Disclaimer: JE owns the characters. I'm just playing with them

A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long. I've been working on something else.


"Sugar?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck!" Snap.

"Sally," I said as I shook my head. "You'd think that you'd be over the rubber band thing by now. It's been three years!"

"I know, " Sally said to me. "I can't help it. They're sure it's Sugar?"

"Without a doubt. He purchased a prepaid cell phone and called Lester. Tank was able to trace it because Sugar used a credit card to purchase the phone and minutes."

"He's not the smartest stalker, is he?"

"He's gotten a little smarter. After all, he almost blew me up," I said.

Sally and I were sitting on the sofa in my RangeMan apartment. Junior had just brought him up along with five very large suitcases. The plan was to keep Sally and me in the building untill the Merry Men were able to catch Sugar. There was just one small problem. There weren't any open apartments on the fourth floor. I could move up to the seventh floor, but I was informed this morning that Ranger would be back tomorrow. I still didn't have a boyfriend. Ranger would have a field day with that. I could give up my apartment and crash with one of the Merry Men, but that would be a little weird.

"Junior said that there weren't any open apartments. Were am I suppose to sleep?" Sally asked. "Am I staying with you?"

"I'm still working on that one, Sally. Give me a little while and I'm sure that I can come up with something," I said. "The only thing that I'm possitive about is that I'm not moving back up to the seventh floor. I'd rather bunk with Lester then have to deal with Ranger."

"That can be arranged."

I looked over at the door and saw Lester standing in the doorway. How long had he been standing there?

"Only a minute, Honey," Lester said with a crooked smile.

"Don't pull that ESP shit on me. It's bad enough that Ranger walks around freely in my head. I don't need you in there, too!"

"Calm down, Honey. It's not ESP," Lester said with a full smile. "Your face is easy to read."

"Oh. Well, I'm not sure if bunking with you is a wise idea," I said.

"Why not?" Sally asked. "I think that it's a great idea. Unless you want to stay here with me. I just have to warn you. I kick in my sleep."

"It's settled then," Lester said as he walked over to my closet and pulled out a duffle bag. "You can bunk with me untill we get Sugar."

"Okay," I said as I stood and grabbed the duffle bag from Lester. I walked to my dresser and started throwing clothes in the bag. "If I get any flack from your boys, I'm moving in with Binkie."

"Don't worry about a thing, Honey. I'll talk to the guys. I promise that they won't bug you on this one," Lester said as he made his way back to the door. "Besides, all I have to do is hang your threat over Binkie's head."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I said as I whirled around.

"Nothing against you, Honey. But co-habitation scares the heck out of Binkie. He got really nervous when we decided to bring Sally back here. He knew that we didn't have any open apartments."

"You volunteered, didn't you?" I shouted at Lester as I started moving toward him.

"Honey, you have to relax. Would you rather bunk with one of the other guys? I can ask around if you want," Lester said as he started backing out of the apartment.

"You think that this is funny, don't you? Why do I keep getting stuck with you? Every time that I've been in trouble for the last year I've been stuck with you," I said as I jammed a finger in his chest.

"It's obvious," Sally said from behind me.

"What's obvious?" I asked as I turned around.

"He likes you," Sally simply stated.

"No, he doesn't," I said to Sally. "This is Lester we're talking about. The man with a million girlfriends."

"Steph, he hasn't had a girlfriend in a year."

"Of course he has. Why wouldn't he. He's a walking God! Any woman would be lucky to get their hands on Lester."

"I don't want just any woman," Lester said quietly from behind me. I had actually forgotten that he was still here. I slowly turned around and looked up at him. "I want you."

"I told you," Sally said. "The man has had it bad for about a year now."

"Shut up, Sally," I said without looking back at him. I was caught by Lester's eyes. He was completely sincere about what he had just said to me. Lester of all people. Had I already know this? Was I really that blind by everything else that was going on that I hadn't seen this coming? I need time to think about this one.

I turned and headed back to my dresser. I grabed a tank top and a pair of shorts and went into the bathroom. I quickly changed and came back out. Sally was still sitting on the couch and Lester was still at the door. I looked over at Sally.

"I'm going to the gym. If you want, throw all of my clothes in the duffle bag and get yourself unpacked. I'll be back in a bit," I said as I turned and headed to the door. I stopped in front of Lester. He looked a little heart broken. "I need time to think."

I moved past him and made my way to the gym. Thankfully the gym was empty. I walked over to the CD player and riffled through the CDs that were stacked up beside it. I settled on Nine Inch Nails. There's something about Trent's voice that forces me to relax. I jumped on the treadmill and started running. I needed to figure out how I felt about Lester.

He's a really great guy. Lester is extremely intelligent. He has a wonderful sense of homur. He's been able to get me to laugh at some very low times. I don't think that a lot of people would have been able to do that. He let me fight my own battle with Joe without getting invovled. He had my back, but never interfered. He makes me feel safe. Outside of Joe, Ranger, and Tank, I've never felt that way.

Joe and Ranger are definitely dead ends. I'm not a burg wife and I won't be kept in the dark. Lester has never made either of those demands. At least not yet. Would he though? He's never hidden things from me. Even when things go to shit, he always tells me the truth. I can't really see Lester being a father either. But, what if I change my mind in a year and want one? Would Lester want one, too?

I think that I'm over thinking. I really just need to know how I feel about Lester. Safe. Happy. And who am I kidding, extremely turned on. The kiss in the mall had been small, but if it was any indication, I would be very fortunate in that area. Plus, Lester had a reputation of making every experience like a moment in heaven. I've found that the Merry Men talk a lot. Especially when they are under the influence.

Would it really be all that bad to atleast try? I could do that, right? As long as I was upfront about it. I'd have to tell him that I wasn't sure how deep my feelings went. I need time to be able to experience things with him in a mind frame of being with him.

"Bomber."

Binkie's voice startled me out of my thinking. I stumbled and, once again, landed on my ass after being thrown off the treadmill. I glared up at Binkie when he started to laugh. I was forever making an ass out of myself in front of the Merry Men.

"What do you want?" I asked as I slowly got off the ground.

"Tank sent me. He said that you had been running for about an hour. You okay?"

"I think my ass is broken," I said as I rubbed my butt.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Binkie said as he guided me over to the elevator.

"I'm fine. I just needed to think."

"So you've gotten everything straightened out?" Binkie asked as he shoved me into the elevator.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Lester. He's been pacing the hall on the fourth floor since you went to the gym. Just give it a try. "

"I'm going to. Why is it that you guys can't mind your own business?" I asked.

"Because we love you," Binkie said as the doors opened and he shoved me out into the hall.

Lester was standing in the middle of the hall. He smiled at me. It was a small and sad smile. Like he thought that I wasn't going to give him a chance. How could he think that? He had to of known that I wouldn't be able to turn away from him. Damn it! How could he think so little of himself? Is he insane?

"I'm sorry," Lester said quietly. "I shouldn't have told you how I felt. Just forget everything that I said."

"Are you out of your mind!" I shouted. I'm not one hundred percent sure why I had gotten so angry, but I was fuming. "How on Earth am I supose to forget that? I just spent the last hour running on a treadmill while I tried to figure out how I feel."

"How do you feel?" Lester asked.

"I know that I care about you. I just don't know how deep. I'd like to get the chance to find out though," I quietly said.

I watched as Lester's face lit up. He looked like he had just won the lottery. He walked over to me and took me into his arms. I looked up at him to give him a smile and quickly found his lips on mine. I felt a fire ignite in my belly as I parted my lips to allow his tongue into my mouth. The fire spred through my body as his tongue danced across mine.

I trailed my hands up his arms and fisted my hands in his thick hair. I suddenly realized that I had been waiting to do this. I had been waiting for this moment. The moment was destroyed by someone clearing there throat. I felt my face burn as I relucnantly torn my lips from Lester's.

"Sorry, Lester. We need you in the control room," Tank said from behind me.

"Give me five minutes," Lester said.

I heard the door to the stairwell close quietly. I looked up at Lester. He was smiling down at me. He took my hand and led me to his apartment. I had just barely heard the door close behind me when I was whirled around. My lips were captured by Lester's once again. This time the kiss was soft and sweet. There wasn't any urgency. It was just a sweet kiss to show love.

"I hate leaving you like this," Lester whispered.

"All hot and bothered?" I asked with a laugh.

"No," Lester said as he laughed with me. "Alone."

"I'm locked away in RangeMan. I'll be fine. I'm going to go grab my stuff and try to get situated in here."

"I cleared out a couple of drawers for you. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay."

He kissed me quickly one more time and then slipped out the door. I had a warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach. That's interesting.