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Stephanie jumped up from the couch quickly grabbing her shirt and bra and ran into the bathroom closing and locking the door behind her. She sat down on the edge of the bathtub trying to calm her racing pulse and nerves. They had almost got caught by Shane and it was completely embarrassing.
Stephanie put her bra on as she heard muffled voices coming from the living room. After getting her shirt back on Stephanie waited a couple of minutes before flushing the toilet to make it seem if she had been only in there to use the bathroom. She turned on the sink and washed her hands quickly and then turned and headed back to the living room. As soon as she made it back to the living room her eyes locked onto Paul's. He was still sitting on the couch and he's eyes still showed the desire he had earlier for her. It made her tremble and ache for what they were about to do before Shane came home. Somehow he always seemed to ruin her and Paul's timing.
"Hey Steph" Stephanie heard Shane say and she looked over at him as he was coming out of the kitchen.
"Hey"
"What brings you here?" Shane asked and Stephanie noticed he was in a good mood. Did she want to ruin that? Or maybe it was a good thing he was in a good mood.
"Um.. I need to.. talk to you" Stephanie replied nervously but Shane had got his cellphone out and was typing on it probably not even noticing how nervous she was.
"Hold on" Shane replied finishing up whatever he was doing on his phone. After he was done he went to put his phone in his pocket and then it started ringing. Stephanie couldn't help but feel a little annoyed as he picked it up and held up a finger at her before he headed to his room.
Stephanie crossed her arms and rested her back on the wall and waited for Shane to get off the phone as she watched Paul get up off the couch. She silently cursed Shane for coming in and ruining her chance of having sex with Paul. Closing her eyes and trying to relive the feel of his hands and mouth on her body when her cellphone started ringing. Grabbing the cellphone out of her pocket she looked at the caller ID to see her best friends name.
"Hello" Stephanie answered trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"Hey where are you?"
"I'm at Shane and Paul's apartment"
"I'm at your house. I came to see if you wanted to get lunch with me and well your mom kind of invited herself and told me to call you"
"Okay I'm leaving now then. I'll see you soon" Stephanie replied ending the call. She loved that her mom was on her side about things with Paul but she was starting to annoy her a little.
Stephanie headed to the kitchen to where Paul went to see him getting some of the food Shane had brought in.
"Can you tell Shane that I had to go and I'll come by later?" Stephanie asked as he turned slightly to look at her.
"Yeah"
"Thanks" Stephanie replied before turning around to head for the door.
"Steph" she turned back towards him for a moment "I really regret just not taking you to my room"
"I do too" Stephanie replied with a shy smile. Then she turned and headed for the door glad that she wasn't alone in thinking about what almost happened and the fact he didn't regret it almost happening.
Stephanie couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she opened the door to her house. As she made into the living room she could voices in the kitchen and headed that way knowing that was where Allie was.
"How did it go?" Linda asked as soon as she made her appearance in the kitchen.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to him because when I got there he had went out to get food. When he got back he was too busy on his phone and that's when I got Allie's call" Stephanie replied sitting down beside of Allie.
"What were you going over there to talk to him about?" Allie asked giving her a confused look.
"To talk to him about me and Paul"
"You can try talking to him later. Maybe he won't be so busy on his phone then" Linda said before taking a sip of her wine she had in her hand.
"Maybe. So are we going to lunch?"
"Yes just give me a minute" Linda replied heading out of the kitchen.
"I can't believe you were actually going to go talk to Shane" Allie said looking at her.
"I've been wanting to for awhile now and my mom gave me a push today"
"Well something must have happened because you haven't stopped smiling"
"Paul and I almost had sex" Stephanie said in almost a whisper. She didn't want her mom overhearing because that would be embarrassing.
"What?" Allie asked her eyes widening "Why almost?"
"Shane came home"
"So?" Allie said shrugging her shoulders.
"We were on the couch in the living room"
"Oh my God. Did he catch you?"
"No thankfully"
"How far did you get? Did you see his-"
"Allie!" Stephanie almost shouted feeling the heat rush to her face. She knew exactly what she was going to ask.
"What are you girls talking about?" Linda asked coming back in the kitchen and sitting her wine glass down.
"Nothing mom" Stephanie replied quickly.
"Your face is very red Stephanie"
"I need to go change before we go" Stephanie said standing up quickly remembering what she was wearing and thankful she could get away for a moment.
"Okay" Linda replied as Stephanie left the kitchen.
After arriving at Stephanie's favorite little restaurant and had been seated they were handed menus to look over and Linda asked for a extra menu. It left Stephanie feeling confused but she ignored it until a conversation popped into her mind with her mother not too long ago.
"Mom?"
"Yes Stephanie?"
"You didn't invite-"
'Hey Linda" Stephanie heard Melanie's voice behind her and looked over to Allie to see her jaw clench. This was not going to be good. She was definitely annoyed that her mother kept doing this.
"Melanie why don't you sit by me" Linda said pulling out the chair in front of Stephanie.
"Thank you Linda I'm so glad you called me. Hi Stephanie, Allie" Melanie said looking at them and faking at being nice as usual.
"Melanie" Stephanie said as Allie didn't even acknowledge her existence. Stephanie watched as her mother handed Melanie the extra menu and then gave her mother a look when Linda looked up at her. Linda ignored her and went back to looking at the menu in front of her.
"I'm sorry" Stephanie whispered to Allie.
"It's not your fault. Don't worry about it" Allie whispered back.
"Are you ladies ready to order?" The waiter from earlier asked.
"We need another water...can you make that two waters actually and another menu please?" Linda asked and Stephanie looked up at her wondering who else she could have possibly invited. Linda wasn't paying attention to Stephanie though. She was looking behind Stephanie and Allie and motioning someone with her hand to come over there.
"Hey Linda" Stephanie heard Paul's voice coming up from behind her. Then a moment later the empty chair beside of Stephanie was being occupied by Paul.
"Didn't you already eat?" Stephanie asked with a laugh.
"No actually the food was disgusting and I had to throw it out"
"And you just happen to come here?" Stephanie joked remembering how he conveniently showed up to her date with Zach.
"Yes I did. It's my favorite restaurant just so you know" Paul replied stretching his arm and resting it on the back of her chair. Stephanie looked over at Melanie who didn't see to be happy about the fact that Paul's arm was resting on her chair as her eyes was glued to his arm.
"Paul have you met Melanie?" Linda asked pointing to Melanie.
"Yes I have" Paul nodded not even looking at Melanie.
"How about Allie?" Linda asked pointing in Allie's direction and he looked over at her.
"No I haven't. It's nice to meet you" Paul said nodding his head at her but Allie sat still staring at him. Stephanie nudged her leg lightly.
"It's nice to meet you too" Allie replied with a smile.
"I can see the drool" Stephanie whispered in her ear.
"I can't help it. He is even more hot up close" Allie whispered back in her ear and Stephanie couldn't help but laugh at her response. She knew Allie was nothing like Melanie and wouldn't try hitting on Paul plus she was engaged woman now.
Stephanie watched as their waiter came back and handed them an extra menu and two waters and then left again.
"Paul how have you been?" Melanie asked Paul and Stephanie instantly felt her temper start to flare. This girl wasted no time in trying to flirt with him.
"I've been good"
"Really? I heard yesterday that Stephanie went on a date with another guy" Melanie replied and Stephanie looked up at her in disbelief that she would bring that up.
"That didn't last long, did it?" Paul asked and Stephanie looked over at Paul and her eyes locked onto his as he leaned closer to her. Bringing his fingers to her face and lightly tracing the line of her jaw with one of his fingers sending shivers down her spine. She couldn't help but smile especially since she knew Melanie was watching the whole display. Although she couldn't believe he was being that way to her in front of her mother.
"It was just misunderstanding" Stephanie heard Linda say and couldn't help but be a little less annoyed at her mom for inviting Melanie along.
Melanie didn't have a chance to reply though as the waiter came back over and they finally placed their order.
"So why is she here?" Paul asked whispering in Stephanie's ear and she knew he was referring to Melanie.
"My mom invited her"
"Oh. Well if your mom and you are here where is your dad?"
"Probably at the office"
"That means your house is empty. So you should make an excuse to get out of this and we can go back to your house and finish what we started earlier" Paul whispered and she blushed. Oh God did she want to do exactly that.
"I can't leave Allie" Stephanie whispered back knowing that Allie would probably kill her for leaving her with Linda and Melanie.
"Too bad"
Stephanie tried forgetting the tempting offer Paul had gave her as their food arrived. Honestly she was glad Melanie had stopped trying to flirt with Paul after his little display towards her. It actually was surprising because usually Melanie didn't stop even though it was hinted so plainly obvious that he didn't want her.
After half way through their meals as everyone but Melanie chatted as they ate Linda excused herself from the table.
"So Allie how have you been? I haven't heard a thing about you in so long. I think the last thing I heard was that you were pregnant" Melanie said as Stephanie looked over at Allie. She was narrowing her eyes at Melanie because she was the one that even started that rumor back in high school. Stephanie guessed since she couldn't pick on her she would try to pick on Allie.
"That's funny. I think the last thing I heard about you was that you were working the street corner but then I thought to myself no that can't be right. What guy would pay you for sex when after talking to you for five minutes you would just give it to him for free" Allie responded and Melanie's face turned to a scowl.
"Fuck you" Melanie replied pushing her chair away from the table and stalking off.
"I love you for that" Stephanie said throwing her arms around Allie and hugging her. "But my mom is going to be mad"
"Don't worry I'll take full responsibility. I'm tired of her being able to dish it out but then she can't take it back" Allie said shrugging her shoulders and going back to her food.
"I'm just glad she is gone" Stephanie said taking a drink of her water.
"So…Paul what is your intentions with my best friend?" Allie asked making Stephanie almost choke on her water. She heard Paul chuckle at Allie's question or maybe her?
"I care a lot about Steph, I have for awhile. She's very important to me" Paul replied rubbing her shoulder with his hand.
"Where is Melanie?" Linda asked interrupting Allie and Paul's conversation.
"She left. It's probably my fault" Allie replied as Linda sat back down.
"Oh. Well she didn't seem to be enjoying herself anyway" Linda said brushing it off. Maybe her mother had finally seen what she had been trying to tell her along. Who knew though but it did surprise Stephanie that Linda let it go that easy.
"Well thank you for inviting me to join you but I need to get going" Paul said looking at Linda.
"You're welcome" Linda replied with a smile. Stephanie watch Paul pull out his wallet and get some money out. "Oh don't worry about it Paul. I'm paying for lunch"
"I can't let you do that"
"I insist"
"Well thank you" Paul replied putting his wallet away and standing up. "It was nice to meet you Allie"
"You too Paul" Allie replied with a smile.
"I'll walk out with you" Stephanie said just wanting a small amount of alone time with him.
"Go on out I'm almost done and we will meet you out there" Linda said giving Stephanie a small smile. Stephanie looked over at Allie making sure it was okay and Allie wiggled her eyebrows at her. Stephanie resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her before walking off beside of Paul.
"Well that was fun" Paul said with a laugh as they made it outside.
"I'm sorry about Allie. She can be blunt" Stephanie replied as Paul took her hand lacing his fingers in between hers.
"It's okay. She is a lot better than Melanie. I actually like Allie"
"Allie is pretty great" Stephanie said as they made it to his car. She wasn't quite ready for him to go yet. They had been having a pretty weird but great day with each other and she wasn't ready for it to end.
"I think you are great" Paul replied pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her and leaning down and kissing her.
Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck pressing herself against him and deepening their kiss. He broke free after a moment moving to her neck feeling the desire from earlier wash over her. Wanting him to touch her but they were unfortunately in a public place. He moved back to her mouth and backed up her against his car but the moment was ruined too quickly when she heard someone clear their throat. They broke their kiss and looked behind them to see her mother. Stephanie cast her eyes down at the ground feeling embarrassed.
"Sorry Linda" Paul said and Stephanie heard Allie giggle which meant she had caught them too.
"It's quite alright I was just wanted to let Stephanie know we were ready to leave"
"I'll see you later" Paul said lifting her chin and kissing her softly on the lips.
"Come with me" Stephane whispered to him and he smiled at her.
"I have some stuff to do but I'll try coming over later" Paul replied and Stephanie nodded her head but she felt disappointed. He leaned down and kissed her one last time.
"We'll see you later Paul" Linda said as Stephanie moved away from his car.
"See you later Linda" Paul replied opening his car door and getting in.
Allie grabbed Stephanie's arm pulling her to Linda's car as Paul started his car.
"He likes you a lot" Allie said opening the car door.
"I had that figured out" Stephanie replied with a laugh as Allie climbed in the back seat of the car and Stephanie slid in beside of her.
"Apparently it seems though he doesn't care what Shane has to say about it"
"I hope you're right"
"Why else would he be all over you?" Allie asked before Linda joined them in the car and started it.
"Mom-"
"Don't worry Stephanie I won't breathe a word of this to Shane" Linda said and Stephanie let out a breath of relief as they pulled out of the parking lot.
On the ride home Stephanie couldn't keep her mind off Paul as Allie and Linda carried on a conversation. She really had to go back and talk to Shane even though at this point she didn't care what he had to say but she want to know what his problem was with them being together.
"Are you okay?" Allie nudged her on the arm lightly breaking Stephanie from her thoughts.
"I'm fine just thinking"
"Is it about you and Paul?"
"Yes but not about that" Stephanie replied when Allie started to smile.
"Is this about Shane?"
"Yeah"
"If I were you I wouldn't ask Shane permission. I would just tell him that you were going to be with Paul and he could just deal with it" Allie said shrugging her shoulder.
"I just don't want him and Paul to get in a fight over it"
"You have to do something Steph. I think no matter which way it goes somebody is going to be pissed" Allie replied as Linda turned into the driveway and shut the car off.
"Thank you Allie for inviting me to lunch" Linda said opening her door.
"You're welcome" Allie replied as Linda got out of the car. As soon as she was gone Stephanie let out the laugh she had been holding back.
"I don't know why she thanked you when she invited herself. I'm still a little annoyed that she invited Melanie" Stephanie said shaking her head.
"Well she did kind of make up for it when she waved Paul over to join" Allie replied as they finally got out of the car.
Stephanie nodded her head in agreement and started for the house but froze when she finally noticed Shane's car in the driveway. She did want to talk to him but now suddenly she didn't feel prepared.
"Looks like you are going to get to have that conversation after all" Allie said walking past Stephanie to the house.
After a minute Stephanie followed behind her thinking of what she was going to say to Shane.
"I wished I knew you had went out to lunch. The food I ordered was horrible" Stephanie heard Shane say as she made into the living room.
"Be glad you didn't. Melanie was there" Stephanie said as he turned his attention from Linda to her.
"I'm glad I didn't then" Stephanie was glad he hadn't either but not because of Melanie. Paul probably wouldn't have acted the way he had towards her if so.
"I've never see her act the way she did toward you today Stephanie" Linda said taking a seat on the couch. Finally her mother was seeing how Melanie truly was and maybe she would stop being friendly toward her.
"I tried to tell you how she was mom" Stephanie replied as Shane sighed and reached into his pocket pulling his car keys out.
"Well since you guys already ate I'm going to out and find something else" Shane said starting to head for the door.
"Okay. Allie how about you and I head to the kitchen for a drink" Linda suggested getting up from the couch. Stephanie knew she was trying to give Shane and her space to talk privately.
"Sounds good" Allie replied looking over at Stephanie and giving her a reassuring look before heading to the kitchen.
Stephanie got up from her seat and quickly went to the front door before Shane had a chance to leave. She wanted answers to her questions and he wasn't getting away from it this time.
"Shane" Stephanie called as he opened the front door. He turned around to look at her as she made her way to him.
"Yeah?"
"I still need to talk to you"
"Oh yeah I forgot you had wanted to talk" Shane replied closing the front door. "So what is it you want to talk about?"
"I'm just going to come out and say it. I want to be with Paul" Stephanie said nervously as Shane sighed but it didn't seem mad about it which surprised her.
"I had a feeling that was what it was about considering Paul showed up to your date with Zach"
"Zach told you" Stephanie stated but of course he would. He was Shane's friend after all.
"Yeah and I've already talked to Paul about this"
"Why are you so against us being together Shane?"
"Paul didn't tell you?" Shane asked cocking his head to the side.
"He told me he didn't know" Stephanie replied feeling confused.
"Paul knows why. Doesn't that raise a red flag for you Steph?"
"What is the reason?" Stephanie asked ignoring his question. Shane sighed again and stood there for a moment like he was debating whether or not he should tell her.
"When Paul and I moved after my fight with dad I started becoming really good friends with this girl named Charlotte. It didn't take long for her and Paul to start talking and they started dating. They dated for maybe five or six months and one night I found out that Paul was cheating on her. When she found out about it I was the one she leaned on and it was hard to watch her go through that. I don't want to watch you go through that especially since you are my sister. I'm just trying to watch out for you Steph but I realize I also can't keep you from dating him either. I don't approve of it but that won't keep you two apart. Just be careful Steph" Shane said before opening the door and walking out leaving Stephanie feeling surprised and confused at the same time.
