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the wall.
"Let's play, if they come back we'll start over."
    She
grabbed a cue. "You wanna break?"
    "No,
you go ahead."
    She
moved the cue ball of center and bent to aim. "It feels like
it's been ages since I played down here. Corey and I used to play all
the time."
    She
let the cue smash against the triangle of balls. They scattered
across the table, the three fell into the corner pocket. She smiled.
    "Whenever
you feel up for a game, you need only ask," he said.
    She
moved around the table and lined up again. "Five in the side,"
she said, as she slide her cue between her fingers.
    "What
did Mandy mean by 'have fun when the opportunity presents itself'?"
he asked, as the five rolled forward. It dropped in.
    "She
was arguing in your favor. I'll take the four off the bank and back
here."
    "If
you make that I'll know I'm getting sharked here."
    She
missed. She smiled at him wryly. "Your turn."
    "She
was arguing in my favor? Were you arguing against me?" He
circled the table like a vulture.
    "I
was."t
    "What
or who, made you so distrustful? Twelve in the far corner." He
pointed.
    She
rolled her eyes. "No one."
    He
made his shot and started looking for his next one. "No one
important. So what happened?"
    "He
mistook me for my mother. She wasn't the most discriminate of women
and it was a small town."
    "She
was an adult."
    "Yes,
well, I'm not my mother. He thought supper out would be a guarantee,
I guess. I refused to let him touch me. He attempted to force the
issue, but I grabbed him where it hurt. He took me home."
    "Asshole,"
Chris muttered, stopping to lean his cue against the table.
    "He
told everyone I put out. And I spent the rest of my high school days
being harassed. I was a good girl ‘til then, I started hanging
out with the wrong crowd." She curled her lip into a sneer. "At
least my teachers would say that."
    "What
would you say?" he asked, stepping close to her. Too close but
she barely noticed.
    "We
took care of each other. I got into trouble a lot protecting myself
or my friends or other vulnerable people. No good deed goes
unpunished, I supposed. I learned, in those couple years, that if you
are beautiful and charming, and rich, the rules don't apply to you."
    "That's
not true," he said. He touched her cheek. "Not everyone who
is attractive, charming and has money is bad."
    "I
suppose you mean yourself."
    He
shook his head. "I meant your brother."
    She
closed her eyes, taking a breath. Her eyes flew open when she felt
his breath on her face. He was in her personal space, almost
touching. "What about you?"
    "I'm
not bad, but I'm not good either, Tony. Especially the things I've
been thinking about you."
    Squealing
kids outside the door, made them step back. Lucy Turner and Paige
stood at the door. "Cake, we're going to have cake," Lucy
sang.
    "We'll
be there in a minute," Tony said, her eyes glued on Chris.
    "We
can talk about this later," he said. "When things are
quieter." He reached for her, then dropped his hand and stepped
back. He waited and followed her to the kitchen.

CHAPTER 4

    Corey
smiled as he recalled the looks on everyone's faces when he put the
baby cake on the table. There was silence as everyone stopped to read
it. He and Nicole simply stared at each other smiling.
    Every
day he was amazed that he'd found someone to put up with him. His joy
grew infinitely when his daughter was born. He didn't know how Nicole
had talked him into this one.
    The
bed shifted when she sat on the edge, breaking his thoughts. He
looked at her and smiled wider.
    "What
are you smiling at?" She slid across the sheets to lay beside
him.
    "Thinking
about when we pulled the cake out. Everyones surprise then
congratulations."
    He
stroked a hand over her belly. There was nothing to see that could be
attributed to baby yet, but he could hardly stand the wait to see her
grow.
    "Not
yet, love," she said. "It was hilarious watching everyone's
reaction. I guess we start letting everyone else know next."
    "Yes.
We can do that. Mom