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Aiden laughed, "What about her?"

Trent shrugged, picking up the Corona he was spinning between his hands and took a drink. He set it on the shiny wood of the bar with a clink. He ran his hand through his hair in an aggitated gesture. "I don't know..." He began to rub his chest, which seemed to get painfully tight more frequently.

"Well?" Aiden prodded. "What are you getting at with her?"

Trent shifted uncomfortable. "I don't know where to begin."

Aiden gave him a queer look, confused. "You like her, don't you?"

"Well, yeah... I mean, who wouldn't? She's a sweet girl." He said, still shifting.

Aiden turned to him, setting his beer down and studied his friends face. "You're still not obsessing over Lanie are you? Come on, five years. And Lauren IS a great girl."

"I know." Trent cut him off too sharply, giving him a glare. "I know," he said, taking the edge off his voice.

Aiden's eyebrows came together in a frown. "Have you slept with her?"

Trent's head shot around to stare at his friend in disbelief. "No, why would you ask that?"

Aiden shrugged. "Well... She has a past."

Trent shrugged that off. "Not as bad as mine."

Aiden looked down into the dark liquid in the glass cup he was holding in between his hands. "Were you sleeping around, Trent?" He looked over at his friend. "I mean, honestly. Felice is worried about you, too. But she's noticed you've been changing since you met Lauren."

Trent's head bowed even lower. He was quiet for so long, Aiden thought he wasn't going to answer so he began to ask again, when Trent said, "Yeah, I was sleeping around. I mean, Aiden, I was sleeping with girls I didn't even know; I didn't know their fucking names." Trent shook his head in self-disgust. "But then I met Lauren, and she's like... the most wholesome girl I know, you know what I mean? She and Felice are a lot alike," He added. "She... I don't know, but I mean I look at her smile and the way it lights up her face and shit and God damnit... It makes me regret everything and feel disgusting. She makes me want to forget the casual sex and actually have a relationship with her." He was quiet for a moment, not daring to look at Aiden. "I mean, I slept with Melanie the first night I met her. I was what? Eighteen? Now I'm twenty five, and in less than three months I'm going to be twenty six, and I haven't settled down, don't have a permanent career... I have nothing to offer her except my body, me, and why would she want that?"

When Aiden didn't reply at all, Trent turned and saw the look of amazement on his face. "Dude, you are in deep."

Trent narrowed his eybrows. "What?"

"You're like, half in love with her already. I was just like you when I met Felice. And I love Felice to death."

Trent was taken aback. "It's not love, man, it's like... a deep liking."

Aiden chuckled. "Sure, buddy. When did you know you were in love with Melanie?"

Trent thought for a moment. "A year after we had sex."

Aiden grinned, he had set his trap perfectly around Trent. "Yep, and how did it FEEL?"

Trent began to answer then closed his mouth. He almost said "Like this".

Aiden laughed, then patted Trent on the shoulder. "Yep."

Embarrassed, Trent tried to change the subject. "What did you mean when you said 'Lauren has a past'? What'd you mean by that?"

Aiden stopped smiling. "Well, I mean, it's not a secret and I'm sure if you asked her... She just, she doesn't sleep around, or anything."

Trent gave him an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

Aiden ran a hand through his dark blonde hair. "She was going out with a cop last year, and she cheated on him... Stuff happened. I'm just saying be careful."

Trent didn't say anything. "So you're saying if I do get with Lauren to watch out and make sure she's not stabbing me in the back?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know. Just stuff Felice tells me."

Trent shrugged it off, trying to get the uneasy feeling out of his chest. "I will talk to her about it. And THEN, I'm going to ask her out on a date."

Aiden grinned. "That's the spirit."

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(Aiden and Felice's Apartment)



Aiden walked into the master bedroom at the back of the house and took off his shirt as he smiled at Felice, who was dressed in a white silk and lace chemise with black-rimmed glasses perched on her face and a notebook in her hand. "Hey, love, how was work?"

"Fine, long." He undid the velcro on the black belt and unbuttoned his pants. "Sorry I'm late, I met with Trent."

Felice looked back up at her, shifting her knees under the soft cotton white sheets. "Oh?"

"Yeah, he wanted to talk about Lauren." He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and watched Felice in the mirror as she set her things on the nightstand and got out of bed to come to him. "What about her?"

"He likes her." Aiden began to brush his teeth and smiled with his eyes at Felice as she wrapped her slim arms around his narrow waist. He switched hands and reached out to draw her tighter to his side. Spitting, he said, "I don't know what to think."

Felice rested her head on his shoulder and looked at him in the mirror. "Hmm... So I was right." She grinned.

Aiden rinsed his mouth and put his toothbrush in the holder before turning to his girlfriend and kissing her on the lips. "Yeah."

"Come here and show me how much you like me."

Aiden grinned.

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