True Summer Love

Chapter Ten

Lance got out of the bed with a curse as the knocking on his door grew louder. Who would be bothering him at ten in the morning on a Sunday? He walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to see Erin standing there looking back at him. She gave a little wave and he shook his head as he opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She walked into the room and flopped herself down in the hard floral arm chair next to the couch.

"Be nice to me, Lance." she replied.

"How did you know what room I was in?"

"Bradley told me. I dated him in high school and he can't resist it when I bat these big green eyes…. Plus the fifty dollars I stuffed in his palm might have helped loosen his tongue." Lance made a mental note to have a talk with Bradley.

"So what brings you to my hotel room at ten in the morning? I thought you and Tiffany were spending the day at Gary and Laura's house."

"We are. I told her I had some errands to run first." Erin replied as she smoothed her hands over her knee length black skirt.

"You hated me six years ago so what's up with you hanging out with me and Tiffany yesterday and then showing up today?" Lance asked as he rubbed some sleep from his eyes and flopped down on the couch.

"I never hated you, I was just jealous because my best friend loved you so much." she replied matter of factly. Lance shook his head and let out a long breath.

"Why are you here?" he asked again and even he could hear the impatience in his voice. He was still mad at her for interrupting his and Tiffany's kiss the evening before. Erin laughed lightly.

"You have Tiffany fooled into thinking you're some kind of patient saint but you don't have a bit of patience with the rest of us."

"The difference is that I love Tiffany." he replied and then his cursed when he realized what he had just said. He definitely hadn't wanted to say that to Erin before he said it to Tiffany. Erin just smiled knowingly.

"And that is why I am here. You see Tiffany still loves you very much and she wants you in her life as more than just Parker's father. As a matter of fact having you around this last week has driven her crazy because she doesn't think that there is any way you'll ever love her back now that you know about Parker."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Lance asked refusing to let her see just how happy the news that Tiffany still loved him made him feel.

"Not all of it. I also want to say that if you hurt my best friend again, I will skin you alive… Or better yet my husband is a sniper in the marines and I will get him to kill you and make it look like an accident. I want to make sure that you are sticking around and that you aren't just going to take off and leave her again with a broken heart."

"I'm staying here." Lance promised. "I would never leave my son."

"And what about Tiffany?" Erin asked. Lance stood up and walked back over to the door. He opened it and signaled with his hand that he wanted her to leave.

"Goodbye Erin." he said. Erin shrugged and stood up. She stopped in the doorway and pointed her finger at him.

"Don't you hurt her." she warned. Lance sighed and pointed out into the hallway.

"Goodbye Erin." he repeated. Erin gave him one last hard look and then walked out.

888

Tiffany leaned against her truck, waiting for Parker's class to come out of the doors of the school. The early October air was chilly and she buried her hands deeper into the pockets of her hoody sweatshirt.