“Um, hi, is this Kaylie?”

I hated the slight shake of uncertainty in my voice as I spoke to the beautiful girl who was an emotional sister to the woman who held my heart captive. The last time I’d seen her she was sporting bright pink hair. Today the color was turquoise blue. Normally, I thought it looked absolutely ridiculous when men and women dyed their hair colors previously reserved exclusively for Crayola, but somehow it worked on her.

“Yup, that’s me. Who’s this?”

I contemplated hanging up the phone. For at least one second, I thought ‘if you just hang up the phone, she’ll never know how pussy whipped you are, and you can get away scot-free’.

Then I remembered that we are well past the age when caller ID was put in place, so I couldn’t hide.

“Helloooo.”

Her voice took on that annoyed lilt that women have perfected for centuries, dragging out the ‘o’ longer than necessary.

“Yeah, sorry. Um. It’s Dane.”

Silence.

For a moment, I wondered if she had hung up the phone. Perhaps she thought I’d figure it had just been a bad signal. There was a part of me that wished she would. If she did, I don’t think I’d be able to pour enough brass in my balls to try for a second time.

“How are you?”

Her question was not spoken in a way that was cold. If anything, it was laden with sympathy and caring.

Huh.

I was certain Mari had to have filled her in on what a horrific human being I was, because they shared everything. Kay knew all about Mari’s problems with people lying to her, specifically males, so I imagined there would be some sort of shared sisterhood of disdain for all things Dane.

“I’m fine. Well, no, that’s a lie. I’m not fine. I’ve honestly had much better days than I’ve been having, but I’ll be fine. How are you and Marianna doing?”

I still chuckled a little bit that she found herself a woman whose nickname was the same as Mari’s. Surely it must be hysterical when shouting out her name during an orgasm. I imagined she had decided to stick with the full name of Marianna like the rest of us had.

“Yeah, I bet. We’re fine. So, seriously, what’s up?”

It was almost as if she’d expected this call. She didn’t once ask how I got her phone number, or why the hell was I calling her. She just accepted that I was on the other end of the line, like I should be there.

“Is there any chance I could meet you for coffee?”

“Like a date?”

“Uh, unless something has drastically changed in the last few months, I don’t think I serve up your preferred entrée.”

She snorted on the other end of the line. Good God, I hoped I hadn’t offended her. I mean, I’d really only met her once, that fucking night we went to that restaurant and Mari whored herself out to that douchebag biker dude. But that one night, man, I felt like we got along really well, and we had been licking cheese off of each other’s fingers.

Like, we had a moment.

“Dane, if I was batting on your team, I’d be all over what you were pitching.”

I grinned a little into the phone.

“So, coffee?”

“Thank god you’re cute. Because I usually don’t become human until after twelve noon. Obviously, Mar didn’t let you know that little tidbit. So, meet me at that new cafe you own at noon. You’re buying.”

She hung up the phone, not out of anger, but out of efficiency. We’d said what we needed to say over the phone, no need to drag this out into a prolonged phone conversation. I cringed for a minute. She would pick the QB2 for our meeting. I knew that Mari had moved out in the middle of the night with almost no notice, so it wasn’t like we were going to run the risk of running into her. It was just that same feeling that I had whenever I was at the new location. I couldn’t help but picture her standing next to the door that lead to the upstairs apartment she had rented.

Dad had offered to try to track her down, and demand that she pay up, or keep her security deposit. My sister, Cheyanne, gave me the death glare until I fessed up that it was partially my fault that she’d left. Okay, more than partially.

Fuck. It was my fault.

I looked at my clock, realizing there was only about an hour till I was going to meet Kay. I packed up what was on my desk and took the short drive across town to meet up with her.

“Hey, Dane.”

Johnny reached across the counter to shake my hand. I had recently moved him to the new QB to run it while I was trying to juggle the two locations plus my dad’s business. It was hard to believe this was the same guy who was borderline harassing me just months before. I’d stuck it out with him because I knew about some of the issues he’d had growing up, and won some serious loyalty as a result. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t help but wonder if he would be a good candidate to consider running both locations, or at the very least, be the manager at the QB2.

“Hi, Johnny, how’s things?”

Johnny reached to grab a medium coffee cup and poured what he knew was my favorite brew, adding in a splash of cream and one scoop of sugar.

He handed it over with a wink.

“Actually, it’s been really busy up until about a half an hour ago. I was afraid we were going to run out of muffins the way people kept pouring in. You’re going to have either bump up production, get another baker at the main QB, or install some kitchen equipment here, because it won’t be long before we have greater demand than we have supply.”

Yup, Johnny was definitely in the running for management. A small burst of pride developed in my chest knowing how much it would mean to him to have the opportunity to grow with me. I was going to have to get a lot more serious about putting numbers together to see what I could afford.

There had been a minute or two a while back where I’d thought I was going to have to let him go for sexual harassment or some shit. He was way too flirtatious with me, to a point that almost made me uncomfortable. I had been surprised that no one else had come forward to complain about it, so rather than lose my head, I sort of step back and monitored. Well, that and watched the security cameras that I had installed for hours on end.

What I found was that I was the only person that he had ‘targeted’. Everyone else he was easy and comfortable with, working efficiently and with that non-stop smile of his. He would compliment the guests, both male and female, but in a way that was effective at making them feel welcomed into the little home that we had carefully created at the QB.

I had sat down with him, because the behavior was borderline uncomfortable for me, and I knew I had to say something, and the poor kid broke down on me. Literally broke the fuck down.

Turned out that when he had come out to his parents, it had gone about as badly as you would expect. At sixteen years old he was homeless, kicked out with one bag of clothes and a toothbrush, learning how to professionally couch surf. Apparently, one of the teachers in his school started to notice that he was slipping, both academically and socially, and intervened. Eventually, he was welcomed back into his home, but it was beyond strained.

His parents refused to acknowledge him as their son. I knew that it cut him worse than being kicked out of the home. When they were in a situation where they were forced to introduce him, they would just say, ‘This is John.’

It would be cold and unfeeling, and it hit the mark every damn time. His brother and sister would be introduced with a warm smile, ‘This is our daughter, Kelsie, she’s a sophomore at Boston University.’ Then when they got to Johnny, their smiles would fade and they’d just motion to him and say, ‘This is John’.

So, the overly flirtatious manner he had with me was because I was some sort of an ‘authority’ figure that he felt safe with. That loyalty mean that I was given one hundred percent of his authentic personality. I’d asked him to tone it down a bit, that I was honored that he felt safe with me, but we needed to make it a little less comfortable.

He had been so embarrassed, and I remember that I let him take all the time he needed in my office that day. By the time he came out, his eyes were puffy like he’d been sobbing.

My other employees glared at me, figuring I’d broken poor Johnny’s heart.

I still shook my head at that memory, smiling at the way they’d banded together, surrounding him with their love and acceptance. I had never been more proud of my little family as I was in that moment.

“Thanks, Johnny, I’ll have to start thinking about getting the second phase of the kitchen done sooner rather than later. You’re doing great here, I think you and I might be having some important talks in the near future.”

He just beamed from ear to ear, having a slight idea of what I had in mind.

I heard the door open from behind me and almost pissed myself when Johnny let out a squeal that nearly burst my eardrums.

“Kaylie!”

He jumped the counter and ran smack into the powerhouse that was Mari’s best friend. I stood back, enjoying the exchange between the two of them. I had no idea how they knew each other, but as much as Boston was a major city, it had a lot of small town attributes that made it an incredible place to work and live.

She hugged him back with equal enthusiasm, planting a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“How you doing, beyotch?”

I smiled in bemusement, wondering why a guy wouldn’t be pissed off being called a bitch, or ‘beyotch’ as she pronounced it. Instead, he grinned at her with a twinkle in his eye.

“Girrrrrrl, I have started seeing this guy who makes my toes curl just at the sound of his voice.”

I hadn’t thought it would be possible for Johnny’s animation level to go up at all, but damned if it didn’t. Kaylie looked at me with a slightly apologetic look, gave a single shoulder shrug and held up a finger, asking for just a moment.

I gave her a thumbs up and walked back behind the counter to handle any customers that came in while Johnny took a much-needed social break.

The door opened up and I was looking into the eyes of a dark pixie. That’s the best way I could describe this chick. She was tiny. Like, I could pick her up under one arm, run down the field and spike her kind of tiny. But the crazy thing was, she didn’t look fragile. Nope, this chick leveled me with one glance, sort of like she was telling me that she could split me in two if she really wanted to.

I smiled at her, hoping to both welcome her to the QB2 and relax her at the same time. Her eyes narrowed as her left eyebrow shot up. Nope, looks like that was not going to happen today.

“Can I help yo…”

She cut me off by holding up a finger, silently telling me to wait. Where Kaylie had done it in kind manner, asking me for a moment, this chick did so in an abrupt manner, telling me that she was taking a moment.

I took an involuntary step back, handing her a victory in a weird pissing match I hadn’t even realized I was having.

She looked at the menu above my face, and took her damn time studying it.

I watched as she crossed her arms and shivered when I realized they were covered in tattoos of sculls and some dark flowers dripping blood or some shit. Her hair was like an inky midnight purple, which oddly seemed to fit her winning personality. I probably could come close to circling her waist with my hands, but she was so muscular that I knew every ounce of weight she carried, which was next to nothing, was pure sinewy muscle.

There was something both attractive and scary about her. Unfortunately, scary won out, and my dick sort of pulled a fast retreat, becoming as close to an ‘innie’ as it could be without turning into a man-gina.

I had no idea what her story was, but I would be afraid that she would snap my dick off in a heartbeat if I looked at her with anything other than my normal level of ‘shop owner to customer’ kindness.

Holy shit, I had just contemplated sex with someone other than Mari. I mean, it was brief, and quickly decided against for the sake of my dick’s health and welfare, but still. Maybe I had finally started to heal from my brief, yet intense relationship.

Huh.

She finally stopped scowling at my menu and turned these shocking moss-green eyes my way. I actually staggered backwards a little bit. Her eyes were stunning. They knocked my breath out of me for a moment, such a sharp contrast to the sharp edges and pain.

“I’d like a low-fat mocha latte with soy, a shot of espresso mixed in with a chocolate and caramel drizzle.”

That was not on my menu. Yes, I ran a coffee joint. I had, however, tried to stay away from complex drinks that took a minor in engineering to construct to the customer’s satisfaction. My goal was to provide caffeine and calories, enough to sustain the most overwhelmed college student through finals and dissertations.

Her eyes were starting to narrow at me again, shooting those mental laser beams at my head.

My dick twitched a little, oddly feeling a mild arousal at how alpha and a little bit scary she was.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid we …”

“Ohmigod, Jennifer, is that you?”

Johnny squealed and wrapped his arms around the pixie mistress of the dark and swung her around a few times, eliciting a smile and bubbly laughter from her. The sound was light and happy, which once again stood out in stark contrast from the rest of her.

I wanted to make her smile.

What the fuck? Where the hell had that thought come from? I stood back while the two of them talked excitedly. Was I attracted to this enigmatic creature?

Uh, no. I was still on the fence of being absolutely terrified by her.

So, what did I want from her, because I sure as hell didn’t want to lead her on to thinking I wanted more, only to end up pissing her off and find her leaning over me in my sleep with an axe raised over her head.

That would suck.

“So, who is this douchebag, and why aren’t you behind the counter taking my order, Johnny?”

She jabbed a thumb in the air in a hitchhiker move, pointing to me.

The Douchebag.

Nice.

“Jesus Christ, lady, do you kiss the devil with that mouth?”

Fuck me, did that just slip out of my mouth?

Three sets of shocked eyes turned my way, but the hint of a smile showed up in The Evil One’s eyes.

“Yup, I sure do, and I slip him the tongue.”

A silence held over our small group before Kay burst out laughing.

“Aw fuck, I can tell I’m going to like you. I’m Kaylie, but my friends call me Kay.”

Jennifer eyed Kay’s outstretched hand warily.

“So, I’ll call you?”

“Your new best friend.”

Jennifer looked as if she was contemplating this turn of events, before grinning and sticking out her hand for a handshake.

Kay eyed the hand like a spider on the wall and sprung on the poor, unsuspecting creature with a hug. Even wrapped her legs around her. I think Jennifer reacted out of shock because she just grabbed Kaylie’s ass and held her in place while Kay planted a huge wet one on Jennifer’s cheek.

“Okay, so, while you both are getting very well acquainted, I’ll slip back here and make your girly coffee drink.”

Johnny walked around the counter, smirking at me as he set about creating this ‘drink’ that had been ordered. Watching his movements, it was like he was a master chemist at work. I looked at him shrewdly. This was not on the menu, but watching him, I could tell he’d made it before.

I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed or write him up.

“Oh, and Jenny-bean, this ‘douchebag’ as you called him is the owner of this joint, and my boss. He’s a good guy, one of the very few left.”

“Huh, if he was such a good guy, why was he undressing me with his eyes.”

All three looked at me, waiting on my answer. I held my hands up in the universal sign for surrender.

“In my defense, I wasn’t actually undressing you. I was trying to determine if you would bench press me or just snap my back in half.”

A slow smile grew, lighting up the darkness in her face.

She flexed her biceps for me, putting on one hell of a gun show.

“Let’s start with bench presses. If you get out of line, I’ll figure out how to break you.”

Kaylie laughed, and crooked her finger at me to tell me to come over.

“Now that you’ve stopped ogling my new bestie, let’s talk about my other bestie.”

Ah, yes… the real reason for this meeting. Although, I had been enjoying the casual and easy conversation between the four of us, once the evil pixie thawed a little.

Yet, my tongue wouldn’t work. I had a million questions about Mari. How was she? Where was she? Did she think of me? Would she speak to me?

Had I destroyed every possible chance of us ever getting back to… us?

Kay’s face softened into a knowing smile, as if all of the questions that ran through my mind had also passed across my face.

“She’s getting to okay, Dane, but it’s going to take a bit of time.”

I exhaled, and felt both happy and incredibly weakened. I was glad she was going to be okay, but so pissed off at myself for not being there for her. I had promised her that I would hold her together when she fell apart, and instead I had been working on slowly killing off my liver.

“Should I call her?”

Her shoulders dropped, and I knew the answer before she said the words.

“Dane, no. Just… no.”

I sat back in the chair, I’m sure I looked as if I’d just hit a wall, and truthfully, I felt as if I had. I’d had a feeling that was what she would say, and yet actually hearing it ripped the last thread that was holding my heart together in two.

She didn’t want to hear from me.

I hung my head, trying to take a moment to get my emotions in check before I made a complete mockery of my masculinity.

Her soft hand found its way to my forearm, and I felt her scoot over and rest her head on my shoulder.

“I’m sure there’s a part of her that would kill to hear your voice right now, but it’s too soon. I shouldn’t be sharing this with you, it’s like a girl code or something and by filling you in I very well might be risking getting my vagina punched in by a rabid pack of estrogen filled ninjas who are desperately craving chocolate. You know her history. She got help before, but truthfully didn’t see it through. Once she decided she was ‘better’, she stopped seeing her therapist. Well, she realized what a fucking mess she’d been making of everything, and that she couldn’t seem to get out of her own way. I mean, it was almost as if she was trying to fuck it all up. So, she’s back in therapy, and she means it. But that means you need to give her some serious space. Maybe in a few weeks shoot her a message letting her know you’re thinking of her or something, but you need to give her time to work through her shit.”

Well, damn.

“Thanks, Kay. I do appreciate you risking a bruised vag in order to let me know what’s going on.”

I tried to throw in humor to hide the fact that I was still struggling to hold my shit together. Seriously, how messed up was this? She was the one getting herself right and now I was the one falling apart.

“Anything for you, Dane, as long as it doesn’t involve seeing or touching your salami sandwich. Because, ew.”

I grinned at her and bumped my shoulder against hers.

No matter what happened between Mari and I, I kind of hoped we would get joint custody of Kaylie in the divorce.