'Thanks for the lift, Grams!'

Alexis popped out of the car in front of Shane's building; she waved to her grandmother and tried not to look like the innocent Red Riding Hood on her way through the woods while she shouldered her overnight bag and waited for Shane. Her timing was near-perfect, for she watched her grandmother zip through the lights at the end of the block just as Shane rounded the corner, backpack on his shoulder and phone to his ear. When he approached and saw her waiting for him, he grinned in his slow and sexy way that made Alexis' knees turn to water.

'Yeah, she's here. We'll be ready on time, not to worry. Right. Bye. Hey sweetie,' he said, kissing her hello. 'How was the Hamptons?'

'Fun, I have so many pictures and stories to share.'

'Well, we'll have the time, because that was Body, he and his man Faisal are on their way to pick us up so we can head to Grammercy City.'

'Oh yea! I remember him mentioning Faisal when we played pool with him and Jeremy.' Alexis paused as they walked into the building. 'Will anyone else I know be there?'

'Yeah, Jeremy will be there, and so will Diane.'

'Right. You don't think she'll try to do anything?'

'Not a fuckin' chance,' he reassured her.

Alexis nodded, thinking of the drama Meredeth and Esposito had faced with Valencia after Esposito had been shot. She didn't want anything like that for herself and Shane in the slightest. 'Okay. I trust your judgement.'

'Glad to hear it.'

It took Shane no time at all to pack, and he was just zipping his toiletries kit closed when Body called them up over the intercom to let them know their chariot was a-waiting, and what a chariot it was, Alexis thought in appreciation as they walked out of the door. 'Body, where did you score these wheels?' she laughed in delight as she got an eyeful of the cherry-red sixty-nine T-bird convertible with butter-cream tinted leather seats and sparkling chrome rim-and-trim. Body was leaning against the passenger door, ready to help them load their bags in the trunk, and a very handsome Middle-Eastern man sat in the driver's seat.

'They're mine. I'm Faisal, by the way, so lovely to meet you finally, Alexis,' he said, shaking her hand as she hopped in the car behind him. 'Shane's had nothing but beautiful things to say about you.'

'Same to you. If I wasn't a gay man, I think Shane would have some serious competition for your attention.'

'Don't listen to him, even batting for the other team he's got no game,' Shane fired back jovially, making Faisal and Body both snicker.

'That's true, I only stay with him because he feeds me.'

'You're filthy.' Faisal lowered his sunglasses, put the car into first gear. 'So tell us about this mini-Olympics in the Hamptons, Alexis.'

She told them all about the antics they all participated in and been witness to in her father's summer-games for their family, and the men all laughed, especially about the guys doing the commando crawl with their kids. The entire time up Shane kept his fingers interlocked with hers, just enjoying the touch and feel of her sitting beside him, so much so that when they pulled into the Grammercy Boardwalk parking lot, he felt a little burst of sadness at letting go of her only momentarily. The boardwalk was certainly a sight: an ocean-side view with the noisy bells and whistles of arcade games, the scents of beer, melting ice, salt and deep-fried food, and the sight of all kinds of all kinds of people of varying shapes and sizes and colours. For Shane and Alexis, it was the ideal representation of summer.

'Jeremy, Diane and Jeremy's date are over by the pop-gun shooting gallery and the deep-fried Twinkie booth,' Faisal said, looking around, then arched an eyebrow at the giggling Alexis. 'Did I hit the snicker-button?'

'A little bit.'

'Okay, goofy-red, I guess I won't say I'm in the mood for the Boardwalk's famous spicy sausage on a bun.'

Now it was Shane's turn to laugh. 'I think we're all regressing a little tonight. Come on, we better go find them before Body starts laughing over the salt-water taffy.'

'Taffy?'

'Stop it,' Body said through gritted teeth, trying not to laugh. 'You're just being mean.'

A couple of hours later, Shane could tell Alexis was truly enjoying herself. They'd met up with Jeremy, Diane and Jeremy's date Wendela and proceeded to have a totally juvenile night of throwing darts at balloons, tossing rings, watching fire-eaters and flamenco dancers and other buskers, and Alexis' favourite, the frog-pond. She'd teased Shane that since he'd only made it to seventy-eight on the strong-man sledgehammer drop this might be more his speed, to which he'd given her a headlock hug and blown a raspberry on her cheek, making her laugh until her sides ached.

Jeremy and Diane had been wonderful to her as well, he noted, particularly Diane who was actually trying to make an effort to be nice to Alexis. Shane didn't blame the girl for being a little bit distant with her after Diane had tried to set him up with another woman and he hadn't taken the bait, but at the very least it was nice to see that Diane was able to put someone else's happiness ahead of her own satisfaction. She was even gracious enough to give Alexis a spare token so she could try to win a stuffed toy for Shane at the archery booth. When Alexis came up just short of the top prize, Shane knew she'd earned a little more respect from them both.

'Where'd you learn that?' Jeremy asked, as Alexis tucked her prize in the form of a stuffed animal that resembled something between a bat and a mutant koala.

'I've been fencing since I was nine, and when I went to Cambridge I picked up archery too.'

'Fencing and archery and going to school in England, it's like Shane's dating Robin Hood,' Faisal commented, digging in the large paper-bag of candy he'd made-slash-won at the taffy-pulling contest and shaking the bag at Body. 'You want some, my man?'

'No,' Body replied in a voice suited for speaking to a slow child. 'I've turned down salt-water taffy the last four times you've offered it to me, what makes you think the fifth is any different?'

'Why don't you like it?' Alexis asked, tucking her trophy stuffed-animal under her arm. 'And why do you always giggle whenever that word is mentioned?'

'Let me tell the story, please?' Shane begged, and at Body's nod, he looped his arm through Alexis' free one. 'First time we came to this festival, Body was telling us this really great joke about a drunk priest saying mass, and one of the line's involved Saint peter's and a taffy-pulling contest and when we get here, there is a taffy eating contest which Body signs up for.

'I swear to God it was like watching an anaconda go to town on a cow, I've never seen anyone eat so much candy in one sitting,' Jeremy added. 'Keep going.'

'So he wins the contest, and gets like ten pounds of salt-water taffy for winning, and Body gets up, walks away from the table and takes a walk down onto the sand and proceeds to yak up every last ounce of salt-water taffy he's just inhaled,' Shane finished, making Alexis wrinkle her face up in sympathy.

'Oh, I'm so sorry, Body.'

'It was my own fault, and more importantly, it ruined my love of salt-water taffy. I haven't eaten the stuff since.' Body shrugged affably as they reached the parking lot. 'I'm just thankful it wasn't something like eclairs or cream-puffs, now that would have been tragic, especially with me being a chef and all.'

'So who's up for a beer?' Diane looked around at the group. 'It's only ten-thirty, plenty of time.'

'I'd love to but I'm working tomorrow so I'll have to take a rain-check,' Wendela said, kissing Jeremy's cheek and waving her goodbyes to the group.

'I'd rather we just head over to the cabin,' Faisal said. 'There's plenty to drink there, plus we can have a campfire with midnight spiders and smores, and I'm sure Alexis is still trying to get right with the Eastern Seaboard.'

'And there's even better seats for the Grammercy midnight fireworks on the beach,' Body concluded. 'Alright, home we go.'

Since it was dark and Alexis was still trying to get herself adjusted to New York time, she figured she would appreciate Faisal's rustic little cabin on the ocean-front property far more in the daylight after a good-night's sleep and maybe a little loving from her man. At the moment though, despite her fatigue, she could see there was two-stories, all wood and stone, and the interior was the feel of a hunting lodge with is warm atmosphere, comfortable furniture and exposed rafters.

'You guys are upstairs in the closed loft room,' Faisal told them. 'The other is open-air, the walls don't go all the way to the top and we thought you might like some privacy for...reuniting.'

'You figured right,' Shane said casually, making Alexis blush a little. It was one thing for it to be understood you had a sex-life together, it was another to pretty much have it broadcast. Then again, since she'd just flown in Thursday night, she knew they were all going to assume they wanted to do nothing but bang each other like hammers on nails.

'We're going to get a campfire going outside, and we'll definitely do smores, what about potatoes and corn and spiders?'

'Spiders?' Alexis repeated.

'That's a yes. I'll show you, don't worry,' Body told her. 'For now, go get some clothes on you don't care smell like bug-spray and woodsmoke.'

Shane and Alexis headed into their room, where Alexis unzipped her bag, pulled out her sweats. 'I like your friends,' she told him. 'They're very laid back, not what I was expecting.'

'They think you're pretty cool too, but not as much as me,' he replied, adding while he kissed her, because I'm the one in love with you.

R&R&Enjoy