“I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late and that is going to be really, really bad.” 

Rylee sped through the parking lot of the recording studio and searched frantically for a space as she talked out loud to no one.

Today was the first day of her internship at an up and coming recording studio with and up and coming producer.  She was in her final year of grad school and this internship was the final step on her road to becoming a producer herself.

She was just going to be late and make a horrible first impression…that was all.

“Shit, shit!”  She slammed on her steering wheel and mashed on the break to avoid rear ending the car in front of her.  “Move! Asshole.”  Her road rage was at its peak and she was on the verge of tears when she finally spotted an open parking space.  “Oh, thank you, God.”

Rylee threw her truck into the open spot and quickly gathered her things.  She wasn’t paying attention as she anxiously exited her vehicle and she almost locked her keys in her car.  To add to her increasingly bad day, the heels that her sister had insisted she wear were killing her feet and the left heel snapped just as she reached the front door.

She was sure she looked like a complete mess as she approached the receptionist’s desk.

“Hi, I’m RJ Anderson, I’m here to see Justin Timberlake.”  The woman behind the desk raised an eyebrow in curiosity before pointing down the hall way.

“Room Three, he’s been waiting.”

“Great, thank you.”  Taking a deep breath, she hobbled (because of the damn broken heel) down the hallway and stood before the door with a large black 3 painted on it.  “Suck it up, RJ, this is your big break.”

When the door opened she was met with the sounds of male voices and a thumping beat.  All noise seemed to stop when everyone noticed the disheveled woman standing in the doorway.

“Can I help you?”  A masculine voice came from her left and Rylee turned to see a rather large man with intense facial hair staring her down.  He smirked when he spotted her shoe.

“Yes, I’m RJ Anderson; I was told that Mr. Timberlake was in this room.  I’m the new intern.”  If possible, it got even more silent and Rylee was inclined to hold her breath so she didn’t make any noise.

“You’re RJ?  Is this some kind of joke?”  A slightly higher pitched masculine voice came from a chair that had just turned around and Rylee noticed one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen.  His head was shaved and his eyes sparkled as he looked her over.  He had a day’s worth of growth on his face and it looked damn sexy.

Great, She though, If that’s my boss, I just know I’ll make a fool of myself at some point.

“No, no joke.  If it helps, RJ is short for Rylee-Jean.”

“No shit.”  The man stood from his chair and introduced himself.  “Well, I’m Justin Timberlake, and I’m sorry for the strange reception, I was just expecting a dude, that’s all.” 

It suddenly all clicked, and Rylee almost cursed.  This wasn’t the first time someone had mistaken her name for a man’s, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Timberlake.”

“Oh, call me Justin, please.  Mr. Timberlake makes me sound like some stuffy-assed business man or something.”  He chuckled and Rylee blushed as he proceeded to look her over.  “You might want to wear something more comfortable from now on; we spend a lot of time on our feet.”

“Oh Thank God.”  Rylee’s outburst was met with laughter and her face grew even more crimson.  “I don’t usually dress like this, but my sister thought I needed to make an impression so she conned me into wearing this ridiculous outfit.”  She motioned toward her skirt-suit and then cringed when she spotted her heels.

“Nice shoes.”  The man on the couch spoke again and she turned to give him a small grin.

“Thanks, I was going for the two different height thing, in case Justin was either really tall or really short.”  She earned another laugh from the group and chuckled herself.  After the laughter died down there was an awkward pause and she really didn’t know what to do.

“Well, come on in.”  Justin motioned her into the room and Rylee managed to take off her heels before tripping all over herself.  “That’s Trey, over on the couch, he doesn’t do much around here but he’s good for scaring people away.”  The big man with the facial hair nodded and waved.

“This is Brett, he’s my main sound guy and the man has an incredible ear.  You’ll be working with him a lot too, and I’ll have him show you around in a little while.”  He pointed to a skinny looking guy covered in tattoos and Rylee managed a small wave. 

“And that’s about it.  I like my staff to be small because we spend a lot of time together and the less people the less we fight about stupid shit.  I have another technician that comes and goes, Doug, but he’s not here today so you’ll have to meet him some other time.”

He motioned her farther into the room and pointed her toward a seat near the sound board and next to Brett.  “I’ve got to take off for now, we’ll be working together tomorrow.  Today, Brett is gonna show you the ropes and you’ll mostly just watch to see how everything works.”

Rylee nodded in understanding and watched as Justin made his rounds, slapping five and giving hugs to those in the room.  She admired the jeans that sat on his slim hips and the long sleeved t-shirt that hugged his chest and arms.  Maybe working here wouldn’t be so bad.  After all, there was one hell of a view right here.  Before he could catch her gawking at him, Rylee let her gaze flit around the room and she managed a wave and a goodbye as Justin left the room.

“Well, let’s get going.”  Brett started to show her everything around the studio and Rylee did her best to keep her head from spinning. 

~*~

Justin Timberlake liked to think of himself as a one woman man.  He hated the idea of cheating and he tried to be as honest about his feelings with women as possible.  Currently, he was dating a spit-fire of a woman named Christina and he was slightly infatuated with her.

But damn, if his new intern wasn’t a hot mess.

He chucked to himself as he made his way out of the building and toward the parking lot.  He was really expecting a young kid to walk in today of the male persuasion, but he was happy to be wrong.

Rylee seemed cute in her discomfort. Her blond curly hair had been pulled back into a clip and her pinstriped suit was hot.  When she took her broken heels off, he caught a glimpse of a small tattoo of music notes on her foot and he thought it was incredibly sexy.  He was looking forward to seeing what she could bring to his studio, especially since her resume and her demo tapes were incredible.

Thinking another girl was hot wasn’t cheating, he convinced himself, it probably wasn’t a good idea but it most certainly wasn’t cheating.  He just wouldn’t mention it to his girl that he thought another chick was cute.

She was currently camped out at his house trying to shake off some illness.  They had been hanging out a few nights earlier and suddenly she became violently ill, so he made her stay in bed and he’d been taking care of her for the past couple of days.

He liked Christina.  She was a sexy little Puerto Rican/ Canadian which made for an interesting combination.  The girl had a body to kill for and just enough innocence to make you wonder if she knew what she had going on.  That, and she was one of the funniest and most out going people he’d ever met, it was needless to say that he was instantly attracted to this girl.

They had met at a bar where she was working as a waitress, and he’d been foolish enough to hit on her that first night.  She rejected him, told him she was taken, but Justin Timberlake did not get turned down.  So he went to that bar every night for the next two weeks until she finally caved and went on a date with him.  Things got hot between them real fast, and here they were, a little over a month later.  

Pulling his car into his driveway he hurried up the walk with a grocery bag holding the ingredients for chicken soup.  Well, a can of condensed soup and some crackers, but he wasn’t claiming to be Martha Stewart. 

“Baby, you awake?”  He called up the stairs toward the bedroom but turned when he heard noise from the kitchen.

“In here, J.”  He turned the corner into the kitchen and caught site of Christina sitting on the counter in a pair of panties and a tank top.

“Well, damn girl, even sick as a dog you manage to look hot.”  She stuck her tongue out at him and hopped off the counter.

“I’m feeling much better, thanks.  I was looking for something to eat but I don’t think you’ve been shopping in months.”  Christina went to kiss him but he turned his head and she got his cheek instead.

“Sorry baby girl, I don’t want to take any chances and catch what you had…that shit was nasty.”  That earned him a smack on the arm, but he really couldn’t afford to be getting sick.  That, and it really was disgusting to hear her puking all night long.

“Did you bring me food, J?”  Grabbing the paper bag in his hands she started to rummage through it and gave a squeal when she found the can of soup. “Ooh…my favorite.”

Justin admired the view as she moved around the kitchen and put together some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.

“You remember that intern that I was telling you about?  RJ?”

“Yeah, the dude that was supposed to start today.  Is he a completely tool or something?”  She tested the soup to make sure it was hot enough and grinned in satisfaction when it met her standards.

“Yeah, that kid.  Turns out he’s not a dude at all.  It was a she.”

“No shit?”  Justin sat at the table and waited as Christina placed two bowls of soup down and the plate of sandwiches.  “You know, that’s strange because my best friend sometimes goes by RJ.”

“Rylee-Jean.”  Justin remembered the name that the girl had given him and sat back when Christina gave him an intense stare.

“Yeah, did I tell you that?”

“Tell me what?”

“That my best friend and roommate’s name was Rylee-Jean.  I know we’ve spoken about her but I thought I’d always referred to her as Ry.”  Christina took a sip of the chicken noodle soup and sighed when she felt the warmth slide through her chest and into her stomach.

“You didn’t tell me you’re best friend’s name was Rylee-Jean, that’s the name of my intern.  She sent in all her papers as RJ, which is why I thought she was a dude.”  He finished off his sandwich and soup and sat back in satisfaction.

“Holy shit.  I can’t believe she’s interning for you and didn’t tell me!  I know I’ve been away for a while, but this is huge!”  Pushing her bowl away from her and popping the last of her sandwich into her mouth, Christina stood and grabbed her cell phone off of the table.

It went straight to Rylee’s voice mail so Christina hung up the phone and tossed it back on the table.

Justin picked up their dishes and placed them in the dishwasher before heading back over to his girlfriend and leaning over with a grin.

“How much better are you feeling?”  He placed small kisses along her neck and collar bone which elicited a moan from Christina.

“I think I’m almost completely better…”  She grabbed onto his t-shirt and placed a rough kiss on his mouth.  She pushed him away and sauntered out of the kitchen toward the stairs.  “Maybe a little bit more time in bed will help that last little bit…”

Justin raced after her and grabbed her by the waist, carrying her up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Rylee wasn’t surprised to come home to an empty apartment.  Christina had a tendency of disappearing for a few days but eventually she would show up with lots of stories about whatever boy she was seeing that month. 

Rylee and Christina had been best friends since high school, and after they graduated they headed out to LA.  Rylee enrolled in college and Christina tried it for a while before deciding that school wasn’t her thing.  She had a rich uncle that adored both girls, so they didn’t have to worry about money, which gave Christina all the excuses she needed to not do much with her life.

It was hard for Rylee.  She loved Christina, they had been through a lot together, but she felt as if they were headed in completely different directions.  Rylee had a career ahead of her and Christina seemed content to settle.

The other glaring differences between the two girls were relationships and men.  Rylee had been single for over two years, and while she did want a relationship, she was content to wait for the right guy to come along.  Tina, on the other hand, had a new man every few months and she never really settled down.  Her reasons were that she was young and didn’t want anything serious, but Rylee just thought it was because she was scared of committing to a guy and then have him leave her.  Christina would prefer to be the one doing the leaving.

Throwing her broken heels into the trash can, Rylee stripped out of her clothes as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom.  She couldn’t wait to get into some sweats and relax.  

Today had been amazing, but it had been stressful too.  She had a lot prove, especially since everyone had been expecting a man.  She was excited though, because she felt that she had a lot to offer and this studio was the place where she could really get creative and make something spectacular.

It didn’t hurt that her boss was one of the sexiest men she’d come across in a long time, and Rylee hoped that maybe something might come of working with him.  Although, now that she thought about it, he probably had some hot model of a girlfriend and wouldn’t waste his time on some studio-rat like Rylee.

Her phone chirped from the purse she’d throw on the floor indicating that she’d missed a call.  Rylee pulled a t-shirt over her head and stepped into a pair of sweats before grabbing her phone and discovering she had a missed call from Tina.  Of course, Christina didn’t pick up, so she left a message.

“Tag, you’re it.  Hey chica, just saw that you called, wanted to call you back.  I’m home now, but I’ve got to be back at the studio tomorrow morning by 8.  I’ll try and call you on my break.  Love you, Darlin’, hope you’re doing OK!”  She hung up the phone and turned it off.  After a certain hour at night, Rylee just didn’t want to be bothered, even if it was her best friend calling.

~*~

She got to the studio early today to make up for yesterday’s blunder of an introduction.  Apparently, though, she was really early.  The only person there was Brett, the sound guy.  He said that he likes to get there really early because he knows that no one will bother him, but he seemed impressed that she was so dedicated.

“So, do you remember the stuff I showed you yesterday?”  Brett asked as he queued up a track and started pushing buttons.  Rylee threw him a fleeting glance and smirked.

“I have been in a recording studio before, and I have worked with sound boards.  In fact, I’ve used most of this equipment.”  She grinned and added, “I know I’m just some silly little female, but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.”

Brett laughed and shook his head.  “Whatever you say…do I call you RJ?”

“RJ, Rylee, Ry…you can call me just about anything you want.  Just don’t ask me about my high school nick names, you can’t call me those.”  Of course, by saying that she had piqued his interests and started to bug her about what her nicknames were.  She just smiled and shook her head.  “I’ll never tell.”

Brett left her alone for a while as he finished up the track that he’d been working on and Rylee was left to mess around with other equipment in the room.  She spotted a set of guitars in the corner so she grabbed one and took a seat away from Brett so she wouldn’t disturb him.

Her fingers stroked the strings and she plucked a few to check the tuning.  The rosewood shined as if it had just been polished and Rylee was impressed with the guitar.  The tips of her left hand fingers had been calloused after years of playing, so she felt little as she pressed on the strings and formed random chords.  The strings echoed as she touched them; a power she couldn’t really explain surged through her hands.  This is what she lived for.

Rylee had loved music as long as she could remember.  She had taken piano lessons as a young girl, and then she’d asked for a guitar for Christmas and proceeded to teach herself how to play.  It was her outlet; her escape.  She loved the way music could express any emotion and she loved the control she had over how things could sound.

She was so caught up in her playing that she didn’t notice the new addition to the studio room.  Intense blue eyes watched as she picked out an old Johnny Cash song.

“…because you’re mine, I walk the line…”

The soft words caused Rylee to stop abruptly and her head shot up, a blush staining her cheeks as she realized she was caught.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”  She gently placed the guitar back on its stand and stood from her spot.  Her eyes flickered around the room and her hands slid up and down her pant leg nervously.  Justin Timberlake intimidated her.

“Don’t apologize, that was good.  I didn’t know you could play guitar, I don’t think it was on your resume.”

“Oh, I don’t really play; I just do it for fun.  I’m not that good or anything.”  Why the hell was she so jittery all of a sudden?  It’s not like she hadn’t been around producers before, and she was more than qualified to be in this studio with these people.  She didn’t know why she was belittling herself to this man.

Perhaps it was the concentrated gaze that he kept on her, or the way he licked his lips slowly and unconsciously.  Or, maybe it was the slight grin that sat on his mouth as he looked her over.

“You’re better than a lot of other people I’ve heard, and that’s saying a lot.”  He shot her another grin before turning, and whatever quasi-moment they’d been having was over.  “If I knew you were going to be here too, I would’ve picked you up some coffee.  I just didn’t expect you here until a little bit later.”

“It’s OK.  I wanted to come in early, make up for yesterday’s blunder of a meeting.”  Justin waved his hand at her comment.

“Don’t worry about it.”  He handed Brett a cup of coffee and took a sip of his own.  “For future reference, how do you take your coffee?”

“Oh, I don’t really drink coffee.  But thank you.”  She stood awkwardly and mentally chastised herself for being so nervous.  She needed to get over whatever crush she had on this guy or this year was going to be really uncomfortable.

“Oh, well, do you drink tea?”  She shrugged which prodded him to keep going.  “Cocoa? Water?  Come on, there’s got to be something.  Really, I get something for everyone that’s here in the mornings, just makes things start a little smoother.”

Rylee was about to shrug again but she realized she was still being stupid.

“OK, you can get me a hot cocoa.”  She returned Justin’s grin as he clapped a hand on her shoulder and led her over to one of the chairs in front of the sound board.

“That’s more like it.”  He sat next to her and listened for a second to the song that Brett has started playing with.  “Oh, hey…I meant to tell you that we’ve got something in common.”

The sparkle in his eyes made her heart skip a little in her chest and she found herself getting nervous again.  It was going to be a bitch getting over this crush.

“What’s that?”  She licked her lips and had to smile with him as he shot her another bright grin.

“Christina.”

That one word was like ice water down her spin and any tingly feelings she had been previously having stopped abruptly.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to get over this crush.

“Christina?”  Rylee’s heart sank in her chest as Justin explained that the two had been dating for a little while now.  It never failed, really.  Christina always got the guy and Rylee was always left watching.  Always the bride’s maid and never the bride.

“…she tried to call you last night but only got your voice mail.  She’s been staying at my place because she got sick.”

“Well isn’t that something.”  She tried her best to keep her face void of any negative emotions.  “It was nice of you to take care of her, I was worried when I hadn’t heard from her in a couple of days.” 

Justin noted the difference in Rylee’s tone but he decided not to push it.  He thought she would be a little more excited to learn that they had a common bond, but maybe it was something else that was bothering her.

“Yeah, she told me to tell you that she would be home tonight.  She said something about movies and junk food.”  Rylee plastered on a smile and nodded.

“Thanks.”

She thanked whatever gods were watching over her when Brett interrupted their conversation to start talking about the tracks they’d been working on.  A new artist was coming in this afternoon and they wanted to have some tracks ready to go.  The distraction seemed to work because Christina wasn’t mentioned again and the rest of the day was focused on music, something Rylee was very happy about.

She was in her element here, and she was surrounded by people that felt the same way. 

She just needed to get over the crush she’d developed on her boss.

As soon as the door opened Rylee found herself being attacked by her roommate.  She cringed as Christina squealed and spun them both around the room.

“You’re home!  I’ve been waiting all afternoon, what took you so long?”  Christina didn’t really giver Rylee much time to answer as she pushed the girl down the hallway and into her bedroom.  “Change into something comfy, we’re having a girly night.  I need to gush!”

She tried to stop her eyes from rolling, but Rylee just couldn’t seem to stop it from happening.  “Oh goody.”  She mumbled under her breath.  She was happy to be changing into something comfortable, she just didn’t want to sit and listen to Christina go on about Prince Charming and really drive home the point that Rylee would never get the guy.

“So, I went out and bought all kinds of junk food, and I made some brownies.  What do you want to drink?”

“Jack and coke, heavy on the Jack.”  If she was going to survive this night, she would need some help.

“Bad day?” 

“Not too bad, just really long.”  So it wasn’t a completely lie, it had been a long day.

“Well then, this will be just what you need.  I got some comedies and some cheesy horror films.”

Rylee managed a real smile as Christina handed her a drink and plopped on the couch next to her.  Sometimes Rylee didn’t give Tina enough credit.  She was a great friend and she was always looking out for Rylee, it just seemed that everything (and by everything she meant guys) came much more easily to Christina.

“Thanks for this, Tina.”  She meant it, too.  She loved her best friend and it wasn’t really Christina’s fault that Rylee had a major crush on Justin.

“Anytime, love.”  She giggled as she sipped on her beer.  “So you’ve met Justin, huh?  Isn’t he just amazing?” 

Here it goes.

“We met at the bar, remember that annoying guy I told you about?”  Rylee nodded and took a big gulp of her drink.  “That was him!  We’ve just started getting serious and he’s awesome.  I’m so excited you’re working with him!  You two are gonna get along great.”

Rylee wished that she had the confidence that Christina did.  She had absolutely no worries about Justin and Rylee because she knew that she had Justin wrapped around her finger.  Whenever Rylee was with a guy she was constantly worrying that they were going to leave her for someone else (namely, Christina).  That had happened a few times before, and it sucked.

“He seems really cool.  It was great getting to work with him in the studio, the man is a genius.”

“Yeah, I don’t know much about all that stuff, but he’s really hot!”  Rylee cringed inwardly.  This wasn’t the stuff she wanted to be listening to.  It also killed her that Christina wasn’t interested in Justin’s life at all outside of his looks and charm.  Music was a huge passion for this man, it was obvious after only five minutes of hanging out with him.

“He is pretty cute.”  Another large gulp of her drink saved Rylee from having to say anything else.  Their conversation seemed to stop after that and they got into one of the movies that Tina had brought home. 

Over all, it was an enjoyable night with her best friend.  They didn’t get to do this very often because of their conflicting schedules, but it was nice when they could.  Rylee figured that she would eventually get over this thing she had developed for Justin, after all, he was totally off limits now.

~*~

Justin threw back the rest of his beer and let out a loud belch.  He reached out and took the new beer that Brett was holding out to him and sat back with a contented sigh.

“This is just what I needed.”  He grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth, not caring about the crumbs that made their way onto his shirt.

He and Brett had finished up the project they were working on with one of their artists and they were taking this evening to celebrate.  Justin’s best friend Trace was with them and they were watching the Red Sox/ Yankees game.

“So, Justin, how’s that new intern that you were telling me about?”

“Fucking hot,” came Brett’s reply.  “That is one of the coolest chicks I’ve met in a long time.  If I weren’t married, I would most definitely be after that shit.”  Justin chuckled.

“Yeah, she is pretty hot.”  He took a swig of his beer and forced his mind to stop thinking about how hot he actually thought Rylee was.  “She’s got a great ear too, I think she’s gonna be great working in the studio.”

“Seriously though, you missed it when you when to lunch, JT, that chick has got one of the best ears I’ve met in a long time.  She was picking up on things that I might have missed the first time through.”  Brett tossed his empty beer can on the floor and cracked open another.

“Sounds like your sound guy has a crush on your intern.”  Trace laughed at his own joke and failed to notice that no one else was laughing with him.  He was pretty buzzed at this point, as were the other two men in the room.

A loud roar erupted in the room as the Johnny Damon hit a two run home run, bringing the Yankees up 3-5.  “Shit.”  Brett cursed.  He hated the Yankees.

“Does Christina know you’ve got a hot new intern?”  Trace had decided that Justin’s new girlfriend was a piece of work and he also thought that she was a little possessive over Justin and how he spent his time.

“It’s her best friend.”

“No shit.  Well that makes things interesting.” 

“Not really.  Christina seemed excited that Rylee and I got to meet and that we’re working together.  I guess your theory about her being jealous isn’t a very good theory.”  Justin laughed as Trace flipped him the bird.

“Whatever, asshole.  I still think she’s going to be trouble.  She’s probably not worried about Rylee because it’s her best friend and she doesn’t think that there’s any competition between them.”

“Well I think that RJ could give Christina a run for her money any day.”  Brett injected his thoughts into the conversation and Justin just sat back and listened.  “No offense, JT, your girl is hot and all, but I would pick a girl like Rylee every time.”

Justin didn’t answer, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat the same inside.  It was bad that he was thinking these thoughts and he chalked it up to being slightly drunk.  He liked his girlfriend, he wanted to be with his girlfriend, and he wasn’t going to fuck that up.

~*~

He needed to stop staring at her ass.

Justin forced his gaze to focus on the artist behind the glass in front of him, but it was damn hard.  Rylee was wearing these worn jeans that hugged her ass in just the right way.  She had on this t-shirt that said “My Daddy Drives a Chevrolet” and Justin noticed for the first time today just how large her chest was.

That reminded him, Christina had mentioned something about a nickname and said that he needed to ask her about it.  She said it had something to do with Rylee’s boobs.

“Hey, Ry, I’ve got a question for ya.”  He pried his eyes off of her ass just as she turned to face him. 

“What’s up?”  She turned a few more knobs on the sound board before sitting back in her chair and facing Justin fully.

“What was your nick name in high school?” Justin hadn’t ever seen anyone turn as red as Rylee was currently turning.

“Did Christina tell you to ask me that?”  He nodded and almost laughed as she turned ever redder. “Bitch.”

“Well, now you’ve got to tell me.”  He sank back in his chair at the scathing look she threw his way.

“I’m really going to kill her.”  Rylee let out a sigh and Justin strained to hear what she said.

“What was that, I missed it.”

“I said Double D.  That was my nickname in high school.  Well, that and ‘Big Tits.’”  This time Justin couldn’t control his laughter.  He threw his head back and let out a loud guffaw.  “Thanks for laughing at me, it makes me feel really wonderful.  Oh, and I would suggest saying goodbye to your girlfriend tonight because I’m going to kill her.”

Justin chuckled for another moment and looked over at Brett who was still laughing too.  He did make the mistake of looking back at Rylee, though.  She was leaning over the sound board so she could speak into the microphone and direct the kid in the booth.  He could see the tattoo on her back, and he found himself staring at her ass again.

“How many tattoos do you have?”  Rylee seemed to jerk suddenly and she self-consciously tugged her shirt down.

“Six.”  She didn’t explain any further and Justin found his mind wandering to the places where those tattoos might be located.  He’d spotted the one on her foot and now the one on her back.  It excited him to think about where else those other ones might be hidden.

Rylee, on the other hand, was hoping that she wasn’t sweating as much as she thought she was.  Should could feel Justin’s intense gaze on her and it was unnerving.  Over the past week that they’d been in the studio together she’d been convincing herself that she only had an insignificant crush on him and she would get over it soon.

It wasn’t helping her cause when he looked at her like that.

There was a sexual tension that was developing between them and she was desperate to find a way to stop it.  Christina had been going on and on lately about how much she was feeling Justin and how great she thought it was.  It made Rylee feel really guilty about the things she’d been feeling towards him and she was trying very hard to ignore them.

She was aware of his every move as he stood from his chair and walked behind her.  She could’ve sworn she felt the faintest touch across the tattoo on her back, but Justin made now show of acknowledging it and Rylee couldn’t be too sure.

“I’m gonna head out and grab some food for us all.  I think we’ve got a long night ahead of us to finish this track.”  Justin motioned to the young kid behind the glass and rolled his eyes.  It had been a struggle to get things right today and he was starting to get frustrated.  “Pizza OK with everyone?”

There were no objections so Justin left the room and a silence filled the small space.

Brett was busy fiddling with sound levels, Jake, the artist they were working with, had come out from the booth and was quietly sipping on water and Rylee was trying really hard to get her mind off of the man that had just left.

A roar of laughter went through the small apartment living room and the coffee table was almost up-ended by a rowdy Trace.

“Hey!  Watch the furniture!”  Christina threw a pillow that missed Trace but managed to hit Rylee squarely in the face.

“Thanks Tina.”  The small group consisting of Rylee, Christina, Justin, and Trace filled the living room of the girl’s apartment and they all sat around watching some talent show on television.  They were all laughing at a comedian that was actually rather funny.

“Hey, RJ, wanna grab me another beer?”  Trace threw his arm around her shoulders and gave her his most charming grin.  “I’ll give you a kiss.”

Rylee’s eyebrow raised in curiosity.  “Tempting, really, but I think I can get your beer without a kiss.”  Trace looked slightly disappointed as she pushed his arm off of her shoulder and stood from her stop on the floor.  “Does anybody else want something while I’m up?”

“Oooh, a refill would be wonderful, love.”  Christina’s arm shot in Rylee’s direction as she held out her empty cup.

“Justin?”  His blue eyes shifted in her direction and it seemed to take him a second to focus his attention on her.

“Huh?  Oh, no thanks.”  Rylee shrugged and Justin watched her as she walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

“I need to use the ladies room, excuse me, boys.”  Christina pecked Justin on the cheek before standing from her spot on the couch and heading out of the room.  Trace took this opportunity to throw a rather dirty look at his best friend.

“Dude, what is up with you tonight?  You’ve been completely vacant the whole time we’ve been here.”

“Nothing’s up.  Just tired, I guess.”  He shrugged his shoulders and tried to avoid Trace’s intense stare.

“Wow, JT.  You really need to get over whatever this thing is.”  Trace scooted closer to Justin so he could lower his voice.  “You have a girlfriend, Justin, and she’s been throwing herself at you all night.  Start paying attention to her and stop lusting after her room mate.  Jesus, you could at least wait until Christina isn’t around.”

Justin threw a wild look at his best friend and suddenly felt frantic.

“What?  What are you talking about?”  He looked around nervously to make sure that neither of the girls was back in the room to hear this conversation.

“It’s written all over your face, at least, to me it is.  It would help if you stopped throwing daggers at me every time Rylee and I touch or joke with one another.”

Justin was about to respond but both of the girls came back into the room at the same time.  Rylee handed out drinks and put a bowl of chips down on the coffee table.  Christina cuddled up next to him on the couch and he made a conscious effort to pull her close to him and to kiss her forehead.

If Trace was noticing that something was up with him, he needed to start being more careful.  It wasn’t that he was openly lusting after her, but it did ruffle his feathers when he saw how well Rylee and Trace got along.  This was the third time that all of them had hung out together and Justin was starting to think that the two of them had feelings for each other.

Justin glanced at his girlfriend and really noticed how short her shorts really were.  He could see long expanse of legs and he forced himself to focus on that and not on Rylee.

It was difficult though, when his mind kept wandering to the tattoo on her back that was visible if she shifted in the right way.  He had this little fantasy going on where the two of them would play this sexy little game.  He would try and guess where her other tattoos were located and if he got it wrong he had to take off a piece of clothing.  If he got it right, she needed to uncover wherever the tattoo was and she needed to take off a piece of clothing.

Shit, he was starting to get hard.

“I’m gonna use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”  He quickly stood from the couch and left the room in a hurry, leaving behind three confused people.

“I’ll go check on him.”  Christina stood and followed Justin down the hallway.  “Baby?  You OK?”  The bathroom door was open a crack so she pushed it open and saw Justin leaning over the sink breathing heavily.

“I’m OK.”  A smirk covered Christina’s face when she noticed his obvious arousal and she stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

“You, ah, having some trouble baby?”

“Huh?”  Justin turned to see that look on his girlfriend’s face and he turned a slight shade of red.  Did she know he was thinking about Rylee?  Nah, it was impossible…right?  “Uhm…”  Shit. Think, JT, think.  “Yeah…it was…it was those shorts you’ve got on.”

He saw her smirk grow and he inwardly sighed.  Now she was rubbing up on him and grabbing him through his jeans.  If he wasn’t hard before, he most certainly was now.

“You sure you want to do this with those guys in the other room?”  He really didn’t want anyone to hear him having sex, that just seemed a little inappropriate. 

“We’ll be quick.  I promise.”  She attacked his mouth and reached her hand into his pants to grab onto his erection.  Yeah, this would probably be pretty quick.

---

Trace and Rylee sat in a slightly awkward silence as they listened to a series of loud bangs coming from the bathroom.

“That’s classy.”  Trace was the one to comment.  He could see the look of disgust and upset written on Rylee’s face, she seemed really uncomfortable.

“Yeah, that’s Christina.”  The words were laced with a form of disgust and her nose wrinkled as she spoke.  “She can be a classy gal.”

Trace shifted over on the floor and threw his arms around Rylee in a hug.  They didn’t say anything for a moment, just sitting there keeping each other company.

“It’s probably really bad that I’ve got a thing for my best friend’s boyfriend, right?”  The sentence was soft and Trace was surprised that he caught it at all.  He was also surprised that this girl was opening up to him, but it seemed like this was weighing heavily on her mind and she needed to vent to someone.

“You wanna get out of here, Ry?”  Her head shot up and she threw a strange glance at him.  “I dunno, we could get some ice cream or something and talk.  It’s getting a little noisy in here for me anyway.”  The end of his sentence with punctuated with a rather interesting moan-like sound.

“Yeah” she nodded emphatically.  “I do.”

The two stood from their spots on the floor and Trace slipped his shoes back on while Rylee grabbed a sweatshirt and her flip flops.  She scribbled out a note on the message board, then she snagged her keys from the table and they headed out the door.

The night air was crisp and it was becoming more apparent that summer was coming to an end.  It was still warm, but it lacked the usual haze that comes with the warmer months.

“Let’s walk.”  Trace suggested, so they steered away from the cars and headed down the street.  “So, girlfriend, tell me what’s bugging you.”

Rylee smirked but stayed silent for a moment.  She looked lost in thought so Trace waited patiently for her to start talking.

“I love my best friend.”  There had to be a large ‘but’ coming sometime soon, he could feel it.  “But she pisses me off sometimes.”  Yep, he knew it.

“Because of Justin?”

“Because of a lot of shit.  Throughout the whole span of our friendship, she’s gotten the guy.  I can’t tell you how many hearts have gotten broken because she’s just so careless with who she hangs out with, and every guy ends up falling in love with her.  She moves on and their left pining after her.”  She gave a rather nasty laugh.  “It’s after she breaks their heart that they notice I exist, and they come running to me for advice on how to win her back.”

“I don’t think Justin is like that, though.”  Trace was trying really hard to defend his best friend, but sometimes he thought that Justin made some stupid decisions, especially when it came to women.

“I don’t know.  It’s just…”  She trailed off, leaving her sentence hanging in the air between them.

They walked in silence for a few moments.  Sounds of the night life could be heard floating on the air:  car horns blared from the freeway near by, voices carried from the apartment buildings and houses, and the buzzing of the street lights could be heard if you listened hard enough.

“I think I’m more pissed at myself for having a crush on Justin than anything else.”  Rylee finally looked Trace fully in the face and he had to hug her when he saw the desperate look marring her features.

“If it makes you feel any better, I know he’s got this thing for you, too.”  She laughed again, but it wasn’t a very happy laugh.

“Thanks, but I think that just makes it worse.  I would never act on my feelings for him, whatever feelings they may be.  That would ruin my friendship with Christina and it would ruin their relationship.”

Damn, she was right.

“Well, this should make you feel better.”  He waited until she was looking at him.  “I think you’re ten times the woman she is, and Justin is an idiot for staying with her and not going after you.”  This time her laugh was filled with amusement and it made Trace smile.

“I like you, Trace, even if you are goofy looking.”  This comment earned her an arm around the neck as Trace rubbed his knuckles into her scalp.

“That was completely uncalled for.”

The two continued to banter as they made their way into the local ice cream shop.  Rylee was feeling a little bit better about having confessed her feelings, and she couldn’t help but have a good time when she was hanging out with Trace.  He was really starting to grow on her, and she knew that whatever happened with Christina and Justin, Rylee would come out of this with a good friend.

There was a tension that had settled over the studio and Justin didn’t like it.  Brett was out for the day and it was just Rylee and him.  She was being uncharacteristically silent and she would only offer monosyllabic answers to whatever questions he asked.

They had been there for about three hours now and he was getting pretty sick of this cold shoulder.

“Hey Ry,” She glanced in his direction but didn’t offer him any more acknowledgment than a shift of the eyes.  “What did I do to piss you off?”

“I’m not pissed off.”  Even her words were cold, but at least it was a full sentence this time.

“Well you sure are making good use of the silent treatment today.  I’m starting to feel like I should be apologizing for something.”  That earned him a rather derisive stare and he shrank back in his seat.

“I guess I’m just a little put off with you.  I mean, you fucked my best friend in my bathroom.”  Her blunt words caused Justin to physically twitch in the chair.  “You didn’t even have the decency to screw her in her own bathroom.  It had to be mine, didn’t it?”  She was visibly upset now and Justin was starting to regret bringing it up.  Even the cold shoulder was better than a woman crying.

“I’m-” Her hand lifted and she cut him off.

“Don’t, please.  I really don’t want to hear and apology or an explanation.  I just want to get through today and forget about anything ever happening.”

He couldn’t decide if the silence or the tension was worse, and thinking about it made his nerves jittery so he ended up speaking without giving it much thought.

“Well…what about you and Trace?  Hmm?”  If looks could kill, Justin Timberlake would be firmly planted six feet underground.  He should probably permanently attach his foot to his mouth.

“Are you fucking serious?”  She was so sexy when she got flustered like this.  “We went out for a walk when the banging and moaning got to be too much for us.  Would you feel better if we’d fucked on the living room floor?”  She threw down the pencil that she’s been previously using and stood from her chair.

“You are something else, Justin.  You really are.”  He watched her closely and wracked his brain for something to make it better, but he couldn’t come up with anything.  He lifted himself from his chair, his eyes following her as she paced the small studio.  When he couldn’t take it any longer, he took the two strides over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

He wasn’t thinking, really.  That must have been it.  Because if he were really using his brain he wouldn’t have dipped his head into hers and captured her mouth with his own.  And, damn, sometimes thinking was overrated.

Rylee gave in to him for a moment before struggling against him and pulling back roughly.

“Fuck you.”  She spat before turning, grabbing her purse, and storming out of the room. 

“Shit, fuck, shit, fuck…”  Justin could’ve sworn he’d seen tears in her eyes as she left, and he had officially gained himself the title of world’s biggest asshole.

~*~

Rylee angrily wiped at the tears on her face as she headed down the hallway and out the front doors of the studio.  She made it to her truck and slammed the door as she climbed in, but now she didn’t really know what to do.

She didn’t want to go back to the apartment because Christina had the day off and she would have to explain what was wrong.  She certainly wasn’t going back into that studio, either.  

Her phone sat in the cup holder next to her and a thought popped into her head.  Picking up the small device, she dialed Trace’s number and waited as it rang.

“Yo.”

“Hey, it’s Rylee...are you busy right now?”

“No, why?  Are you OK, you sound like you’ve been crying.”  Rylee smiled a little when she heard the concern in his voice.

“No, I’m not OK.  Can I meet you somewhere?”  A fresh set of tears started to well in her eyes as she though back on the events that had just transpired.

“Sure, I’m at my apartment.  Here, I’ll give you directions.”  She took a pen out of her purse and found  a napkin in the glove box to write on.  The directions were simple enough and Rylee had been in that neighbor hood before.  She figured that it would only take her fifteen minutes or so, so she started up her truck and sped out of the parking lot.  The further away she was from Justin Timberlake, the better.

~*~

He wasn’t sure why he expected Rylee to call him, but Justin almost threw himself over the counter as he scrambled to get his ringing cell phone.  His heart sank a bit when he realized that it wasn’t Rylee but Trace instead.

“What’s up, bro?”

“What the fuck did you do?”  Justin really wasn’t expecting the angry tone that sounded out of his phone and it started him.

“Huh?”

“Rylee, what the fuck did you do to Rylee?”  Trace sounded furious and Justin felt like an even bigger asshole.  “She just showed up to my place in tears.  Said something about you and a fight and a kiss.  Please tell me that you didn’t really kiss your girlfriend’s best friend.”

“Shit.”  That one word was all that Justin needed to say for Trace to know that it was all true.  “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.  You’re such an asshole, Justin.”  The sentence was said with a little less venom than it could have had and Justin knew that Trace was just being honest.

“What do I do?”  He sounded like a whiny bitch, but he really felt stuck.

“What do you do?  You figure out what the hell it is you really want, and you stop fucking around with these girls.  Rylee likes you, Justin.  She told me that last night while you were busy fucking her best friend.”

“Why does everyone keep bringing that shit up?  Christina was the one that started it.”

“And you most certainly finished, didn’t you?  It was rude, Justin, and it was Rylee’s bathroom that you were in.  Stop acting like you’re the victim in this and start taking responsibility for your problems.”

There was silence on the phone for a little bit as Justin let Trace’s words sink in.

“When did you get all philosophical and shit?”  Trace laughed at Justin’s question before answering.

“When you started fucking up.”

Christina’s head rested gently on his chest as they laid on the couch and watched a movie.  Justin wasn’t paying much attention because he couldn’t stop thinking about Rylee and what had happened earlier that day. 

Trace had told him to call Christina and take her somewhere so Rylee could go back to the apartment and not have to face her best friend.  Justin thought that this was a pretty good idea, so he invited Tina to spend the night and just hang out.

He felt her shift on top of him, so he took his eyes off of the ceiling and brought them down to look into her brown orbs.

“Can I tell you something?”  The usually up-front girl seemed timid, and Justin was really curious about what this something could be.

“Sure, you can tell me anything.”  He brushed a hand through her hair and smiled when she gave him a nervous look.

“You make me really happy, Justin.”  She licked her lips and avoided his eyes.  “I usually try and keep guys at an arms length because I’m so afraid of getting hurt, but you’re so different from any other guy I’ve been with.  I just…you…you have this way of making me feel like it’s all going to be OK.  I don’t know…”  She trailed off, burying her face into his shoulder.

Well, fuck.  Here she was spilling her guts about how great she thought he was, and he had to go and kiss her best friend. 

Justin decided in that moment that he was going to devote all of his attention to Christina and exert some self-control when it came to Rylee.  Why the hell should he ruin a good thing because he was attracted to someone else?

“Hey…”  He spoke softly, his hand going to her chin so he could tilt her head to look at him.  “You make me happy, too.”  He smiled down at her and chuckled when she blushed.  “I’m glad you wanted to tell me this, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about it.”  He leaned forward so he could kiss her forehead and then settled back into his pillow.

Justin started to list off all of the reasons why he was with Christina in his head.  He didn’t want to be the asshole that used a girl and didn’t really care about her.  And he did care for Christina, he really did.  She was an amazing person with a great heart and she made him laugh.  He needed to stop thinking so much with his dick and start focusing on what he had right in front of him.

~*~

Rylee sat back in her chair and nodded her head along to the music that played from the speakers.  However, music was the farthest thing from her mind at the moment.

Currently, she was trying to figure out what the hell had happened to Justin since their last session in the studio that hadn’t ended so well.  He wasn’t acting strange, he wasn’t avoiding her…he was…normal.

Rylee wasn’t sure if she should be thankful or upset.  She was glad that it wasn’t awkward, but at the same time, she didn’t feel as if there were any closure on what had happened between them and she hated when people avoided things.  Rylee was not a passive aggressive person, and she didn’t like for other people to be that way either.

She had come into the studio this morning and there was her usual hot chocolate sitting with the other coffees on the table.  Justin had greeted her with his usual smile and wave, and Brett had given her his customary high-five as she seated herself at the desk.  Everything seemed normal, and yet, to Rylee there was this huge elephant in the room called “I-kissed-my-boss-slash-best-friend’s-boyfriend.”  She was having a hard time pretending that everything was OK with her.

“Hey, Brett, does that sound off to you?”  Justin played a section of the music they were working on and both men listened.

“Uh…play it again.  I can’t tell.”  Justin re-played the track a few times and both men seemed stumped.

“It’s off by half a step.  The guitar isn’t tuned correctly, and it should be playing an E but instead we’re hearing a D#.”  The look that she earned from both men sent her backwards in her rolling chair.

“What?”  Justin was the one to speak first.

“I said…”

“I know what you said.  You have perfect pitch!”  He exclaimed, jumping from his chair and slapping Brett on the back.  “Did you hear that?  Check it, I’ll bet you she’s spot on.”

Brett went through and tweaked the necessary buttons, bringing the notes up to the right pitch.  They listened through the measures again and sure enough, it sounded perfect.

“Holy fucking shit, you have perfect pitch.”  Now Brett was in on the action and Rylee was starting to feel like a circus freak with the way they were staring at her.

“So?  It’s not that big of a deal…”  She shrugged her shoulders and cringed when they both yelled at her.  It was a talent to be able to have perfect pitch.  Rylee was capable of hearing a note and being able to name it on the spot, or, if someone asked her to sing a certain note, she could without any thought or help.  Perfect pitch was a great gift to have and not many people were able to do what she just did.

“Seriously, Brett, I thought you had the best ear I’d ever heard, but that shit was amazing.”  Justin’s intense gaze landed on her again and she could feel her face getting hot.  It was unnerving to have him stare like that, and it was even worse when she kept thinking about that kiss.

“I think I need some air, you two are freaking me out.”  Rylee stood and left the room quickly.  It was damn difficult for her to be in that room with Justin and not think about what had gone on.  Trace had said that he liked her, and then he kissed her…did this mean that she had a chance?  She was a fool for thinking it, but it couldn’t be helped.  Especially when they worked so closely together and despite her fighting it, she was incredibly attracted to him.

She sat outside in the sunshine for a few moments, collecting her thoughts.  She didn’t know what to do.  She was thinking that it might be best to just take Justin’s lead and pretend that nothing had happened.  It would save her friendship with Christina and it would probably make her working relationship with Justin easier.  At the same time, that wasn’t the type of person that Rylee wanted to be.  She had learned to confront problems because they only got worse when you let them fester.

A noise behind her caused her to turn and catch Brett running out the front doors.

“Where’s the fire?”  She yelled after him as he ran.  He stopped for just a moment to turn and yell back.

“I just got the call, my wife is in labor!”  Before she could respond, he was in his car and speeding out of the parking lot.

“So much for that buffer.”  Deciding it was probably time to get back to work, she took a deep breath and headed back inside.  Justin was still at the deck fiddling with a few sounds and finishing off a track.

“Brett’s mother called, his wife is in labor.”  He didn’t turn to look at her when he spoke.

“I know, he told me as he was running out.  Good for him…or, good luck to him.”  She chuckled at her own joke.  Justin didn’t laugh with her.  He glanced up and watched her for a moment before turning back to the sound board.

“Do you want to start putting together those tracks for the artist coming in tomorrow?  I told his label that I’d have some things ready when Dylan comes is.  I think that’s his name.”  So, it was going to be business as usual then?  Rylee was hoping that since Brett had left they’d be able to talk about things, but apparently she was wrong.

“Sure.  I’ve got those lyrics, too.  I’ll start on the slow track, I’ve got a guitar riff in my head anyway.”

“OK.”

She spent the next hour trying to figure out the song and ignore Justin at the same time.  She felt as if everything he did was magnified by 100.  She could hear him breathing, she could feel his movements, she was completely in tune to everything he was doing and it was starting to drive her crazy.

“All right, I can’t take this anymore.”  She put down the guitar and threw the pen in her hand.  “Something needs to happen here.”

“Huh?”  That’s right, play dumb.

“Seriously, Justin.  Is this how it’s going to be?  You get to play with my emotions and kiss me, and now you’re going to act like everything is normal and fine?  What, you decide that your girlfriend really is the best choice and I wasn’t up to your standards?”

She was yelling and getting a little irrational, but she felt it was justified.

“No…”

“Then what the fuck is this?  Do you expect me to just forget everything like it was nothing?  News flash, Justin, I can’t turn off my emotions and pretend like that.  What happened affected me more than I’d like to admit and I want to figure this shit out before I go crazy.”

Justin sat back and watched as she paced the room.  This scene felt eerily familiar, but he refrained from kissing her this time.  She had every right to be mad at him, but he was really hoping that she would just forget about it all and let it go.  It would’ve made his life that much easier.

“I’m sorry about kissing you.”  He flinched at the glare she sent in his direction.  “I shouldn’t have done it, especially because of Christina.  I…I don’t know how to explain why I did it, I guess…”  Justin took a deep breath and collected his thoughts.

“I think you’re a cool chick, Ry.  You’re one of the best people I’ve had in this studio, and I love hanging around you.  Not to mention, you’re gorgeous.  It’s just…I wasn’t thinking when I let myself act on that attraction.  It’s not fair to you, and it’s certainly not fair to Christina.  I’ve got a good thing with her, Rylee.  I don’t want to fuck up two relationships because what I might feel for you.”

Rylee closed her eyes and prayed that the stinging tears would hold off for a few more minutes.  She felt as if she’d been stabbed in the chest.  He was being honest, but it hurt like hell to hear that, again, Christina had been chosen over her.

“Ok.”  She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before opening her eyes and looking right at Justin.  “I respect your choice; I hope it all works out for you.  I think, though, that I’m going to go home now.  I’m a little tired and I’m starting to get a headache.  I’ll come in early and finish these tracks.”  She didn’t give him any time to respond before she was out the door and headed toward the parking lot.

Justin’s head lolled to the side and he let out a sigh of frustration.  He knew he was doing the right thing, so why did it feel like he’d just made the wrong choice?

~*~

“All right, we’ve got pizza, beer, and I even bought some ice cream for afterwards.  Oh, and I picked every comedy I could find in the store.”  Trace plopped unceremoniously onto the couch next to Rylee and grinned.

“Thanks, T.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“For starters, you wouldn’t have anyone to bitch to about JT.”  She groaned and let her head settle on his shoulder.

“Let’s not speak that name for the rest of the night, OK?”  She felt him shake his head in affirmation before leaning forward and grabbing a couple of slices of pizza from the box.

“Here, eat, and then we’ll get drunk.”

“That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”  She took a bite of pizza and then set it down on the table.  Picking up the beer Trace had brought out to her; Rylee tilted her head back and guzzled half of it down.  She let out a deafening belch and giggled at the look on Trace’s face.

“Damn girl.”

“That was nothing…just wait until I’ve finished off a couple.”  She then proceeded to down the rest of that beer and popped the top to another.

“You are officially the coolest chick I know.”  Rylee blushed at the comment but she wasn’t sure if it were because of the words or the alcohol that was now coursing through her system.  At this point, she didn’t really care.

Was it five?  Maybe it was six…she couldn’t remember.  Rylee stared hard at the bottles on the table and tried to remember how many beers she’d consumed.  It was hard to distinguish between her bottles and Trace’s, and things were starting to get a little blurry too.  She was feeling good though, and she had finally managed to stop thinking about Justin Timberlake.

Trace sat next to her and giggled at something she had just said.  She couldn’t remember what she’d said and she would bet money that he couldn’t either.  Trace was a happy drunk and it was rubbing off on her. 

“I love you, Ryles.”  He kissed her sloppily on the cheek.  He was also a very affectionate drunk, but Rylee wasn’t about to complain.

“Thanks, Tracey.”  She giggled at the nickname she’d just given him even though it wasn’t that funny.

“Seriously, I don’t know why Justin is fucking around with Christina when he could have someone like you.”  So much for forgetting about Justin.  “I mean, don’t get me wrong, Christina is hot and all…but she just…she’s not you.”  He grinned lazily at her and slung an arm around her shoulder.  “You’re a cool ass chick, Ryles.”

“Yeah, but I’m still not Christina.”  A pout settled on her face and Trace pulled her closer.

“Hey…hey…”  He tried to come up with something to say but his mind wasn’t processing at its usual rate.  Before he could truly process what was going on, his lips were settled on Rylee’s and she seemed to be reciprocating.

He took advantage of their position on the couch and managed to pull her on top of him, his hands roaming over her ass.

Trace had been attracted to Rylee when he first met her.  He thought she was gorgeous, but he also thought she was one of the most down to earth people he’d met.  She could hang with the guys but you never really forgot she was a female.  He liked that. 

He just wasn’t as attracted to her as his actions might indicate.  That and his best friend had a thing for her.  Although Justin was being an ass about it all, there was a line that friend’s didn’t cross, a guy code. But, being a man, he wasn’t about to stop now. Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, there were warning bells going off.

Rylee was hearing the same bells, but her wounded pride and the fact that she hadn’t been properly kissed or touched in months were silencing those warnings.  She knew that this wasn’t a good idea, especially when she had feelings for Trace’s best friend.  But then, the bitch in her said that Justin deserved it.  At least, that’s how she would rationalize this scene later when she could actually process thoughts.

A moan came out of someone’s mouth, it was hard to tell who’s.  Trace’s hand found its way up Rylee’s shirt which soon found its way to the floor.  She managed to get his buckle undone and his shirt came off shortly after.

Neither person was really thinking as the rest of the clothing found its way off of body parts and around the room.  Rylee was on top of Trace as he laid back on the couch.  His hands were everywhere and it felt damn good to be touched like that.  She grabbed onto his erection and smiled as he moaned out her name.  His mouth found her nipples and he paid close attention to each before falling back into the cushions.

That was the extent of their foreplay.

The sex was sloppy and it was quick.  Trace hadn’t had sex in a while either, and mix that with being drunk, he didn’t have a chance at lasting long.  At any other time he would’ve been extremely embarrassed, but now he could hardly form coherent thoughts and Rylee didn’t really seem to notice.  She was bouncing on top of him, panting and cursing.  His eyes rolled back into his head as he was sent over the edge, and by the sounds of her moans, Rylee was close behind him.

Spent, she collapsed on top of him and promptly passed out.  Trace was already snoring.

~*~

“Shit.”  Someone was pounding on her head and singing Johnny Cash as they did so. 

Rylee attempted to open her eyes to catch a glimpse of the culprit, but when the light hit her eyes she snapped them shut quickly and let out a groan.

“Turn that shit off.”  Trace’s voice came from somewhere on the other side of her and she winced at the loud noise.

“Fuck Trace, don’t yell.”  She winced again at the gravel in her voice.  “Fuck.”

Johnny Cash started to sing again and Rylee finally comprehended that it was her cell phone going off.  She felt around in her general area and actually managed to locate the offensive device.

“ ‘Lo?”  Talking too effort that she just did not have.

“Rylee?”  Justin’s voice came over the line and Rylee let out a grunt.

“What?”  She wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, and she felt like she’d been run over by a semi.

“You were supposed to be in the studio two hours ago.  Are you sick?  You sound horrible.”

“Oh shit.  Shit!”  She rolled off of the couch and landed with a thump on the floor.  The pain in her head increased but she fought through it and stood up.  This was a bad idea.  If possible, the pain in her head doubled and her stomach flip-flopped.

To add to her discomfort, she noticed for the first time the clothes that were thrown around the room and the fact that she was completely naked.

“Oh fuck.  Oh fuck.”  She was starting to panic.

“Rylee?”  Justin’s voice sounded in her ear again and she remembered why she was standing in the first place.

“I’ll…I have to go.”  She hung up the phone and it dropped to the floor with a thud.  She stared around the room in a daze, completely in disbelief.  Noise next to her caused her to stir and she looked over to see Trace on the couch…naked.

“Fuck! Trace!”  At this point, the pain in her head was a moot point.  They were both naked and Rylee was pretty sure it wasn’t a coincidental accident.  She knew they’d had sex last night, she just couldn’t remember it happening.

“Shit woman, stop yelling, I have a headache the siz-” his words stopped abruptly when he saw her standing there in her birthday suit.  Noticing his stare, Rylee quickly grabbed the closest piece of clothing which happened to be Trace’s t-shirt.  “What?”

“Trace…I…Ithinkwehadsexlastnight.”  Her sentence was spoken so quickly she wasn’t sure he understood her, but he was quickly putting the puzzle pieces together.

“Fuck.  Rylee?”  Both adults were silent for a moment, trying to process everything through the haze of their hangovers.

“Was it good?”  Rylee’s voice broke the silence and Trace’s jaw dropped at her question.

“What?”

“The sex, was it at least good?”  She turned to face him and saw him struggle to recall.  “You don’t remember either?”

“I…”  He rubbed his hands over his face and let out a breath.  “Shit, the last thing I remember was shot-gunning that beer and almost spitting it all over you.  After that, it’s all just…black.”

Rylee sat herself down on the couch and Trace pulled the blanket a little closer to his body.  He may have had sex with the girl, but he wasn’t really comfortable being naked in front of her.

“I can’t remember anything.  I remember trying to figure out what beer I was on and the next thing I know Justin’s calling telling me I should be in the studio.”

At the mention of Justin’s name an awkward silence settled over the pair.  They looked around the room and spotted the graveyard of empty cans and boxes of pizza.  When their eyes met again, both of them started to crack up laughing.  Tears were coming to Rylee’s eyes and Trace was having trouble breathing.

Neither was really sure what was so funny about this situation, in fact, it was a big deal.  But, for some reason, it stuck them as funny.

“Oh, Justin’s going to shit when he finds out about this.”  Trace’s chuckled fizzled out when he noticed that Rylee had stopped laughing all together.

“You’re going to tell him?”  She suddenly looked worried.  It was one thing for she and Trace to know, but it was something different if Justin knew.

“I don’t need to tell him, Ryles, he’s going to see it all over my face.  I’ve never been able to hide things from Justin, especially when I’ve just gotten laid.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t count because you don’t remember it.”  Trace laughed at that.

“It doesn’t matter if I don’t remember it, it still happened.  Don’t tell me that you and Christina can’t tell.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about Christina.”  She chewed on her nails and fell into deep thought.  Trace took that opportunity to find his boxers and slip him on.  The awkwardness seemed to have dissipated and he was glad for that.  His hangover was enough to deal with at the moment, he didn’t need to have a woman freaking out on him too.

He wasn’t really sure what would happen with him and Rylee now.  He was pretty sure that neither of them had feelings for the other, but still, last night changed things.  He was hoping that they could just look back on this thing and laugh, but there was a chance that it would really affect their friendship.

“I’m so late for work.”  Her voice broke through his thoughts and he noticed her going through her cell phone.  “Justin called three times before I finally picked up.  I’ll be he’s so pissed at me.”  She didn’t seem to be speaking to him so Trace decided to just stay quiet.  He knew that Rylee was worried about Justin finding out.  He had a feeling that Justin wasn’t going to be very thrilled about it all (which he had no right to be upset about anything, but he was an ass like that) and this might affect things between him and Rylee.

“Can I shower?”  She claimed his attention again.

“Yeah, sure.  The towels are in the closet across the hall from the bathroom and there should be an extra toothbrush in the cabinet.”

She didn’t say anything else as she turned and headed down the hall.  Trace dragged a hang over his head and cursed.  Why did he have to be such a horny and impulsive guy?

~*~

Justin’s head snapped up from being bent over the sound board as he heard the studio door open.  A ragged and disheveled Rylee had walked in and he breathed a sigh of relief that she was seemingly OK.  He held up a hand to stop the singer in the booth and spoke into the mic. 

“Hey Dylan, take five.”  He turned in his chair and watched Rylee for a minute before addressing her.  “Hey, RJ, can I talk to you for a minute?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.  He took a hold of her elbow and led her into the hallway.  The light out here was harsh and bright and he took in the bags under her eyes and her sallow skin.

“Are you OK?  I was worried about you when you didn’t show up this morning.”  He was looking at her with concerned eyes and Rylee felt like even more of a mess.

“I’m fine.”  Her voice came out in a rasp and she cleared her throat to try again.  “I’m fine.  I’m really sorry that I was late.  I, uh…I guess you could say I had a bad night last night.”

His frown deepened and he gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

“Was it because of me?”  Rylee’s eyes narrowed onto his face and she held back a sneer.

“It doesn’t matter what the cause of my bad night was.  Even if it was you, you wouldn’t be in any position to do anything about it, right?”  He didn’t answer so she continued.  “I’m here now, and I won’t let my night affect my work.  Let’s just get back in there and finish this day.  Dylan is waiting.”

She stepped back through the studio door and Justin stared at it as it closed.  He let out a sigh and rubbed his hands over his face.

He knew he’d made a decision and he had to stick to it, but that didn’t mean he wanted things to be cold between him and Rylee.  Letting out another sigh, he headed back into the studio.  He had work to do, the drama could wait.

Rylee opened the door to her apartment and threw down her bags with a huff.  She was exhausted and still feeling the effects of her hangover.  Working in the studio had been stressful and her focus was off all day.  Needless to say, she was happy to be home.

“Ry? Is that you?”  Christina’s voice came floating down the hallway and Rylee suppressed a groan.  She was really hoping that Christina wouldn’t be home tonight.

“Yeah, it’s me.”  She shuffled over to the couch and flopped down in a heap.  Moments later, Christina was standing over her and giving her a strange look.

“You didn’t come home last night, what happened?”  The question seemed innocent, but Rylee knew that Christina already suspected something.  She had told Christina that she was going to Trace’s so she could only assume the things that were going through her roommates mind.

“I ended up getting trashed and staying at Trace’s.”  She hoped the answer would be sufficient, but she knew better.

“Oh really?  And how is Trace doing?”  Yup, Christina knew.

“He’s good, probably still hung over too.”  Rylee was silently praying that the question she knew was coming would go un-asked.

“Did you sleep with him?”  No such luck.  There was really no way to get out of this situation, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“We passed out on the couch together, so…sure, I slept with him.”  Much to Rylee’s chagrin, Christina started clapping her hands and bouncing up and down.

“I knew it!  You had sex with him!”  She let out a squeal that caused Rylee to grasp her head in pain.  “I knew there was a thing between you two!  I can’t wait to tell Justin.”

Rylee’s eyes opened at this statement.  This was what she was hoping to avoid.  She supposed that she shouldn’t care what Justin thought, but she really didn’t want word getting out about last night.  For one, it would make her look like a hussy, and second, she did have to work with Justin every day.  If this upset him, it would be hell to sit in the same room with him for hours on end.

“It’s nothing big, Tina, really.”  The look her friend shot her told Rylee that she wasn’t buying it.

“Nothing big?  You haven’t gotten laid in months, Rylee-Jean, this is huge!”  Christina pushed her way on the couch and sat next to Rylee.  “Tell me…was it good?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, it was bad.  A pause like that means it was bad.” 

“Well…actually, I have no idea how it was.”  Christina shot her a strange look, prodding her to explain.  “I was shitfaced, Tina, I don’t remember a thing after my sixth beer.”

It was quite for a moment while Christina thought of a response.

“Oh, well.”  A smile crossed her face again and she grinned down at Rylee.  “It doesn’t matter.  Obviously it happened because you two like each other.  I’m sure you’ll have another chance to go at it.  I knew it though, I was telling Justin the other day that I thought you and Trace would make such a cute couple.”

Rylee didn’t have the energy or the patience to explain to Christina that nothing was going on between her and Trace.  Christina had already made up her mind that the two were a couple and there really wasn’t much that could change that.  Especially since Christina had been taking it upon herself to play match maker for Rylee and she would actually leave her alone if she thought that she liked Trace.

And besides, she told herself, who cares if Justin is upset?  It’s not like he was going to drop Christina any time soon.

~*~

“Trace, dude, you here?”  Justin ambled through his house looking for his best friend.  He knew Trace was there somewhere, his car was out front.  Noise from the back of the house indicated that he was in the living room, but when Justin checked, it was empty.

The next best place to look was the kitchen.  Sure enough, Trace had his head stuck in the fridge.

“Hey, you’re letting all the cold air out.”  Trace closed the door and turned to face the other man.

“Impossible, the fridge generates its own cold air.”  Justin’s response was to flip the bird.  He noticed the food spread out on the table and gave Trace a strange look.

“This is hangover food, man, what did you do last night?”  He picked up a french fry and popped it into his mouth.

“I got trashed…duh, why else would I have a hangover?”

“Did you drink by yourself?  Really, Trace, that’s the first sign of being an alcoholic.”  Before Trace could respond, Justin’s phone rang.  He glanced at the caller ID and spotted his girlfriend’s phone number.

“Hey babe.”  He didn’t miss the roll of the eyes that his best friend threw his way, but he chose to ignore it.

“Guess what, guess what, guess what?!”  Christina’s voice came over the line in a high pitched tone and Justin had to lift the device away from his ear.

“What?”

“Trace and Rylee hooked up!”  With a raised eyebrow, Justin stared at his best friend.

“Is that so?”  Jealousy and anger was coursing through his body and it took everything in him to stay relaxed.

“I told you so!  She just told me that they hung out last night and ended up having sex.  I knew it!”  Her excited tone was grating on his nerves and he knew he had to calm himself down before he ended up saying something stupid.

“Hey baby, I’ve got another call coming in and it’s from the studio.  I’ve got to take this one, but I’ll call you back later.”  He waited for her to acknowledge before hanging up the phone, his gaze still attached to Trace.

“Lying to your girlfriend isn’t a good thing, JT.”  The death stare that was sent in his direction caused Trace to stop chuckling.

“You had sex with Rylee?” 

Trace watched his friend closely before answering.

“Yes, we had sex last night.  I don’t see why you’re getting out of shape about it, though, you have a girlfriend, remember?”

Justin shrugged and turned to grab a beer from the fridge.

“I’m not bent out of shape, I’m just curious.  I didn’t think Rylee had a thing for you, that’s all.”

“Oh, so you thought she was going to wait around for you, is that it?”  Trace was starting to get pissed off at Justin and he was almost glad that he and Rylee had shacked up last night.  Justin deserved to have this thrown in his face, after all, he was treating Rylee like shit.

“No.  I just…whatever, man.  You can fuck whoever you want, I don’t care.”  He stormed off down the hallway and Trace let out a curse.

This was getting ridiculous.  Justin was acting like Trace had stolen Rylee away from him, when Rylee wasn’t even his in the first place.  Who cares if they were attracted to each other?  Justin had a girlfriend and Rylee had the right to do whatever she wanted.

He followed Justin into the living room and stood in front of the TV to catch the other man’s attention.  This wasn’t over.

“Really, Justin, grow the fuck up.”  Justin was about to protest to Trace blocking the TV, but after hearing those harsh words he stopped.

“What?”

“You’re acting like I walked in and stole Rylee from you.  Reality check, asshole, you’ve got a girlfriend and you haven’t let any of us forget it.  You’ve dicked around with Rylee enough already, you don’t have the right to get upset about her hooking up with someone else, even if it is me.  It’s not like you’re in a position to be with her.  So do us all a favor and get your head out of you ass, OK?”

He didn’t wait for a response.  Instead, he turned and stalked down the hallway and out the front door.

“Shit.”  Justin threw his head back against the couch and let out the breath he’d been holding.

~*~

The twang of guitar strings was the only sound that could be heard through the studio.  Rylee sat with her head bent over an acoustic and she was playing chords to an old country song.

Justin sat at the desk thumbing through some paperwork, doing his best to avoid bringing up the conversation he desperately wanted to bring up.

“What song is that?”  Rylee’s head came up from its bent position but her finger’s kept playing.

“It’s an old Patsy Cline song, my mom used to listen to it all the time.”  Justin nodded his head and twirled around in his swivel chair.

“So…Trace?”  It slipped, really.  The look on her face told him she knew what he was getting at and it was almost cute to watch her cheeks blush.  It would’ve been cute if it weren’t for the fact that it was his best friend that was making her blush.

“Yeah, I’m taking it that Christina told you?”  Justin’s head nodded again and Rylee thought he looked eerily like a bobble-head doll. 

“She was pretty excited that the two of you got together.  I didn’t believe her when she said you liked each other, guess I was wrong.”  The sour look on his face was unbecoming and Rylee was getting a little upset with his assumptions.  If he was going to make his own conclusions without getting all the facts, she might as well go with it.

“Yeah, I guess things just happened.  Neither of us was really expecting it either, but…”  She trailed off and let him form his own thoughts. 

Justin turned back to the table where all his papers were scattered.  His face was getting hot with anger and, again, jealousy.  He hated that he was so attracted to her.  He thought that he would get over it if he focused on Christina, but it didn’t seem to be working.  Now, just thinking about Trace getting to be with her…getting to see those tattoos that were hidden…it made his blood boil.

The door opened, breaking both occupants of their thoughts.  Christina came strutting through the door with plastic bags dangling from her fingers.

“Hey you two.”  She wiggled her fingers at Rylee and placed a solid kiss on Justin’s mouth.

“What are you doing here?”  Rylee was the one to pose the question.

“J invited me for lunch.  We didn’t get to see each other last night so I’m here today.”  She placed herself firmly on the man’s lap and gave him a couple more kisses.  Rylee struggled not to gag.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to spend more time with Christina but it’s been busy.  She was free for lunch today so I thought it would be nice to have her come here.”

At a loss for words, Rylee just nodded.  She placed her guitar gently in the case and stood.  She could hear the sounds of their kissing and she knew that she only had a few seconds to get out of the room before she said something mean.

“I’m gonna go find myself something.  You two have fun.”  She fled the room quickly and let out a string of curses as she made her way outside.  What an asshole.  How could he sit there and give her attitude for being with Trace when he was going to flaunt Christina in her face?  Rylee stifled a scream and climbed into her truck.  Angry music and fast speeds was what she needed.  That, or a chance to punch Justin in the face.

Justin sent a glance at the door that Rylee had just stormed out of.  He felt like an ass, but what was he supposed to do?  He had told himself that he was going to focus more on his girlfriend, so that’s what he was doing.  Suddenly everyone was getting pissed at him for wanting to be with Christina and he was really lost about what to do. 

Christina said something to him, and he tried his best to bring his focus back to lunch and the girl in front of him, but all he could keep thinking about was the girl that had just left.

Rylee wiped the sweat that was forming off of her brown and let out a sigh.  She was furiously cleaning the apartment because her parents and brother were coming over for dinner.  Christina had promised that she would help, but as usual, she was MIA.  Actually, Rylee knew that she was with Justin, again, and it bothered her even though she didn’t want it to.

She and Trace had been hanging out a lot, they had gotten over the initial awkwardness of “we’ve slept together” and now their friendship was stronger than ever.  Trace had been getting fed up with Justin and Christina too, because he hadn’t been able to spend any time with his best friend either.

Trace had said that he had never seen Justin spend as much time with a girl before, but he was sure that this wasn’t because he was madly in love with Christina.  In fact, he had a strong suspicion that Justin was only spending so much time with Christina so he could keep Rylee off of his mind.

“Ryles, where you at?”  Speaking of Trace, his head popped around the corner into the kitchen where he spotted Rylee doing the dishes.  “Holy shit, girl.  What’s with all the cleaning?”

“My parents and brother and coming for dinner.  If this place isn’t spotless I’ll be hearing about it for the next year.”  She threw down the dish towel and grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge, offering one to Trace.

“Drinking already?”  He chuckled at her emphatic nod.  “Parents that bad?”

She thought about it for a second before shaking her head.  “No, not really.  My mom just has it in her head that I should be getting married and popping out kids instead of living in the studio.  If I don’t start drinking now, I’ll be tense for the whole evening listening to her preaching.”

“Ah, one of those.”  He took a sip of beer and laughed.  “My mom’s just happy I’m not living at home anymore.”

“Yeah, sometimes I think my dad wishes I were still at home.  I’m such a daddy’s girl, but I don’t think I could stand it.  I need my own space.”

“And you certainly get that, especially with your roommate being gone all the time.”

Rylee scoffed and finished off her beer.  She didn’t want to get started on the whole Christina/Justin thing again.  What was that saying…something about beating a dead horse?

“Let’s not talk about that.”  She grabbed Trace’s empty bottle and her own and tossed them in the trash can.  “Are you staying?”

“I was here to ask if you wanted to grab some lunch.  It’s cool if you’ve got to finish cleaning.”

Rylee glanced at her watch and thought for a second.  Her apartment really wasn’t that bad, she was just being a little paranoid.  Her parents weren’t due for another four hours.

“Yeah, I need a break anyway.  Just gimme ten minutes to change, I smell like sweat and cleaning products.”

She ran into her bedroom and changed her t-shirt and threw on some more deodorant.  The best thing about being friends with Trace was that she really didn’t have to worry about appearances.  He’d seen all she had to offer, so she could care less if she wasn’t dressed to impress.

The two left the apartment and headed out to a small diner downtown.  Rylee was glad that she’d gotten the chance to become close to Trace because she would feel really alone if he weren’t around.  She hadn’t made too many friends since she’d been in LA.  Between school and work, she didn’t have a lot of time to meet people.  Now, with Christina gone all the time, Rylee wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with if it weren’t for Trace.  She was glad they were friends, he was a cool guy and he wasn’t opposed to trashing on Justin every now and then.

~*~

When Rylee returned an hour later, she found both Justin and Christina in the living room.  She was a little pissed to see the mess that was starting to form because of her friend’s disregard for putting things away.  Plates and cups were sitting on the coffee table and pillows were scattered on the floor. 

She felt like all her cleaning had been for nothing.

“Where you been?”  Christina piped up from her spot on Justin’s lap.

“I went out to lunch with Trace.”  The raised eyebrows that came from the couple grated on Rylee’s nerves.

“You two have been spending a lot of time together.”  It was Justin that spoke this time and Rylee couldn’t help herself from commenting back.

“Well, that’s because my best friend has been spending all of her time with you.”  The venom in her words made it obvious that she wasn’t really joking.

“Ry, what’s up?  Why the attitude?”  Christina actually pried herself from Justin’s grip and made her way after Rylee.  They made their way into Rylee’s bedroom and Christina shut the door.

“Sorry, I’m just stressed.”  She wasn’t really sorry, but it would make things easier if she pretended to be.

“About what?”  Rylee turned to glace and Christina and she wondered if the girl had any brain cells.

“About what?  You’ve know for weeks that this is the weekend my parents and brother are coming to visit.”

“Oh shit, I totally forgot that that was tonight.”  Christina looked genuinely sorry that she’d forgotten.

“I’ve been cleaning all day and stressing about them coming.  You are planning on staying for dinner, right?  My mom’s been telling me how much she wants to see you.”

“Well…Justin and I were planning on going out tonight, but I’ll make him stay here.  He’ll get over it.”

“Justin’s staying too?”  Rylee didn’t like that idea at all.

“Is that OK with you?  I promised him dinner.”  She thought for a second before adding, “Hey! You can invite Trace, I know your mom would love to meet him.”  The roll of Rylee’s eyes was so violent, Christina wondered if they were actually attached to her head.

“No.  I do not need my parents thinking that I’ve got a boyfriend.  I’ll never hear the end of it and I don’t want to deal with all of that drama.”

“But…aren’t you together?”  Christina was getting really confused.

“No, Tina, we’re not.  We had sex one night because we were shitfaced beyond comprehension.  That doesn’t mean we’re together.”

“Oh.”  She looked hurt and Rylee let out a loud sigh.

“Let’s not talk about this, OK?  I’ve got to finish cleaning up the apartment and then start making dinner.  Just make sure you two are here and ready for my parent’s by five thirty.”

The conversation ended and Rylee was left to her thoughts.  She really wasn’t excited about Justin being at dinner with her parent’s.  She was upset with him to begin with, and she wasn’t looking forward to watching him paw all over Christina.  That, and she knew that her mother would start hounding her about not having a boyfriend when Christina was in such a serious relationship.

It was going to be a stressful weekend and Justin being around was only adding to that stress.  Despite the fact that Rylee was pissed at him for being an ass, she was still completely attracted to him.  He held a lot of the qualities that she looked for in guys and she was physically attracted to him as well, something that didn’t happen too often.

It sucked that Christina had gotten there first, and there were a lot of times where Rylee found herself wondering if things would be different if she’d met Justin first.  Trace was convinced that Justin had a thing for her but he was too stubborn to admit that he was with the wrong girl.  Thinking that didn’t really help Rylee at all, it just made her question things even more.

Shaking her head as if her thoughts were physical things weighing on her shoulders, Rylee focused on the night ahead of her.  She still needed to shower and changed before she started dinner, and now she had to clean up the living room again.

It was going to be a long night.

~*~

Silverware clinked on plated and mouths noisily chewed at the chicken parmesan that Rylee had cooked.

Her parents, Patty and Walter Anderson, sat to Rylee’s right, her brother, Ben, sat to her left, and Justin and Christina were directly across from her.

“So, Christina, how long have you and Justin been together?”  Patty spoke over the din of eating and Rylee inwardly groaned.  It was a good thing she’d eaten quickly, because she had the feeling that she was about to lose her appetite any moment.

“Uhm, we’ve been together about two months now, a little more.”  Patty sent a glance in her daughter’s direction.

“Maybe you could give my Rylee-Jean a few tips on finding a nice gentleman like Justin.  She needs a good man in her life.”  At this, Rylee really did groan.

“Mom, please…”  Her protests were cut off by an interjection from Justin.

“She is dating someone, didn’t she tell you?”  This comment earned a very pointed glare and Justin almost felt guilty for opening his mouth.

“Rylee-Jean!  Is this true?  Who is he?”  The questions were rapid fire and Rylee’s head was spinning.

“No, it’s not true.  Justin must have his information wrong.”  She sent him another nasty look and almost strangled him when he opened his mouth again.

“She’s been seeing my friend, Trace.  I was under the impression that they were pretty cozy.”  He looked smug and Rylee really couldn’t figure out why he was doing this to her.

“Justin…”  Christina’s tentative warning was ignored by the man next to her.  He was fueled by his jealousy and for some reason he couldn’t get his mouth to stop moving.

“I thought that it was starting to get serious.”  Rylee didn’t need to hear anymore.  She stood abruptly and pointed a finger in Justin’s direction.

“If I’m not mistaken, you weren’t really invited to this dinner, so it would be very much appreciated if you would stop trying to inform my parents of something you know nothing about.  I’m not dating Trace, he’s a good friend, something you wouldn’t know much about from what I hear.  I don’t enjoy having my night ruined by someone that’s got their head up their ass, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get some air before I tell you how I really feel.”

She stormed out of the room in a sort of calm fury and left everyone in her wake in an awkward silence.  Patty and Walter were completely unsure of what just happened, and Christina was glaring at an uncomfortable looking Justin.

“I’ll go check on her.”  Ben stood from the table and followed the direction his younger sister had taken.  He found her on the balcony connect to her bedroom starting stonily out at the city.

“He’s a fucking asshole,” She ground out through clenched teeth and Ben chuckled.

“He’s got a thing for you.”  Rylee’s head whipped around to stare incredulously at her brother.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Language, Sis, you are a lady.”  She responded by flipping him off and he laughed again.  “Justin, he’s been watching you all night, and I know that look.  Believe me, I’m a guy, I’ve seen that stare before.”

Rylee slumped into the chair next to the one her brother had taken and she let out a huff of air. 

“He’s pissing me off, Benji,”  The old nickname slipped off her tongue and it was her brother’s turn to cringe.

“I hate that name.”  She gave him a slight grin.  “He’s pissing you off because he doesn’t know how else to channel his feelings.  It’s obvious.”

“OK, Dr. Phil, thanks for the psychobabble, but it really doesn’t help my situation any.  You did notice that my best friend is dating him, right?”

“Yeah, I did.  I don’t know what to tell you, Ryles, I just call what I see.  And I see that the dude has got the hots for you.  Should I pull the big, protective brother card and kick his ass?”  She let out a chuckle and shook her head.

“No, he’s my boss; it would be bad for my career if it got out that my brother kicked my boss’s ass.”

“You’ve got a thing for him too.”  It wasn’t an accusation as much as it was a statement of fact.  Ben had always been able to read his little sister, especially when it came to things like boys.  She was an open book to him, and now was no different.

“I can’t deny it.”  She sounded disappointed to admit it.  “I don’t want to, because I know it’s futile to have feelings for him, but I can’t seem to make them go away.”

Ben sat there for a while and pondered what to say next.  He wasn’t sure of all the facts in this situation, but from what he saw tonight, there was a thick tension between his sister and this Justin character.

“I don’t really know what to tell you, other than to be careful.  I have a feeling that something’s going to snap soon, and I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not.”  Rylee’s eyes stayed focused on the skyline for a long while as she mulled over her brother’s words in her head.

“I just want to get through tonight without hearing a bunch of crap from mom about my love life.”  Ben let out a laugh at that comment and stood up from his seat.

“Well then, we should get back in there before Justin can spread any more vicious rumors about you.”

The pair headed back into the kitchen where a conversation about the Red Sox was going on between Justin and Walter, and Patty and Christina were discussing a new recipe. 

“Who’s ready for dessert?”  Rylee cleared some of the dinner dishes from the table and brought over a plate of cookies she had made earlier.

There was a slight tension in the room that no one seemed to want to acknowledge, so everyone just pretended that nothing had happened.  At one point, Christina sent a ‘sorry’ over the table at her friend and offered her an apologetic smile.  Rylee shrugged it off and smiled back.  It wasn’t Christina’s fault that Justin was being a jackass.

Justin stayed relatively silent for the rest of the meal, and he quickly exited to Christina’s room when dinner was over.  He felt bad for being an ass, but he couldn’t help himself.  He figured it was safer to hide away, especially with the dark glares that Walter had been sending his way after Rylee’s little outburst.  The man was quite intimidating and Justin was a little afraid.  It didn’t help that Ben was there too, giving dirty looks and making snide comments that could only be directed at Justin.

He had really hoped that he would be able to get over this thing for Rylee and work on making a friendship with her, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon, especially if he kept doing stupid things like open his mouth.

The ticking of the clock on the wall was keeping Rylee awake.  The rest of the apartment was silent, causing the ticking to become obvious to a point of annoyance.  Rylee rolled over on the couch and stared at the ceiling, a breath of air escaping her body.

She was attempting to sleep in the living room because she had given her parents her bed.  Her parent’s lived back on the East coast and they made a twice-yearly trip out to see both she and Ben.  Ben lived in Northern California, about three hours from Rylee, so they didn’t see each other that often.  Tonight, he was at some friend’s house and Rylee’s parents were staying the night with her before they would return with Ben to his place and leave for the East coast in a few days.

She decided that sleep wasn’t going to come any time soon so she stood from the couch and stretched her tired muscles.  The conversation she had with her brother kept playing through her head.  Everyone kept telling her that Justin had feelings for her, but it wasn’t until her brother said it that she really started to believe it.  She just wished he would stop acting like a high schooler and quit messing with her.  It was getting annoying.

Rylee mad her way into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.

“Rylee.”  A voice behind her startled her and she jumped, causing the glass to slip from her hands and bounce once on the floor before shattering into pieces.

“Shit, Justin, you scared me.”  He stood in the doorway and watched as Rylee placed a hand over her racing heart in an attempt to calm down.

“Sorry, I thought you knew I was up.”  She shook her head before bending down to start cleaning up the mess on the floor.  Justin was about to caution her when she let out a loud curse.  A piece of broken glass had lodged itself into her foot.

“Fuck.”  Blood spilled from the cut and Rylee hopped around on her good foot, trying to figure out what to do.

“Stop, just stop moving.  You’re going to get glass in the other foot if you keep moving like that.  Here,” he stepped over in her direction, careful to avoid the mess, “jump up on the counter and I’ll clean this up.” 

Rylee did was she was told, hoisting herself onto the cool surface of the counter and bringing her foot close to her body so she could inspect the damage.

Justin grabbed paper towels and started to mop up the water.  He picked up the larger pieces of glass with his hands and deposited them into the trash.  Then, after the majority of the water was sopped up, he disappeared around the corner before returning with a dust pan and brush to sweep up the rest of the glass. 

He seemed satisfied with his work, so he turned to face Rylee.

“I don’t think it’s too deep.”  She mumbled, “but I can’t get this piece of glass out.”  Justin stepped close enough to her so she could feel his breath on her face and she forced herself to concentrate on her injury.

“Let me look.”  He gently took her foot in his hands and peered at the abrasion.  He grabbed a napkin to wipe up some of the blood, and he then gently removed the nickel-sized piece of glass from her foot.

“Thanks.”  She whispered, very aware of how close he was and how much she was starting to enjoy it.  He smelled good.

“Ry,  I’m really sorry about earlier tonight.”  His voice was soft and sincere and Rylee found herself gazing into doleful blue eyes.  “I was completely out of line with the things I was saying, and I’m sorry that I upset you.”

Rylee shrugged and turned her face to break their eye contact.  The situation was getting intense and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay in this position without having to act on her mounting desire to kiss him.

“It’s over and done.  As long as my parents leave me alone about it, it’s fine.” 

“So you and Trace really aren’t together?”  Rylee’s eyes snapped back to meet his and she had to smirk at the hopeful look on his face.

“No, we’re not.  We were trashed, Justin, I can’t remember a thing about that night and neither can Trace.”

“That sonuva bitch, he’s been leading me to believe that the two of you were this hot item now.”  He chuckled with relief upon hearing that there really wasn’t anything going on.  He knew that he should back off and put space between them, but being close to her felt really good and as long as she wasn’t protesting, he wasn’t going to move.

“He was doing that to piss you off.”

“I get that now.”  He smirked at her before his face turned serious again.  “Are we OK, Ry?”

She studied his face for a moment, trying to capture the look that settled upon his features.  She gave him a quick nod before responding.

“Yeah, we’re OK.”  The two stayed in silence for a moment, their bodies’ inches apart as Justin had maneuvered his way between her knees when he was helping her with the glass.  Rylee sat perched on the counter, her eyes closed as she fought to control the surging emotions within her.

A sound broke them from their trance and Justin jumped back, putting distance between them quickly.

“What’s going on?”  A groggy Christina shuffled into the room, bleary eyed and barely coherent.

“Nothing, I dropped a cup and stepped on glass, so Justin was helping me get the piece out of my foot.”  Rylee answered, hopping down from the counter and putting even more distance between she and Justin.  She hobbled over to the cabinets and grabbed a band-aid before sitting at the table and applying it to her foot.  She avoided Justin’s stare.

“My baby is such a knight in shining armor,” Christina’s sleepy compliment brought reality crashing back down on Justin and he remembered that the woman he was in a relationship with was standing in the room.  He decided it was time for him to get out of the kitchen.

“I do what I can,” he offered lamely before moving toward Christina and ushering her out of the room.  “Good night, Rylee.”  She waved a hand in acknowledgment and he left the room without another word.

Rylee sat in the kitchen chair for a moment, her head titled back and her eyes trained on the ceiling light. 

She wasn’t really sure what had just happened between them, but something had changed.  Despite all the crap that he’d been putting her through, Rylee really wanted them to be able to work past things.  She was a little apprehensive because if their friendship grew it could mean their attraction would grow too, but she was hoping that they were adult enough to deal with it.

Letting out a breath that she’d been holding, Rylee stood and hobbled back into the living room.  The cut on her foot was throbbing and she could see blood from under the bandage.  She was probably going to need stitches, but it was too late and she was getting tired.

Things would just have to wait until morning.

~*~

So the little cut on her foot wasn’t as little as she thought it was.  After two hours in the emergency room, Rylee left with five stitches, two crutches, and one huge bill.  Needless to say, she wasn’t really excited about it.

Her parents had planned a day out for the family, but they ended up spending it in the hospital and by the time Rylee was done, it was time for her parents to go back to Ben’s and the airport. 

She sat dejectedly on her couch, staring at the bandage on her foot and wishing the wound would heal faster than it was.  You never really noticed how much you used something until it hurt to use it.  Well, Rylee knew that her foot was a pretty important body part and she hadn’t figured that she’d taken it for granted, but damn…she missed being able to walk on it.

“Hey, what happened?”  Christina had just come through the front door and she noticed her friend and the crutches that sat against the edge of the couch.

“Do you remember the glass that broke last night?”

“Vaguely…I thought I’d dreamed it until Justin mentioned it this morning.”  She dropped her bag on the floor and took a seat next to Rylee.  Rylee rested her head against the arm rest and draped her legs over Christina’s lap.

“Yeah, the cut was worse than I thought.  I had to get stitches.”

“Ooh..that blows.”

“Yup.”  A lull formed between them and Rylee could almost feel Christina’s need to spill something.  “OK, Tina, what is it?”

“What’s what?”  She feigned innocence for a moment until she noted the roll of her best friend’s eyes.  “Ok, well…Justin asked me to move in with him.”

Rylee’s jaw dropped and she became momentarily immobile.

“Yeah, I know…my reaction was the same thing.”  There was very little enthusiasm and Rylee was intrigued.  Normally this little confession would’ve elicited a squeal and a string of “Oh my God’s!” before Christina erupted into a fit of giggles.

This was oddly demure and void of any girly add-ons. 

“What did you say?  Are you ready for that?”  Rylee watched as Christina shrugged and played with her hair.

“I told him I’d think about it.”  She glanced up at her friend and gave her a rueful smile.  “I feel like things have gotten so serious with him all of a sudden.  I mean, he was so chill at the beginning and in the past couple of weeks he’s just gotten…clingy.”

Rylee cleared her throat and shifted on the couch.  She was at a loss for words.

“I didn’t think things were at this level with the two of you.”

“I didn’t either.  I know I’ve spent a lot of time at his place, but…I guess I thought we were just having fun.”

“And it isn’t fun anymore?”  Rylee really cringed and prayed that her voice didn’t sound as hopeful as she thought it did.

“Oh, it’s still fun, I just…I don’t know.  You know how I am with commitment.”  Rylee managed a smile and she nodded.

“I know.  I don’t think I’ve seen you take a relationship past five months.”  She chided and Christina mocked hurt.  The two laughed together and it almost felt like old times.

“Let’s talk about something else.”  The grin that spread across her features could only mean bad news.  “How about…Trace?”

Rylee groaned and threw her head back.  This was really the last topic she wanted to talk about.  Why couldn’t people just leave her alone about it?  Maybe she should get together with him just to shut everyone else up.

“There isn’t much to talk about on that front, Tina, sorry to disappoint you.”

“Oh, come on…you don’t even like him a little bit?”  There was a sparkle in her eyes and Rylee had to laugh.

“No…no, I don’t.  He’s a cool kid and we have fun together, but…he’s not my type and I think I’d get annoyed with him too quickly.  Besides…”  She trailed off, suddenly aware of where she was about to take this conversation.  Unfortunately for her, Christina was a pro at reading her and that comment didn’t go unnoticed.

“ ‘Besides…’  That’s got to mean that there’s someone else.  You don’t like Trace because you’re lusting after someone else!”  The previously absent squeal made an appearance.  “Spill it girl!  Who is it?”

Rylee inwardly panicked.  Now what was she supposed to say.  ‘Oh, hey, by the way, I’ve wanted to bone your boyfriend from the moment I met him.’  Yeah, that would go over well.

“Uhm…It’s…it’s a guy at work, you don’t know him.”  And that had to be the save of all saves.  Christina looked momentarily disappointed that she didn’t know the man in question, but that didn’t stop her from asking all those annoyingly intrusive questions.

Rylee answered the best she could, and when Christina accidentally knocked her injured foot in a moment of excitement, Rylee took the moment and ran with it. 

“Oh fuck!”  She grabbed at the bandaged appendage and seethed with exaggerated pain.

“I’m so sorry!”  Christina jumped off the couch and ran around the room looking for something to help.  “What can I do?”

“Grab me some water, I think I’m gonna take one of my pain meds and pass out.”  Christina hurried into the kitchen and Rylee let out a sigh of relief.  For now, the disaster was averted and she could put off the conversation that Christina was dying to have.

Why did things have to be so damn complicated?

“You what?”  The incredulous tone in Trace’s voice caused it to crack.  Normally, Justin would’ve made fun of him, but he was in a sour mood at the moment and his best friend wasn’t helping.

“I asked her to move in with me.”  The carpet had started to lay flat in the section where he was pacing back and fourth.

“Are you fucking serious?  Justin, what the fuck are you thinking?”  Trace was seated on the edge of the couch and his eyes followed the frantic movements of his pacing pal.

“Stop fucking swearing at me! Shit, Trace.”  Trace busted out laughing and the seriousness of the moment was broken for a second.

“Justin, why did you ask Christina to move in with you?  You’ve barely been together two months and I know that you’re not that serious about this chick.”

Justin’s eyebrow raised in challenge.  “Really?  You know that for a fact.”

Trace sat back on the couch and rested his arms across the back, a smug look crossing his face.  “Yeah, I know that for a fact.”  He paused, wanting to make Justin squirm just a little.  “You told me that you just wanted to be with someone fun and you didn’t want it to be serious.  Christina was that girl, you even said that she wanted things to be low-key too.”

Justin stopped his pacing and landed with a flop into the arm chair.  He rested his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands.

“Why did you really ask her to move in?”  Trace had an idea that he already knew, but he wanted to see if Justin was going to admit it.

“I don’t know, I just figured it was the thing to do.”  The scoff that came from the other man made Justin look up in shock.  Trace was supposed to be supporting him, not laughing at him.

“I think that you’re doing it to convince yourself that you really do want to be with Christina.  This is some sort of macho declaration to prove you’re not hung up on anyone else.”

The ‘anyone else’ hung in the air like a bad smell.  Justin knew what Trace was getting at but he wasn’t really ready to admit it yet.

“Whatever, think what you want.  This was my decision and I’m not taking it back.”

“Well, you better pray that Christina says no.” 

“So what if she does move in?  It’s not like I asked the girl to marry me.  She can always move back out.”

There was a stretch of silence where both men sat brooding.  Justin was upset that Trace never seemed to have his back lately, and Trace was pissed that his best friend had turned into such an idiot.

“Did you ever stop to think about Rylee in all of this?”  The question caught Justin off guard and he almost caught himself answering with a ‘I think about Rylee all the time’ but he managed to swallow it back.

“What do you mean, ‘think of Rylee’?”

“Justin, she and Christina live together, I’m sure they share rent.  You’re basically taking away her best friend and you might even be hindering her living situation.”

Justin’s mouth opened before his brain had a chance to censor.  “You could always have Rylee move in with you, then you two could fuck all the time.”

The shock that registered on Trace’s face was nothing compared to the anger that settled on it next.

“You are so fucking lucky that I know you as well as I do.  Because I am so fucking close to punching you in the face.  Grow up, Justin, and don’t come running to me when all this shit blows up in your face.” Trace stormed out, slamming the door and leaving Justin to his menacing thoughts.

Now he’d gone and pissed off his best friend too.  Well shit, there must be some disease that caused people to say things uncontrollably, what was it?  Turrets or something?  Shit, either that or Justin just didn’t know how to shut up.

He knew that whatever feelings he had for Rylee were getting stronger, but he was too stubborn to admit that he didn’t want to be with Christina anymore.  He wasn’t the kind of guy to bounce from one woman to her best friend, so he was determined to make the relationship he had work.  The only problem was, he wasn’t really sure how he was feeling about Christina anymore.

She was an amazing girl, and she was one of the most gorgeous people he’d ever met, but now that he’d gotten to know Rylee…Christina’s qualities paled in comparison.

He didn’t think that there was anything wrong with his girlfriend; in fact, she was a great catch for any guy.  But for him…he wasn’t so sure anymore.  Both of them had gone into this relationship with the intention of keeping it light and not letting things get too serious, and he now felt that using that philosophy had kept them from getting really close.

 He let out a guttural grunt and propelled himself out of the chair.  Now he didn’t know what to do.  He didn’t really want Christina to say ‘yes’ to his request, but he didn’t think it would look very good if he took it back.  He didn’t want to upset her.

“Oh fuck.”  He breathed out.  He really didn’t know what he was going to do, and he hated that feeling.

~*~

The twang of the guitar strings sent a dulcet melody floating through studio.  Rylee’s fingers glided over the metal threads as she nimbly picked and strummed, completely caught up in the tune coming from within and unaware of the eyes that watched her from the doorway.

The music she was creating was unrehearsed and new, something she was feeling at the moment.  It was sweet with a cheerless quality that gave away the distress that was hiding underneath her cool exterior.  Her eyes were closed, her mouth open slightly as she breathed deeply, as if in a trance.  She didn’t stop to think, or to correct any mistakes, although there weren’t many to note.  She caressed the guitar with a softness that exposed her nurturing nature and made it apparent to anyone watching that she loved to love.

Justin wasn’t aware that you could learn so much about a person from watching them play, but he suddenly felt more connected to Rylee simply from staring at her stroke that guitar.  She had this peaceful look on her face, and he truly noticed the beautiful lines of her features and the soft curve of her lips.  Her hair fell gently over her eyes, almost tangling with her eyelashes.

She was beautiful, and Justin questioned why it had taken him this long to truly notice.

She stopped suddenly and looked up in his direction as if something had alerted her to his presence.  She didn’t seem shocked to see him there; instead she smiled unsteadily and wiped a hand down the thigh that the guitar wasn’t resting on.

“Hey.”  The serene moment was broken with her words, but it lingered between them, waiting for something to happen.

“I’m starting to think that I should be the one working for you, not the other way around.”  Rylee gave a smirk and set the guitar back in its case, ending the moment for good.

“That would never work; you wouldn’t listen to a thing I said to you.” She chided.  Justin let out a laugh and nodded his head.

“You’re probably right.”

It was awkward between them, and neither was really sure about why.  Justin shuffled over to the chairs in front of the sound board and sat stiffly.  He felt as if something had happened and he should apologize, but he didn’t know what it was.

“So, I hear you might be stealing my roommate from me.”  With those words, Justin suddenly knew why he was feeling so uncomfortable.

“Ahh…she told you.”  Rylee raised an eyebrow in his direction, as if to express that his statement was absurd.  “She didn’t seem very receptive, though, I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.”

Rylee made her way over to where he was, and she jumped up on the counter in front of him.  She watched him for a moment before shrugging and turning away.  She picked up some papers that were sitting next to her and looked them over.

“We’ve got that band coming in next week, right?  The one with that tiny little girl of a lead singer?” 

Justin thought she was going to keep going with the Christina conversation, but apparently it was over.  He nodded in response to her question when she looked up at him expectantly.

“I’ve heard some of their stuff, she’s an amazing singer.  I’ve actually got some stuff in mind for them, if you don’t mind me taking over for a bit.”  Rylee wouldn’t look him in the eyes and he was really curious about the source her discomfort.

“Rylee?”

“It’s OK if you don’t want me to; I know I’m just the intern…”  She kept on babbling and he almost laughed at her obvious nervousness.  Something had changed between them and he couldn’t put his finger on it but he was going to try his damnedest to find out.

“Rylee…”  He tried to interrupt her again, but she wouldn’t stop talking and he was getting a little frustrated.  He did the only thing he could think of that might work, and he was really taking a chance at getting his balls ripped off.

Justin stood from his chair and took the step needed to reach Rylee.  He gently placed his hands on her knees and separated them so he could settle between them.  She seemed shocked that he had done so, and her mouth hung open, her eyes wide.  He took a hand and closed her open mouth, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

He studied her for a moment, not saying anything.  She swallowed thickly.  His eyes flitted across her face before finally settling on her mouth, and he licked his lips slowly and took a deep breath.  They stayed like this for a few seconds, but for Rylee it felt like an eternity.

She couldn’t stand the tension anymore, and against all of the voices screaming in her head, she grabbed Justin’s collar and pulled him to her, crashing his lips inter her own.

Justin responded immediately, taking his hands and plunging them into her curls and pressing her harder into his mouth.  Rylee’s hands spread up and over his shoulders and she gripped him tightly.  There was a desperation and a need that overwhelmed them both, but neither was capable of stopping even if they’d wanted too.

All of the misdirected passion and sexual tension had finally come to a head, and Justin— if he had been capable of coherent thoughts—would’ve caught himself wondering how he’d controlled himself for such a long time.

Rylee pulled back from him, her chest heaving in an attempt to fill her lungs with much needed oxygen.  The thought of stopping flitted across her consciousness for a second, but she let it leave just as quickly as it had entered.  Rational and conscience didn’t exist here, in this room, and all she could concentrate on were the feelings that we coursing through her body.

Justin’s lips attacked her neck and his hands found a way to her thighs.  He grabbed her roughly, liking the way she felt underneath his grasp.  He made his way up to her torso and found the zipper to her sweatshirt, discarding it quickly.  Fingering the fabric of her t-shirt for a second, he hesitated only for a moment before it joined her sweatshirt on the floor.

Rylee gasped as the cool air hit her bare skin and Justin’s lips traveled down her collar bone and toward her heaving chest.  She struggled to get his own shirt off, pulling until the kisses on her neck finally relented long enough for her to pull the clothing over his head.

The frantic pace of their tryst increased as bare flesh touched for the first time.  Justin’s fingers skimmed up the hot skin of Rylee’s back and he had a moment of triumph when he located the clasp on her bra and removed it from her body.  His triumphant moment increased when he felt the softness of her breasts beneath his wanting hands, her nipples growing hard underneath his touch.  She took a sharp intake of breath and threw her head back at the sensations that he was creating within her.

Rylee let her hands roam over Justin’s shoulders and down his back, pulling him in closer to her.  She wrapped her legs around his waist and their lower halves were forced together, causing another ripple of sensation to course through their taut bodies.  She could feel his arousal through the fabric of his jeans and it made her tingle within, almost to a point of blissful numbness.  Justin let out a grunt when her groin connected with his sensitive one.  He needed her to be closer.

Their lips connected again with an aggressive fervor as hands fumbled around buttons and belt buckles.  The slide of zippers sounded amidst the din of their passionate embraces.  Clothes were discarded with frantic speed and soon there was only the barrier of boxers and panties that separated their wanting bodies.  Rylee’s hand traced its way down Justin’s abdomen, skidding over tight abs and down toward the soft hair that trailed beneath his boxers.  She grinned at Justin’s hiss of air when she dipped her hands beneath the fabric and grabbed onto him firmly. 

Through the haze of sex that was clouding his mind, Justin managed to form the thought of protection.  He gripped Rylee’s wrist and removed her hand from his erection so he could step back and open the drawer to his left.  The break in contact sent Rylee sitting back on her hands, watching as Justin struggled to find the condom that he knew was located somewhere in that drawer.  Her eyes roamed hungrily over his frame, stopping with a heated stare at the obvious arousal underneath his boxers.

The moment the square foil package was in his grasp, Justin turned back to Rylee and crashed his mouth back upon her, stealing her breath.  He set the condom next to her thigh before finding the edge of her panties with his hands and swiftly sliding them down her legs.  Rylee tugged at the elastic of his underwear and they pooled at his feet a moment later.  She caresses him again, eliciting a moan from his lips.  She searched next to her for the condom at her side, grasping it between her fingers and tearing it open, all while her lips were being devoured by Justin’s.

She unrolled the condom over his tip and reveled in the hard feel of him beneath her fingers.  Justin’s head fell back at the sensation of her small hands gripping onto him and it took all of his self control not to slam into her right then.

He took a moment to control himself before grabbing her hips and sliding her forward on the counter, bringing her center to touch his groin.  Both moaned with anticipation.  Rylee’s legs slid up and down Justin’s hips in a needing gesture.  He held off for a second, teasing her, before he finally obliged and connected their heated bodies.

There was more passion in this act than either adult had every truly felt before.  The feel of him pulsing within her hot core sent Rylee into a frenzied state of mind and she could focus on nothing other than the feel of him sliding in and out.  Justin’s focus was on keeping the pace at a slow grind.  He didn’t want this to be over any time soon.

Rylee threw her head back, small gasps and moans falling from her lips at each thrust.  Justin looked down at their connected bodies and noticed for the first time the tattoos that he’d always wanted to see.  She had a treble clef and the comedy – tragedy masks on her left hip, and covering her right side was a staff of music that weaved its way down her body.

“God, you’re so fucking sexy.”  He grunted into her ear before he took her mouth in another passionate kiss. 

A thin sheen of sweat covered the two bodies that were still connected in the most intimate of ways.  Rylee’s forehead was resting on Justin’s shoulder and his arms were wrapped securely around her body and the two struggled to come down from their post coital high.

“Wow.”  Justin’s ragged voice came out in a whisper, his mind hadn’t really grasped what had just happened between them.

“I can’t believe that just happened.”  It was Rylee’s timid voice that brought attention to the fact that what had just transpired wasn’t such a good idea. 

“Do…do you regret it?”  He didn’t want to ask the question, he didn’t want to break this moment.

She was silent for a moment, but she pulled back so she could look him in the eyes.  Rylee traced a finger over his face, studying his features as if she were trying to memorize them.

“No.”  She stated.  “I feel as if I should, and I know that what just happened was wrong in more ways than I can count, but no, I don’t regret it.”

Justin managed a small smile and he placed a kiss on her forehead.  He brought her back into his embrace and held on with a tightness that betrayed his insecurity.

“What are we going to do?  I mean…”  He trailed off, not wanting to be the one to mention her name.

Rylee sat back from him and pushed at his chest a little so their bodies separated for the first time since this whole scene had transpired.  Both adults felt the coldness of their disconnected bodies and Rylee hurried to find her clothing.

After they were both dressed, Justin noticed for the first time the tears that were stinging Rylee’s blue eyes.  He grabbed her by the wrist and brought her into his chest, holding onto her tightly.

“Justin…”  She sniffled into his neck, fully feeling ashamed of what she had let happen.  “Justin, what did I do?  This is going to kill her.”

It suddenly hit both of them that they had just committed an act that was, for the most part, unforgivable.  Justin felt like an asshole for how he’d played with both of these women and hadn’t owned up to any of his actions thus far.

“I’ll tell her.”  He stated, although he wasn’t as confident about it as he may have sounded.

“Tell her what, exactly?”  The question was loaded with more inquiries than it first would seem.  Rylee stared up at him with longing in her eyes and she was desperate for him to tell her what their transgression really meant.

“I’ll tell her that I’ve fallen for you, and that we’ve slept together, and that I’m the biggest asshole in the world for not breaking things off with her sooner.”  It sounded so simple when he stated it like that, but he knew that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“I should probably see if I can stay with Trace for a few days…I don’t think Christina will want to be anywhere near me.”  There was finality about her words, something so depressing and heartbreaking that it caused Justin to pull her more tightly to him.  “I’ve just done the one thing that I swore I would never do, and I did it to my best friend.” 

The tears fell freely now.  Rylee clung to Justin in a desperate attempt to keep herself standing as she could feel her knees growing week.

She was a horrible person, she thought, and she was going to ruin the best friendship she had ever had.  Despite Christina’s forgetfulness and her tendencies to take over Rylee’s life, she had never done something as unforgivable as Rylee had just done. 

“We’ll figure something out…”  The words were hollow comfort to someone that felt as if she had just killed her best friend.

“How…how can you be so, so cold about it all?”  She broke away from his embrace and stepped back, her arms wrapping around her chest in an attempt to keep warm.  “I mean, you…you seem so detached and careless about the fact that you’re going to break Christina’s heart, and nothing is going to be the same.”

Justin studied the girl that stood in front of him and his mind struggled for an explanation that might make sense.

“It’s just…”  He started, but stopped, closing his mouth and pursing his lips together.  Justin took a deep breath through his nose and blew it out in a small stream of air.  “I don’t think it’s all really sunk in yet.  I feel…I feel like I’ve just had the most amazing sexual experience of my life, on a physical and emotional level.  While I know that I’m the scum of the earth for letting something like this happen between us, I can’t help but feel like…like I’m going to lose one person in my life but I’m bringing in someone that’s so much better.”

If Rylee had been in another frame of mind, she would’ve been flattered by Justin’s comments, and she probably would’ve agreed about the sex part.  Instead, she was so caught up on the fact that she had stolen her best friend’s boyfriend that she was starting to make herself sick.

Justin couldn’t stand to watch her fall apart anymore, so he took the few steps necessary to reach out to her, and he pulled her as close to him as he could.

“I don’t know how to make this better, and I don’t know what to say to make you feel better about what just happened.”  He mumbled into her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with the lingering scent of the sex they had just had. 

It was an odd mix of feelings for him.  He felt like an enormous fuck up and he did regret the fact that he was going to hurt someone he cared about.  He had never imagined being capable of cheating, especially since it had happened to him before and he wasn’t fond of the emotions.  But…he couldn’t help but feel this strange sense of peace at the same time.  Everything that had been building inside of him since he had first met Rylee had exploded—no pun intended—the moment their bodies intertwined.  He experienced a rush of warmth just thinking about it, and he had to concentrate on keeping himself together.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do now.  This…this changes everything.”  Rylee’s crying had slowed to an occasional hiccup.  Justin ran his hands up and down her back in a comforting motion as he tried to calm her down.

“Ry,”  He spoke softly and when she lifted her head to look at him, he smiled gently.  “I’m going to do what I can to fix this, or at least make it a little less painful.  Just…please…don’t regret this.  Don’t think less of yourself for feeling the way you do, and don’t think less of yourself for letting me feel those things too.”

Her expression was unreadable and he was afraid that she was considering never speaking to him again.

“Justin…I don’t know where this is supposed to go with us.”  She swallowed thickly and closed her eyes against a fresh wave of tears.  “I don’t want to look at you and be reminded of how I hurt my best friend.”

“Then don’t think of it that way.”  He grasped her shoulders firmly and waited until she was fully looking at him.  “Look at it like this:  You have always stepped back and let Christina take what she wants from life.  You’ve always been the supportive best friend that would put aside any of her needs and wants for someone else.  This is you taking what you need from life for a change.  Yes, it was a bad idea for it to have happened the way it did, but we can’t take that back now.  Don’t regret feeling, Rylee-Jean, especially not this.”

She was struck speechless by his little outburst.  A million thoughts filtered through her hazy brain and she struggled to put them into some semblance of order.

“But…”  She couldn’t help but fight him on this.  She really didn’t understand how he could be taking it all so calmly.  “But of all the times for me to NOT think about myself, this would’ve been the one that really counted.”  She started to pace the room, breaking away from his touch and putting some distance between them so she could actually process thoughts.

“Rylee…”

“No,”  She stopped him from interrupting.  “I’m serious Justin.  It doesn’t matter that I’ve always let Christina take the lead in life and our friendship.  It doesn’t matter that everyone thinks she owes me something…this isn’t it!  Even if she did owe me something, I’m certain that it wouldn’t be on the level of having me fuck her boyfriend behind her back!”

Her words stung him and he visibly shuddered under their intensity.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”  His tone was wounded and Rylee was a little offended that he could act like the victim at a time like this.  “I’m just trying to get you to cut yourself some slack here.  Hell…blame me, it was my fault, I initiated it and I wouldn’t stop.  Anything, just…just don’t blame yourself.”

Rylee stopped her pacing and stared at the man across the room.  This was the man that she had been pining after for over a month now, the man that had managed to work himself under her skin against her better judgment.  She had let herself feel, for once, and had ended up making a huge mistake because of those feelings.

Part of her wanted him to be right.  She wanted to believe that it was her time to get the guy, and she wanted to believe that it was OK for her to go after something she wanted.  But the more rational side of her knew that it didn’t matter how shafted she felt compared to Christina, having sex with Justin was not the way to even the playing field.

But as she watched him watch her, she couldn’t help but know that what had just transpired between them felt so damn right.  All of it felt like it was meant to happen.  No other man had ever touched her the way that Justin just had, and no other man had ever managed to make her feel the range of emotions that she had been experiencing in the last hour. 

Without really thinking about it, she closed the space between them and took his face in her hands.  Their eyes connected for a moment before she pressed her lips firmly against his.  Justin responded by wrapping her up in his arms and putting a little more pressure into the kiss.

It wasn’t anything near as heated as the kisses they had shared earlier.  It was much more emotional this time, and Rylee found tears falling down her cheeks and mingling with their mouths.

“I’m sorry I brought you into this mess.”  Justin whispered against her lips.  He broke the kiss and pulled her tightly to him, letter her burry her head in his shoulder.

Nothing had been resolved, nothing had been fixed, and neither really knew what was going to happen.  It was so strange, this sense of foreboding mixed with this sense of completeness that they had found in each other.

Rylee didn’t wish often, but at this moment she was wishing for whatever feelings that she and Justin had for each other to be enough to get them through this.

The silence in the apartment signaled that it was empty and Rylee breathed a sigh of relief.

She had spent the past couple of nights at Traces and ultimately avoiding the inevitable heart break she knew she was going to be handing out.  For the moment, Christina thought that Rylee was giving Trace another shot (Rylee conveniently didn’t correct her assumption) and that’s why she hadn’t been at the apartment lately.

The past couple of nights had been filled with disapproving looks from Trace whenever Justin would call or stop by.  He refrained from lecturing her, other than his initial “You did what!?” outburst.  He was as supportive as he could be, but he did make it clear that he didn’t want to be involved when the shit hit the fan.

Hurting her best friend was not something she was looking forward to doing, but as she thought about it, she had already hurt her best friend, she was just waiting to break the news to her.

For the first time since stepping through the door, Rylee noticed an emptiness to the apartment.  Nothing too drastic, there were still signs of Christina around, but…something was off.  The living room was clean, the sink was void of dirty dishes, there was no laundry sitting out in baskets.  The whole place was relatively spotless. 

Peeking her head into Christina’s room, Rylee noted that the bed was made and there was visibly less stuff.  She scrunched her face in wonder and made her way down the hall toward her own bedroom.  Where could Christina be, and why was everything so damn clean?

The note taped to Rylee’s door indicated that she wouldn’t be in the dark for much longer.

Rylee dropped the paper and it fluttered to the floor in a slow, arching motion.  It landed softly at her feet and she stood there, dumbfounded.

Christina was out of the state and there was no telling when she was coming back.  Rylee could either look at this as a very, very good thing, or she could look at it as an undetermined amount of time for her to bite her nails in anticipation of her return.

She padded into her bedroom and flopped down on the bed, picking a spot on the ceiling to stare at and getting lost in thought.

Rylee never imagined that she would be in a position like this.  She had always said that she would never cheat on anyone, and in a way, she had cheated on her best friend.  Actually, it was worse, she was the woman that had caused her best friend’s boyfriend to cheat.  Thinking about it made Rylee’s stomach slosh around in her abdomen and she closed her eyes against the sea-sick feeling.

She hated how things had happened.  She didn’t regret falling for Justin, she just wished that she’d had a little more restraint when it came to the sex part.  She would’ve been breaking girl codes if she had hooked up with Justin after he and Christina broke up, but that would’ve been nothing compared to what she had let happen.  It was sending her into this strange state of confusion about what she was feeling.

On the obvious front, she felt guilty.  But…she also felt elated to think that Justin returned her feelings and he had finally acted on them.  It had been such a long time since Rylee had felt genuine feelings for someone, feelings that passed platonic and dove straight into romantic. 

Was she supposed to deny herself the happiness of finding someone she truly connected to for her best friend?  Or had she sacrificed her right to happiness because of what she’d allowed to happen?

A knock on the door interrupted her pondering and she slowly rolled off the edge of the bed and shuffled down the hallway.  Justin’s somber face met her gaze as she opened the door, and despite her hesitation, she was happy to see him.

“Hey.”  She stepped to the side and watched Justin make his way into the room and toward the couch.

“Christina left me a message, she said she was going out of town.”  An awkward moment started to build between them.  Neither was really sure about how to act, or what the protocol for a situation like this was.  Rylee wanted to go over and cuddle up next to him, but there was still the looming fact that Justin and Christina were technically together.

“She left me a note.  She’s gone back East for a while, I’m not sure how long, she didn’t say.”  Rylee shifted from one foot to another, unsure of what the next step in this strange dance was supposed to be.

“I think she’s been avoiding my calls, because I’ve left her a bunch of messages but I haven’t actually talked to her since I asked her to move in with me.”  He glanced down at the phone in his hand as if waiting for it to light up with a call, expecting it to be Christina.

Rylee shrugged, still not sure of what she should do and she was growing more uncomfortable as the seconds passed. 

“Do you want a drink or something?”  Justin asked for a beer so she made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a couple bottles from the fridge.  She popped the caps off with the bottle opener on the counter and turned only to run into Justin’s broad chest.

“Whoa!”  She managed to save the beers and keep them from spilling.  Justin gently took them from her hands and placed them on the counter before grabbing Rylee and bringing her into him for a kiss.  He pulled back after a moment or two of her not responding.

“What’s wrong?”  His brow wrinkled in confusion as he watched Rylee take a step back.

“Nothing…I just…”  She trailed off, not sure of how to put her feelings into words.  Instead of finishing her thought, she grabbed the beers again, handed one to Justin and motioned for him to follow her into the living room.

The sat at opposite ends of the couch, Rylee’s feet tucked under her body and Justin’s legs perched on the coffee table.

“I feel…strange, I guess.”  Blue eyes met stormy grey one’s as Justin turned to capture Rylee’s gaze.  “You’re still technically with Christina, and…I don’t know…it feels wrong.”

“It didn’t feel wrong at the studio.”  His anger was coming from his confusion and mounting guilt.  He didn’t mean to direct it at Rylee, but because she was a part of this situation, she was going to be on the receiving end.

“I know that.”  Her stubborn reply was accompanied by a flash of anger in her eyes.  They grew to an even darker grey than before.  “I’m not trying to blame you, Justin, or make you feel guilty.  It’s my fault too.  I just think we should slow it down until we can tell Christina.”

He stayed silent, his only motions were the moving of the beer bottle to his lips and the slight rise and fall of his chest.

“I’m sorry.”  Her voice sounded so small and so pitiful that Justin’s anger melted away into a lesser form of frustration.

“Don’t…please don’t apologize.”  He placed his bottle down on the table and then rested his elbow’s on his knees, his head hung down low.  “I don’t want to fight with you about this.  I  just want it to all go away so I can actually enjoy these feelings I have.”

Rylee nodded even though he wasn’t looking at her.  She placed her own bottle on the table next to Justin’s and moved to sit in a position similar to his.  Tentatively, she reached out and touched his forearm with her fingers.

“When are you going to tell her?”  Justin moved so his hand was now holding onto Rylee’s, and he moved back on the couch and tugged her body so it was leaning against his.

“I didn’t want to tell her over the phone, but I don’t really want to wait that long either.  I think the longer we wait the worse it’s going to be.”  Rylee’s head was pressed against his shoulder and chest and she could hear his heart beat as she nodded against him.

“She could be gone for months.  She said in her note that she wasn’t sure when she was coming back.”

“Yeah, she said something like that on the message too.  I think I was starting to scare her away when I asked her to move in with me.”

“Why did you?  Ask her to move in with you?”  Rylee looked up into Justin’s eyes as he shrugged and stared out the window next to him.

“I don’t know.  I think I was trying to prove to myself that I didn’t really want you and that I was serious about Christina.  It probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve done lately.”

“I can think of something worse.”  The grin in her voice let him know she was kidding about it and he chuckled.

“Yeah, but that discretion was a hell of a lot more fun than when I asked her to move in with me.”  Rylee smiled up at him and let herself be OK with things for the moment.  There wasn’t much either of them could do since Christina was MIA, so she was going to try and relax for the time being.

“Don’t get mad at me if I get distant with you.”  The slightly jovial mode left the room again and things went back to being serious.

Justin didn’t respond, instead he waited for her to elaborate.

“What we did is going to kill my friendship, Justin, you have to know that.  I have to get over all this guilt I’m feeling before I can be with you completely; otherwise I’m going to think about the pain I caused her every time you and I are together.”  She licked her lips, her eyes distant as she spoke.  “I deal with things by hiding inside of myself, that’s just how I am.  You’re going to have to be patient with me.”

Justin shifted on the couch so he was lying against the headrest and Rylee was half on top of him.  He ran his hands through her hair and kept her in close to him, liking the warmth of their bodies touching.

“I get it, I think.”  He wanted to be as understanding as possible, and really, it was his fault that she was going to lose her best friend.  For someone that wrote love songs that professed undying devotion and complete infatuation in eloquent and flowing words…Justin Timberlake really didn’t know what to say.

Rylee’s eyes traveled up Justin’s torso and over his face.  He looked as worn as she felt, and she questioned whether all of this was really worth it.  She knew that her feelings for him were strong, that she hadn’t felt like this about a man in a very long time…but was that enough?  Would they make it through all of the pain that was undoubtedly going to come and be able to build a relationship out of it?

She didn’t want to doubt it, and she didn’t want to question it.  She just wanted to allow herself to feel, to live.  She wanted to be able to let things happen and not worry about the consequences, but she’d almost entirely robbed herself of that opportunity when she made the decision to sleep with Justin.

“I don’t want to lose my best friend.”  She whispered into his collar bone and his arms tightened around her body.  She felt his lips press against her temple and she closed her eyes against the tears that were starting to blur her vision.

Maybe it would be better to stop everything right now and chalk it up to a bad choice.  Maybe she should break things off completely with Justin and pretend that nothing had happened between them, that way she would be able to save her friendship.  Eventually she could tell Christina about what happened, and hopefully they would be able to move past that.

Hundreds of thoughts moved through her mind at such a rapid pace she was starting to get a headache. 

This was why she had avoided relationships, because people always got hurt.

“What’s your favorite color?”  His hand trailed lazily through her curls.  Rylee’s head was resting on his chest and her arms were wrapped securely around his waist.

“Uhm…blue, and orange.”  They were wrapped up in blankets on Justin’s bed, enjoying a rainy afternoon away from the studio.  Christina still hadn’t called and they hadn’t been able to get a hold of her, so for now they were learning about one another and enjoying each other’s company.

“Mine is blue too, but I don’t really like orange.”  He wrapped a curl around his finger and then let it go, watching it spring back into shape.  “What’s your favorite food?”

“That’s a tough one.  I love Sheppard’s Pie, my mom used to make that for me all the time.  I think I’d have to say apple crisp, though, I could eat that anytime.”

“My grandmother’s peach cobbler is my favorite, you should try it sometime.  You’ll give up apple crisp in no time.”

Rylee scrunched her face and shook her head.  “I don’t think so.”

He laughed at her expression and couldn’t help himself, capturing her lips for a brief kiss.  Rylee snuggled in closer to him, drawing warmth from his body.  For California, it was a very raw and chilly day. 

“Ok, my turn.  What’s your favorite time of day?”  Rylee’s head tilted up to look at Justin, and she started to run her fingers over the stubble on his chin.  She watched his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.

“I don’t really know.  I like the afternoon a lot, when the sun hasn’t really set yet and everything is glowing.”  His eyes shifted to meet hers and she smirked at him.

“You’re so poetic, it’s almost girly.”  She laughed at his wounded expression and patted his cheek lightly.  “I think it’s cute.”

She squeaked when Justin suddenly rolled them over and growled into her neck, placing kisses along her collar bone and jaw.

“I’ll show you cute.”  His fingers started to pick at her rib cage, dancing over her sides and across her stomach.  She let out a laugh and squirmed in an attempt to get away, but he seemed to be everywhere.  Finally, breathless and warm, she gave in. 

“Ok, Ok, I surrender.”  His smile was triumphant.  He leaned in for a deeper kiss and relaxed into her body.

“This afternoon has been perfect.”  The tone of his voice took on a dreamy quality and Rylee couldn’t help but nod in agreement.  “I haven’t had an afternoon like this in such a long time…I feel like a teenager again or something.”  He rolled them back over so she was pulled up tight against his side.

“What do you think’s going to happen when Christina gets back?”  She had been trying to keep her mouth shut and her curiosity at bay, but it was impossible for her to forget.

Justin shrugged, her head moving up and down with his shoulder.

“I’ll sit her down and tell her the truth.”  He faded off into thought for a moment before his eyes drifted to the girl in his arms.  “I’m more worried about you, though.  It won’t hurt me much if Christina decides to stop talking to me, but I know that it’s going to be a lot harder on you.”

It was Rylee’s turn to shrug.  She buried her head in his neck and breathed in deeply.  He smelled of laundry detergent and Old Spice, along with whatever masculine smell that guys always seemed to emit.  It was comforting and soothing.

“I’ve been going over it in my head every day since the studio…”  She trailed off, a smile playing on her lips as she remembered that day.  “I know it’s going to ruin our friendship, but I can’t seem to fully accept it yet.  I feel like I’m in a dream or something, and I’m going to wake up any second and you’ll be back with her.”

Justin lifted a hand so he could take her chin between his fingers.  He smoothed over the skin on her cheeks before moving her head so she was looking up at him.

“We did something wrong, Rylee, sure.  We slept together and we shouldn’t have, there’s no way around all of that.  But…”  He paused, searching for the words he needed.  “But we didn’t do anything wrong by having feelings for each other.  You can’t control who you fall in and out of love with.” 

He watched the thoughts swirl in her eyes as she stared up at him. 

“I just feel like I should’ve been able to stop myself from wanting you.  You weren’t mine to begin with, I had no right to fall for you.”

Justin scooted himself down under the covers so they were face to face.  He rested his forehead on hers and pulled her body in flush with his own.

“I was lying to myself when I was with her, Rylee, and in doing that I was lying to her too.  The last thing I want to do is hurt her, but it would be so much worse if I ignored how I feel for you just to salvage that relationship.”  He licked his lips and managed a small smile.  “Hopefully she’ll be able to get past things and just be happy for you.”

The scoff that came out of her mouth wasn’t very lady-like and the roll of her eyes made it worse.

“You don’t know Christina very well, then.  She’s Puerto Rican, for one thing, which means she’s got the temper of a pissed off bull.”  Justin laughed at the analogy, he could almost picture Christina with horns and steam coming out of her nose.  “Don’t laugh, I’m serious.  When everything comes out, the shit is going to hit the fan.  When someone does something to make Christina miserable, she’ll find a way to make them feel the same way.”

She was probably right, but Justin couldn’t bring himself to take it all the seriously.  He was comfortable, content, and he had one of the most amazing women he’d even met curled up next to him in his bed.  The moment wasn’t conducive to serious, heavy thoughts.  So, he captured her mouth in a reassuring kiss and dismissed the conversation, moving it in a direction better suited to his mood.

“You never told me what your favorite time of day was.”

~*~

The incessant ringing of the phone made its way into the bathroom and over the noise of the running shower.  Rylee recognized the specialized ring tone immediately and she almost slipped trying to get out of the shower to answer it.

“Please don’t hang up…”  She raced through the apartment and into the living room where her phone was perched on the coffee table.  She really hoped that no one was peeking through her windows at the moment because they were in for quite a show.

“Hello?”  The static on the other end gave her hope that she didn’t miss the call.

“Hey Girl!”  Christina’s cheery voice came over the line and Rylee had to smile.  She had missed her best friend, despite the drama that made the air thick with anticipation.

“Hey, what’s up?”  Rylee made her way back into the bathroom, grabbing a towel and wrapping herself up before she turned off the water.  She’d have to finish her shower later.

“Nothing much.  I’m sorry about running out on you, I just needed to get away.”  The noise in the background faded, and Rylee assumed that Christina had stepped outside.  Her assumption was supported when she heard the tell tale flick of a lighter and the inhalation of air.

“Don’t worry about it.  I just hope everything is OK.”  She was worried.  Christina was known for her disappearing acts, but the one person she always told was Rylee.

“Yeah…I just…well…”  There was a pause as she sucked on her cigarette.  “I think that Justin was about to propose.” 

Rylee almost fell off the side of the bathtub.  “What?”

“I know, right?” 

“No really, what?  Did he say something about proposing?”  Her brow was knit in confusion and she was starting to get upset.

“No, I just had that feeling.  After he asked me to move in with him he seemed to be really clingy and he wouldn’t stop calling me.  He kept mentioning something really important he needed to talk to me about but it had to be done face to face.”  Rylee could hear the sound of her blowing out smoke.  “I didn’t want to lead him on, and I certainly didn’t know how to handle that conversation, so I decided to head home and think about it for a bit.”

Rylee was shocked speechless and she was struggling to think of something to respond with.  What the fuck was going on?

“Tina, I don’t think Justin wanted to propose.”

“I don’t know…”  The voice trailed off and Rylee could hear her yelling something in Spanish at her father.  “Stupid idiot of a man…Sorry, Dad’s being an ass at the moment.  You really don’t think Justin wanted to propose?”

“Well…”  How the hell was she supposed to respond to that one?   “You two have only been together for a couple of months…I mean…”

Christina laughed and it made Rylee cringe.  “Ry, you remember Adam, right?  And Patrick?  They both wanted to marry me after only a couple of months.”

That little comment sent a spark of anger through Rylee for a moment.  She did remember those two, they were amazing guys, and she remembered having to pick up the pieces after Christina was through with them.

“You could just tell him ‘no,’ you know.  You didn’t need to fly to the opposite end of the country.”  Rylee’s mind was telling her to spit out the truth and get it over with but she couldn’t seem to find the courage to do it just yet.

“I know.  I just hate to break things off, they seemed to be going so well with him.  Too bad he had to end up like the rest of ‘em and get all clingy with me.  I’m hoping if I avoid him enough he’ll get the picture and break up with me so I don’t have to do it.”

The words were perched on Rylee’s tongue and she was so tempted to spit them out and give her friend a good tongue lashing.  Hearing Christina talk like Justin was just another notch on her bedpost was making Rylee sick, and really wanted to bust out with everything.  She wanted to shout out that he was an amazing person and he wanted Rylee, not Christina.  He wasn’t clingy, he was passionate and caring, and Christina wouldn’t know how to notice those if they bit her in the ass.

Taking a deep breath, Rylee calmed herself down as much as she could. 

“When are you coming back to LA?”   

“Sometime the end of this week.  I’ll let you know what my flight schedule is.”  Rylee nodded even though she couldn’t be seen.  Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute and she couldn’t seem to slow them down enough to finish off the conversation.  She was saved by someone needing Christina and goodbyes were exchanged before Rylee hung up the phone and let it fall out of her hand.

Here she was, kicking herself over stealing her best friend’s boyfriend, and Christina was half way across the country because she was too selfish to break it off with Justin.  It made her blood boil and her head ache. 

She almost wished she had told Christina everything that happened, but she knew that it wasn’t something to be done over the phone.  On top of that, it didn’t matter how selfish the girl was being, she still didn’t deserve to get cheated on by or to get stabbed in the back by her best friend.

This sucked.  Rylee was pissed but she was still the guilty party, and that just made her heart ache more. 

She picked up her discarded phone and dialed the familiar numbers.  He picked up after the second ring.

“How’s my beautiful girl?”  Rylee blushed and couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face at the sound of his voice.

“Hey.  Are you busy right now?”  She knew he had wanted to go into the studio today, even though it was a Saturday.

“Not really, I was going to head out in a half hour or so.  Why? What’s up?”

“Christina just called.”  Those three words sank like rocks in Justin’s stomach.

“Did you tell her?”  Rylee shook her head and then remembered that he wasn’t there to see her.

“No, I wanted to though, she deserved it.”  Justin was taken aback by the venom in her words.

“Why don’t I pick you up and you can come with me to the studio.  I could use some help anyway, and then we can’t talk.”

Rylee agreed.  “OK, I’ll be here.”

She hung up the phone and let out a long sigh.  She usually tried to avoid drama as much as she could, but this time she’d invited it into her life and it looked like it was going to stay.

Rylee finished her shower, enjoying the hot water and letting it relax her tense muscles.  She was stressing out and it was starting to have a physical affect on her.  She felt guilty for falling for Justin, but at the same time she was upset with her friend.  How could Christina just act so careless?  Rylee didn’t like thinking that her actions were justified, but a little piece of her couldn’t help but feel just that.

She didn’t know what would happen when everything finally came out, especially now that she knew Christina didn't have strong feelings for Justin. 

There were just so many questions and so many possibilities, it was all starting to make her head spin.

Rylee jumped up on the counter in the studio and Justin experienced a moment of déjà vu.  He stepped between her knees and placed his hands on either side of her hips.

“This position brings back memories.”  He grinned into her mouth as he caught her in a kiss.  Rylee pulled back after a moment and pushed his chest a little so there was some space between them.

“Christina thinks you’re going to propose to her.”  Any moment that might have occurred between them vanished and was replaced by a thick and uncomfortable tension.

“What?”  Justin stiffened and took a step back.

“She called me and she said that she left because she thought you were going to propose to her and she needed to get away for a while.”

“Where the hell did she get an idea like that?”  He started to pace, his hands going to the back of his head and he rubbed his neck to try and rid it of the tightness that was creeping into his muscles.

“She thought you were getting clingy, and after you asked her to move in with you, you kept calling.  She figured you’d fallen in love with her and that you wanted to propose.”

Justin stopped and sent in incredulous stare in Rylee’s direction.

“We’ve only been together for two months!”

“That’s what I told her.”  She started to pick at her nails, a nervous habit that had followed her out of childhood.  “She’s coming home at the end of the week.”

The pacing started up again and that sea-sick feeling was coming back to Rylee’s stomach.  Justin didn’t say anything as he moved back and fourth, clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Can you stop moving and talk to me, please?”  It was less of a demand and more of a plea.  Rylee’s exasperated tone put an end to the mindless wandering of Justin and he came to sit in the chair in front of her.

“What do you want to do about this?”  He placed his hands on her knees, rubbing circles over her jeans.

Her eyes lifted to meet his before she dropped them back to her hands.  “I want to run away and hope that it all takes care of itself.”  She gave him an unconvincing smile and let out a horribly derisive laugh.

“Ry…”  His voice was soft, begging almost.  He looked torn and uncertain of what to say to make the situation better.

“Justin…” Her tone bit at him. She was mocking him as a defense mechanism and he knew it too. 

“Did she say when her flight was getting in?”  Rylee responded with a shake of the head.

“She’s going to call me with flight details later on.”  There was such desperation on her face that Justin couldn’t help but stand and bring her into his arms.

“Let me know when she does call.  I’ll pick her up from the airport and tell her then.”

Fear and guilt shivered their way down Rylee’s spine and she suddenly felt very cold.  She had been dreading this moment for a while now, but she had been waiting for it too.  Life seemed to be in this stand-still and she knew that telling Christina the truth would start things moving again.  She just wasn’t sure of the direction they were going to head in, although, she could take a very good guess.

“Do you think we should tell her together?”  Rylee questioned.  She really wasn’t sure about the protocol when it came to telling people that you’d had an affair with their boyfriend.  She was new to this game, and she was starting to regret that she’d ever allowed herself to play without first thinking of the rules and consequences that came with such a foul.

“No.  I should tell her, I think she’ll feel attacked if we’re they’re together, and I’d hate to see what she does if she feels cornered.”

“She’s never going to speak to me again.”  The burn in the back of her throat indicated the tears that were about to start.  She swallowed thickly against them and closed her eyes tightly.

Justin didn’t know what to say, probably because he felt that Rylee was right.  Christina was going to blow up at the both of them about this, and he wished that things had happened differently.  He certainly didn’t regret allowing himself to feel something for Rylee and to recognize that Christina wasn’t the girl he wanted…he just didn’t think he’d gone about it the right way.

“We’ll figure it out, Rylee, and we’ll make it through this eventually.”

She wiped her eyes and nodded solemnly, the moment seemingly over as she jumped off the counter and started to mess with the mixing board.

“Let’s at least get some work done.”  She glanced at him quickly but her eyes had turned stony and he could read nothing in them.

“Sure.”

~*~

At first listen, it would’ve seemed that the room was silent.  Rylee was sitting on the couch, her hands clasped together making her knuckles turn white.

She could hear the ticking of the clock, loudly reminding her that time was passing and she was going to have to face her actions soon.  Rain spattered on the window and an occasional car could be heard passing by, splashing through puddles.

Justin had called her about a half hour ago, saying that Christina’s plane had landed and he was getting ready to bring her home.  That also meant that he was getting ready to break the news, and soon things were going to spiral out of control.  She wasn’t ready for it.

The rattling of the door sounded like a shot gun in the silence of the apartment.  Rylee’s eyes watched as the door handle turned slowly and the door started to move.

It was like watching in slow motion as Christina materialized in the living room and the two girls were face to face for the first time.

“Hey.”  Her voice was unrevealing and Rylee couldn’t read her mood.  She was starting to panic and was trying very hard to keep her cool.

“How was the flight?”

“Oh…it was OK.  I slept through most of it.  The ride home, on the other hand…”  Rylee’s insides started to twist and knot and she felt like she was going to throw up.

“Tina…”

“I broke up with Justin.”  That wasn’t what Rylee was expecting to hear, but if she could avoid the inevitable for a little while, she’d take it.

“You did?”

“Yeah, bastard told me he’d slept with someone else.”  It was so neutral and delivered in such a flat manner that Rylee really couldn’t tell if Christina was upset or not.  “I think you knew her.”

Oh shit, here it comes.

“Listen, I wanted to tell you…”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.  I guess she’s just some slutty intern anyway, he didn’t even tell me her name.  Anyway, it gave me the perfect opportunity to act wounded and break up with him.”

“Wh-what?”  Now she was really confused.

“Yeah, he said she’d just started working at the studio and he’d slept with her before I left for home.  I guess you were right, he didn’t want to propose!”  She seemed tickled by the situation and Rylee’s stomach was lodged somewhere up in her throat.

“Christina…”

“Just a sec, I need to pee.”

Rylee watched the retreating form of her friend and she could feel her heart thumping against her chest at a rapid pace.

He didn’t tell her.

He left out a really important piece of this equation and now Rylee was going to have to break the news to her best friend that the “slutty intern” was really Rylee.  What was he thinking, anyway?  Did he really expect things to just blow over and go away if he only told a half-truth?  That was the only reason she could think of for why she was now in this situation.

“So, what’s up?”

Rylee ran her hands down her pant legs and took a deep breath.  She would have to say something eventually, she was just hoping for a divine intervention before hand.

“I know the intern.”  Maybe she could start off simple and build up to it.  Maybe courage would miraculously infuse itself into her system and she’d be able to get through this without choking on her words or completely breaking down.

“I’ll be she’s just some dumb blond.”  At any other time, Rylee would act offended at the blond comment, and it was intended to be a joke.  But this wasn’t any other time, this was now.

“No, she just made a really stupid mistake.”  Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and she took another deep breath.  “Christina…it was me.”

There was a stretch of silence before a loud guffaw came from the girl across the room.

“Good one, Ry.  Sure…like you would ever do something like that.”

Rylee closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears that were forcing themselves against her eyelids.  She wasn’t sure how she had expected this moment to go, but this wasn’t it.

“No, Christina, it was me.  I slept with Justin, I’ve fallen for Justin…I caused him to cheat on you.”  Her voice cracked on her last words and there was very little energy in her speech.

“Holy fucking shit, you’re serious, aren’t you?”

She couldn’t do anything but nod.  The tears had triggered something else in her, and now tension was creeping down her neck and into her chest and it was getting harder to breathe.

“I’m sorry.”  It was raspy and broken and it seemed so empty in the sudden strain that had filled their apartment.

“You bitch.”  The words had a physical affect on Rylee, as if Christina had reached across the room and slapped her across the face.  She stumbled backwards a step and hiccupped through her tears.  “Don’t fucking cry, you’re the one that betrayed me.  I should be the one in tears!” 

The pitch of Christina’s voice had reached a fierce level and her face was red with anger.  She stared at Rylee with a hatred that tore through the other girl with fierce strength.

“I can’t believe you.  I…”  Christina started to pace, unable to look at the other girl in the room.  “I trusted you, I’ve always trusted you.  I never thought you would do something like this to me.  You, the girl that’s always told me how much she hates cheaters.  You’re such a fucking hypocrite, Rylee-Jean, and I can’t believe I thought you were my best friend.”

Rylee had fallen to the couch and her knees were pulled into her chest.  She made no sound, but the rise and fall of her shoulders made it obvious that she was crying.

“Did you two plan this, or something?  Have you been hiding this behind my back the whole fucking time?”

“No…”  She shook her head and gathered words from her jumbled thoughts.  “No, it just happened.”

“Fuck that, it just happened!  That’s such bullshit, Rylee.  Obviously you had feelings for the guy, you don’t just randomly have sex.”  She stopped to send a sneer in Rylee’s direction.  “Unless this was some ploy to get a job or something.”

“No, I…we…”  Rylee forced air into her lungs and counted to ten in her head so she could calm her racing emotions.  “We didn’t plan it.  I do have feelings for him, but I didn’t act on them because of you.”

“Well obviously that didn’t work too well.”  There was such venom and spite in her words that Rylee felt like she was in a physical fight.

“I’m so sorry, Tina.”

“No, no.  You don’t get to call me that anymore, and you don’t get to feel bad about this.  I’m the one that got fucked over, remember?  I’m the victim here, not you.  Go ahead, you can have him, you’re both lying and conniving and fucking….CHRIST!  I can’t even look at you.”

Christina stormed down the hallway and grabbed her still-packed suit case.  She roughly picked it up and made her way back to the living room.  She didn’t bother to look at Rylee as she grabbed her keys and headed toward the door.

“I’m leaving.  I’ll be back in two days and by that time I expect you to have your shit packed and out of here.  And you owe me rent for the past two months.”

With the slam of the door, she was gone.

Rylee dissolved into a fit of tears and the sobs wracked her body with such ferocity that she fell to the floor in a heap. 

She had lost her best friend, and it was all her fault.  There was no one else to blame, and the guilt was sitting so heavily on her conscience that Rylee felt as if someone was piling stones upon her chest. 

Coughs, hiccups, sniffles, sobs…she couldn’t stop crying and she couldn’t catch her breath.

The look on Christina’s face kept playing through her mind’s eye and it stabbed another spike of pain through her heart every time.  The words kept replaying in her ears, loud, hurtful, deserved.  She deserved all of them because of what she’d done, but even knowing that didn’t make hearing them any easier.

For something that had felt so good at the time, it was certainly bringing a hell of a lot of pain at the moment.

The sight of boxes all over the apartment couldn’t be a good sign.  Justin stepped over a half-full box and made his way toward Rylee’s bedroom.  He’d been trying to call her all day but she wasn’t answering her phone, so he decided to just head over.

She was sitting in the middle of her room, most of the things were taken off of the walls and the top of her dresser was bare.  There were a couple of suitcases next to her and she was folding clothing from her open bureau drawers.

“Your front door unlocked.”  She jumped slightly at the sounds of his voice but didn’t turn to look at him.  Her voice was laced with tears when she answered.

“I know. I had to turn in my key so I need to leave the door unlocked.”  Justin sat down on the bed behind Rylee and reached out to touch her shoulders.  She moved out of his reach and his face fell.

“Ry…”  He slipped off the bed and kneeled behind her, burring his face into her neck and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“Stop.”  She tried to shrug him off but he wouldn’t let go.  “Stop it, Justin.”  She managed to get out of his embrace and stand up from her spot.  She moved across the room and stood stiffly, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Are you mad at me?”  Rylee almost cracked a smile at the pout that formed across her face, but then she remembered the events of the day before and her frown deepened.

“You didn’t tell her, Justin.”  The pout dropped off his face.  He brought his hands up to run over his head and he let out a deep sigh.

“I tried to, Ry, I really did.”  Justin moved up from the floor and sat back down on the bed.  “I started out by telling her that I’d slept with someone else, someone from the studio.  She just started in with her own assumptions and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her it was you.”  His eyes pleaded with her to understand.

“I had to tell her myself.”  Rylee’s voice was hard, although, she was starting to soften to the desperate look on his face.

“I know.  But Ry, she was saying the most horrible things.  She just went off, breaking up with me, saying things about this “slutty intern,”  I didn’t want to hear what she’d say when I told her it was you.  I’m so sorry.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment.  Justin’s heart broke at the lost look on her features. 

“She kicked me out.”  It was said so quietly that Justin had to strain to catch it all, but he had already made that connection with all the boxes.

“I figured that.”  He wasn’t sure what else to say.  Everything he could think of seemed inappropriate in the seriousness of the moment.

“She hates me, and I can’t blame her.  I don’t know what I’m going to do, Justin.”  The tears started again and Rylee angrily wiped them away.

She was so upset about this whole situation, add to that the sudden stress of needed to find a place to live and figure out a way to pay for everything…Rylee wanted to curl up in a ball and hide forever.

“Rylee, I know she’s your best friend, but honestly, she treated you like shit.”

The fierceness of her stare sent chills down Justin’s back.

“So she deserved this?  She deserved me stabbing her in the back and stealing her boyfriend.”

“But that’s just it!  You didn’t steal me.  Things with Christina and I were shaky and best, and we were already finished when you and I did what we did.  It just hadn’t been said yet.”

“That doesn’t make it right!”  She roared at him, her fists clenched in rage.  “It doesn’t make it better, Justin!  It doesn’t matter that she’s not always the best friend, or the best person.  It doesn’t matter that she’s made some stupid decisions in her life.  She’s my best friend and she’s always been there for me in the ways that it’s counted.  I can’t just act like this isn’t a big deal.”

Her words dissolved into another fit of tears and Justin pushed himself off of the bed and headed over in her direction.  She allowed him to wrap his arms around her, but she didn’t return the embrace.

“What can I do to help?”

“You can turn back the clock and make this all go away.”  She sniffled into his shoulder and Justin pulled back a little so he could look her in the eyes.

“And pretend that you and I never happened?  Take it all back and forget my feelings for you?  Forget your feelings for me?”

“That’s not what--”

“It’s not what you meant but it’s what you said.”  Justin’s voice cut her off, his own anger coming to the surface.  “I get it Rylee, I understand how horrible this all is.  I know that we fucked up, but can you honestly tell me that it wasn’t worth it?  Can you tell me that you’d erase everything that’s happened between us just because it hurts a little?”

She started to speak again, but he stopped her with a look.  Justin took a step back and let go of her, starting to pace the small space between the suitcases.

“No.  Ry, even if we’d done it right, even if we’d waited and I’d broken up with Christina and we’d talked to her about it all….do you really think it would be any different right now?  Sure, maybe you’d still be living together and she wouldn’t be so pissed, but she’d still be giving you the cold shoulder and you’d still be the bad guy for ‘hooking up with her ex.’”  He stopped his movement and looked her dead in the eyes.

“I wouldn’t take any of it back because what’s happened between you and I has made me feel more passion and more happiness then I’ve experienced in a long fucking time.”

Rylee chuckled a little, her tears slowing their flow.  “That speech was beautiful until you threw that ‘fucking’ in there.”

Justin gave her a soft smile as he closed the distance between them and took her back into his arms.  This time she reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.

“I guess I’m just having a really hard time forgetting the look on her face.”

“I know, I know.”  Justin’s hands trailed through her curls soothingly.  “Give her some time, ok?  Give her some time to cool off and the two of you can sit down and talk about it.”

“That might take a while.”  She chuckled, but it was hollow and stopped shortly after it started.

“You know, she really shouldn’t be that pissed.  She was the one that left the state because she wanted to get away from me.”

“That doesn’t matter, I broke the rules.  You were technically still together and I don’t think she would ever admit that she didn’t want to be with you.”

Justin let out another sigh and tilted his head back, his eyes closed.

“I knew falling in love was difficult, I just didn’t think it would be this dramatic.”

Rylee froze in place, her heart beating rapidly at the words that just came out of his mouth.

“Did you just…did you just say that…”  She couldn’t bring herself to say the words. 

“Am I scaring you?”  His eyes sparkled with amusement and Rylee blushed.

“Yeah, you are.”  She bit her lip as she stared up at him, her blue eyes crashing into his dark ones.

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop.”  He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed the tip of her nose.

“No…it’s…it’s OK.”  She smiled timidly at him, unsure of what to say.  “I just, things are just crazy right now.”

“I know.”  His smiled widened.  “It’s OK, Rylee, I know my timing sucks.”  He turned his head to glance around the room at the boxes and suitcases.  “When do you need to be out of here?”

“She’s coming back sometime tomorrow, so I should really be out tonight.”  There seemed to be an end to their moment, the seriousness creeping back into their postures and words.

“Let’s get to work then, you can store the boxes and stuff in my garage and stay with me until you find an apartment.”

Rylee didn’t say anything, her eyes portraying how thankful she was.  Even though there was a horrible sense of foreboding hanging over their heads, Rylee felt a small sense of contentment.  She watched Justin as he packed boxes and taped them closed.  He seemed to fit there, in her life, in ways that no one else ever had before.  He made sense.  Despite the fact that a relationship between the two of them came with a lot of pre-existing baggage and drama, Rylee really couldn’t picture things if she hadn’t allowed herself to feel for him.

Conflicting emotions were tearing at her conscience, but watching the man across from her made it all seem like it was going to be OK.  He gave her hope.

“Justin.”  She called to him, stopping his project and bringing his eyes to meet hers.  “It’s worth it.”

He grinned at her but said nothing, just continued to pack her albums into a box.

Rylee smiled too, and finished emptying her dresser drawers.  Her heart was broken and she felt like the biggest asshole on earth for what she’d done to Christina, but she meant what she said to Justin.  It wouldn’t make things better if she’d given up on Justin too, because then she’d be lonely and friendless.

Maybe it was selfish of her to enjoy being with Justin, but the shit had already hit the fan; it wouldn’t do her any good to push him away at this point.  The damage had already been done and even if she broke things off with Justin it wasn’t going to bring Christina back.

She just needed to figure out a way to make it stop hurting so much.

The clicking of the blinker and the swish of the wipers made a mellow cadence throughout the cab of the vehicle.  Justin’s hands tightly gripped the wheel as he maneuvered down the streets of LA and toward his house.

“So, she’s really moving in with you?”  Trace’s voice sounded next to Justin, causing him to shift his eyes in his friend’s direction.

“Just until she finds a place of her own.”  He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the disapproval that was coming over in waves from the man next to him.

“She doesn’t have any other place to stay?”  Justin shrugged at the question.

“I didn’t ask her if she did, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t really know anyone that’s got the space to take up an extra resident.”  He turned his head to make eye-contact with Trace for a moment.  “Even you.”

Trace nodded his head and turned to watch the water trickle its way down his window.

“This is a bad idea, Justin, even if you’re just trying to help.”  His voice was soft but his message was not lost.

“She doesn’t have any place else to go, and it’s only going to be a little while.  I couldn’t just sit back and watch her fall apart, Trace, you didn’t see the look on her face…she looked so…lost.”

Justin turned the vehicle down another street and sighed when his road came into view.  Rylee had taken a load of stuff over in her truck earlier and she was back at the apartment getting the last of her things ready.  Justin and Trace had a load of boxes in his truck and they were planning on storing it in Justin’s garage until Rylee found a storage unit and an apartment.

“So, she’s going to live with you, you’re going to work together, and now you’re dating.”  Trace’s voice was filled with a kind of judgment that was making Justin angry.

“Yes, that’s what’s going to happen.”  He pulled into his garage and angrily shifted his truck into park.  “What do you want me to do, Trace?  Kick her out because it might put a strain on our relationship?  Make her get a hotel room and waste money?  What? What’s your alternative?”

Trace held up his hands in defense and slid over toward the door.

“Hey, calm down, man.  I was just making sure you’d thought this whole thing through.”

Justin roughly opened the door and headed to the back of the truck, grabbing boxes and stacking them to the side.  He didn’t respond to Trace’s comment.

He had done a lot of thinking about the situation with Rylee, but he really couldn’t see any other way to work it.  She didn’t have anyone else that she could stay with and she needed to be out of her apartment tonight, so she didn’t have time to find something else yet.

He was afraid of it all, but he didn’t know what else to do.  Their relationship was new and it was already under a lot of strain, but he didn’t want to not offer his guest room when she was so desperately in need of a place to stay.  Justin was well aware of the complications that this arrangement could bring to their relationship, but he wasn’t going to leave her hanging just because of the ‘what ifs.’

He looked up to see Trace silently helping with the boxes and he grunted in a thanks.  He knew his friend was just looking out for him, but hearing how much of a bad idea this was didn’t really help.

~*~

Rylee stood in the living room and stared around, trying to see if there was anything else she’d forgotten.  She had Christina had purchased a lot of the furniture and decorations together, so Rylee felt uncomfortable taking those things.  Although, she had grabbed some pictures off of the bookshelf.

A sound next to her caused her to jump and clutch her heart.

Christina stood in the door way with a scowl on her face.

“Get out.”  Those two sharp words worked their way under Rylee’s skin, leaving a dull ache throughout her limbs.

“I’m almost finished.”

“Time is up, get the fuck out of my place.”  Christina couldn’t look at Rylee, hey eyes sweeping over anything but the other girl in the room.

Rylee nodded and started toward the door, one final box in her hands.

“Tina…”  She called after the retreating form of her friend and she gained a little hope when she stopped walking down the hallway.

“I thought I told you that you’re not allowed to call me that anymore?”  Her back was still to Rylee and the tension was obvious in her shoulders.

“I’m sorry…I just…can we talk about this, please?”  She was begging and she hated it, but she hated the fact that she was losing her best friend even more.

Christina let out a laugh that sent chills shivering down Rylee’s back and into her fingertips.  “You want to talk?  It’s a little late for that, Rylee.  Get out of my house.”

She didn’t say another word as she made her way down the rest of the hallway and slammed her bedroom door shut.  Rylee angrily wiped at the tears that had fallen down her face and she silently exited the apartment, giving it one last look.

She threw the box haphazardly on her passenger seat before climbing into her truck and resting her head on the steering wheel.  The tears wouldn’t stop and she was shaking violently. 

It was her fault, it was her mistake, and now she had lost one of the most important people in her life because she couldn’t control her hormones. 

“Fuck!”  She slammed her hand on the dashboard and cursed again at the pain shooting through her arm.  Wiping the tears from her face she started the truck and headed out of the parking lot and toward Justin’s.  The sooner she got out of this place the sooner she could start to forget the pain she’d put everyone through.

The drive seemed short because she wasn’t paying attention, and Rylee was actually thankful for the rain because less people were on the road.

The garage door was open when she pulled into the driveway and Justin and Trace were unloading her boxed.  Rylee took a deep breath and tried to compose herself as best as possible, but she really wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the moment.

“Hey, you got everything?”  Justin walked over and started taking the boxes off of her passenger seat.

“I hope so.”  She avoided his gaze and busied herself with grabbing things and bringing them into the garage.

“Hey Ryles, what can I grab?”  Trace made his way over to the truck too, watching her carefully.

“Uhm…my suitcases are in the back, I need those.  Everything else is stuff that needs to be stored, so we can leave it in the back tonight if we don’t get to moving it.” 

The conversation stopped as everyone worked at moving the boxes and getting things out of the rain.  Rylee had a cover on the bed of her truck so most everything under there would stay dry, but they wanted to make sure nothing would get ruined.

After everything was placed in the garage and Rylee made sure she had what she needed, they made their way into the house.

“I’m going to put my stuff down and go take a shower.”  Rylee quickly disappeared up the stairs and toward the guest room.  Justin and Trace watched her retreating form with frowns on their faces.

“Something’s wrong.”  Justin’s brows knitted together in confusion as his eyes stayed trained on the spot she had just been.

“No shit Sherlock, she’s just been kicked out of her apartment.” 

“Thanks, Captain Obvious, but that’s not what I mean.  Something else is wrong.”  Trace shrugged and bounced on his heels.

“Hell if I know, but I think I’m gonna take off and head back to my place.  I don’t think that she’s going to be up for company tonight.”  He patted Justin on the back before making his way toward the door.  “Good luck, man.”

“Yeah, goodnight.”  Justin waved Trace off and turned his eyes back to the stairwell.

After thinking about it for a second, he started up the stairs and in the direction of the guestroom.  He could hear the water running but it wasn’t able to drown out the sniffles and sobs that were coming from the occupant inside the shower.

“Ry?”  The crying stopped suddenly when he spoke.

“Yeah?”  She sounded like she was holding her breath, attempting to keep it all in until he was out of ear shot again.

“Are you OK?  Do you need anything?”  Justin pushed the bedroom door open and stepped closer to the bathroom, listening for her voice.

“No, I’m fine.”

The bathroom door was open a crack so he pushed it the rest of the way open and sat down on the closed toilet cover.

“Bullshit.”

Rylee screamed and jumped, her heart racing in her chest.

“Jesus, Justin, you scared the shit out of me!  What are you doing in here?  I’m taking a shower!”  Even though the curtain was opaque and he couldn’t see her, she still felt uncomfortable vulnerable with him sitting there.

“You’re lying to me, you’re not ok.  What’s going on?”

Rylee poked her head around the curtain, making sure to keep it close to her naked body.

“What the fuck do you think is wrong, Justin?  Are you forgetting why you moved all of my stuff into your house today?  Or are you just under the illusion that we’re playing house here?”

A hurt look crossed his features and he sat back, away from her.

“Sorry…I was just concerned about you. I’ll leave you alone, though.”  He quickly left the room before she could apologize and Rylee let out a frustrated grunt.

Rylee made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, finding Justin at the counter making a sandwich.

“Hey.”  Her soft voice grabbed his attention for a moment and he turned his head to look at her.

“Hi.” 

She could tell that he was upset, and she couldn’t really blame him.  He was just trying to help and she was biting his head off.

“I’m sorry about before, I’m just having a tough day.”

Justin brushed the crumbs off the counter and into his palm.  He shrugged.  “Whatever, Rylee.  If you don’t want to talk to me, it’s fine.”  He grabbed the plate that his sandwich was on and the glass of milk next to it.  “I’m going up stairs, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rylee watched as he left the room and traveled up the stairs, his back rigid and his shoulders taut.  She felt the familiar burn behind her eyes and she closed them against the oncoming tears.  She would not cry again.

Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed down a little and made her way over to the fridge.  She didn’t feel very hungry; in fact, she felt a little sick to her stomach.  It was probably because she hadn’t really eaten anything and she’d been crying all day.  Letting out a long sigh she started for the stairs again, turning off lights on her way.

She paused outside of Justin’s room, the lights of the TV drawing patterns on the carpet under the door.   She hesitated for a second, her hand poised on the knob, but the look on his face flashed through her mind and she took a step back.  A million thoughts were running through her head and she couldn’t decide which one to address first.

She shook her head to rid it of those thoughts and turned down the hallway toward her room.

The sky was dark with clouds and there were no stars visible.  There was little light in her room from the outside and everything seemed muted and dull.  The ache in her body had lessened to a tightening between the shoulders, where he stress usually seemed to settle.  She shut her eyes tightly, hoping to keep out the memories of watching Christina walking away, but he mind was working against her and the scene kept playing over and over again.

The rain tapped lightly on the window, reminding her that the world was still spinning even though she felt like it should’ve at least stopped to acknowledge her misery.

She knew she was being dramatic, but she couldn’t stop the feeling from festering.  The worst of it all was the guilt that was eating its way through her insides.  Never before had she felt so incredibly guilty about something, she didn’t know how to handle it.

Usually, if she and Christina fought, they would go a day or so without really talking and then they’d both break because they’d realize how stupid it all was.

That wasn’t going to happen this time.

Rylee tossed around in the bed again, letting out a frustrated grunt.  She glanced at the door, even though it was difficult to make out in the dark, and decided to stop trying to make herself sleep.

She got up from the bed and padded back down the hallway, watching the light that was still underneath Justin’s door.  It wasn’t latched all the way, so when she rapped her knuckle on it, it moved open a little bit.

Justin was seated at the head of the bed, propped up against some pillows.  He stared in her direction and Rylee suddenly felt nervous.

“I can’t sleep.”  She waited for him to respond, afraid that if she moved he would continue to ignore her.  But he didn’t.  He reached over and patted the spot on the bed next to him.

“C’mere.”  The smile on his face was small, but it sent a warmth through Rylee that she hadn’t felt all day.  She climbed up on the bed and snuggled under the covers when he lifted them for her.  “Are you OK?”  His concerned eyes penetrated through her own.

Rylee shook her head and shrugged.  “I saw Christina today.”

Justin’s lips formed into an ‘O’ but he didn’t say anything.

“She came back before I was finished packing, and…I don’t know.  I just, I keep replaying the look on her face over and over in my head and it hurts so much to know that I’m the person that put it there.  I’ve never seen her look like that, Justin.  I have never seen her look like someone had killed her best friend…or something.”

Justin wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

“I’m sorry, Ry.  I wish I knew how to help you fix this, but I think that she’s going to need some time first.”

“Time so she can forget me and pretend I never existed?”  She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes again.  She felt pathetic.

Justin’s lips pursed in thought and he tilted his head to one side.

“Maybe, I don’t know.  And you can’t know either.  Just try and not think about it for a while, relax, try talking to her again in a couple of days.”

Instead of arguing with him, Rylee hugged him tighter and buried her face in his shoulder.  She knew that there was little chance of fixing things with Christina, even if she gave the girl time to cool off.

“Rylee, look at me.”  Justin waited until her blue eyes were locked on his own.  “I know what you’re thinking, and even if you and I aren’t together, it’s not going to fix any of this.”  He licked his lips and took in a deep breath.  “Please don’t give up on me because of her.  Pushing me away isn’t going to magically fix things with Christina.”

His words were heavy, burdening.  He was right, but she wasn’t ready to hear something like that yet.  She tried to push away from him but his arms held fast.

“Stop, Rylee.  Stop!”  She froze in place.  “I know you’re hurting, I do.  And believe me, baby, I would do anything to take all of that away, but you can’t push me away, you can’t.”

“Let me go.”  Her voice cracked and the tears spilled down her cheeks.

“No, I’m not letting you leave so you can go think up more ways to shut me out.”  Justin shifted on the bed so he was facing her more directly and he grabbed her wrists in his hands.  “I know that you don’t want to hear this, but I can’t help you if you’re pushing me away.  OK?”

She stared at him a moment, her eyes wide and wet with tears.  Her breathing was shallow and broken, her pulse beating rapidly underneath his thumb.

“I’m sorry.”  The damn broke and all of the emotions that she had been fighting off for the better part of the day came flooding through.  Justin pulled her into him and held her tightly.

“Don’t apologize, Ry, just stop pushing me away.  We’re in this together, remember?”

She wiped her eyes and gained a little of composure. 

“This is ridiculous, I feel like I haven’t smiled since this whole thing started.”  Justin leaned over and kissed her forehead, rubbing her back gently.

“How about we finish up what we have to do in the studio and then take a vacation of sorts.  I think we should be able to wrap up on these tracks in a couple of days.”

She stared at him with wide eyes.  “Vacation?”

“Sure, I think getting away from LA would be good for the both of us; give us a chance to relax a little.”

She thought about it for a second, liking the idea but worrying about everything else that was going on.

“Where would we go?”  She picked at the comforter, her hands a bit shaky and her breath ragged.  It had been a long weekend and she was exhausted, emotionally and physically.

“Well…I’ve been thinking about visiting my brother, he called me the other day and he wanted to get together…”

“That would be perfect.  I think we should do that.”  Justin smiled as he watched her eyes light up.

“Really?”  He nodded and she leaned forward to hug him close.  “Thank you.”

Justin pulled her back a little and grinned before capturing her lips in a kiss.  “You’re welcome.”  He kissed her again, holding her close.

When the kiss broke, Rylee sat back and let out a huge yawn, giggling slightly afterward.  “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

Justin helped her slid further under the covers, bringing them up and tucking them in around her.  He kissed her forehead softly, then the tip of her nose.

“Goodnight, Ry.  Get some sleep.”

~*~

There was a soft humming coming from somewhere in the bedroom and it stirred Rylee from her sleep.  She cracked open and eye to see Justin standing in the bathroom, shaving.  The door was open just enough so Rylee had a perfect view, and she took a little time to appreciate Justin when he wasn’t aware.

Apart from having one of the best bodies she’d ever touched, Justin was probably the nicest man she’d ever been with.  He had proved his worth by sticking with her through all of this, and she was entirely grateful for his presence in her life.  And it didn’t hurt that he had an amazing set of abs that were now on show.

Rylee stretched and slid out of the bed and onto the carpet.  She quietly made her way into the bathroom and over to Justin, wrapping her arms around his chest and pressing her cheek against his shoulders.

“Mornin’ you.”  He smiled at her reflection, his face covered in shaving cream.

“Hey.”

“Did you sleep OK?”  He stopped shaving for a second and caught her gaze in the mirror.  Rylee nodded and grinned at him.

“You have the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.”  He laughed and continued to shave, his hands moving slowly over his face.

“So, are you ready to get into the studio and finish up these tracks?”

Rylee removed herself from his back and hopped up on the counter next to the sink.  She watched, mesmerized, as he moved the razor down his chin and neck.

“Yeah, I am.  I can’t wait to see how this all turns out, I’m really excited for this bad.  I think this is going to really make their album take off.”  She reached over to dab some of the shaving cream off of his chin and plop it onto his nose.  Justin stopped what he was doing and gave Rylee a strange look.

“Woman, what do you think you’re doing?”  She giggled and picked up the canister of shaving cream, shaking it and spraying a little in his direction.  Justin lunged toward her and grabbed at her sides, tickling her and wiping shaving cream all over any place he could get to.  Rylee’s giggles and screams sounded throughout the bathroom and it was the happiest sound Justin had heard in a long time.

“Stop! Stop!” She cried for mercy. Both stopped to catch their breath, chests heaving and faces covered in white foam.

“Look what you made me do.”  He grinned at her, his eyes glinting with mischief.  “You got us all dirty.”

Rylee couldn’t help but return his grin, her skin growing warm under his intense gaze.  She leaned forward on the counter and brought him closer to her, straddling his hips with her thighs.  She touched her lips to his and laughed when all she could taste was shaving cream.

“You taste bad.”  She wiped at his lips but only succeeded in getting things more messy.  Justin grabbed her under the butt and lifted her off the counter, bringing them both further into the bathroom.

“How about we clean up in the shower?”  His eyes deepened in color and Rylee could feel herself flush with anticipation.

Justin stepped into the shower stall, letting Rylee slid down his body until her feet were on the floor.  He wasted no time in taking off the tank top and shorts she had on, exposing her beautiful skin to his needy gaze.  Rylee pulled down his shorts and watched as he stepped out of them, taking her time to appreciate the rest of the view afforded to her eyes.

Justin reached behind Rylee, bringing their bodies flush as he reached to turn on the water.  Seconds later they were both standing under the spray of water, the white cream sliding down their bodies and to the drain.  Justin wiped the rest of the foam off of their faces so he could properly kiss Rylee.

She moaned into his mouth, smiling as his hands tickled her sides.  She pushed him so he was under the shower head, running her hands over his head and through his hair.  She sighed when his lips started to attack her neck and shoulders, goose bumps forming on her skin. 

Justin guided Rylee over to the wall of the shower, trapping her against him as he continued to rein kissed over her body.  He couldn’t get enough of her and he couldn’t wait any longer to connect their bodies.  He lifted her leg, bringing it up and over his hip before he slowly entered her waiting body.  Rylee’s head fell back and she let out a moan.

She had never felt anything as erotic or passionate as the things that Justin made her feel.  All thoughts flew from her mind as he continued to grind into her, his lips blazing a trail across her chest.

Rylee forgot all of the drama and stress she’d been experiencing over the past few days and just allowed herself to feel.  What she felt was incredible, and it was all because of this man; the man that was quickly capturing her heart.

“It’s OK if we leave for the weekend?”  Rylee watched as Justin closed up the studio and turned equipment off.

“I own this place, Ry, it’s OK for me to do whatever I want.”  He chuckled at the look on her face as she blushed a little.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re this amazingly successful producer.”

She and Justin walked out toward the lobby and he stopped at the reception desk to make sure the phone was set to go to the answering service.  All of his employees had been sent home earlier that day and Justin and Rylee were the only two left in the building.

They had managed to finish up the tracks they were working on and Justin rescheduled some of their new projects so they would have time to relax for a bit.  She felt a little odd, because this was supposed to be her internship, but she wasn’t going to complain about time off.  Especially time off with Justin.

They exited the front after Justin set the alarms and locked the doors.  The sun was shining warmly and Rylee took a second to soak up the fresh air.  She was going to try really hard to relax this weekend and forget about all of the stress she was experiencing.  She wanted to show Justin that she really did care about him and that she thought he was worth it. 

“Your brother is all set with us coming up?”  Justin’s voice broke through Rylee’s reverie.

“Yeah, I called him this morning and he said to show up whenever.”  She climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Justin to join her in the driver’s seat.  “I printed off directions, too.  I tend to fall asleep on long drives, so…I didn’t want you to get lost.”

“Thanks, babe.  Good to know you’re going to keep me company on this three hour drive.”  He grinned at her.

“Hey, I’ll keep you company as long as I can…it’s not my fault that being in the passenger seat makes me fall asleep.”

Justin just shook his head and put the car into drive.  He didn’t mind if Rylee feel asleep.  He knew that she hadn’t been sleeping well lately because of everything that was going on, and honestly, she looked exhausted.  He wanted her to relax this weekend, so if that meant he’d be driving while she slept, he was all for it.

~*~

True to her word, they hadn’t been on the road for much more than half an hour when he could hear her lightly snoring in the seat next to him.  She looked completely uncomfortable curled up on that seat, but she stayed asleep for the entire trip.

“Ry, we’re here.”  He brushed some hair off of her face and nudged her shoulder.  She stirred, cracking her eyes open and stretching as best she could.

He smiled when she let out a groan and fell back against the seat.  “I feel stiff.”  He laughed.

“You’ve been curled up in a car for the past three hours, I’m not surprised.”  He leaned into the car and tugged on her arms.  “C’mon, let’s go inside and say hi to your brother.”

She stepped out of the car, holding onto Justin’s hand for support.  Her legs were stiff and her back hurt, but she was very excited to be seeing her brother.  The last time she had seen him was the disastrous dinner with her parents, Justin, and Christina, so Rylee knew that she would have some explaining to do.

“I thought I heard someone pull it.”  Ben came out of the front door and stepped onto the porch.  His grin stretched across his face as he waited for Rylee and Justin to make their way up the steps.  “Ryles, you look like shit.”

Rylee stopped half way up the stairs and threw a dirty look in her brother’s direction. 

“Gee, I’ve miss you too, Benji.”  He laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her up the last two steps and catching her in a tight hug.

“It’s good to see you, little sis.”  He squeezed her again before letting her go and putting out a hand toward Justin.  “Justin, man, I hope she didn’t snore the whole car ride up here.”

The other man laughed, shaking Ben’s hand and winking at Rylee. 

“Only for the first hour, I turned up the radio after that.”

Rylee crossed her arms over her chest and sent searing glares at the two men who were now grinning wildly at her.

“You two are freakin’ comedians, really.”  She turned and entered into the house, leaving the two men standing on the porch.

Justin suddenly felt uncomfortable as Ben’s eyes glanced over him.  He knew he couldn’t have made a very good first impression on the man, considering that at their last meeting Justin was being an ass to Rylee and still dating Christina.

“Thanks for letting us stay with you,” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.  Justin didn’t usually find himself feeling unconfident, but Ben was the big brother and his opinion meant a lot.

“Looks like things have changed since the last time I saw you.”  The statement wasn’t subtle, nor was it very friendly.  Justin swallowed thickly and Ben waited for a response.

“I guess you could say that.”  He ran a hand over the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.  “Things have been a little crazy, and I’m not sure if you’ve heard but Rylee and I being together has caused some…ah…tension with Christina, to put it nicely.”

“I had an idea that you two weren’t up here because she missed me all that much.”

“She needed to get out of LA for a while.  She was starting to drive herself, and the rest of us, a little crazy with her worrying.  This thing is really tearing her up and I think a break will be good for her.”

“For her, or for you?”  Ben eyed Justin carefully, gauging the man’s face and stance.

“For both of us, really.  I hate seeing Rylee beat herself up over all of this, and she blames herself completely, when she really shouldn’t.  Giving her a chance to relax is as much for my peace of mind as it is for hers.”  He licked his lips and looked Ben straight in the eyes.  “I just want to see her happy.”

It was silent for a moment as Ben thought over what he had just heard.  He knew that there was a lot more detail to the story that he would have to get from his sister, but he wanted to figure out what Justin’s intentions were first.  So far, he was impressed by the care that he saw in the younger man’s eyes, and he really hoped that Rylee was able to stick this one out.

“Well, let’s grab your bags and head inside.  I’m sure Rylee’s already in the kitchen cooking something up, she’s always starving after a long car ride.”

The two men grabbed the bags and guitar cases out of the back of Justin’s car and made their way into the house.

Rylee was indeed in the kitchen, and she was busy at work putting something together.  Ben showed Justin to the guest room so they could drop off the bags, and then they headed back into the kitchen to see what Rylee was creating.

“I hope your hungry, Ben, because I’m making a pizza.”  Ben stood next to Rylee and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“You are my favorite little sister, do you know that?”

“Benji, I’m your only little sister, I better be your favorite.”  She kissed him on the cheek and grinned at him.

Ben grabbed a bottle of wine and poured everyone a glass, settling on one of the kitchen stools next to Justin.  The three adults fell into a comfortable and enjoyable conversation and Justin was really glad that they’d decided to come up here.

He loved watching Rylee work around the kitchen and interact with her brother.  For the first time since all of his had happened, she actually looked happy and relaxed.  She was back to the girl that he had fallen for and it made his heart beat a little faster to think about how fast his feelings were growing.  Justin was trying hold back because he knew that Rylee wasn’t really ready for things to get serious, but he couldn’t help the fact that he was in love with her.

It sucked that things had to start off so complicated.  He wished that it had all happened differently, but at the same time, he wouldn’t change anything because he might have never gotten to experience this moment.

Rylee’s face was glowing with the heat from the kitchen and the wine, and when she smiled at him he felt his stomach flip.  Justin had often thought of himself as a hopeless romantic, but he hadn’t imagined he would turn into such a pile of mush over a girl.

“You OK over there, Justin?”  Rylee was grinning at him and he had to laugh at the happiness that was obviously apparent on her face.

“I am wonderful,” He leaned over the island where he was seated so he could steal a kiss, “and that pizza smells amazing.”

“Well it’s almost done, so, why don’t you boys set the table on the deck and I’ll be right out with the food.”

~*~

Rylee collapsed on the couch next to her brother, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Hey kid,” He kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her, giving her a hug. “Where’s lover boy?”

“Upstairs taking a shower.”

“So, are you going to tell me what happened?”  He stared at her but she avoided looking at him, instead she played with her hands.

“Well…”  Rylee took a deep breath, “Justin and I ended up having sex before he and Christina had really broken up, and now she’s not talking to me anymore.”

Ben let out a sigh, removing arm for around Rylee’s shoulders and turning so he could face her more head on.

“And let me guess, you’ve been beating yourself up over this ever since it happened?”

Rylee’s blue eyes moved to meet her brother’s and he could see the formation of tears.

“Am I a horrible person?”

Surprisingly, Ben laughed out loud at her question.  Rylee sat back a little, really unsure of how to react to his response.

“Rylee Jean, you are not a horrible person.  You made a pretty stupid mistake and I’m not surprised that Christina is mad at you, but you’re far from a horrible person.”

She sniffled a little, feeling better that Ben was on her side but still feeling like she shouldn’t be enjoying her time with Justin.

“I don’t know how to fix everything with her, she won’t talk to me at all.”

“Well no shit, Ry, you slept with her boyfriend.  Of course she’s not going to want to talk to you right now.”  He grabbed her chin so she was looking right at him.  “Why do you have to fix things right now, anyway?”

“Because…I don’t want her to be upset.”

He laughed again.  “Rylee, she’s going to be upset.  You can’t force her to get over all of this.  What’s Justin said about all of this?”

“He’s told me to let her cool off for a while.”  She wiped at her eyes and looked over at Ben.  “I think he’s getting a little frustrated with me over this whole thing.”

“I’m sure it’s not easy for him, but he cares about you Rylee.  I saw it that first night and I see it now.  You have to stop worrying about Christina and you need to start focusing on the person that you’re actually in a relationship with.”

“But, she is my best friend.”

“Jesus, Rylee!  Stop thinking about her!  I mean, honestly, you’ve got one hell of a guy that’s gone out of his way for you and it’s blatantly obvious that he’s in love with you.  Forget about the things that you can’t fix and start enjoying the things that you’ve got.”

Rylee sat back with wide eyes.  She and her brother used to fight a lot growing up, but this was the first time he had ever gone off her like that.  But…she had to admit that he made sense, and she had been putting a lot of attention into Christina and not a lot into Justin.

Rylee let her head fall back against the couch and let out a sigh. 

“Relax, little sis, and enjoy being with Justin.  None of the pain is going to be worth it if you push him away, then you’ll just be alone and miserable without a best friend or a boyfriend.”

She managed a small smile as her eyes shifted over in her brother’s direction.

“When did you become the smart one?”

Ben shrugged, smiling.  “It was about time one of us took up the role, I just figured it should be me.”  He laughed when she turned to smack him on the shoulder.  “Go upstairs and spend some time with your man, Rylee.”

She stopped to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before heading to the staircase. 

“Just don’t wreck my headboard or dent the wall, ok?”  Ben’s voice stopped her trek up the stairs.  She turned to him, her jaw dropped.  She flicked him off, laughing, before making her way up the rest of the stairs.  Ben smiled in her wake and turned off the living room lights, heading to his own bedroom to turn in for the night.

Rylee grabbed her book and sat on the bed.  She could hear Justin in the shower singing one of the songs they’d recently produced and she had to smile.  He wasn’t bad at all, but what made it even better was that the song he was singing was quite girly.

A few minutes later the water stopped and Justin emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel around his waist and water glistening on his chest.

“Hey.”

Rylee looked up at him over her book and smiled, “Hey yourself.”

She watched Justin move around the room, admiring the view.  The towel left little to the imagination and she almost started blushing at the thoughts that had found their way into her head.  He disappeared into the bathroom for a moment and emerged clad in some sweatpants.

“I think I liked the towel better.”  Justin stopped for a second and stared at Rylee before letting out a chuckle.

“I can go put it back on, if you’d like.”  He climbed onto the bed next to her and took the book from her hands.

She grinned, “It would just be coming off again.”  Justin’s eyebrow’s rose close to his hairline and she laughed at the look on his face.  “Am I being too forward for you, Mr. Timberlake?”

“Not at all, Ms. Anderson, not at all.”  He threw her book onto the bedside table and climbed on top of her, tickling her sides and loving the laughter that was pouring from her lips.

A few moments later, Rylee had Justin’s hands firmly grasped in her own as she struggled to catch her breath.  She stared up at the man hovering above her and she couldn’t help but match his grin with one of her own.

“Thank you.”  She whispered.  Justin sat back so he was on his knees, his weight shifting off of Rylee’s legs.

“For what?”

“For not giving up, and for not letting me give up.”  She let her eyes drift over his frame before returning them to meet his gaze.  “I don’t think I’ve done a very good job at showing it, but what you’ve done for me means a lot, and despite all the crap that’s going on, I’m really happy we’re together.”

Justin moved so he was no longer on top of Rylee, instead, he stretched out beside her and pulled her into him.

“Rylee Jean…” He licked his lips, a small smile gracing his face.  “I think I’ve been falling in love with you from the moment you walked into my studio, as horribly cliché as that sounds.  I know that all of this has been really hard on you, and I know that I’ve basically asked you to give up your best friend for me, so being there for you is the least that I could do.”

Rylee couldn’t really think of anything to say, so she leaned in and captured his lips.  The kiss was soft and slow and it ended after a moment.

“I’m sorry I’ve been making things so difficult.”  When she dropped her head, Justin gently grabbed her chin and brought her eyes back up to meet his.

“Don’t apologize, please.  I don’t want to think about any of that this weekend, okay?  I just want to enjoy being with you and not worry about anything else but us.  Can you do that for me?”

She smiled at him and shook her head.  “Yeah, I can.”

“Good. Now, let’s talk about you taking off my towel…or whatever it is you were going to do to me.”

Rylee let out a loud laugh as Justin wiggled his eyebrows.  He made an effort to look offended before rolling over and silencing Rylee’s giggles with his mouth.

~*~

The sun broke softly through the blinds and crept across the covers until it touched the forms of the two sleeping bodies.

Rylee smiled as she felt a hand slid up the back of her thigh, over her hips, and along her spine.  Justin’s fingers stopped to trace over the tattoo on her back before continuing up and over her shoulder.

“Morning.”  Rylee opened her eyes to see his smiling face and she grinned back, letting out a sleepy yawn.

“Mornin’ to you too.”  She stretched out, her arms going above her head before dropping down and sliding around Justin’s shoulders.  “What do you want to do today?”

Justin rolled over on his back, taking Rylee with him.  Her naked body pressed up against his and he was tempted to keep her in bed all day, but he knew that she wanted to spend time with her brother.  Justin liked Ben and he figured Ben wouldn’t appreciate it much if Justin hogged Rylee to himself all day.

“I was thinking that we could go surfing.  I saw Ben’s board down stairs and I know he mentioned something about getting out sometime.”  He watched as Rylee’s nose crinkled and her mouth formed into a pout.

“I don’t know how to surf, and the last time Ben tried to teach me I ended up with a mouthful of seaweed.”  Justin laughed, eliciting another pout from Rylee.

“I’ll show you how, and I promise I won’t let you eat seaweed this time.”  He could see the apprehension on her face, so he pulled his best puppy dog face and pleaded.  “C’mon, you’ll have lots of fun.  And you’ll get to walk around in that little red bikini I saw in your bag earlier.”

Rylee’s jaw dropped slightly and she chuckled.  “I’m pretty sure that you’ll enjoy the bikini more than I will.”

Justin shrugged. “Possibly.  But I still think we should go surfing.  You can spend some quality time with Ben.”

“All right, all right.  As long as you stop giving me that pathetic look, I’ll go.”  Justin grinned and planted a smacking kiss on her lips before jumping out of the bed to start getting ready.  Rylee blushed a little as she watched Justin walk around the room unashamedly naked.  This was certainly something else.

~*~

“Now just stand up!  Stand up!”  Justin yelled over to Rylee as he watched her struggle on the surf board.  She was half standing and she looked absolutely terrified as the wave carried her toward shore.  She ended up falling off the board and her head disappeared for a moment before she popped back up looking thoroughly upset.

“I don’t like this game.”  She grabbed a hold of her board and flailed for a moment before she was able to climb back up on it.

“You almost had it that time, Sis.  You’re getting better.”  Ben was seated on his board next to Justin and the two men had been trying to teach Rylee to surf for the last half hour.

“That’s because Justin is a much better teacher than you are, Benji.”  He managed to look a little offended at her comment, but it was diffused by the chuckle that came from his mouth.

“Apparently.  I think he’s just got more patience with you than I do.”  Ben noticed an oncoming wave, so he got ready and Rylee and Justin watched as he successfully rode the wave back to shore.

“He makes it look so damn easy.”  Rylee grumbled as she paddled her board over to Justin and floated next to him.

“You’ll get it, Babe, you’re almost there.”  He leaned over to give her a small kiss and sat back up on his board.  “Just don’t be afraid to stand up, that’s all.  You’ve got everything else down.”

“I think that I’ll try one more time and then call it a day.  Basking in the sun sounds like a wonderful idea right now.”

Justin laughed.  He was having a lot of fun, and despite Rylee’s complaining, she looked like she was really enjoying herself too.  Getting out with Ben was a lot more entertaining that Justin would’ve first thought, and he was beginning to like being around the older man.

“Hey, here comes a good wave, are you ready?”  Rylee looked over at the sound of his voice and nodded.  She looked terrified.  “You’ll do fine, OK?”

They couple set up and watched as the wave rolled in behind them.  Justin coached Rylee along, giving instructions as she prepared to take the wave.  She paddled in and threw all her weight into standing up.  She got excited for a second as her feet made contact with the board and she was completely standing up.

She could hear Justin’s cheer from the other side of her, but when she turned to look at him she lost her balance and felt herself tumbling into the water.  After a few seconds of being tossed around under water, Rylee surfaced, sputtering and spitting out salty ocean.

“That was not cool.”  She could feel the ankle strap tugging on her leg, so she paddled back to her board and went to climb back on it so she could swim back to shore.  She suddenly realized that something was missing.  She was topless.

Rylee’s eyes frantically searched the water around her but all she could see was the blue of the ocean.

“Hey!”  Justin’s voice came from her left and she turned and watched as he swam toward her.  “That was really good, Ry!”

“Justin…”  He stopped grinning at her when he noticed the look on her face.

“What’s the matter?”

“I lost my top.”

“You what?”

“My bathing suit top, I lost it.  It fell off.”  Justin noticed for the first time that she was indeed naked from the waist up and he had to try really hard to hold in his laughter.  “Don’t even start, Timberlake.”

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry.”  He turned around so she couldn’t see him laughing, and he attempted to search for her top.  “I don’t see it anywhere.”

“What am I going to do?  I can’t get out of the water topless! There are other people on this beach!”  The look on her face was enough to make Justin start laughing again, but he managed to hold it in.

“Calm down, OK?  I’ll swim back to shore and grab your t-shirt and bring it back out to you.  Why don’t you start making your way in toward shore.”

She nodded and did as he had said, watching as he swam ahead of her.  Rylee made it so she could reach the bottom with her toes, but she didn’t dare go in too far because she didn’t need anyone getting a free show, especially her brother, who was now laughing hysterically as Justin retrieved her t-shirt and told him what happened.

A few moments later she had her shirt over her head.  It clung to her body as she climbed out of the water and on to the beach, and Rylee felt almost as naked.

“Hey, Ryles…looking for something?”  She turned to see Ben pointing at a piece of red cloth floating just off the shore, swaying back and fourth in the waves.  His face was red with laughter as Rylee rushed over and snatched up the top, her hands shaking with embarrassment.

Rylee looked like she was ready to bolt off the beach, but Justin called her over.

“Hey, come here.”  He held up a towel.  “I’ll hold this up and you can change, no one will see, I promise.”

She carefully made her way over to him, her eyes scanning the beach around them to make sure no one was watching.  She stepped into the circle that Justin’s arms made and started to remove her shirt when he lifted the towel.  He grinned as he watched her change.

“Wipe that grin off your face, mister.”  Her cheeks were still red with embarrassment.

“Oh chill out, you’ll be laughing about this later, I promise.”  When she finished tying her top, he pulled her into him with the towel and planted a long, lingering kiss on her mouth.

“You’re supposed to do that when she has her top off, not after she’s put it back on!”  Ben yelled over to them and Justin laughed as Rylee buried her head in his shoulder.

“Surfing was a horrible idea.”  She mumbled.  He laughed even harder at her comment and pushed her gently to get her moving.

“Come on, the sooner you face him the sooner the teasing will be over.”

The car ride back to LA was mostly silent.  Justin glanced over at Rylee from time to time, watching her sleep soundly in the seat next to him.  He smiled at her open mouth and the small snores that were coming from her direction.  He thought she looked adorable when she was sleeping.

The weekend had been amazing for the both of them.  Rylee had let go and relaxed for the first time since everything had happened, and Justin found himself falling even harder.  He was worried that going back to everything in LA might put a strain back on their relationship, but he was trying very hard not to think about all of that at the moment.  He just wanted to enjoy being with such a beautiful woman.

Justin was concerned about their living situation, because he didn’t think that he and Rylee were really ready for things to be that serious yet, but he certainly couldn’t ask her to leave when she had no other place to stay.  As much as he hated to admit it, Trace had a point about all of the time they would be spending together.

Not only were they dating and now living together, but Justin was still her boss, and if anything happened to go wrong between them it would probably affect their work and he didn’t want that to happen.

His plan was to help her look for something that she could afford without putting any pressure on her to leave.

She made a noise next to him, and he turned his head to see her hooded eyelids and a sleepy face.

“Hey you,” He reached over to rub her thigh before turning his attention back to the road ahead of him.

“How long was I out for?”  She sat up and stretched as best she could, her shirt riding up across her stomach.

“Just about the whole ride.  We’re only a few minutes away from home.”  He laughed when she grinned sheepishly at him.

“I told you that car rides make me sleepy.”

“It’s OK, Ry, it gave me some time to think.”

“Time to think?  Think about what?”  She shifted in the seat so she was turned in his direction.  A worried look settled on her face and he tried his best to give her a reassuring smile.

“About you.”  He licked his lips before grinning even wider.  “About how cute your snoring is.”

Rylee’s face instantly turned pink and she swatted at his arm.  “I don’t snore.”

The laugh that came out of Justin’s mouth made Rylee’s face grow even darker with embarrassment.

“Baby, you snore.”  He reached over and picked up her left hand, bringing her fingers to his lips.  “But I don’t mind, like I said, I think it’s cute.”

“What else were you thinking about?”  She pulled their hands down so they were resting on the console between them.  Her eyes inspected their intertwined fingers and the contrast made her smile a little.  Her hands were tiny; long and skinny fingers and small hands.  His were smooth but much more rugged that her own.  His skin was darker too and it made her look even paler that usual.  But there was a sort of strength in his hands that made her feel safe, even if they were just sitting together in the car.

“I was just thinking.  Nothing bad, I promise.”  He turned to smile at her and he hoped that she couldn’t see the lie in his eyes.  He wasn’t usually one to keep things from someone, but he knew that telling his worries to Rylee would only make her upset, and she didn’t need the stress.

“I’m going to start looking for an apartment tomorrow.  I was hoping you’d let me out of the studio early so I could check some places out in the afternoon.”

Justin’s eyes shifted to meet hers.  He nodded his head, giving her hand a small squeeze.

“Sure, you can have as much time as you need.  But there’s no rush, Rylee.  You’re always welcome to stay at my house.”

“But you’re worried that it’s going to put a strain on things.”  The look that Justin sent her way almost made her smile.  “It’s not hard to figure out, Justin.  It’s written on your face.  It’s OK, though, I worry about that too.  I really like you and I would hate for something like this to ruin things before they really have a chance to go somewhere.”

The smile that crossed his face was genuine and relieved.

“I don’t want to rush you, Ry.  Not at all, OK?”  He kissed her fingers again.  “I’m glad that you understand my concerns, though, that makes me feel better.”

“You can always tell me what you’re thinking Justin.  Chances are that I can usually tell anyway, I’ve always been really good at reading people.  Don’t think that you’re going to hurt me if you have something to tell me.  It hurts worse when I know you’re hiding something from me.”

Justin pulled the car into his driveway and shut off the engine before turning in his seat to capture Rylee’s lips in a deep kiss.  He pulled back and stared into her eyes before saying what had been on his mind the entire weekend.

“I love you, Rylee Jean.” 

Her eyes widened and she sat back a little, the shock clearly written on her face.

“I wasn’t sure until this weekend.  I knew that I had been falling for you, but watching you this weekend made it real for me, and I just can’t hold it in anymore.”  He watched her face for any signs other than shock, but it was hard to read her thoughts.

“I…”  She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and tilting her head back against the window behind her.  “I’m falling, Justin, I am.  I have been for a while now, but I’m too scared to think about being there yet.”  Her blue eyes opened to meet his and she was glad to see a soft smile on his face.  “I’m sorry.”

“No, no.  Don’t apologize, really.”  He leaned in to kiss her again, this time much more softly.  “You don’t have to say another word about it, OK?”  He smiled again when she nodded.  “Lets get inside and I’ll order something for dinner.”

~*~

Rylee sat on the couch and grabbed her lap top, logging into her e-mail for the first time since she and Justin had left for their trip.  She had decided that the weekend was for fun and relaxation, and reading e-mail would have to wait.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people that had decided that this weekend was the time to get a hold of her.

“Holy shit, I have twelve new e-mails.  That’s ridiculous.”  Normally a number like that wouldn’t be surprising to Rylee, but this was her school e-mail account and not many people sent her things to this address.

Scrolling down the page she noticed that there were five new e-mails from her university, and suddenly she became worried.  Opening the first one, she felt the blood drain from her face as she started to read.

Apparently her advisor had looked through her records and realized that there were classes she was missing in order to graduate at the end of her internship.  Rylee had been told that the internship was the only thing she had left to complete her graduate studies course, but her advisor found three more classes that were mandatory for her degree.

The next e-mail was from the Administration of the university and her latest loan hadn’t gone through and she was in danger of being removed from their programs if she didn’t pay the bill.  Rylee let out a grunt of frustration and slammed her hands down on the couch next to her.  The loan company had told her that everything was all set and the money would be sent to the school before the due date.  There shouldn’t have been any issues, but the school was saying they didn’t get the money and she wasn’t sure why.

The last e-mail, and the one that really put Rylee over the edge, was one from her former land lord saying that she owed for the past two months rent.  Christina had told the land lord that Rylee was going to pay, and he was giving her a week to come up with the money.

Rylee wasn’t strapped for cash at all, but that was because Christina’s uncle had been paying their apartment rent so Rylee was able to save her money to pay for other things.  She had paid for grad school through loans because she didn’t have enough cash to cover it all, and she figured she could save up enough to pay back the loans after she graduated.

Now she was without a job (because internships didn’t pay, at least not this one) and she was suddenly hit with two major bills that she only had enough money to pay for one.

“Fuck!”

“What’s the matter?”  Justin’s voice sounded from behind the couch she was sitting on and Rylee jumped in her seat.  “Ry, what’s wrong?”  He noted the tears that were running down her cheeks and he moved around the couch to sit next to her.  He took the lap top off of her legs and set it on the coffee table before taking her in his arms and stroking her hair.

“What’s the matter, Ry?”

She struggled to calm herself down, but it wasn’t easy.

“I…” a hiccup interrupted her sentence so she took a few more seconds to catch her breath.  Justin ran his hands up and down her back, hoping to help calm her down.

“I just got letters from the university and one from my land lord.  Apparently I can’t graduate at the end of the semester unless I take three more classes, which I don’t have time to do now, and I own the school for this semester’s tuition because my load didn’t go through.”

She stopped there and Justin sat back so he could see her face.

“What did the other one say?”

“That I own for the last two months rent because Christina is refusing to pay and she told the land lord that it was my responsibility.”

“That bitch.”  Justin’s own anger bubbled inside of him.  He couldn’t believe the lengths that Christina was going just to get back at Rylee.  It was childish and stupid.

“She said that she was going to make me pay it, I just didn’t really believe her at the time.  I guess she’s still really pissed at me.”  A fresh wave of tears came over her and she buried her head into Justin’s shoulder.  “What am I going to do?  I don’t have the money to pay for school and the rent, and now I can’t graduate because those classes that I need.  I’ll have to pay for those too, and it’s going to take me another semester to complete everything because it’s too late to take the classes now.”

Justin listened as she rambled on and he tried his best to comfort her about it all. 

“We’ll think of something, Ry.  OK?  I can give you money, or something, and then we can figure everything out from there.”

“No, I’m not taking money from you.  I don’t want to have that hanging over us too.”  She shook her head adamantly and sat back a ways from Justin.

“Why?  I want to help you and I’ve got the money.  You can look at it as a bonus from the studio or something, or you can look at it as a loan and you can pay me back later.”

“No, absolutely not.”  She was starting to get heated.  On top of the emotions that she was already experiencing, Rylee knew that a break down was headed her way if she didn’t calm down soon.  She stood from the couch and started to leave the room.

“Rylee…”  Justin’s voice stopped her in the doorway.

“I don’t want to fight about it, Justin.  I need some time to cool off, OK?  I’m really upset right now and I don’t want to say something I shouldn’t.  Give me some space and we’ll talk about it later.”

Justin slumped back onto the couch when he heard the front door slam.  He ran his hands over his head and down his face, letting out a sigh of frustration.

“Shit.”

More stress that neither of them needed, and now she couldn’t talk to him because all he was doing was upsetting her.  So much for a relaxing weekend.

The door swung open and Rylee waited, holding her breath.

“Rlyes?”

“Hey Trace, can I come in?”

Trace stood back from the door way and Rylee entered into his living room.

“I’m guessing that you’re not here to throw back some beers and hang out.”  He watched her shake her head ‘no’.  “What’s up, Ryles?”

Her face scrunched up and she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the sobs that were threatening to come out.  She waved him off when he attempted to take her into a hug.

“I’m sorry…it’s just been a really stressful afternoon and I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Is it about Justin?”

“No.  Yes.  I don’t know, not really.”  She laughed a little, but it wasn’t a very nice sound.  “How’s that for decisive?”

Trace moved her over to the couch and made her sit down before grabbing her a bottle of water from the kitchen and sitting next to her.

“Why don’t you just start from the beginning, OK?”

Rylee took a deep breath, sipping from the bottle.  “I got an e-mail from my university today, and then one from my land lord.  None of them had anything good to tell me, and then I freaked out on Justin for trying to help.”

“What did the e-mails have to say?”  He watched her drag her hands through her hair roughly.  If this were any other moment, he would’ve laughed at how disheveled she looked.

“Well, I don’t have enough credits to graduate and I owe the school for this last semester because my loan didn’t go through.”  She took a large gulp of the water and hiccupped eliciting a small smile from Trace.  “And the last e-mail from my land lord told me that I owe for the last two months rent because Christina won’t pay.”

Trace sat back against the couch in shock.

“Well, shit Ryles, no wonder you’re upset.  That’s a lot to take in.” 

“Justin offered to give me money and I bit his head off.  I’m not sure that was the best thing I could’ve done.”

She got up from the couch and started to pace the living room. 

“I just…I don’t want him to start paying for something, I mean…I already live with him and I work for him…” 

“…and he loves you.”  Rylee stopped her movements at Trace’s words.  She turned to stare at him for a moment and he smiled.  “He just wants to help you, Ryles.  I totally understand why you don’t want him giving you money, but I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.”

He stood up from his spot and made his way across the room to stand next to Rylee.  They both stared out the window.

“He’s in love with you.  The only thing he knows to do when someone he loves is hurting…is smother the shit out of them.”  He smiled at Rylee’s chuckle.  “He’s never known how to deal with these kinds of things, so he tries as hard as he can to fix things for everyone else.”

“I shouldn’t have snapped at him, Trace, but I can’t have him throwing money at me on this one.”

“I’m sure he knows that, Rylee.  But he probably didn’t know what else to do.”  He grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I freaked out pretty badly.”

“And then you brought it over to my apartment.  You’re totally messing up my chi, or whatever that shit is.”

Rylee’s head fell back with the hearty laughter that spilled from her mouth.  She felt better now that she’d visited with Trace, but her guilt about what happed with Justin wasn’t letting her completely relax.

“I think it’s feng shui, or something like that.”  She glanced around the room and then added, “and your apartment is completely void of any friendly, calming vibes.”

Trace managed to look offended before laughing along with Rylee.

“Hey, Ryles,”  He waited until she turned to look at him, “Go back to your man and make it up to him.  I’m sure you can think of something he’ll like.”

“You’re such a pervert,”

“I was thinking you could bake him a cake or something!  You dirty girl,” they both laughed, and Rylee leaned over to give Trace a hug before heading toward the door.

“Thanks, Trace.  I’ll give you a call sometime tomorrow, you can come help me apartment shop.”

“Sure thing.  I’ll make sure to study up on my fungi-shit….or whatever the hell you called it.”

~*~

“Ry!”  Justin called up the stair case and waited for a response.  He couldn’t imagine that Rylee was still sleeping, but they had stayed up pretty late last night.  She came back and apologized for snapping at him, and then they spent a few hours trying to come up with solutions to her problems…and then the spent a couple more hours coming…

He grinned.

“Rylee Jean!”  He heard a rustling and a second later she appeared at the top of the stairs.

“What?”  Her hair was tussled and her eyes weren’t fully open yet.  She looked adorable.

“I’m getting ready to head to the studio, I wanted to say goodbye.”  She shuffled her way down the stairs attempting not to trip on the blanket that was wrapped around her body.

“What time is it?”

“Almost 7.”  He tugged on the blanket and pulled her into his embrace.

“I’m exhausted.”  Her sentence was punctuated with a yawn and he chuckled.  Pulling on the blanket, he pressed his lips into hers.  After a moment or two, he pulled back, brushing hair out of her face.

“Are you going to look for apartments today?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Trace said he’d come along.  He has a few places to check and I grabbed a paper.”  She pointed to the table and then quickly retracted her arm with a shiver.

“Are you…”  His eyes traveled down and he smirked as he tugged on the blanket again.  “You’re naked.”  His grin grew.

“You were yelling so loudly, I thought something was wrong.  I didn’t have time to put anything on.”  Her face grew red and she looked at the floor in embarrassment.  Justin put a finger under her chin and brought her face up to see his.

“You are the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”  His sentence was broken by the soft kisses he kept placing on her mouth.  “Have fun apartment hunting today, and you and Trace should stop by the studio when you’re done.”

“K.”  Rylee stood on her toes and gave Justin another kiss before shoving him toward the door.  “Now go, I’ll see you later.”

He waved at her and then turned and headed out the door.  Rylee wrapped her blanket tighter around her and rushed back up the stairs as fast as she could without falling.

~*~

Justin sat back in his chair and nodded along with the music that was currently spilling from the speakers.  Brett sat next to him, fiddling with dials every now and then.

“I think we’ve got it.”  Justin spoke when the song stopped playing.

“Me too, now we’ve just got to master the last song.”  Brett turned to the computer that was behind him and started to bring up the last song they needed to work on for the day.

“Rylee is coming in at some point, she left me a message saying she would be here sometime around 3 or so, which is in about half an hour.  I think we should have her listen to these too, before we ship ‘em off to the lable.”

Brett turned to look at his boss for a minute before speaking.  “So, what’s up with you and our intern, anyway?  I’ve heard some rumors around the studio.”

“Rumors?  From who?”

“Eh, no one specific.  Just whispers here and there that the two of you are getting pretty cozy.”

Justin couldn’t help the grin that started on his face.

“She’s amazing, man.  I’ve never met anyone like her before, and…it’s just…I love being with her.”

“What happened to Christina?  I didn’t even realize that had ended.”  Brett played the track in the background and then sat back in his chair to continue talking with Justin.

“Oh, that was a huge shit show.  Christina flew back to the East Coast without telling anyone, and I later found out it was to get away from me.  But while she was gone, Rylee and I ended up…ah…sleeping together, and when Christina found out she threw a shit fit and got pissed at Rylee.”

“Ouch.  You sure know how to bring the drama, JT.”  The older man laughed at the slightly shameful look on Justin’s face.

“Not one of my finer moments, I’m sure.  But I wouldn’t change it, you know?  I love being with Rylee and it was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.”

“Isn’t that the cutest fucking thing?  It makes me want to kill myself.”  The voice sounded from the door way and both Brett and Justin jumped at the sound.

“What the…Christina?  What the fuck are you doing here?”  Justin could feel his blood start to boil at the sight of the girl standing in his studio.  He was hoping that he would never have to deal with her again.

“Speak of the devil, ay, JT?  I’m gonna take off for a bit man, take a lunch or something.  Call me when the coast is clear.”  Brett slipped out of the room, careful to make a wide berth around Christina. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?”  Justin said again.

“You’re repeating yourself, Justin.”  She leaned a hip against the counter and stared down at her nails.  “I came here to speak to the backstabbing bitch you call a girlfriend.”

“You and I aren’t dating anymore, Christina, you can stop referring to yourself as my girlfriend.”  He quipped.

Christina sent him an arresting glare.  “You’re so fucking funny.  I was talking about Rylee.”

“She’s not here.”  And Justin was extremely thankful that she wasn’t there, too.  She didn’t need to deal with this, not on top of everything else going on.

“She owes me for the rent; I came to collect my money.”

“Why are you so concerned with that shit?  She’s going to pay.”  He pushed back in his chair a little and rolled further away from Christina.  He was afraid what might happen if he got to pissed off at her.

“My name is on that lease too, and I don’t want my credit to start sucking because she hasn’t paid.”

“That’s bullshit.”  The surprised look on Christina’s face almost made Justin smile, but he refrained.  “You’re here to cause more drama and stir up more shit.  I’ll bet you’ve been sitting by yourself for the past few weeks realizing that you drove away the one person that gave a fuck about you and now you came to make her just as miserable.”

“Well, I don’t know how much of that is true, but I certainly know that my former friend gave you a fuck.”  She smirked at him and he clenched his hands around the arm rest on the chair.  Justin wasn’t a very violent person, but Christina was pushing at his buttons today.  “You know, if I had actually had feelings for you when everything happened, I would probably be too hurt to even look at you.  To tell you the truth, I’m glad Rylee took you off of my hands.  Now she looks like the bitch and I’m just the victim.”  She gave him a nasty grin and Justin had to keep himself from jumping out of the chair.

“Get out of here, Christina.”  His words were tight as he ground them out through his clenched teeth.

“No, I came here to see Rylee.  Where is she, anyway?”

“She’s with Trace…”

“Ooh, you’re trusting.  She already fucked him once, Justin, what makes you think she wouldn’t do it again?”

The slamming of the door way caused both occupants in the room to stop and turn.  Rylee stood there with a very pissed off look on her face.

“He knows that I love him, that’s why he trusts me.”  She stayed in the door way, but it was impossible to miss the hatred and upset that was pouring off of her in waves.

“Well, isn’t that just peachy kee-” Christina started to speak, but Rylee cut her off.

“Shut the fuck up, Christina.”  She moved into the room with a purposeful stride, and both Justin and Christina sat back in fear.  Neither had ever seen Rylee this pissed off before.

“I came here for-”

“I thought I told you to shut the fuck up?  What, you’re too high and mighty to listen?”  Rylee stood close enough to Christina to touch, but she kept her arms folded across her chest.  “You know, I’ve done a lot of thinking about everything that went down between the two of us, and I’ve beat myself up for ever allowing things to happen because I thought losing my best friend was the worst thing that could ever happen to me.”

Christina tried to move away but Rylee shot her a look that froze her in place.

“I’ve done nothing but guilt myself over how I hurt you, about how I stole your boyfriend away from you.  I felt terrible for everything…”  She jabbed her index finger into Christina’s chest with such a force that the girl stumbled backwards into the counter.  “…but to walk in here and listen to you admit that you felt nothing for Justin and were just looking for a way out makes me realize something.  Do you want to know what that is?”

“What…what is it?”

“The fact that you’re nothing but a conniving, hateful, sneaky, little slut-of-an-ex-best-friend and I am so much better off without you.”

The look on Christina’s face was so priceless that Justin wished he had his camera handy.  This was a moment he would’ve loved to capture on film.

“You hated to see me happy, didn’t you?  Especially when you knew that you couldn’t make it work with Justin, you just hated to see him move on to me because you knew that we were perfect for each other.”  Rylee’s face was red and she was starting to feel a little dizzy from how tightly her body was wound, but she wasn’t about to stop now.

“I struggled for years, Tina, years to find someone that made me happy.  And I’ll bet you saw it too, I’ll bet you knew what was happening between me and Justin and you were just looking for a way to ruin it all.  Well, I hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but I don’t give a flying fuck what you do, you’re not about to ruin anything!”

There was a thunderous silence in the room as each occupant tried to take in what had just happened.  Justin was so impressed at Rylee for standing up for herself, he was speechless.  Christina was so shocked that she had just been reamed a new one by someone that barely ever got upset, it was difficult for her to handle at the moment.  She started to walk toward the door, realizing that she was clearly unwanted, but Rylee’s arm stopped her movements.

“One more thing,”  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a check made out to Christina.  “Here is the money for the last two month’s rent.  Now get the fuck out of my sight and don’t bother coming back.  Ever.”

Christina resembled a dog with her tail between her legs so much that Justin couldn’t help but bust out laughing as she scrambled out the studio doors.

“Baby, that was the hottest thing I have ever witnessed.”  He crossed the room and pulled a still fuming Rylee into his arms.

“I can’t believe her, Justin.  She…she…I can’t believe that she would do something like that when she didn’t even want to be with you.”  The anger started to dissolve into tears and Justin pulled her tighter into his embrace.

“I know, Ry, I know.”  He kissed her forehead.  “But you said it, baby, you’re so much better off without her.” 

Pushing back a little, Justin grabbed Rylee’s face in his hands and wiped at her tears with his thumbs.  He gave her a small smile and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

“Was I wrong to yell like that?”  She looked so adorably sheepish that Justin couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Not at all, Ry, not at all.” 

"I can’t believe I missed it.”  Trace handed Rylee and Justin their beers before taking a seat in the arm chair.  Justin and Rylee were seated across from him on the couch.

“Seriously, T, it had to have been one of the hottest things I have ever witnesses.  I didn’t know Ry had it in her.”  Justin grinned and wrapped his arm around Rylee’s shoulders.

“It wasn’t that great Trace, he’s exaggerating.”

“No, I’m not,”  He gave her a pointed look.  “All joking aside, it was great to see you stand up for yourself, especially since it was Christina.”

“I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet.”  Rylee cuddled closer into Justin’s body and took a long sip from her beer. 

“So she actually admitted to not wanting to be with Justin?  Like, she wasn’t really upset about it all?”   Trace couldn’t believe that Christina would do something that horrible to her best friend, but apparently she was just a conniving person.

“Yeah.  I mean, she had a right to be upset, but I guess she was just making me pay for it more because she was jealous, or some stupid shit like that.”  Another long pull from her bottle and Rylee was feeling a little more relaxed.

She was still pretty upset that she had listened to someone she once considered her best friend say such horrible things.  She had been beating herself up over everything that happened with Christina, and now she knew that she shouldn’t have worried about it at all, because Christina didn’t really care.

“Well, I think you’re better off without someone like that.”  Trace lifted his bottle in a toast and they all took drinks.

“So, enough about all that crap, tell me about your apartment hunting.  How did all that go today?”  Justin wanted to change the subject because he could tell that Rylee was still bothered by everything that had happened.

“It went OK.  I found a few places that seem reasonable and I might be able to live in them.  There’s actually a place that’s not too far from here that I liked.  So, we’ll see.”  She finished off her beer. “I just hope I can figure out the payments and stuff.  Giving Christina that check today took a big chunk of my savings.”

“Don’t worry about that, Ry, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out.”

Rylee was too tired to argue money issues with Justin, so she kept her mouth shut, but she really didn’t like the idea of relying on her boyfriend for help.

“I’m in the mood to go out and do something tonight.”  Trace stood from his spot and looked over at his two friends.  “Are you two up to going out?”

Justin glanced over and Rylee and she shrugged before giving a slight nod.  He turned back to Trace, “What do you have in mind?”

“There’s this club I heard about, this little whole in the wall place that not a lot of people know about yet.  I’ve heard that it’s got good music and it’s pretty low key.”

“Can I dance?”  Rylee piped up from her spot on the couch.

“Sure, it’s a club.”

“Then I’m in.”  She grinned up at Justin, “I feel like dancing…you want to show me some moves, lover boy?”

He laughed, a deep chuckle that settled in his chest.  “Baby, I’ll show you moves you ain’t never seen before.”

“Hey!”  Trace interjected, “I do not want to be hearing about your sex lives, even if you are pretending to be talking about dancing.”

The two laughed at Trace and stood from the couch.  Rylee threw her arms around his shoulders and place a kiss on his cheek. 

“Don’t be jealous of Justin because you don’t remember having sex with me,”  She grinned at him when he scowled.

“You’re funny.  Come on, I want to get out of here soon.”

~*~

The club was just empty enough to make Rylee and Justin feel as if they were the only two on the dance floor.  They were so wrapped up in each other that they hardly noticed anyone else, and that was just fine with them. 

It felt good to just let go and forget about everything else.  The music playing was old jazz and blues, but it wouldn’t have mattered to Rylee and Justin if music were playing at all, they were just happy to be in each other’s company.

Trace stood up in the VIP balcony overlooking the dance floor.  He’d stepped off a moment before so he could grab a drink and take a break.  He was glad that he’d thought of this night out, because it was turning into a very relaxing evening.

He felt a presence behind him and he turned to see Christina standing next to him, looking down at the dance floor.

“They seem to be enjoying themselves.”  She mumbled, a disconcerting look on her face.

“That’s what people generally do when they go out,”  Trace wasn’t really in the mood to deal with any of this drama tonight, but it didn’t look like she was going to go away any time soon.  “Are you going to go down there and break them apart?  Scream at them for good measure?  I heard that Rylee put you in your place today.”

Christina threw Trace a nasty look and returned her eyes to the couple on the dance floor.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous that everyone’s on her side,”  she started, but Trace’s scoff interrupted her sentence.

“Oh please, stop acting like the victim here.”

“Stop acting like the victim?  I’m the one that got cheated on by my best friend and my boyfriend!”  Trace was about to take a sip of his beer, but his hand stopped mid air.

“Let me get this straight, you’re talking about the best friend that’s never done anything to hurt you or break your trust before, right?”  She nodded, “and you’re talking about the boyfriend that you really wanted nothing to do with.  So much so, that you flew thousands of miles across the country to get away from him.  Is that right?”

“When you say it like that it sounds so silly.”

“That’s because it is, Christina.  You should be happy that Rylee’s found someone that makes he so happy.”

“It’s always about Rylee.”  She pouted, and Trace had to let out a laugh.

“You’re kidding, right?  You’re not about to sit here and tell me that you’ve always played second fiddle to Rylee and that she’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted and you’ve just sat back in the shadows.”

“Well…”

“Do you ever listen to yourself when you talk?  Because it amazes me how you can sit here and act like Rylee and Justin did something horrible to you on purpose.  They couldn’t help the fact that they fell for each other.  When you thought it was some bimbo at the studio you were relieved to have a reason to break up with Justin, too.”

“I was jealous, OK?”

“That’s obvious.”  He finished off his beer and set the bottle down with a solid thud.  “Rylee has never done anything before that’s broken your trust.  In fact, she’s sat back and let you live your life and supported you through it all.  Even in the short few months that I’ve know the two of you it’s obvious that she’s only ever wanted to see you happy, even if that meant she had to give something up herself.”

“It just seems that she couldn’t stand to see me with Justin so she stole him away,” the pout returned and it was taking all of Trace’s patience to not slap it off.

“Rylee fought feelings for Justin for a very long time.  She knew you were happy with him and she ignored every feeling within her because she didn’t want to hurt you.  Things only happened when Justin started to feel things too.  It was never about you, Christina, and you should just accept that fact and move on.”

She looked ready to say something else but Trace wasn’t in the mood to hear anymore whining.  He had come out so he could enjoy himself and she was really putting a damper on his night.

“Leave them alone, Christina.”  He turned his back and walked away, hoping that she would get the hint and just leave well enough alone.

He reached Rylee and Justin on the dance floor a few minutes later and he had to smile at the sight of Rylee.  She was grinning from ear to ear and it was obvious that she was very drunk.

“Tracey!  You’re back!”  She threw her arms around his neck and started to sway to the music.  “Dance with me.”

Trace laughed and danced with her for a few minutes.  When Justin butted in Trace slapped his friend on the back and grinned at him.  “Careful, JT, last time she got drunk like this she ended up seducing me.”

“Oh ha ha, you’re fucking hilarious, man.”  But he was smiling.  “Where were you, I was starting to think you’d left or something.”

“Oh, I ran into someone that I won’t name right now.  She was pouting and trying to blame everyone else for her problems.  I think she’s gone but you might want to keep an eye out, just in case.”

Justin nodded in understanding and scanned the room with his eyes.  He couldn’t see Christina anywhere, but he wasn’t ready to chance a meeting.  He’d seen enough of her to last him quite a while.

“I think we should head home anyway.  This one here’s going to need some water and aspirin, because I have the feeling that she’s going to wake up with one hell of a hangover tomorrow.”

“I’m getting sleepy.”  Rylee rested her head on Justin’s shoulder and he chuckled.

“C’mon, Babe, let’s get you home.”

“Justin, I think I’m drunk.”  Both men laughed as they headed toward the door.

“I think you’re right, Ry.”

Justin leaned his shoulder against the door frame and watched the rise and fall of Rylee’s chest as she slept soundly.  Despite her being totally drunk last night, she tossed and turned and fought off nightmares for a good portion of the evening.  A few times she talked in her sleep, and mostly she was begging Christina for forgiveness.

It was harder for Justin to imagine how Rylee could still be so burdened by everything, especially because he was on the outside and he could see how destructive their friendship had been.  He had seen the two of them together and the dynamic was not always even.  He had also spent a lot of time with Christina alone and he’d heard her say some careless things about Rylee.

But that’s just the thing, he was on the outside.  He didn’t know what went on between Rylee and Christina when no one was around, and he obviously didn’t know how deeply Rylee cared about her friend and the opinion of her friend, but he was starting to figure it out.

A noise broke his reverie and his focus returned to the bed in time to see Rylee stirring under the covers.

“Holy shit.”  She mumbled and he couldn’t help the laugh that fell from his lips.

Justin crossed the carpet and sat gently on the bed next to Rylee.  “You awake, baby?”

“I think I’m dead.”  She removed the covers from her face and rolled so she was lying on her back.  “Please, never let me drink that much again.”

“At least you didn’t sleep with Trace this time.”  Rylee laughed at his comment but it turned into a groan and she clutched her head in pain.

“Too early for funny, Justin.”  She tried to roll back over but Justin stopped her.  He reached back to the bedside table and grabbed some aspirin and a glass of water.

“You should take this,” He handed her the pills and helped her with the glass.  “You might want to take a hot shower too, that always helps me kick a hangover.”

“Can you cook me breakfast?”  She tried to muster a smile but the pain in her head was too great.

“If you get out of bed and take a shower, I’ll go downstairs and make you breakfast.”

Rylee groaned and covered her eyes with her arm.

“You’re supposed to be romantic and bring me breakfast in bed.”  Justin laughed again and leaned over to kiss Rylee’s cheek.

“You’re gonna have to be sober and not hung over for that one, baby.”  He nudged her out of the bed and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the bathroom.  “Go.  Shower.  You’ll feel better, I promise.”

“I’m going.” She stopped in the door way to the bathroom and looked back in Justin’s direction.  “Pancakes, please?”  She batted her eyes at him.

He chuckled.  “Sure.”

Trace was in the kitchen when Justin walked through the door way.  He had already gotten out the ingredients for breakfast, but stopped and looked at Justin as he entered.

“Take over any time, man.  You probably don’t want to eat my cooking.”  Justin laughed at Trace as he backed away from the counter and motioned for Justin to get to it.

“Pancakes ok with you, Trace?  We’ve had a request from the lush upstairs.”

“Sure, I’ll eat anything at this point.”  Trace grabbed his glass of orange juice off the counter and sat down in one of the bar stools.  “How is Rylee this morning?”

“Hurtin’, but she’ll be fine.  I gave her some aspirin and she’s in the shower now.  I’m sure she’ll have a headache for most of the morning, but it’ll pass.”

Trace nodded, although Justin’s back was to him.  “A buddy of mine that lives in my building is moving, so I was thinking about taking Rylee over there today to show her his apartment and see if she likes it.”

“Cool.”  Justin flipped the pancake off the pan and it landed with a flop.  He wasn’t able to cook very much, but over the years he had mastered breakfast.  It was his favorite food and it worked for any meal.

Rylee stepped into the doorway wrapped in a bathrobe and looking a little better than she did when she first woke up.

“Hey baby, the food should be ready soon.  There’s a glass of juice for you on the counter, too.”

“You’re my hero.”  She gave Justin a peck on the cheek and padded over to the seat next to Trace, giving him a half grin.  “Morning Tracey.”

“Hey hot shot, how ya feelin’?” 

“Like I drank too much last night.  You boys need to stop letting me get so drunk.”  She took a sip of her glass but stopped when a thought occurred to her.  “I didn’t do anything really stupid last night, did I?”

Both men laughed and after Justin placed the plate of pancakes on the table he stood behind Rylee and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Ry, even if I’d wanted to have sex with you last night it would’ve been impossible.  You passed out as soon as we got into the car.”

“Hey!”  Trace reached up and covered his ears, “I thought I’d told you two, no talking about sex around me.”

“But we’re not talking about having sex, we’re talking about not having sex.”  Rylee protested, and Trace’s face became puzzled.

“But its still sex, and I still imagine…never mind.”  Rylee and Justin laughed as his face grew red.  “Let’s just eat.”

Everyone sat around the table and proceeded to enjoy their meal.  It was relatively quiet as they all ate, and for Rylee it was nice to have a little bit of quiet, her head was pounding.

“I’ve got to run into the studio today, Brett called and he said we need to get together, so after we finish eating I’m gonna run over there.”  Justin picked at a piece of bacon, chewing it slowly.

“Do you need me to come too?”  Rylee asked, she wasn’t really up for being in the studio, but it was her job.  Justin shook his head no, though.

“I’m taking you out today, Ryles.”  Trace piped up, “A buddy of mine that lives in my apartment building is moving out and he’s looking for someone to take it off of him.  I thought we’d go check it out and see what you think.”

“Really?  That’d be great.”  She turned to Justin with a smile, “That’s not too far from here, and I’d have Trace near by too!” 

“As long as he doesn’t try and put the moves on you again, I’m all for it.”  Justin earned a dirty look from his friend for that comment, but they all laughed.

Justin’s phone started ringing at that moment, and when he answered it was Brett asking if he could come in right away.  Apparently there was something urgent that needed to be taken care of, so Justin said his goodbyes, pecked Rylee on the cheek and headed out the door.

“So, you ready for a day out, Ryles?”

She shrugged her shoulders, not sure if she felt up to venturing out into public, but it was going to have to happen sooner or later.

“I suppose so.  I really need to work on my drinking, though, I feel like I got run over or something.”

Trace chuckled.  “It’s OK, you missed running into Christina, so it’s probably for the best that you were so drunk.”

“Tina was there?”  Trace suddenly realized his slip up, but it was too late to take it back now.

“Uh…yeah, she was.  I ran into her up in VIP.”

“What did she say?”

“The usual, she was upset about seeing you and Justin together and she gave me the whole spiel about how she was the victim and all that crap.”  Trace watched as Rylee’s eyes drifted down to the table, and he was tempted to reach out and hug her.  She looked so sad.  “Are you OK, Ryles?”

She shook her head.  “I thought that it would be easier if I was mad at her, but it still hurts.  I mean, she’s my best friend and I hate thinking that it’s all over like this.  I never imagined not having her around somehow.”

She sniffled and this time Trace did put his arms around her.  “Rylee, I know you’re hurting and I don’t think there’s anything to say to make it better, but tell me something.”

He waited until she was looking at him.  “Is it all worth it?  Is this fighting and the pain and everything worth it?”

Rylee sat back in her chair and thought over Trace’s question.  The past month or so had taken a toll on her emotionally and she was tired of constantly feeling like she was in a tail spin.  It had hurt when Christina had pushed her away so quickly, especially when they shared such a long history together.

Should Rylee keep pushing to fix things when it was obvious that Christina could give up on them so easily?

“I’m tired of feeling guilty,” she finally came out with, and it felt good to get it off her chest.  “I hate feeling like I’m the reason for the end of our friendship when I know that it’s a two way street.  I hate knowing that I hurt her, but I can’t help but wonder why it seems so easy for her to hurt me.”

Trace didn’t say anything as Rylee kept talking; he figured she wasn’t really speaking to him anyway.

“I mean, so many years of friendship definitely seems worth fighting for to me, but I don’t want to be the only one that’s trying, you know?”  Her voice dropped lower and Trace had to lean in to hear what she said next.  “Sometimes I think that it’s just time for the two of us to move on and live our own lives…and it kills me to say that.”

The tears were freely rolling now, and Trace stood from his chair and pulled Rylee into a tight hug.

“Hey, hey…”  He pulled back enough to wipe the tears from her cheek and give her a small smile.  “Give it some time, OK?  Allow yourself to deal with the emotions first and see where it all leads to from there.  You can’t make rational decisions when you’re so worked up.”

Rylee nodded before chuckling, “You sound like and damn woman, Trace.”  He laughed.

“And you’re starting to sound too much like Justin.”

~*~

Justin and Brett sat in the studio chairs, both swiveling back and fourth slowly as they talked.

“So you’re leaving me?”  He hated that he sounded like a chick, but Justin was pretty upset to be losing his best technician.

“Yeah, man, its way too much with the baby and everything now.  Beth really needs me at home to help out with things, and I just can’t see myself being available to help you out like you need.”

Justin nodded in understanding.  “Well, hey, I’m really gonna miss you, man.  Now I need to find someone else I trust with my sound.”

Brett wasn’t sure if he should say it, but he new the best person for the job.  “You could always hire Rylee.”  He waited for a response, not knowing if Justin would want to permanently hire his girlfriend.

“I didn’t even think of that,” The light bulb went off over Justin’s head.  “That’s perfect!”

Brett was a little shocked, but happy that he wasn’t leaving his boss hanging and that Rylee was going to get a real chance to show off her talent and get credit for it.

“You’re not wary of it?  I mean…she’s your girlfriend…”

“Hmm, you’re right…that might make things difficult…”  Justin looked deep in thought for a second, “She’s been having money troubles lately and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to help her, but damn if she isn’t stubborn.  But this is perfect, if she takes your position she’ll be added to the pay roll and I’ll be helping her without actually helping her!”

“Uhm, ok…”  Brett wasn’t sure what Justin had just said, but he figured it was a good sign that his boss was so excited.

“You’re going to have to tell her, though.”

“Huh?  Why?”

“Well, she’s going to think that I set this up to help her out, so if you tell her that you want her to take your place as sound technician, she’ll have to say yes and she can’t get mad at me for it.”

“You’re talking in riddles, man, but whatever.  I’ll give her a call later and let her know.”  Brett admired his boss, but sometimes there seemed to be something a little off about him.  This was definitely one of those times.

“Thanks a lot, Brett.  For everything,” Justin reached out to shake his hand.  “And if you ever need help with anything, or you ever want a job, you’re always welcome here.  And we’ll get together soon for some beers or something.”

“Thanks, man.  I’ll make sure to call Rylee later, but right now I’ve got to get back to Beth.  If I’m any later then I already am, she’ll kill me.”

Justin waved goodbye and sat back in his chair with a smile on his face.  This was perfect.  Now he had a way to help Rylee out but he wasn’t actually giving her money.  He would be sad to lose Brett, but he knew that he was gaining a more than capable employee in Rylee.  He was excited that she’d really be working for him now, too, because he knew that she had a lot of talent and he wanted to utilize it as soon as possible.

Truth be told, he was going to offer her a job after her internship anyway, but he figured he would wait until she was out of school before he offered it.  Now was fine with him though, and he couldn’t wait until they could celebrate the good news.

Rylee spun around the room and grinned over at Trace.  “This is perfect.” 

They were standing in the living room of Trace’s friend’s apartment, and Rylee loved what she saw.  It was two bedrooms, with a beautiful kitchen and a spacey living room.  She would have plenty of room for her things, and she could turn the spare bedroom into an office of sorts.  She loved it, and it was even in her price range.  It was on the high end of her price range, but she knew it would be worth it.

“I’m glad you like it,” Noah, the current owner of the apartment spoke up for the first time.

“Are you sure you want to sell it?  I mean, it’s such a great place…” Rylee spun around again, taking in the view from the bay window.

“I’m moving in with my fiancé, I really don’t need it anymore, and I’d rather sell it to someone I know is really going to appreciate it.  So, if you want it, we can go to the office together and fill out all the paperwork.  Just tell me when you’re ready.”

Rylee clapped her hands and jumped up and down for a second.  She was giddy.  She finally felt like she was headed back in the right direction, and she was excited to think that she would have her own place soon.  She loved being with Justin, but she knew that their honeymoon faze would wear off soon, and she needed her own space.  It didn’t matter that they would probably be spending the majority of their time together anyway, she liked knowing that she wasn’t depending on Justin for everything, and if she needed space she had it.

“I’d love to go over and sign papers right now; I just need to figure out my finances first.”

“I don’t think I’m going to need all this furniture, either.  I don’t know if you’ll want anything, but if there’s anything I leave that you don’t want, let me know and I’ll make sure it’s out of your way.”  Rylee was beginning to think that Noah was too good to be true.

“Seriously?  This furniture is incredible, I can’t imagine you’d want to leave any of it behind!”

“Rylee, I’m moving in with my fiancé, he’s got better taste than I do and most of my stuff looks like cheap crap compared with his.  So…if you want it, let me know, and if not I’ll make sure it’s gone.”

She ran over to Noah and gave him a huge hug.  “I don’t even know you, yet I can’t help but want to kiss you!”  They all laughed.  “Really, though, you have no idea how much you’re helping me out here.”

“I’m sure you’re helping me out more.  I didn’t think I was going to get this place sold.  I’m moving my stuff out tomorrow, so you can come over any time after that and let me know if you want anything left.”

“Noah, thank you.”  She couldn’t do much else but grin at him.  She was so relieved to think that she’d found a reasonable place to live that was close to both Justin and Trace.

Rylee was an independent person, but she’d never lived on her own before, Christina had always been there.  She may not admit it out loud, but she was a little nervous about being on her own.  She was afraid of the loneliness and she knew that being on her own meant more time to think about everything that had happened.  At least with Justin she had some distraction.

She and Trace left the apartment complex and headed to the cars.  She needed to stop by the university and see about fixing her financial issues there.

It was strange to finally feel like things were falling into place, especially when it was just a few weeks ago that everything was falling apart.  Rylee had done a lot of thinking about everything that had happened, and she knew that being with Justin was worth it.  At first she questioned things, and of course she was afraid that she would never feel content being in a relationship with him.  Now, she knew she was falling in love and it didn’t matter that life had gotten a little crazy, because he made it better.

The ringing of her cell phone shook her out of her thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Rylee?  It’s Brett.”  Rylee was a little surprised that Brett was calling, and she got worried that something was wrong.

“Hey, is everything OK?  Is Justin OK?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine.  He’s still at the studio.  I was calling you to offer you a job.”

“A job?” now she was confused.

“Yeah.  I just had a meeting with Justin.  I can’t work anymore at the studio.  Things have gotten really crazy with my wife and the baby, so I decided to stop working at the studio so I can spend a little more time at home.  Justin told me I had to find a replacement, so…what do you say to being a full time technician at the studio?”

“I…wow.  I say wow.”  Rylee was blown away.  “Are you sure?  I mean, does Justin know you’re asking me?  Can he hire me?”  Her head was spinning.

“He knows.  I told him that I wanted you to take my place and he was really excited.  He just said that I had to ask you because he didn’t want you to think that he set it all up, or something crazy like that.”

Rylee grinned.  Of course Justin would say that.  “Well, thanks so much Brett.  It’s not going to be the same without you, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna miss being at the studio, I love it.  But my wife and baby need a little bit more attention.”

“Of course.  You make sure you take care of them.  And I’m sure we’ll get together soon.”

She hung up the phone a moment later and sat back in the car seat.  Things had certainly started to fall into place.  She was tempted to pinch herself to make sure it was all real.  She was almost worried that something was going to go wrong, simply because everything was going so right.

“What’s up, Ryles?”  Trace noted the shock on her face and he was curious about what was going on.

“I just got a job at the studio.  Brett’s leaving and he wants me to take his place.”

“That’s awesome!”  Trace knew that this job would solve Rylee’s financial issues, and it was just what she needed.  “Congrats, Ryles!”

“Thanks.”  She grinned at him and let out a laugh.  “Am I dreaming this, Trace?”

“No, darlin’, you’re wide awake.”

“Good.”

~*~

Justin had finished up the track he was working on when the studio door flew open and Rylee came skipping in.  She had a grin stretched across her face and Justin couldn’t help but return it as she settled her self down into his lap.

“Hey Boss,” She gave him a lingering kiss.

“So Brett called you, huh?”  He could feel the happiness radiating off of her and he was glad that she was so happy.

“Yes.  Thank you.”

“For what?  You’re the best for the job, it was the obvious choice.”  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close.  “I wouldn’t want anyone else to help me run my studio.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll have sex with you later.”  He laughed and Trace made an annoyed grunt from across the room.

“I thought we talked about this, you two.”  He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, you pouted about it and we’ve just decided to ignore you.”  Rylee quipped, laughing at the face Trace made.  “Don’t ruin my moment, Trace.  I’m in a good mood now.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Ryles.”

“How did everything go today?  Do we have an apartment?”  Justin watched as the grin on Rylee’s face grew even wider and he wondered if her cheeks hurt.

“Oh, Justin!  It’s beautiful.  It’s perfect and I love it and I can afford it now because I have a job and I’m just…”  She leaned her head back and let out a whoop of excitement.  For the first time in a very long time everything felt like it was supposed to.

“I’m guessing you’re taking the apartment, then.”  She sat back up and nodded at him.  “When do we move?”

“Noah said I can move in whenever, so as soon as we take care of the paper work and everything I’d like to start putting my stuff over there.”

“Sure, just let me know.”  He smiled at her excitement.  It was contagious.

“Oh!  I went to the University today, and we figured everything out.  Apparently they had the paper work and the money all along, but they were missing the go ahead from the loan company.  Or something stupid like that.  I’m still getting charged for late fees and some of the registration stuff, but at this point I don’t really care.  I’m just glad that they’re not kicking me out of the program.”

“Well that’s good.”  He was happy to hear that all of the things that had been troubling Rylee had working themselves out.  “What else so you have planned for the day?”

“I’m all done,” She turned to look at Trace and he shrugged.  “I guess we’re just waiting on you.  Are you done here?”

Justin looked around and shook his head.  “Actually, no.  With Brett gone there’s a lot that I need to get done now so I don’t get behind.  I was hoping you’d be able to help me out for a while.”

“Oh no problem.  I get paid for this now!”  She grinned at him.

“Well if you two are gonna work, I’m just gonna head out and get some food or something.  Do you need anything?”

Both Justin and Rylee glanced at each other.  “I don’t think so.  I’m not hungry,”  Rylee spoke first.

“Me neither.”

“All right then, you two have fun working.  I’ll catch you later.”  He left the room and there was a moment of silence before Rylee grabbed Justin’s head and brought him in for a long, lingering kiss.  When they broke, Justin pulled back and licked his lips.

“What was that for?”

“I’m just really excited.”  She let out a surprised squeal when Justin suddenly stood from the chair with Rylee in his arms.

“How excited?”  He walked her over to the counter and set her down, standing between her legs.  She bit her lip and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

“This excited.”  She crashed her moth into his and he let out a groan.  His hands traveled over her shoulders and down her back, pulling her closer into his body.

“This seems oddly familiar.”  He whispered into her ear before latching onto the lobe with his teeth.

She giggled at the tickling sensation, “You mean you’re about to cheat on your girlfriend with me?”

Just let out a laugh.  “I hope you don’t tell her, she’d be mad to know I was having sex with someone else on our counter.”

“Who said we’re having sex?”  She gave him a coy look before laughing at the look on his face.

“Oh, so you mean I can do this…” He trailed his lips over her neck, stopping to suck on the sensitive spot beneath her ear, “and it won’t make you want to have sex with me?”

She pretended to look thoughtful for a second, “Nope.  Gonna have to do better than that, hot stuff.”

He smirked.  Slowing undoing the buttons on her shirt, he moved his hands down her torso.  When all the buttons were undone, he slowly slid the fabric off her shoulders and let it pool behind her.  He stepped in closer to her, their skin almost touching, and with one hand he unhooked her bra, the other moving to slid the straps off her shoulders.

Rylee’s eyes closed and her head fell back as Justin’s breath fanned across her collar bone.

“What if I do this?”  His tongue snaked out of his mouth and he slowly traced his way down her body, stopping to make circles around her exposed nipples.  He grinned when he heard her sharp intake of breath.

“Ok…that might change my mind.”  She giggled when he started to laugh.

“I hope so.”

Rylee watched the young girl behind the glass and she envied the singer’s pipes.  Haley was the lead singer of a punk-pop band out of Franklin, Tennessee, and Rylee was very excited to be a part of their album.  They were sort of a cult classic with their first album, so Rylee was hoping to help them take off with this second. 

With the way Haley was singing, it was completely possible for these guys to take the music business by storm.

“That was awesome, Hales, you can come out of the booth and take a listen if you want.”  The young girl stepped out of the recording booth and took a seat next to Rylee, spinning back and fourth in her chair.  The rest of the band had been in yesterday to lay down the music, so today it was all vocals and the two girls were the only ones in the studio at the moment.

Rylee played back the track so far and watched Haley’s face light up.

“That is awesome.  I can’t wait until the guys get in here so they can hear it too.”  Rylee smiled at the girl, but turned her head when she heard the door open.  Justin came into the room with a couple bottles of water and a bag of food.

“Hey ladies,” He smiled at both and threw a wink at Rylee.  They had both decided that they should attempt to keep their relationship out of the studio (all sex-on-the-counter episodes aside) because they wanted studio time to be about music and putting out the best product possible.

“Hey, are you staying?”  Justin dropped the bags on the counter but shook his head.

“No, I’ve got a meeting with a couple record execs, and then I have a ton of paperwork to do.  But I wanted to stop in and see how things were going and bring you guys some snacks.  I’ll be in tomorrow when the guys are here, though.”

“Thanks, Justin.”  Haley grabbed a water and started to rummage through the grocery bags.  “Sweet! Skittles!” 

“I’ll see you later?”  Rylee asked, knowing that it meant more than just studio time.

“Yes, you will.  I should be done with my meeting and such around 8.”

“Perfect.  See you later.”

Both girls watched him leave the room before Haley leaned over to smack Rylee on the arm.  “So, how long have you and lover boy been together?”

Rylee’s eyebrows raised in shock but she couldn’t hide the smile.  Haley squealed.

“I knew it!  You two are so cute.”  The young singer sat back and chewed on her skittles as she watched Rylee attempt to keep from blushing.

“We’re trying to keep work and our relationship separate.  We don’t want the music to be compromised because of something going on between us.”

Haley smirked.  “Right.  You keep thinking that you can manage that, and you let me know how that ends up.”

“All right…enough talk about me and Justin.  We’ve got more music to work on.”

“One more thing before we change topics…”  Rylee waited but wasn’t sure how much she liked the grin that adorned Haley’s face.  “How good is he in the sack?”

It was Rylee’s turn to smack Haley on the arm.  “I am not going to answer that!”

Both girls had a good laugh, but Rylee reigned Haley back in and they focused on the music once again.

“So…” Rylee started, “I was thinking about a song that would go perfect on this album.  I’ve got a violin riff that would start off the piece, and it basically mimics the guitar lines.  And I have some kick ass lyrics, but they’re not completely finished yet.  You wanna hear it?”

“Sure.  Show me what you’ve got.”

Rylee played the few bars of music she had on the computer, and Haley bobbed her head along with it.

“Catchy, but I’m not sure where it’s going.”

“That’s because you haven’t heard the lyrics yet.”  Rylee produced a sheet of paper out of her bag and set it down in front of the other girl.

“Second chances they don’t ever matter, people never change/ Once a whore you’re nothing more, I’m sorry/ that’ll never change. / And about forgiveness we’re both supposed to have exchanged/ I’m sorry honey but I passed that up/ now look this way…”  Haley read off the paper and when she was finished her eyes lifted to meet Rylee’s.

“This kicks ass!”  Immediately the girl took out her own note book and started to scribble stuff down.  “Can you play that riff again?”  Rylee pressed a few keys and both listened to the music.

“I was thinking that the melody could move a little like this…” Rylee hummed a bar or too and Haley nodded her head in agreement.

“Is this a verse or a chorus?”  Haley asked, already thinking of ideas for adding to the song.

“Well, I was thinking that the chorus would be something like this, ‘It was never my intention to brag or to steal him all away from you now, but God does it feel so good…’  Something like that.” 

“Rylee, I don’t want to know who this song is about,” She grinned over at the producer.  “I think your stuff should be the second verse, and I’ve got an idea for the beginning.  Oh…the guys are going to love this!”

~*~

Justin sat back in his chair and watched Rylee instruct the band on what they were playing.  She and Haley had written some songs together the day before and now they were laying down all the music.  He had yet to hear the lyrics, but Haley assured him that they were ‘kick ass’ and that they were ‘going to be a freakin’ chart topper,’ he couldn’t wait to hear them.

“Ok, I’m gonna play the strings for you one more time, then you all come in.”  Rylee pressed some buttons and started the music as well as recording.  The band played through the song a few times before they had the whole track laid down without the lyrics.

“Is Haley singing over the recorded track?  Or are they doing it all together?”  Justin had let Rylee really take the reins on this one, but he still needed to make sure that things were done in the best way possible.  Since this was a band, he felt that all of the recording should be done together as much as possible.  It just sounded better.

“They’re going to do it all together, I just wanted them to be more comfortable playing before I added Haley into the mix.  She can be a little distracting at times,”  Both producers laughed.  “All right, Hales, get in there and we’ll lay down this track.

The red head bounced into the booth with her band mates and took her place behind the microphone.  Rylee cued them in and the fact, rock-like music filled the studio.

The music ended and Rylee stopped recording as she threw a huge smile to the band.  “That was amazing.  I don’t even know if we need many more takes.  Haley…perfect!” 

Justin leaned over a little so he could speak to Rylee without anyone else really hearing.

“Is this song about who I think it is?”  He grinned as he watched his girlfriend shrug.  “I can’t believe you came up with this.  It’s incredible, Ryles.”

She smiled over at him.  “Haley helped, and I had some great inspiration too.”

“Do you think Christina would ever figure out that this is about her?”  Justin restrained himself from pulling Rylee into his lap when she stood up to press some buttons on the board.

“I don’t know, although, she is pretty vain so I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought every song was about her.”

He laughed.

“I’m proud of you, Rylee.  This album sounds incredible so far.  You’ve done an amazing job, I don’t even think I need to be here to help anymore.”

“Ahh, but you wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to sit there and stare at her ass, would you Justin?”  Haley’s voice came over the speakers and startled both adults.  The band all laughed at their red faces.  “Caught ya!”

“Yeah yeah, you just worry about making music and I’ll worry about whose ass I decide to stare at.”  He leaned over the board and shut off the mic so he and Rylee couldn’t be heard.  “Seriously, Ry, this is amazing.  I am so impressed with what you’ve done here.  If I had known how amazing you were behind the boards I would’ve put you on my payroll a long time ago.”

The group in the booth erupted into cheers and laughter when Justin leaned over to give Rylee a kiss on the cheek.  He blushed a little and waved them all off.

“I’m going to go take care of some other projects in studio 5, you’re all set here?”  He waited for her nod in the affirmative.  “All right then, I’ll see you at my place tonight, right?”

“Yes sir,”  She grinned at him and tried to ignore the group of musicians behind the glass as they made kissy faces at the couple in the other room.

“Good…I think we need to celebrate.”  He lightly tapped her on the ass and gave her a wink before quickly leaving the studio. 

Rylee clicked back on the mic and threw a look at the group in the booth.  “I don’t need any comments from the peanut gallery!  Back to work!”

“That’s the last box.”  Rylee settled back on her heels as she surveyed the room around her.  She was crouched down next to the last empty box from storage and her stuff from Justin’s, and she was so ecstatic to be all moved into her new apartment.

“Thank God.  Jeeze, Girl, I didn’t know you had so much stuff.  It didn’t seem like this much when we moved it the first time.”  Trace flopped down into the arm chair next to Rylee, and Justin quickly threw himself onto the couch.

“That’s because I did most of the packing myself.  Believe me, it was just as bad the first time.”  She pushed herself off of the floor and padded over to Justin, nudging him to scoot over.  He rolled onto his side, his back pressed against the back of the couch, and Rylee climbed up next to him, snuggling into his arms.

“You did well, babe, this place looks good.”  He kissed her temple and pulled her tightly to him.

“Thanks.  I’ve still got some stuff I want to get, but for the most part I’m all done.  I have to give all the credit to Noah, though, because he left me with a lot of his stuff.”

“Oh, I meant to tell you, Noah said that we’re all invited out to dinner with him and Casey next weekend to celebrate our moves.”  Trace’s voice seemed distant and quite and he looked about ready to fall asleep.

“Wake up, Tracey, you’re not sleeping here.”  Rylee threw a pillow at his head.

“Why not?  This chair is so damn comfortable.”  He threw his head back against the head rest and let out a long sigh.

“Well, you can stay if you want, but Justin and I have a lot of rooms and furniture to christen…so…”  Trace bolted upright and held out his hand to stop her.

“Please, don’t say anymore.”  He scowled at her giggling form.  “You two are disgusting, do you know that?  I’m so out of here.”  He lifted himself from the chair and threw a few dirty looks at the couple as he made his way to the door.  “I’ll call you tomorrow, Justin.”

The door clicked and Rylee let out another laugh.  “Oh, that’s never going to get old.”

She turned to face Justin and was a little startled by the intense look on his face.  His eyes were focused on her, and she felt a chill run up and down her back.

“What’s that look for?”

He smiled softly.  “I’m just so damn proud of you, Rylee.  Seriously, you’ve done such an amazing job and pulling everything back together, and it makes me really happy to see you like this.  I was worried for a little bit that I was losing the girl in I fell in love with, but seeing you like this lets me know that she never left.”

Rylee sat back a little, shocked at his little outburst, but touched at the same time.

“I feel good, Justin.  I feel content with things and I feel like I found what I was missing.”  She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second before opening them to look straight into his.  “I know we’ve been avoiding the topic for a while now, but I’m not sure I can ignore it anymore.”

“What topic?”

“I’m in love with you, Justin.”  It was his turn to sit back in surprise.  “I’m not quite sure when it happened, but I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, it just never seemed like the right time to say it.”

“Rylee, I-”

“Let me talk, k?  I need to get this out.”  He nodded his head and closed his mouth, eager to hear what she had to say.

“I knew that you were going to be dangerous the moment I met you in the studio that first day.  I was pretty upset to learn that you were with my best friend, especially since I felt that I never held a candle to her.  But I couldn’t seem to stop myself from feeling something, even when I knew it was only going to cause problems, I couldn’t stay away.  Being with you has made me happier than I’ve felt in a really long time, and I just…I love you, Justin.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you,” Rylee squealed when Justin rolled over on top of her and place loud, smacking kisses all over her face.

“I love you, too, Rylee Jean.”  He grinned at her.  “I’ve been hoping you would get here, because I’ve been waiting here for a while for you to catch up.”

“I like to take my time, I guess.”

“You know what, though?  That’s just fine with me, because this has to be one of the most incredible moments I’ve ever had.”

Rylee made a face at him, “Now that was just cheesy.”

“But it’s true.  I’ve watched you struggle through so much, and I knew that a lot of the time I was partly to blame for that struggle.  So, I’m just…it feels really good to know that we made it through all that and we still feel something for each other.”

“I would hope so,” She smiled at him, loving the feeling of happiness that washed over her when he kissed her forehead softly.

“I’m glad we took some risks, Ry.  Because I can’t imagine what life would be like if we hadn’t hooked up on the studio counter.”

Rylee let out a loud, boisterous laugh, causing Justin to join in.

“Oh, that sounds so…cheap,” she giggled.  Their’s was a unique beginning, that was for sure.

“I think it sounds sexy…”  He nipped at her exposed neck and shoulders.  “Now, what were you saying about christening this apartment?”

Rylee’s cheeks flushed a little from the heated stare Justin was sending in her direction.  The sexual tension in the room rose by degrees and she suddenly felt very hot.

“I was thinking we could start in the bedroom,” Her voice didn’t sound as confident as she wanted it to, but his direct gaze was making her nervous.  And Rylee had never really been one for talking dirty, or anything like that.  It made her feel self conscious, but somehow, Justin made her want to let all of that go.

“Nah,” He leaned in and traced his tongue across her collar bone. “The bedroom is too far away.  Let’s start right here.”

His hands snaked their way up under her tank top and Rylee shivered at his light touch.  His lips were making their way down her neck and toward her breasts as his hands made quick work of her shirt.  She lifted up so he could pull the material over her head, and when she sank back down into the couch she could feel his strong hand on her back.

Justin unhooked her bra and pulled it off in one smooth motion, throwing it across the room.  He skin was warm and slightly damp with sweat from all the moving they’d done during the afternoon.  He dipped his head down and placed kisses down toward the valley of her breasts, taking time to stop and pay attention to each soft mound.

Rylee was trying to focus on breathing, because Justin was currently taking her breath away. 

It was a little strange for her, this feeling.  Although she had been in sexual relationships before, she had never been in one like this.  It felt as if they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, and Rylee had never wanted a man as much as she wanted Justin.  She wanted to touch him and feel him and be with him in every way possible.

She stopped his lips from their attack on her stomach so she could remove his t-shirt.  His warm, hard skin felt like heaven up against hers, and she was desperate to have him closer.

“Justin…”  She breathed out, trying to pull him up so she could connect their lips.  He scooted up the couch, gently putting weight on his arms so he wasn’t crushing her.

“Ry…”  Their mouths connected in a deep kiss, both of them getting lost in the sensations.  Rylee could feel Justin tugging at the waist band of her track pants, and she attempted to lift up so he could slip them off easier.

Through the haze of sex that had clouded their minds, a sound caused both of them to stop.

The buzzer sounded, signaling someone was at her door.  Rylee groaned at the person’s timing, but Justin refused to let her move off the couch.

“Ignore it, they’ll go away soon enough.”  He returned to his task of getting her naked, but she stopped him again.

“It could be the land lord or something, I can’t just ignore it.”  The buzzer sounded again and Rylee pushed at Justin’s shoulders so he would move off of her.  He reluctantly sat up, but not before leaning in and getting another kiss.

Rylee grabbed her bra off the floor and searched for her shirt, which had landed across the room.  Justin put his t-shirt back on and adjusted his jeans.  He hoped it was a quick visit because he really needed to finish what they’d started.

Rylee ran to the door when the buzzer sounded for the third time, and she was shocked to open the door and see Christina standing there, looking a little frazzled and nothing like her usual self.

“What are you doing here?”  Rylee’s guard went up, her stance rigid.  Justin couldn’t see who was at the door, but from the way Rylee had suddenly stiffened he could make a good guess.

“We really need to talk, can I come in?”  Rylee stared at Christina for a moment before holding the door open so the girl could enter the room.  Christina hesitated a moment when she saw Justin sitting on the couch, watching her.

“How did you find this apartment?”  He was upset that she had tracked down Rylee because he had really been hoping that that whole mess was over and everyone could just move forward.

“I…ah…”  She looked nervous, “I went to the studio and begged the receptionist to tell me her change in address.  I said it was an emergency.”

Justin’s anger rose.  “I’m going to have to have a conversation with her, because she’s not supposed to give out any personal information to anyone.”

A thick silence fell over the room; the sexual tension had evaporated to be filled with another, more uncomfortable silence.  Rylee stood at the door, hoping that this visit would be quick and that Christina would leave.  She didn’t have a whole lot to say to the girl, at least nothing that was very nice.

Christina shifted from one foot to the other, eyeing Justin before turning to face Rylee.

“Can we talk?”  She glanced back at Justin again, “Alone?”

Rylee’s eyes shifted over to Justin, and after a moment of silent communication she nodded her head.  He stood from his spot on the couch and threw a dirty look at Christina as he passed.  Stopping at Rylee, he made sure to give her a long, lingering kiss.

“I’ll be at the house, just come over when you’re finished here, ok?”  He waited for her to nod, her eyes expressing the fight she was gearing up for.  “Love you, Ry.”  He kissed her again, noting the small smile that graced her lips.

“Love you too,” She watched him walk out the door.  When it clicked shut, she spun around to face the girl that stood rigid in her living room.  “What do you want?”

Christina looked like she was ready to spit out something nasty, but she checked herself and let out a sigh.  “I wanted to talk to you, Rylee.  I think we need to have a chance to figure things out.”

“Figure things out?  You made your intentions pretty clear that day in the studio.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you were only hurting me to make yourself feel better.”  Rylee really couldn’t believe they were having this conversation.

“I wanted to apologize for that.”  Christina’s voice dropped to a whisper.  What was most unbelievable to Rylee was the fact that Christina was showing anything but selfishness about this.  It was a little hard to swallow that the girl would suddenly want to make amends, and Rylee had to guess that it was because of the guilt.

“It’s a little late for apologies, Christina.  You wouldn’t let me explain anything before, why should I give you the chance to say anything now?”

Christina’s hands twisted in nervousness.  “Because you’re a better person than I am?”

“Obviously.  I should’ve slammed the door in your face right after I opened it.”  She stalked over to the couch and threw herself down onto the cushions, getting some strength from the lingering scent of Justin that met her nose.

“I feel really badly for how I treated you.  I was just hurt and…and I was jealous.”

“You don’t say?”  The sarcasm was thick and biting. 

“What do you want me to say, Rylee?”  Christina was getting a little frustrated at the resistance she was meeting.  She had hoped that the two would be able to patch things over a little bit.

“Nothing, I don’t want you to say anything.  You said all you needed to when you pushed me out of your life and that’s not something I’m going to be able to forget any time soon.”  She stood, getting closer to Christina to make her point stick.  “I’m happy now, Christina.  I’m in love and I’m happy and I’m not stupid enough to let you back in so you can ruin it all over again.”

“You’re not going to even accept my apology?”  The truth of the matter was, Christina was pretty miserable without her best friend.  She hadn’t realized how much she had depended on Rylee before everything had happened, and she wanted her best friend back.

“Christina, I know that I did things to hurt you, but that was nothing compared to the hurt you dished out when you gave up on our friendship like it was nothing.  How can I trust you again if it was so easy for you to walk away in the first place?”

“I-”  Rylee’s hand stopped her sentence.

“No.  It’s too late for that.  You had your chance to do the right thing before.  We both fucked this friendship, Christina.  I should have talked to you about my feelings for Justin and you shouldn’t have done what you did.  It’s over now, and it’s never going to be again.”

Christina’s head dropped and she took in a breath to steady her nerves.  This wasn’t going the way she’d hoped it would.

“There isn’t anything that’s going to change your mind?”  Her eyes pleaded with Rylee, but the other girl shook her head.

“I don’t have room in my life for people that are going to treat me like shit.  I deserve better than that.”  She paused for a moment, “And you shouldn’t want people in your life that are capable of doing things like stealing boyfriends.  It’s over, Christina.  Move on and please…just leave me alone.”

This seemed to anger Christina a little.  “Well I hope you and Justin are happy together.”  The bitterness was back in her voice and Rylee was through listening to it.

“Get out.”

“What?”  Christina couldn’t believe that she was being kicked out.

“You heard me, get out.  I’m through with listening to you bitch about things.  Leave and don’t come back.  If you do I’ll call the cops and have them escort you off my property.”

“Whatever, bitch.”  Christina started to walk to the door, angry and sad that Rylee was closing the door on their friendship.

“Mature, Christina, really.”  Rylee held the door open and pointed out, making sure Christina got the point.  After the other girl exited, Rylee shut the door firmly and let out a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t known it, but that conversation needed to happen.  The closure she felt now was incredible, and as hard as it was to face all of that, Rylee was relieved that it was over.  She felt like she could truly move on with her life now and forget about all of the crap in the past.

Damn that felt good.

Justin paced the living room, his eyes locked on the front door.  He knew that Rylee was probably OK, but he still hated leaving her with Christina like that.  It was amazing the emotional damage those girls could dish out, especially when they were wounded.  He just worried that Christina was going to undo some of the progress that Rylee had worked so hard for.

He did have to stop and smile though, when he thought about how far the two of them had come together.  It made him feel slightly girly, but he loved how it felt when she had confessed that she loved him.

Justin had been through a lot of relationships before, and he had ‘been in love’ a few times too.  Normally, he would’ve run away from a relationship that came with so much baggage and all this drama, but Rylee Jean was different.  He loved the way she laughed, he loved the way she fought for herself, and he loved the way she seemed to fit into his life so well.  It also did hurt that she was sexy as hell and she knew how to get him going, but that was just an added bonus.

He was looking forward to the time when the two of them could just enjoy each other and not have to worry about any of the drama.  Rylee had her own space now, which he was a little relieved about because he didn’t want them to get sick of each other.  He was amazed at how well the studio thing had worked out, and he knew that having her on his team was going to be just fine.

Right now, the only thing that could possibly stand in their way was Christina.  He hoped that Rylee was able to ignore anything that Christina might say and stand up for herself, but he was well aware of how horrible the girl could be.  He was hoping that he didn’t have a lot of damage control to do tonight, because he really just wanted to spend time with his girl.  And maybe get back to what she had started earlier…

He heard a car door slam outside and a moment later the front door opened.  He stopped his pacing and stood still, waiting to see what was going to walk through the door.  Rylee appeared a moment later, looking fine and seemingly unharmed, but he knew that looks could be deceiving.

“So…”  Should he not say anything?  Obviously she had to know he was going to ask, right?

“I’m fine, Justin.”  She gave him a small smile and he relaxed a little, but he still wanted to know what happened.

“Is she still alive?”  He was only half joking when he asked, but Rylee laughed so he knew things must have gone relatively well.

“Yeah, and so am I.”  She threw a bag down in the foyer and made her way into the living room, plopping herself on the nearest couch.  “She tried to apologize for everything and I basically told her to go fuck herself.”

Justin’s eyes widened at the mental image of Rylee bitching out Christina.  It made him smile.  He lifted her legs and sat himself down at the other end of the couch, placing her legs back over his lap.  He tickled at her feet and she playfully kicked at him.

“So…what else went down?”

Rylee picked at her shirt and shrugged her shoulders.  “I think she was looking to fix things, but I just couldn’t.  I really don’t think there would have been any way to have a friendship without always wondering about what we might be capable of doing to each other.”  She paused for a second, “I don’t trust her anymore, and I don’t trust myself with her, either.”

“Are you OK?”  He was worried and it was evident on his face, but Rylee gave him a genuine smile.

“I feel good, Justin.  I feel like I’m really ready to just…live.”  She lifted up and moved so she was straddling his waist.  “And I’m ready to be with you and not worry about whose toes I’m stepping on.”  She planted a deep kiss on his lips and giggled slightly when he sat back with a shocked look on his face.

“Well…”  He licked his lips and smirked.  “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

He grabbed her by the hips and flipped them so she was lying on the couch and he was on top.

“And I think that we need to pick up where we left off…”  He started to kiss at her neck, but stopped when she pushed at him slightly.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…I just feel really gross from all that moving and the mood was kinda killed when your ex-girlfriend walked in.”  He laughed at her words.

“So what do you suggest?”

Instead of answering, she pushed at his shoulders until he rolled off of her.  She walked back into the foyer and grabbed the bag she had dropped earlier.  “I brought some clothes with me.  I was hoping you might let me take a shower.”

The grin on Justin’s face grew as he made his was over to Rylee and pulled her body into his.  “I can do you one better.”  She raised an eyebrow in question.  “I’ll draw you a bath and all you have to do is get nekkid and I’ll do the rest.  If you want, I’ll even take your clothes off for you, too.”

“Oh baby, you’re just too generous.”  She laughed, moving past him toward the stair case.  “Are you coming?  These clothes are going to come off on their own.”

~*~

Rylee let out a contented sigh as she sat back against Justin’s chest and let his fingers work at the knots in her shoulder.  There was a soft scent of lavender filling the air from all of the bubbles Justin had put in the bath and the water was just the right temperature.  If this wasn’t heaven, she didn’t want to know what was.

“How am I doing?”  He lazily placed a kiss on her neck, enjoying the view of her entire front that wasn’t quite concealed by bubbles.

“Wonderfully.”  Her voice was breathy and he chuckled, a low deep sound that resonated in his chest.

They sat in silence for a little while, just enjoying the heat from the water and the comfort of being together.  After a short while, Rylee asked a question that had been bugging her but she’d previously been afraid to ask.

“What was it like, being with Christina?”  She could feel Justin shift uncomfortable beneath her, but his hands didn’t stop working at her back and shoulders.

“Uhm, well, what do you mean?”

She shrugged.  “I’ve always wondered what attracts guys to me or Christina, because I’ve never met a guy that’s wanted to be with both.  I guess I was curious about why you started dating her.”

“Well, I guess it was all physical, really.  I mean, I met her at the club where she bartended and I thought she was hot and I really only want to get her into bed.”

“But you stayed with her for a while.”  Rylee wasn’t sure why she wanted to know these things, perhaps it was a morbid curiosity. 

“It was easy, and it was the almost all no strings attached for us.  She didn’t want to get serious and neither did I.  Christina isn’t the type of girl guys get serious with, at least not me.”

Rylee let out a slightly bitter laugh.  “Tell that to the two exes that proposed to her.”

“I think that she’s attractive because you know she’s wild and you know she’s going to be fun, and at the same time you hope to be the one to tame her, the one that really gets to stake their claim.  It’s a macho thing, I think.”  He moved his hands from her shoulders and slid them down her sides to her waist, clasping his hands over her stomach.

“No, it’s not just men, I think women do that too.”  She settled back more, letting her head loll to the side and rest in the crook of his neck.  “Why me, then?  I’m nothing like that.”

“That’s just it.  Bring with Christina was fun but it was never something I wanted to last very long.  You, though, you were something else.  That first day you walked into the studio I knew I was in trouble.”

She giggled a little at his comment, knowing that she’d felt exactly the same thing.

“You’re such an amazing person, Rylee, and I was just taken with you.  Physically, mentally, intellectually, musically…you had everything I’d ever looked for in a woman and you’d walked into my studio and knocked me off my feet.  I never wanted to be with Christina, I just wanted to sleep with her.  I wanted to be with you all the time, even when I knew I shouldn’t.”

Rylee turned so she could place a small kiss on his jaw bone, smiling into his skin.  “I’m glad you gave into your curiosity.”

“Me too, Ry, me too.”  He hugged her tighter, relieved that the conversation went well and she didn’t get upset over anything.

“So…”  She smirked, “Whose better in bed?”  Justin let out a cough of air, surprised that she’d actually asked the question.

“Uhm…well…”  How the hell do you answer that without sticking your foot in your mouth or making an ass of yourself?  “Well with you I don’t worry about who else you might be sleeping with at the same time.”  He got a small laugh out of that.

“Except for Trace, because you know how I like to bone him when I get drunk.”  At this Justin did let out a loud, deep laugh.  He was glad that they could make jokes about this, because it was a little awkward that Rylee had slept with Trace and Justin had slept with Christina.  Talk about switching partners.

“You know, Rylee Jean, you are the only person I want in my bed and you have been the only woman that knows how to make me feel so incredible all the time.”

“Good save, lover boy.”  She smiled to herself, content with things and happy at the place she and Justin were in.  Life was good.

Justin stirred the water with his hands a little, watching the steam rise off the surface, moving the bubbles that were slowly disintegrating over them.

“How much longer before you think you’re finished with Haley and the guys?”  Justin knew he probably shouldn’t be bringing up work, but it seemed a better topic than Christina.  Rylee hummed in thought, giving her shoulder a slight shrug.

“I don’t know, we’ve only mastered three songs, so it’ll probably a while.  Why?  Is there a time limit or something?”

“Nope, not really.  I was just thinking…” He trailed off deliberately, smirking when she attempted to turn and look at him.

“Thinking about what?”  She was getting frustrated because he wouldn’t let her turn around and she could tell he was enjoying her curiosity.  “Justin…”  She was close to whining.

“Oh, you know…”  He pulled her shoulders so she was again sitting back against his chest, and his fingers traced patterns across her collar bone and chest.  “I usually take a vacation for a couple weeks, and I was wondering when you would be finished because I would love to take you with me.”

“Vacation? What kind of vacation?”  Her interest was piqued.  A vacation sounded like a very tempting idea.

“Well, perhaps some place warm, or tropical…I was thinking Hawaii.”  This time Rylee succeeded in turning around to face Justin, and he laughed at the sheer delight that rested on her face.  “I’m guessing you like that idea.”

“Like it?  I love it!  The only other places I’ve been is the East Coast, and trust me, Boston is by no means tropical.  Are we really going to Hawaii?”

He nodded his head, “If that’s where you want to go.  We can do whatever you want.  I’ve made sure to clear the studio so there aren’t any more artists scheduled to come in once you’re finished with Paramore.  If Hawaii is where you want to go, I’ll schedule the tickets as soon as I can.”

Rylee situated herself so she was straddling Justin’s waist, the water sloshing in the tub and over the edge, but at this point she really didn’t care.  She grabbed his face, taking a moment to stare into his smiling eyes, and then she planted a kiss on him that was so hard and deep it stole his breath.

“Wow,  If I knew that I was going to get that kind of reaction, I would’ve taken you on a trip a long time ago.”  Rylee blushed, but she didn’t move from her spot.  Instead she pulled him as close as she could and tried as best she could to express her gratitude.  Not just for the trip, but for everything he’d done for her.

6 Months Later

It was hot.  Almost too hot, really.  Sweat beaded up against her skin and she squinted her eyes against the glaring sun.  With a sigh, she rolled over and rested on her stomach, stopping briefly to glance to her left.

He lay on his back, a cell phone up to his ear as he chatted away with someone back in L.A.  Rylee’s eyes travelled down his torso, enjoying the ripple of his abs, the lines of his hips, and the curve of his thighs as he flexed his leg muscles.

With another contented sigh, Rylee rested her head back down on the towel beneath her and closed her eyes against the bright, Hawaiian light.

It had taken them nearly five months to finally get here, but it was well worth the wait.  Justin had said that he’d cleared the studio, which he had, but just as they were about to book plane tickets, he got a call from Timberland and just couldn’t refuse the offer.  The album took over three months to make, and then Justin had had to go to New York to do some promotions and a music video.

It had been a whirlwind, but Rylee couldn’t be happier.

While Justin was busy in the studio, she’d finished all her schooling and graduated with her degree.  She still worked for Tennman Records, but now she handled her own clients and had her own name.  Her work with Paramore had spread rapidly, and now she was a success in her own right.  It was a really good feeling for Rylee, one that she never thought she would get to feel.

There had been one more run in with Christina shortly after Rylee had kicked the girl out of her apartment.  Christina had shown up at the studio, begging to speak with Rylee.  Of course, Rylee being Rylee, she gave Christina one more chance to say what she needed to say.  It took all of three minutes before accusations and harsh words were being thrown around, and Rylee had the studio security escort Christina out of the building.

The last she’d heard, Christina had moved back to the East Coast when her uncle stopped footing the bills.  Apparently, Rylee was a huge part of the reason Christina’s uncle had been so fourth coming with the cash, as he felt that Rylee was a stable force in his niece’s life and would keep her on track.  Now that Rylee was out of the picture, so was the money.

It made both she and Justin chuckle.

“Baby?”

With a sluggish speed, Rylee turned her head in Justin’s direction.  “Hmm?”

“Can I put some more sun block on your back? You’re looking a little pink.”

Rylee rolled over, feeling the heat of her skin as she did so.  “I think it’s probably time we headed inside.”  Justin nodded, moving to pack up their stuff while Rylee gathered her towel and bag.

“What are you in the mood for tonight?”  Lean fingers intertwined with a much smaller set, and Rylee grinned up at Justin as they walked back toward their bungalow.  Since going all big time with an artist like Timberland, Justin now had some connections.

“I think we should keep it light.  Maybe some salads and grilled chicken?”  Rylee’s suggestion met Justin’s satisfaction and he nodded at her.

“Sounds perfect.”

The rest of their walk was made in relative silence.  There was another bungalow about 300 yards down the beach, but the occupants rarely came out.  Rylee would’ve assumed that it was vacant, except for the occasional moans and screams she and Justin heard at odd hours.  Their guess: honeymoon.

The sand was hot under Rylee’s feet, but she loved the feel of it between her toes as they walked.  The smell of the ocean was relaxing, and the sound of the waves was just enough to put her to sleep.  The combination of those three and Rylee’s fair skin lead her to believe that the pink skin she had now would soon become red.  She didn’t really mind, though, because she was in paradise and nothing could stop her from feeling incredibly happy.

“Hey…” Justin’s voice called to her from the other side of her daydream.  “Where’d you go?”  He grinned at her.

Rylee shrugged.  “Dunno, just thinking.”

Justin’s hand tightened around hers, and she couldn’t help but return the grin that was still sitting on his face.

Rylee couldn’t get over how incredible everything had been between them.  Even when they were both grumpy and getting on each other’s nerves, they had this way of working everything out and being OK.  They really hadn’t gotten into any serious fights, and even those that bordered on being bad, they managed to work it all out and make up soon after.

She loved being around this man.  He was so talented and so passionate that she couldn’t help but be swept up in it all, and the best part was that the majority of the time that passion was directed at her.  He adored her, and it was perfect because she adored him right back.

“Why don’t you go take a cool shower and I’ll start the grill.  Your skin looks pretty hot.”  Justin’s light touch skimmed over Rylee’s bare shoulder, and she nodded at him, pecking him on the lips before disappearing down the hallway to the bathroom.

Justin watched her form leave, admiring the view as she went.  The grin on his face stretched farther and he chuckled to himself.  He was one happy man.

The kitchen was bright with natural sunlight streaming in from the windows and patio doors.  It felt cool and crisp inside, a nice change from the hot sun on the beach.  Justin grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before taking out the chicken and some shrimp to cook on the grill.  He was looking forward to a relaxing night with Rylee, something they didn’t get too often.

Life had gotten busy very fast for him, but he couldn’t really complain.  Working with Timberland had pushed his career that much further, and he’d also made a really good friend.  Being in the studio and creating some of the best music of his life had sparked something in Justin, and he couldn’t wait to see where it led him. 

He also couldn’t get over how in love he was and how simple it all seemed.  Once he and Rylee had gotten past the strange beginning they shared, things fell into place with an ease that seemed unnatural.  He wasn’t going to question it, though, and he certainly wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of their relationship.

It worked out well that they shared time in the studio together every now and then.  Rylee understood the long hours and the strange schedules, and her schedule often matched his, which worked well.  It also helped that she was an incredible musician in her own right, because Justin didn’t have to worry about leaving her alone with artists that he previously managed.  Rylee had made quite a name for herself, and Justin couldn’t be more proud.

Letting out a contented hum, Justin moved outside to the patio to fire up the grill and start cooking dinner.  He heard a noise behind him and turned just in time to catch Rylee as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

“Mmm…”  He cooed, “You smell good.”

“Thanks,” she grinned up at him, her smile matching his own.  “I’m going to go in a make the salad.  Do you want a drink?”

“A beer would be great.  Thanks Love,”  He kissed he mouth deeply before letting her go and smacking his lips with a loud pop.  She giggled.

“I love you, Justin Randall Timberlake.”  His grin grew.

“And I love you, Rylee Jean Anderson.”

Leaving a trail of laughter and mango scented air, Rylee flitted back into the kitchen.  If there were a word to describe how things had turned out, she might try ‘perfect’ but even then she wouldn’t really be close.

And to think…this all started out by making a huge mistake.  Apparently there are some circumstances where it’s OK to sleep with your best friend’s boyfriend, but Rylee wasn’t sure she’d ever want to try that one again.  It was probably safer, too, considering her best friend was Justin, and he didn’t have any boyfriends, as far as she knew.  Maybe Trace, but that would just be wrong.

None of those thoughts really mattered, anyway, because she was happy and she wasn’t about to give any of it up any time soon.

Finishing up the salad, Rylee laughed as she watched Justin through the patio doors, swinging his hips to some imaginary beat in his head.  She grabbed the bowl, and balanced a bottle of beer and her wine glass on a tray as she made her way out onto the patio and to the table.

“Smells good, Babe,” she commented as Justin pulled the last piece of chicken off the grill and moved the plate over to the table.

“I hope it tastes good, too.”

They sat down, preparing plates amidst laughter and shared kisses.  This was how it was supposed to feel and this was how it was supposed to be. 

And of course it didn’t hurt that they were in Hawaii.