If I had learned anything in college, it was this: If a girl offered herself up for sex, she usually got it.

Whether or not the guy actually loved her. And regardless if he ever would. She might hope… and sometimes it all worked out. Usually not. But she still got herself laid…

I pulled Joe’s shirt closer around me, burrowing my nose into the soft cotton cloth. Joe and I already had the love. I’d felt it my whole life… But instead of bringing us together, it was the very reason he’d turned his back on me tonight and just walked away…

Sure, my snarky conscience piped up. That, and the fact that you just announced you’re still a virgin. Way to make him see you as all grown up, Maggie…

I balled up his shirt and threw it into the short hallway. Right where he would have dropped it, on the way to the bedroom… if you’d been woman enough to get him there...

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I grumbled in irritation. Even naked, I still felt prickly from the overbearing heat. I grabbed another ice pop from the freezer and rummaged in my bag for my phone. There was only one solution for the fix I was in, and it had been too goddamned long since we’d spoken.

“Jackie? It’s me…”

“Hey, Maggie! I thought maybe you’d lost your damned phone. Emails don’t cut it, honey. I can see the foundation’s doing great. But how’s home? How is Joe?”

For a second, I just let myself relax into the familiar sound of Jackie’s cheerful, no-nonsense voice. It was deep for a woman, and suited her shapely little body. We’d met three years ago, and she had been the first to sign on with RemedAid. She was forcefully optimistic, and had a maternal instinct a mile wide.

“God, Jackie…,” I stopped, too many emotions surfacing all at once. “I… we’re… Joe’s just fine,” I managed to stammer out. “I don’t have any right to complain about anything… but… but…”

“He’s not seeing someone else, is he?” Her voice had dropped another whole octave.

“No,” I said as a reflex. “Well, I don’t think so, anyway.” I sighed through my nose. “It’s not like it would matter, anyway. All I know for sure is that he’s got no interest in me. Certainly not after tonight…”

“Hmph,” she snorted. “Then he’s a damned fool and you deserve better. If he can’t see that, then he can’t see you, Maggie. You’re young and beautiful, smart as a whip and courageous as hell. How many women have achieved what you have, at the tender age of twenty-two?”

It was my turn to snort. “I think that’s the problem, Jackie. No matter what I do, Joe’s always gonna see me as Dean’s kid sister.” I bit into lime-flavored ice and braced as the cold shot through my teeth. “He loves the little girl he remembers, but not who I am now. Not the way I want him to…” I finished and chewed thoughtfully on the wooden stick, my thoughts grinding.

“Well, I’ve lived a damned lot longer than you, Maggie, and if there’s one thing I know I know about men… Sometimes, the hardest thing for them to see is what’s right in front of their eyes. And their brains and their dicks often don’t share clear lines of communication.” She paused.

“But he loves you… and that’s good. Let him.”

“And in the meantime, you and I have work to do. Don’t let yourself forget that Joe’s not the only passion in your life. You’ve helped a hell of a lot of people already, and this is only the beginning. The tornados this year…”

“I know. There’ve already been more than a hundred in Oklahoma alone. And they’re not slowing down. Storm prediction is saying the worst of it may hit in June this year.”

“Well, the moving van is packed and I’ll be in Dallas by Sunday night. Give me a few days to get settled in and I’m all yours, Maggie.”

“I love you, you know that right?” I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand.

“Of course you do,” she replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Take a deep breath, Maggie. And keep on moving forward. There’s no better salve for a wounded heart than damned hard work. That, I promise you.”

We said our goodbyes and I shut off the phone for the night. For the first time since I’d gotten home, I turned the thermostat all the way down. Screw the electric bill… For one night I needed relief. From the heat, from the heaviness of the air pressing down on me… From thinking about Joe, and from the need that was thrumming in the very deepest parts of me. I’d been naked and willing in his arms, and I’d seen the long, hard proof that he hadn’t been completely indifferent…

I turned out the lights and settled in under the fast cooling sheets. Jackie had been right, as always. There was more than enough work to do, and plenty of people waiting for the services I could provide. I had over a thousand disaster kits packed and ready for transport. Jackie would be here in a few days and was in charge of teaching our basic first aid classes. In a week, we could start packing the trucks and head for some of the poorest and hardest hit areas of Oklahoma. There had already been several devastating storms, and the worst was yet to come. Work was exactly what I needed… and exactly where I was going to focus. Joe had neither the desire, nor the power, to stop me. As always, we lived in two very different worlds…

But in spite of my resolve, and the bliss of air conditioning, it was hours before I fell asleep.

And even then, it was only after I’d climbed out of bed and gathered up the shirt I’d left tossed on the floor. I spread it over my pillow and hugged it close, breathing in the complex and comforting scent…