Zane followed me to his house where he let me in, gave me the alarm code and told me he’d be home in a couple hours.

Since it was already past eleven by then and I had to work the next day, I went immediately to bed, only stirring a bit when I later felt Zane get in beside me.

The next morning, we were both up and out of his house by nine, him heading to the precinct and me to Vinyl Impressions.

“There’s my beautiful girl,” Alicia said when I got there.

Why couldn’t my parents have been nice like her and Randy?

“Hi, Alicia.” I gave her a hug.

“Thank you so much for the wonderful spa day gift! I can’t wait to go indulge myself! And the tickets to the boat show? Randy danced around the living room for ten minutes all excited. Then whined for the next thirty because he has to wait until June.” She laughed.

I chuckled. “I’m so glad you guys liked your gifts! And thank you both for the bonus! I’ve told you every year it’s too much, yet you do it anyway.” This was the third Christmas they’d given me $1000 bonus.

“It’s well-deserved, honey.”

“Well, thank you again. How was your Christmas?”

“Great! The kids and grandkids came over. Randy got all the grandkids remote control cars and drones, and they spent hours outside playing with them. Of course, we had a few accidents. Two cars disappeared into the lake and a drone crashed into the attic window, but other than that, it was a success.” She laughed.

I chuckled. “That sounds like fun, though!”

“Oh, they had a blast! I think Randy had more fun than any of them. The good thing is, he bought enough to replace the ones they lost, so the tears were short-lived. Forward thinker, my Randy.” She snorted.

“Yes, he is. I’m glad they had fun.”

“Heard you had some problems with your roommate last week?”

I let out a breath. “Yeah. Ever since I started dating Zane, Rusty’s been freaking out. If that doesn’t scream guilt, I don’t know what does.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound good,” she agreed with a concerned frown.

The rest of my workday went by without incident. Just before I left at five, Chet called to thank me for the chair telling me he’d put my present on the bar.  

“Someone was pounding on the door and turning the knob a little after ten last night, trying to get in. Any ideas?” I asked.

“I kicked Rusty out, so it could’ve been him.”

“You did?” I was surprised by this.

“Yep. We got into it Christmas Eve and I told him to pack his shit and get out. Made him give me his key. I’m glad he didn’t have a copy and came in with you there alone.”

“Well, damn. Thanks for telling me. What if he’d had a spare key?” I shuddered at the thought of what he might’ve done.

“I know where he’s staying, so it’s not like he’d have gotten away with anything.”

I didn’t even argue with Chet because he obviously didn’t get it.  

“Is he still at his uncle’s?” I asked.

“No. He’s staying with his girlfriend in Beacon Hill somewhere.”

“I’m getting the locks changed,” I stated.

After hanging up, I called the landlord requesting new locks as soon as possible then I opened the gift Chet had left for me.

A t-shirt that said, “May the Forest Be with You.” I loved it.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the week flew by with nothing unusual happening except for Wednesday when I was at work and got a call from one Preston Templeton III who asked me to fly to New York City for New Year’s to be his date. I graciously declined, but in doing so, I gave up a night at the Premier Hotel which included an up close and personal mega-view of the ball dropping in Times Square along with a plethora of unspeakably good appetizers as well as an open bar of only the finest liquor. Tickets for the both of us would’ve cost around seven grand which was crazy, and I was flattered at his wanting me to join him. After hanging up, I called my mother telling her to stop giving people my number.

“But Gerald Ainsworth said he wants to take you out,” she said.

“He’s at least fifty, Mother.”

“Robert’s forty-eight.”

“I know, and that’s Laurel’s thing. But me? I don’t want to date anyone old enough to be my father, okay?”

“Your father’s ten years older than I am,” she countered.

“You see any ten-year-old fathers walking around?” I asked. “Although there was an eleven-year-old boy in Florida…but that doesn’t matter. Dad’s still closer in age to you than fifty is to twenty-two. And don’t you think it’s weird that your soon-to-be son-in-law is, what, three years younger than you?”

“Two. And, no, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it. I just think it could be kind of awkward. But, Mom? I need you to hear me. Are you listening?”

“You don’t have to be rude, Jillian.”

Arrrggghhh! “I’m not being rude, Mother. I need you to hear me, though. Ready?” I heard her let out an irritated sigh. “I’ll date whomever I’m attracted to, all right? I don’t need your help.”

“But—”

“No buts, Mom. I don’t need your help, okay?”

“Laurel has set June seventeenth as her wedding date.”

“Good.”

“I’m sure she’ll want you to be a bridesmaid. Or at least help at the reception.”

I snorted. “Okay, I’ll save the date. I have to go. Tell Dad I said hi.”

“You’re working at that old record store, aren’t you?”

Mom didn’t understand that “old records” meant vintage-slash-collector. She thought it meant the store was old and we sold worthless record albums.

“Yes, I am. And I’ve got some customers, so I need to go.”

One other thing that happened during the week was Zane continued showing up at my apartment at different times to “check on me” when I wasn’t working then kept insisting that he stay the night, which I thought odd since he knew Rusty had moved out. I also caught him in Rusty’s empty room a couple times and when I’d asked him what he was looking for, he’d just muttered, “Nothing.”

Saturday was New Year’s Eve and I was excited to meet Zane’s brothers. Well, I’d already met Drake, but I had yet to meet Kase, Blaze, Wilder and Titus.

I called Izzy that morning to tell her Happy New Year then went that afternoon to use the gift certificate she’d given me for Christmas at the hair salon. Since my hair was already silver on top, I asked Annie, my stylist, to remove the dark blue ombre at the ends, dye them silver also then add lavender and light blue all over. And, oh, my gosh. The results were absolutely gorgeous. I totally loved it and tipped Annie well, as usual, for doing such a great job.

Back home, since we were going to be outside watching Wilder’s band perform, I decided there was no way I was wearing a cocktail dress.

Text Message—Sat, Dec 31, 5:17 p.m.

Me: FYI We’re going casual tonight. I’m not gonna freeze my ass off in a dress

Text Message—Sat, Dec 31, 5:31 p.m.

Zane: Casual it is. And nobody does anything to that gorgeous ass but me

See, that was the gist of it and why I was confused. He’d gone all mannequin when I slipped and said I loved him, but then he’d turn around and be all possessive as if I were his. I honestly didn’t get him.

In spite of my confusion, I thought I’d done quite well since my gargantuan gaffe, having been chill to the max not letting his non-answer answer bother me. Too much. Yes, I loved him, and yes, I knew he cared for me. And if that’s all it ever came to, although I knew it’d break my heart, I was prepared to let him go. Or so I told myself.

I dressed for the evening, putting on distressed, holey skinny jeans, a lightweight slouchy black and white horizontal striped sweater, my black leather motorcycle jacket and black stiletto peep toe booties (so my pretty blood-red toenails showed). I was putting on dark red matte lipstick when Zane knocked.

“Who is it?” I called.

“Me,” he answered.

Opening the door, I teased, “Just in time. I’m starving.”

I went to retrieve my purse from my room and when I turned, he was right there and I let out a yelp.

“You look fucking hot, babe.” His eyes were all over me, moving from my hair to my feet and back again.

Leaning in to kiss him, I said, “Thanks. You look pretty hot yourself.” And he did: gray jeans, navy button down untucked, black lace-up boots and his own black, leather motorcycle jacket.

“I like the hair,” he complimented, hand at the small of my back as we left.

“Thank you. It was time to make a change,” I said with a shrug as he held the car door for me.

“Lookin’ like my Syrena again,” he said with a wink and closed my door.

And didn’t that melt my heart. So sweet.

~*~*~*~*~

We ate at a restaurant—which was packed as expected—but it was within walking distance of Seattle Center. Since Wilder’s band was supposed to go on at ten, around nine-thirty we walked to see if they were set up yet since Zane wanted to say hi and wish him luck.

“How old is Wilder?” I asked.

“Your age, just turned twenty-two.”

“How long’s he had the band?”

“He’s been in bands since he was fourteen, but he’s been with this one going on two years. They might just have what it takes to make it big, too, I think.”

Cool!

We walked through the crowd, Zane holding my hand and pulling me behind him. Fun. Once at the stage, we saw the band doing a sound check and I instantly knew which one Wilder was because he was the spitting image of Zane and Drake: same height, same gorgeous brown eyes, caramel hair, and he carried himself with the same cocky attitude, if not cockier. I learned this was so when Zane introduced us.

We went to the stage and the minute Wilder saw Zane, he gave him what I’d dubbed the Powers trademark smirk. They exchanged nods then Wilder made his way off the stage and over to us.

“Hey, bro.” They did the guy hug thing. Then he checked me out. “Who’s this gorgeous creature and why isn’t she with me?” he asked Zane making me blush.

“This is Jillian and you wanna become a soprano, keep on ogling her.”

Wilder laughed and shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Jillian. You got a twin sister by any chance?”

I chuckled. “Sorry, no. But I’m sure you have no problem, just like your brother here, in getting dates.”

“And she’s sweet too,” Wilder said, still holding my hand.

Zane grabbed his wrist making him let me go. “Enough, you little prick.” Then they laughed.

“Just giving you hell as usual.” Wilder looked me over again and let out a whistle. “Dude, she’s so much prettier than Shaylie.”

Ah. We had a name now: Shaylie of the potted plants.

I caught Zane cutting his eyes at his little brother who only laughed like the ornery little shit I was figuring out he was.

“You ever get tired of his boring ass,” he nodded to Zane, “look up my band’s website, Findingwild dot com and leave me a message. Babe, I’ll show you more than a good time.” He winked and I snorted because he was the flirtiest guy I thought I’d ever met. Jeez.

Zane rolled his eyes. “You heard from Kase, Blaze or Titus? I know Drake said he and Honor are gonna show but I haven’t heard from the others.”

Just then three Zane clones walked up and I couldn’t help but smile because they were just as handsome as the two Powers men standing with me.

“Hey, man,” one said, then there were dude hugs and knuckle knocks all around.

Zane introduced me to his brothers, and I saw right away that they were much tamer than Wilder, whose name fit him perfectly. Kase and Blaze were especially more taciturn, Kase seeming to be the broodier one which reminded me of Zane, and Blaze was polite but a little withdrawn. Then there was Titus who seemed more like Wilder and I figured they were probably closer in age.

We visited with Wilder for a few more minutes before he went backstage to get ready, and in one form or another each brother told him to “Break a fuckin’ leg,” but, of course, it was said with love.

As we waited for the band to take the stage, each brother approached and chatted me up, aka interrogated me, screening me to see if I was good enough for Zane. In the midst of my cross-examinations, I found out that Kase was a computer security analyst working at a well-known company downtown and was a year older than Zane; Blaze was a year younger than Zane and an investment banking analyst at a large investment bank but was on the fast track to becoming an associate; and Titus was the baby, four years younger than Zane and he worked at Drake’s garage as a mechanic, but was in the process of opening a body shop.

In the midst of my inquisition, Kase and Blaze left to get us drinks from one of the nearby liquor stands.

“So what do you drive?” Titus asked, and I saw Zane smirk because he knew Titus would have the same reaction Drake did.

Standing by my convictions and not feeling one bit bad about my choice to save the world in at least one small way, I stated, “A Prius.”

Sure enough, Titus twisted up his face in distaste and Zane laughed.

The guys came back with our drinks just as Wilder’s band took the stage—I found out quickly that he was the lead singer with an amazing voice and could also play a mean guitar—and I had to laugh at the entourage of girls that formed in front of the stage screaming their heads off while dancing like strippers trying to get his attention.

“He must feel like a god!” I yelled to Zane who rolled his eyes in reply.

Drake and his girlfriend Honor showed up during the band’s second song.

“I love your hair!” Honor hollered after we’d been introduced.

“Thank you!” I replied.

“I’ve been too chicken to try something like that, but I think it’d look great on my friend Krystal!”

I looked at her gorgeous auburn hair. “You could use temporary hair dye to see if you like it!”

She smiled and nodded excitedly. “That’s a great idea!”

“My friend Izzy and I will even do it for you!”

We exchanged numbers and made plans to have lunch soon when we’d set up a time to do her hair.

During the concert, which I loved that most of the band’s songs were post grunge, I had so much fun hanging out with Zane, his brothers and Honor. The brothers were all a hoot with their banter and teasing each other, and having another woman to hang out with was awesome.

When a slow song played, Zane and I danced, and when the song was fast, Titus, Honor and I usually danced. I had a blast.

At midnight, after the countdown, the band played “Auld Lang Syne” and Zane kissed me breathless as the fireworks went off over the water.

When the celebration was over, we said goodbye to everyone and walked back to the SUV. And back at my apartment, Zane and I rang in the new year again in my bedroom, making fireworks of our own.