A/N: First, thank you for reading and giving this work an opportunity! Readers who have sampled my other works know where my inspiration lies. So please, rest assured that my KTZLF'ing continues. ;)

Second, I love hearing from readers - good, bad or indifferent, your feedback serves to push me and make my writing better. So please, let me know what you think. Please feel free to review, p.m., FaceBook, or even email me if you'd like. I'd like to hear/see what you think!

Third, this chapter is just a taste of this story. More is posted already on FanFic's sister site, FictionPress dot com. If you like the prologue, please look for more on that website. Search for me, adcgordon, or this story, Ready Or Not, for continuing chapters. I willprobably post the story in its entirety here on FanFic once it is completed and posted on the other site.

Last but not least, A HUMONGOUS thank you to cncgrad for your continued support, ideas, and pulling me in from the ledge numerous times! Also to jerrysgirl – you are ever present in my thoughts and heart. And to Addy, Bluebell and others already peeking at my FicPress works, bless you for attempting to keep up with me! LOL ;)

Now…enough said…

READY OR NOT - PROLOGUE

The 24 year old actor sat at a corner table on the patio of the bistro where he had instructed another young man to meet him. He took long deep breaths as he situated his chair behind the shadow of the table's umbrella. The sandy-haired man focused on nothing in particular and graciously accepted the bottle of beer that the waiter delivered to him with a simple, unsmiling "Thank you".

He had a lot on his mind. He had a dark haired young woman in his thoughts; she, plus this 21 year old that he wanted to speak with, had occupied a majority of his time for the past month – the past three weeks in particular.

"Mr. Alexander?" One of the restaurant's managers approached him quietly but almost excited as he stretched out his hand.

Zac looked at the older fellow and ran a single finger over his chin, raking against the slight stubble that had formed there after a couple of days without shaving. He didn't stand, but held his hand out to the manager and gave a firm shake.

"I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable. Nate will be your waiter. If you need anything you just let him know," the man gave a friendly smile watching Zac Alexander's facial features relax for a split second.

"I am expecting someone. If…Nate…can give me about 15 minutes before getting our order I'd appreciate it." The young actor didn't like to take advantage of being recognized by management – most of the time. Today, however, he figured he'd use it to his benefit.

"Yes, Sir, that will not be a problem," the manager insisted. With a nod he turned and walked straight toward the college-aged boy who was basically told to be Mr. Alexander's personal servant during his time at their small location that afternoon.

Zac again took in a deep breath and looked out at the traffic moving down the street. He lifted the beer bottle to his lips and took a slow drink. He held the bottle between his palms for a couple of minutes just spinning it back and forth as he tried to clear his mind and prepare the words he wanted to say to his guest if he accepted the invitation.

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A short ten minutes passed before an additional shadow was cast over the small outdoor table. Zac looked up into the face of the taller, blond-haired man. The two looked at each other without any sort of greeting or hint of familiarity. No words were spoken, no gestures offered, until Zac finally used his head to point to the second chair at the table.

"Why don't you have a seat, Acer."

The blond took his seat and the uncomfortable silence spread.

Zac took another drink from his bottle and tapped his toe against the concrete floor while looking at his hand on the beer. He finally looked up at the younger man.

"I wasn't sure you'd show up."

"Neither was I," Acer mumbled in Zac's direction. "I'm not sure this is a great idea, us being seen together."

Zac raised his eyebrows, cocked his head and shrugged a shoulder. "I really could care less about that. I stopped caring about pictures in the rag magazines about a year ago. Honestly, I thought that's what you were after."

Acer sat up straighter, his back muscles tensing as he gritted his teeth. "That's a low blow Alexander. I can't help that Anessa likes being seen out in public with me. Face time is part of being a celebrity isn't it? All three of us are smart enough to know that popularity is crucial in our line of work. If it makes you feel better to believe that's why she's with me, go right ahead. It's no skin off my back."

"Whatever," Zac shook his head. "I think we're all beyond that right now. She apparently doesn't want to be seen out in public with you or anybody else right now. That's why you and I need to talk."

The young waiter approached, giving the two men a chance to think about what Zac had just said. Acer ordered a sandwich and iced coffee while Zac requested water and a salad which he knew he likely wouldn't touch.

When Nate walked away Acer shifted in his seat and eyed Zac across the table. "So why did you call me, Zac? I get the feeling this conversation is not going to benefit me."

"Depends on how you look at things, I suppose," Zac offered sarcastically.

"Look, I know Anessa's at your place and she's been there for almost three weeks now. I don't know what kind of hold you think you have on her…" Acer jabbed.

"I didn't ask her to come back to me," Zac snapped back quietly. "She hasn't come back to me. I came home one night and she was in my bed…asleep. That's where she wanted to be; her choice, not mine. She is my friend. I can't help it if she chose to come to me instead of you. But I'm going to support her. I don't like seeing her hurt."

"Well neither do I," Acer hissed through his teeth. His angry face peered across at Zac's just waiting for the next line to be spoken.

Zac took a few breaths to calm himself and sat back in his chair. "You may not like to see her hurt but you've made a mistake that is hurting her. And we both know that. That's the reason she's at my house right now. Some things cross the line Roberts. You crossed it when you broke her trust." The older actor shook his head, gathering his thoughts.

"You're young, Acer, but you know she's been hurt by other people she's trusted. She puts up this wall and pretends to trust people but it's not that easy. You have to climb that wall and prove it to her. And apparently you did that… Then all of a sudden…" Zac held both his hands off the table and looked at the man across from him. "What the hell were you thinking? She trusts you… or at least she did."

"Don't sit here and tell me what kind of crap I'm putting her through. I didn't come here for a lecture. Not from you of all people…"

Zac shook his head strongly. "Stop before you finish that thought. Anessa and I didn't end because of trust. She still trusts me and I trust her. So don't even try to play that card. If she didn't trust me she wouldn't be at my place right now. You and I both know that."

Acer threw his head back in frustration and then shook his short mane of hair, "What game are you playing? Why am I here? What's this little meeting supposed to accomplish? I've tried to talk to her. I've gone to her – hell, I went to your place last week to try and talk to her. She wouldn't even let me through the gate and barely spoke to me. She won't talk to me. The last time I saw her face to face is when you forced her to meet with me two weeks ago. Since then…" he shook his head and rolled his eyes as Zac picked up the words.

"Since then she's gone into her own little world where trust isn't an issue. It's where she trusts herself and where she thinks she can straighten things out on her own, in her mind, without asking for anyone else's help." His explanation made sense. As mad as Acer wanted to be at Zac he knew – he was smart enough to realize – that there was a level of understanding in Zac's heart and mind that Acer could only wish to have when it came to the woman that they both loved.

"I didn't come here to confront you. I didn't invite you here to lecture you. I don't dislike you, Acer. Right now there's a part of me that hates you – for what you've done to Ani and for the fact that she's found someone else," he practically mumbled. "But I also know that there's part of her that loves you. And she is so confused right now. Every little piece of a conversation that we have is just..." Zac looked off to the side of the table and sighed as he gave his head a slight shake.

The younger man's walls began to crumble, at least momentarily, as he watched Zac's concerned face. "So, what am I supposed to do?" Acer asked as he placed his hands on the table linking his fingers together. "She won't talk to me, Zac. She won't talk, she won't listen; she won't see me. I'm damned confused, too. I realize I've hurt her. But if she won't even listen to my apologies…if she won't let me try to make this right between us…what am I supposed to do? Spell it out for me, please. I want her to trust me again…but she's at your house. She trusts you. Are you telling me she hasn't run back to you?"

Zac shook his head, a slight sigh of defeat escaping his lips. "Acer, she's at my place because she feels safe there. Not because she's come back to me. Ani knows I still love her. You know that. There's never been a question about that. Even if she didn't tell you that, I hope you had enough sense to realize it." Zac's shoulders slouched at the weight of the emotions he continued to carry. "She knows I love her and I'll do anything to take her hurt away. But what she's feeling right now? I can't take it away. It's there. But I can give her an option that could ease it."

"Tell her to talk to me again, please," Acer's voice practically pleaded. "Tell her to give me a chance. I love her, too, and she knows that. She can trust me. I messed up once, but I won't again. But I need to tell her. I can't convince her of that if she won't let me. Face to face I need to tell her."

Zac's jaw set in defense of the woman at his home. His leg began to shake with his intentions before he looked into Acer's face, "See, that's the thing. She trusted you, she says she loves you," he nearly cringed at using the word. "And she says you love her, and yet… what she's been through…she came to me," he shook his head with no remorse for what he had just said. "And right now, I'm not sure that she really does love you. She's got a lot of decisions to make and she needs somebody who will be by her…one hundred ten percent by her side."

Acer's eyes narrowed, "What are you telling me?"

"I sent her to you once. I pushed her to talk to you, to work things out, to straighten this out between the two of you. I told her to go away with you, take time and figure this out, together. But she came back to my house again that night even more confused than when she had left. If she didn't get the answers she wanted then…if she didn't feel like you were shooting straight with her… I can't help that. She's 23 years old; she's vulnerable, but she's an adult. She's capable of making her own decisions. And if she decided that she doesn't want to talk to you, or she's not ready to talk to you again…"

"But as long as she's with you she's not even gonna think about talking to me, unless you tell her to," Acer interrupted with a louder voice. "You're influencing her decisions and that's not fair to me. She needs to get out of your house. Tell her to go to her parents' house, go to Ashley's place or her own home. She's gotta get out from under your roof before she'll even give me a chance. Quit pushing for her to stay with you!" Acer's agitation shone through with the thought of his girlfriend's current living arrangements.

Zac leaned forward with his elbows on the table. He looked straight into Acer's eyes with no hint of amusement at the accusation. "I am not the one insisting that she stay with me. She came to me. She wants to be where she feels safe. She has asked me almost every night for the past two weeks if she can stay just one more night. Especially since the day she talked to you one on one, she asks to stay just one…more…night. She is still trying to figure things out on her own. She's not discussing plans with me or playing house, do you get that? Are you hearing what I'm telling you? She's trying to figure out what she wants to do and I'll be damned if I'm going to deny her a safe place to try and come to grips with what's going on in her life."

Acer stared back at Zac's deep blue eyes, unsure what to say. Yes he heard what Zac was telling him but without knowing what Anessa was thinking, what she wanted, or if she even still loved him, the younger man was at a loss to understand.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he finally asked. "Am I sitting here right now because you're the Anessa expert and you're going to offer me advice?" he asked half sarcastically, half seriously.

"No," Zac leaned back in his chair, shook his head, and crossed his arms across his chest.

Acer took a drink and shifted in his chair, "Well, what then?"

Zac sat for a moment, staring directly at his counterpart. "Back off."

"What?" Acer shook his head in disbelief at Zac's words.

"Move on. The tabloids are already saying you guys have split, so run with it. Get out of her life and go on with yours," Zac instructed calmly.

Acer's eyes opened wide and his head shook. "No," he whispered with a blaze of fire in his eyes.

"I'll take care of her. Having Ani at my house and trying to comfort her…I realize now that we never should've split up. I'm ready to be back in her life. I want to be back in her life; really in her life. I'm ready to offer Ani the trust and love that she needs right now. I'm ready to prove to her why I should be the only man she'll ever need in her life."

Acer's hands gripped the table with white-knuckles while he numbly listened to Zac's speech continue. "Stop trying to talk to her. Stop worrying about convincing her to trust you again and about fixing your mistake. I will take care of her. I will love her and I will be the man she will trust. You move on. I'll take care of Anessa from now on."

Zac's declaration made Acer's skin crawl. It made him angry and practically made him sick. It was all the young man could do not to come out of his chair and round the table to get his hands on the man across from him.

"You can't just take charge of her life. That's not what Anessa wants. You, yourself just said she's still trying to work things out. I don't care how long it takes her. This has to be her decision. I have a lot more at stake here than just losing a girlfriend, Alexander. I'm not gonna just slip off and let you glide back into her life." Acer's lip quivered at the anxious feelings that were coursing through him. "You don't know what she wants, do you?" he accused.

"No." Zac shook his head but made no attempt to take back anything he had just told the young man.

"I won't move on. I don't give up that easily. I love her, too. One bad decision may have sent her running to your home to feel safe, but it'll be my arms and my bed that she will come back to. You said it. She's an adult. She'll make her own decisions." He wiped a hand across his face. "What you're telling me is to get out of her life. But I can't do that. Until I hear that from the woman I love I won't even consider it."

Zac stretched his neck, fiddled with the straw paper that was left on the table and then looked back up at the young man who was attempting to take his place in Anessa's heart. A few months could not equal the five years they had spent together. A few months couldn't break the trust they had. A few months had only served to prove to Zac how much he wanted Anessa back, truly back, with him.

"Look. You're 21. You're an up-and-comer. Anessa and I have already been through that stage and we went through it together. Take a look at your career, at your situation and what's out there for you. Think hard about it. I think you'll realize that Anessa and I are offering you an out. Let's not fight about this. You just think about things." Zac put on his best adult face and voice, hoping this would be the last argument he'd need to make.

Instead, Acer stood from the table and looked back at him. "She may be at your house, but she has my heart. I won't let her walk away with that, and I won't let you take her from me."

The two men held eyes for what felt like an hour. Each could see the depth of emotion that had been brought on by the woman in their hearts. The woman who had professed her love for both men and yet was torn by a past and a suddenly uncertain future.

The waiter stepped cautiously toward the table. He had heard parts of the conversation, the raised voices, and noticed the ticking jaws and less than unfriendly stares the two men had traded.

"Mr. Alexander, I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm just wondering if you're ready for your check?" Nate's voice was calm, steady as he invaded the silent conversation.

Without looking toward the young server Zac sucked a breath in through his nose. "Ready or not?" he watched as Acer shook his head and reached into his pocket.

The younger of the two threw a couple of bills on the table and gave only a passing glance to the waiter before focusing again on his adversary. "We're not done." The comment froze in the California heat but both men knew exactly what it meant.

Anessa Hart would have to make a decision that would make or break each of their hearts. In the matter of Zac Alexander versus Acer Roberts the bar was set, ready or not.

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