I stood watching him leave, completely thrown off by him. When I had first met him, he had nearly undressed me the first chance he got. And now he was asking if I wanted a drink? Men were fickle things.I wandered back into the condo and looked around the room. Various landscape photos hung on the wall. There was a bookshelf near the large screen television and I walked over, my fingers skimming over several classic books. I noticed a guitar sitting in a stand over in the corner and strolled over to it. I gently traced my fingers over the strings just as Preston returned to the room. I turned around toward him as he walked in with two water bottles.“I got one for me, too,” he explained as he held one out to me.“Do you play?” I asked as I took the water bottle. “And thank you.”“Yes,” he replied as he opened his and took a long drink. “And you’re welcome.”I grinned at him as I opened my water bott

After breakfast, we drove to Sammy’s Skydiving. I stared with unease at the tiny building, but Preston assured me it was completely safe. He held my hand and led me into the building with confidence. Sammy himself greeted us enthusiastically as he spoke to Preston about the current, perfect conditions for a jump and heights and equipment I had never head of. My hand tightened on Preston’s as my nerves began to mount within me. He glanced at me occasionally, giving me a reassuring smile and my hand a gentle squeeze. “This is my friend, Kendra.” Preston glanced at me as he introduced me. “This is Samuel. He’s the best skydiver around.”Samuel chuckled as he shook my hand. “Its nice to meet you, Kendra.” “She’s a little nervous,” Preston drew out slowly in his accent. “No worries,” Samuel said reassuringly. “We’ve already had an accident this morning so we aren’t due for another f

We sat out on the patio beneath the Florida sunshine and ate our burgers with some fruit he had grabbed from the fridge. We talked about much lighter topics of favorite movies, sports, and foods. “Favorite song?” he asked as he took a large bite of his burger. “Easy,” I replied as I lounged in the patio chair with my feet up on the ottoman. “Everything I Do, I Do It For You by Bryan Adams.” He looked at me in shock. “Really?’ “Yep,” I assured him with a confident nod. “Nothing will ever beat it. I used to listen to that song over and over again in my room and write every single lyric out. I was obsessed with it.” He chuckled as he took a drink of his soda. “Care to explain why?”I shrugged. “It was the first glimpse for me that love like that could exist. That a man could love awoman so immensely and…” I trailed off as I froze, the Florida sunshine suddenly unable to touch thefreezing chill inside me. I slowly shook my head, realizing I was on the brink of revealing too much.

The bass pounded loudly from the speakers in the large room where the engagement party was being held. It was packed full of all of Tricia's and Fred's family and friends, which seemed to be half the state of Florida. It was an interesting mix of Fred's accountant friends and upper-class family and Tricia's former co-workers at Blue Hades and her current co-workers at her receptionist job.There was a large dance floor which was constantly full. Scott had taken me out to dance to a few songs, but had since disappeared. Large, rectangular tables sprawled across the half of the room which was not occupied by the dance floor. I sat at one of them, sipping on sparkling water when Tricia approached. "You can't look glum at my party," she drawled out in her Southern accent. "It's going to be bring the entire party down and Lord knows I can't have that."I chuckled at her as she sat down beside me and threw her arm around my shoulders. "I'm just resting my feet. These heels are killi

Scott didn’t come home that night. I slept alone in the apartment. I hid Preston’s suit jacket in the back of my closet. I wanted to sleep in it, wrapped in his scent, but I didn’t want to risk Scott coming home and asking questions about it.Preston came into Kiki’s while I was working the next day. I didn’t wait on his table and tried my best to avoid him. I did sneak some looks at him, and he caught me once. I quickly turned away and acted busy.Scott didn’t come home until Wednesday. He was there when I came home from work. He was sitting on the futon when I walked in.I slowly closed the door behind me as I looked at him. “Hi.”He quickly stood up and walked over to me. I watched in stunned horror as he dropped to his knees infront of me. He grabbed my hands, kissing them as he broke down in tears.“I’m so sorry Kendra,” he wept as he laid his head in my hands. “I’m so sorry I hurt you again. I’m a fuckup and I know that. I don’t know why you stay here with m