***
"All right, so tell me who this woman is again?" I clasped Dana's hand between mine and held it in my lap as she and I rode in the back of a New York cab with Jackie.
"She's my best friend from high school. Well, really from elementary. We've known each other all our lives." Dana snuggled against my shoulder and let out a soft sigh.
Jackie leaned forward and looked back at us. "Did Olivia grow up in Texas or were you raised somewhere else?"
How close were Dana and Jackie? Not very close from what I could tell. I'd always assumed that girls knew every intimate detail about their friends. Maybe not. Or maybe Dana was a private type?
"We all grew up in Houston, but my family moved up to Dallas when I started at UT five years ago."
"Five years?" I smiled as Dana turned to give me a look. "You just like college, or what?"
"I have a double major." She released my hand and moved more into her own seat. "Business and nursing, though to be honest, I'm not sure that's where my heart is leading me."
"No?" Jackie pulled out a piece of gum and popped it in her mouth before offering us one. "What are you thinking? Med school?"
"Maybe." Dana shrugged, and the conversation died as the cabbie pulled over in front of a large elegant-looking cafe.
"We're here. Twenty-five Elm Street. Cafe Udo." He turned and extended his hand. "Forty-three dollars."
"Rape." Jackie shook her head and opened the door as I pulled out my card.
"I got this." Dana tried to push my hand away, but I wouldn't let her.
"No. You're my girl and this is our weekend away. Don't deny me the opportunity to act like a good southern man and pay for everything." I gave the card to the cab driver and turned to smile at the beautiful woman who was sure to steal every part of me before the weekend was over.
I signed the receipt as Dana got out and spoke with Jackie for a few minutes. I didn't have a clue where we were headed or what was next on the agenda, but I hoped like hell it was food. I was finally getting my appetite back.
"All right, well, I'm going to walk down the block to St. Mark's Hospital. Parks said just to meet him there." Jackie pulled Dana into a hug before giving me a smile and a wave and walking off with her backpack strapped to her back.
"Something I did?" I wrapped my arm around Dana and offered her a cheeky smile as I tugged my bag over my shoulder.
"Not at all. She's trying to win the heart of a playboy doctor. I wish I could talk her out of it." Dana nodded toward the cafe. "You want to grab a sandwich before we walk down to Olivia's apartment?"
"Love to." It felt so damn good to have her pressed to my side. I'd have to memorize the feeling for when things got rough back in Dallas. "I'm finally starting to feel like I'm alive again."
"That's great news." She wrapped her arm around the back of my waist as we moved into the line inside the cafe. "You've been through a lot."
"Yes, but thanks to you and Damon, I'm making it through." I leaned down and kissed her, unable to help myself.
"What was that for?" She smiled up at me.
"Just because. Get ready for a lot of those. I've been saving them up since the first night you came over to my place." I wagged my eyebrows as she blushed again. It was almost too cute how innocent she was.
"I remember that night... really well."
"Good. I plan on revisiting it this weekend." I licked at my lips and growled softly.
She popped my chest and laughed before releasing me. "Behave or we'll never make it through this line."
"Speaking of..." I pulled at the strap of my bag as it hung over my shoulder. "What are our plans? Are we having dinner with your friend or hanging out with a group tonight or what?"
"I know that we're having dinner with Olivia and her boyfriend, Luke." Dana's lip turned up in disgust as she mentioned Luke. "But I don't think that's until later tonight."
"You don't like her boyfriend?" I moved up to the counter and pulled out my wallet.
"Not in the slightest. I've never met him, but he's turned my friend into a cold-hearted bitch."
"And she wasn't one before." I let my eyes run across the menu and tried to focus. It was so hard to do anything with Dana standing so close to me. My hungers were competing with one another deep inside of me, and my stomach was sure to lose out sooner than later.
"Not at all." She ordered a sandwich and moved to the side as I ordered and paid.
"Does that mean we get a little bit of time together this afternoon before our dinner?" I walked toward the pickup counter where she stood and pulled her into a hug.
She pressed her hands to my chest and smiled. "It does. I'm thinking a nap sounds good."
"Is nap code word for a long hard fuck?"
"Kendal!" She laughed loudly and pressed her forehead against my chest. "You're really corrupt under all those rules and that nice professional pair of glasses you wear, aren't you?"
"I'm a regular superman stuck in a Clark Kent world." I touched the soft skin under her chin and forced her to look up. "I just wanna be fully me while I'm here."
"Good. I want that too." She slid her arms up my chest and clasped her hands behind my head. "Our nap can include anything you want it to include."
"Good answer." I leaned down and kissed her a few times before walking over to pick up our lunches. She had the power to melt me, to unwind all of the tightness inside of me and offer me a different future than the one I'd seen myself in for so long.
We walked down Elm Street together, my hand tightly around hers, my thoughts dragging me farther and farther into a deep hole of depravity. I released her and pulled out her sandwich.
"Let's eat while we walk. Something tells me that the minute I get you fully alone... all bets are off."
"Wow. That's hot." She unwrapped her sandwich and snuck a glance at me as I unwrapped mine and took a huge bite.
The city was busy as ever, which wasn’t too surprising. It was Friday afternoon in the heart of New York.
"What don't you like about this Luke guy? Prepare me, please." I licked at my fingers before pulling out the other half of my sandwich and going to town on it too.
She glanced up from the map on her phone. "He's just not the right guy for Olivia." She shrugged.
"And why is that?" I was going to have to prod her for the truth.
"Because he's all about his business and making money. He doesn't love her, and honestly, she doesn't love him. They're just using each other for sex and status. It's... I don't know... gross."
"I see." I finished up my sandwich as we walked up to a beautiful cream-colored high rise.
"It's not Olivia at all. She's always been more about love than lust, but this guy has her acting like a completely different person." Dana glanced up. "We're here. Twelfth floor. We just need to check in at the front."
Lust over love? The age old discussion about which comes before the other. Couldn't they both show up at the same time? That felt far more like the story in my own life, or maybe I was reading more into it than necessary.
"You coming?" She glanced back and offered me a beautiful smile.
"Not yet, but hopefully soon."
"Oh Lord." She shook her head and walked into the building, delighting me in so many ways.
And I'd almost pushed her away. All because of my fucked up rules.
Funny how protection has the ability to quickly become a prison instead.