Nathan sighed as he dropped off the sack load of homemade decorations Haley had put together. As much as they were paying to rent a hall in the Miami Beach Ritz Carlton, preparations for the surprise party were included but his wife had insisted on adding a personal touch. And he had been the one stuck playing delivery guy when Lucas had made up some other excuse and weaseled his way out of it.

Of course Haley had personal, detailed instructions on how she wanted the banner lined with roses, specifically hung. None of the workers were in sight so taking a deep breath, her handsome husband decided to dive into the manual labor and start the job himself rather than face the wrath of Haley Scott later. She had a sweet demeanor and was relatively easy going so there was actual no dreaded "wrath" but she did tend to get disappointed when things weren't done the right way. This party was important, not only for Jake and Peyton but for everyone. The hall was to look perfect.

"Did anyone ever tell you it isn't safe to climb a ladder without a spotter?"

He looked down and was surprised to see Amanda's grinning face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Same as you", she shrugged. "Making sure the place looks nice and everything goes off without a hitch. This was my brilliant idea after all."

It was Nathan's turn to smirk.

"So you keep reminding us. So how did you get down here?"

"I took the bus."

"Oh. Well, I've just got to hang this stuff up here and I'm gonna take off…"

"What the hell is that?"

Nathan shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess a banner made of roses or something."

Amanda rolled her eyes.

"It's tacky. This is supposed to be a nice party with a classy, elegant, romantic atmosphere. Not something out of a bad 80's prom."

Nathan narrowed his eyes.

"My wife made this."

His voice was tight and defensive, obviously insulted that his wife's work had been insulted. Amanda only laughed.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you. I should have known Haley would go for something like this. I'll give her an A+ for effort and thought but uh…it's still tacky."

"Whatever. She worked really hard on it."

"I'm sure", Amanda folded her arms just enough so that her hot pink tee shirt rose a few inches and exposed the tanned flatness of her belly. "She wanted it to be perfect…look perfect. I guess that's why you got dispatched for the job of 'do boy', huh?"

Nathan just shook his head as he finished the job and carefully climbed down the ladder.

"I don't get you. You or Jenny. What's your deal? I mean, you're both just a bunch of bratty smart mouthed kids."

"Don't compare me to her."

"Why not?" he teased.

Amanda's lips curled into a smile.

"So you want to know my deal, huh? I'll tell you…if you give me a ride back home."

Nathan folded his arms.

"What about the bus?"

"The bus sucks. Busses are for losers. Besides, I want to ride in style with the hottest NBA star on the planet."

He couldn't help but grin.

"Alright. Whatever. I'll give you a ride back to Jake and Peyton's but what would you have done if I hadn't shown up?"

She shrugged with a saucy smile.

"I knew you were going to show up."

"And how did you know that?"

Amanda licked her lips.

"I just knew."

They walked out to his luxury SUV and climbed in. Nathan started the ignition and they began the drive through maddening traffic.

"So…" Nathan began to make conversation in lieu of the awkward silence building. "You excited about this party?"

"Are you?"

He shook his head.

"I asked you first. Why do you always have to turn everything around on me?"

"Habit", she teased back. "Or natural talent. There are, um, a lot of things I'm talented at, Nathan."

"Oh really?" he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. I could tell you…or show you."

"No thanks."

"No thanks?"

"You heard me. Look you're cute and obviously you're a big flirt. Whatever. But when it comes down to it, you're just a 15 year old kid and I'm a happily married man. I'm not trying to go to jail for messing with some underage teen and I'm definitely not trying to ruin my marriage."

Amanda nodded.

"Doing the right thing, huh? That's funny. You never struck me as the type."

"Well, you learn something new everyday. Obviously, you don't know me."

"I don't…but I know your type. Let's see. I'm willing to bet you are the reformed jerk of a bad boy whose life was turned around by the sweet, unconditional love of the girl next door from the wrong side of the tracks."

"Whatever."

"Now you sound like that brat Jenny", she laughed. "Am I wrong?"

"Lucky guess", he shrugged. "Besides, it doesn't matter how Haley and I got together. The point is, we've been together for a long time and that's the way it's going to be until we die."

"That's nice. I mean, that's how it should be, right?"

"Right", Nathan said as he maneuvered in and out of the lanes.

"Even though it's hard…"

"What's hard?"

"You know what I mean. You're this good looking, athletic, rich guy with the whole world at your feet. You could be living it up. And women, all kinds of gorgeous women throwing themselves at you all the time. That's a pretty exciting life. How many other guys would kill for a life like that. But you don't even get to enjoy it."

"I enjoy it. My life is great."

"I'm sure. But it could be better, right? If you didn't have the old ball and chain."

Nathan laughed in spite of himself.

"I'd hardly call Hales the old ball and chain…"

"You ever cheated on her?"

"Now you're getting personal."

"Just a question", Amanda shrugged.

"One that's none of your business."

"Someone's getting defensive. I'll take that as a yes."

"What?"

"Did she find out about it?"

"Amanda…"

"Probably so. Either you were dumb enough to get caught or feeling guilty enough to confess all. Regardless, I'm sure sweet, little, demure Haley forgave and forgot and all was quickly well again in the Scott marriage."

Nathan's anger was growing as his large hands gripped the steering wheel and his cheeks burned.

"Look, she didn't find out about it…"

"So it did happen?"

Nathan bit his lip.

"Look, it's none of your business and I don't have to explain myself to you but it's not what you think. There was this stupid party one time and I got piss drunk and there was this chick and I…"

"You fucked her?"

"Hell no. We just kissed."

"But you told Haley…right?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Nathan sighed heavily.

"Because it was the right thing to do."

"Was she upset? Pissed? Did she cry? Throw all your things out onto the fancy, manicured lawn?"

"No. Look, it wasn't a positive and she wasn't happy about it but we worked through it and we're fine now. It was a mistake and it was a long time ago."

"Okay."

Nathan was livid. He hated talking about it, reliving the memory. He hated realizing what he had done. He could still see the look on his wife's face as he pleaded and tried to reason with her that it was just a "stupid kiss that didn't mean anything". Most of all, he hated that Amanda had forced the issue. How did it end up that he was spilling his guts about a private matter to some random girl? She smiled at him and he couldn't even look at her. He felt…dirty, used. It was amazing how quickly and subtly she had been able to manipulate the information out of him. He had never before been so relieved to turn onto Jake and Peyton's street.

"Alright, Amanda", he said, screeching to a halt in front of the curb.

"Thanks for the ride", she opened the door. "It was uh…enlightening."

"I'm sure", he muttered.

"Guess I'll see you at the party. It's going to be a fun one."

He watched her flip her long blonde hair as she scurried to the front door.

"Hey, Amanda!" he called her back.

She stopped and backtracked, approaching the open passenger window with an innocent smile.

"Yes, Nathan?"

He took a deep breath.

"Listen, that stuff I just told you about me and Haley…it's in the past. It's done. We're over it but it's not something we like to talk about. And not a lot of people know. I don't know why I told you, but could we just…"

"It's cool", she nodded.

"Huh?"

She leaned in close and licked her pink glossed lips.

"Don't worry, Nathan. Your secret is safe with me."