Thoughtless

Chapter 18

Man Whore

A few sleepless nights later, I came down the stairs in the morning with Denny. Lately, I always waited until Denny was ready for the day before I got my coffee. Denny insisted I could sleep in, that I didn't need to get up with him, but, honestly, weeks of getting up early to spend a little time with Kellan in the mornings had started a pattern in me that I couldn't quite shake.

The fact that Kellan had disrupted my physiology irritated me, but upon entering the kitchen with Denny, seeing Kellan irritated me even more. It wasn't his stupidly-perfect blue eyes, that turned to look at us when we entered, it wasn't his stupidly-perfect tousled hair, casual and messy, it wasn't his stupidly-perfect chiseled body, and it wasn't the stupidly-perfect crooked smile that he was giving us. It was his stupid shirt!

He was relaxing against the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew with both hands behind him, making the bold lettering on his basic red t-shirt stick out all the more. It very simply read - 'Will sing for sex'. It looked odd on him. It was something more in line with what Griffin would wear, which gave me a sneaking suspicion over where he got it. It was blatant. It was crude. It was pissing me off!

Denny cracked a smile when he saw it. "Ace! Do you-"

I immediately cut him off. "If you even ask him for one of those, you will be sleeping on the couch for a month." My tone was a little more seething than perhaps a crude t-shirt warranted, but I couldn't help it.

Denny found my reaction humorous however. He grinned goofily and cocked his head adorably. "I wasn't going to, babe." He gave me a swift kiss on the cheek and went over to Kellan, slapping him on the shoulder before grabbing mugs for my coffee and his tea from the cupboard. Glancing back at where I was still glaring at him, he chuckled and said, "You know I can't sing anyway."

Kellan, who had been silently watching the exchange with an amused grin on his face, sniggered and struggled to contain his laughter.

Steamed at both of them now, I frowned, and icily said, "I'll be upstairs, when the coffee's done." I turned and stormed out, their no-longer containable laughter following me up the stairs. Men!

Hours later, I was at work and still mired in irritation over the whole morning, when I was interrupted by a sweet voice. "You're doing it again, Kiera." Jenny leaned over a table and smiled at me.

"What?" I said coming out of my trance, shaking my head a little.

I was having trouble focusing. Kellan was doing something that he had never, in all the months Denny and I had lived with him, done. He was, as he put it, dating. Kellan had brought a different girl home every night, and every night, I had to listen to his "date" through our thin walls. I would have to use the term date loosely, as these women seemed very little interested in Kellan as a person. They were more enamored with his small slice of fame, and of course, how fabulously he was shaped. The same woman never entered our doors more than once, and there seemed to be a never-ending line of them. It made me ill. Sleep was impossible. Eventually, I passed out from exhaustion each night. But it, and the constant angry fire in my belly, was taking its toll.

"You're glaring at Kellan again. You guys fighting or something?" She eyed me curiously.

I startled, realizing that I had been glaring at him openly for the last several minutes while I had been lost in thought. I hope no one else had noticed that. I struggled to fix my face into a genuine looking smile. "No, we're fine...perfect."

"You're not still mad about the women at the party, are you?" Fire wrenched my gut as she brought up that horrible memory. I wanted to bend over and clench my stomach, it hurt so badly. But I stood there and took it, trying to maintain my fake smile. "You know, that's just how he is. Always has been, always will be." She shrugged her shoulders.

"No...I don't care 'what' he does." I stressed the word "what" more than would pass for casualness, and Jenny noticed. She started to say something, and I blurted out the first thing in my head to stop her. "Have you and Kellan ever..." I stopped my tongue when I realized where my question was heading. I really did not want to know that.

She understood though and grinning, she shook her head. "No, no way." She glanced over at him at his table, where he had some adorably cute little Asian girl sitting on the edge of it and was whispering to her in-between nibbling on her ear, much to the girl's delight. Kellan had worn that damn shirt to the bar and it had been effective. Earlier, he'd had a small group of adoring women clustered around him at his table and had obliged them with a few verses. He seemed to have narrowed his choices down to one. My face heated, knowing I would see...or hear...her later.

Jenny looked back at me, still smiling. "Not for his lack of trying though."

I blinked, surprised, and then realized I shouldn't be. Jenny was a beautiful girl. "He hit on you?"

She nodded, coming around to my side of the table. "Hmmmm...relentlessly, for the first week I worked here." She crossed her arms over her chest and stood beside me, watching him with his bimbo. "One day, I just had to tell him flat out, no, but we could be friends, if he stopped trying to get into my pants." She laughed and looked over at me. "He had found that pretty hilarious and he stopped, and we've been fine ever since."


I struggled to keep the incredulity from my face. She turned him down...repeatedly? I had been so bad at it, that it was a wonder to me that someone could. "Why didn't you...?"

She looked at me thoughtfully. "I knew what he was like, even from the beginning. I'm not interested in a one-nighter, and I don't think he's capable of anything more." She shook her head. "At least, not yet. Maybe one day he'll grow up, but..." she shrugged again, "it wasn't worth it for me."

I blushed and looked away, feeling really stupid. She was right. That was what Kellan was - a seducer. But he wasn't relationship material. Never had been, never would be. I watched him with his woman sadly. Jenny looked over at me curiously.

"Why do you ask, Kiera?"

I realized I didn't have a good reason to ask her about Kellan. "No reason. Just curious, I guess."

She stared at me intently for a second, and I wondered how to walk away without offending her. "Did he...did he hit on you?"

I blanched and struggled to maintain my composure."No, no of course not." That was pretty true...well, maybe half the time anyway.

She didn't buy my answer. "If you need to talk to me, Kiera, about anything, you can. I would understand."

I nodded and grinned, like I hadn't a care in the world. "I know. Thank you, Jenny. I better get back to work, I see some thirsty people." I tried to laugh, but it came out dead and hollow.

She watched me leave, clearly suspicious, and then she turned and looked at Kellan, equally suspicious. God, they were friends...would she talk to him? Would he tell her anything?

*******************

While at first, I had never seen him do anything other than flirt with women, and even that had tapered off while we were...flirting, now, I was seeing way more than I ever wanted to. It seemed to be everywhere. I couldn't escape it. If I had the night off he would bring a woman home, and I'd have to endure the sound of them kissing in the kitchen before they disappeared upstairs. On nights I worked, he would usually already be...deeply involved in his date, by the time I trudged upstairs. And these women were not concerned in the least that Kellan had roommates. In fact, I don't think they were even concerned that he had neighbors. Maybe they were under the false assumption that Kellan gave out awards for who could be the loudest...who was the most enthusiastic...who could say "Oh god" the most. Then again, maybe the jerk did actually give out prizes. And I was getting sick and tired of hearing Kellan's name being called out. I mean, really...he was aware of his own name. Actually, the only name he was probably aware of in the whole room was his own.

I couldn't even escape it at work. He always seemed to be tucked away somewhere, shoving his tongue down someone's throat. One time, I had even watched him try and help a girl play pool, which made me laugh smugly, since I knew he was a worthless pool player. But watching him bend someone else over the table...yeah, that had hurt a little. Watching their joint shot miss horribly and watching her immediately spin in his arms to practically molest him...that had hurt a lot.

By the time he was up to the fifth "date" in a row, in just that week alone, I finally lost it. Trying to ignore the laughter and intimate noises drifting across the hall, I angrily shifted in bed.

"Denny!" I snapped.

He shifted over to look at me and took his eyes off the uncomfortably loud TV he was trying a little too intently to watch. "What?"

I glared at him angrily. "This is beyond ridiculous! Do something! I need some freaking sleep!" And for Kellan to not be a man-whore! Our last kiss in the kitchen had been so amazingly soft and tender, but now it seemed as phony as the over-eager noises coming from his room.

Denny looked alarmed and slightly embarrassed. "What do you want me to do? Knock on his door and ask him to keep it down?"

Yes! That was exactly what I wanted him to do...maybe he could even throw the hussy out! "I don't know...do something!"

"You know, he does have to put up with us." He laughed softly. "Maybe this is payback."

I looked away swiftly, before my suddenly hurt eyes could betray me. It was something all right, just not what Denny thought.

Denny considered something for a moment. "It's a little weird. Kellan has never had issues with women, but when we moved in, he sure seemed to go through a dry spell." He shook his head. "Well, apparently everything is back to normal." He looked down at me sheepishly. "Not that I condone that. It's just, well...Kellan is, you know, Kellan." He shrugged.

More miffed than I should be at that statement, I snapped at Denny, "What do you mean, 'never had issues with women'? You knew him for one year in high school, and he was what...a freshman, sophomore? How active could he have possibly been back then?"

Looking a little curious at my reaction, he shrugged. "Well, let's just say that Kellan got an...early start." He laughed at a memory. "This one time, when his parents were gone, he brought home these twins..." He stopped relaying the story at the icy daggers I was glaring into him.

"Not for me. They disappeared into his room. I didn't see a thing. I didn't touch them...promise." He smiled sheepishly and said nothing further.

My icy stare didn't stop. I had not thought he had touched them. That was not what had me pissed off. So why was I so angry? So, Kellan had always been a slut. The way he was with women, was that any great shock? He wasn't mine, I wasn't his. I really needed to let this go...

I fought back sudden tears and tried desperately to keep my voice even. "Just talk to him, please."

He looked at me intently for a second, before finally saying, "No."

My icy daggers returned. "Why not?"

Still looking at me thoughtfully, he calmly replied, "I'm sorry, but you're overreacting."

I sat up on my elbows, getting irritated at him. He didn't usually deny me anything. "Overreacting!"

He sat up straighter too. "I hate having to tell you, no, Kiera, you know that, but...the fact is, this is his place and if he wants to...entertain nightly, then he has every right to. He's letting us stay here for next to nothing. This is the best we can do right now. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to ignore it."

His tone, although pleasantly accented, offered no rebuttal. He was not going to budge on this. It was not a tone I was used to hearing from him. I didn't like it.

"Fine," I said heatedly, flopping back down to my pillows.

He sank back on to one elbow, tilting his head to the side, watching me. Suggestively, he ran a few fingers down my arm. "You know...we could try and drown them out?"

Absolutely not in the mood, I smacked him in the chest with my pillow and flopped over on my side, away from him. He sighed irritably and shifted to look back at the TV, turning up the already too loud volume just a tad, as the noises across the hall miraculously increased. "Fine...can I finish watching my show then?"

"Whatever." I bit my lip, and prayed for sleep to take me.

A few days after that, still nothing had changed. Denny really wasn't going to talk to Kellan about something he deemed none of our business. I disagreed, but I couldn't really explain why to him. I was getting beyond irritated. I was about to "speak" with Kellan about it... and I wouldn't be nearly as diplomatic as Denny.

After kissing Denny goodbye, a brief peck that I didn't even bother to get out of bed for, and that, although endearing, clearly said, 'I'm not happy with you buddy', I dressed and went to the bathroom to get ready for my day. I looked horrid. There were deep circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, and my hair was a mass of snarls from tossing and turning. Kellan's newest behavior was going to drive me straight to the loony bin. I ripped through my hair angrily, picturing Kellan's perfect face in every snarl.


Sooner than I would have liked, I saw his actual face...and it was more perfect than in my imagination, which at the moment, I deeply resented.

"Mornin'."

I said nothing, his sparkling eyes, charming greeting and perfectly wild, messy hair instantly irritating me. I silently vowed to not utter a word to him today. If I had to hear...too much...from him, then he could hear absolutely nothing from me.

"Kiera?"

Stubbornly, I grabbed a coffee cup and began pouring some, ignoring his smooth voice, ignoring how amazing he smelled, even from a distance.

"Are you...mad at me?" His voice seemed amused by that idea.

Breaking my vow of silence, I glared over at him. "No." Well, that didn't last long.

"Good, because you shouldn't be." His smile faltered while he spoke.

"Well, I'm not..." I knew my tone was snotty, but I couldn't seem to help it. If he was going to hear me this morning, then at the very least, I could make it an unpleasant sound. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"We both ended things, when it started getting...out of hand." He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes while he spoke.

"I know that. I was there." There was definitely some ice in my voice, and he frowned at hearing it.

"I'm only doing what you asked. You wanted to know if I was seeing someone." His tone was starting to get snotty as well. He was not happy with my attitude this morning.

That was fine with me. I wasn't happy with his...behavior. "I didn't want secrets between us...but," I shook my head angrily as I glared at him, "I didn't want to see it!"

His eyes cooled as they narrowed even more. "Where would you have me...?" He stopped and took a calming breath. "I have to see it...hear it. You're not exactly quiet either. Do you think I like that? That I've ever liked..." He took another deep breath and stood up while my face heated in embarrassment. "I try and understand. You could do the same." And not looking at me again, he left the room.

I took the bus to school, as I had ever since Kellan started his...dates. Really? He wanted me to understand? Was I just supposed to be okay with his...whoring all over town? Yes, he had to listen to me be with my boyfriend, but...well, I'm not sure how that relates, but what Denny and I had - have - is vastly different than just screwing for the sake of screwing. It was sickening. I hated every second of every day.

I sighed as I walked through the campus to my class, the chill in the air causing the other students around me to hurry towards the warmer buildings. I also missed him every day. Even now...I missed him. My withdrawals were no less painful, simply because I was angry at him. If anything, they were worse. Being...replaced, made it worse. I sighed again as I entered the building where my Lit class was, and immediately froze. Standing just down the hall was a familiar head of springy red curls. Curls that I didn't want to see any closer, curls that were walking my way, curls that, even from a distance, looked agitated.

Candy stopped directly in front of me as I tried to step away from the doors. "Are you Kellan's girlfriend?"

Well, abrupt then. No formal how do you do? I've never even been introduced to this girl.

I sighed and stepped around her, to walk towards my class. She followed close beside me, her hair flaming as red as her mood. "No...I already told your spies that, months ago. He's just a roommate."

"Well, people keep telling me that they've seen the two of you together all over campus...all over each other." Her tone was annoyingly snotty.

By people, I assumed she meant her two friends. I blushed, knowing that we had been a little casual at school...although, we were hardly "all over each other". I picked up my step, hoping I could lose her inside the classroom. She easily matched my pace and glared at me icily, clearly expecting an explanation.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. I have a boyfriend and it is not Kellan." A boyfriend that I was determined to remain faithful to. A boyfriend who did not drop his pants for every willing woman who walked by. Irritation knotted my stomach, and I blurted out something I really shouldn't have. "If you really want to hook up with him so bad, you should just go to Pete's bar. He's always there."

She stopped following me, just as I reached the door to my sanctuary. "Maybe I will," she replied, rather haughtily, as I walked through the door.

Well, that's just great...

As if to further accentuate how sucky my day was, the stupid bus broke down on the way home. They made us wait in the bus until a new one came to pick us up. They wouldn't even let us out to walk if we so chose. Personally, I think the bus driver was having just as crabby of a day as I was, and was exerting his power over us helpless life forms. Of course, some of the more aggressive people simply pushed their way off the bus, but I wasn't that forward of a person...and the bus driver scared me a little bit, so I just stayed put and grumbled a lot.

I had already stayed late at school, studying, and avoiding home, if I were honest with myself, so now I was running really late for work. I should have gone straight there, but my original hope had been to get home in time to take a refreshing shower. It had been a long, emotional day.

Kellan's car was in the driveway as I hurried past it to the front door. I hated to ask him to do anything, and I really didn't need another awkward car ride, but maybe he could help me out and take me to Pete's? My shift started in ten minutes. If I had to take yet another bus, I was going to be so incredibly late...

I swiftly went to my room and set down my bag. Pulling off my blouse, I grabbed my Pete's t-shirt from the floor, where I had tossed it last night after my shift. Quickly, I put it on then scrounged around the room for an elastic band. Finding one in-between the bed and the nightstand, I hastily began pulling my hair into a low ponytail. I put my jacket back on and grabbed my bag again, and made my way to the hallway.

I was just wondering where Kellan might be, when I heard soft music from his room and I noticed that his door was cracked open. Only thinking that I was massively late and needed his help, I went to the door and automatically put my hand on it, opening it slightly wider. I froze in shock when I peered through the crack in the door. My stomach clenched and threatened to rise. My mind wouldn't register what I was witnessing.

Kellan was sitting on the edge of his bed. His head was down, his eyes were closed, he was biting his bottom lip and his hand was clutching the sheets. My mind resisted, but the rest of the picture snapped painfully into focus. A woman with loose blonde curls was kneeling on the floor in front of him, her head in his lap. Looking at the picture as a whole, there was no mistaking what she was doing.

Wholly absorbed in what they were clearly enjoying, I don't think they were even aware of me standing at the partially open door. I felt ill. I wanted more than anything to run as far away as I could, before I lost my stomach right here. I couldn't move though, I couldn't stop staring in horror.

The woman must have finally felt another presence in the room. She started to raise herself off of him. Kellan was not so aware, either that, or he didn't care. His lips parted - his breath noticeably faster, and cringing slightly, he moved his hand automatically to firmly hold her in place. The woman went nuts, she immensely enjoyed that. I however, felt the acid in my stomach starting to rise.

Finally able to move, I ran from the room and down the stairs. Only thinking of escape, my fight or flight response in full alert, I hastily grabbed Kellan's car keys from where he had tossed them on the entryway table. I slammed the front door shut behind me - if he hadn't been aware I was home before, he was now!


I flipped through the keys as I rushed to his car, and stopped on the one for the ignition. He never locked his...baby, so I opened the door and slipped inside, immediately starting it. A perverse thrill went through me as the car growled to life, knowing that he would hear it, and instantly recognize what I had done. I watched the door for half a second, but he didn't rush out. I threw it in reverse and peeled out in my haste to get away from him. Watching the house through the rearview mirror, the front door never opened. Perhaps he was too busy enjoying his "date" to care about his car.

I broke a half-dozen traffic laws getting to work on time, but I did. I smiled when I parked the car in the lot at Pete's. It was really fun to drive, and I loved the thrill that Kellan was going to be so angry about his precious car being gone. Good. I shouldn't be the only one angry in the house. Grinning wickedly, I turned his radio to a station that was playing what sounded like polka music and cranked the volume before I shut the car off. It was a childish prank, I know, but it made me feel better, and I was grinning ear to ear as I walked through the parking lot.

"Hey, you're peppy tonight," Jenny exclaimed as I bounced through the front door, still a little high from my carjacking.

"Yeah? No particular reason..." I grinned at her as I shoved his keys into my front jeans pocket.

Throughout my shift though, my joyride-high faded, and sadness from the scene I had unintentionally witnessed took over. It was one thing to hear one of Kellan's dates, it was quite another to see one. I was feeling pretty melancholy when the doors to Pete's angrily burst open, about an hour later.

I cringed and looked over to the door. Kellan was striding through, looking decidedly more put together than I had last seen him. He also looked decidedly pissed off. His fiery blue eyes locked onto mine instantly. Matt came in closely behind him and attempted to place a hand on his shoulder. Kellan snapped his head around to him, pulling back his body, and said something heated. Matt immediately dropped his hand and held them up in the air, apparently backing off.

My heart started racing and panicking, I backed up a couple steps. Taking his car was not a good idea. What was I thinking? Should I just toss him the keys and make a run for it? Irritation flashed through me and I took a deep breath. No! He would never physically hurt me. If the jerk wants his keys...let him come over and get them.

He strode over to my location. The people between us quickly scooted out of his way at the look on his face. His blazing eyes narrowed in anger, his lips compressed into a thin line, his hands clenched into fists, his chest noticeably rising and falling - he was strikingly attractive angry.

He walked right up to me and simply held his hand out.

Expecting a more flagrant reaction, I snottily said, "What?"

"Keys," he seethed.

"What keys?" I wasn't sure why I was goading him. Maybe the sight I had witnessed had finally unhinged me?

He took a deep calming breath. "Kiera...my car is right over there." He pointed to where it was in the lot outside. "I heard you take it-"

"If you heard me take it, why didn't you try to stop me?" I quipped.

"I was-"

I pushed a finger into his chest roughly, cutting him off. "You were," I raised my fingers into air quotation marks, "on a date."

His face noticeably paled. Apparently, he hadn't realized I had seen that. Scowling, his color returned. "So? That gives you the right to steal my car?"

He was right, of course, not that I would ever admit that to him. "I borrowed. Friends borrow, right?" I asked haughtily.

He took another deep breath and then shoved his hand into my front jeans pocket.

"Hey!" I tried to beat him away, but he already had them.

Holding them up in front of me, he seethed, "We're not friends, Kiera. We never were." Then he turned and stalked out of the bar.

My face heated at his hurtful words and turning, I fled to the hallway, then to the safety of the bathroom. I collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily through my mouth, trying not to cry. I felt pale, I felt faint. My heart felt torn to pieces.

The sound of the door opening entered my awareness, as I sat there inhaling and exhaling forcibly.

"Kiera...?" Jenny's soft voice asked. I couldn't answer her. I could only stare up at her blankly. She walked and knelt down beside me. "What was that about...you okay?"

I shook my head weakly. Then I started to sob, wracking, tortured sobs. She immediately sat by my side, gently putting her arm around my shoulders. "Kiera, what's wrong?"

In-between sobs, I managed to choke out, "I made a horrible mistake..."

She stroked my hair and pulled me tight. "What is it?"

Suddenly, I didn't just want to tell her about taking the car...I wanted to tell her everything. I choked up, how could I tell her? She would hate me, she wouldn't understand...

She looked over at me. "You can tell me, Kiera. I won't say anything to Denny, if you don't want him to know."

My sobs eased as I blinked at her in surprise, did she already know? It came out before I could stop it, "I slept with Kellan." I held my breath, shocked at myself.

She sighed. "I was afraid of that." She hugged me with both arms. "It will be okay. Tell me what happened."

I was so shocked, I could only ask, "You knew?"

She leaned back against the wall, putting her hand on her lap. "I suspected." She stared at her hand quietly for a second, twirling a ring on her finger. "I've seen things, Kiera. Looks you would give him, when you thought no one was watching. Smiles he would give you. I've seen him touch you in discreet ways, like he didn't want anyone to notice. I've seen your face when he sings. Your reaction to him at his party... I've wondered for awhile."

I closed my eyes. She really had seen way too much. Had anyone else?

Quietly she asked, "When did it happen?"

The sobs started again and finally through my sobs, I opened up to her, and told her everything. It was such a relief to finally talk about it with someone. She listened in silence, occasionally nodding, smiling, or looking sympathetic. I told her about the first innocent touches. Our drunken first time while Denny was gone. His coldness afterwards. My panicked reaction to him almost leaving, which led to our second time. Our not-so-innocent flirtations. The club, although, I left out what I did to Denny, and what Kellan did with my sister - I just couldn't talk about that yet. The fight in the car, which made her gasp and say, "He said what!" My jealousy over his women...the last one that was still burning through my mind. His last hurtful comment...

Jenny drew me tight to her, both arms around me. "God, Kiera...I'm so sorry. I knew he was like that with women. Maybe I should have warned you earlier? He's just that kind of guy."

I sagged against her, tired from the emotional night, and she held me until my sniffles stopped. "What are you going to do now?" she asked quietly, pulling away.

"Besides kill him?" I wasn't sure if I was joking or not. "I don't know...what can I do? I love Denny. I don't want him to ever know, I don't want to hurt him. But Kellan...I can't stand the women, it kills me. I feel-"

"Do you love Kellan?" she asked quietly.

"No," I said immediately.

"Are you sure, Kiera? If you weren't angry, what would your answer be?" I didn't answer her. I couldn't, I wasn't sure. Sometimes I felt...something for him.

Without warning, the bathroom door swung open. Kate stood in the doorway, looking down at us on the floor. "Oh, hey...there you are. It's getting crazy out there. Are you guys coming back...please?"


Jenny piped up. "Yeah, we're coming. Just give us another couple minutes."

Kate gave me a sympathetic look, as a few tears escaped my eyes and I hurriedly wiped them away. "Oh, okay...no problem." She smiled sweetly at me, then left the room.

"Thank you, Jenny." I looked over at her, grateful for her listening to me without judging me.

More tears dropped on my cheeks and she wiped them away. "It will be okay, Kiera. Have faith."

I was pretty quiet for the rest of my shift, and absorbed myself in helping to solve my customer's simple problems. That helped. By closing time, I at least no longer felt like sobbing. I also didn't feel like going home. I didn't know if Kellan had had enough...dating, for one day. Who knows, maybe he ran out of milk and went to the store, only to pick up another hussy there. I was pretty sure that for people who looked like him, those kinds of things were stocked items, tucked right in-between the deli meats and the day old bread rack. Yes, I'll take a pound of ham, and the busty brunette.

I sighed and approached the bar, where Kate and Jenny were talking to Rita. Pete had ducked out early. He usually was the very last one to leave, probably hours after the rest of us, but tonight, he'd grabbed his coat right at closing and told Rita to lock up. She was taking advantage of his absence by pouring drinks for us girls. She sat a shot of something dark in front of me as I came over to stand beside Jenny. I sighed again. At least it wasn't tequila.

"Okay ladies," she said holding her glass high, "one for the road." We all raised ours, clinking them together and then downed them quickly. Kate and Jenny giggled as I made a horrid face. Whatever it had been, burned. Rita made no face at all and began pouring us all another. "Okay, one more."

Kate and Jenny made a face at each other, but let her pour one more. I didn't care, I wasn't driving, and it had been one heck of a long day. I glanced over at Jenny who smiled reassuringly, her pale blue eyes sparkling warmly at me. She truly was the nicest person. She offered me a ride home every night, and even though I felt bad about accepting, she wouldn't take no for an answer if I had no one else to take me. She insisted that she drove past my street anyway, so it really was no big deal. That made me feel a little better about the whole thing.

Rita finished pouring everyone's second shot and looked at each of us with a sneaky half-grin. "If you had one night...with any man...no strings attached, no complications...who would it be?" She looked at me pointedly. "And you can't pick your own boyfriend."

She looked at each of us while Kate and Jenny started giggling again. Thinking of my answer, even though I really didn't want to, I started blushing. Rita sighed. "Okay, well it's an easy one for me...Kellan." She sighed dreamily while I paled. "God, I'd do that boy again in a heartbeat..."

Kate giggled and then gave me an odd look. I wondered for a split-second if she suspected what Jenny had suspected, and paled even more. She daintily shook her head and shrugged. "Kellan...definitely."

She and Rita shared a knowing glance and turned to stare at me, waiting for my answer. My throat went dry and I felt ill. I tried to think of someone else, anyone else...someone innocuous, but my mind went completely blank, and only one name was shouting through my head. And it was the one name I dared not utter...not here.

Jenny popped up beside me. "Denny," she said cheerily.

Kate and Rita both turned to stare at her, then at me, and then back to her, like she had just committed the act she had spoken of. I could have kissed her. With one simple word, she had shifted all of the focus off of me and my stupid answer, which, was of course also Kellan. They were still staring at her in disbelief, well, Kate's look was disbelief, Rita looked more amused and possibly impressed, while I forced a fake frown.

"Cheers," Jenny said in her still bubbly voice and we all did our second shot, everyone forgetting that I never actually answered Rita's stupid question. "Ready to go, Kiera," she asked calmly.

"Yeah," I said in a displeased voice, even though I wanted to hug her.

Rita laughed, while Kate gave me a quick consolatory hug. Out the door and out of earshot, I thanked Jenny profusely.

I came downstairs a few heartbeats before Denny the next morning. Our house had been quiet last night, apparently once a day was enough for Kellan. Well, at least he had his limits. The quiet hadn't helped the hurt in my heart though. I frowned when I saw him sitting at the table with an elbow propped on it and his fingers tangled in his hair. He was staring at the table, looking deep in thought. He glanced over at me when he noticed my entrance, and opened his mouth like he was going to say something. He immediately shut his mouth when Denny followed me a few seconds later.

His latest hurtful comment stung my brain and, feeling a little snotty, I turned to face Denny. "I know you're dressed already..." I ran a hand down his dress shirt and rested my fingers on his belt, "but, do you want to run up and take a shower?" I angled my face so that Kellan could see me raise my eyebrows suggestively and bite my lip.

I flicked a glance at Kellan while Denny chuckled, he didn't look happy, as he concentrated a little too hard on the tabletop. Good.

Denny kissed me softly. "I wish I could, babe, but I can't be late today. Max is on a rampage with the holiday coming."

"Oh." I over exaggerated my disappointment. "It could be a quick shower?" I bit my lip again and flicked another glance at Kellan. His jaw clenched and I resisted the urge to smile.

Denny grinned wider. "I really can't. Tonight though, okay?" He whispered that last part, but I was completely sure Kellan heard him.

I kissed him deeply, running my hands over every inch of his body. Denny seemed a little surprised at my enthusiasm, but kissed me back eagerly. I watched Kellan from the corner of my eye as we kissed. He stood and not looking at me, sniffed once and stalked into the living room. I pulled away from Denny, smiling warmly at him as I heard Kellan's door close...rather loudly. Inwardly, my smile was vindictive. Two could play at this game.