Brian’s POV
“Amy? Hey… it’s Zack.”

I heard my best friend make small talk with the woman who got my head spinning. A – fucking – gain. I thought I was done with it, she wanted to get rid of me and I was fine with it. Really. Ah who the fuck am I kidding, as soon we were back in close proximity of each other, every resolution was out of the door. The minute she accepted my reassurance that everything would be okay, she had melted into my body and had made me give in. There was no other way for me than to kiss her. And kiss her, and push her to the couch, and to kiss her, or better said, full on make out with her.

That woman was driving me crazy in so many ways. Crazy in lust when I laid on top of her, crazy with anger when she pushed me away. Even though she picked a fight with me, giving every word I said a different meaning than I had intended, I wanted her… So, so bad.

There was no doubt we would have been in her bed right now if Zack hadn’t called. I wasn’t sure if I should be thanking him for that interruption or if I should rip his head off when I would see him again.

I sighed and tried to focus on the conversation that was going on between Amy and Zack. They seemed to have finished their ‘How Are You”’s, including Amy’s fake answer of being totally fine.

“Amy, come on, we agreed to be honest with each other” I let out a smirk, Zack immediately called her bluff. It was funny, how Amy was an open book. Most of the times at least. I wish she was all of the time, because right now it seemed like I could read her all the time, except for the times when it really mattered.

Amy was fidgeting with her hands, and kept looking from the phone on the table to me and back.
“You need me to leave or something?” I snarled.
“Brian” Zack’s warning tone was clear, but I chose not to hear it.
“Well? Are you gonna talk or should I talk to Zack alone? I mean, if you are not going to say anything, I can better take Zack of speakerphone”
“Maybe you should take me off speaker, but let Amy take the phone”
“Shut up, Baker, if you have anything to say to Amy, you can say it when I can hear it.”

I heard Zack sigh as I crossed my arms over my chest, sending a challenging look to Amy. She send me a look back that made me wonder how long it would take before she would erupt in anger, but then Zack spoke again.
“Amy, ignore Brian, tell me what’s going on?”

All the anger disappeared from her eyes. What the hell was that? How did he do that? Maybe she should have married fucking Baker!
“There is press everywhere Zack, I can’t go to work, I can’t go to my home. We had to ask a real old lady to go out of her way to get into the building! I can’t handle this, I’m just plain Amy, why don’t they just leave me alone?” her voice build on the panic again and I saw her staring at the phone as if all the answers would magically appear.

“First of all.. You are never ever just plain Amy” I heard Zack’s smooth voice butter her up and I let out a frustrated groan, could he just… not?
“Listen to me, I know it’s all overwhelming, I get that. I mean, we are confronted with those vultures almost daily, but I’m still not used to them butting into my business. But the thing is. We do know how to handle them now. We can help you Amy, you just have to let us.”

Amy shot a quick look at me and then back at the phone “What do I need to do to get rid of them? I never wanted this.”
“We need to make a war plan. That way we can control what’s happening. We have people for that”
“Let me guess… that Larry guy?” Amy asked smartly. Zack chuckled lightly, before he continued
“Yes, that Larry guy. He knows how to handle these things, Amy, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything”

I huffed. This was exactly what I had told her too. So Zack could think he had the power, making her do everything he wanted, but she would just say ‘no’, just like she had done to me. There was no way she would go with the plan, she was so damn sure on that part. Imagine my surprise when she actually sounded like she was considering the plan as she continued.
“And there is no way you can just do that from here? Instead of me having to fly over there?” she sounded defeated, but accepting.
“It really would be better if you would come here, sweetie, we have everything we need over here, and imagine how much fun it’s going to be. I can show you around town, show you my house, my company, you will love it!”

What the fuck was he doing?! I know Matt had asked me if I would be bothered by any of my friends asking Amy out, but it went a little far as of asking her when I was listening in. Hell, it went way too far with him sweet talking her while she was still my wife, had he gone crazy? I wanted to open my mouth, but Zack already spoke. Even that he took from me. Asshole!
“Think about it Amy, please, it would help and seriously I would love to see you again. Talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay” Amy replied, lost in thought and Zack ended the call.

I opened my mouth to give Amy a piece of my mind, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Before I could stop her, Amy had pulled the door open
“I told you not to open-”

“Hey babe” Sara pulled Amy in a tight hug, they were silently exchanging information, but there was no way I could hear what they were saying

Matt pushed past me into the apartment “And?”
“Don’t even ask” I stared at Amy and Sara, who had both sat down on the couch, continuing their barely audible talking to each other. I looked next to me and saw Matt staring at the girls too, or rather said… one girl. His eyes never left Sara, he looked like he was about to eat her whole.

“What is going on?” He whispered as soon as he noticed me looking at him.
“I could ask you the same thing” I shot back. Matt’s brow shot up and then a smirk came over his face “She still wants me”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed, amazed by the level of ass Matt was bringing now. “I’m in shit so deep I can’t even smell the flowers if I wanted to and you… you are only here to get your claws on Sara again? Thanks for being my fucking friend, Sanders, thanks”
Matt smiled at me, completely unfazed by the sarcasm dripping of my voice “You will thank me in a minute, a real thank you, without the sarcasm”
“You wish” I muttered as Matt moved to the armrest of the couch where Amy and Sara were sitting. Sara jumped up as if the seat was burning her ass. Seems like Matt had a wrong idea of what Sara wanted from him. Sara stood on the other side of the room, opposite of the couch and leaned against the side table.

“So Amy, what do you do for a living?” I looked at my best friend as if he lost his mind, what the fuck was he doing?
“I’m a paralegal” I wasn’t the only one who thought he lost his mind, the girls were looking at him weird too.
“Are you handling your own cases too?”
Amy hesitated, but answered anyway “I didn’t until now, I recently got my first independent case, not that I had the chance to work on it yet” she let the sentence trail. Sara seemed to have figured out where Matt wanted to go. Lost her mind too, apparently.
“When did you hear about that case?”
Amy sighed “The morning we left the Bahamas, okay? James called when we were getting ready and packed our stuff”

I snapped my look towards her, that was when she interrupted our shower to talk to her boss. Was that why she was so happy? Because she got her first case? And that asshole boss swept right in to talk about the divorce huh? This was fucking great.

Matt continued “What kinda case is it, Amy?” His smile had grown face wide and I just couldn’t understand why, did he got off on my misery? That was until Amy answered and everything all of a sudden clicked.

“It’s a divorce, okay?! How ironic, right? I’m in the middle of getting one myself and the first case I get assigned to, the first case I had been waiting so long for, is a fucking divorce. Some way for fate to pull my leg”

Sara’s POV
My eyes were on Brian the minute Amy spoke those last few words, I wanted to see what his reaction would be like if the coin would drop. I hadn’t realized what Matt was trying to accomplish when started questioning Amy, but at the second question I finally got it.

Brian rushed over to Amy and sat next to her, forcing her to turn and face him.
“You weren’t talking about our divorce that morning?”
“You heard me?!”
He actually blushed. That arrogant man blushed! And that other arrogant man, still on the arm rest, looked awfully pleased with himself. I quickly averted my eyes back to Amy and Brian again.
“Yes I heard that conversation, I jumped to conclusions, I’ve been an ass”

They were staring at each other and Brian pushed a strand of hair out of Amy’s face. It seemed like they had totally forgotten the other people in the room and I took my eyes of them, it almost seemed to intimate to look at.

I was trying to look everywhere but Matt’s side. I still felt his kisses on my lips, his hands on my body. He didn’t let me finish, he just took what he wanted and there was nothing I could do about it. It was a bad idea to let anything happen between us, I had a hard time forgetting about him as it was, no need to complicate things any further. However, all my reserves went out of the window as soon as he was close, I just couldn’t hold back. He didn’t want to hold back, he wanted me, probably just as much as I wanted him, but he acted on it, while I was trying to keep a safe distance between us. There was no way I was letting anything happen between us, we were done, no matter what power he thought he still had over me. I wouldn’t give him a chance to get to the “next opportunity”, I would never be “his” anymore, I just had to keep my distance, sit this one out until he left again. It was for the best.

Amy sat on the couch, looking completely helpless. Brian and her seemed to have a conversation that went on silently, while his one hand was caressing her face, while the other held hers in her lap. He seemed different, he seemed to want to take care of Amy. I still wasn’t fond of the guy, but he seemed to have the power to calm my best friend down, and if he would take care of her, I could maybe.. maybe forgive him his words.

Amy’s expression changed, her face got some kind of acceptance over her, as if she was starting to realize there was not much else to do then go with Brian, try to see if that Larry guy could maybe solve this mess. It would be worth a shot, and I was sure Amy would like to see where the guys live, where Brian had his life, even though she would never admit. But I knew her well enough to know she was worrying about everything else too, her house, her job. Hopefully I could do something for her to take some of those sorrows away, by staying here, keep an eye on things.

When Amy’s gaze found mine, I knew things would go differently. She stared at me, looking for some kind of guidance, but I couldn’t give her that, she needed to make this decision herself. Brian didn’t move, his hand still on hers, studying her face. He was trying to figure out what her answer would be, and to be honest, I was pretty curious myself.

“Okay, I’ll come, but there are some things I need to arrange first” she looked at Brian and I saw relief wash over his face.
“But the plane-“ Brian started, but quickly stopped his sentence. Apparently he got Amy better than I thought, I was certain that if he pushed her now she would retract again. So one point for the asshole. “Okay” he said softly and relaxed, never breaking contact with Amy. Shit, if he would continue like that, I would have to find another name for him.

“And I have at least one condition” her eyes redirected to me.
No Amy, don’t do that to me, please. I knew what she was going to say, but I was praying to God she wasn’t. I couldn’t.
“I want you to come Sara, I can’t do this without you” she begged me
“Amy… please don’t” I begged her softly, knowing she would hear my words perfectly fine. Her eyes were full of regret, but she needed me more than she was sorry for me.

She got up from the couch and walked over to me and pulled me into the kitchen.
“I need you Sara, I need you to come”
“I can’t Ames. I can stay here, watch your house while you are away, we can call as much as you want, we can skype every night, I will be at your every demand, but please, please, please don’t let me come”
Amy looked at me curiously “What happened? Why are you begging me?”
I blushed and looked at my hands. I spoke to Amy this morning, when she was on her way to work, but so much had happened in between.

“Matt kissed me, when he got to my house. He pecked my lips, just shortly, like he had never done anything else, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Him coming home, kissing me and-“ I couldn’t even continue that sentence. The make out session against the restaurant wall had been hot as hell and had totally turned me on, but I could try to have sex without feelings. I had a one night stand or two. But that small peck was so much more than lust, it was affection and it almost felt like a normal relationship. I couldn’t do this, not with knowing he would leave me again, not with knowing there was nothing more between us than just a fling.

Amy was still silent, letting me sort this thing through in my head, she knew I wasn’t done.

“And then we went out to lunch, and he kissed me again, panties dropping, hot as hell, arousing making out, and then again in the car when we arrived here. Oh, and to top everything off, he chased Marc away”
“Eh, what?!”

I gave her the short version of everything that had happened today and she was staring at me with open mouth.
“Holy shit”
“Yes, you can say that again. So I’m begging you, please don’t ask me to come with you, I can’t be around him”

Amy was debating herself, I could see the wheels in her mind turning.
“Do you have new on-site assignments?”
“Why? Does that change anything, because if so, I’m totally willing to lie”
“No, it doesn’t change anything. I know I’m selfish, I really do and I’m sorry, but I need you around. I need someone in my corner, I need someone who will be there for me and just for me, someone who will always back me up. You are that for me Sara, and you already know everything, know Brian. I’m really sorry for asking you this, but I need you by my side.”

I sighed deeply, I knew I wouldn’t say no to her.
“Okay”
Amy pulled me in a tight embrace before she backed away just enough to look at me intently “I can promise you one thing, I will need you by my side always, I will do everything in my power to keep enough distance between you and Matt, okay? That is my promise to you”

“I appreciate that Amy, but I saw you two looking at each other, that will only be a matter of time before you are in his bed again. He seemed different, so attentive”
“We kissed too” a blush came over her face “No, we made out, foreplay making out, I was barely able to stop him before things getting out of hand”

I grabbed her hand before we walked back into the living room
“Ah shit, Ames, we are so damn screwed” I sighed, receiving a confirming hum from my friend.

The second I entered the room, Matt’s eyes seemed to draw me like a magnet. He saw everything he needed to know and looked at me with a smug look. He had planned on this, he knew I would never be able to resist him if I was around him much longer. His earlier promise still echoing through my head, I knew this whole staying away from him mission was doomed to fail before it had even started.

Notes

Goodmorning, it´s Christmas week!

So, we need your opinion on something... we were thinking of cutting back on the updates for the holidays, seeing you are all probably not even around to read the updates, because of the stuffing your stomachs and unwrapping presents ;-)

Let us know what you think <3