Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Authors note: So Tasha and Dimitri's current relationship gets addressed in this chapter but not the reason for it… that will come. Anyway Enjoy!

Chapter 14

Tasha looked almost exactly the same way she did in the wedding picture Dimitri had never deleted off his Connex photo album. Black straight hair and ice blue eyes. Subtle makeup. She wore a sleek pair of capri-length yoga pants and a matching slim-fit hoodie sweatshirt. Perfect soccer mum… except for her expression, which was that of a woman who'd just stepped in an enormous, steaming pile of dog crap.

"Hi." Rose said when Tasha simply stared. "I'm Rose. A friend of Dimitri's. you must be Tasha. And you," She said to the little girl, "Must be Katie. And Nicola." The older girl standing beside her mother gave Rose a long, careful look. "Where's my dad?"

Rose waited for Tasha to say something. Anything. But the other woman only stared with her lip curling. "He ran out to get some lunch." Don't fidget, Rose told herself, trying desperately to think if she'd buttoned her blouse all the way, if her hair was sex-mussed, if her mouth looked as though she'd been kissing for an hour. If the stink of sex clouded her like perfume.

"He didn't tell me he had… company." Tasha spoke at last. He gaze swept Rose up and down in that way women have with each other that's supposed to leave scars.

Rose gave Tasha the blandest smile she could. Not in front of the kids, she thought. Don't you dare. "He didn't mention you'd be stopping by."

Because, of course, Tasha hadn't called ahead. Because she hadn't been invited. Because Dimitri's ex-wife felt so comfortable in his new apartment that she could walk right in, Rose thought with another neutral smile designed not to taunt. "We were heading to the movies and the girls wanted to see if their father wanted to come along." Tasha's chin lifted, just a little bit.

"Ah." Rose smiled warmly at the girls, who were still starring at her, though without the suppressed bitterness their mother had. Nope, Nicola and Katie were full-on glaring their hostility at her. "I'm sure that would've been fun."

"We only want him." Katie said. "Not you."

Rose's smile didn't waver. Behind her, the teakettle hissed, and she turned to take it off the heat and turn off the burner. She pulled open the cupboard and found a mug, then a second she held up toward Tasha, who blanched, then shook her head. With another small smile, Rose put the rejected offer on the counter and found the teabags. She poured hot water into her mug, too aware of the weight of three sets of angry female eyes on her back as she did. Finally she turned around, mug in her hands. She leaned against the counter. "He should be back soon," She said. "You're welcome to wait."

Tasha's eyes said it all. Of course she was welcome to wait in her ex-husband's kitchen, and she didn't need permission either. Rose sipped the hot tea, risking a burned tongue rather than an embittered one.

"Hey, I bring you food-" Dimitri stopped in the doorway, brown paper bags held high. "Tasha?"

The girls ran squealing to him, and he put the food down to hug them. Over the tops of their heads, he caught Rose's gaze. She couldn't read his expression, but she took another sip of tea before putting the mug in the sink.

"Excuse me, I need to check my email." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it aloft. Without another word of apology or explanation, because fuck that, she pushed past Dimitri and went down the hall into his bedroom.

Ten minutes later, he came in to find her propped on the bed playing an intense round of Diamond Dash. "Just a minute." She said mildly. "Let me finish this level."

"Roza…"

She let the time run out and tucked her phone back into her pocket to give him a look. Dimitri ran a hand over his head, then rubbed at his mouth. He came closer and sat on the bed, but didn't touch her.

"The girls…" he began, and trailed off.

Rose raised both eyebrows. When he didn't say anything else, she drew her knees to her chest and linked her fingers together. "You're not going to the movies with them."

He didn't answer.

"Are you?" Rose shook her head, stunned. She was halfway off the bed before Dimitri grabbed her wrist.

"No! Rose, sit down. Please."

She did, but gave him a narrow-eyed stare. "she walks into your house like she owns it. Or at the very least, like she lives here. And she had no idea I was here. Or that there was even a… me. Which, okay, fine, you don't want to rub it in her face or something, but, Jesus, Dimitri. You might want to fucking give her a clue that you're dating. Or that you're not available on the weekends when I'm here. Something. She walked into that kitchen and looked like I'd stabbed her in the throat."

Rose paused, frowning, then said softer, "And your kids, Dimitri. That's not the way I would've liked to be introduced to them either."

"I'm sorry." He didn't sound sorry. Or chastened. He sounded defensive, which made Rose sigh.

"You haven't told her you're dating?"

He made a low noise. "I'm not dating."

"No. I guess you're not. You're just fucking me every few weeks." She yanked her wrist from his grasp, but his arms were longer, and he snagged her shirtsleeve again as she moved away. He didn't try to hold her, not when she pulled again, but it did stop her.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"Actually, " Rose said. 'I don't know it."

They stared at each other, awkward silence rising between them.

"I'm not sure what you want from me." He said finally.

There it was, the inevitable. Rose sighed and shook her head. "You know what I want from you, Comrade? Just don't be a dick to me. Really, that's all I ask. Don't be a dick."

He blinked and recoiled slightly but didn't say anything. Rose's chin lifted. Jaw tight. Keeping her voice as neutral as she could, she said, "Look. I don't have any grand notions about what this is, okay? We're both grown-ups. We get along. We like fucking. There doesn't have to be… this doesn't have to mean…"

Her voice cracked and she cut herself off before she could embarrass herself with breaking down. This had been a cluster fuck of a day already. She didn't need it to spiral into anything else.

Dimitri's phone chimed. He put his hand automatically to his pocket, but ten stopped himself. It chimed again.

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"It's Tasha."

Rose crossed her arms and cocked a hip, giving him a look. Dimitri looked back. The phone chimed again with another text. "I'm sorry." Dimitri said. "Rose, I feel like I say I'm sorry to you an awful lot."

Her stance softened. "Do you think I'm demanding?"

"No," He said, but with enough of a hesitation that she thought he might not be telling the whole truth.

The first step towards him was the hardest, but she made herself take it. Then another, and a third until she sat on the bed next to him. They were close enough that she could shift a bit and touch him, but she didn't.

"I like you, Dimitri."

"I like you too."

There was something important she needed to say, if she could find the words to express it. If she wanted to try. It would be easier to walk out the door now instead. Leave him behind.

"I don't think there's a point in playing games," Rose said. "you know, those dating games, where I play coy and you have to chase me. Or where I expect you to guess what I'm thinking or feeling, or what I want from you. Whatever this is, I like it, and I'd like to keep doing it."

"Me too." Dimitri said.

She looked at him. "What is this, Dimitri?"

"I don't know. What do you think it is?"

"Good sex." She nudged him with her shoulder. "Good food. Fun. We have great conversations. You make me laugh. I like the way we fit together."

Dimitri chuckled softly. "I like that too."

"Look. We don't have to put a name on this. I'm okay with that. But I'm not okay with being a dirty secret. It's early to be part of your life with your kids, and I surely don't expect you to have me over for holidays-"

"What if I wanted to?"

She let her knee press his for a second or two. "We could talk about it. If you really wanted that."

"You're not a dirty secret, Roza. I just didn't know how to tell her."

"And she clearly has no boundaries," Rose said. "You might want to think about that."

Dimitri frowned.

"I should never have to guess how you feel about me, or how important I am to you, Comrade. Not as a lover or fuck buddy or a friend or anything else. And I don't need to settle for not being important."

His scowl eased into something softer. "I'm not that great with expressing myself. It's one of the reasons why she left me."

Tasha might have divorced him, but she'd far from left him, Rose though but didn't point out. She put her other hand on his arm, gripping both his biceps lightly. She went on her tiptoes to kiss him, offering her mouth but letting him close the gap. He did, thank God, the kiss brief and sweet.

"You never have to tell me how you feel about me, so long as you never make me guess." She kissed him again, murmuring against his lips.

His arms went around her, pulling her close. The kiss got deeper. His hand curved around the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair. They kissed harder while he walked her back toward the bed and laid her down, then covered her with his body.

But this time, Rose rolled over to straddle him. Breathing hard, she ran her hands up his body over his shirt. Then under it, feeling his warm skin. She let her nails scrape him lightly and smiled when he twitched. Bending, she kissed him while she worked open his buttons. She nibbled his jaw, then his throat. His collarbones. Opening his shirt, she moved her mouth down his chest, taking her time to run her tongue around his nipple, which tightened nicely under her attentions.

He didn't say anything, but she loved the rise and fall of his chest with his breathing. The low rasp in the back of his throat when she nipped at his hipbone. When she moved lower to rub his thickening cock through the denim, she loved watching the way his mouth twisted and his eyes closed.

Rose unzipped his jeans and tugged them open, then found his erection through the soft fabric of his briefs. She stroked him, watching his face. His mouth parted, his tongue swiping lightly along his lower lip before he bit it. His cock edged its way from his waistband, and she let her fingertips stroke him, just a little, loving how his hips bucked.

She moved lower, letting her tongue flicker along the exposed flesh. "Shhh," She said against him when he started to talk.

Slowly, she worked his jeans and briefs down his thighs, then off. She took a few seconds to admire him- that lovely cock, so hard. She stroked him, but when he arched into her touch, she stopped and bit her lip on a smile at his muttered groan of frustration. This was going to be…fun.

So the morning had started off all wrong, but this felt right. Taking her time, Rose moved her mouth over Dimitri's thighs, nuzzling inside each one letting her breath caress his balls without actually touching him there. Her hand moved slowly, stroking, every so often palming the head of his cock while she licked and nibbled at the soft skin of his inner thigh. When she let her fingernails brush upward along the skin between his balls and inner thigh, Dimitri twitched and sighed, and Rose paused. His cock throbbed in her fist. He pushed upward, but she didn't move.

When he'd stilled, she stroked again. Licked and kissed, teasing, until finally she let her tongue trace a delicate pattern on his balls and around the base of his cock. His groan was so satisfying that she eased off again, tickling him with her breath as her fingers gripped him but didn't move along his shaft. Over and over, she used her mouth and hands to edge him close to cumming. She lost herself in the pleasure of giving him pleasure, until finally Dimitri breathed a single word.

"Please…"

Rose ceased her teasing. Taking him in her mouth, she kept up the pace and pressure until he came with a shout. Then she eased him down and moved up his body to tuck herself against him. She wasn't usually much of a snuggler, but she pressed her face into the curve of his neck and shoulder, her hand flat on his belly, feeling the residual twitch of his muscles.

His phone, which had slid from his jeans pocket when she pulled them down, buzzed from its place on the bed between them. Dimitri let out a soft groan but didn't reach for it. Rose did, holding it out to him.

"You should answer it."

He cracked open an eye to look at her and, without saying a word, checked the text. Whatever it was made him laugh, though without much humour. He sighed and sat, rubbing between his eyes. Then he turned the phone to show her the message.

ANSWER YOUR PHONE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND, JUST ANSWER ME.

Rose sat up to prop herself against the headboard, pulling her knees to her chest, then resting her chin on them. She shrugged, not offering an opinion. Dimitri frowned and turned away to make his call.

"Hey. Yes. Sorry, I was busy. Yes, I know. I'll pick them up. Yes. I got it. I sent it. I'm sorry, you're right, I should've told you. That's not… you know what? Yes. That would be great if you could start doing that. Fine," he said at last in a tight voice. "No, but if that's how you want to take it, that's your business. Yes… I'll take care of it."

He held the phone out from his ear to look at it with an expression of mingled disgust and amusement, then looked at Rose. "She hung up on me."

Rose chewed the inside of her cheek, still not speaking or moving. Dimitri slid closer to her to put his chin on her shoulder, nudging her with it until she looked down at him. He grinned up at her, sprawling naked without seeming to care of be embarrassed. She touched his eyebrows, smoothing them with a fingertip.

"She said she's going to call before she comes over from now on."

Rose smiled, silent.

"She's pissed," Dimitri added.

"I can't blame her," Rose said. "It would've been nice for both of us not to meet unexpectedly. I mean, let's face it, any woman you brought around would probably have to go Godzilla versus Mothra with her.

He laughed. "No…"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Um, yeah."

He looked at the phone in his hand, swiping to bring up the text messages. He held it up to show he again. "She said she doesn't care if I have a girlfriend."

"Oh, she cares. She cares a lot." Rose smiled again. "It's a good thing you don't have one, huh?"

Dimitri kissed her. "Yes, I do."

"Do you?" she asked against his mouth.

Dimitri took her face in his hands to look into her eyes. "Yeah. I think so. Do i?"

"Do you want one?"

"Will you go out with me? Circle one," he said. "Yes, no, maybe."

"Yes." Rose said. "Yes, yes, yes."

Wrapped in a blanket, her feet on Dimitri's lap, Rose dozed to the sound of the movie on the television. Dimitri had plied her with a few glasses of wine while he drank his vodka, and the heat of the fireplace, the earlier great sex and general stress of the morning had wiped her out. When her phone pinged from her bag on the chair all the way across the room, she blinked but snuggled deeper into the warmth and ignored it. Except, of course, that her phone wouldn't stop chiming until she answered it.

"I'll get it for you." Dimitri said when she sighed and grumbled. And he did too, gently setting her feet aside and bringing her the entire bag.

Rose thumbed the phone to bring up the text from Eddie. It was a picture of him, grinning ear to ear, standing next to a car she didn't recognise. Adrian stood next to him, hand on Eddie's shoulder. He had the same grin. No text, just a picture.

Furrowing her brow, she studied the picture, then replied. What?

Dad bought me a car.

Fuck. "Oh he did not." Rose said aloud. "What the hell?"

Dimitri gave her a curious look. She showed him the photo. He looked confused.

"My ex-husband bought our sixteen year old son a Mustang. He just barely got his license, but Adrian bought him a thirty thousand dollar car. What the hell?" Rose repeated.

"I wish my dad bought me a car when I turned sixteen." Dimitri muttered.

Rose got off the couch. She needed to move. Shift, pace. Run. Her heartbeat had slowly started thumping faster and faster since the text came through, and she pressed a hand to her chest in a useless attempt at slowing it.

Brake lights. Red, flashing. The wipers cut the colour, back and forth, and Rose wants to tell Adrian to slow down, but instead she just laughs because it's all just so funny. The boys from the backseat start to argue and bicker, and she twists in her seat to tell them to stop, but somehow that's funny too. She's drunk. How long has it been since she's been drunk, or even more than tipsy? Long years, many years, since before Mason was born, for sure. Long time.

"Stop it." She says, or tries to say, but giggles break the words and she can't explain why everything is so light and bright and merry. "It's Christmas."

Eddie lets out a wail and bats at his brother, demanding to hold the toy Mason picked from the pile Mikhailand Sonya had placed under the tree. Each kid picked one. Eddie got a truck, but Mason got a cool action figure, and Eddie wanted it. He kicks at the back of Rose's seat and grabs with pudgy fists for the plastic guy, but Mason holds it out of his reach.

"Stop." Rose repeats, but Eddie doesn't. She unbuckles her belt to turn around to reach into the backseat, both to pick up the truck Eddie threw to the floor and also to get her hands between them to separate them. She's halfway into the backseat when Adrian lets out a hoarse shout. When the horn blares. When the red brake lights stop flashing and turn a solid steady red in front of them.

"Hey, Roza, you okay?" Dimitri's hand on her shoulder steadied her, but not enough.

Rose shook her head. "Adrian and I never talked about getting him a car. And a Mustang. He's sixteen. He's reckless. He's not in control, he barely has his license…"

Dimitri pulled her close, saying nothing. Just holding her. It wasn't enough of a comfort, but she do it even though she wanted to keep pacing.

His hand stroked her hair. "He'll be fine."

Rose tried to relax against him, but it didn't work. "I need to call Adrian."

"No." Dimitri said. "Not if you're going to lay into him."

Angrily, she pulled away from him. "What?"

"You want to call him up and bitch him out? Look, I don't know your ex, but how well do you think that's going to go over? What do you think he's going to do, sell the car? And your kid… he's over the moon about it. Are you going to take it away from him? What do you think he'll think about that?"

Blinking rapidly to force away the tears, Rose took a step back, jerking her arm free of his grip when he tried to hold her. "I hardly think I need to take relationship advice from you."

"You sure don't mind handing it out, though, do you?"

Stung, she crossed her arms over her chest but said nothing. Whatever words she had wouldn't be kind. That he had a point only made her angrier. Dimitri, also silent, sat back on the couch and picked up the remote to switch through the channels, and after a few seconds, Rose joined him. But not with her feet on his lap, not snuggling. She made a place for herself as far from him as she could while still being on the couch. She sent a text to Adrian.

We never talked about this.

A moment later. I got a bonus.

He's too young for a car. And a Mustang?

No answer, which only infuriated her more. She did not, however, text her son. It wasn't his fault his father overcompensated by spending too much money, and though the thought of him racing his way through dark streets sent her heart pounding into her throat again, she couldn't bring herself to take away what she knew had to be his exhilaration.

Dimitri got up from the couch and went to the bar to pour himself a fresh drink. "You want something?"

"No, thanks." Rose didn't look up.

Minutes passed, neither of them speaking. Dimitri ran through all the channels. Then again. Rose ignored him and the TV, instead scrolling through her phone and catching up on all her social media. When she opened her Connex app and saw the video from Eddie hallway down the page, she let out a muttered curse.

It was tame, as far as videos went. Clearly shot from his phone, it was of him behind the wheel of the mustang, then a cut to the road stretching out in front of him and the music playing loud. Laughter. A blurred shot of Trey in the seat next to him. Oh. Hell. No.

Rose typed in the website for Pegasus Airlines, searching for flights. There was a flight to Harrisburg leaving in a few hours. She could be home by 11pm. She typed in her customer number and booked the flight. Then she stood. "I have to get home."

Dimitri looked up, ice clinking in his glass. He swallowed the rest of the liquid and set the glass on the coffee table, then sat back against the couch. "Now?"

"Flight leaves in a couple hours, so pretty shortly. Yeah." Rose lifted her chin to stare at him.

He stared back. Then, very carefully, he looked back at the TV. "Okay."

"I'll get ready. Don't worry." Rose added in an overly sweet voice. "I'll take a cab."

Fighting tears, she took her stuff from the bathroom and packed her suitcase. With shaking hands, she splashed her face with water, refusing to think about Eddie driving that Mustang too fast. Or worse yet, inattentively, shooting a video as he drove. Refusing to imagine the crunch of metal and glass, the blare of a horn. The smell of exhaust and gas and blood. The taste of tears.

She had time to hang out here, but with things the way they were with Dimitri, she didn't want to. Pulling her bag behind her, thumbing the number of the cab company into her phone, she placed the call as she went into the living room. The cab would be there in fifteen minutes. "Shit." Dimitri said, sitting up straight. "You're really going?"

Rose frowned. "Um, yeah? I told you I was. Look, my son is out joyriding in his new car, no evidence of any parental supervision, and posting videos of it on Connex. I'm freaked out. And really, I just need to get home. Judge me if you want, Dimitri, but this is my son."

He stood. He'd made himself another drink, she saw, this one half finished. He swayed a little when he got up, which made her take a step back. "Not judging you. Wish you didn't have to go. I didn't really think…"

"I said I was." She repeated stiffly. "Maybe it's been your common experience that women like to play games and whatever, but I told you. That's not me."

"No. I can see that. At least let me take you to the airport."

She laughed without humour. "Wow. No. how many drinks have you had?"

"I'll come in the cab with you." He moved toward her, meaning to, what, kiss her? Embrace her?"

Rose shook her head, stepping back. "You don't have to do that. I think it's best if I go by myself."

"Roza."

She could not bring herself to look at him. If she did, she was going to burst into ugly sobs, and she would not give him that. As many orgasms as he wanted, but no more of her tears.

"I want to go with you to the airport. I don't want you to leave like this." Dimitri sighed and reached to tug at her sleeve, though he didn't try to pull her closer. "Can't I convince you to stay until tomorrow?"

He thought she was being irrational, and the worst of it was, Rose knew she was being irrational. There was nothing she could do to stop it. "Come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me." She said. "I'll pay for your ticket if that's the issue, but you could come with me and… I could…" She shook her head. She could what? Use his support? Need him to be there for her?

"I can't come with you, Roza, not last-minute like this."

Of course he couldn't, yet the way he cut his gaze from hers made it seem like an excuse. Rose blinked back the sting of tears and took a few deep breathes to try to get herself under control.

"I'll feel better if I can get home. See him. I just…"

"You're not going to stop him from driving." Dimitri told her. "Not for the rest of his life."

"He's sixteen!" she cried, "Do you know the statistics about teenage drivers? Boys in particular? Boys in sports cars?"

"Not specifically. No. but I know that no matter what you do, you're never going to stop worrying about him. And… honestly, no matter how much you worry, it's not going to change anything. You can't stop an accident from happening by worrying about it ahead of time. All you'll do is make yourself sick with it."

She swallowed her bitterness. "Then I'll be sick with it. I'm going home to my son. I have to. I'm not asking you for your advice. I'm sorry to cut the visit short, but I need to get home. I need to make sure he's okay. I know it's crazy. I know it-"

"I never said it was crazy." Dimitri said quietly. "Will you please let me come with you to the airport?"

Stiffly, she nodded. She let him carry her bag for her too. In the cab, they sat without speaking. He surprised her by getting out of the cab, paying the driver and sending him on his way. "You don't have to-"

"I can get another one." He told her.

At the Pegasus desk, Rose confirmed her reservation and got her ticket. Dimitri followed her to security, where she turned toward him. Without a ticket, he wouldn't be able to get through.

"Well," she said. "Goodbye."

He hesitated. It would've been the perfect moment for her to tip her face toward his for a kiss. At least a hug. But Rose didn't move toward him, nor he toward her.

"Call me when you get home." Dimitri said. "So I know you made it okay."

"Okay."

She waited, hating this hesitation. When he made no move toward her, Rose shifted her shoulder bag and gave him a stiff nod. Then she turned around and went through the security checkpoint. By the time she had the chance to see if he was still watching her, Dimitri had gone.

The flight was uneventful, made longer because she couldn't sleep and had forgotten her book on Dimitri's night stand. In Harrisburg, her eyes grainy, she had a panicked moment when she thought she'd forgotten her car keys. That's when she broke into tears. Brief but harsh, they stung her throat and clogged her nose before she got herself under control.

The drove to Adrian's house, her anxiety mounting. There was no Mustang in the driveway, and her guts twisted. Her hands shook when she got out of her car and rang the front doorbell. If something had happened, she told herself, Adrian would've called her. He would have.

Sydney answered the door in her pyjamas, cracking it open only far enough to peek out before seeing it was Rose and opening it the whole way. "Oh. Hi? What…?"

"I came home early."

"Adrian took Eddie to the movies. Um, in the new car. Do you want to come in?" Sydney stepped aside.

Rose had been inside her ex-husband's new house a handful of times. She preferred to avoid it. There was no non-awkward way to be a guest there. In the foyer, she took note of the enormous portrait of Adrian, Sydney and Eddie that hung on the far wall.

"That's new." She said.

Sydney looked surprised. "Oh. Yeah. I thought Adrian might've told you about it."

"He doesn't seem to tell me very much about anything." Rose said.

Sydney had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Can I get you a drink or something?"

"When will they be home, do you know? I just…" Rose let out a long, shuddering breath. "I need to make sure he was okay. I just needed to be sure he was all right."

Sydney nodded. "Come into the kitchen. They'll be home soon. Let me get you some water. Or something."

She was acting crazy, Rose realised. She shook her head, the heat of embarrassment making her cringe. "No, I should head home."

"Rose…" Sydney said hesitantly. "You can wait for him, if you want."

It was already close to midnight. Rose shook her head again. Wanting to hate Sydney for seeming so understanding. Wanting to hate her for a lot of things, and as always, finding herself unable to. "Just have him call me when he gets home, okay? I want to congratulate him."

Sydney nodded. "Of course. You sure you don't want to stay?"

"No. I can't, really. I'm tired."

With that excuse, Rose escaped. At home, she forced herself not to give in to the swell of emotions threatening to bring her to her knees. She couldn't afford it. Wouldn't allow it.

In the hallway she peeked into Eddie's room. No reason for it, just habit. The other room, the one with the never opened door, beckoned, but she ignored that impulse. In her bed, Rose pressed her face against the pillows and checked the clock every few minutes as the time passed by and no call came in from Eddie. Finally it buzzed in her hand. Eddie. Hi."

"Mum! Did you see the picture of the sweet car Dad got me?" Eddie paused, then sounded puzzled. "How come you came home early?"

"Oh… I wanted to. That's all." She closed her eyes against a fresh spate of tears, ones of relief this time, and of a love so fierce it threatened to consume her. They chatted for only a few more minutes, with Rose mostly listening while Eddie rhapsodized about the car. By the time he finished, the sick feeling in her gut hadn't abated by much, but she'd managed to get it under control. After confirming what time he'd be home tomorrow, Eddie said goodbye.

Then "I'll give you a ride, Mum. We can go out to dinner. My treat."

A sudden image of him in a pair of short overalls and saddle shoes, a binky in his mouth and a stuffed bear in his hands, assaulted her. Those days were over. He was growing up. And she had let him.

Sleep, surprisingly, came easy after they disconnected, and with nothing to do the next day, Rose didn't bother to set her alarm. The buzzing phone, which wouldn't ring while settled in the dock, jerked her from sleep, and she grabbed at it with blind hands. Frantic. She couldn't remember what she'd been dreaming, but her mind at once had turned to bad news. "What is it? What happened?"

"You said you'd call me when you got home." The slurred voice was barely recognisable as Dimitri's.

Rose rubbed her eyes, checking the clock. Shit. It felt as if she'd been sleeping forever. "Sorry." She said.

"I was worried, Roza."

"I'm sorry." She said, more sincerely this time. She knew what it was like to worry.

When he didn't answer, she listened hard. There was noise in the background, not like TV or music playing, but the clink of glasses and murmur of voices. It was just past two in the morning. She lay back on her pillows. "Where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at the bar where we met."

Rose frowned. "At the airport?"

"Yes."

"What are you doing there?" the slur in his voice curled her lip a little.

"Drinking."

And what else was he doing? What had he been doing the night they'd met? Drinking and picking up women, maybe. Or one woman. All it would take was one.

"At the airport." Rose said.

"Yeah. Yes. This place, here. It's like cheers. Everybody knows my name."

She frowned "Nice."

"It is nice." He said. "I was waiting for you to call me."

"Why are you at the airport?" She asked again, confused. He could drink at home, or the neighbourhood bar. But… "How'd you get through security without a ticket?"

"I got a ticket."

Rose sat up in bed. "Why? Where are you going?"

"I was gunna come to Harrisburg." It came out slushy. Harrishburg.

A different sort of heat spiralled through her. Not embarrassment. Not arousal. Sort of fear, as if something terrible was about to happen. Or something miraculous. "You were going to randomly fly to Harrisburg?"

"To see you." Dimitri said. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"So why aren't you here?"

"I couldn't make the flight."

She thought about this, him wanting her so much he'd fly to her without even letting her know. Him wanting her that much. She didn't want her pulse to quicken and heat to gather in her lower belly, but when she thought of the taste of him, the throb of his cock on her tongue, she slid a hand between her legs for a moment.

"And." Dimitri added. "I don't know where you live."

A burst of laughter escaped her; she clamped her jaw tight to keep the hilarity inside. "That would make it hard, for sure."

"You know what else is hard?"

Rose wasn't falling for that one. "You're drunk. Go home."

"Wish you were here with me."

She couldn't stop herself from thrilling to that simple statement, no matter how irritated she'd been with him earlier. No matter how much the drink was influencing him… or not. She sighed.

"No, no, I'm good." Dimitri said but not to her. "I'm going home now. Home alone, to my lonely bed. All alone."

"Come to me next weekend." Rose said impulsively. "I'll tell you where I live and everything."

Dimitri muttered something into the phone, but she couldn't tell what he'd said or if he meant it for someone else. Then, louder, he added. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Yes. Okay. You call me when you get home." She told him. "I want to make sure you're alright."

"I'll tell you I will. But maybe I won't."

She sighed. "Then call me tomorrow."

"I'll call you tomorrow. Tomorrow. Okay?"

"Comrade." Rose said, not sure what she meant to say, but he'd already disconnected.