Tiny Dancer Dust

Chapter 1

Bliss

Bliss looked at herself in the dressing room mirror. What had her life become? Her face had become almost unrecognizable to her own eyes. At 25, she knew that she had not made all of the right choices in life, but what at lead her here to Houston, Texas? To this Place? Married to her high school sweetheart at 20 she thought that she had it made. Eric was in the Army, first duty station, Ft. Sam Houston. It was the first time either of them had been away from the small North Carolina beach town they were from. A place where sweet tea and honey seemed to run through everyone's veins; Everyone was too nice, in a sickening way, she had to get away. So after Eric got home from AIT he popped the question. They ran down to the County courthouse and got married that day. Weeks later she was in Texas. The marriage only lasted 3 years. The hardest three years of their life. Two deployments in their three year marriage tore them apart. His PTSD was so unbearable and then the abuse started. She had to get away. Luckily for Bliss her best friend Grace had moved to Houston with her boyfriend after he got out of the Marines. She was a dancer at a local club called "Luckys". Bliss moved up to Houston with them in hopes of hiding from Eric. He was pissed when she left. She got a job with Grace at the club. She figured it would be a temporary thing until she could figure out her next move. That was two years ago and she was still a dancer at Lucky’s. Her stage name was Kendall; she for sure could not use her real name. Just in case Eric ever got wind of where she was.

"What the heck are you doing Blissy" Grace snapped her out of her daydream.  "Just thinking," Bliss jumped as she answered. She must have been thinking hard because she did not even see Grace sit down at her mirror next to hers. "Are you still sad Mark would not let us have the night off for the concert?" Grace asked. "No, I am over that, I will just see them the next time they come around I guess," Bliss answered sadly. She had wanted to go to a Hanson concert all of her life, but her parents never had the means to let her go. Mark would never let them have a Friday night off.

"Hell No Kendall", Mark said red in the face (she really hated it when he called her by her stage name when there was no need for it) when Bliss had asked a month ago for the night off, "You and Grace are the best girls I have, I just can't let you have Friday night off, If I give it to you two then all of the other girls would want a Friday off and I cannot afford that."  ,

"Yeah we will just make sure we ask off for it like six months in advance next time", Grace said trying to assure her best friend.

"KENDALLLLLLL, Your up next set", Mark yelled from the doorway of the dressing room.

"Coming, Mark", Bliss yelled back. "What a douche bag he can be, why can't he just come in here and talk to us like human beings instead of calling us like cattle."

"Bwahahahahah," Grace laughed, "Good luck Hun it’s a packed house out there, I just made $150 just on stage”. ”Sweet," Bliss exclaimed as she headed out of the dressing room.

Zac

He was not sure why, but he decided to go for a little stroll down the street from the hotel after the concert to clear his mind. He thought about getting a drink somewhere and listening to music that wasn't his own that he played night after night for fans. He loved his fans, but it’s nice to hear something other than the sound of your own voice sometimes. He had not walked far when he came across a bar called Lucky’s. It was a “Girls Girls Girls” type place. He had been to a few strip clubs in his life. Not too many. Usually just for a business meeting or a bachelor party for one of his friends back home. It looked like a decent enough place for what it was. He opened the wooden door and was hit in the face by the sound of Crazytown's Butterfly. "Wow that is loud," He thought to himself as he pulled out his wallet to show the door girl his ID. "That will be $5, hun." He handed the door girl his money and let her put his wrist band on his arm. "Good, she did not freak out, I hate it when they freak out," he thought to himself again. He made his way to the bar and got himself a beer. He turned around to check out the scenery. There were some decent looking ladies here. All shapes and sizes. He liked variety to look at. He found himself a seat near the stage, but not too close. He did not want to risk having a dancer freak out and fall on him. That happened once, in L.A. she fell right on him, WHAM, she had fainted.

The “crazytown” girl was coming off stage. He heard the sounds of Aerosmith’s, “Angel” starting. He could barely hear what the DJ was trying to say. Something about VIPs and table dances. Then she came out. "Ladies and Gentleman put your hands together for our next entertainer, KENNNDALLLL" He could not believe what he was seeing. What was he doing? He was never really attracted to women on a stage who took their clothes off for money, he had a wife at home, but there was something about this girl’s face. Something seemed different. She was graceful. She was pretty fit, had a Hourglass shape. Shoulder length hair a couple of tats. The sweetest brown eyes he had ever seen, well besides his own of course.

"You’re my aaannnggell, come and save me tonight" he heard Steven Tyler croon over the speakers. He chugged what was left of his beer and got the courage to go tip her. He held out his dollar as she was coming down from the ceiling upside down on the pole. She smiled at him and kind of let him know she would be right there. He sat down at the stage. "Please Lord don’t let her faint on me"

She crawled over to him and let him stick his dollar in her black satin garter. "Thank you," she said as he hurriedly sat down, he was too nervous to stay up there. He sat there and tipped her a few more times and ordered another drink from the waitress. He bought "Kendall" a bottle of water he had all intentions of giving it to her. After dancing for nearly 10 minutes straight she had to be thirsty. She disappeared into the dressing room. He would wait for her to come out.

Bliss

"HOLY HELL FIRE, GRACE" Bliss squealed with her heart beating fast. She had just shoved her boobs into the face of her childhood heart throb. "What the hell are you freaking out about?" she answered putting on her new outfit. "You will never, ever believe who was just sitting at my stage!". "OMIGOD, Eric?”  "Ummm no, try Zac Hanson!!!” "Shut.  Up. Like posters all over your wall, Zac Hanson, THAT Zac Hanson?"

“I wish I was kidding, because seriously that is not how I ever wanted to meet him, like oh Hi Zac Hanson, thanks for the dollar, here look at my rack"

"Hahaha, well it could have been worse, you could have fallen straight on your face."

"True story, but I am still mortified."

"Oh come on now, it’s not all that bad, go out and talk to  ..."

"KENDALLLLL," Mark interrupting them while coming into the dressing room. What the hell did he want, could he not just leave her alone in her moment of embarrassment. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. "Kendall, your presence has been requested out on the main floor."

"By who?" she wanted to know.

"By that Hanson, kid"

Bliss facepalmed herself. "Okay, okay, can you let him know I am changing and I will be out there in a few minutes."

"I do not care what you do, he has money and he wants to spend it on you, get your ass out there, NOW," Mark yelled.  Always with the yelling he will give himself a blood clot for sure one day, Bliss thought as she hurriedly changed and freshened up so she smelled more like whatever perfume she sprayed on and less like a gym sock. Then with her heart racing she headed back out to the main floor.

Chapter 2

Zac

He did not understand why he all of a sudden was nervous. He was Zac Hanson for goodness sake. He spent his teen years fighting girls off of him and his brothers. By far not a womanizer, but he married Kate so young sometimes he caught himself wanting to do more than look at other women. This was the first time in a long time he had sweaty palms and he could not quiet keep his left leg still. He saw her make her way towards him. Just then a dancer stepped in his view. "Hey doll, would you like a VIP?” "No thank you, I am waiting on another girl," he politely answered. The girl walked away rolling her eyes. Some girls just cannot take rejection, even in the slightest bit. Bliss was standing at the table as the other dance stomped away. Zac stood up and pulled out a chair for her. He was not sure how to act in. He normally just tipped a girl here or there and that was the end of it, never really wanted much to do with the girls.

Bliss

"Hi, I’m Kendall," Bliss said extending her hand in a handshake. "Hey, I’m Zac," he said returning the handshake and handing her the bottle of water he ordered for her." Here... uhh... I got you a bottle of water; I thought you might be thirsty." "Aww thanks, that’s very sweet of you."

There was an awkward silence. Neither of them was sure of what to say.

"I'm sorry Kendall, I know I am acting awkward, I just do not really do this"

"Hey, it's no problem. Trust me I can handle a little bit of awkwardness, it comes with the territory."

They both laughed.

"So Zac, what brings you into Lucky’s tonight?"

"Well see my two brothers and I are in this band..."

Bliss interrupted him, "I know who you are, and you do not have to explain that"

"Oh, well I just felt like getting away for a couple of hours and get a drink, it had been a long day of traveling and then we had a concert here in Houston, I guess I just needed sometime to myself."

"Well that is understandable," Bliss said looking down; she hoped he would not think she was being awkward as well, she was very nervous not to mention still plenty embarrassed.

"So, Kendall what brought YOU into Lucky’s tonight?" Zac asked her

"Well for one, I was on the schedule," Bliss answered him sarcastically. "Well really, I asked for this night off because I wanted to go see your concert, but my slave driver, Mark, was not letting that happen at all."

They both turned to look at Mark, who was staring at them. He did that often when a girl was with a wealthy or popular client. He hovered over them like a helicopter.

Bliss looked at Zac. He was beautiful, that shaggy hair and puffy beautiful lips. That face had once been plastered all over the walls of her small seaside bedroom. She had dreamed of him all through her teen years. Now, her dream man was sitting here in front of her. Almost on the verge of melting into a puddle right there in her chair Zac asked her a question, but she had not heard it she was too involved with drooling.

"What did you say? I’m sorry, I could not hear you." Bliss said coming out of her Zac Hanson coma.

"I asked if you were from here, you have an accent, but not a Texas one."

“Oh nope, I am from North Carolina, right on the beach."

"North Carolina is pretty far from Texas"

"Well let’s just say it was forces of uncontrollable nature that brought me here." Just then the hovering helicopter landed right above Bliss' left ear. "Kendall, can I talk to you a second."

"Sure thing Mark, Can you excuse me Zac, I will be right back.” Bliss said almost scared what in the world could Mark want.

Zac

"What am I doing?" he thought as Bliss walked away from him. He did not understand why he was being so awkward. Girls rarely made him this nervous, so why was this one driving him crazy. His phone was vibrating in his pocket. Taylor was calling him, probably wondering where he was. Zac made his way to the lobby to answer his phone.

"Hey Taylor"

"Dude where the hell are you?"

"I just went for a walk and stopped at bar to get a drink"

"Well damn, next time let us know where you are, we thought maybe you were kidnapped or something"

"Hahaha, No I just needed some me time, I am sure you understand what I am talking about"

"Hey men, no worries from me, just make sure you get back here before 7am that is when the bus is pulling out, call if you need us to help you stumbling back to the room."

"I will man, I will let you know if I need anything."

Zac did not tell him where he was, he did not feel like spending his evening with Kendall AND his two older brothers. They had all married pretty young, but it seemed to Zac that his brothers were happily content with their marriages. Children came fast for Taylor and Natalie. Isaac and Nikki were not far behind in the baby department. Zac was just not ready for children yet. He loved Kate, but he just was not sure if children were something he wanted to do with her. Maybe in the future and maybe even with his wife, he was not sure if he even wanted to be married anymore.

He made his way back to the table; the waitress came over and offered him another drink. He ordered another, what the hell all he had to do was ride on a bus tomorrow. Back home to Tulsa. Back home to reality.

Bliss

"Kendall, you have sat there with him for 15 minutes, 15 Minutes!!! He has NOT spent a damn dime yet, what is your problem? You are one of my best girls.” Mark yelled as soon as the office door was closed.

"Shit, Mark, give me some time. The guy seems nervous. I know what I am doing.” she answered.    "Well make it happen faster, we have a packed house tonight, if he is not going to be spending any money then you need to move on to the next customer." "Ok, well me standing in here so you can crawl up my ass is not helping any, I got this." she assured him.

Bliss left the office slamming the door behind her. She knew that would piss Mark off even more. He hated for people to barge in without knocking and he REALLY hated to have his door slammed on the way out. She made it back to the table; Zac was just getting another drink.

"Sorry about that, my boss can be such a pain in my ass." Bliss explained as she was taking her seat.

"Oh I am sorry, what was his problem?” he asked

"Money, money, money, that is all he cares about."

"OHHH I know what his problem is, I will fix that, how about if I buy a VIP will that suffice his needs?"

"Yeah that would get him off of my ass for a while, I'm sorry I feel bad even asking"

"Hey don't worry that is your job, don't feel bad for doing your job. How much are they?"

"$25, you get one song, two for $50 and three for $60"

He handed her three $20 bills. "Maybe this will shut him up for a while"

She took the money from his hands and put it in her garter.

"Alright, well are you ready?"

"Sure", said a little nervously as he chugged his beer.

"Hey bestie!” Grace came out of nowhere on their way to the VIP room. "Are you going to introduce me to your new friend" "Hey, Gracie-poo. uhhhh Sure, Zac this is my partner in crime, Grace."

"Hey," Zac said extending his hand." Im Zac, obviously.

Grace took his hand "This girl is amazing, she will take good care of you!” She said winking at him. "I gotta bounce to the office; I need to get my daily ass chewing from Mark."

"Life is not complete unless Mark is being a bitch.” Bliss joked back.

The pair made their way into the VIP room. It was empty. They sat on the couch together until the next song started.

"So Zac, tell me more about yourself. All we have talked about is me."

"Well, there is not much to tell I am kind of boring. You obviously know that I am in a band with my brothers; we are on a small tour right now. Heading back home to Tulsa tomorrow.”

"I guess you are right, that was pretty boring.” Bliss said jokingly as she stood up as the next song was getting ready to start. "But have no fear, I am about to rock your world!”

Zac

Zac was still wondering why he was. His palms felt clammy. His heart was about to beat out of his chest. He was not sure why he felt this way. He never even felt this way about his own wife. Taking a deep breath as she bent over in front of him and looked back, taking in the sight of her perfect body. He could see the outline of her hips in the dim light and her perfect smile as she looked into his eyes. She straddled him and started dancing on him. He was not sure how to act. He had gotten a dance before, but never like this. He breathed in the perfume, her skin rubbed against him like satin. He felt himself getting excited.

"Hey now, I can feel that.” Bliss said as she continued to dance for him. “Someone likes this very much I take it."

"um.. er. yeah, I do like it." Zac answered. "A little too much."

"Well good that means I am doing my job right.” She winked.

The song finished. She lifted her body off of his. "We can do your other two now or save them for later."

"No, I am not sure if I could take that again.” he laughed standing up reaching into his pants to fix himself. “That was utter torcher."

 "Well I can give you the rest of your money back if you want it."

"No you keep it, we can just hang out for the next two songs if you would like." He looked at his phone it was almost one-thirty in the morning. Damn, he thought, it was getting late. He did not want it to be closing time soon. He wanted to be able to spend the rest of the night with her, but he knew it was impossible. He was married, and she probably had a boyfriend. A girl like that would never be single.

"Well let’s go out the main floor, I have to get ready for my next set anyways. I get the joy of being last entertainer tonight." They headed out of the VIP room and she gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for the dances, and headed for the dressing room.

Chapter 3

Bliss

Bliss had not even set both her feet into the dressing room and Grace was bombarding her.

"So???? I need and want details. How did he act? What did he say?"

“There is not much to tell.” Bliss answered laughing," It was your average VIP."

"Your average VIP my ass, it is not every day you give a lap dance to someone you drooled over during your preteen years."

"TOUCHE, but there was not anything special, he was really nice."

“I have to go on stage next, do not think for a second you are out of the water missy, I will drill you later. Are you going to come over to the house after work tonight?"

"Nah, I think I will just go home and sleep, all of this nervousness has really drained the bejesus out of me."

"Alright, I am leaving after this set, I will see you tomorrow."

Bliss freshened herself up for her next set. She was thinking about when she first moved to Houston after leaving Eric.

 It was one in the morning when she arrived at Grace and Justin's house that very first night. She was still shaken up from the events that had lead up to her leaving Eric. She had been so scared. He had pushed her a couple of times, and she had let it slide, but this time was worse. They had been driving in the car after coming home from a really good evening. They had actually gone to dinner and a movie. It had been ages since Eric had wanted to do anything with her; normally he just left her home and went out with his work buddies. So for him to actually want to spend time with her was special. They were driving home laughing about the movie they had just seen. Little did she know this was going to be their last happy moment together. Eric started getting annoyed with the slow driver in front of them.

 "Eric, calm down it is probably just some old man driving."

 "Don't fucking tell me how to drive, I fucking drove in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think that out of the two of us I am the only one qualified to complain about driving skills."

 “You do not have curse at me like tha..."

 Just then Eric passed the man in a no passing zone almost hitting a truck coming right at them.

 "Eric, what the hell are you doing, you could have killed us."

 "Bliss, I told you fucking stop telling me how to drive."

 "You can drive however you when you are by yourself, but when you have passengers like your wife in the care you should be more careful."

 Eric snapped, he grabbed the back of her head and started slamming it into the dashboard.

 One, Two, Three, Four, Five... Bliss was counting in her head each time the sting of the imitation leather hit her right temple. Six, Seven... She must have passed out because she lost count. The next thing she knew she woke up in the car as Eric slammed the driver’s side door. They were in the drive way of their apartment. She touched the side of her head, there was not any blood but the pain was so intense she wanted to throw up. Eric slung open the passenger side door and ripped her out. He threw her into the front door so hard that she tripped over the door jam and landed on the ground.  She felt so weak. He picked her up, and slammed her against the wall in the front foyer.

"This would not have happened if you would have just kept your fucking mouth shut. You do not get to tell me what to do, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH, I ONLY LISTEN TO MY COMMAND, NOT TO SOME FUCKING BITCH LIKE YOU."

He gripped her throat tighter.

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU IF YOU EVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO AGAIN."

He finally let her go and threw her back on the ground. She laid there crying for a half hour. Eric must have been tired of listening to her sobs, he grabbed his keys and bent down and whispered in her ear, "If you even think about calling the cops, you will not like the consequences." He kissed her on the cheek and left. She was so frighten and in so much pain she did not know what to do. She found her cell phone and called Grace.

"Hey sweetie, what’s up?"

"Can I come and stay with you awhile?"

"What is wrong Bliss, you sound terrible!!"

"I will explain when I get there."

"When are you coming?"

"Now"

Bliss hung up the phone, Eric could be home at any second. She started packing as much of her belongings into a suitcase. Frantically stuffing anything she could. He could keep the rest, she did not care. She put a leash on their golden retriever, Annie, and hurried out to her car. She was shaking so bad she could barely get the keys into the ignition of her Ford Fusion. She pulled up to the ATM machine and pulled out $400, which is all it would let her pull out. She would figure the rest out later. She filled up her gas tank using the cash so Eric could not track her, and jumped on the interstate. Her head was foggy she was not sure if it was the adrenaline or the blunt force trauma to her head. She kept on driving anyways. She called Grace when she started to reach the outskirts of the Houston-Fort Worth area.

"Bliss, is everything ok? I am really scared!"

"You are not the only one, I am in Houston, I just need directions on how to get to your house from here."

Grace gave her directions and they hung up. Just then her cell started to ring, it was Eric. He must have come home to find her not there and Annie gone too. She did not answer. He called 10 more times before she reached Grace's house. She let each go to voicemail. Grace was waiting outside smoking a cigarette when she pulled in. She ran over the car, in time for Bliss to collapse in her arms. Grace screamed for Justin to call 911.

Bliss snapped back into reality. Mark was standing above her.

"Kendall, why are you not ready"

"I’m sorry Mark, I am almost done"

"Well hurry your ass up, you are last entertainer and there is still a crowd out there. Grace is almost finished with her last song"

"Ok Mark, I am almost done."

Mark left and she looked at herself in the mirror. Ugh she looked horrible but, it would have to do.

Zac

"I wonder if that is her real name, Kendall, I bet it’s not.” Zac thought to himself as he watched that Grace girl dance on stage. She was not a bad dancer either. She was a pretty girl too, but there was something about Kendall. His excitement was growing just thinking about how she was coming out on stage next. He almost had butterflies. He did not understand why, he knew nothing about this girl except she was a dancer and was originally from North Carolina. Other than that she was a stranger. He made his way to the stage and threw a dollar or two at Grace and stepped back, he did not want her to dance on him, just wanted to give her a little something to be nice. Grace smiled and winked at him. She finished her set and Zac's excitement was growing. He sat down at the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Please put your hannnddds together for our last entertainer of the evening, KEEENNNNNNDAALLLLL"

She bust through the doorway to the dressing room on to the stage. He could not believe how gorgeous she was. It was almost as he was seeing her for the first time over again. He paid closer attention to her this time and watched her every move. Her legs looked so smooth under the lights and her eyes sparkled. She looked in his direction and smiled. He almost choked on his beer. He tipped her right away, and sat and enjoyed the show. Her set seemed to go by faster than he wanted. Before the end of her last song while she took her last dollar from him. He asked if he could see afterwards. She shook her head yes. "I will meet you in the parking lot." And then she disappeared in the abyss of the dressing room. Zac looked at his watch, it was only two. He had plenty of time before the bus pulled out in the morning. He was going to see if Kendall (or whatever her real name was) wanted to get some breakfast. He could definitely use some food fuel right about now anyways. And breakfast is harmless….RIGHT?  He was on his way out the door when the manager guy, Mark, stopped him.

"Mr Hanson, I am the manager Mark Smith, I just wanted to make sure you had a satisfactory time while visiting us this evening."

"Oh yes sir, the girls here are very polite."

"I see you took shining to my Kendall, that girl is a natural at this business, she will go far in this business."

Zac did not like that for some reason. He really wanted to punch this guy in the face, but he didn't.

"Well, she is definitely great, thanks man," Zac answered politely and shook his hand on the way out.

He was waiting in the parking lot for what seemed like an hour but was merely 10 minutes when, she walked out the front door.

Even fully clothed this girl took his breath away.

"Heya, sorry if I had you waiting too long my car is over here, I figured we could just take mine since I don't imagine you have yours with you."  Bliss said her thick southern accent, it was much more noticeable in the quiet Texas night.

"Hey, yeah sure that sounds good. I was thinking we could go get some breakfast or something. I gotta be back to the hotel before 7.” Zac said nervously as he climbed into her car, "Nice car"

"Thanks, and before you ask my real name is not Kendall, its Bliss, I don’t use my real name, that way my many fans can’t stalk me."

"Well let's start over then, Hello Bliss my name is Zac, nice to meet you." He joked as they drove through downtown Houston.

Chapter 4

Bliss

She drove through the streets of Houston that had become so familiar to her these past two years. Tonight everything seemed a little different. Still shocked that she was alone with him, Zac Hanson, she never thought she would ever meet him, but now here he was riding in her car. She looked over at him and just to make sure she was not imagining things she pinched herself. "Ouch." she thought to herself "yep this is totally happening." A smile came across her face. She knew that he was married. And this could look bad, but honestly she did not care at this point. How many opportunities do you get to hang out with Zac Hanson?

"What are you smiling about?” Zac said grinning from ear to ear breaking the silence.

"I just, um never thought I would have YOU in my car."

"Well now that you have me here where on earth are you going to take me for breakfast?"

She thought for a second, where should they go? She had no earthly idea; she never went for breakfast with any of the girls. The only place she went to besides her house was Grace and Justin's.

"Well, I guess we can go to my house. I have some breakfast stuff."

"Sounds Ok to me"

"It is not far, I hope you like dogs."

They pulled into Bliss' driveway. It was a small quaint little duplex. Just big enough for her and Annie. She nervously fumbled with her keys cursing in her head for not putting away her clean laundry. Of course she did not know that she was going to have company tonight. They walked through front door and Annie was sitting there waiting panting nervously. She was excited to see Bliss and even more excited that there was a person in the house to give her attention.

Zac

"Well this is it, sorry about the laundry.” Bliss said scooping it up and taking it to her room really quick.

"This is a nice place.” he said looking around in her absence.

He spotted some pictures hanging on the wall. They looked like family pictures. There was one with two men in military uniforms in it. There was a couple of the beach and one of her and Grace. They both looked so young in it.

“You and Grace have been friends a long time haven't you?"

"Yeah since about 6th grade, she has been with me through everything"

She looked at the pictures with him and explained that the beach one were right off of her family's back porch. Then they came back to the one of the one of the two men in military uniform.

"Who are these two?"

"Oh that is my dad and my kid brother, my dad was in the navy that is how we ended up in North Carolina where he retired. My brother joined the Marines last year. He wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps of being a military man."

"That is pretty neat; I have never really known anyone in the military. It's pretty awesome that he followed in your dad's footsteps, he must be a pretty awesome man."

"He is the bravest man I have ever known."

"Did you ever want to join?"

"Well no, my dad would have never allowed it. My ex-husband is in the Army, or he was the last time I checked."

"Is that how you ended up in Texas?"

"Yeah, he was stationed on Ft. Sam Houston."

"So did Grace follow you here?"

"Heh, you could say that I guess. She met a Marine back home and when he got out of the service she moved to Houston with him."

"Well, I am going to ask the obvious question here, what happened between you and your ex?"

That question stung her like a bee. She had not had to answer that question before. She did not normally talk about it with anyone. Her and Grace did not even talk about it. It was too hurtful. Zac saw that his question must have pained her. He was kind of nervous about the answer. He did not know exactly what to expect as an answer.

"After being deployed so much, it kind just took a toll on us. He turned into a different person. We weren't us anymore, and one night things went south, so I packed my stuff and drove up here to Houston and have not looked back since."

Zac knew that there was much more detail to that story, but he was not one to pry in peoples personal business. Plus they did not know each other very well yet.

"Well want to do you want to do?” Bliss asked him, "I can still make breakfast."

"You do not have to do that, it's really late. I'd rather just hang out. I do not get to do that very often. Ya know just hanging out with a normal person."

"How do you know I am normal?" She joked.

"See I have this radar and I can tell who is normal and who isn’t."

"So what do you read on me?"

"Well I got into the car and came to your house and I barely know you. I'd say you are pretty normal."

"Good," she smiled at him. "For all I know you could be the crazy one."

Her smile was beautiful, she was beautiful to him. He was looking at her up and down. Finally getting a good look in some decent light for the first time, she was pretty short and slender. With the most perfect round face and even in the light, her brown eyes were dazzling. Her brown hair hung down to her tanned shoulders.

"Has anyone told how beautiful you are?" Zac said stunned those words

She was surprised; she would have never thought that she would ever hear those words from his lips in her entire life, especially since he was a married man.

"What?" she said just to make sure those were the words she heard.

"You are beautiful, Bliss." He said taking her into his arms.

He knew he was moving pretty fast, and this was completely out of his normal line of behavior, but he was longing to kiss her lips. Before she could even answer they were connected like magnets.

Bliss

Ohmigawd this is actually happening

His lips were smooth as satin. This was the first time she has kissed anyone since Eric. Those kisses were meaningless when it came to this one. It was sensual and safe. Her knees started to get weak and her heart was racing. It was so loud in her ears she was certain Zac heard it. She put her arms around his neck for balance; she was afraid to fall over. He pulled her closer and kissed her deeper. Bliss held on for dear life, afraid for it to end.

She was starting to feel drunk from his kisses, her head was spinning. All she was thinking was this really happening. Then just as she feared he pulled away from the embrace. She wished she could rewind time and start that first kiss over again. She was so scared to never feel that way again. The heat in her pants was cooling off and they both composed themselves.

"I am so sorry Bliss; I do not know what came over me. I do not normally go around kissing women that I do not know; well actually I don’t normally go around kissing women."

She could not spit any words out. She was frightened to say something really stupid. She broke out in a cold sweat. Get a hold of yourself Bliss. She wanted to slap herself in the face and bring her back down the real world.  You know the one where she just played tonsil hockey with Zac Hanson. She felt guilty, not like “I just kissed a married man kind of guilty”, more along the lines of, “I just kissed a married man and I do not feel guilty”.

"You ok?"

And she was back down on earth.

"Yeah...er umm ... I am great I have just never...been kissed like that." This was not a lie.

Zac flashed his gapped tooth smile. She could tell he was pleased with himself.

"That has got to be a lie, you are gorgeous. You cannot tell me that no one has ever kissed you properly."

"I have never been kissed that way."

"Well then, let me show you the real way a man is supposed to kiss a woman."

He looked deep into Bliss' eyes, and placed his strong rough hand on the back of her neck and pulled her into a second embrace. He shifted her down to the couch and carefully laid her down. All without breaking away. "I could do this forever” she thought, If the world ended right this second I would not be disappointed. He shifted his strong body on top of hers, very carefully. Bliss ran her hands through his messy sun bleached locks of hair. She wanted him to take her into her bedroom and have his way with her, but she was afraid to be the one to say that. Very afraid of what he would think of her for giving herself to him so easily. He kissed her neck so softly; it was in between pleasure and a slight tickle. She moaned softly in his ear. He lifted himself into a position so he could look at her. She could see the longing in his eyes and feel the tension building in his pants. "Should I ask...? No... Let him decide...” She pulled him back down to her lips. This was much safer, kissing was completely innocent.  RIGHT?

Zac

Zac wanted to take Bliss into her room. Something about the way she kissed him was so sweet, sensual, and sexy all at the same time. He was so hard that it hurt. He wanted to be inside of her, but at the same time, he barely knew this woman. All he knew is that she did something to him, something that no other woman had ever done to him, not even Kate. He decided against it. He decided that this way was better. He did not want her to feel like "the stripper in Houston". Like a high school locker room tale. Bliss deserved much better than something like that.

The kissing eventually gave way and they chatted the rest of the night away. She told him about growing up on the beach. He learned that her little brother's name was Brad and he was engaged to a girl named Miranda. Bliss told him about how she used to work in small country bar back home. They danced on the bar and had mechanical bull. Her parent's where David and Stacy Jacobs. They met when they were both enlisted in the navy.

Soon the darkness outside gave away dusk.

"I guess I should be getting you back to your rightful owners.” Bliss joked.

"Yeah, I need to be getting back to the hotel we are pulling out at 7 and Taylor hates to be minute late, we are driving back to Tulsa today.” he answered while petting a sleeping Annie.

Bliss stood up and put on her flip flops and grabbed her keys. He was not ready to leave but he knew Taylor and Isaac would get upset if he were even a minute late. He said his good byes to Annie and headed out the door with Bliss. She looked so adorable to him all sleepy eyed. He was really starting to get sad as they pulled away from her place and started down the streets of Houston back towards the club and hotel.

"Bliss, I know this is a funny question, but can I see your cell phone?"

"Yeah sure is yours dead or something?"

"No, I just want to see it really quick."

"Yeah it’s in my bag, you can grab it. I promise there isn't anything that will surprise you unless you are scared of tampons"

He chuckled as her searched her purse for her phone. She was right there was not much of anything in her small purse. Just some loose change, a pack of cigarettes, a wallet, and of course her phone. He put his number into her phone and saved it and called his. Bliss was looking at him funny.

"I swear I am not up to no good, I am just making sure I have a way to contact you."

"It's ok; it kind saves us from that awkward 'can I have your number' dance"

They were pulling up to the hotel. Zac saw Taylor and Isaac bringing their bags outside of the hotel. He hoped they were not pissed at him for not coming back last night and that they really were supportive of his "alone time". Sometimes they were protective of him, more than they needed to be, but he understood it was because he was younger than they were, it was only natural for them to feel that way. Bliss slowly pulled into a parking spot near the bus. Zac's heart started thudding he was not ready to leave, he wanted to say "fuck it" and stay but he had a wife to get back to. "Well…” Bliss said, " I guess this were I have let you go."

"Yeah it’s going to be a long drive to Tulsa"

"Well I am not good at this whole good-bye stuff so..."

"Bliss", Zac lifted her chin up with his hand and brought her face close to his, “This is not good-bye this is see you later". And he planned on it

He pressed his lips to hers and gave her one more deep passionate kiss before getting out of her car.

"I WILL call you, go home and get some sleep." he smiled at her and got out of her car, “See you later."

"See you later"

And with that he shut the door and walked off towards Taylor and Isaac who were staring at Bliss in her car. She waved to them as she pulled out of the parking lot into the distance. Zac turned and watched her car as it disappeared, and with a heavy heart got on to the bus. He immediately fell on to the couch. He could not help himself but text her before drifting off to sleep.

    I will call you when I wake up, I promise.

Taylor and Isaac just sat speechless and stared at him. "What’s wrong with you two?” he said but they did not have a chance to ask questions because Zac was asleep.

Chapter 5

Bliss

It was two in the afternoon when she heard her phone ringing. She could still smell Zac's cologne on her shirt. She was excited as she grabbed her phone, hoping it was him. Her hope was crushed when she realized it was Grace calling. She answered with a groggy. "Hello"

"You fucking skank wad", Grace said jokingly.

"What did I do?"

"You brought Zac to your apartment; I bet you did dirty things to him. I wanna know everything."

"How did you know?”

"Girl there is pictures of him getting into your car at the club."

"OH MY GAWD, are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, Mark even did an interview and the hotel clerk saw you pull up with him this morning I guess."

"I have to go"

"Wait...."

Bliss had already hung up. She grabbed her lap top and googled Zac’s name. The first headline that popped up said, “Hanson brother has a thing for Houston Strippers”. There were clear pictures of her and Zac on a bunch of websites. The story was all the same so she just picked one and shakingly started reading.

Manager of Lucky's Gentlemen's club, Mark Smith, confirms that Zac Hanson spent his evening in the club, and that he was particular to one dancer. A girl that goes by the name of Kendall, Smith was not a liberty to give out her real name, but said that he spent his entire visit with her and treated himself to private dances. Hanson, whom has a wife of 6 years Kate, was also seen leaving the club after closing with “Kendall" and was spotted pulling up to his hotel early this morning with her. The sweet youngest Hanson brother was seen locking lips with her shortly before his bus departed.

She could not believe what she was reading. The nerve of Mark to do this to her, she was absolutely disgusted with him. She could not believe the entire world knew that she was with him. The entire world included her parents and friends back home, and she was certain this would get back to Eric. No one back home would be able to keep their mouth shut, someone was going to tell him that much she knew, and now they all know what she was doing for work in Houston. That had been a secret from her family. Not only all this but she was now a home wrecker.

She called Grace back.

"Holy shit, I am so pissed off at Mark. What a fucking dirt-bag."

"I know, I bet he did it for money too. What are you going to do?"

"I am not sure yet?"

"You need me to come over?"

"Yes please I am too scared to do anything or go anywhere."

Grace

When Grace arrived at Bliss’s apartment she was not surprised to find the door locked. She knew that now that the secret was out Bliss would be scared that Eric would be around every corner. Grace kinda hoped he would show his face so she could curb stomp him. Giggling at this thought she slid her key in the lock and opened the door. The house was eerily quiet. She heard something coming from the back of the apartment and rushed in there to find Bliss lying in bed. Her mascara was running down her face and her eyes were puffy and red. There was a fear in her eyes that Grace had not seen since the night Bliss melted into her arms in her driveway.

“What’s the matter sweetie?” Grace asked.

“Everything is ruined” Bliss answered with a stuffy nose, “Eric is gonna find me I just know it, my parents know I was dancing, my dad is pissed as hell at me, and I have not even talked to Zac yet. Grace, he’s married… I’m a dirty home wrecker!”

“Oh sug, you are not a home wrecker. I think that you are just overreacting, yeah your dad is probably upset at you, but he will get over it, and Eric probably is not even in the state anymore (Grace knew this was probably a lie), and Zac will forgive you. It’s not like you held a gun to his head and said YOU MUST COME TO MY HOUSE” Grace made a gun from her fingers and acted out the scene. It made Bliss laugh and Grace smile because she had helped her best friend. They talked for a while and she wiped the mascara off of Bliss’s face, “There now you will not scare your dog, so are you gonna tell me what happened here last night?”

“Well you will disappointed to know that I did NOT bang him”

“Wow such vocabulary coming from such a pretty mouth…wait what did you do with that mouth?”

Bliss through a pillow a Grace’s face. “All we did was kiss”

“Kissing is for grade school Bliss, Imma need you to be a little more seductive when trying to bed a celebrity ummkay, why don’t you give that Dreamboat of a Hanson brother a phone call I have to head to work”

“Ok you are right… I don’t think I am coming in tonight, tell Mark I am sick or something, I have to figure out what I am doing. I just cannot face that asshole tonight”

“Oh don’t worry, I have my own plans for Mark, Imma take care of that tonight”

Bliss walked Grace to the door and hugged her tight, “I will see you later, don’t hurt Mark, leave that to me"

Bliss

As soon as Bliss made sure Grace made it to her car safely she shut the door and locked it. She had some thinking to do. She poured herself a glass of wine and went back into her room. It was at least an hour later when she finally had the guts to call Zac. She had made a decision.

Zac                                                                                                                                                                            

Zac woke up to Taylor kicking him. “The fuck.. Taylor”

“Dude, you are in deep shit!” Taylor exclaimed.

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Zac sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Isaac handed him his Ipad, and waited for Zac’s response.

Zac read the headline. It was the same story that Bliss had just come across. “Shit”

“Uh YEAH shit, Zac what were you thinking? Going home with a girl?” Issac scolded.

“Nothing even happened”

“We saw you in her car this morning, you kissed her good bye, it is hard to believe that nothing happen Zac, what has gotten into, what about Kate, you know damn well I am going down for this too. Natalie is going to blame this WHOLE situation on me” Taylor cut him off.

“I will explain everything to Kate, this is my marriage, this is my business”

“Alright Tay, Zac is right this is his business. Handle it Zac, as respectfully as you can. We do have an image to protect. Our fans love that we are straight forward with them. Just talk with Kate when you get home, fix whatever that is that is going on between you two. Then you can make a statement on the site or something.” Isaac has softened his tone. He knew his brother did not need to be yelled at by him, he would get enough of that at home in just a couple of hours.

Zac’s phone rang, it was Bliss. He looked at his brothers. “I need to take this”

He stepped back to where the bunks were and shut the door. He could not even utter a word when he answered the phone because Bliss was already apologizing.

“Zac I am so sorry, this is all my fault”

He melted at the sound of her voice. Her cute little accent drove him absolutely insane.

“Bliss it is not your fault, this is my fault, completely 110% my fault”

“I knew that you were married and I still took you to my house”

“Bliss, you did not hold a gun to my head and make me go, I wanted to go”

Bliss giggled “Those were Grace’s exact words”

“See, even she agrees with me, Bliss you did nothing wrong and I am sorry you got drug into this”

SILENCE

“Well I am going to cut right to it Zac, I have been doing some thinking”

“Ok”

“I think that maybe…. We should … maybe we should just not talk at all”

“No, Bliss I don’t want that”

“I think that its best Zac, you have a wife, I just don’t think us being whatever we are is a good idea”

“No, THIS is great idea. I know that we just met, and don’t know each other, but Bliss you do something to me. I have never had a woman drive me crazy the way you do”

“What are you going to say to your wife?”

That question cut Zac like a knife. He had not quiet thought about what he was going to say to Kate. He had not ever been alone with another woman who he was not related too since he and Kate had started dating. He never put himself into a situation that he could not get out of. Kate was the first and only person Zac had been intimate with. He loved her with all of his heart, but part of him longed for Bliss’s touch and embrace and he was not sure what to do about this.

“I am not sure yet”

“Well how about you call me when you figure everything out”

“Alright, Bliss I just want you to know, whatever happens, I do not regret kissing you.”

“Just figure out what you want Zac, and let me know”

“Ok I will talk to you later”

“I will be waiting”

Zac hung up and laid down in his bunk. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do tonight when he got home.

Chapter 6

Bliss

Her head was throbbing, her heart was aching. She regretted the words that fell from her mouth. Zac was right; she had never been kissed like that. She could feel herself getting turned on just thinking about it. But, then she thought of Zac’s wife and how unfair to her this all was. She trusts her husband to go on tour and be around thousands of women a night, and now that trust was broken and Bliss was the reason.

 She knew that Eric was going to find out that she was working at Lucky’s. She could not even take Mark right now. She decided that she was done with it all. She was possibly done with Houston all together. She grabbed her purse and headed for her car.

Bliss arrived at Lucky’s and went straight to the office. Mark was in there with a girl she had never seen before. They both looked up with a startle whenever she flung the heavy door open.

“You are a piece of shit Mark, how could you do that? How could you just sell me out like that”, Bliss yelled at the top of her lungs.

 “Hey you need to settle down Kendall”, Mark yelled back when Bliss finally let him speak, “You are embarrassing yourself in front of a new employee”.

“I don’t give two shits what she thinks, I am out of here, I quit”. Bliss turned to the girl who looked like a deer in headlights. “If you work for this maniac you are doing yourself a huge injustice, Mark cannot control his mouth”. Bliss turned on her heel and walked out of the office slamming the door behind her. She smiled remembering how much Mark hated for his door to be slammed.

She headed for the dressing room to get her things. Some of the girls were in there getting ready to for work. They all looked surprised to see her in there. You could hear a pin drop. No one knew what to say. She started to hurriedly gather her things. Grace arrived during all of this and just walked up to her and flung her arms around her.

 “I am sorry Mark is such an ass sweetie”

“I cannot believe him; I just cannot believe I worked for him this long”. She continued gathering her things. She packed everything away in her bag. She looked around the dressing room and remembered the first night she came here for work. She was absolutely scared out her mind.

“Grace I am really freaked out about this, what if I trip over my heels and land face first into the     carpet”

“Well then you just get back up dust yourself and say something smart”

Bliss was going to miss working with Grace every night. But this part of her life was over. It was time to move on. She kissed Grace on the cheek as she headed for that dressing room door for the last time.

 “Don’t worry Blissy I got your back I got some of the girls together and we are going to give him hell tonight”, Grace called. Bliss was pleased with this. She never expected Grace to quit for her she knew that Grace made a killing here and finding a job to replace this was going to be hard, this was something that Bliss was facing herself.

She text Zac as she got to her car:

I just quit my job. You don’t have to answer this I just wanted you to know. Hope everything works out for you.

Zac

Zac had not left the bunk since got off the phone with Grace. His mind was racing and his head and heart were aching. His chest was tight with anxiety. He felt his phone vibrate. His heart was thudding even faster. What a relief it was to find out it was a text from Bliss. He was afraid it was Kate, or Natalie, or even his mother. He did not want to talk to Kate until he was face to face with her. She deserved that much. He read Bliss’ message. The fact that she quit her job actually gave him some relief. He could not stand the thought of her working with that jerk Mark, and the thought of her dancing for other men did not sit right with him either.

He felt the bus slow down and park. They were finally home. I wonder if I even have a home to go to. He gathered his stuff and headed out of the bunk area. Ike and Tay were waiting for him.

“Hey man, we just wanted you to know that we stand behind you whatever decision that you make” Tay spoke in his softest voice that he usually saved for his kids.

 “Yeah Zac, if you need anything, like a place to crash you can stay in the apartment all over the garage, Nikki already text me and said she made the bed up for you” Ike stated, “She said you can stay as long as you want”.

“Thanks guys, I am really sorry that my actions are affecting you two”

 “Zac, its always been Ike, you, and I. We are brothers and have been there for each other since way before marriage and kids. We are here for you.” It was nice to know that what ever happened when they stepped off this bus. His brothers had his back.

As they stepped off the bus they were bombarded by screams. But, they weren’t screams from fans, it was the young screams of his nieces and nephews. All five of Taylor’s kids and both of Ike’s, everyone was there to greet them, even their mom and dad. His mother wrapped her arms around him before anyone else did. “I love you son, no matter what I love you.” It was good to hear that his mother was not as upset as he thought he was going to be.

Kate

She was not sure what she was even doing here. Greeting her husband home from tour was usually one of her most favorite things to do. She loved decorating the house with balloons and planning a special romantic dinner and of course having her way with him. He has been gone for weeks to months at time. Sometimes she would go join him other times she would just stay home. This time was different. It all started with a phone call earlier that day from a friend in Georgia.

                “Are you okay?”

 “Um Yeah Sally, why wouldn’t I be?”

                “Kate, you need to get on the internet and do some research on what your husband is up to”

                Kate went to her lap top and googled Zac’s name. Her friend Sally heard a muffled sob.

                “Kate I’m so sorry, I guess I should’ve…”

                “No Sal don’t be sorry, I have to go.. I need to call Nat”

She was so mad at him, but she loved her husband, but she and him deserved a face to face conversation about this. For all she knew it was completely innocent. She knew that Zac was not a man to go to strip clubs a lot, and she did not even mind him going. She really wished he would have called her last night and let her know what was going on.

Kate saw Natalie shoot Zac an evil glare as he walked towards her. Nat was always so protective of her. Zac looked at her and the look in his eyes was sorrowful and apologetic. Right then she had forgiven him. He was her one and only, it did not matter to her his indiscretions and supposed unfaithfulness. He still came home to her and no one else. She threw her arms around his neck and stuffed her face in his and started bawling. She did not even know where the tears came from. Were they happy tears? Were they mad, or mad tears? She did not care she just let them out.

Zac

He felt so guilty. That’s all he felt. But, he was not sure who the guilt was for. Was it for kissing another woman while being married to Kate? Could it have been leaving Bliss behind in Texas? He was so confused. Kate was bawling in his neck right now. And he did not know what to say or do to comfort this woman whom he has shared six years of his life with. His entire family was trying not to act like anything was wrong. He left everything including his phone in the bus. He would deal with that later. He needed to get Kate home and calm her down. He still had a lot to explain to her and had a lot of self-searching to do. He just did not know how or what he was going to say.

Chapter 7

Bliss

She had text Zac hours ago. And still had not heard from him, she thought she would be fine with this. She was strong earlier. Get a hold of yourself Bliss. It was just a kiss. It was not a relationship. She could tell herself this all she wanted, she still felt like she had her heart broken. At least Zac did not have to hear how weak she was at this point.

There was a loud bang on the door. It startled her. Another loud BANG BANG BANG. Oh shit someone is trying to get in. That was the last thing she remembered. She woke up in the hospital with a broken arm and broken leg. Her left eye was swollen shut and she had a horrid headache. Grace was right next to her holding her hand and her dad was at the end of the bed. He looked exhausted.

“What happened” she whispered. Her throat was dry and sore. She could barely speak.

“We don’t know Bliss” Grace answered “Your neighbor heard a commotion and called the police they found you that was two days ago.”

“I have been out for two days, what about my dog?”

“Sweetheart, Annie is fine, I took care of her. I even took her to vet to be checked out, she is fine” Her dad spoke.

“Eric?” Bliss mumbled.

“No one knows who it was, he was gone when the police got there and there isn’t any evidence” her dad answered. “If I find him, I will kill him, he is lucky he is still alive in the first place”

“I want to go home”

“Blissy they said you can leave tomorrow you can come stay at my apartment” Grace said running her hands through Bliss’

“No, I want to go home, to North Carolina”

Zac

It had been a long week since he had been home. He had admitted everything to Kate that first night. And she forgave him. He could not believe it. He even admitted that he wanted to sleep with Bliss. She forgave him right away. “Zac I had forgiven you the moment you stepped off the bus. The look in your eyes, they were filled with guilt and sorrow and I just knew you felt horrible.” Little did she know how confused he still was, but even more confused that his wife did not leave him. They had an emergency meeting with their pastor at church. Zac asked for forgiveness from the Lord. And his pastor assured him that the Lord still loved him and forgave him of his sins.

He sat with his phone in his hand, Bliss’ number on the screen trying to decide if he should hit the call button or not. He was shaking and his heart was aching. She deserved this call. He had decided to work things out with his wife. He could not believe that he was going to do this. He was afraid that he could be making the wrong decision, but after Kate forgiven him, he wanted to try and make his marriage work with her and start anew.

You’ve reached Bliss’ voicemail please leave a message!

God that voice, it sent chills that he felt all the way to his heart. He was almost relieved that it went to voicemail. He at least could put this phone call off to another day. The guilt he still felt for the whole situation. Kate was standing at the door way of his office. He did not know how long she was standing there.

“Hey what are you doing” he asked trying to hide his current emotions.

“Just wondering why you were staring at your phone like that, who was that you called?”

Damn, she may have forgiven him, but that did not mean she trusted him.

“Just Tay I had a question for him” he lied. “Got his voicemail, I’ll call later”

Now he was lying to his wife. What kind of person was he turning into.

“Hey, Kate I have to run to the studio. I have some things I have some ideas I need to put down on paper”

“I’ll come with you”

“No that’s I won’t be long. I promise”

He kissed her. He tried to make it as passionate as the kisses were with Bliss that night. It just wasn’t there. 

He drove to the studio and when got in there he started furiously writing.

Bliss

She had no way to let Zac know what had happened to her. Her phone was crushed during the attack and she lost all of her contacts and pictures. She had been home from the hospital two days and within that time her father, Grace, and Grace’s boyfriend, Justin, had most of Bliss’ belongings packed up. Bliss was sorting things that she wanted to keep and things she wanted to throw away. She was thinking of Zac and how it was probably better this way. It kept him from possibly leaving his wife for her. She preferred not to be a home wrecker. She was content with this. The only person besides her family that needed to know what her new number was was Grace.

They started loading things in the U-Haul that evening. Her and her father would have to ride together since she was in no position to drive. The swelling in her eye had gone down. She was hobbling around on crutches, which let’s face it, was a pain in the ass with a broken arm. They ordered Pizza and she enjoyed her last evening with Grace. She could not believe she was leaving Houston tomorrow. Two years of her life were spent here. She did a lot of growing up. This apartment, which was filled with ghosts of the past two years, was the first place she had even lived alone in. Right by the fire place was where she and Zac kissed for the first time. That memory was probably the last happy memory she had in this apartment. This life was behind her now it was time to go home.

She talked her father into stopping by Lucky’s so she could say a final good-bye to the girls. They had decided to leave at midnight that night. There was no point in trying to get some sleep in an empty apartment. Especially with what had just happened a couple days prior. He was not happy about walking into the place where he knew for sure his daughter had been working, but he understood it was a big part of her life. He helped her through the door and there was Mark. Bliss did not say a word to him. He just sat there in shock looking at her in both of her casts struggling to get around. Grace helped her into the main room and all of the girls came over and gave her a hug. They were all crying, Grace was crying hardest of all.

Grace helped her walk out and said their final good-byes.

“Oh God Blissy, how am I gonna make it without you here?”

“I don’t know how I am going to make it without you in North Carolina either.”

“Well Justin and I are going to fly in for Brad and Miranda’s wedding”

“So I guess I will see you in two months then”

They embraced for the last time and Bliss’ father helped her into the U-Haul, where Annie was waiting patiently wagging her tail. They were off to North Carolina.

Chapter 8

Zac

He did not even know what time it was. He had been working on a song for hours. He had come down to the studio every evening for a week after he tried calling Bliss in his office. He checked his phone. He had about seven missed calls. Four from Kate and the other three were from Ike and Tay. His phone started buzzing again in his hands. This time it was Taylor.

“Zac, what’s going on? Kate’s been worried.”

“I have been down at the studio writing, I need you and Ike to come down here”

“Everything cool?”

“Yeah I just have a song to play for you guys.”

“Ok I’ll call Ike, you call Kate back”

Taylor hung up on him and Zac started scrolling through his phone list. Bliss’ name came up. He cringed and decided to try her again. This time the automated message came on saying that the number had been disconnected. That was it. He did not even have to have the discussion he had been dreading with her anyways. She had made the decision for him. With a heavy heart he called his wife.

“Honey, is everything ok I have been worried sick.” Kate answered the phone as if they were already mid-conversation.

“Yeah, Kate, I am really sorry. I just got lost on the song I was writing” He answered apologetically.

“That’s ok honey. When are you going to come home?” The thought of home made him wince in pain.

“Ike and Tay are going to come up here and go through the song with me.”

“Oh…Ok well I guess I will see you in the morning. I cannot wait to hear this song”

“Yeah when it’s ready.”

“Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was not long before Tay and Ike came through the doors and heard Zac belting his sad soulful ballad at the top of his lungs.

“Cecilia flowers in her hair….”

They let him finish the song and just sat in silence with him. They could feel that he was still hurting from the way this song sounded.

“So what are you going to call this song?” Ike finally broke the silence.

“Save Me From Myself”

“That whole thing is pretty deep Z” Tay added, “You wanna talk to us?”

Zac looked him and Ike like a deer in headlights. His eyes started filling up with tears. He was not sure where it came from. Maybe it was the song and how much it meant to him. Maybe it was the fact that without a word Bliss cut him out of her life. Zac started bawling. Tay and Ike just looked at each other wide-eyed.

“Ok Zac let’s go next door to the pub and talk this out. It sounds like we need to have some drinks in our hands to listen to this story” Ike grabbed Zac’s shoulder. “Come on guys”

Taylor locked the door to the studio right behind them. They stepped out into the early Tulsa summer weather. There was a storm brewing in the distance they could hear the rumbles of thunder getting louder as they headed into the bar. They sat down at their usual table and the waitress brought over their drinks. She always knew what they were going to order. She tried to pick with Zac a little bit, he was not in the mood and she could tell. So she told them to let her know when they were ready to order.

“Not that I would normally ask this, because let’s face it, usually I don’t want to know what is going on in that head of yours. But, dude, what is wrong?” Ike asked trying to make Zac laugh.

Zac took a big swig of his beer. “Kate forgave me.”

“…and what’s the problem with that?” Tay asked confused.

“She forgave me right away. She forgave me knowing that I wanted to sleep with another woman. I should be happy about this. I love her”

“So why are you not happy?” Ike questioned.

“I don’t regret the kiss. Not one bit. I should, but I don’t and if I could go back and change things, I would have made love to her. I would have made love to a woman that was NOT my wife.”

“Well you did the right thing. You stopped yourself.” Tay replied.

“I did not stop myself because I am married and I did not want to hurt Kate. I stopped myself because I did not Bliss to feel used. Kate was not even a factor in that decision. There is something wrong with that. There is something wrong with me not being ecstatic that my wife gave me another chance.”

“Have you talked to Bliss at all since you spoke to her on the bus?” Tay asked as he took another drink of his beer and motioned for the waitress to bring them another round.

“Yeah I have been wondering that myself” Ike stated curiously.

“I tried, she disconnected her phone.” Zac could feel the aching in his throat and the lump rising. He wanted to cry again, but he was holding it back. “Without even saying good-bye, just like that cut me completely off.” Zac said, he was sure his brothers could hear the shaking in his voice. “How can a woman I barely know have me so upset after just a couple of kisses and a great conversation?”

Neither Tay nor Ike could answer this. They had no idea what Zac was going through. But, they did know that Zac had never been with a woman before Kate. They had both had the opportunity to explore and to find out what it was they were looking for. It was important for Zac to save himself for marriage and he did that. But now he was suffering and neither of them knew exactly what to say or do. They ended the conversation and headed separate their ways home on the steamy after rain roads. Zac was obviously still torn and both of his brothers hated that they could not help him. The only words of wisdom Ike had for Zac was that “time heals all wounds”. Zac sure hoped so.

Bliss

They got as far as Montgomery before they decided to stop for some rest. It was 10 in the morning and Bliss could not sleep. Her dad was snoring in his bed and Annie was lying beside him snoring just as loud. Bliss chuckled What a traitor that dog is. She decided to text Grace and update her, figured she would still be asleep and was surprised to hear back from her.

Blissy, I miss you. I cannot believe you are not here anymore.

I miss you too. How was everything last night?

OMG one of the girls tore Mark a new asshole. She really let him have it.

That’s awesome.

So have you talked to Zac?

No, I did not give him my new number. Its better this way.

How? Bliss, he could be the one.

He is already someone else’s “one”.

Just because he is married to her, does not mean she is his “one”

Chapter 9

Bliss

She was sitting on her parent’s back porch looking over the Atlantic Ocean. She breathed the sweet salty air and closed her eyes listening carefully to the waves crashing against the sand. How could I have ever left this place, she thought to herself. She had really been missing out. She had been home a couple of weeks now. She had her caste removed on her foot and arm, but she still had to wear a boot sometimes. Her mother came out onto the porch and joined her.

“Sweetie it’s almost time for you to get ready for work.”

“Thanks mom”

Her mother handed her a sandwich and a glass of sweet tea. She was always feeding Bliss. She thought her daughter was too thin. Bliss had not really felt much like eating at all lately, but she obliged her mother and ate the sandwich any ways. Her mother sat with her looking at the waves. They sat in silence the whole time. It was nice to just sit there and enjoy the scenery and not have to say anything.

“Well, thanks for the sandwich oh sweet mother of mine.”

“You are welcome daughter of mine”

She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and headed inside to get ready for work. She had gotten a job at the pub down the street. With it being June it was full of tourist. This made Bliss happy, being busy kept her from thinking. If she was not thinking then there was no way in hell a certain drummer of a certain band would could enter her mind. She finished getting ready. She never wore the boot to work. She tried it once, but it kept sticking to the floor behind the bar.

She got into her car and Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to You” was on. Fuck! Bliss fought back tears, but that was an epic fail. The bar was only two miles down the Island road so she did not have to put up with that song for too long. She checked herself in the mirror before heading inside. Just in case her crying had messed up her make up.

She walked in and chunked her keys and cell phone behind the bar. It was Open mic night. She loved Open Mic night. There was one of the regulars, Ted on the stage. He was singing Fastball’s “Out Of My Head”. She laughed at how much the lyrics resonated to her life. She said hi to the girl she was releaving, Anya.

“Girl, good luck tonight, it’s been a mad house all day long.” Anya said in her Russian accent. She was an exchange student from Russia once upon a time and she married a Sailor that was stationed locally. Bliss loved hearing her Russian accent.

“Thanks for the warning” Bliss called back to her as Anya left.

Anya was right, it was a mad house. The bouncers had to break up a ton of fights. A drunk guy puked all over the bar. But, Bliss walked out with almost $250 in tips. So I guess all of that was worth it.

Zac

He finally had the finishing touches on Save Me From Myself done. They were set to record it this afternoon. Things were going better. Isaac was right time does heal all wounds. Bliss had made the decision for him and things were done. He even told Kate that he had called her to apologize to her and her number had been disconnected. Kate actually told him it was very nice of him to try to call and apologize, but he could hear the relief in her voice when she learned the phone number was a bad number. The simple fact that Zac could not contact that Bliss girl made Kate feel like she could walk on air. He could tell that after that conversation the tension that remained had disappeared.

 He met his brothers at the studio to record the ballad that he had so vigorously written in one evening. He sat at the Piano and started singing.

Lord knows I need some help, Won’t you save me from myself.

Oh I get no sleep, cuz I’m all alone…

He sang with such passion. He sang with such sorrow. He did not even realize there were tears welling up in his eyes again. Ike and Tay even felt lumps rise in their throats. Zac got his part on one take. Which did not normally happen, usually it was at least 5 takes because he would mess up and start laughing. He stepped away from the piano and walked out of the room. It had been a month and a half since everything went down. He thought that he was going to be Ok with this. But his emotions had gotten the best of him once again. He had not thought about Bliss in weeks, but this song was starting to bring her back again. He thought of that kiss and how even still he could not find the same passion in his kisses with Kate, or even the want to make love to her so bad it hurt. He needed to go to Houston. He needed to speak with her; he needed to feel her lips one more time. He needed the closure that she had robbed him of.

He strolled back into the studio. He told his brothers what was on his mind.

“I need to go to Houston”

“Is that a good idea Zac?” Ike asked worriedly.

“Yeah Z you just started acting like your old self again.” Tay exclaimed.

“I think it is a very good idea. I need closure. I need to play this song for Bliss” He answered his brothers. “I need to do this”

“Well, I don’t know about Ike, but I support you.”

“Yeah I am with Taylor. We told you on the bus that day. We support you no matter what”

“Thanks you guys, I just…I need”

“GO” Both Ike and Tay said.

Later that night Zac had a suitcase packed.

“I have to go to Dallas tonight, there is a band that I need to checkout, we are thinking of signing” Zac lied to his wife. The woman who had just gave him her trust in him once again. He was lying to her.

“Are your brothers going with you? I do not remember Natalie saying anything about it when I talked to her earlier”

“No I said it would be easier for me to go since they had kids and school stuff to do with them”

“Oh…well Ok, well how about I go with you? I would love to get away, we have not done anything like this in a while” Kate asked with a smile on her face. It broke Zac’s heart.

“No, I will only be gone two nights at the most and we already bought the ticket this afternoon”

“Ok she said sadly, I will see you in a couple of days”

Zac tried one more time to kiss her and feel the passion that he felt when he kissed Bliss. It was not there.

“I will call when I land. Love you”

Grace

It had been a hard couple of weeks to get by without Bliss. She found herself getting a little depressed, but still she went to work night after night. If the money was not so damn good she would have been outta her ages ago. She had just got off of stage when to her surprise Zac was standing right by the offstage dressing room door waiting to see her. He was kind of disguised. He was wearing a hat and sunglasses. Lol she giggled and thought about the song “I Wear My Sunglasses at Night”

“Where is she?” he asked her

“She left Zac”

“Left? Where did she go?”

“Home, wait a minute I am about to go outside for my smoke break” she said to him holding up her finger. She headed into the dressing room and came out in an oversized robe and house slippers like she was at home. “Don’t you judge me” She joked and motioned for Zac to follow her out of the back door into the alley that lead to parking lot. It was private. Grace wanted him to be comfortable and not have to worry about being seen.

She lit her cigarette. And offered one to Zac, he took it. He was not a smoker, but he felt like this story was going to make him need one. They sat on the bench outside the door.

“She would probably get upset that I am telling you this”

Zac’s face dropped.

“That night that you guys decided not to speak, she was….she was attacked that night” Zac’s face was in utter shock. “She ended up in the hospital and her dad flew in. She decided to move home to North Carolina”.

“I went to her apartment and did not see her car. I knocked on the door and some lady answered. I came straight here. I had no idea, why did she not tell me? Why did she change her number?” Zac said confused still.

“Well, whoever did this crushed her phone and she lost all of her contacts. Even if she wanted to get a hold of you she would not have been able to. She decided it was best that she could not call you and if she changed her number you would not call. She was afraid you would leave your wife for her. She thought it was better off this way”

“I have to see her, where in North Carolina is she?”

“Whoa Zac she does not want to see you, she finally just started getting better”

“Grace, I have to see her, I have to get my closure.” He pleaded. “I won’t be better until I get to say good-bye”

“Ok OK, geeze, calm down. Got a pen?”

Chapter 10

Zac

He thought about jumping a plane right to North Carolina. Right there in the middle of the night. He could not sleep; thoughts were racing in his mind. How could someone have attacked Bliss? Why did she not want me in her life? As much as he wanted to, he could not just get on a plane to North Carolina tonight. He had things he needed to take care of at home. He finally drifted off to sleep only to be awoken by the buzz of his alarm clock right away. He had actually stayed up all night. He got out of bed and got ready to head to the airport. He was going home with no closure and an even heavier heart.

Bliss

There was only two weeks until her brother’s wedding. The beach house was abuzz with planning. It was going to be an extravagant beach wedding. Her future sister law, Miranda, was the daughter of a prominent lawyer in the next county over. Her parents offered to pay for everything if Bliss’ parents agreed to host the event at their home. Today was the day she was going in for her final bridesmaid dress fitting, her mother knocked on her door. Bliss was barely able to open her eyes. The previous night of work had taken its toll on her.

“Honey, are you up?”

Bliss groaned,”uggggghhhhh”

“I brought you coffee sweetheart, get up.”

“I am only opening my eyes because of your peace offering of caffeine, not because I want to be awake.”

“Ok smartass fine. It’s 9 am and your final dress fitting is in an hour and a half. Get ready”

“No, I don’t want to.” Bliss threw the covers over her head. Her mother instantly ripped them off of her. This was something her mother used to do when she would not get out of bed for school.

“Bliss get up, I am tired of you moping around. You don’t really talk to us, all you do is work. Now I know you have been through a lot. But you need to get up, wash the sleep off of your face, and get ready to head to town. This is Miranda’s time. Please just put on a happy face and get through these next two weeks. I promise that once everything has calmed down you can return to your normal moping and I will leave you alone.”

GAWD she’s right. Bliss thought. She put her feet on the floor and grabbed the coffee from her mother and headed for the bathroom. Once she was in there and undressed she examined herself in the full length mirror. You could not even tell that a month and a half ago she was in the hospital and in pain. Her body was back to normal. There still had not been more evidence on who actually attacked her. She never saw the person, but as soon as they burst through the door she blacked out. She shook herself out of her thoughts and stepped into the shower. She was about to spend an afternoon with a bunch of spoiled rich girls. She was praying that she would just make it through the day without stabbing one.

They all were cackling like little teenagers when Bliss and her mother arrived at the dress shop. They stopped and looked at her as she walked in. Miranda threw her arms around Bliss and embraced her. “Oh Bliss I am so happy you are here, I am so excited to see you in your dress.” This surprised Bliss, her and Miranda had never really spent any time together. The simple fact that Miranda had even asked Bliss to be in her wedding party was a big surprise to her. She was not even sure Miranda knew that Brad had an older sister. “This is just so exciting; I cannot believe that in just two weeks I am going to be Mrs Bradley Jacobs.” Miranda squealed and was echoed by friends.

“Ok ladies; let’s get you in these dresses.” The shop owner, Lidy, interrupted. You could tell that the squeals annoyed her just has much as they did Bliss. Lidy handed Bliss her dress and shoes and motioned for her to head to dressing room. “Ok sug, you first!” Each girl had their own style of dress that was all the same color of coral. Bliss was so happy that she had spent some time in the sun. She normally did not look good in colors like coral but thanks to her sun-kissed skin she actually wore the color pretty well. It was a halter top dress that hugged her hips and was tight all the way down. The hem of the dress stopped about mid-thigh. This really was kind of a revealing dress for a wedding, but it made her look incredible. Bliss had not thought much about dressing up in couple of weeks. She was actually excited for the wedding now. The shoes we just to die for. They were satin material dyed the same color as the dress. They were 6 inch stilettos. Ugh she could have made love to those shoes. Good thing the wedding wasn’t actually going to be on the sand, there was a huge platform being built for the ceremony and reception so these shoes would not give her any trouble. Bliss stepped out of the dressing room. Everyone gasped at how great she looked.

“Well good gracious Bliss, you look better than me in your bridesmaid dress and I am the bride”, Miranda said excitedly.

“Miranda, this dress is amazing and these shoes”, Bliss muttered looking down.

“Well I was not sure about the shoes with your leg and all. I hope they are comfortable.”

“They are just fine.”

Miranda embraced Bliss and started crying. “I know we have not really had the time to get to know each other Bliss, but I am so excited to be part of your family. I was so scared when we found out what happened to you in Texas. Brad had to stop me from flying out there with your dad. I wanted you to know you had my support. Even with all the stuff that happened right before that. I knew you needed family and I wanted to be there for you.”

Bliss just stood there, embracing Miranda back. She was surprised to hear those words. She did not think that Miranda gave two shits about her, but to hear that come from her. Bliss instantly fell for her future sister in-law. Any ill regard she had for Miranda went right out the window. Right then she knew this was definitely the girl for her brother and she was just as excited for this wedding as Miranda was.

Zac

She was standing at the door when he arrived home, welcoming him with a kiss and even had lunch prepared for him, he did not feel like eating. He was exhausted from not having much sleep the night before and he got no sleep on the plane. The flight attendant would not leave him alone. Every time he closed his eyes she was asking if he needed something. He ate lunch anyways while listening to Kate talk. He was still off in his own little world. “So?” Kate asked him.

“So what? I’m sorry I did not hear what you said.”

“Asked about the band, are they any good?”

“Oh yeah the band, the were not bad, not what we are looking for.” He was lying again.

After lunch he unpacked his things and laid on the couch and fell asleep. Kate started doing the laundry she was cleaning Zac’s pockets out when she found the name of a town in North Carolina on a small slip of paper. She wondered what this could be. Maybe he is taking me on a trip to the beach. She thought. She slipped the piece of paper back in to his pocket and held off on the laundry. She did not want to spoil the surprise.

Zac woke up later in the afternoon. He hoped Kate had not done the laundry. He remembered the piece of paper he had written the name of Bliss’ town on. He raced to the laundry to find his pants still sitting on floor. WHEW. He grabbed the paper and stuffed into his wallet. Kate rounded the corner of the laundry room.

“What are you doing, sweetie?” she asked.

“Oh I thought that you do so much around here for me. I could at least do my own laundry.”

Liar Liar Pants on Fire. He thought to himself. He was done lying to her. He had done nothing for the past two days but lie. This had to stop. Right there in their laundry room he told her the truth. He told her how he went to Houston to get the closure and how he learned of Bliss’ attack and of how he was going to go North Carolina and see her. Kate started screaming and throwing punches into his chest. He held her tight and told her how sorry he was. “FUCK YOU, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME” “I deserve that Kate, but I also deserve closure with her.” “GET OUT. GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT”

He called Isaac as he drove towards his house. “Nikki is already in the apartment above the garage getting it set up for you” “I appreciate it Ike” “The whole family knows, Kate wasted no time letting everyone know that she kicked you out.”

Later that evening Taylor knocked on Isaac’s door. “I brought beer” he said as he walked in. “Nat is at Zac’s with Kate so I am here to be with my brothers.”

Chapter 11

Bliss

It was a week until the wedding. All of the finishing touches were on everything. The platform was being built out on the sand. Family was starting to arrive into town. Bliss was getting even more excited that her little brother was getting married. She and Miranda had become so close in the past week. And Grace and Justin were going to be coming in town tomorrow. Bliss was on cloud nine. She arrived at work for her last night until after the wedding. There were just a lot of things going on so she decided to take some time off. Anya and her said their goodbyes and everything was winding up to be a normal night. It was busy and the night was flying by. This pleased Bliss. Before she knew it, it was closing time. She cleared everyone out and started doing inventory. She offered to inventory all of the liquor and beer before she left for her time off. Since she was putting them in a bind in tourist season she figured it was the least she could do. She heard the door open and shut. She was too busy to look up from her numbers. “We’re closed”, she called out. “Well where can a guy get a cold beer around her then” She knew that voice. She turned around to see Zac standing on the other side of the bar. She was in such shock that she dropped her clipboard and pencil.

“Wha.. what are you doing here?”, she asked still shocked picking up the clipboard from the floor.

“I had to see you Bliss”, he answered her making his way around the bar.

“No, No I just got over everything” she backed away from him.

“Well, Im not” he said grabbing her. He wrapped her in an embrace and lifted her chin towards his face with his hand. She was putty in his arms. Then he kissed her. She was melting. She felt fireworks exploding between her legs. She pulled away. Not that she wanted to but …really? How in the world did he find her? She looked into his brown eyes.

“Wait, how did you find me?”

“I went to Houston to find you. Grace told me where you were”

“And how did you find me here?”

“On my way to my hotel I saw your car parked here. I figured I see if you were here.”

“That is a bit stalkerish”, she joked.

“I would stalk you to the deepest depths of the oceans” he grabbed her and pulled her close.

Bliss giggled. She was happy he had come back. All these weeks of trying to talk herself out of any feelings she felt for this man were wasted and she could not give two shits. He bombarded himself right back into her life and she was not sorry. Wife or no wife, she loved this man. And he obvisouly felt the same for her. He wrapped his arms around her waist while she continued counting.

“47,89,63, oohh 69” he joked as she was counting.

“Zac I have to finish up here, I am almost done and then I will meet you at your hotel.” 

“Promise?” he said kissing her neck.

She moaned. “Yes, yes.” She had to push him off of her. “I have to finish this. I will see you in a few minutes.”

“Ok I am staying at the Bella Luna room 500”

“See you soon”. She walked him to the door and locked it. She did not need him distracting her anymore; she had to get this done. All she could think of was him and his soft lips on her neck. She finished her work and left a thank you note to the owners and other bartenders for letting her have the week off. She got into her car and checked herself in the mirror. She looked horrid after a long night of work. The Bella Luna was only a mile or so further from her house than the bar was. It was too late to go home and get cleaned up. Dammit, I wish I looked better.

Zac

He had text his brothers and let them know he was alive and then he started getting ready for Bliss to get there. He grabbed some wine from the mini bar and wine glasses and set them by the hot tub right on his balcony. The good thing about getting the top floor was the hot tub. He sprayed himself with cologne and ran his hands through his hair a couple of times. Just as he was really starting to get nervous there was a knock on the door. He swung the door open and there was the most beautiful sight. Before she could say anything to him, he snatched her in the room and pushed her up against the door. He was kissing her all over her neck. He could feel his heart thudding louder and louder. He knew he was going to make love to her tonight and he could not wait.

“Zac, I am a mess, I must really stink for being sweaty and having liquor spilled all over me.” Bliss said as she tried to find the strength to make him stop kissing her.

“No you smell amazing! Come’mere” He took her outside on the balcony and poured her a glass of wine. He handed her the glass and poured one for himself. They sat with their legs in the hot tub and talked for a while. She told him about the night she was attacked and he shuddered at the thought again. She told him about the wedding and how close that she had become with her future sister in-law. Then she asked him what was going on with him. He told her that he had been heartbroken when he called her and her phone was disconnected. He could not believe that she would cut him out like that. He then told her that Kate had forgiven him in the beginning, but that he could not stay away from her and that he had gone to Houston to find her and at the very least get some closure. When he came home Kate found the piece of paper with her town’s name on it and he was tired of lying to her. He told her his marriage was over.

“I’m sorry Zac” she looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Im sorry I just cut you out like that. I thought I was doing the right thing.” He felt a lump rise in his throat. The sight of her crying made him want to cry with her. He embraced her and told her she did nothing wrong. “For all we know, I would not be here right now holding you if it would have happened any other way.”

He could not take it anymore, he needed her, he needed to feel her body against his. He kissed her once more. Deeper than he ever had before, he was so hungry for her. He pulled her up and took her inside. They could not keep their hands off of each other. Still kissing, Bliss un-did his belt buckle and he took her shirt off. Then her pants, his pants and shirt, before he knew it they were completely naked he stepped back and took a look at her. She was so perfect and so beautiful. He lowered her on to the bed. He could not believe this was happening. He positioned himself on top of her carefully. He kissed her neck again and down between her breasts. “Please?!” Bliss begged him. She moaned as he slid inside of her. She felt like heaven. She dug her nails into his back and he could feel her legs wrap around his back. So he went deeper and deeper. He gave it everything he had and in a few minutes he could feel her start to tense up. She was close, but so was he. When she finally came it pushed him over the edge. He collapsed on the bed next to her, they were both out of breath and sweaty. He had never made love like this before.