Valentine's Day Challenge
A/N: Not mine, not making any money. This has been kicking around in my head for awhile. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of a longer fic, so I don't know where it's going to end up. Thanks for reading.
Here it is again. The most hated holiday of the single girl. Valentine's Freakin' Day. Hooray. Tonight is about love and romance. Goody. I currently have a severe shortage of both in my life. Oh, I remember Valentine's Days that I actually looked forward to. Fool. It's just a stupid, sentimental, overly commercialized reminder that my life sucks.
My name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm a loser at love. Gee, that would make a great opening line at a Loveless Anonymous meeting, wouldn't it? It wasn't always like this. In the not too distant past, I found myself locked in a triangle with two incredibly hot guys. I actually had the purported problem of choosing between them! Ha, so why am I here tonight ALONE? Well, I guess I should start at the beginning of my sad, sad tale of woe…
Four months ago my on-again-off-again boyfriend, Joe Morelli (Bachelor #1), and I finally called it quits. For good this time. It didn't end badly, it just ended. We were just in two really different places in our lives, and wanted fundamentally different things in our near futures. We didn't see each other much for the first couple of months, busy with the holidays and all, but last week we ran into each other at Pino's and ended up having dinner together. It was good to see him. I'll always love Joe, and I know he loves me too. It just wasn't the forever kind of love that marriages are made of. But we have a history together, genuine affection and a shared upbringing and set of basic values. We're going to give this friendship thing a real try.
He told me he's been seeing a woman he met at the gym, for the past two months. It's looking like it might turn into something serious. I told him I was happy for him. I really am. I thought I might be a little wistful to find out that he's moved on, but I'm not. I guess that just proves it was the right thing for us to go our separate ways. That's not to say I'm not just a little jealous. Not of the new girl in his life. Of Joe. He's happy and in a new relationship. I'm unhappy and still alone. Damn.
That brings me to Bachelor #2. Ranger. Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire. Cuban Sex God. My Friend and Mentor. Man of Mystery. Batman. Take your pick. Ranger is truly a mystery to me. He's been my friend and mentor for the past several years, yet I know almost nothing about him. He is private to a fault. Sometimes he lets his guard down just a little and I get a glimpse of the man inside, but not often. These little tidbits of him taunt me, make me want more, crave more. Sometimes it seems like enough, sometimes I think I'll never get enough.
We've shared some good times and some bad times, some hot kisses in the alley by the office, and one, glorious night together. That night will live with me for the rest of my life. It was incredible. It was hot. It was the best sex of my life. Ranger had told me once that spending the night with him would ruin me for all other men. He was right about that. Unfortunately, the next morning he sent me packing back to Joe. What's up with that?
Ranger also once promised me that if Joe stayed out of my bed for too long, he'd be back in it. Or at least at the time it seemed like a promise. Now is just seems like lip service. Ranger's lip service…yummy! Oh, but where was I? Joe and I have been broken up for four months, so where's Ranger? Not in my bed, that's for darn tootin' sure.
Ranger doesn't do relationships. Ranger doesn't do stupid things like marriage or babies. Ranger's love only comes with a condom, not a ring. Oh, I know he loves me. In his "own way," whatever that means. He actually told me that. "In his own way." He didn't elaborate, and I don't know if I could have stood to know the details behind that statement. Because the truth is, I love him. Not just that, but I'm in love with him. Maybe even in that forever kind of way that Joe and I lacked. I don't pull those feeling out to examine them very often, though. I prefer to live in Denial. Safer there, less likely to get your heart ripped out. Besides, it's kind of a moot point. Like I said, Ranger doesn't do relationships.
The week after Joe and I broke up, Ranger stopped by my apartment early one morning. He had already been for a run, but I was still in bed. I hadn't seen him since Joe and I called it quits, but I figured the gossip mill that is the Burg had probably filled him in. Besides, I knew that Lula had told Tank.
"Looking a little scary there, Babe," Ranger had teased once I had woken up enough to be aware I had company.
"I just stopped in to tell you I've got a job, and I'll be out of touch for a couple of months. The guys are there if you need backup. Just call them. Stay safe."
Before I could hardly get my wits about me, he leaned in, kissed me soundly, and was gone. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. It wasn't really the development I had been hoping for. Let's just say I was hoping more along the lines of, "Gee, Babe, I've rethought my decisions on relationships, and you're the only one for me!" Ha, that's a good one. Still makes me smile, bitterly, even now.
As much as I hated to see him go, though, I was used to Ranger being gone for long periods of time. It's what he does. He goes off to save the world, and then he comes back to life as we mortals know it. Only this time, when he came back, everything was different. Everything was wrong. Everything was terribly, terribly wrong.
TBC