June 1992

"You ready for tonight?" Dean whispered in her ear as they walked through the mall.

Forcing herself to smile, Beth nodded. Tonight was the night. After almost two years of dating, she and Dean were finally going to have sex. She couldn't put it off forever and with Dean's parents out of town, tonight seemed the logical night for it to happen. She just wished she didn't have this pit in her stomach. She wished she felt the same way she had when she'd been in Rio's arms, anxious excited instead of anxious nervous.

Nothing with Dean felt the way it did with Rio. Teasing, talking, hanging out, kissing...was all different (and if she were honest with herself - better) with Rio. But Dean wanted her and Rio didn't. She couldn't make the one she wanted want her so she decided to be content with the one who did.

So here they were killing time until Dean's parents left in a few hours. They'd gotten pretzels from Auntie Anne's that she'd only been able to eat a couple of bites of and were for the most part just window shopping. Dean had gone inside the candy store and returned with a large bag of jelly beans and candy cigarettes. He could be so juvenile sometimes.

As they headed to the Gap, a voice called out, "Deansie!"

Without turning around, Beth knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Cindy Jordan. Not wanting to stop and talk, Beth grabbed Dean's arm and whispered, "Let's just go. Pretend we didn't hear her."

Dean shrugged out of her grasp. "Don't be rude, Beth," he admonished before he turned around and gave Cindy a big bear hug.

More than a little annoyed that her boyfriend had ignored her request and had gone to talk to a girl who she knew for a fact was a vapid idiot, Beth walked over to where they stood.

"How are you, Cindy?" Beth asked cheerfully, knowing full well how fake she sounded.

Cindy barely threw a glance her way. "Good," she replied. "I've sure miss this big lug though! I can't believe it's been two weeks since school let out." Wrapping her arms around Dean's neck, she planted a big kiss on his cheek.

On a short fuse, Beth snapped at the girl's blatant flirtation. "Really? Really, Cindy?"

The other girl feigned innocence. "What?"

Beth scoffed. "What?" she mocked in Cindy's voice. "I'm just rubbing up against your boyfriend like a cat in heat. Totally innocent. We're just friends. That's all."

A sneer came across Cindy's face. "You are so insecure, Beth Marks. You really need to grow up. And you should be lucky Dean even took you back."

"Come on, girls. Don't fight," Dean said, clearly pleased by the prospect of them doing just that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beth shot back.

Cindy took a few steps closer. "Um...you act like you're this goody goody two shoes like Dean should be kissing the ground you walk on. You're so phony! I know who you hang out with. I've seen you hanging out with Rio Sanchez more than once."

"So?"

"So. He's got a reputation and you're getting a reputation just by hanging out with him. And not a good one. There's rumor that he's your pimp and that you're turning tricks to help pay the bills since your mom's a lazy drunk."

Beth's hand swung back and smacked Cindy full across the face. "You stupid bi—"

"Ladies, what seems to be the problem here?" a security guard walking towards them asked.

"It's nothing, officer," Dean replied. "Just...just a misunderstanding."

"Are you OK? Would you like me to contact the police? I can detain her until the cops get here ," the security officer told Cindy who was faking being on the verge of tears. The cute cheerleader act clearing working to her advantage.

Cindy shook her head, her bottom lip trembling. "No, I think I just want to go home. Deansie, can you give me a ride?"

Dean faltered. Clearly not knowing what to say. "Beth...Beth and I had plans..."

"You know maybe I should press charges I wouldn't want someone else to get attacked..." Cindy replied, rubbing her cheek.

Dean mouthed an "I'm sorry" at Beth. "I can take you home, Cindy. Beth and I's plans aren't until later."

Beyond furious and done with the whole situation, Beth retorted, "No, they're not. His schedule is completely clear. Why don't you two catch a movie?" Turning sharply on her heel, Beth headed towards the exit not caring if the security officer decided to chase her down or not. Although she shook with rage at the things Cindy had said, the knot in her stomach was mysteriously gone.

"Get out!"

Ducking, Rio dodged a pillow that was being thrown at his head. Grabbing his pants and his t-shirt, he ducked again just in time as a silver picture frame came racing towards his head. Sneaking into Dylan's bathroom, he quickly shut the door.

He pulled his shirt over his head and put his pants back on. On the other side of the door, Dylan was still cursing up a storm. He turned on the faucet and washed his face, collecting his thoughts as he did so. Then, he sat on the toilet and patiently waited for it to be safe for him to leave the bathroom.

He'd screwed up royally. He'd pulled a dick move and he knew it. Even if it had been unintentional. Every bit of Dylan's anger was justified.

Dylan was good to him. She was funny and loyal. They cracked jokes and had a good time. But that didn't change the fact that she wasn't Elizabeth.

He'd tried to shake his obsession with her, but he couldn't get her out of his head. Especially not since December. He'd relived that night over and over in his head. Her gentle tentative kisses, her taste, her soft curves underneath him, the feel of her, every moment from that night was on constant replay. If it hadn't been for Devante paging him he'd have stayed in her room all night long.

But Devante had paged him. Devante was his boss and Rio's mentor of sorts. He was showing him the ropes and on that night in particular had given him some much needed advice.

"Rio, you know you my boy, but I need you at a 100. I'm giving you more and more responsibility but I'm starting to worry that you might not be able to handle it. You're off your game and I bet that chick is the reason. You were supposed to meet me half an hour ago, but you were with her, weren't you? She was giving you a taste, wasn't she?"

Rio bit the inside of his cheek, refusing to give Devante details. It didn't matter whether he was the boss or not. "Sorry I was late. Won't happen again."

Devante clapped him on the back. "I was young and dumb once too." Rio had to fight back a laugh since the other man was the ripe old age of twenty-four.

"Marcus is my number two, but in a few years, once you get more experience, I can see you moving up the ranks. Your brother's loyal, but you've got smarts and potential that he just don't. You could be a boss one day. That sound good to you?" Devante asked.

Rio nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, my man, it ain't gonna happen if you're all puppy dog lovesick over this chick. I get it. You feelin' her frame. She got them tig ol' bitties. I see why she got you sprung."

Rio's hands clenched and his right cheek twitched. He didn't like the way Devante was talking about Elizabeth. But Rio instinctively knew this wasn't a fight he should pick.

Devante had noticed his reaction and whistled. "It's worse than I thought. You real sprung. You can't even take a joke. Didn't mean any disrespect, dog. But if I was you...I'd quit while I was ahead. This job requires your full attention and you can't do that with her around. It ain't fixing to last anyways. She's gonna meet some frat boy in college and spend the rest of her days some bored middle class housewife. Nah, if you're serious about making it in this game, then you need to focus up, son. With that chick taking up real estate in your head, you gonna wind up dead or in jail. End it. End it soon."

"We ain't nothing," Rio said. "She just works for me."

Devante had shrugged, looking at him skeptically. "If you say so..."

And so Rio had heeded Devante's warning. He'd kept thing strictly business with Elizabeth. It took a lot of willpower but he did it. Maybe if there were some guarantee things could end up differently... But Devante was right ten years from now they'd barely remember each other's name.

So far it had paid off. Devante was trusting him more and more. Rio had gone from selling weed at school to helping the boys with collecting debts. He didn't really enjoy it, but there were steps up the ladder. Everybody had to do grunt work at first. And the day he'd found out that Elizabeth and Dean had gotten back together he'd actually relished the feel of his fist smashing into another guy's face. He'd pretended it was Dean's instead of some sniveling dealer's who thought he could take 75% of the profits without anyone noticing.

Coincidentally, right around that time, he'd met Dylan at a party. They'd hit it off and had been together ever since, rocky though it was. It was better than being alone. At least she was someone to turn to when his mind got too busy thinking about Elizabeth and what she was or wasn't allowing Dean to do and touch.

Getting up and pressing his ear against the door, he heard silence. He knew Dylan was still out there but she was likely calm enough to have a conversation with now.

Slowly opening the door, he peeked his head out. His girlfriend sat on the bed, hugging one of her pillows. He was such an ass, he thought to himself. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You know we've been together for four months and we spent most of it fighting. Mostly over that thick white girl you spend all your time with. I can't do this, Rio. I can't do it anymore. I don't want to have to compete for my own man's attention. I shouldn't have to."

Thinking she was going to break up with him, Rio felt a sense of relief slowly creep over him. At least if they weren't together, he wouldn't feel guilty all the time about wanting someone else.

"You're right, Dyl. You deserve better," he said, sitting next to her and wrapping his arm around her.

"If we're going to stay together, you have to stop seeing her. It's clearly not just business like you've been telling me all these months if you're moaning her name while we're gettin' busy. No more, Rio. Call it quits or you and I, we're done."

A million thoughts raced through his head as he weighed the pros and cons of Dylan's ultimatum, but Devante's advice was foremost in his mind. Elizabeth was no good for him. She kept him from keeping his eye on the prize what with her doe eyes silently pleading with him to take what he so desperately wanted to take and those snug sweaters that clung to every single tempting curve. Hell no, he wasn't about to let some chick keep him from getting what he wanted in life.