Red

Five

I love Kara, I love Kara, I love Kara

Annie had calmed the beast and helped her to relax before the other girls arrived along with Ross's boys. She wasn't all excited for the exclusive party before the big day but at least everyone was behaving themselves. Except for Tay. The man was this close to getting his teeth knocked out.

Sure, he can be kind and is sweet with her and showers her with compliments but man, the moment he interjected himself into the girl's group Annie knew she wasn't the only one who wanted to wring his neck. That's when Kara decided it was time to join the rest of the party. But Tay never left her side. She was done smiling and giving kind answers, it was time to tell him to lay off.

Annie stood by the brownies eagerly taking three of them, not caring about her figure or whatnot around the men. She just left a room full of women who were either engaged, married, or dating leaving her and one other girl single and she already felt far behind in that competition. The other girl was a model and had a gig with Cosmo after this. And here Annie was, munching on her first of three brownies as she sulked.

"Who are you looking for?"

Tay's sudden voice by her side made her bite her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and counted to ten before answering. A really fast ten.

"No one. Just trying to enjoy my brownies."

Tay stepped so he was in front of her now. "Are they good? My mom made them. I'm sure I can have her send you the recipe if you want it."

Annie purposefully shoved the last bit of her first piece in her mouth, giving Tay a "sorry" look as she chewed, slowly. But that didn't detour the man from opening his mouth and spouting off things that she really couldn't care less about. She was almost finished when she heard a voice she didn't think she'd hear again.

"Red?"

Turning, Annie's face lit up as she came to face Steven, a glass of milk in his hands. He looked between Tay and her but didn't apologize if he interrupted something because she had a feeling he wasn't sorry at all. Neither was she. He gave her a small smile and lifted the glass, holding it out to her.

"Here, I thought maybe-"

An idea popped into her head and she turned to Tay, cutting Steve off. But for good reason.

"Steven's drink looks good. Do you mind grabbing me one? I like it nice and cold so add some ice. Please."

Tay smiled wide and nodded, bounding off like a loyal puppy. But not a second later Annie turned to Steven, placing her plate on a counter and took the cup from his hands, taking a nice swig. Steven's eyebrows were raised but his eyes were filled with mirth.

Blue and green. Sky and ocean. Almost like the waters he navigated his boat on. Annie blinked and handed the glass back, picking up her plate again and taking a bite of her second brownie. Steven chuckled and held the glass for her.

"Do you really like ice in your milk?"

Annie faked a gag and shook her head. "Oh heavens no. I just needed to give him something to do. It will take him a bit to work the ice machine."

Sure enough, they turned at the sound of ice falling on the ground and Tay letting out a nice colorful word. Annie winced but didn't go to help. Steven turned back to her and smiled. Reaching over, he brushed off a crumb and a bit of milk that had stuck to her lip. Annie's eyes widened and she wiped her mouth.

"Thanks for the milk. It was for me, right?"

Steven laughed. "Yes. I figured you wanted something to wash down these amazing conversation stopper brownies of yours."

Annie looked down at her plate and smiled. "Yeah. I figured I needed something to give me the courage to tell him to leave me alone. Turns out I just make a mess of things."

Steven shrugged, taking the plate from her hands as he set both the plate and the glass on a counter. "How about we get out of here. While the cat's away." He nodded his head in Tay's direction.

Annie nodded, taking Steven's hand as she lead the way, biting back her butterflies. "I know just the spot. I was going to ditch the party and just go there but I had to make it look like I wanted to be here first."

Steven smiled as he willingly let her pull him along. Annie tried not to think about how nice it felt to have her hand in his but when he laced his fingers with hers she let the butterflies from earlier explore her middle a little more freely. She brought them to the water's edge and she kicked off her sandals. Steven didn't drop her hand as he did the same.

Annie pointed out over the water, the setting sun casting a beautiful glow on the shore. "The sandbar goes pretty far out, the water only coming up to my knees." She turned to him. "I hope you don't mind getting a little wet."

Steven shook his head. "Not one bit. Lead the way."

Smiling, Annie walked hand in hand with Steven out into the ocean. Sure enough, they were a good distance out and yet the water didn't go past her knees. Annie looked up and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Free. At last."

Steven chuckled. After a few moments of listening to the water crashing on the beach, he squeezed her hand lightly. "So, Red, tell me. Do you usually take complete strangers out into the ocean at dusk, chanting about being free?"

Annie peeked an eye and smirked. "Shhh. You'll ruin the ritual."

Steven clamped his mouth shut but spoke out the side of his mouth in a loud whisper. "Just let me know when you are about to sacrifice me to the gods. I'd like to confess my sins first."

Annie snickered. "You have a lot of sins then?"

Steven shrugged. Annie was coming to love the way he did it. "Eh, not any more than most. Though I think ditching my friend's nuptial party will leave me with a pretty black spot."

"Ah yes, well you're no maid of honor so..."

Steven laughed. "Very true. So, I suggest you do your own confession."

Annie shook her head. "Nah, that means I'll have to say sorry for leaving Tay and sorry is the farthest thing I feel about that."

Steven chuckled and squeezed her hand again. "I'll have to agree with you on that one. I'm sure the Lord will understand." He glanced at her and Annie couldn't help but stare at his eyes as he spoke. "So. Tell me, Red, exactly how do you feel about Tay and the whole week you were with those three?"

Annie rolled her eyes and let out a breath. "Are you sure you want to hear my annoying sob story? I'm sure you'd rather like to hear about my future plans and how many guys I've dated."

Steven gave an indifference one-shoulder shrug. "We can get to that after you tell me about where you are from and what it was like growing up. We have quite the time to kill so I'm sure we can get to everything."

Annie's heart fluttered; he wanted to know about her. Nodding, she looked out over the calm water and cleared her throat. "Alrighty then, I guess I should start with how the ride from the airport to the resort went."

"She didn't even pick you up?"

Annie shook her head while letting out a breath with puffed up cheeks.

"Ouch." Steven looked down and winked. "Go on."

Annie smiled and started her long spiel about how her adventures with Tay have practically turned her to the dark side.