The next morning came entirely too soon, but then again there hadn’t been much sleeping going on. He and Stassi had taken turns waking the other up with various sexual advances. They’d made love over and over. They’d started on the bed, and when he’d lost his balance and fell to the floor, she’d simply giggled and crawled on top of him.

She’d smiled and laughed and moaned as she orgasmed over and over again. On his fingers. On his face. On his cock. Fuck… The sight of her parted lips as she came, her breasts bouncing, her hard nipples demanding attention from his mouth. His tongue. His teeth. Fuck. She’d been perfect. She was perfect.

Alec tried to keep the noise down as he rummaged through the cabinets for some coffee. They were pretty bare, which made sense considering it was only her, but he couldn’t even find a single coffee cup. He took a step back and took a quick sweep of the counter only to realize he didn’t even see a coffee pot. “Blasphemy…”

He went back into the bedroom and woke Stassi with a series of gentle kisses starting at her collar bone and ending on her eyelids.

“Mmm. Good morning.”

“Morning. Get up and get a shower. I’m going to run across the street and grab some coffee.”

“I can think of something better than coffee.” She giggled as she reached for his pants.

Alec chuckled and gently moved her hand away. “I’m afraid there’s no time for that. You have work and I have to go to the bank before I go in to the restaurant.”

Stassi made a pouty face which only caused Alec to laugh harder. “You’re cute,” he said as he brushed her nose with his. “But the answer is still no. Get up and get ready. I’ll be right back.”

He grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, then jogged to his car. If he was going to have time to bring coffee back to Stassi, he needed to be quick about it. He parked in front of the shop and hurried inside. The line wasn’t too long, which was good. He pulled out his phone to check in on Jen and Gracie, when he saw he’d missed a call from Stassi. He pressed the callback button, and she answered on the first ring. “Hey, I thought I’d get some coffee for Lacey and Gigi as well. Do you want me to pick up—”

“I have to get to the hospital. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Wait, what?”

“My mom just called.” Stassi went silent for a few long beats, then continued. “My father collapsed.”

* * *

Alec threw open the hospital doors and ran inside. He quickly found Stassi, wide eyed and pale in the lobby. He walked up, knelt in front of her, and wrapped her in his arms. “Babe, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“He had a heart attack about eight weeks ago.” Stassi looked straight ahead as she spoke, not making any attempt at eye contact. “He pulled through, though. They did surgery, and he came out of it okay. He had to take medicine to make sure he didn’t form a blood clot, and that was that.”

Her voice was monotone. Her eyes dry of any tears. The sight broke his heart. Alec ran his fingers through her hair, trying desperately to comfort her. “Okay. So what happened?”

“Ha. What happened?” Stassi laughed bitterly and finally looked at Alec. “What happened is he didn’t take the damn pills. He did for a little bit, but then decided he didn’t need them anymore. Because he’s so smart, right? The man couldn’t hold a job, left his wife and six-year-old daughter to fend for themselves, and then when he manages to come out of a major heart attack, he can’t be bothered to take his pills.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I’m not sure. I’m waiting to hear. I’m mostly here for my mother anyway.”

“I’m so sorry. Are the two of you close?”

“No. But she’s the only family I have.”

Alec pulled her into him and ran his hands along her back. She shook beneath his fingers, but from the temperature or adrenaline he didn’t know.

Stassi rose suddenly and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the back stairwell. She opened the door and tugged him through, then pushed him into the wall and crushed her mouth to his while her hand cupped his balls.

“Wow. What are you doing?”

She didn’t respond to what he said, only fidgeted with his belt buckle.

“Stop.” Alec tried to calm her down, but she dropped to her knees and pressed her mouth against his cock over his slacks. He finally managed to grab her by the arms and haul her up so he could see her face. “Stassi, stop.”

“Why? I want you.”

“No.” Alec held her back and lifted her chin, making her look him in the eyes. “Hey, it’s not going to happen. I let it go at the restaurant, but I won’t this time. We’re not going to fuck every time you don’t want to talk about something. That’s not how life works.”

Stassi pulled out of his arms and backed up until she stood against the opposite wall, her eyes narrowed as her breath shot out in agitated puffs. “This was a mistake.”

“What?”

“This can’t happen again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last night. The sex. All of it.”

“We’ve had sex a few times before. What’s the problem?”

“Yeah, we’ve had sex. That wasn’t sex. That was something else. You know what it was, I don’t need to spell it out, and it can’t happen again.”

“Seriously? This is the way you’ve decided to play it?” Alec ran his fingers through his hair, gritting his teeth. “I know what you’re doing, I’m not stupid. But dammit if it still doesn’t piss me off. Is this how it’s going to be every time life gets hard? Every time one of us is dealt a raw deal? What the hell are you so afraid of?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” Alec put his hands on his hips and looked at her, not able to hold in his anger any longer. “So we can fuck, but God forbid we let some emotions get in there, huh? That’s just too much? That crosses the line?”

“I’m not who you’re trying to make me be.”

“I’m not trying to make you be anything.”

“Yes you are. I can feel it. You’re trying to make me into some little lady type. I’m not that woman. I’m not going to make you coffee in the morning before work. I don’t want to pop out babies and make cookies for all the neighborhood kids. I’m not that person. I’m not that, good.”

“I know who you are.”

“You don’t know shit.” Stassi pulled her T-shirt tighter around her middle, arms crossed in a defiant stance. “I think you need to leave.”

“What’s wrong? I got a little too real for you? Tried to be there for you when your world got rocked?”

“You don’t know anything about my father, so don’t think you get brownie points for coming to a building.”

“I would if you told me. If you opened up.”

“I don’t want to.”

“So this is it, then? Goodbye? See you later?”

“No, it’s not, but we need to go back to the original rules. I made them for a reason, and I take full responsibility for letting the lines blur. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s a crock of shit and you know it.”

“Whether it is or isn’t, we only see each other at the parties. No more of,” Stassi waved her hands in the air between them, “this.”

Alec fisted his hands by his sides. He was pissed. No, strike that. Pissed didn’t even begin to describe what he felt. His jaw was clenched almost painfully. His stomach turned and his chest ached. “Look, you’re under a lot of stress, there’s obviously shit going on with your parents that I know nothing about, and now isn’t the time for you to have to explain it. I’m going to give you some space for now, because I think it’s what you need. I don’t want to leave, but I have a feeling this will only turn into more of a shit show if I stay. So go wait for your mom and I’ll call you later, okay?”

Stassi nodded, her eyes cast down, hands crossed in front of her.

Alec walked up and leaned in, gently running his nose against hers. “I’ll call you, okay?”

“Right. Fine. I’ll see you later.”

Alec cursed under his breath as he turned from her and made his way out of the stairwell.