He knew the moment she stepped into the crowded bar. The second she opened the door it was as if all the air went out as she came in.

He didn't have to look to see if it was her. The prickles on the back of his neck, the sudden heat of his skin told him, it was her. But he looked all the same, turning slowly on the barstool to face her with a casual, easy smile plastered on his face.

His thoughts of late had been focused on her more than normal and that was saying a lot. It seemed they couldn't have a conversation anymore without it feeling as if they were circling each other, silently debating which of them would pounce first.

Tonight, he was fairly certain his patience had run out. Tonight, he would be the one to pounce.

He kept telling himself that he didn't want her like this. That he wanted so much more from her than a heated one night encounter.

But she was leaving for Washington for three months the day after tomorrow. If he didn't have her now, on whatever terms he could get her, he wasn't sure he'd survive the summer without her.

He was like a junkie in search of a fix. She was his drug. Intoxicating, she had always, always been so intoxicating to him, better than any drug or liquor he had ever tried.

She hadn't noticed him yet, having gone directly to the table where her sisters were sitting. His smile dropped instantly. He was discouraged by the fact that he didn't seem to have as much of an affect on her as she did on him. Maybe the whole thing was entirely one-sided. Maybe he imagined the hidden glint of something lustful in her eyes the last time they'd talked.

He remembered how highly charged the atmosphere had been during their discussion of her plans for the summer. He remembered how extraordinarily hard it had been to keep from grabbing her and making her his again, right there on the pool table of the ' Lite and Easy'.

He was just so very tired, tired of the fight, tired of the waiting, tired of the war that raged inside him every time he saw her.

He knew it was just a matter of time before she was back in his arms. But the wait was killing him and he needed it to end, here tonight, right at that moment.


She felt his eyes on her the minute she stepped inside and it raised goosebumps along her skin. Her heart began pounding in her chest the instant she became aware of him. She wanted nothing more than to go straight to him, but Ashleigh had diverted her, calling her over the table where she sat.

His eyes hadn't left her. She knew that with absolute certainty.

She was leaving in two days. Granted three months wasn't that long. Ninety days, that's all it would be. Ninety days and they could resume their dance once more. It wasn't so very long. But she wasn't sure she would survive without him even for that long.

He had been so volatile the last time they spoke when she asked his advice about Max and her summer. It was so unlike Cappie. There was something going on in his head lately that she wasn't sure of and it was something big. She could sense if every time they were around each other. It was as if the air instantly heated whenever they were close.

She took a deep breath and turned towards him expecting to meet his usual smile, but her eyes widened in surprise when what she was met with was far less than smiling.

She squirmed in her seat as he undressed her from across the room. His gaze raked over her already heated skin, causing even more goosebumps as it lingered on her breasts, her hips and then her legs.

His expression caused her to glance down at her chest, to make sure she wasn't accidentally exposing herself to the entire bar. But whatever he was seeing was in his own mind she realized with a sigh of relief and something else that felt suspiciously like expectation when it caused her stomach to flop.

She met his eyes for an instant, gazes locking from across the crowded room and everything and everyone faded around her. He was the only other person in the room, nothing else existed besides him and his weighty stare.

Then Ashleigh nudged her, abruptly breaking the spell.

" Excuse me." She told her, though she didn't sound even a little bit apologetic.

" It's okay." She assured her as she finally pulled her eyes away from his.

She watched him out of the corner of her eyes as he got up and stalked out of the room.

And suddenly she could breath again.

" Could you maybe explain to me what that was all about ?" Ash asked her.

She nodded dazedly. " No, I can't."

" Well are you going to follow him or just here like a lump ?" Her friend nudged her again.

" You think I should follow him ?" She asked, finally coming back to her surrounding.

Ashleigh brought her glass down on the table loud enough to cause those around them to jump. "Damn it, Casey, enough." She all but shouted. " How long is this going to go on ? I can't take it anymore. This is ridiculous."

Casey shrank back in her seat. " What's ridiculous ? Why are you yelling at me ?"

" Evan, I could sort of see that. Cappie screwed things up big time in freshman year. But this thing with Max was cute for a minute, but it got old fast. You know exactly where you belong and I'm done holding your hand and waiting on you to figure it out."

She crossed her arms over her chest. " I don't know what you're talking about." She insisted.

" Do you really enjoy being miserable ? Is that what all this is about ? Is that why you haven't already flown out that door ?"

"No, I don't like being miserable. I'm not miserable." She protested.

" Yes, you are." One of the other girls at the table interjected and she and Ashleigh both rewarded her with a withering stare.

" See," Ash said, turning back, " Even people that hardly know you can see it."

" And you think what I need to make me happy is Cappie because that worked out so well last time." She answered sarcastically.

" I know this much," She retorted firmly. " If a guy was looking at me like he was just looking at you, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to my friends about it."

She hesitated for a moment, letting her words really sink into her brain. Then she grabbed her purse and gave her a quick, one-handed hug. " Thank you." She said as she pulled away and headed towards the exit.

" I want details." Ashleigh called after her as the door closed behind her.


He had expected her to follow him. He figured if she was feeling even a fraction of what he was feeling there was no way she could fight it.

He glanced at his watch and his stomach plummeted to his toes.

She wasn't coming. He was leaning against her car waiting on her like some kind of fool.

Well, he was done being Casey's fool. He had to be done. He couldn't take it anymore.

There had to be something he could do to get her out of his mind. Nothing worked, women, booze, games, nothing helped him forget.

He spotted a streetlight shining it's obnoxiously bright light down on the sidewalk below it a few steps away.

That's what he needed. That was something he hadn't tried yet. Maybe pain would quell the burning in his chest long enough for him to be able to think straight.

He was angry. He couldn't make himself not be. She ruined everything. His relationship with Rebeca, his futile attempts at meaningless one night stands, which he indulged in an absurd attempt to maybe, just maybe find a spark of what they had shared. She was always there, always ruining everything.

He couldn't go on like this anymore. He couldn't keep up this obsessive, destructive indulgence towards her.

He wanted to hit something. He needed to release some of the rage built up inside him. He had to. He would find no peace until he did. The streetlight seemed the most likely target. He knew he couldn't possibly hurt it. He was hoping he wouldn't be so lucky. He wanted to pain. He wanted to feel anything at all other than the hunger he felt for her.

He drew back his fist, ready to strike.

" Cappie !" Her voice shouted behind him. Here, she was ruining even this attempt at peace.

He spun on her, fist still raised in the air and she stopped before reaching him, her steps faltering at the look on his face.

" What are you doing ?" She asked, taking another step towards him gingerly.

" Go away." He hissed. " Just leave me alone."

" I don't want to leave you alone." She answered with another step.

His hand dropped to his side but stayed in the tight fist, the one that grew tighter with every word she spoke. " And that's what its all about, right ?" He spat, seeing her standing there had only served to increase the rage. " It's always only about you and what you want."

" W..What ?" She stammered, putting on a great act of pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

" I don't care what you want anymore, Casey. Just go away and leave me alone." He repeated.

" What are you talking about ? Why are you so angry at me ? I haven't done anything to you." She protested, staying just out of his reach.

He flinched as the thunder rumbled in the distance and wondered for the briefest second if the storm was coming their way. " You haven't done anything to me ?" He asked, mockingly, as he returned his attention to her. " You twist me around, keep me tied in these knots I can't get out of. Everything is all about you and I can't take it anymore."

The rain began as he shouted the last words at her.

" How can you blame me for that ? I've tried to stay away from you. All I've ever wanted was to just move on and get free of you." She answered, at the same volume.

His shirt was sticking uncomfortably to his chest, his hair getting wetter and wetter as the moments ticked by. The rain was no longer just rain, it was a downpour and here they were, standing on the sidewalk outside of Dobler's, shouting at each other while they continued to become drenched.

He dropped his voice in volume, if not in tone and glanced over the tops of the buildings across the street where a flash of lightning lit up the night sky. " You're just like this storm." He told her, then thought better of it. " No, you're worse, you're like a tornado that blew through my life leaving so much pain and destruction, I'll never recover."

" And you think you're any better. Every relationship I've ever had ultimately ended because of you. You are always there, threatening whatever small amount of happiness I manage to gleam out of my miserable existence." She countered.

He looked at her for a long moment. Her hair hung down on her shoulders, throughly soaked and much darker from the water. Her black blouse clung to her, acting like a second skin as it contoured to every one of her luscious curves. Her face was wet and he couldn't really tell whether it was from tears or the rain and frankly he was glad of that. He had never been able to stand to see her cry.

" Why are we doing this to ourselves ?" He asked in a small, uncertain voice. " Why are we torturing ourselves like this ?"

She shook her head and before he could adjust his stance to fully accommodate her, she was in his arms.

" I don't know." She sobbed into his shoulder. " But I want it to stop. I need it to stop."

He regained his balance quickly and drew her into him. Then he looked down into her face which was staring at a spot on his shirt as if it were the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

He cradled her jaw in his hands and raised her eyes to his. " Tell me what you want, Casey."

She shook her head. " No, you're right. It is always about me. You tell me what you want this time."

He swallowed past the lump of emotion so heavy and thick in his throat he was afraid he'd be unable to force words past it. " You." He croaked. " It's always been you. Always will be. I've never wanted or needed anything else."

" Then please, " She said after wetting her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. " Make this stop."

His lips were on hers before she could say another word and he swallowed her squeak of surprise. His hands were at her waist, hauling her as tightly to him as he could manage, crushing her soft curves into the hard planes of his body.

One of her hands moved to his hair, tangling in the drenched mess and pulling it almost desperately, the same way she was holding to his shoulder. Her fingernails dug into his bicep nearly to the point of drawing blood.

" I need you so badly." She whispered as they parted for long enough to draw in air.
Then she was on him again, devouring him, biting at his bottom lip, teeth grating against teeth.

He yanked against the neck line of her shirt, frantically trying to reach the flesh of her neck and chest.

She pulled back from him, taking a step backwards and removing herself from his frenzied attack.

He reached for her again in a determined bid to not let her walk away this time.

She shook her head and reached for his hand. " We have to get out of here." She explained to his pained expression.

She pulled him over to her car before running to the other side.


She had no idea how she made to the Kappa Tau house. She could only be thankful that Dobler's wasn't that far away. His hands were still on her, his mouth busily nipping, kissing and licking at what ever skin he could reach from the passenger seat.

She almost lost all control when his hand brushed down her chest and his thumb purposefully brushed over her nipple.

She hissed in a breath of air through clenched teeth and increased her speed to something nearing dangerous.

He was out of the car before she even came to a complete stop and seconds after the engine stopped he had her door flung opened and was pulling her out of her seat.

As soon as the door slammed behind her, he was on her again, pressing her back into the cold metal as he plundered her mouth his tongue.
She found the bottom of his shirt and snaked her hand underneath it, reveling in the feel of his muscles as she slid her fingertips up his sides and around his back.

" Cappie." She breathed into his hungry mouth.

" God, Casey. " He groaned as he ground his arousal into her inner thigh.

" Get a room." A voice called from somewhere behind her and she thought maybe she should recognize it, but at the moment Cappie was all she could think about.

The man seemed to have reminded Cappie of where they were and without warning he scooped her up into his arms, putting one arm under her knees and one around her back.

Then he hurried them into the house.

She reached out to opened the front door for him, not knowing how they were managing to stay upright since he was more concerned with sucking at the tender skin of her neck than watching where they were going. He stumbled once on the steps, but righted himself quickly and trudged ahead.

Her fingers found the cold metal of the doorknob, but before she could turn it, it was already opening.

Wade stood on the other side and she caught his nodding approval out of the corner of her eyes as she was propelled up the staircase in front of her. She wasn't sure, too lost in the feelings his mouth was creating inside her, but she thought she heard a round of cheers from the bottom step as the front door shut behind them.

A loud clap of thunder roared through the house as they crashed into the his bedroom and he slammed the door shut behind him with his foot.

He didn't stop moving until she was laying in the middle of his bed with his body covering hers.

She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back as he made to bring his mouth back to hers.

" We're soaking wet. We're going to get the bed all wet." She told him as a look of confusion crossed his face.

He pushed himself into her hands and forced his lips down to hers. " I don't care." He mumbled before kissing her again.

She pulled back again. " You will later when we have to sleep in it."

His eyes sparkled as he leaned his weight against his hands which were resting on either side of her head. " We ?"

She opened her eyes in surprise. " Yeah, we. Is that okay ?"

He sat back quickly as if her words had shocked him. Straddling her with one knee on either side of her own, he reached a hand out to brush a strain of hair away from her face. " Of course, it's okay."

His stare was intense as it moved from her face, down her throat and rested on her chest as it heaved for much needed breath. Then he glanced back at her face again and abruptly sprung from the bed, turning his back on her as he began to pace.

" I can't do this." He muttered under his breath and Casey felt her stomach plummet. She sat up, futility trying to arrange her wet clothing to cover most of her body. The feel of rejection stabbed into her chest like a bullet from a gun.

" What ?" She asked in a shaking voice. " What's wrong ?"

He turned to her so quickly it made her dizzy for a moment. " I can't do this like this." he elaborated.

" What do you mean, ' like this' ?" She prompted him, trying to understand his sudden turn around.

She had moved to the side of the bed. He fell to his knees in front of her and took her hands in his as he looked up at her.

She let herself fall into the sparkling blue pools of his eyes. Like a crystal blue lake on the hottest day of the year, she thought musingly, though she had no idea where the idea had come from.

" I can't have you for just one night, Casey. I can't do that to myself. It'll kill me to let you go tomorrow, just like it did last time. Only now, I'm not sure there's enough of my soul left for you to take with you out that door."

She gasped as his earnest words reached her ears and untangled her hands from his so she could cup his face in her palms. " I'm not going anywhere." She whispered. " This is where I want to be. Where I've always wanted to be. I was just too blind to realize it until now."

" But you are." He whispered, as he turned his head and placed a light kiss to her palm as if he couldn't resist tasting her. " If not tomorrow, then the day after. Do you really think two days will be enough to last us the entire summer. I love you and I'm tired of fighting it. I can't fight it anymore. It's too much."

She thought about what he was saying and opened her mouth to protest. But he stopped her with a finger to her lips. " If you are about to say anything about not going to Washington for the summer, stop right there. That isn't even an option." He told her in a tone that said he wasn't about to argue the point.

She smiled and kissed the tip of his finger where it rested against her lips. " I was going to say that I love you, too and I'm tired of fighting it, too. I need you. I need you with me. So," She paused purely for dramatic effect. " Come with me."

He blinked. " To Washington ?"

" Yes, to Washington, or where ever else life takes me. I just want to know that you'll be with me." She answered sincerely.

" Always. " He whispered as he raised up and kissed her softly. " As long as you want me."

She pulled him to her and clung to his shoulders and she eased them back to the bed. When he was covering her body with hers again, she smiled up at him. " Forever, it is then."

The End

A/N : Just a little thing here. We, as authors, really, really do live to hear that you like our work. I've noticed in a lot of my other stories I have plenty of favorite author and story alerts but not many reviews. Please, if you liked it, hated it. Agreed or disagreed. If what you've read touched you in any way, please review.