the wall, but I don't want to alarm Erin.

_No, I don't want to 'alarm' her, I want to fuck her again,_ I think as I grab hold of the handlebar inside the shower to hold myself back. _What the hell is wrong with me?!_

I take a deep breath, shove my face in the pouring water, and only focus on that water as it pours on my face. _Nice, hot, wet water._

Shit!

I take another deep breath and look up at the ceiling.

_She ran here automatically. That speaks volumes, Bryce. This is her subconscious's haven._ I'm _her subconscious's haven._

_She said she_... I almost think 'doesn't love him,' but now I second-guess myself. _...loved someone who doesn't exist. I bet he does to some extent._

_The key here is it's in the past! She went_ looking _for me and found me on the beach to start a relationship with_ me _just like I wanted._

So now I have to keep reminding her why she did that... and not by doing what I just did.

I turn off the shower and wrap a towel around my waist before shaking my head and almost laughing at myself and my display of modesty. I guess it would make her more comfortable. Then I dash out of the bathroom to find Erin curled up into a ball, crying. _Shit._

"Erin? Oh god, Erin, what's wrong?" I say as I sit on the bed next to her curled up form, lightly running my fingers through her hair.

"I don't know!" she cries as her thin frame racks with sobs.

I bet I do.

"Come here," I request and pull her up into my lap. Her naked body tempts me, but I refuse to allow myself to seduce her again. Well, this soon. I encourage her to rest her head on my shoulder, and I try not to look down.

"I'm sorry, Bryce."

Oh please don't start with that again.

"Stop. I know," I say and run my fingers through her hair again.

"Are you mad at me?" she asks the question I dreaded.

Am I?

"No, of course not." _Liar._ "It's just... I expected... why so damn soon?!" I exclaim and crush her to me.

"Huh? You expected what? For me to kiss him?"

"No. For him to find you."

"You knew he would? But Meredith..." her voice trails out.

_She just doesn't get it!_ "Do you really think he gives a shit about her? I'm guessing here, but I bet she was just something to prove... to say he could." I look into those gorgeous eyes of hers and have a sudden insight to what the bastard was thinking. "He would've probably cheated on you eventually." _He didn't like the hold she had over him._

I love her, and the hold she has over me scares the shit out of me, but I would never cheat on her. I have nothing more to prove to the world other than to show that I can make it: fall in love and stay together.

I torture myself with my next question, "So, now that you know he probably really loves you... as much as he's capable of... does that change your mind?" _Why do I do this to myself?_

"Change my mind?!" She looks mad now. "Change my mind that he's a lying, cheating sack of shit?! No! Don't _ask_ me stuff like that!" she nearly screams and gets out of my arms. "Why don't you believe me when I tell you I love you?! Why do you keep asking me stuff like that?! What can I do to get rid of this insecurity?!" She starts slapping me from where she sits on the bed next to me.

"Stop it!" I yell and grab her wrists to stop her from slapping me because it's annoying. "Why? What would _you_ do if all of a sudden Ashley came back claiming she loved me and wanted me back, throwing herself at me and I happen to kiss her back for a moment?! I have a lot of good memories too!" She starts crying. _Shit._ "Erin-"

"I knew it. You said be brutally honest, and you're not telling me how what I did upsets you. It's only fair though. I'm fighting those good memories and trying to hide it from you when you could help me," she lets out in a defeated manner.

_No._ I can feel it around us: the 'this isn't working so let's break up' feeling. We're both silent, wondering if the other one will say it.

She starts crying some more. "Bryce, I don't-"

"No," I say firmly, grab her, and keep her from finishing her terrible sentence. I don't want her to say that she doesn't think this is working. "No," I plead into her lips. She won't stop crying.

"You misunderstand," she gets out when she manages to jerk free. I pause and wait for her to continue, praying that I _do_ misunderstand. "I don't want to hide anything from you, but this is hard to share this with you of all people. To say that I have lingering feelings for him and knowing it'll hurt you to say it. No, I don't 'love' him, but he's not gone either. I don't want him back. I love _you_ , Bryce. I really don't understand why you refuse to believe me. Just please, please, please don't give up on me like I thought you were about to do."

We sit here quietly for a few seconds before I ask, "I'm not making it any easier, am I?" I have an impossible time of forgetting the 'lingering feelings' bit. She told me something like that last weekend. It's just been such a wonderful week for me, well mostly, and I'm shocked I fell in love so fast.

"This isn't fair to us to be tested so soon."

"I'm not giving up either. I thought you were about to break up with me," I admit.

"Took me a minute to figure that out," she almost laughs.

_She's still naked in my bed,_ I think uncontrollably.

"Erin, you need to get dressed," I say in as even a tone as I can manage.

"Why?" she asks coyly.

I take a deep breath and stare at the ceiling again as I answer, "Because you have to go to the station to give them your story and get your keys. And it's never a good idea to make them wait."

We go to the station, Erin tells them what she saw, and they give her her keys that were in his possession. I worry for a minute that they're going to give her a hard time about it, but all she has to do is fill out a little paperwork. Then we go to visit Julian in the hospital (he looks like crap) before heading over to Pam's to pick up Adele. At Pam's, Erin insists Adele and I go somewhere just the two of us while she stays with my sister. So, I take Adele out for snow cones at the nearby park, still not wanting to put too much distance between Erin and me.

"What _really_ happened last night, Daddy?" she asks me while we look for a dry place to sit down.

I sigh as I sit on a bench and decide I'd better just go ahead and tell her because she'll get it out of me eventually anyway. "Erin's ex-fiancé found her and tried to do some bad things to her."

"Like what?" she asks, and I inwardly groan.

"Let's just leave it at bad. He didn't want to kill her or anything, just bad."

"She was going to get married?"

"Yes, but he cheated on her. That's why she broke up with him."

"Are you going to marry her?" she asks innocently, and grape-flavored ice goes up my nose.

I use the time it takes to clean myself up to figure out how to answer her. "Maybe someday."

"So far, I like her. She's quiet, but that's not bad. She isn't trying to get rid of me either I've noticed. That's good too."

When did she start thinking so grown up like this?

"What?" she asks with an annoyed expression when she sees me looking at her with that thought in my head.

"I'm glad you like her. I do too."

"Duh, Daddy. You'd have to be blind not to notice that," she says, and I burst out laughing.

# Chapter 9: Double Meaning

### Marie

I hear a familiar voice as I walk up the stairs next to the bathroom at work. _Jesse is here._

I walk up to the bar itself in a very nonchalant way, say hello to Jones, and sign in to work. Then I glance up and see Erin has come to be with Bryce. Good.

"Man, it is _hot_ today, isn't it, Bryce?" Jesse asks to my boss.

"It is 'hot,'" he agrees. "Think I should turn the fans _up_?" he asks, and I wonder why they stressed certain words in the way they did. I have to agree it's hot, but that is to be expected. In fact, that's why I was sure to put on this crop top and short shorts. They said it would be over a hundred Fahrenheit, and I guess that's hot.

"How are you?" I quietly ask Erin.

"I'm okay," she answers just as quietly. I can tell she's nervous, so I don't pester her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jesse deliberately go and sit at a table with his beer, saying something about finding cooler temperatures away from the bar.

_Great,_ I think sarcastically. _Now he's_ my _customer._

I grudgingly walk over to him while he watches my legs. He's being obvious. _Fine. He wants to play? I'll play._

"Can I get you anything, Captain Gillespie?" I say with a marvelously straight face.

I see him come up with several, possibly very varied, answers from his expression. The one he chooses, however, mildly disappoints me.

"Nothing right now, thanks. Still working on this one." He looks up and grins as he says, "How about I let you know, Marie?"

I shrug and say, "Suit yourself." _He just_ had _to say my name!_ I turn around and walk over to help Jones with whatever.

Hours go by, and I serve various patrons. Occasionally so he can't claim I was ignoring him, I ask Jesse if he needs another beer. He always says no.

"That beer is probably way too hot now. Let me get you a fresh one," I suggest.

"There are 'hotter' things, I'm sure. No reason I should give up on it just because it isn't perfect."

_Hm._ "Well, let me know if you change your mind."

"I will," he says and stares at the top of his bottle.

The sun starts to set, and Bryce tells me to go ahead and go home. I'm surprised, but he assures me it's fine since we're not that busy. As I walk down the stairs to the front sidewalk, I momentarily wonder why Jesse didn't insist he walk me home. He merely sits at his table quietly like he's brooding about something. _Well, if he wants to get a fresh beer now, then he has to get it himself. I've only asked him twenty times today._

I get about halfway to my apartment before I turn around to glance behind me. As I do, I see that Jesse stands near the railing, facing my direction. He quickly turns away to try to make it look like he wasn't watching me. I find myself smiling as I continue on my way.

### Jesse

"What are you _doing_?" Bryce growls next to me. "Do you want me to serve her up to you on a silver platter? I let her off early for your sake."

I answer him in a way that he won't expect. "I'm glad you sent her home. I don't think I could've taken much more of that." I turn to look at him with a serious expression. "I'm leaving her alone... as much as I can." _Though the sight of her in that outfit... ungh!_

"What?" he whips out of his mouth.

"Yep. Bugging the hell out of her didn't work."

"After two days. Since when do you give up after only two days?"

"Who says I gave up?" I ask him with a ridiculous grin that I can't hold back.

"Oh there you are! I wondered where the hell my friend went." He scratches his neck a little before he says, "So, I gave my waitress the rest of the night off for nothing is what you're saying."

"No. I couldn't take much more of her prancing around in front of me in that getup." I suddenly remember the beer in my hand. "I need a cold one, this thing is flat as piss."

The next day, I'm sitting at the counter at work trying to make sense of some irritating figures before the auditors pay me a visit when one of those sudden downpours hit. Five minutes ago, it was perfectly sunny, but now there's a huge storm raging.

Well, that's going to drive the customers away, not that I had any anyway.

All of a sudden, the door bursts open and in walks Marie of all people, drenched to the bone. Her wet clothes stick to her in all the right places, and I look my fill while she acts like she's getting water out of her ear. Then, I quickly plaster a smile on my face.

"Marie!" I say like I'm still as happily surprised as I was a few seconds ago. "Hell of a weather change, huh?" I ask after she's whipped her head around in my direction. _I'm... talking about the weather. I've been reduced to talking about the weather._

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

"I manage this place. What? You thought I didn't work?" _Okay, this is better. Now I'm teasing._

"I..." she stammers around, "didn't think about it actually."

Ow.

"Does it always do this? This all sunshine and then the rain comes without warning?" she asks, indicating the storm outside.

"Sometimes. Especially if the day is really hot." I ever so slightly stress the 'h' sound. I love words like hot that have another meaning. "You're all wet," I say dryly. _Another great word._

"Yes, I'm soaked," she says in a mildly-irritated fashion, and it's all I can do to keep from laughing.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" I can't resist saying as my imagination tortures me with different possibilities.

I think she finally starts to catch on when her eyes narrow ever so slightly before she says, "I'll put up with it, I guess. Sometimes that's just what you have to do with annoying things."

_Arg._ "Well, you don't have to. I sell a little bit of everything, and I can give you a discount. That's what I do for my friends, and we're friends, right?" I offer, not really wanting to have her change clothes, but I also can't help with the whole 'friends discount' thing. _Hm. I don't sell underwear._

"I suppose so," she says, and I'm momentarily confused as to whether or not she means we're friends or she'll buy clothes. I don't get a chance to make her clarify as she marches to the part of the store where we have a few things like touristy shirts and shorts. She quickly picks up the first shirt and pair of shorts she finds in her size. Then she looks at me in confusion like she doesn't know what to do now.

I smile kindly and say, "Let me just have the tags. I'll ring 'em up, and you can pay for them after you've changed. Let me get you a bag for your wet clothes." She hands me the tags, and I do as I said I would, wondering where her panties will end up. _Will she leave them on or take them off? If she leaves them on, then there's no point in putting on dry shorts._

She doesn't take long to change, and when she comes out, her shorts are completely dry. She buys the clothes she has on while the rain continues. It only just now occurs to both of us that if she goes out in that again, she's wasted her time getting dry clothes. I stand here behind the counter and watch her to see what she'll do now.

"How long does this usually last?" she asks.

"It's rain," I say with a shrug. "It could be five minutes; it could keep raining into the night."

A look of horror all of a sudden crosses her face. "No! I left my windows open at home!" She darts for the door.

I quickly stuff away the irritating paperwork and say, "Hold up a sec! You're the only customer I've had all day, and this rain will keep them away anyway. I'll close up and drive you over there. You'll make it there faster, and you won't get soaked again." _You can't argue with that._ I stuff the register printout with the paperwork and walk around the counter with my keys in my hand.

She lets out a little huff before she says, "Fine."

We pull up in front of her place, and she says, "Oh no!" She'd left her windows _very_ open, and I haven't a doubt her apartment is getting rain all in it.

"I hope you have a lot of towels," I say and race after her in the rain.

She glances at me for a second like she's surprised I got out of the car, but then she focuses on unlocking her door. We both dash in, and she empties her linen closet while I go around and close all the windows.

"Here," she says as she throws me a towel to start mopping up the water. I head to the one behind the couch and start trying to wipe up as much of the water on her hardwood floor as I can.

"You need a dehumidifier," I say helpfully. "I think I have one somewhere."

"What?" she asks like she can't hear me from where she is in the bedroom. I've done all I can do where I am, so I go and walk to her to say what I said again.

However, once I'm in here, I see that all she's doing is moving the water around. "No, not like that. You're not giving the rag a chance to soak up the water." I walk around her bed to kneel down next to her to show her what I mean. "Here. Like this." I watch as the towel soaks in the moisture.

We're both crouched here on our knees, staring at the towel like it's the most fascinating thing on the planet for a minute or so when a loud crack rents the sky. A lightning bolt hits outside the window on the lamppost across the street. We both make little, scared noises and jump up to our feet.

Our heads turn towards each other at about the same time, and when we realize how scared the other one was, we both start laughing. Then she looks down a little and realizes she'd grabbed fistfuls of my shirt in her fear. She, embarrassed, lets go and makes a small attempt to smooth out the wrinkles she made, not realizing how her hands press and rub my chest.

I don't move a muscle, watching her eyes. _I said I'd leave her alone... but she's soooo close!_ Once she's finished trying to fix my shirt, her eyes finally look up at mine and then widen as, I guess, she discovers how close we are. I want so bad to kiss her, but I wait and see what she'll do, wondering if she'll back away. She doesn't, so I move in a little more before pausing in a questioning way. I do this again, and she still stands her ground. I feel like it's been ages since the lightning strike across the street while I slowly cross this impossibly-huge distance to her mouth, pausing again very close to her.

She doesn't back away, so I close the tiny space left to her lips and finally press mine to hers while she stands there in silent shock. I don't know why she's shocked, but that's the emotion I get from her. _Didn't I make this obvious?_ I think as I pull back a little and then kiss her again. This time she responds, and she shivers a little while I continue to coax more of a response out of her. Then she tilts her head some to the side and kisses me back. I find that during all this, my arms have wrapped around her, cradling her to me. _Oh yes, Marie._

I decide to take it a step further. They don't call it French kissing for nothing, right? Her hands lightly rest on my arms while I taste the inside of her mouth and caress her tongue with mine. She lets out a shaky exhale through her nose, and I can feel her shaking in my arms. I want to really go crazy and kiss her until we're both gasping for air, but I don't because I can sense she really is scared. _Why are you afraid of me?_ I think as I back off a little more, and she closes her mouth.

She pulls away from me and says pleadingly, "Go. Just go. Please. Leave."

_What?_ "Why?" I ask quietly as I gently touch her lovely face. I'm not going anywhere without some kind of explanation.

"Please. I can't. I just can't," she answers me by not answering me.

"I have feelings for you, Marie, and I'm going to guess you feel the same about me. Why are you asking me to leave?" I say and ask, laying all my cards on the table, no more double meanings.

"Jesse, you _know_ why. I just can't."

"All I'm asking is whatever you can give," I say, and I mean it, remembering my 'just hanging out' kind of date offer. I keep a light hold of her. I know she could break this hold if she really wanted to, but right now I doubt she will. This isn't the tough, black belt Marie I'm seeing. What I'm seeing is a very frightened almost-child.

"I can give friendship. That is all."

_Bullshit,_ I think and debate kissing her again just to prove her wrong. Instead, I go out on a limb to ask what I'd thought earlier, "Why are you afraid of me?"

"I'm not afraid of you!" she argues, and tough Marie is back in full force. She forces my arms off her and takes a step back.

"Well, if you're not, then why are you asking me to leave?" I growl as I take a step forward.

"Because this is _my_ apartment!" She keeps backing up.

"That's not a reason!" I keep moving forward.

"Fine! Because you kissed me-"

"You kissed me back."

"- and this is getting out of hand."

"Out of hand?" I ask. "How is this out of hand?"

"I don't want this," she says and now stands in front of the entryway into her kitchen.

"You could've fooled me," I say, and she gets quiet. We've both stopped in our tracks, staring at each other. I know I did _not_ imagine her kissing me back, and I'm angry she won't own up to her feelings.

"I need time," she finally says, and I know she's right.

_Damn it!_ "How _much_ time are we talking here? Weeks? Months? Years? A decade? Give me some kind of timetable for you to need to dump all this shit you're carrying around with you. Or, how long are you planning on nursing your problems and giving them strength until that's all that you are?"

"Get out," she says icily.

"Fine," I snap and storm out of her house.

When I get home, I look over to the passenger-side floorboard and see the bag that has Marie's wet clothes in it. She must've left it when she was more worried about dashing out of the car to get inside and mop up the water. I shrug and pick it up. I suppose I'll go ahead and wash the clothes before giving them back to her so they don't mildew... though why I want to do something as thoughtful as that for her beats me.

As I pull the clothes out of the bag, I'm reminded of how they'd molded themselves around her, and the memory tortures me.

_She did take off her panties because here they are,_ I think and smile a goofy grin. _And they're wet,_ I think now as I get a kick out of my double meaning.

# Chapter 10: Dirty Laundry

### Erin

After spending more time than I wanted to at the police station, Bryce and I go to his sister's house. I insist that he and Adele spend some time together, just the two of them.

They walk in from their little trip to the park. They both look happy, and I'm glad.

Pam is very easy to talk to, and I liked how she kept the topic of conversation off last night, even if I could tell she hoped I would bring it up.

Bryce approaches me and says quietly, "I have to go to work."

"Okay," I tell him. He stands there and fidgets anxiously like he wants to add more to what he said. I wonder what's up. "Do you want me to come with you?" I ask.

"Yes," he breathes like a sigh of relief.

I get it now. He'd told me, after all, that he didn't want me away from him until Sean left. This is a small thing I can do for him to make him feel better, and I have to admit I'm actually glad.

"Of course then," I say and smile a little to reassure him.

I get lost in thought while Bryce gets things settled like he wants them to be at the bar. Not too much time passes before Jesse shows up. I'm glad, even if a little surprised, that I'm almost comfortable around him now. He and Bryce really _are_ best friends. I wish I had a friendship that strong.

The two of them joke around for a while, and then Marie shows up. I wish I could tell her thank you for everything she did yesterday, but I can't even talk about it right now. She asks me how I'm doing, and I want to die of embarrassment. She must see me as weak.

Jesse and Bryce are laughing about something or other when Jesse goes to sit at a table all by himself.

He's forcing Marie to pay attention to him and shooting her down every time she does. Oh, what a silly game!

Bryce mumbles under his breath, "Idiot."

"Hm?" I ask him.

"Not you," he says quickly.

I give him a small smile and say, "I guessed as much."

"She's being nice... like I asked her to."

"You did?"

"And he's... hm." He stops for a second, smiles, and calls Marie over to the bar.

Then he tells her to go home for the night. She actually looks relieved. Bryce watches Jesse for a minute, throws a rag on the bar, and practically stomps over to him.

While he's talking to Jesse, I hear Jones snort quietly. Then he mumbles under his breath, "Fail."

"What?" I ask him.

His head pops over to me. "Yes?"

"Did you just say something?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Can I make you a drink, Erin?"

_Hm._ "Um, sure," I answer, deciding to drop it. I tell him to make me whatever.

After he's made my drink, Jesse walks up and orders another beer.

"I was starting to wonder," Jones comments. "But I thought for sure you'd ask Marie if you wanted a new one." His voice has a vicious edge to it that I doubt anyone can detect but me.

"I didn't want to, but now I'm dying of thirst," Jesse answers.

"Well, that's silly," I say while he gulps down his beer.

He belches, wipes his mouth, and says, "There's a method to my madness." Then he winks at me conspiratorially and goes back to talk to Bryce some more.

I turn back around in my stool to see Jones ever so slightly glaring at his back. The glare vanishes almost immediately when he sees I'm looking. _Okay..._

I'm so tired when we finally make it back to Bryce's house that I can hardly keep my eyes open. I feel surprised to find Lynne waiting for us inside. She and Bryce talk about Adele for a minute while I contemplate the complexity of caring for an elementary-aged daughter while also frequently working late... nearly every night.

"Oh," she says to me now. "I had a little friend of yours show up a few hours ago."

My heart drops into my stomach as I immediately fear it's Sean.

Then, as if on cue, Miley pops her head around the corner.

"Miley!" I exclaim and reach for my feline friend. "Oh, Miley, I'm so sorry." I pick her up to her purring at me.

"She must've smelled you over here and came looking. I don't suppose she's upset, worried is more what I'm sensing from her," Lynne tells me while I pet the cat. She turns to Bryce to say, "Adele adores her." Bryce has his hand over his eyes.

"I had thought she went back to her family," Bryce states dryly.

"I don't think she's had one for a while now," Lynne tells him.

"How do you know?" I ask.

Lynne's eyes appraise me for a moment before she says, "I just do." I get the feeling that's the only answer I'm going to get. Miley wiggles in my arms, and I put her down. Then, Lynne pulls something out of her purse on the sideboard before saying to me, "Here. Take this if you need to calm your nerves."

Pam must've told her.

"Maggie came by the spa today. Julian made her," Lynne offers in explanation, and I feel guilty for accusing Pam.

"Okay," I say quietly before she hugs me. Then she turns to Bryce to hug him too while he thanks her.

Once she's left, Bryce turns to me to say, "Lynne can be... a little intense sometimes."

I nod while Miley meows up to Bryce.

"Alright, you little spy, don't tear up my furniture," Bryce says to the cat, and I'm too tired to contemplate what he means.

"Thank you for staying over here tonight," Bryce says to me as he pulls me into a tight embrace.

"Well, no way am I staying at my house all by myself, and I have nowhere for Adele to sleep," I tell him while he runs his hand up and down my back.

"You were thinking the same thing I was when Lynne said 'little friend,' weren't you?" he asks.

"If you mean did I think she meant _him_ , then yes," I answer him. "I know we haven't seen the last of him."

He takes in a deep breath and says, "Good. Then I can kick his ass. I feel like I didn't get my chance."

"Bryce..." I say in warning.

"What?!" he quietly exclaims. I let out a wilting exhale and feel him smile as he places a light kiss on my shoulder. "The guy's a dick."

I shake my head no and sigh before I say, "I just want him gone." _In more ways than one._

He looks a little worried as he asks, "You are going to stay here until he's gone, right?"

I tuck a wayward strand of hair behind my ear while I nod yes. "I hate to intrude, but I want to."

"I'm glad, but why do you think you're intruding? I _want_ you here," he says and starts looking at me like _that_ again. I feel so self-conscious under that stare, and I wonder if he even knows he does it.

What does he mean? Stay forever? No, surely not. He just doesn't want Sean to get to me again, and I have to agree. But then why is he giving me that hard stare of his again? Is he staring at me like that on purpose as some way to get something across to me that he can't figure out how to say? No, surely if he had something to say, he'd say it... eventually. That's one of the many little things I love about him.

I look up at him with a small smile and say quietly, "Well then, here I stay." _The look is still there._ "I'm going to go take a shower before going to bed, okay?"

He finally snaps out of it and says, "Yeah, sure. Okay. You know where it is." I turn to go, but he catches my face in his hands so he can lean forward and kiss me slow and sweet.

I'm so tired! But I feel icky, and I don't want to feel icky in his bed.

"I'll be waiting," he says with that roguish grin. I make my way upstairs while he makes his way to the kitchen... I guess to do a little laundry. _Laundry at four in the morning. Huh._ I silently giggle.

As I turn the shower on, I think, _What is it about the thought of him doing laundry at four in the morning that I think is sexy? I think I must be losing it from lack of sleep._

The shower wakes me up. I guess my body thinks I'm skipping sleep all together.

I come out of the shower in my underwear and bra, and I see Bryce quickly put away a book. His eyes rake me from head to toe and back, and I brazenly climb on top of him. He doesn't act like he minds in the least.

"So, what were you doing in the kitchen?" I ask while his hands travel up my thighs. "Looking at porn?" I wait to see what kind of reaction I'll get.

He acts like it's all he can do to keep his laughter quiet so as not to wake Adele. I can't hide my smile. When he can finally speak, he says, "No, I'd never hide porn in the kitchen where Pamela could find it." His hands grasp my hips as he says, "Nothing as interesting as that. Just laundry." His hands squeeze me for a second before he says, "Besides, what the hell do I need that for when I have you?"

"Likely story," I say, teasing, as I move my hips against him once. "You probably don't even know how to do laundry." I have no idea why I'm acting this goofy.

He reaches over to turn off the lamp to his right before he says, "You're right. You caught me. I was looking at porn."

"You'd better be joking."

"Maybe," he says. Then this silly grin crosses his face before he says, "It was 'dirty' laundry."

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"You started it," he reminds me, and I feel him harden underneath me.

"Hm, yeah. I have no idea what made me think of that," I admit while biting my lip.

He lets out a quiet groan while his hands start moving up and down my thighs again.

"Maybe it was because you put a book away real quick when I walked in," I say.

He takes a deep breath and says in an absentminded way, "It was that stupid cookbook again." He takes in another breath. "Erin..." he says and then doesn't finish his sentence.

"What?" I ask, just barely feeling tired again.

Suddenly, his eyes open wildly, and he flips us over so fast I only realize it happened after the fact.

"You're not tired?" he asks me.

"I don't have to be," I answer simply and start running my hands up and down his sides.

He moans a little before his lips hungrily attack mine. However, just as soon as he starts, he stops.

"No," he says unexpectedly.

"Huh?" I question.

He rolls off me and pulls me to him. I'm utterly confused. _Since when does Bryce say no?_

"What is it?" I ask quietly.

He doesn't answer. Instead, he says, "You're tired. You need to sleep."

"We don't have to. I just thought... that..." I get quiet because I can't figure out how to say what I'm trying to say and not make it sound bad.

"That that's all I want all the time?" he finishes for me, only incorrectly.

"What?! No." I let out a huff. "Bryce, don't think that that's what I think," I say and ponder if that even made sense.

"Go to sleep. I'm trying to prove something to myself," he says as he squeezes me a little.

You don't have anything to prove.

"Well, now I can't sleep," I say in an upset tone.

"I'll tell you a story," he offers sleepily.

"I can think of a better way to make me tired..." I let my statement drag out.

"Erin, please," he begs, shaking a little.

_What is his deal?!_ "Alright. Fine," I snip. "Tell me a story then."

"What should it be about?" he asks, sounding like he's done this a billion times, and my heart melts with the realization of how well-practiced he is at this. I can't stay miffed at him.

I get an idea. "Tell me how it is that you can take my bra off so fast." He laughs a little as I say, "I bet that's a good story."

"Um, lots of practice," he answers cryptically.

"Oh, that makes me feel _real_ good," I say, sarcasm dripping off my tone. "You'd think I'd have more practice than you at it."

He reaches over to turn off the other lamp and then pulls me close again. "Well, actually... that is a story I could tell... if you promise not to tell Jesse I told you."

Of course, now I'm insanely curious and really wide awake. "Okay," I say, probably sounding a little too eager.

He laughs a little again. "Um, well... okay so Jesse runs that store, you know?"

"Yes." _Get on with it!_

"Yeah, so it has mannequins."

"Oh dear god," I say quickly, and he laughs some more.

"Hey, no jumping to conclusions!" He swats my butt lightly. When I don't say anything, he keeps going, "Back to the story."

"Okay."

"Shh!" he says quickly. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

I keep quiet.

"Erin?" he asks like he thinks I'm asleep.

"I'm being quiet."

"Oh, okay." He takes a deep breath and continues, "Well, Jesse keeps... mementos." To my quiet laugh, he says, "He claims he doesn't mean to, that they just get left behind. Still, he has them. So, then one night, we get drunk."

"I wondered if that would be part of it," I get in quick.

"Mhm. Of course. All the best stories start that way. Now, hush." I giggle while he sighs exasperatedly. "Well, we'd been friends for about a year and a half when we were at his place, and he had a broken mannequin he was working on fixing. He bet me he could remove a bra faster than I could. Of course, I had to prove him wrong."

"Of course," I get in.

"So, then he kept changing the rules because I kept winning."

"You kept going after the first round."

"Well yeah, I mean, we already had the setup and all. It eventually had to be one-handed from the front, and after a few more rounds, a stopwatch got involved."

I groan. "Why is this so easy for me to believe?"

"Why would I lie? You wanted the story."

"So, from that one night and a stopwatch."

"Um... kinda."

"Kinda." I want him to clarify.

He says as he yawns, "Yeah, every once in a while, he wants a rematch because I keep winning."

I groan again and crash my forehead into his shoulder. "That poor mannequin." He gets quiet. I wonder if he's gone to sleep when I ask, "Bryce?"

"Not always the mannequin," he admits, and my mouth drops. He quickly kisses my forehead in hopes to keep me from getting mad.

"It had better damn well be the mannequin from here on out," I threaten.

He shrugs. "Don't need to anymore. I have nothing to prove. Well, unless he gets the crazy idea he can be faster than me."

"Oh, just stop right there," I say with a groan. He chuckles a little and kisses me while rolling me onto my back. As his hand starts up my back -- I'm assuming heading to my bra strap -- the alarm clock goes off.

"Six a.m. already?" he groans. Then, he looks down apologetically at me as he says, "I have to get Adele ready for school."

I take a deep breath, roll over and get under the covers before I say, "Mkay. You do that."

He kisses my ear as he gets up out of the bed and asks, "You're not mad at me, are you?"

I can't help but smile at the worry in his tone. It actually makes me feel a little better, so I say, "No, I've figured out already that you and Jesse are nuts."

I hear him laugh a little as I drift off to sleep.

# Chapter 11: Freight Train

### Bryce

After Adele is on her way to school, I walk back into my room and see that Erin, of course, sleeps soundly. I decide to leave my jeans on as I carefully lie down on the bed next to her. I find it funny that when I'd left her, she'd covered herself completely with the sheets. She's kicked them off and now looks quite content on top of them.

I love watching her sleep. I'm tired myself, but I don't want to miss this opportunity to look at her without making her uncomfortable. A small smile crosses my face as I remember how I'd lost my head on that first Friday night and told her I'd love to just do nothing but look at her all day. It was _supposed_ to be some form of a compliment that meant that but not those actual words, but brain function had been at a minimum. It got all messed up, and I said exactly what I was thinking.

She'd been scared to death that night, and I acted like I was under some spell. _I was so happy when she started kissing me back._

_She kissed_ him _back too,_ I think as I close my eyes.

_Stop it!_ I order myself. _It was a mistake. She came to her senses and ran here, forgetting there was no one at home._

I take a deep breath and wipe my hand across my face. _Damn it, I'm tired._

I stubbornly open my eyes and look at her face. _She doesn't know how beautiful she is. I really can't believe that. Maybe she knows and tries to tell herself otherwise._

_That doesn't make sense,_ I think as a sleepy haze clouds my vision for a few seconds before I quickly blink it away.

I lie here and study her every feature. I never get to do this when she has her eyes open because they're so distracting. She has the cutest little amount of freckles dotting her perfect nose and cheeks. I find looking at her lips a little dangerous because the longer I look, the more I want to kiss her awake. I force my gaze to drop to her chin and jaw, but I keep finding myself cheating a little with quick, little glances, looking at her lips anyway.

I'm drawn right in... 'like a moth to the flame.' I can't resist leaning down and gently kissing her, hoping that maybe I won't really wake her up.

She stirs just a little, and she must quickly realize what's going on because she then nearly jerks back in surprise. _No!_ I mentally plead and reach my hand around to hold her face to mine. One of her hands gets gently laid on my shoulder as the idea of just being gentle to not wake her flies out the window.

_Holy shit, I_ need _you, Erin!_ I inwardly exclaim as I take full possession of her mouth and wrap my arms around her. I _need_ to kiss her... nothing but kiss her forever. She simply _cannot_ go back to him. If she leaves me, I'll die.

I'm scared out of my mind as I cling to this woman in my arms that holds such a power over me.

Before I know what's happening, cruel, savage pain floods my being as memories from those first few weeks after Ashley left me hit me like a freight train. I remember waking up alone that first morning after she'd left... the devastating feeling when I'd had to sign the divorce papers... Adele constantly asking 'Where's Mommy?' I never want to feel loneliness like that again, ever. I can't stand the pain of having been so humiliated and rejected, so I only hold Erin tighter.

No, I don't want to be thinking about these things! Why now?

_Please don't ever leave me, Erin,_ I think as I wrap my leg around her, pinning her completely to me. _I can't let you go._ She starts shaking.

Wait... no. It's _me_ that's shaking. I'm shaking like a leaf, and I hate it.

The phrase 'kick a man when he's down' runs through my head as I start crying.

_How could I let this happen?!_ I scream at myself inside my head, thinking about how I'm crying. I feel Erin's hands on my cheeks, wiping away those damn tears. _Get a hold of yourself!_

I break the kiss because I desperately need air. I feel completely undone. I hate that she sees, but I can't let go of her.

"Shh," she says quietly while continuing to wipe my cheeks. I keep my eyes closed and manage to get the tears to stop.

"I'm sorry," I whisper quietly before burying my face into her neck and shoulder. Trace amounts of some perfume or something distract me enough to help me relax just a little. I wish the shaking would stop. It's embarrassing.

"It's okay," she whispers, and then she repeats it over and over again. With each one, I have to fight to keep myself from holding her too tight and maybe hurt her. She works one of her hands free enough to run her fingers through my hair, and the shaking finally stops. I'm exhausted.

I don't want to talk; I just want to hold her -- to hold _onto_ her as I fight the horrible memories. She gets quiet like she's waiting for me to say something. I can't. I don't trust my voice at the moment. I can only imagine what could possibly be flying through her head right now. Pushing the memories aside proves more difficult than before, but I manage it somehow. Once that's done, my whole focus becomes taking deep breaths and holding onto her. I want to hide... but only take her with me.

Her soft lips press against mine, but I simply can't respond right now.

"I'm not going anywhere," she whispers, and I have to fight the tears away again.

How does she know?! And what the hell has come over me?

I kiss her lips once before wordlessly encouraging her to relax in my arms so that we can just go to sleep. She understands immediately, and I'm so glad.

I wake up to an empty bed. I'm momentarily alarmed that Erin isn't here until I hear her downstairs, and I hear Adele.

Adele?

I rub my hand down my face and look at my alarm clock. It's a little past five in the afternoon.

?!?!?!

I can't remember the last time I slept this much.

It's pouring outside. I guess that's why I slept so easily since it wasn't real bright today. My head is killing me, so I get up to stumble into the bathroom in search of painkillers.

"No, Daddy doesn't like olives," I hear Adele tell Erin as I make my way down the stairs.

"Okay. How about we just go with pepperoni?" Erin asks her.

"Okay. That'll work," Adele answers her while I lean against the opening to the kitchen. "Daddy!" Adele says happily after she turns to me. "We're ordering pizza!"

"Good idea!" I say with a smile down to her. Then I look up at Erin, and she immediately blushes.

"You were um...sleeping, so I thought..." she says then acts like she gives up trying to finish.

"No, no! That's a really good idea. I kinda feel sorry for the delivery driver in this weather though," I say and wonder why she's still blushing. It's like she's afraid to look at me.

_Shouldn't it be me that's embarrassed?_ I think, wondering why she's blushing, and I realize I don't feel embarrassed at all. I feel relieved.

_Is it because I didn't put on a shirt?_ I think now with a wicked grin slowly spreading across my face. Her eyes cut over to me for a second as she tries to dial the number to order the pizza and screws up. She turns so that she can't see me and starts dialing the number again. If Adele weren't in here, I'd really take advantage of this situation. As it is, I decide for the less-obvious approach.

I slowly and silently walk over to her and say quickly and quietly near her ear, "Need me to do it?"

She nearly jumps out of her skin and promptly drops her phone on the floor.

"Bryce! You scared the living daylights out of me!" she exclaims as I bend down to pick up the dropped phone. I can hear Adele giggling as she stands there watching us. I'm itching to run my hand up her leg as I stand back up, but I manage to stifle that urge.

"I think your phone is broken," I say and show her.

"Aw, man! And I just got it," she complains as I lay the piece of junk on the counter and pull out my phone to order the pizza.

"It must be these _hard_ tile floors," I say while it rings, and I work on not laughing, remembering Jesse yesterday. She lightly steps on my bare toes. "Ow!" I say and pull my feet out of the way as I lean against the counter.

Pizza ordered and delivered, we're all happily sitting at the dining room table eating it when the doorbell sounds. I tell Erin and Adele that I'll go see who it is, and I wonder who on earth would be crazy enough to go out in this weather.

When I make my way to the front door, I see who it is through the glass in the door.

"What do _you_ want?" I ask the jackass in front of me with my arms folded.

### Erin

"I want to speak to Erin, please," I hear faintly coming from the front door, and panic fills me. I knew he'd show up again eventually, but I'd hoped they'd hold him at the station for longer. I guess Maggie couldn't convince Julian to press charges.

I can feel Adele watching me, and I know my face must be extra pale right now.

"Stay here, please," I ask of her and get up while I hear Bryce arguing with Sean.

"Who is it?" she asks innocently but with a trace of worry in her voice. I don't know how to answer her. Then I hear her chair scoot back as she must be getting up.

_Damn you, Sean! And we were having the sweetest moment,_ I think as I briskly move down the hallway, Adele now hot on my heels.

"No, I want you off my property," Bryce refuses his request once more.

Sean ignores him, and his eyes cut over to me as he asks, "Erin, may I please just _talk_ to you?"

"I've said all I have to say a million times. Nothing's changed," I answer.

A mildly-hurt anger fills his eyes as he now regards Adele. "So, your rebound guy has a brat."

Adele gasps as anger fills me, but I'm immediately distracted by my anger when I see Bryce's fist connect with Sean's jaw. He doesn't wait for Sean to recover but keeps punching him, pure fury flowing out of him with every punch.

It takes me a few seconds, but I realize if I don't do something, Bryce is going to kill him. I start yelling at him to stop, but he acts like he can't even hear me. I don't know what to do! The porch is too small to risk walking out on it and getting in the middle of that.

Adele recovers from her shocked silence and starts yelling at Bryce as well. Sean is lying down in a bloodied puddle of water on the front porch, and I still see the rage in Bryce's face as he looks like he's debating killing my ex-fiancé.

"Bryce, don't. Step away," I say as calmly as I can manage. The calm words have reached him better than the yelling, I hope, because he stops and pants while he looks down at Sean. Sean coughs and sniffs in a disgusting manner as he tries to push himself up.

"You don't know shit about my daughter, and my _girlfriend_ wants nothing to do with you anymore!" Bryce growls down to him.

He looks like he's about to say more, but I know a better way to get rid of Sean. "Bryce, let me talk to him alone for a minute," I request, and Bryce's head snaps up at me with a flabbergasted expression on his face.

He walks silently past me with a scowl, but I can also see the hurt there. _I'm going to have to fix that later._ He closes the door and folds his arms, watching us from just on the other side of it. Adele leans back against the far wall, silently watching the three of us.

"Alright, asshole. What do you want to say?" I snap.

"I understand why you're angry, but do you have to be so hateful?" he asks, wiping his face.

"You fucked my best friend. I think that gives me the liberty to 'be' whatever I want," I snap, and he looks at me with an expression of shock. I didn't used to cuss like this.

"Are you ever going to forgive me for that?" he asks pitifully. Those puppy dog eyes don't work like they used to. Instead, they just make me madder. I get a sudden feeling that he let Bryce beat him up for the sympathy vote from me.

"Maybe someday," I say with one hand on my hip. "But I'll never forget."

"Give me another chance." He pauses for a second to take in a breath and say, "I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if that's what it takes."

I let out an exasperated huff, putting my forehead in my hand. "No. Absolutely not. You can't have a relationship without trust, and I could never trust you again."

I see his foot take the tiniest step towards me, and he says quietly so I'm the only one to hear it, "True that you can't have it without trust, but trust can be earned. And that's all I ask. After everything we've been through, don't I at least get a second chance?"

The littlest bit of my heart cries for his pain, and it makes me madder. Still, I can't let him see this. I straighten my face up to look at him with no emotion. "I'm not interested. I like my new life here, and I'm in love with Bryce. I don't want anything to do with you anymore." I hate that I hate the wounded look I see on his face. He _needs_ to be wounded. Maybe that way he can get closure and finally leave me alone. "How many times am I going to have to tell you this?"

He takes in a deep, shuddering breath before he says, "I don't know. I just can't bear the thought of the rest of my life without you." After a short pause, he says, "How can you possibly say you're in love with him? You hardly know him!"

"Because what I feel for him is stronger than what I ever felt for you." _There,_ I think as I see my spoken dagger went deep. He takes a step back away from me, and I've never seen anyone look so crushed.

He blinks more frequently and rasps out, "Okay. I see."

"Goodbye, Sean," I say, verbally hitting the hilt of the imaginary dagger with my fist.

He doesn't say anything, and I turn around to go back into the house. Bryce takes a step back to let me walk past him, and I head upstairs to his room. Adele follows me.

### Bryce

Sean and I lock eyes as I stand here with my arms folded behind my front door, and I glare through the glass at him. He's not finished. I can see that. There's the smallest bit of determination in his face as he stares back at me. He looks down, yes, but he's not out. He walks a few steps backwards down my sidewalk before turning and walking across the street to his rental car. Only when I see the car drive down the street to I don't care where do I finally relax.

_Erin,_ I think as I take my stairs two at a time.

"Adele, sweetheart, I'm fine," Erin tells her quietly, looking like she's only just barely keeping herself together.

"Daddy's here," Adele says quietly as I walk in the room.

Adele stands up as I take two large strides to where Erin sits curled up into a ball on the floor. Without asking Erin a thing, I pick her up, surprising her. She doesn't fight me though. I walk us over and have a seat on the bed.

She's shaking, and I hold her close and curl up as I have a good guess of how she's feeling right now.

# Chapter 12: After So Little Time

### Sean Gibson

After going to my hotel room for a few minutes to finish cleaning myself up, I head out to a club I noticed while driving around the other day. I can't stay in that damn hotel room all night by myself with nothing to do but watch bad TV and stare at the walls.

I get inside and revel in the semidarkness as I make my way over to the bar. I want something strong enough to drown out the guilt I'm feeling.

_'Just let him beat the shit out of you, didn't you?_ ' my subconscious taunts me, referring to that rebound guy and what happened on his front porch.

I knew it was a long shot for Erin to even want to talk to me while she was around that guy, but I thought I'd try anyway. Then me and my big mouth. I got angry and talked about his kid.

The bartender takes my order while I stare in the mirror behind him at the small crowd reflected in it. I hate being here by myself.

_'She's never coming back to you. You screwed up big time.'_ Again, my subconscious taunts me.

Meredith isn't even that pretty.

The bartender hands me my drink, and I decide to have a seat to watch people dance to the loud music and bright, flashing lights.

_I miss Erin_ , I think with gut-wrenching pain.

This trip didn't turn out anywhere near what I'd hoped. I'd thought for sure her leaving town was a way of her asking me to chase her, which I gladly did. I get it; I deserved a little punishment. But no! She really left. She says she likes her new life here.

_She can't possibly be in love with that guy,_ I think, ignoring the fact that I know she'd never say that if it wasn't true. _She just said that to make me leave her alone._

'Maybe you should.'

I wish my subconscious would shut the hell up. I mean come on! I was the one to finally get that girl to come out of her shell!

My memory drifts back to Josh's party, our first date. _Damn, she was hot. And uncomfortable. I couldn't let her be a mousy little coward forever... and that dress her cousin in France bought her..._ I inwardly groan with the memory. _That's when the rest of the team saw what I'd already seen._ I laugh quietly a little. _They thought I was performing some random act of kindness for asking out a nerd._

_I saw her first. I made her what she is, and I'll be damned if I wound up doing it for_ him _!_

"Hey stranger," a velvety voice says just before the owner herself sits in the chair opposite me. "Why you sitting here all by yourself?"

I look over at the moderately-attractive woman. She's darkly tanned with brown hair and bright gray eyes. I like her curves. I mentally shrug. _What harm can come from a little flirting, especially if Erin is being difficult?_

"Waiting for someone like you to come lift my spirits," I answer and pout a little. She leans forward; my act looks to be working.

"What's eating you?" she asks, still leaning forward so that she can hear me better. Or something. Well, whatever reason it is, I'm enjoying the view.

"I've been dumped," I answer evasively. I finish my drink real fast, brighten up my expression, and say, "But I'm not going to let it get me down anymore now that you're here. Wanna dance?"

"Sure," she says, and I take her offered hand and pull her behind me to the middle of the dance floor.

### Erin

Kind of like Bryce was earlier, I'm shaking. I don't want to break down in front of Adele. Bryce tightens his arms around me, and I'm so grateful. I bury my face into his shoulder and work on trying not to scream with anger, hurt, and frustration. He doesn't try to get me to talk. Instead, he addresses his daughter.

"Adele, I'm sorry you had to see what I did a little while ago. I... lost it," he tells her.

"All he did was call me a brat. I don't care," she responds.

"I do," he says, and the two of them get quiet again. "That doesn't excuse the fact that I was that violent because I want you to know that's not always the answer."

"I get it," she says in an almost-annoyed voice. Then she asks more quietly, "So, that was the ex?"

"Yes," he answers, and I wonder how much he's told her. "And that's all the more reason for Erin to stay with us until he leaves."

"It's fine, Daddy. I get it. He needs to leave her alone if she wants him to."

I start crying. She just... said it so simply! So uncomplicated! If only life worked like that. I sniff a little and then feel the two of them looking at me.

"It's okay, Erin," Adele tells me after she walks up and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Daddy won't let him get to you again," she says like her Daddy is her hero. _Well, he's my hero too._ "I'm going to go put the pizza away, I guess," she tells Bryce.

"Did you do your homework?" he asks her in his parent voice.

Adele sighs exasperatedly, and I can imagine her rolling her eyes at him. "No. I guess I'll go do that too." She's quiet for a few seconds before she says, "It's going to be okay, Erin."

"Okay," I whisper back to her through my tears.

The second the door closes, Bryce holds me tighter. I feel so guilty. I can feel his breath on my shoulder and his scruffy, perpetual five o'clock shadow against my ear.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to him.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," he says soothingly.

I nod against his collarbone. "Yes I do. I pretty much told you to get lost so I could talk to him... something you'd already told him wasn't going to happen."

"Oh that," he says. "Well, don't worry about it. You made up for it the second you told him what you told him." He lightly kisses my shoulder before deciding to just run his mouth against it and up to my ear where he breathes in deeply.

"Told him what exactly?" I ask.

He takes another deep breath, and I can hear the restrained emotion in his voice as he tells me, "That you love me more than you _ever_ loved him." Since my ear is pressed up against him, I can hear his heartbeat increase its tempo.

"Oh," I say quietly. _Well, it's true... He heard me?_

"That wasn't a lie to just get him to leave was it?" he asks, now sounding insecure.

"I wouldn't lie about something like that. He knows that," I answer and wish that _Bryce_ knew that. Maybe hearing me tell Sean made it finally sink in.

This is the part where I would get mad at him for his insecurities, but after this morning, I think I understand a little better. He never got over Ashley leaving, and he might be more screwed up than I am since he apparently never dealt with it. I just have to keep reminding myself to look at everything through that 'filter,' and I should be able to understand him better. I don't know how I got that from just a kiss... but it was the way he _held_ me that made me catch on. That and the crying.

He exhales harshly and turns my face towards his before he passionately kisses me.

"How is it..." he asks in little breaks in the kiss, "...that you... mean so much to me... after so little time?" Then he pulls back to look at me and takes off my glasses to gently fold them and put them on the bedside table. That action, thankfully, gives me time to take in what he just said. I can't help but shed a few happy tears now; I'm an emotional wreck.

When he's returned his gaze back to me, he reaches for my cheeks and wipes away the traces of my tears. I get momentarily lost in those warm brown eyes of his.

"You're dangerous without your glasses on," he says quietly down to me.

His statement throws me a little, and I can't help but find it funny in spite of everything we've gone through today. I find myself smiling as I ask him why.

"Because your eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue I've ever seen," he answers, and I feel glad I'm not standing because I don't know how well my knees would hold up under that gaze. As it is, I sit up a little to voraciously kiss him.

He pauses for a moment in quiet shock, and I, of course, revel in that moment. He deserves a 'shock' like this after the things he just told me. It doesn't last long, however, and he starts kissing me back. I want to laugh at the way he acts like he needs to kiss me more passionately than I'm kissing him. I feel like we're having a contest to see who can out-kiss the other one. I want to win.

Bryce groans just before leaving my mouth for my neck, but I'm not finished with him. "Oh no you don't," I say and grab hold of his chin to pull his mouth back up to mine. He lets out a little whine/groan, and I know I've won. Good.

_He is... way too damn hot in nothing but these old jeans,_ I think as I remember how I wanted to practically attack him down in the kitchen earlier. _Do they_ have _to fit him like_ that _? Then to just... casually lean on the door frame like he did._ _Holy shit!_

I work myself so that I'm straddling him with his legs hanging off the side of the bed. I know we need to talk, but right now, I don't want to stop kissing him. He keeps trying to break free to probably kiss me elsewhere, but I'm not having it right now.

A small growl escapes him after I thwart another of his attempts to leave my mouth. One of his arms flies around my waist, holding me closer to him, while the opposite hand reaches up to almost-roughly grab my breast. When his hand starts kneading me, it's my turn to groan, and it's not long until I have to break the kiss to catch my breath.

The arm around my waist pulls me tighter up on him and a little higher as well before his hand pushes my breast up so that it comes more out of the top of my shirt. I'm wearing an island blue, cowl-necked shirt and cutoff jeans, and he acts like he likes how low the cowl of my shirt dips. His mouth triumphantly attacks the exposed area he pushed up, and his arm tightens around my waist to stop my mild squirming when his tongue dips down into my cleavage. His other arm takes over for the one holding my waist so he can undo my braided hair before he lifts me up only to deposit me on my back upon the unmade sheets, my legs still on either side of him.

He pushes himself upwards off my cleavage to once again possess my mouth. I can feel his erection straining against the thin material of his jeans as he presses himself against me _there_. Surprising me, we both groan at the same time when he starts teasing me with suggestive movements of his hips.

Having been denied last night and him driving me crazy all afternoon, I'm about ready to explode with suppressed need. I reach up and grab fistfuls of his hair. I decide I love longer hair on guys; it gives me something else to hang onto.

I'm shaking for quite another reason than I was just a few minutes ago, and I hear myself groan as I think, _Oh shit, Bryce. Pleeeeaaase don't stop._

"I desperately need to make love to you right now, Erin," he says soft and low without stopping. My breathing spikes as my nails rake across his chest, shoulders, back, and wherever else I can immediately get to. "But it's almost Adele's bedtime. And I want to take my time with you."

I let out something between a whimper and a whine. _No! Don't leave me like this!_ I think in a mild panic.

I can feel his eyes watching me. "However, ...shall I make you come like this?"

"Yes," I whisper. _Don't worry, it won't take long!_ I think as he groans and increases the pressure. His tempo also increases the tiniest amount, and I'm about to come apart at the seams. It's all I can do to keep from screaming.

He must be able to sense that because his mouth claims mine in a demanding kiss. I'm very close now.

Before I expect it, however, my hips curl towards him in a surprisingly-powerful climax that gives me torturous aftershocks.

"Oh, baby," he whispers as he does what he can to force as much out of my aftershocks as possible.

When we've been still and quiet for a few minutes, he brings me back to the here and now just enough to tell me, "I'll tell Adele that you're resting." There's a small smirk on his face. I love that smirk. That smirk means he's happy he's made me feel so damn good. I'll return the favor somehow... as soon as I can get the energy.

He kisses me chastely once before chuckling a little and getting up to go do the bedtime ritual thing with Adele. I don't know how he's going to hide his physical state from her. The next time I think about it and want to inquire, I notice I must've missed some time because the bed is empty.

_All that with my clothes_ on _._

# Chapter 13: Slowly

### Sean

"So, what do you do?" I ask her once things calm down and a slow song starts up.

"I'm a masseuse," she answers with a small smile, and I stop in momentary shock.

_Oh no fucking way!_ I think once I can start thinking again. She starts laughing.

"I love watching guys' reactions when I tell them that," she almost purrs with a big grin on her face.

I swallow. My mouth had gone dry. "Well, can you blame us? That's fucking hot." I watch her closely for her reaction.

"It's a job." She shrugs. "One that I do well."

I have to change the subject before I come in my pants. It's been way too long for me. "So, I never learned your name."

"I never told you," she replies coyly.

"It would be nice if you did," I say and leave my statement hanging, waiting for her to tell me.

"It's Belinda," she says. "Now, are you going to tell me yours?"

"Sean," I tell her, and I see a momentary flash of some unidentifiable emotion cross her face before she immediately masks it with her pretty smile.

"Well Sean," she says and runs her finger down my cheek, "I need to visit the ladies' room. Don't go anywhere, k?"

I take the hand off my cheek and kiss her fingers as I say, "I'll be eagerly awaiting your return."

She winks at me before she disappears in the crowd.

Maybe today won't turn out to be so bad after all.

### Belinda Carver

_Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!_ I think in rapid succession once I get safely in the restroom. _Is it? Is he the one Maggie was talking about yesterday?_ I pull out my phone and call Lynne.

Her voice sounds teasing when she answers, "I thought you were out hunting."

I ignore the banter she wants to start up, "What was the name of that guy Maggie was talking about? Erin's ex."

"Sean."

"Shit." _And he's cute too. Damn it._

"Why?"

"He's here," I say, glad the bathroom is empty save for me. "I was just dancing with him." _It has to be the right one. He matches Maggie's description now that I think about it._

_"I've been dumped,"_ echoes in my head. _Yep._

"Really," she says slowly, sounding like she's mulling something over. "Keep him there. I want to have some fun."

"What kind of fun?" I ask, knowing full well what she's capable of.

"Nothing he doesn't deserve. You're at Hurricane, right?"

"Yes. Lynne, is this really necessary?"

"Why else would you call me?"

"So you can confirm my suspicions."

"And I did. And now I can't just sit here. I have to do something. Erin is one of us now, and he tried to hurt one of our own. He needs to learn a lesson."

"You're really scary sometimes, do you know that?" I ask her, holding the phone with both hands.

"Thanks, hun," she says and laughs a little. "Keep him there for me... in fact, go ahead and tell him a friend of yours is coming and that maybe we can _all_ get a little friendly. He'll not be able to resist that."

I know nothing I could say would stop her. "Alright I guess."

"Good. I'll see you soon," she says and hangs up.

I actually feel a small amount of pity for this Sean guy. He's going to get a wake-up call tonight.

I walk out of the restroom and find Sean looking like a lost puppy without me.

"Welcome back," he says with a grin.

_Here goes._ "Sorry I took so long," I say and press myself up against him. He doesn't mind in the slightest. "A friend of mine called while I was in there, and I told her about you. She wants to meet you too."

"A friend." He states the question.

"A _good_ friend," I purr suggestively and wonder if he's going to start drooling.

He recovers quickly enough, however, and says, "Well, if she's anything like you, I'd love to meet her." Then we start dancing again right where we stand.

### Erin

I must've fallen asleep because I wake up to Bryce kissing me again. However, this kiss isn't like last time. This time there's no pain behind it, and I'm glad.

He inhales through his nose while his hands run up my sides, lifting my shirt as he goes.

"Not sleeping, are you?" he asks huskily.

"Nope. Just a momentary slip into a blissful state of unconsciousness." I laugh at myself a little.

"You have been driving me insane all afternoon, you know," he states against my breast.

" _Me_?!" I ask, incredulous.

"Mmm. Yeah. I like this shirt. It looks nice on you. However, I've imagined how I would take it off of you every calm moment we've had this afternoon."

He must be able to sense my shift in mood as I think about the not-calm moments of this afternoon.

"But... Erin, are you okay?" he stops what he's doing and looks at me with a concerned expression.

"I could be better, I admit, but I'm not near as bad as you fear. In fact, I feel a little better now. Maybe he finally got the message."

"But you weren't okay when I came up here earlier..." He leaves his question/statement hanging.

"I hate being cruel, and it took a lot out of me," I say and run my fingers over his concerned forehead and then through his hair. "Don't cut your hair," I tell him, the subject change taking him by surprise.

He smiles, all traces of concern gone. "You like my hair?"

"Yes." I sigh. _And your eyes. And your abs. And the way those jeans hang on you. And your lips. Damn, even the man's feet are sexy._ I look up at my boyfriend and remind him, "You mentioned something about wanting to remove my shirt."

His eyes open, they'd closed while I ran my fingers through his hair, and he looks down at me with hunger in his eyes. "But I wanted to first make sure you're okay... not like last time."

"I liked last time," I whisper, and his expression darkens. _Well, not_ after _. Hm. That must be what he's talking about._ "And I thought we fixed the misunderstanding afterwards."

"I want to make love to you," he says simply, obviously wishing to drop the subject of last time as he slowly peels my shirt off me. He tosses it to the floor before he says very near my mouth, "Slowly."

_One word. How does he do that with one word?!_ I shudder to think of Bryce's definition of 'slowly.' A small whimper escapes that gives away my thoughts. I wish I could take it back, but he definitely heard me.

I hear him chuckle quietly in his throat as he undoes the button on my shorts and pulls the zipper down. Then he sits up, and his eyes lock with mine as he pulls my shorts down and off. A wicked grin covers his features suddenly like he just got an idea. _What is he thinking?_

"After all," he says as calmly as he can manage, "I still haven't explored everywhere." He removes my sandals and licks the underside of my foot.

"Holy shit," I frantically whisper and try to pull my foot away. He's ready for me, however, and catches my ankle.

"Hm," he ponders while his other hand strokes the underside of my calf.

"Not my feet," I beg.

"Why not?" he asks.

"Feet are gross."

"Yours aren't," he says and sucks on the toe next to my big toe, taking it into his mouth and lightly biting it. I whimper loudly and try to get my foot free from his grasp again. "I think you like it," he says calmly after releasing my toe. "You just don't want to admit it." He reaches with his free hand and massages the skin around my pinky toe, and the sensation goes straight to my groin. "You like _that_ , don't you?" he asks, and I want to kick him in the face except that would make the wonderful sensation stop.

"They're feet!" I rasp out, trying to regain control over my body that has betrayed me once again in this man's magic hands. "They're for walking on!" _Preposition._

"Mhm. Feet are really quite interesting, did you know?" he says with irritating calm, still working the skin around my pinky toe with occasional licks and bites to other areas. "You can tie almost every part of the body to somewhere on the foot. So a good foot rub..." he applies the smallest amount of increase in pressure, "can affect the entire body."

I whine loudly.

"Shh. You don't want to worry Adele."

"No fair!" I say and sit up to try to pry his hands off my feet before it's too late.

He looks up and grins at me. "Are you trying to fight me again, Erin?"

"Yes," I growl as I start clawing at his fingers, but I can't gain a good enough purchase. "They. Are. Feet. They're. Not. Sexy. Quit it!" I get out, getting steadily more aggravated as he starts laughing.

He releases my foot to take my face in his hands so he can kiss me. He pulls back before I expect him to, however, and says, "I love you."

"Not my feet," I repeat.

His eyes twinkle as he says, "I love your feet too."

"That's not what I meant!" I almost squeal as he laughs a little and pushes me back against the mattress, finally away from my feet. I don't trust him to stay up here though, so I hold _his_ face in _my_ hands now and kiss him.

"Erin," he pulls back to talk to me in a very amused voice, "there is not a place on your body that isn't sexy as hell." Then he attacks my earlobe.

I gasp and try to move away. Of course, he has a firm grip of my chin. "Bryce, please!" I can only get out as a loud whisper. _It's too weird how much I like that._

He laughs quietly, and I can feel his breath against my throat as he says, "You stopped me from fully exploring your feet. I need some sort of consolation." I feel his lips on the skin behind my ear, and goose bumps break out all over me. "Oh, and Erin? I _will_ finish that one day, even if I have to tie you up to do it."

I gasp and feel him smiling against my neck. "What?!" I squeak out.

"You heard me. I said it right into your ear after all," he says, acting distracted now as his hand travels down to the middle of the side of my torso.

Quickly, one of his hands lifts me a little while the other flies under me and my bra is undone in a little over two seconds... I think.

"Haven't lost your touch," I say with a smirk to his answering grin. I can't help but think of an Old West gunslinger practicing his quick draw.

"Well, I have to keep that skill up just in case," he says while lowering himself to kiss my stomach.

_Where is he going? He'd better not be headed to my feet again..._ I think as he pulls down my undies. While he's down at my feet, I quickly pull my legs up to me.

"You make it so tempting," he says huskily. "I _was_ going to leave your feet alone for tonight, but if you're going to deliberately try to keep them from me then I'll have to rethink that."

"What?!" I squeak again. "No!"

Fast as lightning, he captures both of my ankles in his hands and presses my feet against the mattress next to each other, my knees bent. The laughter has left his eyes now as he locks his with mine and pulls my ankles apart. Then his hands travel up my shins, greedily spreading his fingers so that he can touch as much of me as possible. _Oh no._

He leans down and slowly licks the inside of my thigh while his hand moves up the opposite one.

"Bryce..." I whisper, but he ignores my plea when his tongue strokes my clitoris.

"Ah!" I cry out, and he stops for a second.

"You're going to have Adele knocking on the door wondering what's wrong if you can't keep quiet," he says way too seriously.

"I can't keep quiet," I say with my eyes closed. Just looking at him where he is drives me crazy.

"So again, I'm denied what I want to do," he says in an admonishing tone. My mouth drops in shock when he says, "You're accruing quite a debt here, Erin."

"Me?" I ask, flabbergasted, as I watch him remove his pants. I pout when he finishes removing them.

He looks at me with a confused expression and asks, "What?"

"You never let me do that. You... distract me." _He really wasn't wearing anything under those jeans,_ I think as I answer my earlier internal question.

The grin is back for a second before he says, "I _like_ distracting you." His lips finally return to mine as he crouches over me. "Now," he asks, "can I trust you to be quiet?"

_Why was that question hot?_ "I don't think I can. ...Be quiet that is."

"Oh Erin," he says as he hovers just outside of me, "then you need to practice."

He enters me with agonizing slowness, sighing as he does so. Then he pulls almost all the way back out before doing it again. I have to bite my lip hard to do my best to keep quiet. He's driving me crazy. I just want him to stay more inside me! This full/empty/full/empty is going to make me scream in frustration soon if nothing else does.

I finally get his attention when I whimper loudly. "Too much?" he asks.

"Not enough more like," I say.

"Oh, you want more?" he asks playfully, still continuing with his ridiculous movements.

"Bryce!" I snap.

"Damn, this feels so good though," he says, obviously enjoying my aggravation.

"At first! But.."

"I said 'slowly' after all." He grins. "Is there something else you wanted?"

I have a sudden fantasy about clawing his eyes out.

Finally, he stays fully inside of me and moves in small, intense circles before he asks, "Like this?"

"Mmm hmmm," I whimper.

"Shit, I can tell," he groans before lowering his mouth to my neck where he kisses and occasionally bites me.

What I enjoyed a few minutes ago slowly starts to irritate the hell out of me. Plus, I'm worried about my neck.

"Bryce..." I pant, "if you leave a mark on my neck," I let out a low groan when he picks up the speed for only a few seconds before slowing down again, "you're going to regret it."

He picks up his head and smiles a little down at me before he asks, "I am?"

"Yes."

"Again, you make it so tempting."

Shit, what has come over him?!

"Bryce..." I say, and I hate the sound of my whining. He merely laughs quietly, and he still won't effing speed up! I growl and grab large fistfuls of his hair.

"Ow!" he quietly exclaims. "I thought you _liked_ my hair? Why are you trying to pull it out by the roots?"

"Speed... up!" I growl. I was never this communicative with Sean during sex, but somehow, Bryce brings it out of me.

He shakes his head. "No. I said... slowly." I start to let out a high-pitched, enraged sound that he quickly silences by kissing me. "Shh!" he says once he releases my lips again.

"No! Bryce, I can't take this. Not and be quiet at the same time!" I pant.

"You've done well so far," he says and grins down at me.

I squeeze my eyes tight and tilt my head back as I let out another whine.

"Take it, Erin _,_ please. You're so fucking beautiful, and this feels so damn good," he mumbles breathily to me into my neck as he continues with his torturous movements. I start trying on my own to go faster, but he holds my hips steady with one hand as he says, "Oh no you don't. Now, be good. Dammit Erin, trust me and stop fighting it."

I let out a shaky breath and try. Torturous pleasure radiates from my center to every part of my body until I want to scream. _He has absolutely no intention of speeding up... probably at all,_ I think with another whimper as he gently encourages me to continue to keep myself from fighting him and what he's doing to me. I hadn't even realized what he meant by 'fighting' until I stopped doing it.

I allow the sensations to take over and consume every thought, blotting out everything else in the universe except what we're sharing.

I've reached some sort of plateau, and I do my best to keep my cry from being too loud. Bryce whispers something or other that I don't understand as he takes the tempo up only a fraction.

The pleasure still builds too slowly for me to handle while my breathing sounds coarse and ragged and going too fast. _Oh. Oh, I can't stand it!_

"Come on, baby," he whispers, and finally, it forces my body to succumb. He places his hand over my mouth to muffle the noise I can't help but make as he joins me in this powerful climax.

_Sex with this man can never just be 'normal' I guess,_ I think vaguely while I start slowly coming back to earth.

# Chapter 14: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

### Belinda

I ask Sean if we could sit down for a minute, so he asks me if he could buy me a drink. I say yes since I have a feeling we're both going to need it.

I nod my head at the poster behind the bar and off to the side as I ask, "You know who that is?"

"Um... no. Some singer, obviously," he says.

"She's my great-grandmother." I smile widely at him. "She was a jazz singer and got pretty famous in the thirties."

"Oh," he says and smiles sheepishly at me. "Sorry, jazz really isn't my 'thing.'"

"Mine neither mostly, although sometimes it's like you can't help but _move_ to some songs, you know what I mean?" I tell him while he looks from the picture to me and back several times.

He smiles again and says, "I do know what you mean, actually. Especially with that song called _In the Mood_." A playful grin covers his features, and I debate convincing him to leave before Lynne gets here. "So, can you sing too?" he asks as the bartender hands us our drinks.

I shrug. "Yes, but I don't take it seriously." I remember the stories my grandmother would tell me about her mother and what fame like that did to her... according to my grandmother's father, that is.

I'm brought out of my reverie when Lynne walks up behind me, kisses me on the cheek, and says, "Hey, Lindy." Then she turns to Sean and says, "So, this must be the one you were talking about."

Sean stands politely, turns to look at her, and then stares at her chest for a few seconds longer than necessary.

Lynne whispers really loud to me, "You're right, he _is_ cute." I roll my eyes and smile before I see Sean smiling too. Lynne leans up against Sean, wraps her arm around his shoulders and starts running her nails across his buzz cut. "Hi, I'm Lynne," she says in a seductive voice, signaling the shift in her personality.

_Oh boy. Sean, you are in serious trouble_ , I think and try real hard to remember that this is the same guy that tried to hurt Erin and did hurt Julian. It's not easy. He just looks so cute and innocent... like a little lost puppy.

I realize I've missed part of their conversation when I notice Sean acts like he wants to leave.

"Well, let's go," Lynne says and winks at me.

Of course, Sean is eager for Lynne and me to take him to her house.

Lynne is normally a very nice, selfless person... except when she feels wronged or someone has wronged those she cares about. It's during these moments that it's like she becomes a different person, similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It also doesn't help that she has extraordinary abilities to turn her Mr. Hyde into an unholy terror.

Lynne is on him like a duck on a June bug the second we walk into her house.

She suddenly kisses him. _Holy shit, Lynne!_ He then breaks the kiss, turns to me and asks Lynne, "But what about your friend?"

Lynne looks at me and winks. "She can have her turn later."

I decide to play along, so I walk up to him, run my fingernail down his arm and say, "Besides, I like to watch." Lynne grins widely at me.

"You ladies do this sort of thing all the time?" Sean asks a little breathlessly while Lynne runs her hands over him under his shirt.

I let Lynne answer.

"Not too often. Only when we think we've found someone worthy of this sort of attention," she purrs. Then she 'suggests' that I go and make a few drinks. I shrug and do as I'm told.

When I come back, Lynne has removed his shirt and somehow convinced him to sit down in one of her chairs. She sits on his lap with her pants off, straddling him while he acts like he's eager to get her shirt off her as well.

"I assume you don't need the drinks right now then," I state, trying to act like I'm upset they started without me.

Lynne looks up, laughs and says, "We can save them for later, hun." Sean pulls her shirt over her head and attacks her chest with his mouth while his hands run freely over her thighs. I go and plop the tray of drinks on the table. Lynne mouths the word 'cuffs' to me, and I roll my eyes and go find them. She is so kinky. I'm assuming they're in the 'kinky-shit' drawer that she sometimes pretends doesn't exist.

I walk over and discretely place the cuffs on the floor before I run my hands over his shoulders, chest, and arms. He groans when I catch his hands and bring them up to me. Then he tilts his head back, and I kiss him, pulling his hands down behind the chair before I release his mouth. In my mind, the kiss is like an apology for future events.

He jumps in shock when he feels the cold metal wrap around his wrists. "What the?!"

Lynne puts one finger over his lips and says, "Shh! I thought you wanted to play."

"Not like this," he says nervously. "What good is it if I can't use my hands?"

I giggle and say, "Well, that's part of the torture."

Lynne winks at me before leaning down to kiss him again, running her hand down between his legs. He groans like she's driving him insane.

"See?" she asks. "You like to play." He looks at her, wide-eyed as he takes in her expression, before she points at him and says, "Freeze." He freezes solid. It has begun.

"I like to play too, Sean," she says while she stands and takes a few steps away from him in her lingerie, looking deadly. He looks like he wants to faint while she walks back to him and runs her fingers down the side of his face.

"I can't move," Sean says in a mild panic.

"I know you can't. That's because I told you to freeze," Lynne responds after she takes a step back to put her finger to her lips in a contemplative gesture.

"But no, I really _can't move_!" he says with terror starting to creep into his voice.

Lynne smiles a little and asks, "Isn't this fun? I like to have fun." She walks around him and wraps her arms around his shoulders. "I know you like to have fun too."

"Not when I can't move," he says as calmly as he can manage.

"Would it be more fun if Erin were here, Sean?" Lynne asks him with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

Sean stops breathing, and I worry for a moment that he's going to pass out.

"Oh yes, I know Erin." She stands more upright and walks around him, watching his every expression. "Her boyfriend is one of my best friends, so that's how I know you like to have this brand of fun. Just what were you planning on doing the other night, Sean?"

He doesn't answer her for a few more seconds, so she slaps him across the face. "Breathe, you chicken shit! No passing out on me!"

"I..." he stammers, "I don't know what you mean."

A jolt of electricity comes out of her fingertip right into his chest, and his body jumps a little from the shock of it. "Wrong answer," she says calmly. "You know exactly what I mean," she snaps. "The other night... when you were trying to drag her into her house. When Julian stopped you."

"So that's the fucker's name," he says, and Lynne stands back up before she slaps him the other way this time. His lip starts bleeding a little. I can't help but feel grateful she has no close neighbors. She's scaring me with how very, very angry she is. I've never seen her this harsh, and I worry how far she'll take it.

"Answer the question," she growls, and I miss the friendly Lynne. "What were you going to do, Sean?"

"Fuck you," he says.

I see in the glass of the front door as she laughs up to the ceiling. "Oh yes, I'm sure fucking had something to do with it." She pauses for a second and says, "You wanted to play. Very similar to the way I'm playing with you now, am I right?" He says nothing, so she asks, "It's not quite as fun on the other side of it, is it, Sean?" Then she sends another jolt of electricity into him with those extraordinary powers of hers. I wish I could pretend that I didn't know people like her existed.

I turn around and look as a hardened look comes over his face, and I know it's going to take more than what Lynne is doing to make him crack. I decide to step in, 'good cop' style. _Anything._

Sean, please. Crack. Tell her....But I know he won't do it willingly. I have to help it along.

Lynne looks on approvingly as I croon to him, "Poor baby." I start working his shoulders and back. "Did I forget to mention how my friend doesn't like people that mess with those we care about?" He shakes for just one moment before he goes rigid again. "We only want an answer to a very simple question." I straighten up to whisper behind his ear, "You were going to rape her, weren't you?" It'll be so much easier if he admits it.

"You bitches don't understand anything," he snaps, obviously trying to control himself.

Lynne walks over to him and runs a fingernail down his collarbone before saying, "That's why I asked you the question." She leans over him, bent in half with her legs straight to get right in his face. Her hand strokes his face as she asks, "What were you going to do to our sweet Erin?"

"I wasn't going to rape her!" he growls.

"That's not what Julian saw," I state.

"I did nothing wrong," he reiterates. "I don't know why she started yelling the way she did."

"Oh, you don't?" Lynne asks. "Give me some guesses then."

"You stupid witch, 'I don't know' means I don't know!" he snarls, and Lynne grabs his sack and twists. He screams.

She hisses at him, "You mean to tell me that you didn't know why she started yelling for help, this woman that you were _engaged_ to?" She glares at him. "And you call _me_ stupid!"

A few tears escape his eyes, and he says in a pained voice, "I wasn't going to rape her. She was overreacting."

"Then answer the fucking question. If you weren't going to rape her, then what were you going to do?" Lynne asks in an icy voice.

"Fine! Talk! I just wanted her to _talk_ to me!" he yells.

Lynne sniffs the air and says, "Lie." Another jolt shoots out of her finger into his kneecap, almost casually. "She didn't want to talk to you, did she? Whatever you were doing, it scared her enough to make her start yelling. It was at that point that you should have stopped, but you didn't, did you? No, you were trying to pull her into her house. Now, answer me truthfully, you were going to rape her once inside the house, weren't you?"

"No," he stubbornly maintains his story while Lynne paces the room.

She slowly walks back over to Sean and stands in front of him to ask, "Well, if all you were going to do is 'talk,' then what were you going to 'talk' about?"

Sean takes a deep breath and says, "None of your goddamn business."

She shoots yet another bolt from her fingertip, this time right at his dick. His eyes nearly pop out of his head, but he sets his jaw and doesn't make a sound. I try to refrain from telling Lynne that I think she's overdoing it. She looks pissed.

"Well, you see, Sean. That's where you're wrong. I'm making it my business," Lynne says as she calmly sits in his lap like a kid would Santa Claus. "You don't try to hurt my friends and think you can get away with it. Now, are you going to admit to the truth or am I going to have to make it to where you can never have children? I think I'd be doing the next generation a favor as well as any other woman you mistakenly think wants it when she doesn't."

He shrugs with mock nonchalance and says, "Fine. I wanted her to come back to me. I didn't know about the rebound guy."

Lynne glares at him and slowly walks around him. "You're not telling me everything, and you need to admit this to yourself as well. I _really_ didn't want to have to crawl into your head, Sean, but it appears that I'm going to have to." She places a hand on either side of his head and closes her eyes. Sean appears to make an attempt to struggle.

"That's not true!" he yells suddenly, but Lynne keeps her hands on his head, a look of determination on her face. His eyes find me, and he asks, "What is she doing? I don't want to see this shit!"

"She's making you see the truth, and I'm guessing it's pretty ugly," I answer sadly. I really don't need to feel sympathetic. I remind myself that this is the guy that beat up my good friend Julian.

His eyes look pleadingly at me as he yells, "No! It wasn't going to come to that! She loves me! She would come around! I wouldn't have to resort to that to prove it!"

I take a deep breath. "Only it didn't _look_ like she would come around, did it, Sean?" I ask, and I feel a little uncomfortable. "You were going to rape her if she didn't, weren't you?"

"I wouldn't have to," he whispers. Lynne zaps him right into his head, and he twitches. Finally, tears start coursing down his face as he whispers out a quiet, "Yes."

"I told you that you can't lie to me you sick piece of shit!" Lynne spits out as she circles around him like a tiger stalking its prey.

Then she unleashes her full fury on him, and I have to take a step back to avoid the electrical storm. I'm terrified. I hate it when she gets like this, justified or not. I don't want to know what it was she really saw inside his head.

Sean starts screaming, and the rest of the lights in the house dim as if she's drawing power from the house's electricity. I cover my eyes like a child would.

When he finally is quiet again, I look to see that she's burned a word onto his chest: Rapist. Sean is passed out and slumped over in the chair. I can see he's breathing at least.

She slowly walks up to him and speaks quietly into his ear, "Can you hear me, Sean?" He grunts. "Good. Listen closely then. You're not going to remember any of this except for what I tell you right now, understand?" He mumbles out a yes. "Good. Now, I've placed a 'sign' on your chest that I'm wiping away now." She waves her hand over his chest, and the marking disappears. "However, it will appear to any woman that you ever hope to sleep with so that they know _exactly_ what they're dealing with. Understand?"

"Yes," he sobs.

"Good. You decide you don't want Erin anymore, and you're better off without her. You have an overwhelming desire to return to your sad, little life and leave the island," she states, and Sean passes out after mumbling another yes.

I numbly reach for his shirt, happy that she didn't drag that out any longer, and find a hotel key in the pocket. "Room 224," I tell Lynne before she makes him stand, zombie-like, and removes his cuffs. Then she has him put his shirt back on before she leads him out of the house to her car and, I presume, his hotel. After I see a very satisfied expression on Lynne's face, I walk over to her couch and collapse against it, falling asleep immediately.

_"You won't remember the specifics of tonight either, Lindy,"_ I hear like it's whispered right into my ear.

Thank you.

# Chapter 15: Feeling Uncomfortable

### Marie

_Nursing my problems until that's all that I am?_ I think after Jesse storms out of my apartment.

_"I have feelings for you, Marie"_ echoes in my head over and over again, torturing me. Do I feel the same like he said? _What if I do?_

_I don't need this! I don't need this! I don't need this! Isn't this why I_ left _France?_

I start pacing around my apartment, my head in my hands. Then my mind wanders back to that kiss. I should've known he'd try that. I'd just stopped thinking after my embarrassment about smoothing out his shirt.

_Confess, Marie. You liked it,_ I think with a short noise escaping me, and I sink to the floor to curl up into a ball. _I did._

Oh, of course I did! The man is a womanizer after all! Why wouldn't he know how to kiss like that?!

_Feelings... hah! He didn't say what_ kind _of feelings... as he was standing there in my bedroom._

_Oh, I don't know_ what _to make of him! One minute he's laughing, the next he's really nice, then he's kissing me, oh and then getting mad at me when I tell him, again, that I need time. I haven't known him for a week, and he's already under my skin. How long can I keep him at arms' length?_

I let out a huff, stand up, and walk around my apartment, gathering all the wet towels. Then, I remember my wet clothes from earlier. _I left them in his car! Now what?_ I take and dump the pile of wet laundry on my bathroom floor and decide to take a shower. Once my shower is done, I lay out all the wet towels as best as I can over the shower walls and towel rack. I'll do laundry tomorrow. I don't feel like lugging all that to the building's laundry room tonight.

Clean, refreshed, and feeling a little better about myself, I sit down and turn on the TV. The only thing worth watching is a vampire movie that I remember seeing with Armand once or twice. It's at the part where the guy finally, _finally_ , turns his girlfriend. The last time I watched this movie, Armand stopped it here to practically carry, no, he did carry me, off to his bedroom... where I chickened out.

_"Cocktease,"_ I hear Cristina's voice in my head. I hate her.

I turn off the TV, slam the remote on the coffee table, and decide to just go to bed early.

Once in the bed, I hug the spare pillow to me and wonder what Jesse's doing right now. _Did he find the bag of clothes?_

I let out a resigned sigh, giving those clothes up for ruined. He'd probably left them in the bag, and they're probably mildewing at this very moment.

I know where he lives... I think. I could go over there and... No. It's still raining.

I lie here and listen to the rain outside, and before I realize it, I'm asleep. My dreams are a mish-mash collection of recent events with Jesse as even my subconscious tries to make sense of it all.

### Erin

Bryce and I go and step into the shower together. There's not a whole lot of room in here for the two of us, but neither of us mind. After we get out, I put my underwear back on and lie down on the bed. He watches me, pulls a pair of pajama pants out of the dirty clothes, sniffs them, shrugs and mumbles about how they're still okay then puts them on.

He gets into bed and pulls me close, looking like he wants to talk about something. I'm so glad I'm learning to read him better.

"Hey," I say just to say something.

His eyes search mine before he answers, "Hey." Then he gets quiet again.

"What's wrong?" I ask quietly.

"I'm sorry for running off into the bathroom right after sex like I did yesterday morning," he says quietly.

_Wow, I guess he didn't feel like building up to what he had to say,_ I think as I get quiet. Well, I guess one could say I stay quiet since I haven't said anything since I asked him what was wrong.

I look up at his eyes in the dark and think about yesterday morning. That was when I'd told him I'd kissed Sean back. I hate myself for what I did. I hate that I hurt Bryce, but I had to admit to it.

"Please tell me what's going on inside your head," he asks after an unknown amount of time goes by, his intense stare looking like it's trying to penetrate my skull.

"I was just thinking about yesterday morning," I answer. "About how I hurt you when I told you all that. I'm sorry."

"You _would_ try and turn this around to yourself, wouldn't you?" he asks sardonically.

"Well..."

"Well, you've already apologized for that about twenty times now, and I've forgiven you." He takes in a breath of air to continue, "Would you just let me apologize without you trying to place all the blame on yourself?"

_I guess I_ was _doing that._

He starts talking again after we've been silent for a few moments, "I didn't want you to see."

"Maybe I could've helped," I say quietly, assuming he's talking about his real reaction.

"Not right then. I was mad at you."

My brows come together as I think about what he said. _I guess Bryce doesn't show all of his emotions all the time like I thought. He hid his anger._

"Doesn't it make sense for you to be angry?" I ask, watching his face every bit as intently as he watches mine. "So you needed to go off and deal with it alone. I can understand that." His brows come together for a few seconds before he rolls his eyes and goes back to a blank expression. "And then we talked about it," I finish.

"Once you stopped crying," he points out. "What made you cry like that? What specifically? Do you remember?" He reaches down to lightly brush a few rogue hairs out of my face before he rests his head on his hand again.

"I was thinking how you were mad at me, and how distant you'd gotten there at the end. And I was mad at myself for doing something so stupid. And I was worried you hated me, and that I'd betrayed your trust."

This pained look comes over his face, and he pulls himself up to kiss me, his lips pressing hard on mine. All those bad thoughts start circling around in my head again, clawing at my self-esteem, and I start crying.

"No! No no no no no," he croons, wiping my tears. "I shouldn't have asked you to tell me what you'd thought, but that's what I'm apologizing for: making you think them. Forget them, okay?"

I sniff a little and move my head in little, quick nods.

"Okay." He starts talking again. "Two things: One: you didn't betray my trust, you made a mistake; and two: I don't hate you. I love you. I've told you that over and over again, but maybe I should just repeat it constantly for the rest of my life."

And then he starts doing just that while kissing me on various places on my body that he can easily reach in between the 'I love you's. It doesn't take long for me to start thinking he sounds ridiculous, and the playful look in his eyes doesn't help. By the time he gets to my stomach, I'm laughing.

Suddenly, his warm hands are on my stomach, tickling me.

"No!" I squeal loudly. I hate being tickled.

"Shh!"

I pant a little before I quip, "Oh, don't you dare tell me to 'shh'! If you didn't want me to do that then you shouldn't have tickled me." I still can't help but smile back to his infectious grin.

"Alright," he says, still grinning like a buffoon. Then he reaches down, pulls the covers up over us, and wraps an arm around me from behind.

I feel his breath on my shoulder before his stubble lightly scratches me when he kisses me. "I _like_ having you here," he says emphatically.

I feel butterflies in my stomach and lightning in my veins as I brace myself for what he might say next. My eyes widen, and I work at keeping my anxiety at bay as he pulls me to him as close as he can get me. He doesn't say anything else, and I slowly relax.

"I love you, Bryce," I breathe even though I think he's gone to sleep already. After a few minutes, I join him in dreamland.

### Adele Burch

"You just like that movie because the fox's name is Todd," Helen teases me while we sit here on the playground's play set after school lets out. We'd been talking about Disney's _The Fox and The Hound._

"No, I just think the fox is cute," I reply, defending myself.

"You think Todd is cute!" she says and starts giggling hysterically.

"Quit it!"

She gasps and starts frantically tapping my arm. "There he is, and he's walking over here!" she loudly whispers.

I dare not turn around to look. I don't really care anyway. He's just some stupid boy after all.

"Hey Helen, I bet Todd here that you couldn't skip a stone more than one hop," I hear Eduardo say from behind me on the ground.

"What?! I can so! You're _so_ going to lose your bet, Eduardo," she challenges as she slides down the pole, her blonde ponytails flying out as she descends.

_Oh boy. Here we go again,_ I think and roll my eyes. That boy loves riling her up, leaving me and Todd behind most of the time. It's not _my_ fault it always seems to happen. _She's_ the one running off and leaving _me_.

"You know something?" I hear beside me as Todd climbs up the ladder. Eduardo and Helen's arguing gets fainter as they get closer to the water. Todd's black hair is soon visible as he reaches the platform I sit upon. Then I see one very-blue eye smiling at me. The other one is covered by his hair in his face. "I really don't care how many times she can skip a stone." He sits down in front of me.

I don't know what has gotten into Helen's head about me and Todd because it's not like I like him or anything. I mean, he has nice hair. I can't quite figure out why I like his hair, but I do.

"Then why did you bet him?" I ask.

"I didn't. He bet me, remember? Don't tell him I told you this, but I think he likes her." He grins at me.

"Could have fooled me," I say, getting bored. Helen is boy crazy, and she'd love it if she knew that Eduardo likes her.

"I know, right?! It's like he doesn't know anything else to do, so he fights with her." We both look out over the water. "I get where he's coming from," he adds quietly.

"Why does he think he has to fight with her to have something to do?! That's insane."

"So what should I tell him to do instead?" he asks me with this eager look in his eyes.

"I don't know. Just... stuff. Look, this is weird. I gotta go." We both stand up, and I slide down the pole.

"What's weird?" he asks as my feet hit the sand.

"Asking _me_ for relationship advice?" I ask when I spin around and look up at him.

"Well, you're her friend."

"Did he put you up to this?"

"Er... no," he admits. "Just... trying to be helpful." He slides down the pole himself and walks in my direction after I'd started heading towards my bicycle.

"Well, he doesn't have to argue with her to get her to talk to him."

"Then give me some ideas," he requests.

My eyes open wide before I shrug real big. "I don't know. Um..." He steps right in front of me. "Uh, flowers? I don't know, my dad just... talks... and stuff." I start feeling uncomfortable.

"And stuff," he echoes before he flips his hair out of his eyes. It falls back fairly quickly.

"I don't know. You figure it out. Maybe a compliment or something. Look, my dad is waiting for me at home. It's picnic day."

"Your dad goes on picnics with you?" he asks with a look like he doesn't believe me.

"Yes, as long as I make the food."

"You can cook?" he asks incredulously.

"Um, no, not really, not on a stove or anything, but he doesn't really like to or he just gets me to do it," I say quickly, ready for this strange conversation to be over with.

"Okay. Well, have a good time then," he says when I get my bicycle.

"Okay," I answer and start riding towards home.

# Chapter 16: Burn

### Ginger

It's quiet in the library today. Too quiet. Tuesday is so boring. I finished the hum-drum stuff hours ago.

I'm the only one here for the next little bit. Anika had to go and do something or other. I only half-listened when she was telling me. Honestly, they don't need two of us here.

Oh well, I get paid either way, and I have my imagination to keep me company.

The only problem is that now my imagination does nothing but torture me.

_Grass stains,_ I think randomly and bite my lip to keep from making some embarrassing noise or something. We covered that costume in them.

I'm still reeling that Desmond and I have started a relationship. Well, the idea is implied. He never outright asked me come to think of it. I know he's not dating anybody, and I'm not dating anybody. _Jesse, haha. He thought I was dating Jesse._

I'm going to assume we're going steady. We're definitely sleeping together.

Desmond has a _very_ nice house. Mine looks like a little shack compared to his. Well, mine _is_ a little shack, but that's part of its charm.

_I wonder why I've only recently ever seen his house? Huh, the only times I've seen him has been elsewhere._ I've _even had an occasional party, but never him. I wonder why that is?_

My mind travels over the past weekend, spent mostly at his house... not wearing a whole lot of clothing.

I had no idea that man had it in him. It's like some dam burst. He hardly let me sleep.

I feel a little thrill sensation just behind my navel as I remember more. I had no idea my body could bend like that.

Glancing at my phone, I see that I still don't have any missed messages, texts, or calls. He didn't call me yesterday. It's two o'clock, and the man hasn't called me today.

I hear a giggling sound as Anika comes through the door with someone in tow. I don't recognize him.

She actually has the decency to look apologetic, and she tells me to go ahead and take off, that she and this random guy will take care of things.

_Fine,_ I think as I gather my phone and purse, head out to start up my rust-bucket, and drive home.

Three-thirty.

Do I call him?

No. I'm not going to.

I slam the pots and pans around in the sink. I'd made a real mess last night burning my dinner, and I'd left the pots to soak while I was at work. Desmond is a better cook than I am.

_Why hasn't he called me?!_ I scream inside my head. I just can't believe that he'd go through all the trouble to chase me for years only to spend one weekend with me.

What if I was a disappointment after all?

_I need some hot chocolate,_ I think to keep from going down a painful path with my thoughts. I know it's too hot for hot chocolate, but I don't care. I. Need. Chocolate.

I slam things around and wind up pouring very, very hot water on my hand. As I cry out in pain, my phone rings. I walk over to where I'd laid it down on the counter, holding my hand and crying, and see that it's Desmond. Finally.

I let it go to voicemail.

_Fuck you! I just burned my hand, I don't want to touch the phone, and you choose_ now _to call?!_

Stubbornly, I drink the hot chocolate anyway (burned hand or not) on my front porch, holding the mug with my uninjured hand.

When I walk back into the house, I see my phone blinking. _Four o'clock_.

Desmond called again and left me a message. I didn't expect him to actually leave me one, and I smile a little.

My smile drops off my face quickly as I listen to it. He wants me to bring by some obscure reference book.

I hang up and glare at my phone. _I'm not your fucking gopher! Plus, I'm not at work._

Humph, that was a work call. I'm not at work, so I'm not dealing with it right now.

Now, if he'd called me about something not work related, I might just call him back, but no.

I switch my phone off. He should've called me yesterday, and he didn't, and he's in trouble for that, and he needs to be punished for it. I sit back in a chair and gleefully imagine all the ways he could make it up to me.

Burning up now because of the hot chocolate, I decide to cool off in a cool shower, making sure to hold my hand away from the pelting water in my piece-of-crap shower.

It sure is making a racket! Maybe I need to call a plumber. Troy. He does everything.

I decide to go ahead and shut the thing off before I really screw it up.

It's now that I realize the pounding wasn't my shower or pipes. Someone is banging on the front door. I quickly throw a towel around me and go see what's going on.

"Ginger!" Desmond barks from the other side of the door. He looks mad. Then he sees me, and he looks even more mad.

"What?!" I yell at him through the door.

"Why aren't you answering your phone!"

"I burned my hand!"

"What?!"

I roll my eyes and open the door. "I burned my hand," I say and show him the welt. I need to put something on it.

"And _that's_ why you couldn't answer your phone?" he snaps out the question.

What, no 'oh baby, I'm sorry you burned your hand. How can I make it all better?'

I shrug. "I turned it off." I turn around and head into the kitchen to see if I have any aloe. As I walk, I throw over my shoulder, "Oh, and I got your message, but I'm not at work, so I decided it could wait 'til later... or... your _secretary_ could go and fetch it for you if you needed it so badly."

"Do you always answer the door wearing nothing but a towel?" he growls after he steps in and closes the front door behind him.

"No, I save this for maniacs trying to bang my front door down with their fists." I turn around and glare at him as I apply some aloe to my burn.

"How was I to know something hadn't happened to you? I went by the library, and that airhead told me that you'd gone home for the day. You won't answer your phone. Your car is here, but I can't get a response! How do you think I'm going to act?!" He glares back at me, advancing to where I stand in the kitchen.

"If you needed that book so damn bad, why didn't you pick it up while you were at the library?" I spit out.

"I don't give a shit about the damn book," he growls, sounding like a very cranky bear.

"Then why are you making such a big deal about it?" I give him a look filled with fury at how he hurt my feelings yesterday and today, and he doesn't appear to care that he did because all he wants is a gopher. I turn completely around, trying to mentally dismiss him, and I put the bottle of aloe on the counter.

Suddenly, his fingers press hard into the front of my shoulder to spin me around before he reaches with his other hand to grab a handful of hair at the nape of my neck. He pulls at my hair to tilt my head up, and he crushes his lips to mine.

_Sonofa... How dare you?!_ I think as I let out an enraged squeal. I push against him with my unhurt hand.

"Can't you just allow for the fact that I was worried about you?" he snarls before he kisses me a little nicer this time. Still, it doesn't change how mad I am at him.

I jerk my face to the side to snap, "Not when the first time I hear from you is for you to ask for a book. What... did you think I was just going to jump for joy that you needed me to bring by another book that you could easily _buy_ and _keep_?" I get so annoyed when he starts kissing me down my cheek to my neck.

"I wanted to see you," he explains quietly as he tries to get me to uncross my arms from in front of me. When he succeeds, the towel gets the tiniest bit loose. I can feel it, but no one would be able to tell just from looking at it.

"Then why didn't you just call me about that?" I ask a little sadly while he takes the wrist from my uninjured hand, pulls it around his waist, and holds it there. Then he carefully takes my injured hand in his and brings it up to his face to inspect it.

"How did you burn your hand?" he asks, not answering my earlier question.

"Hot chocolate. I wanted some hot chocolate."

"I was not aware the preparation of hot chocolate was so hazardous," he says quietly and, gentle as a light breeze, kisses my burn.

I have a very hard time staying mad at him. Then I remember yesterday.

He starts lightly kissing the underside of my forearm, and I jerk my arm out of his grasp angrily. The towel loosens a little more with the motion, but one of my hands is still held behind him while I'm busy keeping the other one from him, stalling any attempt to fix the towel.

A mildly-confused expression crosses his face as he asks, "What?"

"I'm mad at you," I say and work hard at not pouting.

"Ginger, you live to be mad at me."

"Well, I wouldn't if you didn't always piss me off," I quip quickly back at him.

"What did I do?" he asks, sounding resigned.

"Let's see... what _didn't_ you do?" I watch him with an expectant, belligerent expression.

"Yes, let's see," he says, matching my belligerent expression with the tone of his voice. "I _didn't_ listen to my voicemail and deliberately not call you back. I _didn't_ then turn my cellphone off in case you called because then you might worry. I _didn't_ answer the door wearing only a towel when who knows who it could've been at the door. Give me time, I'm sure if I thought about it, I could come up with more."

I'd hit him with my free hand if it wasn't the hurting, burning one.

"You forgot something. You _didn't_ call me yesterday."

A touch of relief hits the corners of his eyes as he says, "Oh, is that it. I was working on a case, and by the time I'd realized what time it was, it was too late to call." As I stand here and contemplate what he said, he takes my hurt hand back in his and says, "Honestly, the first second I had that I could call you, I did."

"No. Not a text, nothing. I'd started to think I was just some weekend romance or something." He's still in trouble. I've yet to hear an 'I'm sorry.'

Then the jackass laughs quietly before he says, "Like I could get my fill of you in just one weekend."

_Oh no he didn't!_ "Your _fill_ of me? Just what the hell is that supposed to mean, Desmond?!" I screech and try to get free from his grasp. In my struggling, the towel gives up trying to hold itself together, and I manage to jerk free of him and take a few quick steps away. Unfortunately, the towel had gotten caught on him somehow, and it abandons me in the process.

I gasp, and our eyes meet. I stand frozen to the spot as I watch his eyes darken, and he starts walking forward towards me.

"Would you like for me to demonstrate?" he asks in a low voice as I unfreeze and take steps backward, hoping to reach the bathroom and slam the door in his face. I'm still too mad at him, and I've become quite familiar with that look he has in his eyes over the weekend.

"No!" I cry out as he suddenly intercepts me and traps me in the circle of his arms.

"You apparently were feeling ignored. I'm all too happy to remedy that," he says in almost-explanation as his arms tighten around me, and he lifts me, carrying me into my bedroom.

"I'm still mad at you!" I snap after he deposits me on the bed.

"Nothing new there," he says with a small smirk, only furthering to piss me off.

I push against his chest, carefully avoiding hurting my burnt finger, and try to wiggle out from under him. The bastard actually looks excited. I can almost get my foot to where I can push off on his thigh to continue to get away.

His hands grasp my waist, and he pulls me back towards him. I let out a highly-aggravated noise just before his lips claim mine in an unrelenting kiss. _Damn him!_ I think as I growl and hit him while he kisses me. He ignores me hitting him and wraps his arms around me, continuing with the kiss.

Just before I wind up kissing him back, I jerk my head to the side angrily.

"I'm very sorry, oh beautifully pissed off Ginger, that you felt ignored," he says while also traveling all up and down my throat and burying his nose in my hair. "I thought you'd need a break from me, and I had that damn case to work on. It took me longer than normal to get what I needed done because I kept getting distracted thinking about having you on my desk."

I let out a small gasp as it all finally makes sense. _He didn't really need the book._

"You didn't need the book, did you?" I have to ask while his hands travel over me before he raises up a little off me to run his tongue down my collarbone.

"No," he quickly admits before he covers my nipple with his mouth.

"Ooooh," I let out as his hand cups and plays with my other breast. One of his knees parts my legs as that same hand travels down my stomach. I gasp when he cups me between my legs and his fingers start up their skilled movements. He switches to the other breast with his mouth as one, then two of his fingers enter me.

I let out a pathetic whimper to his answering groan, and I can't help but think he is still wearing way too many clothes. For a few seconds, I try to get hold of the buttons on his shirt, but I have to stop that when his hand moves at an unreal speed.

I throw my head and arms back against the bed as my mouth opens and cries escape me. In the farthest reaches of my mind, I realize he's watching me, but that's as far as I get with that thought.

His hand refuses to let up! I desperately try to find some sense of sanity.

"Let go, baby," he murmurs to me, and it's my undoing. I let out this strangled, keening cry as he presses hard into my sweet spot while my body bucks and arches under him.

I lie here on the bed, quivering in a tortured, yet blissful, post-coital state, and I'm dimly aware of him quickly removing his clothes over me. I barely have time to register the action of him rolling on a condom before he buries himself deep inside me.

That action nearly undoes me once again, and my need skyrockets when he starts moving. I become like a demon-possessed mad woman as I circle my legs around him and meet him thrust for thrust, urging him deeper. He acts for a few moments like he wants to slow down, but I refuse to let him.

I look up at him with a burning glare, threatening him wordlessly with dire consequences should he dare to slow down. I feel a deep sense of emotional gratification when he actually looks down at me with an expression of mild alarm. Then he closes his eyes, and the look on his face changes to one of intense determination.

He looks so fucking hot.

I feel him grow harder inside me, and I writhe in exquisite torture as I feel my body tighten around him. We both cry out as we find a shared release, our bodies fused together in a timeless moment.

..........

My head rests on his shoulder when I absently start running my nails through the hair on his chest. A low, content rumble sounds inside of him, making me smile slightly. _He's back too._

_Whoa!_ I think as he quickly rolls over on top of me and kisses me, his tongue staking its claim of my mouth.

When he finally lets me breathe, he pulls up to ask, "Am I forgiven?"

I think for a minute before I say, "I don't know. Have you learned your lesson?"

"What if I'm a slow learner?" he asks mischievously.

"We'll have to resort to a harsher lesson plan," I answer with one eyebrow cocked.

"Then I'll be sure to endeavor to misbehave." He laughs as I hit him with my hurt hand.

"Ow!" I cry and hold my hand.

An instant look of concern comes over his face before he asks, "Did you try putting ice on it?"

"No. Not yet."

He gets up, mumbling about hot burns, hot tempers, and ice.

"Hey!" I yell at him and throw a pillow at his retreating back.

Desmond just laughs and keeps going into the kitchen to get me some ice for my burn while I sit on the bed and think about another burning ache he's already taken care of, mostly, today.

"Here," he says and hands me a wet washrag that obviously houses a few ice cubes inside its folded interior. I bite my lip and watch his caring expression as he watches me put the ice on the burn on my hand. He lifts his eyes to my burning gaze, and he soon reflects it back to me.

He leans in to kiss me, and I put the ice aside.

"Wait," he says suddenly and picks up the ice. "I have an idea..."

# Chapter 17: A Fabulous Idea

### Jesse

I have a fabulous idea. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and I know Marie has the day off. I also know that she's going to do everything she can to avoid me since she knows I know. I'm going to throw a party tomorrow afternoon. Just a small party. I haven't done one of these in a few weeks.

However, it won't even be worth it if Marie won't come, so there's my challenge: how to convince her to come without it sounding like I'm only throwing the party as an excuse to spend time with her. I won't lie to myself and say that that's not what it is because that's _exactly_ what it is.

_Hm, Bryce and Erin, Pam and Simon, Lynne, Belinda, Troy, Ginger... and Desmond. Hm. That's just weird._ Bryce had told me the other 'hot' night about Ginger and Desmond. I never would've guessed. _And Marie._

I'm being friendly and including the new girl!

That knows I like her.

_That has green eyes and fantastic legs,_ I think and momentarily forget myself as I think of what I would do with those legs if I could.

Lara starts helping a couple of guys rent scuba gear, and it startles me back into reality.

I groan and chastise myself for letting my mind slip down a torturous path while I'm trying to plan something.

I'm going to throw it anyway. Invite everyone else first. Maybe then somebody... um Lynne maybe, or Pam, could convince her to come. Guilt her into coming since everyone else will too. I throw good parties.

_Hm, Lynne. Pam will get all bubbly and start asking question after question that I don't_ mind _answering, it's just I have other things to do!_

I call Ginger first, and it goes straight to voicemail. So, I leave a quick message _._ Then I call the others, saving Lynne for last. Bryce can't come. I don't know why I forgot he has to work.

I call Lynne.

"Lynne..." I say, drawing out her name.

"What is it, Jesse?" she asks. "Belinda told me about the party already. Yeah. Of course I'll come."

"Good, but that's not exactly why I called you."

"Oh?"

"I have a favor to ask."

"What?"

"Would you... ask the new waitress Marie to the party for me?" I ask her, and she gets quiet. "If I ask her, she'll undoubtedly say no."

"Why doesn't this surprise me?" she teases.

I whine, "Lynne..." Then I pause for effect. "Please?" I've learned the power of the word 'please' when used correctly.

"You're incorrigible, do you know that?"

"That's what I've been told." I make another pause before I beg again, "Please?"

"Alright, but I'm not guaranteeing results," she says with a loud sigh followed by a quiet laugh.

I can't stop my grin. "Thanks, Lynne!"

A few hours later, Lynne calls me back and says that Marie told her no, that she wouldn't be comfortable coming.

When I hang up with her, I tell Lara I'll be right back, grab my keys, and decide to drive Martha over to The Flamingo and talk to this stubborn, green-eyed girl with the great legs.

### Marie

I'm getting to know my assistant manager, Simon Cottrell, who'd been traveling last week. He looks a little down that he hasn't much to teach me since Bryce covered it all. So, he has me arranging bottles and restocking the bar as needed.

A few hours go by, and a woman approaches me, telling me her name is Lynne. I think I recognize her as one of my boss's friends, and she confirms my suspicions when she invites me to a party tomorrow night. I ask her where, and she tells me... at Jesse's house. I politely refuse, and she asks me to reconsider, that he throws good parties, and I should join their circle of friends. I tell her some other time perhaps.

Not too much later, I crouch behind the bar, hoping I'm not messing up Jones' organizational system, when Simon walks around it and crouches down next to me.

"You know," he says, "I was a little sad when I heard Bernadette was gone, but I think everything turned out better for it." He reaches up and very slowly tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I look over at him warily as he continues, "Tuesdays are always so long and hard for me because both Bryce and Jones have the day off. I hope you and I can grow to really enjoy each other's company."

"Uh, yeah," I say slowly and move out of his reach.

Over the next few hours, we work side-by-side, serving customers, and he bumps into me and brushes against me more often than what I think is necessary. If he doesn't watch it, he's going to find himself curled up into a painful ball on the floor. But I don't want to do that to my boss, well, _a_ boss.

Another quiet lull comes around, and I stand up after restocking another part of the bar. I don't realize Simon stands right behind me until I'm fully upright.

Suddenly, his arm wraps around me with his hand splayed on my stomach, and his nose moves into my hair as he murmurs quietly, "You smell fantastic."

My voice sounds stern as I say, "Let go of me, Simon."

"We could make good use of this little bit of quiet time," he says softly as, instead of letting go of me, his other arm wraps around me.

I spin around to see that he thinks I'm going to kiss him. Instead, he gets a slap across the face.

"What's going on?!" I hear Jesse growl menacingly from out of nowhere.

I ignore him as I watch Simon rub his cheek with the backs of his fingers, a thoughtful look on his features. I move away from him, and his now-creepy eyes watch me.

"Then again," he says contemplatively, "maybe we won't."

"Exactly," I snap at him. I am so angry that I'm shaking. _My boss! My boss did that!_ I'm all of a sudden glad Jesse is here as I turn around and mindlessly wipe the tables down once again. At least I have a witness. I glance up at him and see him shooting a deadly glare at Simon. Only a few seconds go by, but they feel like ages.

Simon clears his throat, and the tense silence continues. I feel like I'm having trouble breathing, and I do my best to take deep breaths. _I know exactly what he implied._

Jesse breaks the silence to ask me, "Marie, may I speak to you a moment?"

"She's working," Simon answers him.

"You're not busy at the moment," Jesse snarls.

Just to spite Simon, I direct Jesse to the lower seating area and use that excuse to sit down in one of the chairs. I put my head in a shaking hand.

"Are you okay?" he asks me quietly as he takes the chair next to me.

I ignore the question. "What do you want, Jesse?"

"It doesn't matter," he answers quickly. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," I echo.

"Oh yes it does," he says almost immediately.

"Jesse, stop trying to be the hero," I say exasperatedly.

"I'm not. I'm a concerned friend who wants to tell his best friend to fire that fucker."

"It's nothing I can't handle," I say. "You would know."

"That was different."

"Was it?" I snap the question.

"Yes," he growls.

"Did you come here just to argue with me?" I ask as I see a few customers walk up to the bar's front steps.

"No, I came to beg you to come to my party tomorrow, but something more important is happening," he answers and leans down to try and get in my line of vision. "What did he do, Marie?"

_All he did was make a pass at me,_ I think with my head still in my hand, feeling ridiculous now. "It's not a big deal. He mistakenly thought that I wanted that."

"Mistake being the operative word here. Are you uncomfortable working the rest of the day around him?"

"I can't leave work!" I gasp and pick my head up while looking at him in shock for a second and thinking he's implying that I ditch work to go and tattle to Bryce.

His expression is stern as he says, "Pretend it's not me asking this. Are you uncomfortable?"

"Why does this always happen to me?" I say with my head back in my hand, not answering his question and trying not to break down.

"It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong here, and you can leave. And you have me as a witness to say that _something_ happened."

"I don't want to be here right now, but I can't leave work."

"Oh yes, you can!" He looks furious. "Please come with me," he says now in a moderately-calmer, authoritative voice and holds out his hand near my face, asking me to take it. I stare wordlessly at it.

He sighs and says, "Marie, this is not flirty Jesse. This is business Jesse, and _I_ don't feel comfortable leaving you here."

_This is royally-pissed-off Jesse,_ I think as I throw my rag on the table and put my hand in his. It's big and warm, and it closes around my fingers tightly as he pulls me towards his old car. Simon looks like he wants to yell at me to come back, but the death-glare in Jesse's eyes stops him.

We get into his car. It doesn't have seat belts.

I sit in my seat quietly as Jesse backs into the street, and then we head to Bryce's house while he says, "Don't worry. We're going to get that motherfucker fired."

_What a fabulous idea,_ I think.

# Chapter 18: Strangers

### Erin

I wake up to Bryce kissing me again, and I smile.

"I like waking up like that," I say quietly and worry about morning breath.

"As long as I'm the one that does it, I like that you like it," he mumbles with a smile before kissing me deeply. I guess there's no point in worrying about morning breath anymore.

"I made pancakes," he says and lightly kisses me once more. "Something I actually know how to really cook."

"What time is it?" I ask while stretching.

"Nine, lazy butt," he answers and playfully swats my behind.

I feel my face register my shock as I say, "I guess I was tired."

"And I'm hungry. I even made coffee. Get up before I eat everything in sight." Suddenly his eyes twinkle with a private joke.

I decide to test him. I stretch again, scratch my head a little, roll over and say, "I'm too tired. I'll reheat everything later." Then I pull the sheet up over my head.

"Oh no you don't! I slaved over a hot stove for you, so you're getting up," he says sternly, pulls the sheet off me, leans over a little, and before I know it, he's picked me up and thrown me over his shoulder.

"Bryce! Bryce, put me down! I have to pee! Put me down!"

He starts laughing and puts me carefully on my feet. "Well?" he asks, gesturing to the bathroom. I flounce in with every intention of crawling back into bed when I'm done. I'm happy he fixed breakfast, but he should have asked before he went through the trouble.

I exit the bathroom and turn towards the bed only to find him smiling at me as he sits on it. _Damn. He knew I'd do that._

"Dining room is that way." He points to the door.

"I'm tired," I whine a little and look longingly at the bed as it calls to me.

He stands up, wraps his arms around me, and turns me around as he says, "Nothing a little coffee can't cure." I grab a shirt on my way out of the bedroom.

The pancakes taste delicious. Eventually, I wake up enough to feel human.

We go shopping to get me a new cell phone, Bryce mumbling teasingly about my talent for destroying electronic equipment. I get mad and playfully step on his toes.

When we get back to his place, not five minutes go by when Jesse knocks on the front door. I'm a little surprised to see that Marie is with him.

"Simon's really gone and fucked up this time!" Jesse practically yells to Bryce as the four of us stand in his kitchen. Then, he turns to Marie and asks her to tell Bryce why. She stands there with her arms wrapped around her torso and looking like she wants to disappear.

"What happened, Marie?" Bryce asks quietly, I guess hoping that a calmer approach than Jesse's might work better.

"Simon just made a pass at me is all."

Bryce folds his arms and asks, "And what did you do about it?"

"I slapped him across the face," she answers with a touch of anger in her voice.

Bryce runs a hand across his chin thoughtfully, looking like he's trying to figure out what to say, and his cell phone rings in his pocket. His eyebrows raise when he says, "Speak of the devil." He answers it and listens for a while before telling him to calm down, that he'll take care of it.

I start to get mad even though I'm merely a quiet observer. _Take care of it?! If he doesn't take Marie seriously... Ooooo._

Bryce scratches the side of his ear with a wince.

"What did the fucker say?" Jesse growls.

Bryce gives him a 'shut up' look and asks Marie to tell him everything, starting at the beginning.

"He started... Oh, I can't do this! It's nothing I can't handle. I'm sorry for leaving the bar. I'll get back there now if someone would drive me." She looks around at us expectantly.

Bryce looks stern now as he says, "Marie, I've heard his story. Now I want to hear yours. He started what exactly?"

Marie puts her hand over her face and speaks in a tortured voice, "He said he hoped we could really grow to enjoy each others company, and then, while we worked on serving customers, he would brush against me in suggestive ways. Then, after I'd put something on the bottom shelf and stood up, he wrapped his arm around my waist and said that maybe we could take advantage of this free time. I told him to stop it, and when he didn't, after wrapping his other arm around me, I slapped him across the face." She looks like she wants to crawl into a hole in the ground and hide.

"Well, Simon left out the brushing up against you part, but that matches his story. He claims he didn't know he was making you that uncomfortable."

I glare at Bryce.

"I know. I'm sorry. I overreacted," Marie says quickly and tries to walk down the hallway.

Jesse wilts for a second and takes Marie's arm for only a moment. He lets go immediately from the look she gives him, and then he says, "Marie, I was there. You were shaking."

"I overreacted," she says, maintaining her story.

Jesse turns to Bryce now. "You heard her. She told him to stop, and he didn't."

"He said he didn't think she meant it," Bryce claims.

"That doesn't matter! He should know he can't do crap like that, especially if she told him no."

"Jesse, you don't have to teach me this."

"Apparently, I do because you still haven't either gotten into your car to drive over there or picked up your phone to fire his ass."

"I'm not going to up and fire him without just cause," Bryce argues back.

"What more 'just cause' do you need? Do you _want_ a sexual harassment suit?" Jesse gets more pissed by the second.

"Marie says she overreacted."

"That. Doesn't. Matter!" Jesse yells to the ceiling.

_Who is this jackass that's taken over my boyfriend?_ I think as the two of them continue to argue. Bryce accuses Jesse of letting any feelings for Marie get in the way of his judgment, saying he's not thinking rationally. He keeps arguing that if Marie realizes she overreacted, then that settles it.

I notice Marie starts backing into the hallway.

Jesse yells at Bryce saying that whether or not she says she overreacted, Simon still crossed lines. Bryce brings up the events of last Friday night. Now, Jesse _really_ gets pissed off. I've never seen either man act like this. They're up in each others faces.

Marie scoots farther back into the hallway and then turns to make an escape. I dart out after her, leaving the two strangers arguing in the kitchen.

I uncharacteristically call out to her once we're both outside. "Hey, Marie, wait up."

She turns around and looks at me worriedly. "I'm sorry," she says. "I just can't stand fighting."

Someone that knows taekwondo hates fighting?

I work at not letting my thought show on my face as I say instead, "I don't like them fighting either. It's so unlike them. Well, as I've come to understand them. At least that harshly." _What do I know anyway?_

We both stand here quietly, neither of us minding the quiet, as we stare at the waves where they break before reaching the sandbar.

"What Simon did was wrong," I turn to her and say bravely. She intimidates me.

Marie turns to look at me and say, "Maybe, but I still overreacted. He thought I wanted that."

"But he didn't stop when you asked him to."

"It was a mistake," she says with her teeth slightly clenched.

"Marie!" we hear Jesse call out from Bryce's front porch. It doesn't take him long to spot us, and he comes running over. "Please help me convince Bryce that Simon needs to be fired. He won't listen to reason, and he won't do anything unless you complain."

Marie turns to look at Jesse. I'm guessing she's trying to figure out a way to tell Jesse to calm down.

Bryce's stern voice carries over to us. "Marie, I'll take you back to the bar." Then, he turns to Jesse to say, "Shouldn't you be at work?"

Marie nods and starts walking in Bryce's direction. Jesse reaches out to stop her, but she does some twisting, circular motion with her arm that causes him to breathe in sharply in pain. He lets go immediately. She gets in Bryce's car, and the two of them leave.

Jesse stops scowling for a minute before he asks me, "Didn't he want you to not be by yourself?"

My eyes widen as I suddenly wonder where Sean is.

"I can stick around if you want me to until he gets back," he offers, looking like he's thinking about something else.

I suddenly get a vindictive idea. "No. You need to get back to work after all. Take me with you." I turn on my heel and march off to ...Mary? Martha?... his car. He laughs a little behind me, obviously catching on to what I'm doing. _Bryce doesn't fear for Marie, and he pushes her back in the company of that creep. Then he leaves me in the process when who knows where Sean is. Let him panic._

# Chapter 19: Mufasa the Stag

My phone rings. It's Bryce. I let it almost get to the fourth ring before I get around to answering it.

"Hello, Bryce," I say stoically.

"Erin! Oh my god. Where did you go?" he nearly shouts, sounding relieved and angry at the same time.

"I'm at the store," I say nonchalantly.

"Jesse's?" he asks and sounds incredulous.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you ran off and left me, and Jesse offered to stick around 'til you got back, but he had to get back to work, and I didn't want to be by myself..."

"I'm on my way."

"Take your time," I say, guessing he's about to make an obnoxious cloud of dust. He hangs up.

"He's coming?" Jesse asks.

"Mmmhm," I answer and decide it would be better to have this meeting outside.

Sure enough, his Audi convertible flies ahead of a large cloud of dust and sand before he parks it in the parking space right next to me. He gets out of his car with a relieved expression on his face.

"Erin," Bryce breathes as he approaches me. "I got scared."

I take a step away from him and throw my arms up in a gesture to keep him away before I say, "Good."

"What?" he asks and looks a little hurt.

"I'm mad at you," I snap.

"Look, I'm sorry I left you alone at the house-"

"Oh, I wasn't alone."

"- when I drove Marie to the bar," he finishes. "So, you scared me on purpose because you're mad at me?"

"About Marie."

"Oh no, Erin. Not you too," he moans exasperatedly. "He apologized."

"And now I'm afraid for her since you left her alone with him."

"Stop making it like he's some villain. You don't even know him."

"Look Bryce, _Jesse_ thinks he crossed the line. That says a lot."

"Jesse was only acting like some jealous, rutting stag."

_Mufasa as a stag? No,_ I can't help but think and work at suppressing a giggle.

"It's not _Jesse's_ actions that are in question here," I state, getting serious again.

"This isn't your fight!"

"I had it thrown at me earlier in your house while you had a yelling match with your best friend."

"Because he was telling me how to do my job!"

"Maybe someone needs to," I snap, and he takes a step back.

We stand here quietly. The only sound is the wind in the branches over our heads and the occasional car driving by.

"Please, let's just go home and-"

"That's not my home," I say bitingly.

He stops talking and stares at me wordlessly. I hate the pain I see him try to hide.

"So," he asks, his voice a little hoarse, "are you saying you're not staying at my house anymore?"

"I don't know, actually. Right now I'm so mad at you I think I don't want to."

"But what about Sean?"

"My front door locks, and I'm sure Jesse can see me safely inside," I say calmly.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he barely gets out.

I can't stand it. I'm majorly ticked off at him, but that doesn't stop me from dashing up to him and throwing my arms around his neck.

"I'm furious with you," I say and squeeze him to me, being a contradiction to my statement.

He stands still, not hugging me back. "Because of Marie." He states the question.

"Yes."

"So... be mad at me at my house," he says and finally wraps his arms around me.

"No," I say firmly, and his arms tighten their hold.

"Erin, I'm doing what I think is right. It's not fair to fire someone on one person's complaint."

"Two," I correct.

"Marie accepted his apology. The only one complaining is Jesse."

"You don't screw around about this. At the bookstore, they fired one of the managers for putting his arm around my coworker in an affectionate way when she didn't want it."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's how it is."

"I decided to leave this ultimately up to Marie."

"I cannot _believe_ you left her alone with him."

"He forgave her for running off like that. He understood why she would be upset."

"That's not the issue here, Bryce," I snap.

"Please. Please, just drop it. Come back home... to my house... with me."

I stand here quietly and hold onto him for support while he starts kissing my neck and shoulder. Even when I'm mad at him, he can still make me go weak in the knees with the tiniest things.

"Go on your picnic with Adele. I'll hang out here with Jesse until you guys are done," I finally decide. There's got to be a way to make him understand that he needs to fire Simon, but I figure that me being mean to him isn't going to help anything.

"I was hoping you'd go with us," he admits quietly.

"No. I've invaded every other part of her life with you. Maybe on some unscheduled time, but not the Tuesday picnic." I pause before I say, "She won't stay little forever."

I feel his eyelashes brush my neck as his eyes close. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Yes, but not horribly," I answer, and he tries to tell me he's not going anywhere until we get this sorted. I tell him it won't be sorted anytime soon. Finally, he gives up, and in a bit of a huff, kisses me and heads home to be there when Adele gets there.

### Jesse

_How do they do it? She's furious with him, and yet he still gets loving,_ I think when I hazard a glance outside at Erin and Bryce. _Is there something wrong with me?_

I still have a party to throw, and the guest of honor isn't even coming. She wouldn't feel comfortable is what Lynne told me. Yet, she feels okay working around that dipshit?

No, she can't possibly. Not after she was shaking like that.

She thinks she overreacted! No! No no no!

Why didn't she knee him in the groin like she did me?

The 'frightened child.' She was terrified.

And then she must've talked herself out of it.

Oh no. Marie, he's going to try again.

I have this sudden image of my hands on either side of his head and crushing it between them.

I can't stand just sitting here. Or,...well... standing here and running the register with Lara helping customers. I doubt I have the patience for helping them today, so I switched things up... once I helped disperse the crowd that had formed when I'd left her alone. Sometimes it's impossible for me to keep my personal life from invading my thoughts while I'm at work.

Erin walks back in, and I'm a little surprised to see her.

"I'm going to hang out here with you until he's done with his picnic with Adele," she explains quietly.

"Okay," I answer simply as I watch her head towards this ridiculously-kiddie couch we have in the back break room/equipment room.

Once we finally have only a single customer in the store, I walk over to where Erin sits huddled on the couch, lost in thought.

"I can't _believe_ he took her back over there," she growls. I guess she wasn't that lost in thought.

I sit down next to her quietly, keeping my thoughts to myself. I start thinking about how severely uncomfortable Marie looked when I'd gotten there. I'm glad I've never made her look like _that_. I've only made her a little flustered I guess, and that stupid first impression she obviously wasn't that afraid since she could attack me.

'Could' attack me? She doesn't do well scared.

She was scared when I kissed her yesterday, but not in the same way. I hope.

"I close up in about thirty minutes. Want to head over to the bar?" I want to keep an eye on that dickhead.

"Yeah. Why not," she agrees.

I pause as an idea hits me, and I turn to her with a grin. "Don't tell him who you are."

Her eyes widen as a smile almost shows up. "You think he will?"

I feel my eyes narrow slightly as I answer, "Undoubtedly."

"But, I don't know if I could..."

"You don't have to do a thing. Just be you," I say as I get up and work on closing the place up.

### Bryce

I decide to take Adele to a park we don't normally visit. It's bigger and therefore attracts more tourists than the other small one where I first saw Erin. I just can't go to that one today because I'm trying to keep myself from thinking about how she's mad at me. It's not Adele's fault that she is, and I don't want to take it out on her.

Adele talks about something, and I feel a little guilty that I've lost the path of the 'conversation.'

I get further distracted from Adele's never-ceasing chatter when I notice an older couple flirting openly with each other. _Will I be lucky enough to have that at their age?_ I look down at my daughter and figure out she's talking about her friend Helen. _Erin is right, she won't be little forever, and that thought scares the shit out of me._

"...and so, she ran off with Eduardo, leaving me and Todd alone _again_." I catch the tail end of her story. _Who is Todd? ... !!!_ She continues when she notices me looking at her, "I don't know why she keeps going on and on that she thinks I like him like him when I don't." _Phew._

I miraculously figure out something to ask, "But she likes Eduardo?" _I hope I got the name right._

She looks back up at me, "Yeah, I told you that. Then, Todd told me Eduardo likes her too, but I don't know if I'm supposed to tell her that or not. He started asking me weird questions like how he could help Eduardo figure out how to let Helen know he likes her."

I feel my eyebrows come together into a scowl as I take in the conversation fully. "What kind of weird questions?" _Aren't they a little young to be wondering about this stuff? Don't girls still have cooties at this age?_

"He wanted to know what to do. I don't know what _I_ could tell him because how on earth do I know? Honestly, Eduardo has it easy. All he has to do is stop trying to make her mad and figure out a way to get her attention in another way, and he's got it in the bag."

"So why didn't you just tell him that?" _'in the bag'?_

"Well, I did, kinda, but he wanted to know exactly what to do instead," she answers. "So, I guessed." She shrugs. "I said flowers or just talking to her. I tried to think of stuff you would do," _Oh no,_ "and I couldn't think of anything but you just talking. I guess it's _what_ you say."

_I am not having this conversation with my_ daughter _of all people,_ I think in forced denial as I realize she's waiting for me to say something. "Uh... it really," I flounder around, trying to think of something, "has to do with the situation." _And she does_ not _need to be in those situations. Oh, I am too young for this!_ She _is too young for this! Maybe I'm overreacting._

"Yeah, that's what I was guessing, but let them figure it out. Let's eat I'm hungry," she says as I try to re-find my appetite.

I feel old.

_No, I'm not going to think about that. Adele is ten for crying out loud._ I think as I refuse to picture Adele dating. I have a crazy urge to find these two boys and remind them, brainwash them if necessary, that girls have cooties.

I work at chewing up my hot dog before I swallow it since I'm horribly distracted.

"Do you think Helen's right?" Adele asks me out of the blue.

"Right about what?" I ask evasively.

"That Todd likes me," she answers, and I work at not choking on my food.

"Probably not," I lie.

"I agree," she states, and I want to wilt with relief.

"These are really good," I say to change the subject.

"Thanks," she says proudly. "Aunt Lynne has been teaching me more how to cook. She says I can do it when she's supervising."

I hate that I can see Ashley in her right now. I am sitting here next to a miniature Ashley, and the boys are starting to notice from what she's telling me. _Fuck!_ I think before Adele starts up talking about all the things Lynne is teaching her how to do. I wish I could stop my runaway mind. _First, Erin talks about how she's not going to stay little. Then Adele has to start talking about her and Helen and two boys from school._

_Adele is_ not _going to end up like me and Ashley._

"Oh," she continues while I try to pay attention, "Todd thought it was weird that I know how to cook. Is that weird?" _Him again._

I swallow. "No, I don't think so. Do you think Aunt Lynne would let you do something that might be too weird?"

"I don't guess so. Of course, he also thought you and me going on a picnic together was weird too."

"Maybe Todd's the weird one."

She starts giggling.

I'm thrown for a loop when she changes the subject on me. "I think I want to grow my hair out. Erin's hair is long, and I think it's pretty."

_She just_ had _to mention Erin,_ I think as I wish I could figure out a way to make her stop being mad at me.

I don't realize I'm scowling until Adele says, "I don't have to, Daddy. It was just an idea."

My face gets forced into more of a generic expression before I say, "No, sorry. I mean, yeah, it's your hair, you can do what you want."

She smiles a little mischievously and asks, "Like pink highlights? Or... maybe green."

"No." I say with a 'this-is-not-up-for-discussion' voice.

"Can I dye my hair blonde?" she asks now, a little more seriously.

I put down my plate and ask, "What? Why would you want to do that?"

"Um, well, Helen has blonde hair, and so does Erin, and so does Uncle Jesse kinda, oh, and that new girl you hired." _Erin... Jesse... are together at his store._

"You don't need to. I mean, I guess you can try, but I like your hair color," I say and try to keep my thoughts in check.

"I'll think about it," she says once we've finished our hot dogs. Then, Adele turns to me to say, "I'm gonna go play now."

I wave her along and pull out my phone. _Wow, five o'clock already? The store is closing... Where are they gonna go? Better not be to his house. Maybe he took her to hers._ I decide to call her.

She answers almost right away. "Hey."

"Hi." _She sounds a little less mad._ I hear outside noises in the background on the phone. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I just got out of Martha to go sit at the bar for a while. Jesse wanted to come here," she says in an even voice.

_Crap,_ I think.

I decide not to argue over the phone. "Um, well, Adele is spending the night at Pam's, so I'll meet you there."

"Okay," she says simply. "I'll be sitting here waiting on you."

They're up to something. That, or Jesse wants to cause trouble with Simon and defend his 'claim.'

# Chapter 20: Troublemaker

### Erin

Jesse asks if he can drop me off a little ways from the bar while he sits in Desmond's now-empty parking lot/driveway. That way he can watch me to make sure I'm safe and still make it look like we didn't arrive at the bar together. That would surely tip Simon off.

I silently walk up to the bar. The guy I assume is Simon (since he's one of two working tonight and I know Marie) stands at the bar. I can feel him watching me, and I wish that Jesse hadn't talked me into this. 'Just be you,' he said. Well, me, _I'm_ very uncomfortable doing this all by myself. Still, I remind myself that this is for Jesse and Marie and to prove a point.

The hopeless romantic in me wants Jesse and Marie to get together. The way he _looked_ at her in Bryce's kitchen... like he'd do anything for her... even get into a fight with his best friend.

I have no idea why Marie insists that she overreacted. I can only guess that she feels ridiculous even though I'm betting Jesse's right. Oh well, I'm about to find out. Maybe.

I ball my hands into tight fists in my lap and have a seat on a bar stool as the guy greets me. I'm not so sure I like the idea of being 'bait.'

He still hasn't asked me if I want a drink.

"So, where are you from?" he asks me after he greets me and we exchange shallow pleasantries.

I'm from a place where they don't end sentences in prepositions. Well, technically they do, but anyway.

I tell him the name of my hometown. _And just across the lagoon. Yeah, I'm just a tourist. Just a tourist._

"Oh. I've met a few people from there before, although no one as drop-dead gorgeous as you," he says and flashes me a white-toothed smile while I become furious at my irritating blush.

Jesse, I can't do this! I just want to slink away and hide somewhere. Still, this is nothing to use to get him, it's only a simple compliment. I'm going to have to do more.

_I hate this,_ I think as I work on turning up the corners of my mouth.

"I'll bet you say that to all the girls," I reply more bravely than I feel. I'm going to throttle Jesse.

That impish smile remains on his face all during my internal struggle before he replies, "No, not the girls, but the women." _Oh, have mercy this is ridiculous!_ "What can I get for you, gorgeous?" he asks after staring too long at my chest.

I'm glad Marie is busy entertaining the other customers, taking orders. She hasn't had to come by the bar yet. I only have the time until she blows my cover to find a way to prove what this guy would do. Still, I don't want to come across as flirty.

I shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know. What do you recommend?"

"Let me surprise you," he answers with a slight wink. _Ugh. Jesse, where are you?! And for that matter, Bryce. He'd said he'd be on his way soon. I'm not so sure I want to do this anymore._

"I'll go hit the ladies' room while you fix it," I say, knowing I'd never let anyone prepare me a drink when I wasn't watching them, but I have to escape for a few minutes. I give him a small smile and scoot off the stool.

Once in the restroom, I shut myself into a stall and try not to freak out. This is entirely out of my comfort zone - up and talking to someone like this. Here I was thinking that maybe I'd gotten over that with the way I'd accepted all of Bryce's friends, well, eventually. Nope, that was just because I'd accepted Bryce. This assistant manager guy proves that I'm still as bashful as ever. _I'd make a horrible spy,_ I think randomly.

Once I hear Martha pull up in the parking lot, I leave the restroom and walk around the back of the building, trying to make it look like I'm a tourist enjoying the view. Simon doesn't question why I come up the back stairs. I notice he hasn't made me a drink when he walks around the bar to talk to me. I have to take a step back because he gets a little too close.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I had to fix some orders for my waitress. Plus, I forgot to ask you if you're allergic to anything."

"No," I answer and wonder why he suddenly grins at me like he's up to something.

I see Jesse casually walk up the stairs to the bar. Then I glance at Marie and see that she probably noticed from the way her posture changed. _Hm._ It doesn't look like Simon has seen him yet, he's too busy staring at my rack while he fixes the strange drink he's making. I take a deep breath, fold my arms, and turn around to look out at the lagoon again, wishing the skirt of my sundress wasn't so short. I figure now that if there's anything in my drink that Jesse would stop anything from happening, not to mention Bryce will be here soon.

The creep brings me a drink.

"Try it. If you don't like it, I'll toss it," he requests.

I take a little, tiny sip. It's very good, actually. I hate to say it, but it's better than Jones would do.

"Wow. What's it called?" I ask with unmasked surprise in my voice.

A sheepish, boyish grin crosses his face as he answers, "It's a Blonde Leg Spreader."

It's all I can do not to spit into my glass in shock. _Holy crap, this man actually made me some kind of aphrodisiac drink?!_

He laughs a little at my shocked expression. Then I see him finally notice Jesse, and I see him shoot him a mild glare before he turns back to me, all smiles. _I'm running out of time. Just be me?_

"I didn't... I mean I don't... " I stammer around, not knowing what else to say. "Um... I mean..."

"Relax," he says with a small laugh. "It's not that kind of a drink," he tries to reassure me. "I just guessed you might like it, aaannnd, it looks like I guessed right." He pauses for a second before he asks, "What's your name?"

"Hello, Erin," I hear a familiar voice behind me say, and a warm feeling courses through me even if he sounds a little mad.

Out of time, I guess. This would've never worked anyway.

"Hi, Bryce," I say sweetly, glad I can quit this stupid charade. I did not want to be proof of what he might do.

"Simon," Bryce says, "I see you've met my girlfriend." He stresses the word girlfriend in such a way as to tell him to back off.

"No, not officially. I'd just now asked her her name, in fact, when you'd walked up," he says to Bryce. Then he turns to me to ask, "I thought you said you weren't from here?" I can feel Bryce watching the two of us with a hawk's gaze.

"I'm not," I answer. "I moved here recently."

The three of us stand here in a tense silence.

"Well, I'd better get back to work," Simon says with a probable forced-calm.

As Simon makes his way back to behind the bar, Bryce takes over the place where he stood. Well, a little farther back, but just about the same. He stands in front of me and looks at me like he doesn't know who I am.

Finally, I can't stand it anymore, and I ask, "Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me or tell me what's wrong?"

He remains quiet for a few more seconds before he takes a step towards me and asks quietly, "Do you have any idea what you're drinking?"

"Yeah, he told me it wasn't that kind of drink though."

"He lied," Bryce says evenly. Then, that roguish smile crosses his face before he says, "But, well, I mean, if you _want_ to finish the drink, that's fine with me, but I won't lie to you about it." His face is now mere inches from mine. He trails a single finger down my cheek before he asks, "What were you doing, anyway?"

"I sat at the bar, and he offered to make me a drink. I accepted, and this is what he made me."

"You obviously didn't tell him you were my girlfriend."

"It hadn't come up yet." _This was a bad idea, Jesse. I hate these half-truths._ "I..." I lose my train of thought.

"I'm amazed you were even talking to him after today," he says, and I squirm while he stares a hole into me. He takes in a breath and asks, "Was this some attempt to prove what he's capable of?" When I don't say no, he continues, "I _know_ what he's capable of. He can be one slimy little bastard, but he's got a good head for business. That, and he's a great bartender when Jones is off."

I can't stand it. I feel so terrible, and I place my drink on the table before I turn around.

Instead of turning me back around, he whips around in front of me again. " _Was_ this some scheme to prove something to me?"

I can't look him in the eyes as I nod my head yes in the tiniest amount. "I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea. I knew you were on your way over here, and I was curious what he'd do if he didn't know who I was." I want to crawl into a hole and die; I'm so mortified.

His hands reach up to either side of my face as he tilts it up towards his. I close my eyes. "Of course, I forgive you since I guess I can understand why, but I can't imagine you'd do this on your own without being prodded. Did Jesse put you up to this?" he asks outright.

"It was just an idea."

"His idea."

"Yes, and I agreed."

"Because he wants me to feel jealous just like he did."

"Maybe he thought if you had a different perspective on the whole thing then you might change your mind."

I feel his thumbs on my cheeks as he gets real quiet. I peep my eyes open to glance at his expression. He looks like he's trying to figure me out. "Why are you so adamant about me firing him?"

I open my eyes all the way and stare back into his. "Because I don't understand why you're not! What he did was wrong, apology or not."

"While you've been here, have you seen him misbehave?" he asks. Then he says quickly, "Oh, but that's right. He wouldn't do anything close to that around Jesse now."

"I showed up alone."

"That answers another question. Well, did you see him misbehave?"

"Other than him making me that drink, no, but I also noticed Marie staying as far away from him as possible. I can't _believe_ you brought her back to work, even if Simon apologized. She's being forced to function in a state of shock."

"I have very few employees. Are you suggesting that I work in her place?"

"Maybe," I answer. Then, I plead, "I just don't understand why you would do stuff like this. Here I thought I was getting to really know you, and you throw this curve ball."

"I won't dismiss him without some solid reason. I'm going to see how this plays out. If he does anything else, then I'll get rid of him. I had a small chat with him about that already."

Both of us get quiet. _What is his problem? Why won't he understand that Simon should be fired?_

Still, I don't think this was the way to go about showing him.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"Erin..." he lovingly growls as he pulls me into his arms. _He doesn't seem angry._ _He should be pissed off at me. I hope he doesn't completely blame Jesse for all this._

"Why aren't you mad at me?" I have to ask.

He laughs a tiny bit. "I don't know. I'm just not."

"Are you mad at Jesse?"

"I was mad at Jesse before, so nothing's changed," he answers into my hair. "Listen to me, okay? I'll keep an extra close watch on the slimy little bastard if it will make you feel better."

"Almost."

"Are you still mad at me?" he asks.

I bite my lip for a second. "I don't understand you, but I don't guess I'm mad at you anymore."

He takes in a big breath and says, "Good."

"Jesse's more than just jealous," I say very quietly to him. I doubt anyone a foot away could hear me since they turned the music up. The people in the nearby houses have got to hate that, but maybe they're used to it. "I think he's worried he'll try something like that again."

"I'll fix it to where she doesn't work alone with Simon anymore. You know, turn everyone's schedules upside down," he says the last bit in a mockingly teasing voice. He starts running his fingers through my hair. "You blonde girls moving to the island and stirring up trouble," he states, still teasing.

I gasp, lightly hit him, and try to get out of his arms, but he holds me fast. "Trouble, huh?" I ask, and he laughs. Then I get a little sad as I say, "I don't like you being mad at Jesse."

"Since when are you so pro-Jesse?"

"Since I saw the way he looked at Marie in your kitchen today." _When all you could think about was your business._

"I didn't see him making the 'goo-goo' eyes."

I blink a few times and ask, "What?" I have a hard time hiding my smile, and a laugh slips out.

"It's his term," he says as Jesse and Marie's voices work their way over to us in a lull in the music. "So, what do you mean?"

"Well, it was like he'd do anything for her, you know?" I look up at him to see how he reacts to what I said, and I see that look in his eyes that makes me mentally check where the nearest chair is in case I need it. _I guess that's what Jesse calls the 'goo-goo' eyes._

" _I'd_ do anything for _you,_ " he says quietly.

"This isn't a competition," I try not to snap while trying to remain standing without locking my knees, thinking that because I said something good about Jesse that he feels threatened. Instead, I continue my previous statement, "I know you'd like to think you would, but you haven't."

"You're talking about Simon."

"Yes."

"I wish you weren't so up in arms about this," he says quickly. "However," he continues without much pause, "Jesse's little scheme _did_ work in one way. I am pissed as hell at Simon for making you that drink and then telling you it wasn't what it looked like."

"Do you honestly think women would drink that drink otherwise?"

"I know for a fact they would," he says, and I feel my jaw drop.

"Well," he laughs sheepishly, "obviously not _you_. That's why I was surprised... and mad."

I have to remind myself that he wasn't my Mr. Wonderful as short as a month ago, that he was almost a different person. Again, I wonder if I'm just going to end up as one of many in that long chain of women he's had. I hate these thoughts.

"No no," he says quickly, guessing that I'm thinking about him making that drink for women that knew what they were getting. "Stop it. I shouldn't have brought that up," he says as he sees my face start to fall.

I can't make it stop falling. _What if he goes back to being like people say he was? This has been so intense; what if it's just a flash in the pan? What will I do if that happens?_

I feel his finger on my chin as he tilts it up to make me look at him. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I shake my head. "You don't wanna know."

"Which, of course, makes me want to know even more," he states, and I stay quiet. I hear Marie laugh about something as Jesse talks to her. That makes me relax a little that she sounds calm.

I ponder why I feel like I already really know and understand Marie when Bryce interrupts my thoughts, "Please?"

"I'm worried about us," I answer quietly while I see him look up at the bar.

His eyes pop back over to me as I hear a mild panic in his voice when he asks, "What?! Why?"

"I'm worried that..." I can't finish it. I don't even want to put the idea into his head.

"Yes?" Bryce prompts me, but I get distracted by Simon's voice, and then by Jesse's as he starts yelling. I notice Bryce gets distracted again too.

"Excuse me a moment," he says to me in a dark voice, looking irritated that he has to take care of something. I get the feeling we're not done with this conversation.

# Chapter 21: Convincing

### Jesse

Erin looks uncomfortable. I don't want to be the one to tell her this, but this actually makes her a better target for that fucker.

The second I walk up on the boards, I can tell a subtle difference in the way Marie acts. It's like she knows I'm here without looking. The thought makes me smile in spite of the fact that I want to beat Simon's face to a pulp. _He's mixing Erin a drink. Perfect._

I walk over and lean back against the railing to watch Marie, knowing that she has to come over and take my order eventually. I still harbor a weak hope that I can get her to come over tomorrow.

I have to work three times harder than normal to keep from laughing my head off when Bryce arrives and immediately goes into 'jealous-boyfriend' mode. _Oh Erin, this is just perfect!_ I think as, on some tiny level, I feel a little bad for doing this to Bryce. Still, the shoe needed to be on the other foot in order for him to be able to realize that it was wrong to accuse me of sheer jealousy when I saw Marie in someone else's arms. If Marie had _wanted_ that attention, then I couldn't do anything about it, but she _didn't_ want it. And that makes all the difference.

Oh, I don't expect Bryce to fire him on the spot, not after what I saw today, but I want Bryce to see Simon in a new light. Maybe then he'll begin to see that he's got to go.

Marie has still not come over to ask me what I want to drink. I wonder how long she plans on ignoring me.

Not much longer, actually, I notice, when I see her sigh and walk over to me. She never carries around a notepad. I admire her amazing ability to remember everything in an order.

"What do you want tonight, Jesse?" she asks resolutely, looking incredibly tense.

Normally, I'd have a lot of fun with this type of a question, but I don't think now is the time for that type of flirting.

"I just want to know if you're okay," I say. "Are you?"

"I'm fine," she says automatically and a little too fast.

_She needs to quit,_ I think as I stand here and watch her.

"Jesse," she says in exasperation, "either make an order or let me get back to work."

I look around at the happy bar patrons. "Looks to me like everyone's fine." She turns around to look and see that I'm right. Of course I am. If anyone else needed anything, she wouldn't be over here talking to me. "Well, except one person," I point out. _Who's in complete and utter denial about how upset she is._

"Who, Bryce?" she asks, I guess realizing she might've gone over to ask Bryce if he wanted anything when he showed up.

"You."

"I told you; I'm fine," she reiterates, and I decide to drop directly asking her how she is for now.

"Has he tried anything else?" I ask and watch her expression closely for any hint of that shithead bothering her again.

"No," she says defensively.

"Marie, you aren't doing anything wrong by admitting how uncomfortable you were earlier. You can't keep working in this environment." I pause for a second before I keep talking, "It scares the crap out of me."

Simon leaves Bryce and Erin to head back to the now very-crowded bar. I guess flirting with Erin distracted him from doing his job.

Marie stands in front of me and actually looks worried for me. The irony of that isn't lost on me... only it's not funny. I almost wish she'd not look at me like that because it makes me want to grab her face in my hands and kiss away the worry. That's not something she needs right now, and I have to repeatedly remind myself of that.

"I can take care of myself, Jesse. You don't have to be scared for me," she says as quietly as she can and still have the words reach me. They reach me a little better than usual due to a lull in the music.

I love how she says my name.

Simon looks like he's playing catch-up with all the drink demands he gets. I see him shoot Marie angry glances every once in a while, and I decide not to point this out to her. I want to piss him off.

So, since most of the remaining customers all gang up on Simon at the bar, I stand here and talk to Marie for several minutes about whatever topic interests her. I learn all about her little brothers and how one is an artist and the other is big into sports like she was as a kid. Surprisingly, she talks about the artist brother much more affectionately than the younger one. I wonder why.

"I always wondered what it would've been like to have siblings," I say.

She smiles and laughs a little, also slightly rolls her eyes before she says, "It's okay as long as you're not the constant babysitter because of your mother's drama."

Just as I ask her to elaborate to keep her talking, Simon walks up behind her and interrupts us.

He gets her attention, and she turns around. "What the hell, Marie? You abandon me at the bar where I have to fill everyone's orders while you stand over here and flirt?"

I watch as her profile looks upset when she looks around the bar. "I didn't see any customers in the bar seating that needed help. I don't know what to do when they're up at the bar."

"You could've at least come up and taken their orders so that they weren't all standing around staring at me, wondering why I wasn't fixing _their_ order first. This isn't social hour."

I can almost see his point if it weren't for him doing the exact same thing with Erin earlier.

I also can't help but snort as I think, _If only Marie was flirting with me._

"I'm sorry. You're right. I could've come up and done that," she says with her head bowed.

"Right," he says. "You're not paid to flirt."

I can't stand it. "Neither are you," I say darkly.

His beady eyes snap over to me as he hisses, "Just what the hell are you talking about?"

"With Erin earlier," I explain.

"I was entertaining a new customer as far as _I_ knew," he retaliates.

"Well, Marie was entertaining _this_ customer," I say, pointing to myself. I have _never_ liked this guy, and I used to avoid coming here when I knew he was working. Today, he's pushed that 'not liked' to loathing.

"Bullshit, Jesse. I'm not an idiot."

I walk around Marie and get right in the little shit's face. He takes a step back.

"Really?!" I ask, incredulous. "You sure could've fooled me! So, it's okay for _you_ to go off and focus on just one customer when it suits your purpose, but to have Marie do the same thing is against the rules?" Everything that happened today has started to pile up, and I know I'm losing it. I don't care though.

"You weren't even ordering anything as far as I can tell, so I can only assume you're trying to pick her up. She needs to be reminded to get back to work. Haven't you interfered enough today?"

I feel my temper get the better of me. "Interfered?! Interfered?!!! It's lucky for her that I showed up when I did with your greasy hands all over her!" I'm about two seconds from punching him.

Then the sonofabitch smiles and asks, "Jealous?"

Out of nowhere, Marie reaches up and blocks my punch. I'd been aiming right for his stupid grin. "No, Jesse," she pleads as Simon skips a little away.

"What's going on?" Bryce asks from behind me. I wonder how long he'd been standing there as I step aside since he appears to ask Simon the question and not me.

"Just Jesse distracting Marie from doing her job," Simon answers.

Bryce scowls and stays quiet for a few seconds. "Simon, I've been debating the idea of reorganizing the business, and I'm afraid you have no place in it. Not with your behavior."

"You're firing me because I made a pass at your friend's crush?"

"For your unprofessional attitude and actions," Bryce answers.

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Simon looks at Bryce like he's waiting for him to say he's joking. When he sees he's not, he gets mad.

"I've worked for you for three years! You start acting different, and then I come back from vacation and you're some stranger. You never cared about anything that went on with Bernadette," Simon snarls.

What?!

"Excuse me?" Bryce asks, his eyebrows raised. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought she told you."

"Get off my property, Simon," Bryce states with deadly calm.

No wonder Bernadette quit.

Bryce turns to Marie while I stare a hole into the scumbag, wondering why he hasn't left yet. "Marie, I'm truly sorry I didn't do something like this earlier today, and I hope you continue to work for me." I feel that was a little formal, but sometimes that's what's needed, I guess.

Simon's beady little eyes go back and forth between Marie and Bryce.

Marie nods silently, and Bryce thanks her.

Simon walks off, mumbling about how he's going to see Bryce in court. Bryce merely laughs and tells him, "Good luck finding someone better than Desmond to represent you."

I laugh a little too, realizing that Desmond is good for something besides laughing at after all.

Then, Bryce looks up at Marie and says he'll help her close up as soon as they don't have any more customers or closing time, whichever comes first. I can _feel_ the relief radiating off Marie as Erin and I help the two of them clean things up.

Not much time goes by before the bar empties of everyone but the four of us, and I somehow magically convince Marie to let me walk her home again.

Before reaching the edge of her building, I gently pull her out towards the beach. She hesitates a little with a confused expression as she lets me lead her, holding her hand. The nighttime falls around us like a soft blanket, warm and humid but with just enough breeze to keep it from being unbearable. Innumerable stars spot the sky, and I know that if we get farther away from her apartment complex and out onto the beach, we'd be able to see even more.

Just before we reach the sand, she pulls a little harder on my hand, pulling hers free. I decide this is far enough and turn to face her.

"What is it?" she asks me in a wary voice.

"Now that all that crap is over, I'm going back to my original plan and begging you to come to my party tomorrow night. I'll even come and pick you up beforehand so you don't have to walk or call a cab," I plead.

"Jesse..." she lets her voice trail off in an exasperated way. She's frequently exasperated around me I've noticed. "Why?" she asks.

"Because I want you to," I answer simply. "It's not like we'll be the only ones there. Everyone, well, except Bryce and I don't know about Erin, will be there. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to," I add at the end.

"Right," she says, not believing me for a second.

I can't help but quietly laugh now, and again, I notice more tension leave Marie from the way her posture changes. "Okay, well, yeah I guess that's getting a bit ridiculous." I laugh again before I get a little more serious. "I just really want you to come, please?" When I don't get an outright no, I keep trying. "Please, please, please, please, _please_?"

She does another one of those sighs and closes her eyes.

"You don't have anything _else_ planned, do you? Why not come over and meet the group?"

"I suppose I can," she breathes, and I work hard to keep from jumping up and down like a little kid.

Yes!

"Thank you," I grin, and she finally opens her eyes.

"You don't need to come pick me up; I can make my way over there myself. You live behind Bryce I'm guessing?"

_Observant._ "Yes," I answer. "Are you sure you don't need me to? I mean, it's no bother at all."

"No, that's not necessary. What time?"

_As soon as you can get there is when the party really starts._ "Around seven. Pretty much any time around then. If you want to show up early you can. I'm off tomorrow too." _On purpose._ "Maybe we could go do something before the party?" I hold my breath. _You're pushing your luck, Jesse._

"No, I have things I need to get done."

"Well, you don't have a car. I could just play chauffeur. You know, if you need to go to the grocery store or something."

"Laundry," she explains in a one-word sentence.

"Oh," I answer lamely. Then I get a little playful. "I could come help with that. I'm very good at folding towels."

"Jesse..." she growls in warning, and I can't contain the laughter anymore. "And I can walk to the store," she says.

Seeing a few openings, I take them. "But what if it rains? And the walk home is a bear with all those bags."

"I'm sure I'll be fine."

"If you change your mind, you'll give me a call, right?" I ask, grinning and hoping for what she might say next.

"How can I do that when I don't have your phone number?" she asks.

_Oh this is too easy._ "Are you asking for my phone number, Marie? Sure, I'll give it to you. Hand me your phone, and I'll input it myself." I bite the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing again as I watch her mildly glare at me.

"Walked right into that one, didn't I?"

I'm so glad she doesn't look pissed, more resigned. There's a small glimmer of hope.

"I'm afraid you did," I answer with a grin and obstinately hold out my hand for her phone. I text myself immediately after she gives it to me:

Marie's phone number

"What did you just do?!" she asks in a shocked voice when she hears my phone buzz in my pocket.

"Well," I quickly explain while turning and keeping her from getting her phone back, "how else am I going to know it's you?" I go into her address book to put myself in and list myself in her favorites.

"May I have my phone back please before you reprogram the whole thing?" she asks, trying and failing to show how she can't help but think this is funny.

I grin. "Geez, no need to get your panties in a wad. It was _you_ that asked for _my_ phone number after all. I was only saving you the trouble of having to put it in yourself," I say teasingly, thinking of where her panties lay hidden in my room. I grin as I hand her back her phone.

"All kidding aside-"

"You know how to be serious?" she asks facetiously, interrupting.

"- you'll call me if you need anything?" My mouth drops in mock shock as I take in what she said. "What do you mean by that? Of course I can be serious!" I pretend to act wounded. _I can be_ very _serious if you'd just let me._ I say a little quieter, "For instance, I'm seriously happy you're coming to my party tomorrow." I take a step closer to her. We get quiet, and I wonder if she'll let me kiss her again. Maybe?

......

"Jesse, if you try to kiss me, you'll wind up in a painful ball in the dirt," she says evenly and with a slight amount of warning in her voice.

"What if I'm willing to take the risk?" I ask seductively.

"They're _your_ balls after all," she brazenly points out.

I pause for a second before have to take a step back because I double over in laughter.

"Shh!" she urges. "People are trying to sleep!" After a short pause, she adds, "And I need to be one of them."

I decide I've pressed my luck enough tonight, probably even gone too far considering the day she's had, so I don't ask her if I can join her. Instead, I tell her goodnight, making sure to in _no_ way make it look like I'm going to kiss her, and head back to the bar to Martha. Before I get there, I get a text:

thank you for your help today

# Chapter 22: texting

### Marie

thank you for your help today

I smile after I send the text to Jesse. Then, I take a look around my dark apartment.

What a day!

I'd hated that feeling of fear when Simon had come on way too strong like he did. Something about him just set off too many warning bells. I have a bad feeling he wouldn't have backed down easily if Jesse hadn't have come along, and I forget everything I've learned when I really panic like that.

_How on earth does Jesse have this knack for showing up at just the right/wrong times?_ I think as I put on my pajamas and go brush my teeth. _He wouldn't rest until Simon got fired._

I'm glad that jackass Simon admitted to what had happened with Bernadette so that I wouldn't have to tell Bryce myself, making it look like I was making the whole thing up.

When we'd finished closing up tonight, Bryce had told me that he would call Jones and me later to schedule a meeting about plans for the bar's future. I have no idea what I could contribute to such a meeting, but since I'm now one of _two_ employees, I guess I could at least sit in on it.

My phone lights up and vibrates on my bedside table, and I walk over to pick it up.

You're very welcome

I smile. He must've waited until he got home to text me back. I don't know if I should be irritated at the little thrill feeling I have going through me or not. Well, I don't suppose I can get rid of it easily, so I'll decide to like it.

I think if it weren't for Jesse, today could've been a really bad day. I decide to say something nice.

i'm glad you didn't give up like I did.

I don't give up easily.

He answered me almost immediately! _He doesn't give up easily? Why do I get the feeling there's another meaning to that?_

i've noticed.

Have you?

I wish my stomach would settle down already... or whatever that is. I haven't felt like this since Daniel told me he'd always loved me.

I don't know how to answer Jesse's question.

Because I'm not giving up on you.

I gasp and stare at my phone in shock. Now, I _really_ don't know what to say.

Still, I _like_ what he just said, and since he's not standing right here in front of me, I can go ahead and admit that to myself without worrying about giving anything away.

Since I feel safer, I decide to try to keep going.

that's a very nice thing to say.

I'm very glad you think that's nice, but tell me how it's nice so I can keep being nice. ;)

He just winked at me through a text.

what do you mean?

Just what kind of 'nice' is he talking about?

Tell me some way to help you.

time

My phone stays silent for several minutes. I can only guess he's given up with this conversation. _I'm sorry, Jesse. I just need time. Please! Yes, okay, I like you, but I'm afraid of being hurt again._

Anything during that time?

I let out a huff. _I don't know!_

i don't know

Texting is okay?

Again, I don't know what he means. _Not all texting is okay._

nice texting is okay

I decide that that's a safe answer since I don't want to ask him what he means again.

It's nice of me to say you have beautiful eyes.

My heart dips down into my stomach and then jumps up to my throat. _Why didn't I anticipate something like that? Of course he's going to use whatever loophole he can find!_

Because you do

He didn't even give me a chance to respond!

thats not reallt wht i ment!

My stupid hands are shaking, and I hit send before I could correct my typos.

Saying you have beautiful eyes isn't nice? I thought it was.

not that kind of nice

So, I'm not allowed to nicely tell you you have beautiful eyes.

I let out this irritated growling noise and shake my phone like I'm wringing his neck. Then I sit here and debate how to answer him. On the one hand, it's just a compliment. On the other, it's flirting. I can just picture the ridiculous grin on his face since he knows I'm squirming. In the meantime, my phone lights up again.

Am I allowed to tell you I love the sound of your voice when you say my name?

I gasp a little. _I feel like he just mumbled that right into my ear!_

no

Awwwwwwww

i mean friendly nice

Compliments aren't friendly? I was just being nice-nice I guess.

What the hell is nice-nice?

This man will probably never leave me alone now that he has my phone number. I don't quite know how I feel about that.

maybe i shouldn't have handed you my phone

I'm glad you did.

i should be sleeping right now

I'm glad you're not. Are you sleepy?

not anymore

_Oh! Crap!_ I think real fast. _He's going to run with that._

well then, what do you want to do?

Nothing that you're thinking if I'm guessing correctly. Nice try, Jesse.

sleep

I could call you and sing you a lullaby.

Oh no, no, that's the last thing I need is to sit here on my bed and listen to your voice. I'm already 'hearing' it enough in my head.

no, that's okay.

you sure? Oh, you'd rather I do it in person?

_As in, come over? No!_ I think in a mild panic.

no! no thank you

oh. right. nice texting

I take a deep breath and wonder if he's tired.

aren't you sleepy?

Nope. There's nothing I'd rather do than nice texting with you.

I actually let out a laugh. That was so cheesy! _Oh, I'll bet there_ are _things you'd rather do..._

right. (sarcasm)

Sarcasm isn't very nice.

You think there's something I'd rather do?

for one, you mentioned the lullaby

You said you didn't want that, so neither do I.

That would be sweet if I believed him.

don't lie

me lie? No. I don't want to push you.

You don't?

Brave. Maybe stupid. Whatever it is, I can't believe the idea that comes to me.

what would you do if you could?

Stupid, Marie! You know exactly what he'd do if he could.

Several minutes go by, and I'm guessing he's trying to figure out how to answer the question. That, or he's hopefully gone to sleep. My biggest fear is that he's concocting this very long reply.

I'd start by continuing with the nice-nice compliments like your beautiful eyes and voice. But then, since I'm pushing you, I'd move on from that and tell you what I'd like to do to you right now.

I drop my phone, swear, and work on trying to get it to turn back on. Heaven knows what that man has started spouting without me telling him to cool it. Finally, I get it to turn back on, and I, sure enough, have a text waiting.

did I lose you?

i'm here. okay. don't be dirty.

There is nothing dirty about any of this

I sit here and try to digest what he said and what he might mean. I have to put my phone down before I drop it again because my hands start shaking again.

you said 'okay' so I can only guess you want to know what I'd do.

I'd much rather come over and show you.

I take in a huge amount of air in shock. _Why does he keep wanting more when I_ told _him I wanted nice texting only!_

no thts not wht i ment!

What is it with my hands and the 'a' button? Also, my shaking hand hit send out of habit.

oh no. I'm sorry.

I'm good at screwing up.

I'll let you go to sleep now.

i meant 'okay' like it's okay. you didn't screw up

He may be pushing me a little, but I also don't want him to feel bad. I also secretly admit to myself that I'm liking this texting back and forth, and I don't want that to end just yet.

No, I said I wouldn't do that and then I went and did it and esp after the day you just had.

_Does he think that just because the day was awful that I'm going to let it affect everything else like right now? He made it_ better _anyway._

the day ended good

I hope I had something to do with that

you had everything to do with that.

Oh, that was brave. Still, now that I know he won't take it too far, I feel happy I said that.

My phone stays quiet for a little longer than normal before the next text shows up:

I want to make all your days start and end good

I want to start crying. How does he do this to me? How does he know just the right things to say? _'_ _Because he's had a lot of practice, Marie, being a womanizer and all.'_

What do I say to that?

I decide to ask.

why do you say things like that?

Because you're letting me

I wish these stupid butterflies in my stomach would calm down! Just as I get my breathing and stuff under control, he pulls out something like that.

you've had alot of practice with this

There. In one sentence, I put down my fear. It's easier to do it this way when I can sit and think about what exactly to say.

Not really. I'm just saying some of what I'm thinking.

some

It's almost a question.

You asked me to wait on the other stuff

Of course, now I want to know what else he's thinking.

It's really like he's here right now, saying these things to me instead of just texting them. It's like he's mumbling them right into my ear.

This feeling is so powerful that I actually turn off the lights and close my curtains for fear that he can see me. Then I have a seat on the couch.

are you at home right now?

My paranoia starts eating at me.

yes. I'm sitting in my bed.

Why? Would you rather I was there?

There it is again - him asking to come over.

no

Oh wait! Does that sound bad?

I can almost see his face fall, and I hate that. He looks so silly when he smiles. Good silly.

stop frowning

I get a little worried that I guessed incorrectly, and now he's going to make something of it.

Are you hiding somewhere that you can see me?

i guessed

because I feel like you're here

Mon dieu! So I'm not the only one.

I wish you WERE here, not for anything you might think, but just here.

I take a deep breath and try to calm my slight shaking. Why does he keep asking for physical when emotional I can barely handle? _Not for anything I might think? What does he mean exactly? Why?_

because I like being near you

I cover my mouth with my hand. Did he just read my mind?

_Me too, Jesse,_ I think as I remember how much easier things got once he showed up at the bar tonight. I guess if I have to have a hero sometimes, I'm glad it's him.

My hands shake a little as I type up my next text.

i felt better tonight after you showed up

There. That puts it in a way that I can handle.

I'm so happy you said that.

I can picture him looking at his phone with that same look in his eyes he had yesterday, well, day before yesterday, when he told me he has feelings for me.

Marie I'm about 3 seconds from driving over there

I sit upright real fast.

no. i can't handle that.

i'm sorry.

I lean over and bury my face into the couch cushions, trying not to cry. I just met him, and he's getting too close. This is just a game to him, but it isn't to me. That's why he keeps asking for physical.

I'll still see you tomorrow, right?

Oh no. How am I going to handle tomorrow after all this?

'Tough it out, Marie. Keep him at arm's length.'

i said i'd come so i'll be there

I'm getting very sleepy.

Then I'll go to sleep so tomorrow gets here faster.

Goodnight Marie.

goodnight Jesse

# Chapter 23: "nice" texting

### Jesse

You're very welcome.

I finally get home and send Marie a reply text as soon as I pull into my driveway. I make it a rule to not use my phone and drive if possible.

I wonder if she's going to text me back again?

Probably not. That was just a one time -

i'm glad you didn't give up like i did.

_Hello!_ I feel myself grin like a loon.

I don't give up easily.

Very true statement.

I've given up, however, on leaving Marie alone. That was a crazy idea, and I don't know what I was thinking in thinking that I could pull that off. I told her. She knows how I feel. I wish I knew for sure about her, though.

i've noticed.

Have you?

Well, it's good to know that she's not oblivious to everything.

I wonder if she'd be more comfortable talking about some things via text that she wouldn't otherwise.

It's worth a shot.

Because I'm not giving up on you.

There. Point blank. What is she going to make of that?

I walk in and lay my keys on the kitchen counter before I head upstairs to get ready to go to bed.

_Big day tomorrow. I hope_.

Yeah, she may have baggage, issues, whatever you want to call it, but it won't last forever. I wish I knew what I could do to help her get over that whatever-it-was that went on. I wish she'd _let_ me if I _did_ figure something out.

She probably gave up and pulled away since I pushed a little again.

that's a very nice thing to say.

She's still there!

Nice.

Nice? I'm nice. No, I said something nice.

What kind of nice?

I'm very glad you think that's nice, but tell me how it's nice so I can keep being nice. ;)

I chuckle a little at the end when I add the wink. I very purposefully said nice three times for emphasis.

Nice?! Not romantic or sexy or shocking or something else?

what do you mean?

I let out a small huff in very mild annoyance. _What do I mean?_

_Well, I_ mean _this._

Tell me some way to help you.

time

"Shit!" I yell up to my ceiling. I'm really starting to dislike the word 'time.'

She did it again! Just when I'm trying to help she draws the line. The 'time line.' Bad pun.

So, she needs time, or at least that's what she thinks.

I go brush my teeth and change into some pj pants. Then, I sit on my bed and pick up my phone again. There simply _has_ to be something I can do.

Anything during that time?

i don't know

Hmm. That's better than a nothing.

Well, we're texting right now so that must be okay.

texting is okay?

nice texting is okay

Again, that word 'nice.' How on earth do I define 'nice texting'? There are many ways of being nice.

I think of one of my favorites, grin, and send her another text.

It's nice of me to say you have beautiful eyes.

I laugh a little. _Point for Jesse!_ She's probably staring at her phone and not knowing what to say back. I send her a quick chaser:

Because you do

I start thinking up all the other 'nice' things to compliment her on. I could go on and on with all the 'nice' things to say.

Thinking about her like this probably isn't such a great idea because of what it's doing to me.

Yeah, that would be 'nice' too. Hm, maybe the word 'nice' isn't so bad after all.

thats not reallt wht i ment

Typos! _Some_ body got a little jittery. She didn't expect that.

I laugh a little again and decide to have some fun.

Saying you have beautiful eyes isn't nice? I thought it was.

This _is_ fun. If I can do this right, she won't know what hit her.

not that kind of nice

I'm not finished.

So, I'm not allowed to nicely tell you you have beautiful eyes.

Three times. I told her that three times. Now it's sure to stick in her head. Her head with the beautiful eyes. and lips.

Ending up a painful ball in the dirt might've been worth it.

I want to call her. It's driving me a little crazy not being sure how she's reacting to all of this. That's half the fun. She's being quiet, and I want to know why. If I called her, I'd at least be able to hear her voice.

That's it!

Am I allowed to tell you I love the sound of your voice when you say my name?

no

Awwwwwww

Hm. Really short answer on her part.

I really wish I knew what she was doing! Is she mad? Does she think this is funny?

i mean friendly nice

She doesn't use capital letters. My phone, most of the time, does them automatically.

_Friendly nice? I'm_ being _friendly... not quite as friendly as I'd like, but I am._

Compliments aren't friendly? I was just being nice-nice I guess.

I laugh again at myself coming up with 'nice-nice.' There's a lot of niceness going around.

maybe i shouldn't have handed you my phone

I'm glad you did

And you are too. Admit it!

i should be sleeping right now

Oh no! Not yet. I'm not done being nice. Hm. Still, if she's sleepy I don't want to keep her up.

I'm glad you're not. Are you sleepy?

not anymore

I grin. _'Not anymore' huh? And just what did I wake up?_

This is a fantastic opening, and I debate whether or not I should take it. I decide on sending _her_ an opening.

well then, what do you want to do?

One of those weird times my phone doesn't capitalize.

_Please do what I want to do._ What I really want to do is call her and have phone sex. 'Nice' texting sex would be good too.

sleep

Boring. I don't want to sleep yet.

I want to call her, dammit, but I don't want to piss her off.

I could call you and sing you a lullaby.

Yeah, after we did some 'nice talking.'

no, that's okay

Damn. Still, I told her I don't give up easily...

You sure? oh, you'd rather I do it in person?

I highly doubt I get a yes for that, but a man can dream.

no! no thank you

Damn! Shot down totally.

Of course, this makes me want to go back over there even more. I _do_ have to keep this conversation going, however.

oh. right. nice texting

aren't you sleepy?

Nope. There's nothing I'd rather do than nice texting with you.

That looks like something off a strange greeting card. The thought makes me laugh.

Okay, there are things I'd rather do, but only if I can make her want them as well.

right. (sarcasm)

Sarcasm again?

Sarcasm isn't very nice.

I decide to prod a little.

you think there's something I'd rather do?

for one, you mentioned the lullaby

You said you didn't want that, so neither do I.

Reverse psychology... even if it's moderately true.

Ask me to call you. Or better yet, come over.

don't lie

It's not exactly a lie!

me lie? No. I don't want to push you.

Unless you want me to now.

_I doubt it. I'm consistently pushing my luck tonight. And after the day she's had._ I sigh.

what would you do if you could?

_Whoa!_ Talk about your openings! Just when I think she's going to stay all prim and proper she throws this at me.

Shit, Marie, you should know what I'd do if I could. You're asking for it.

So, how should I answer this? I could take this in so many directions.

I'd start by continuing with the nice-nice compliments like your beautiful hair and voice.

I don't hit send yet. I want to hit her with it all at once.

_Then what? Oh, the choices._ I sit and think about how I'd love to go about seducing her.

She wants me to push her. ?

But then, since I'm pushing you,

I still don't hit send.

My mind wanders back to her legs in particular and how nice they'd look wrapped around me at either my waist or my neck.

I want to go to her house.

I'd move on from that and tell you what I'd like to do to you right now.

I hit send. I still kept it vague enough since she'd only just barely crossed that line. _I wonder what she'll say to that._

My phone stays quiet. Maybe I took too long in answering and she fell asleep.

Maybe she's texting me what she'd like to do to me. That would be awesome.

did I lose you?

Please don't have gone to sleep!

My phone remains quiet, and I get very sad.

i'm here. okay. don't be dirty.

My jaw drops a little. _Dirty?! This isn't dirty. Trust me, I know dirty._

there is nothing dirty about any of this

I go into my settings to see why it didn't capitalize those last times. I can't figure it out. Maybe I hit the space key before I typed and that cancelled it out. I shrug and go back to what I was thinking before.

Okay, so before the 'dirty' comment, she said okay.

She said okay.

I'm actually a little surprised again. As, understandably, stand-offish as she was today, I didn't expect her to want this.

you said 'okay' I can only guess that means you want to know what I'd do.

I wait only half a beat before I get my next idea.

I'd much rather come over and show you.

I get up and walk down the stairs, feeling uncomfortable from my hard-on. Then I walk into my kitchen and look at my keys. If she gives me _any_ indication that she wants me there then I'm going to leave a trail of dust behind me when I floor it to her house.

no thts not wht i ment!

_Oh crap,_ I think as I groan in frustration. _Dammit, I pushed too hard and I got typos again. Fuck!_

oh no. I'm sorry.

I ruin everything lately.

I'm good at screwing up.

I'll let you go to sleep now.

I let out a resigned sigh and head towards my stairs. Then my phone buzzes again.

i meant 'okay' like it's okay. you didn't screw up

Oh yes I did.

No, I said I wouldn't do that and then I went and did it and esp after the day you just had.

Yeah. The day she just had where that asswipe wanted to drag her into the men's room and do dirty things to her.

the day ended good

A small smile lifts the corners of my mouth.

I hope I had something to do with that

you had everything to do with that

Her answer was almost immediate.

I stare at my phone as I walk up the stairs to get back into my bed, a very nice feeling coursing through me.

So she did appreciate what I did!

That was such a fantastic thing for her to say that I feel I have to one-up it.

I want to make all your days start and end good

And I really do. Damn, I really do.

why do you say things like that?

_Because I'm_ trying _to show you I care. If you'd just_ let _me!_

Because you're letting me

Now, keep letting me, and maybe all this 'nice texting' can bring us a step towards you dumping all that crap you're carrying around with you. You'd do better without it.

you've had alot of practice with this

Huh? Says who? Practice at saying nice things?

_Oh,_ I think. _She means saying nice things to women and stuff like that I'll bet. Yeah, when I don't fuck it up._

Not really. I'm just saying some of what I'm thinking.

Because obviously you're not ready for the other stuff.

some

You asked me to wait about the other stuff

My phone gets quiet, and I start to imagine how much better this whole conversation would've been, and would be, if she and I were face-to-face and not having to guess at the other one's tone. I guess if this is a way she'll finally communicate then I'll take it, however.

are you at home right now?

I bring my brows together in a confused expression.

Yes, I'm sitting in my bed.

Is this an invitation? Does she want to know the other stuff after all?

Why? Would you rather I was there?

Say yes.

no

Why do I set myself up for that?

stop frowning

I blink a few times in quiet shock. _Can she see me? Where is_ she _? Did she somehow get her way over here and that's why she was asking me if I was home?_

Are you hiding somewhere that you can see me?

i guessed

because I feel like you're here

Oh. She guessed. Well still, at least I'm communicating with her in _some_ way.

I want her here right beside me. I'd so much rather look into those eyes than at a screen.

I wish you WERE here. not for anything you might think, but just here.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind sex either. Understatement. But at the same time I know she's had a hell of a day, and I wish she'd let me comfort her.

i felt better tonight after you showed up.

I sit up again.

_She said she feels better when I'm around. Well, I_ want _to be around!_

I'm so happy you said that.

I get up, head downstairs (a little calmer than before), grab my keys, shove my feet into my flip-flops, and head out my door. I stand on my front porch and text her once more.

Marie I'm about 3 seconds from driving over there

Fair warning.

My phone buzzes.

no. i can't handle that

I stop.

i'm sorry

I'm going to go mad.

I trudge back into the house and kick off my shoes.

_There_ is _still tomorrow though..._

I'll still see you tomorrow right?

i said i'd come so i'll be there

I breathe a sigh of relief.

Then I'll go to sleep so tomorrow gets here faster.

Goodnight Marie.

goodnight Jesse

She finally used a capital letter. For the 'J' in my name.

There has to be something I can do to spend time with her. I can't have a party at my house every day.

I lie down on my pillow and think about all the things that are Marie.

Maybe I can get her to teach me taekwondo...

That would be nice.

# Chapter 24: Home

### Erin

Bryce is once again my hero. I'm not sure the _reason_ that he fired him; I'm just glad he's gone. Or... going.

Simon shoots me a quick glare before striding past me. If I'm not mistaken, he mutters 'slut' under his breath. I work hard at keeping a straight face and not even showing that I heard him.

Bryce tells Marie he'll help her close up. Jesse and I do what we can to help, each of us wanting Bryce and Marie off work as soon as possible.

Finally, we're all done, and I have a seat again. I watch as Jesse talks to Marie, and it's just like something I would write. He's so cute as long as he's not hitting on _me_. I want to walk up to Marie and shake her saying 'can't you see he's crazy about you?!' On the other hand, I can understand her trepidation.

Bryce leans over my shoulder and says low in my ear, "Please stay at my house tonight." His breath on my ear and the _way_ he says it instantly turns me on. _Jesse may be cute, but Bryce is sex on legs._

"I was planning on it," I answer, turning my head away from the budding romance right in front of me.

"I wasn't sure. It's been another one of those days," he says a little sadly and lightly runs his hand up my arm, making goose bumps pop up all over me.

Jesse and Marie leave together, and I have to resist the urge to jump up and down and giggle as I stand up out of my chair.

I watch them as they head down the side stairs and around the back side of the fence. _Good luck, Jesse._

"I hope he can convince -" I start to say, but I get startled as Bryce pulls me back almost forcefully.

Holding my arm, he spins around me and kisses me like he's demanding my attention. I can feel his very short beard scratch my chin and around my lips as he holds me tight up against him. I feel like he's begging for some sort of reassurance that I'm not mad at him anymore, that I love him, that even though I spent the better part of the afternoon with Jesse that it was only on a friendly level. Yeah, I think I'm guessing right about the Jesse thing. _Can't you see he just walked off with_ Marie _?_

I trail a clawed hand down his back, and I'm sure the sensation makes it through the thin material of the shirt because he groans appreciatively. Then I wrap an arm around his waist and press myself, hard, up against him. If the man needs reassuring, then dammit, that's what he's going to get.

It's time to stop being so competitive with your best friend.

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.

"Let's go home," Bryce says quietly after he pulls back.

"Okay," I answer simply, not wanting to get into the 'home' discussion at the moment.

Once we get back to his place, he pulls me off to the beach side of the house and surprises me with a kiss. I'm amazed I got surprised. I should've expected something like this.

"Hey," he says all of a sudden, "there's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. Starts at about two, they said, so we've got a little time before."

"I don't remember hearing anything about that."

"Okay, maybe I messed up what night it was. I just don't want to go inside yet."

"That's all you had to say."

We sit down sort of on his sidewalk and the grass. I start to wonder if the whole 'stargazing' thing was a ruse because of what he says next:

"Also, this is a little more neutral ground. Okay, not much but at least it's not _inside_ which I wonder if that would make a difference."

I close my eyes and wonder to what he's building. Whatever it is, he's a little nervous, and that makes me more nervous.

"When we were talking outside of Jesse's store today..." his voice trails off.

"Yes?" I prod.

"You said 'that's not my home.' I was... surprised at how you said it, but, obviously, that wasn't the big issue at the time."

I squirm. I don't want to talk about this right now.

He keeps going. "I realize this isn't your home. It just came out of me like that because... because it feels more like home if you're here." I take a deep breath, and he continues, "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's too soon, and that's _okay_ because I know you're right."

"Too soon for what?" I ask, wanting him to clarify. I have a damn good feeling what he means, but I want to hear it.

"For you to move in with me," he says. I guess he doesn't notice how I've just let out all the air in my lungs. He continues, "I won't lie and say the thought hasn't occurred to me, especially after these past few days with you here."

I lift up one of my hands and hit the ground below me to make sure it's still there. _If that's occurred to him, what else has he thought about?_

"I mean, these past few days have been crazy, but it's crazy how the bad parts are all gone with the simple thought that you're here," he adds quietly.

He gets quiet, and I can feel him watching me.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Erin, but it looks like that's what I'm doing." He pauses for another second before he says, "I just like including you in my mental picture of home."

I look up at the stars to hopefully find an escape from the intense feeling coming off Bryce right now. I can't tell if Bryce looks up at the stars too or if he's looking at me instead.

"I'm going to miss you when you go back to living at your house," he says sorrowfully, and it breaks my heart.

"But it's not like I'm really leaving. I'll be right over there." I jerk my thumb back behind me, pointing in the direction of my house, before putting my hand back on the ground that still hasn't left me.

We're both quiet as a breeze picks up for a second, causing the branches in the palm trees above us to sway back and forth. The sound is soothing, and I close my eyes so that I can focus on only the sound of the waves and the wind with the added sounds of our calm breathing. I know Bryce isn't done with his serious discussion, and I'm making the most of this quiet interlude.

"You'll still spend the night sometimes, right?" I hear Bryce ask me from what sounds like far away. It pulls me back to the present moment and location as I open my eyes.

All of a sudden, I look up. "Look! I see one! A shooting star!" It burns out quickly. "Did you see it?"

I hear a smile in his voice as he answers, "No. I'm afraid I wasn't looking."

I put my hand down, a little disappointed.

"You get to make a wish, you know," he says quietly, and I can't read his tone.

_I wish that Bryce would be okay with the slower pace I want to take,_ I think quickly. Aloud, I say, "Okay."

"What are you going to wish for?" he asks.

"I already did it, and I'm not supposed to tell you anyway, silly," I say and nudge him playfully with my shoulder.

I see his head jerk to the side real fast as he says, "There! I saw one."

"I saw it too," I say encouragingly. "But this one can be your wish."

He gets quiet for about five seconds before he turns to me and asks, "So, I'm not supposed to tell you, huh?"

All of a sudden, I really want to know what he wished for... even if it means ending with a preposition.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," he mumbles quietly to me like he's letting me in on some big secret.

Even though my curiosity is driving me crazy, I reply, "No, then it won't come true."

"Who says?" he asks, grinning in the moonlight.

"Everybody," I answer, shrugging.

"Well, what if they're wrong? What if they got it backwards and the only way to have a wish come true is to _tell_ someone about the wish? What if by doing that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or something?"

"I don't want to take that risk," I say evasively.

"Don't you want to know what I wished for?" he asks.

"Yes, but I also don't want you to tell me."

"Because you want it to come true?"

"Maybe. It depends on what it is. I mean, if you'd wished for a meteor to fall out of the sky and land on us, I hope it doesn't come true."

"That would suck if it was a big meteor," he says and laughs a little. "That wasn't it, by the way."

"I assumed."

"Maybe you can guess it," he prompts.

I'm just about ready to get up and head inside because now I'm afraid I can easily guess what his wish was, and although the thought of any of that makes me happy, I don't know the time scale he has in mind. I decide to change the subject.

"Thank you for firing the slimeball."

"You don't want to hear my wish?" he asks obstinately.

"No."

"Because you want it to come true."

"Maybe. Are you worried if he'll take you to court?" I ask, maintaining the new subject.

He sighs. "He might, but trust me, Desmond is bloodthirsty. Besides, if I can get Bernadette to tell me what happened then maybe we could use her against him. I wish she'd told me." He adds the last sentence much quieter than the rest.

"Maybe sic Jesse on her," I say with a small giggle, remembering how she'd failed in her attempt to ask him out.

"Normally, that could work, but I think Jesse is hopelessly distracted."

"Hopelessly?"

"Yeah," he says almost absentmindedly. "A permanent victim of the 'goo-goo' eyes."

I stay quiet for half a beat before I crack up laughing.

I see Bryce smile again before he says, "Honestly, I had no idea my little plan would work so good."

"Your little plan?" I can't help but ask. _Work so 'well' not 'good.'_

"Yes," he answers. "A distraction."

"You didn't have to do that," I say, guessing at what he means.

"Yes I did. I know how that man can brood."

"It probably would've happened without your help anyway."

"True, but I wasn't taking any chances," he says definitively. "I mean, it was just a suggestion."

"That was mean, Bryce. That was a terrible way to welcome her to the island. If someone had done something like that to me a few weeks ago, I would've run off crying and hid in my house for weeks."

"And I had a good feeling she wouldn't do that."

"It was still mean."

He sighs and looks over at me in the dark. We hear the sound of a door, probably Jesse's front door, being carried over towards us in the breeze. Then it closes again. I don't hear Martha start up.

"What's done is done, and I'd say she took it in stride. She's tough. Mostly." He gets quiet and then adds, "And I apologized." He lets out a huff. "I can't do anything right, can I?"

I look down at my feet as I think about a lot of stuff. "I'm sorry I'm getting on your case a lot lately, and sure you've done stuff right. For one, you fired that creep."

"Yeah, finally. I realize now I should've done that years ago," he says like he's inwardly berating himself.

"What finally made it happen?" I ask.

He scratches his chin a little as he tells me, "Well, I was _going_ to go over there to break up the fight that was starting, but then when I heard him taunt Jesse by saying 'jealous?', I wanted to hit him." He lets out a small laugh. "Apparently Jesse did too, but Marie stopped him."

"Yeah, that's when I turned around."

"Him asking Jesse if he was jealous pretty much gave me no doubt he did what he did and meant it just like Jesse told me. Then, he let it slip that he'd done the same thing, more successfully, with Bernadette." He lets out a sigh and gets quiet for a little while.

He speaks up again, "It's a wonder she didn't sue me."

He quickly points to the sky. "Look! There's another one."

I'd forgotten all about the meteor shower... or the not meteor shower. After the streak burns itself out, I lean back on Bryce's shoulder. He turns his head and kisses my hair.

"Sleepy?" he asks.

"Mhm," I answer. Then I somewhat playfully add, "But not too much."

"You know," he says, "Adele _is_ at Pam's." He stands up and offers me a hand up. "You can be as loud as you want." Then I see him grin to my mildly surprised expression before he kisses me and practically drags me into the house.

# Chapter 25: The Volcano Gods

### Bryce

"What are you doing?" the beautiful woman behind me asks as I sit on the edge of the bed. The morning sun has risen well into the sky by now. I check the time on my phone. It's ten.

"I'm texting Marie to ask if she can come to a meeting here now instead of another day. I want all this sorted out, and Jones already said he could," I answer her and hit send.

While Erin gets up and takes a shower, everything gets settled. Jones will pick Marie up on his way and bring her here.

Erin comes out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, and I can't resist her.

"How can you do this to me _now_ when we have people coming over?" I moan into her ear as I pull the towel off her. Her skin feels so soft and slightly damp, and I can't stop my hands from racing all up and down her back before I cup her behind and cover a nipple with my mouth.

"We have a few minutes," she breathes.

"Dammit, I love you," I say as I lift her and deposit her on the bed. The freshly-shaven space between her legs calls to me, and I can't resist moving down to get a taste. _Erin: my favorite flavor_ , I think as four-letter words come flying out of her pretty mouth while I tease her with my tongue.

In the midst of her swearing, my name comes out in a moan. I love it when she says my name, but I want her to scream it.

_But I don't have time!_ I think with an irritated groan as I pull off my briefs before lifting her hips to me where I stand next to the bed.

I groan for a much better reason after I push myself inside her. _She's so fucking tight!_ I scream inside my head as I begin swiftly pounding myself into her.

I love that she loves this position. Well, I never outright asked her, but I can tell she's not complaining by the way she's carrying on. She gets tighter, and it's all I can do to hold on.

"Please, Erin baby, come on," I moan down to her as I feel her getting close. She starts making little whining noises and arching her back while I tortuously add a little more force.

_Yes!_ I think as she comes and I can finally let go. I feel my hands dig into the soft flesh of her hips as I watch her eyes roll to the back of her head. Her legs now on either side of me, I lean over and attack her mouth with mine. She whimpers a little since I won't let her recover, but I have to kiss her right _now_. I want to crawl right up inside this woman and live there for the rest of my life. This simple, quiet, shy goddess that has so graciously allowed a mere mortal like me to make quick, but satisfying, love to her.

The doorbell rings, shattering my illusion.

"Oh shit!" I let out as I quickly separate us and frantically search for wherever I threw my clothing. Erin starts giggling at me, I guess my expression... or the situation.

"Ha ha very funny," I say in a mildly-sarcastic voice. "You're not the one that has to go answer the door."

Laughing at me still, she says, "Nope."

After I pull the first shirt I could grab over my head, I lean down to quickly but firmly kiss her. "Thank you," I say once I pull back up.

"The pleasure's all mine, hottie. Now go answer the door before they think you're not at home anymore," she says with a grin and somehow manages to swat my behind.

_She called me a hottie,_ I think with a ridiculous grin covering my face as I trot down the stairs in my bare feet.

_They got here way too fast,_ I think as I answer the door and usher Jones and Marie into my dining room. I realize this is the first time I've ever had Jones over. I hope he'll accept the promotion I'm about to offer him.

"Thank you both for coming here on such short notice," I say to them as we all take a seat at the table. Then, I proceed to offer Jones the assistant manager position. He actually looks surprised, and he happily accepts. _Good. Got that squared away._ Next, I tell them that for the next little while, I'm cutting operating hours to only the evenings so that I don't have to hire someone else for the time being _because_ I'm going to tear the place down coming up real soon and build another building.

I'd been considering this little scheme for about a year now. The whole cutting back the opening hours wasn't really in the plan, but I don't think it's fair to hire someone only to have them not work for an extended period of time. Plus, that's one less employee that I'm going to pay a salary to while the building gets done.

Marie is the first one to ask about her paycheck, and that's when I tell them about the salary. All of this is going to really cut into my savings, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. I may actually have to finance an engagement ring for Erin when I get to that point. Hopefully, I won't have to take out a loan, or much of one, to finish the building and get everything I want.

"I may still ask you to come out and help with the labor for the building, if you think you can," I say.

"Of course," Jones replies. "We'll not be doing much otherwise, right, Marie?" he asks.

"As long as it's something I can handle, that should be fine," she answers, and her phone starts buzzing. "Sorry, I thought I had it silenced," she says sheepishly.

"No problem. You can go answer it if you want," I say.

"It was just a text, I can answer it later."

"The only thing really left to discuss is that I want both of your opinions about the actual changes I want to make. A game room, for instance," I say, and Marie's phone lights up on the table. "Go ahead and take that, Marie, we can always get your take on stuff later."

Marie looks at her phone worriedly, nods, and gets up to answer it and head outside.

### Marie

"Hello," I say simply before I close Bryce's glass door. It's Jesse.

"Did you get my text?" he asks.

"Yes, but I didn't read it yet because I was in a meeting with Bryce and Jones. Bryce wanted to do it this morning to get it out of the way, I guess," I answer, wondering now what the text said. "What did it say?"

"I wanted to know if you changed your mind about needing a ride anywhere."

"No, my day isn't going like I planned, but I guess that's okay since apparently my hours are being cut and I'll have more time on my hands on all the other days," I answer and then realize that sounded bad.

"What?!" he yells, sounding upset.

I quickly get in, "I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I mean that Bryce is cutting back operating hours for a little while."

"Oh. Why?"

"He wants to build a new bar-slash-whatever," I answer.

"Oh yeah, he'd mentioned that to me before, but I thought he'd changed his mind," he states.

We get quiet, and I wonder what he's thinking.

"So," he says a little quieter, "where are you anyway? At the bar?"

"I'm at Bryce's," I say, looking back at his house for a second and wondering if he's at home.

"Really?" I can hear his smile.

"No, I'm inside the volcano because I got cold," I answer in a humorously-sarcastic undertone.

"Well, if you're that cold, I'd be happy to warm you up," he says seductively. That man never misses any opportunity to throw something in like that apparently.

"Jesse..." I say in warning.

He laughs and says, "Oh, right. Nice texting. I forgot." He laughs again, "Sorry, that was the first thought that popped into my head."

I stay quiet, reminding myself that there was a real person sending me those texts last night, and right now, I'm talking to him on the phone.

"Those shorts look good on you," he says in a lower voice, and I whip around to look at his house. I'm not sure, but I think I can see what's probably him at one of the upstairs windows.

"So you _are_ at home," I state.

"Yeah, the volcano isn't really my favorite place. Besides, you should steer clear of it too. I wouldn't want anyone to get some hair-brained idea to appease the volcano gods by tossing in a beautiful woman."

"And just how many times have you used that line?" I ask, trying yet again to keep what he said from affecting me.

"Probably... three, but I've never meant it so much as now," he answers, and we get quiet again.

I do my absolute best to keep from looking at his house now. It's driving me crazy to know he's watching me.

"Can you come over when the meeting is finished?" he asks me in a hopeful voice.

Alone with Jesse at his house... bad idea.

"Why?" I ask, stalling.

"Because... I... could use some help getting ready for the party tonight."

"If you needed help, then how were you planning on getting things ready while you were playing chauffeur?"

"Throwing things together at the last minute," he easily answers. Then he asks his own question, "Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting? I don't want to get you in trouble."

"It's pretty much over. In fact, I don't think I really have anything left to contribute," I answer.

"Oh good! I'm coming over there then," he answers happily and hangs up before I can stop him.

I frantically look around before dashing back into Bryce's house. _I wish I had some form of transportation!_ I think, still panicking. I can see Jesse now as he walks towards the house, and I hear the television in the living room. Moving quickly and without giving an explanation to Bryce and Jones, I dash into the living room to find Erin sitting on the couch. I walk a little past her and sit in the armchair.

"Everything okay?" she asks me timidly.

_No! I want to hide because I can't handle Jesse and his feelings right now!_ I scream inside my own head. Fidgeting, I glance over at this girl sitting next to me. I'm guessing she's a few, maybe three, years older than me, but I don't think much more than that. I quickly make a decision and hope she'll help me.

"Jesse's coming over," I say quietly, letting my panic show in a pleading expression.

Her eyes widen as she, thankfully, gets what I'm really saying. "Oh."

We have no time to do anything to save me before Bryce and Jesse walk into the room. They each take a seat on the couch on either side of Erin with Jesse sitting right next to me. I suddenly find the coffee table extremely interesting before I look at the television.

"So Bryce," Jesse says, "Marie tells me you're going to do that whole 'tear the place down and rebuild' plan with the bar."

I see my boss's head pop over in my direction.

"News travels fast. That must've been you on the phone then," Bryce says. I hope I'm not in trouble.

"She wasn't supposed to tell me?" Jesse asks the question I'm thinking.

"No, it's fine. I'm just... surprised," he answers, and I see Jones out the window as he starts up his car and leaves.

There goes my ride. Bryce must have told him not to worry about it.

"So Erin," Jesse talks again, "I know about everybody but you. Are you coming to the party tonight?"

She looks at me to ask, "Are _you_ going, Marie?"

I don't know why she's asking me, but I answer anyway. "Yes."

"Yeah, I guess I can go." I can sense Bryce tense up before Erin says, "I'll be surrounded by people the entire time."

"I'm just nervous we haven't seen him in a couple of days," Bryce says in a small growl.

"I hope to see him," I say almost angrily, assuming they're talking about Sean. "Let him try to pull that crap again. I'll ensure he never has any children." I see Bryce hide a smile, Erin cover her mouth with her hand to prevent a laugh, and I hear Jesse crack up laughing. I can't look at Jesse.

"Oh hey," Jesse talks again, "that reminds me, Marie. Would you teach me how to do all that stuff?"

I look over at him for the first time since he walked into the room, and he looks like he's sincerely hopeful I'll teach him.

"You seemed to be able to handle yourself anyway," I state.

"But I wanna learn _that_ stuff, and there's nobody here that could teach me but you," he mildly argues.

The television goes to a commercial break.

Bryce breaks the silence, "Erin, would you help me fix some lunch?" A subtle look passes between them.

_Please don't leave me alone in here with him!_ I think desperately to the room. I'd just started to get mildly comfortable again.

"Okay," Erin answers Bryce's question.

I quickly offer to help as well, but the two of them shoot me down. Jesse sits there quietly.

I'm alone in the room with him.

"Why don't you want to teach me?" he asks while I look at our feet. I pull mine off to the side away from him.

I decide on an answer. "Jesse, you want to date me, and I don't think it's a good idea to date a pupil." _Oh no. I know exactly what he's thinking right now._

"So you're saying you'll date me?" he asks hopefully and leans forward. I feel like his whole body is leaning towards me, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

"No. It's that... " I pause in surprise as he takes my hand. "And I've never taught anyone ever."

"I bet you'd make a great teacher," he says quietly as he pulls my hand towards him and covers it with his other one. "And 'it's what' exactly?"

"Hm?"

"You said 'it's that,' and I wanna know what you meant."

_It's that I'm very attracted to you and_ can't _be your teacher._ "It's not a good idea."

"It's a great idea to spend more time with you," he says while his thumb plays with the top of my hand. Then I hear the smile in his voice as he says, "And you'd have an excuse to beat the crap out of me on a regular basis."

"No matter how tempting beating the crap out of you sounds, I don't think it's a good idea." _And I don't think I could beat the crap out of you now if I tried._

"Tell me why," he requests quietly.

"Jesse..." I say in a worried voice as I try to get my hand free from his tightened grasp.

"Would it be easier to tell me if I texted you?"

"With you sitting here right next to me? That's ridiculous."

"But you were more comfortable with that," he states, and we both get quiet for a few seconds. Then he speaks again, "I'm going to make a few guesses. You don't want to teach me because you have feelings for me, and you don't want that to get in the way. Or, you're scared of whatever it is you feel, and you don't want me to always be around you."

Again, I wonder if he can read my mind as I try to keep the shock from showing up on my face.

Since I haven't said anything, he says, "I want to learn, and it would be the perfect thing while I'm waiting for this unknown amount of 'time' to pass."

"Perfect in what way?" I ask, trying to make my voice steady. What he's still doing to the top of my hand is utterly distracting.

"To be around you. What happened to the girl that texted that she said she felt better when I showed up?"

"I was being nice."

"I like nice."

I don't say anything.

"I'd even pay for the lessons so that it won't feel like there's something else going on. I'd just be your pupil," he adds.

"Then, as my 'pupil,' you can't hold my hand like this." I jerk my hand out of his grasp.

"You're saying you will?" he asks, eyebrows raised.

"I'll think about it," I answer as I get up and head towards where Bryce and Erin are taking a lifetime to prepare lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, would you please take a quick moment and leave me a review?

About the author

Erin Lancaster is a mother of three who sharpened her writing skills by writing blog stories. Also known as mypalsim1, she continues to write the stories that got her started.

Other titles from this author

Guardian Angel

### A Story With No Title Series

Beginning Again

### Moving Forward

### Learning to Love (late March 2014)

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