Chapter 14

Steff came back from the kitchen carrying a tray and whistling the opening trumpet fanfare from "Rocky". Andie pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at the musical Rocky reference, but said nothing. He set the tray down on the coffee table and said "How's that paw feeling there, Kitten?"

Andie grimaced, looking at her bruised and swollen knuckles. "Hurts. A lot."

Steff nodded, "Wages of sin" he observed cheerfully, grinning at her.

Andie opened her mouth to say something, then closed it with a snap. After a moment she remarked, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Tremendously!" Steff agreed, smiling good naturedly. He sat down next to her and gave her a kiss. "I've never had a girl fight to defend my honor before." He chuckled, "I'm not gonna lie, it feels pretty great!" he gushed, beaming in delight.

Andie bemusedly rolled her eyes, then directed her attention to the items on the tray. Steff picked up the ice pack and gingerly placed it on top of her hand. "Gonna need to leave that there for a while, sweetheart." He then handed her a glass of water. She took a swig. "What's that?" nodding towards the pill Steff held in his hand.

"I had a Tylenol 3 with codeine left over from when I had my wisdom teeth removed. You might want to take it, because in another couple of hours your hand is gonna hurt like hell." He paused. "However, if you decide to take it I want you to sleep here tonight so I can keep an eye on you."

Andie's eyebrows shot up and she began to choke on the sip of water she was swallowing.

Steff waited until she was done choking to add quietly, "Andie, I hope you know by now that you can trust me not to take advantage of you." He smoothed her hair back from her face, "I just want to take care of you. Make sure you're okay." He added smiling, "After all, you did keep me from being sexually assaulted at the Cineplex. You're kind of my hero."

Andie snorted, then laughed. "Okay, but if I spend the night, where am I going to sleep?"

Steff smiled, "My bed, of course. I'll take the couch." He stared off in the distance, considering, "You probably snore really loudly anyway. I'd never get any rest being in there with you" he remarked lightly.

Andie's eyes narrowed. "Yes. I snore like a freight train. Sure you want to risk it? I know how important your beauty sleep is to you." The throbbing of her hand was starting to make her cranky.

Steff caressed her face fondly and kissed her, communicating that he had just been joking around. "Kitten, please stay. Let me look after you." Andie's annoyance melted away, as she basked in the feeling of Steff being there for her. She had never been able to depend on anyone before – being able to trust him to take care of her was a huge step forward for her.

Andie kissed him and agreed to take the pain killer and spend the night. Steff went to his room and returned with a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. "I'm sure these aren't as cute as the pajamas you normally wear, but I'm also 100 per cent sure that you're going to be loads cuter in them than I am." Andie went into the bathroom and changed, her hand screeching in pain all the while. She almost had to call Steff to help her out of her jeans, but finally managed to struggle out of them on her own. She kept her panties on under Steff's boxers, but ditched her bra to sleep in his t-shirt. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. The shirt was huge on her of course, but she had to admit that the boxers made her legs and her butt look pretty good. She gathered up the shirt on the side and tied a knot in it, shortening and tightening it so it wouldn't be dragging like a dress. Plus, now you could really see her ass. She bent over to retrieve her clothes off the bathroom floor and found herself a little dizzy when she stood back up. Pain killer is kicking in, thank God. That bitch Benny has got one fucking hard head.

Andie carried her stuff back out to the living room where Steff was sitting on the couch. As she entered the room, Steff glanced up at her and felt all the blood in his body rush south. All he could see were Andie's impossibly long legs, topped off by his boxers, which clung snugly to her perfectly heart shaped bottom, and his t-shirt draped fetchingly across her breasts, outlining them, imprinting them indelibly upon his memory. His mouth went dry, and his throat (as well as his jeans) tightened painfully. Every nerve ending in his body was focused on Andie, his eyes devouring her. Oh Christ, what have I gotten myself into?

"Where do you want me to put these?" Andie asked as she stood looking around the room. One of her shoes fell off the stack of clothes in her arms, and she turned around and bent over to pick it up. Slowly.

Steff was having a heart attack. Maybe a stroke, he couldn't really be sure. He definitely wasn't breathing, he knew that much.

Andie leaned over one of the kitchen table chairs facing away from Steff and set her things down in it. As she was bent over the chair, she glanced back over her shoulder and asked innocently, "Is here okay?"

The view from the couch was more than okay, Steff's boxers were perfectly showcasing Andie's ass, snug in all the right places. He couldn't disengage his eyes long enough to spare any brain cells to formulate a response; speech was beyond him for the time being. He couldn't articulate past all the throbbing that was going on. Does she even know what she's doing to me?

Andie made her way back to the couch, weaving slightly, and put the ice pack back on her hand. "Ooooh, that feels good" she purred. The sound of her voice shot straight to Steff's groin, ramping up his desire. Kitten, you're killing me. Andie cuddled up next to him and extended one of her long, bare legs across his lap. This only made Steff think about how it would feel to have them wrapped around his waist. A vision of Andie, her legs wrapped around him, her head thrown back in abandonment as he entered her, slammed into him and robbed him of breath.

His chest heaving, he all but bolted off the couch. "Kitten, will you be okay while I go grab a quick shower?" I've got to get out of here, Steff thought. He grabbed her a pillow and covered her with a blanket. He kissed her forehead and said "I'll be right back, okay?" She nodded, sleepily.

Fifteen minutes later, Steff emerged from the shower, having taken a little of the edge off. But let's face it, he was a healthy 19 year old young man, and any edge that was taken off was not going to last for long. In fact, he took one look at Andie, relaxed and cuddled up on his couch, and the desire came roaring back as though he hadn't taken any measures to alleviate it. She smiled up at him drowsily, "I adore you, you know that?" Steff smiled down at her and helped her up. Steff steadied her as she stood up, weaving slightly. He gazed lovingly into her eyes and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "I adore you too, Kitten." I love you so much, it's killing me not to tell you. "C'mon sweetheart. We need to get you tucked into bed."

He got her settled in and kissed her goodnight. "If you need anything, I'll be right out there on the couch."

Andie got an alarmed look on her face. "Will you stay with me? Please?"

Steff looked at her, puzzled. "You want me to sit with you til you fall asleep?"

Andie huffed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "No. I want you to sleep here with me. In your bed."

Steff considered. Holy hell, she's going to kill me before the night is over. And she doesn't even realize what she's doing to me.

"Okay" he paused. "But you have to behave yourself. Just sleeping. Deal?"

"Deal" she smiled, yawning.

Steff turned out the light and crawled into bed. For propriety's sake, and because he had another raging erection that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, he placed a pillow between them at waist level. Andie grabbed his arm and dragged it around her, pulling him with it, into spooning her. She wriggled and nestled around until she got situated, safely and warmly ensconced in Steff's arms.

I'm in heaven, they each thought.

"Good night, Kitten. Sweet dreams."

Andie squeezed his arm that was around her, and burrowed deeper against him. "Sweet dreams, baby" she murmured.

Steff waited until he was sure she was asleep, her breathing slow and steady. He gently kissed her behind her ear and whispered "I love you, Kitten."

Andie smiled.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!