Mark grabbed his keys and jumped into his truck. He has to get to Kassie sooner than later. Mark looked at the time and thought he should be able to catch her at her condo. He pulled in to the parking lot like he was running late for work. He saw Kassie's car was there and thought he was doing good. He jumped out of the truck and ran into the condo. He pushed the elevator to go up to the 6th floor. Mark walked over to Kassie's door and knocked on it. He didn't get a response and he knocked and knocked and nothing. He picked up his phone and called her as he got into the elevator. He listened to the phone ring and ring and then go to her voicemail. Mark started his truck and jogged to his truck and got into the car. He looked up the club name since he did not know where it was.

Kassie stood in between Jennifer and Amanda as the three of them did shots at the bar. Kassie wore a red cowl neck mini dress with a draping neckline. Her hair was up in high curls and her make up was smokey with a dark lipstick. She looked like a woman for a prowl. The girls cheered and wiggled to the music as the got the attention of everyone at the bar. The bartender filled up the shots once more.

"I am so glad that you decided to come out," Amanda said and Jennifer agreed as they cheered to Kassie.

"You girls are the only people that understand me," Kassie said as she raised her shot glass once more and slammed it back. She put the shot glass down on the bar.

"Let's do one more!" Jennifer screamed at the girls as the DJ started the music.

Kassie reached down into her clutch and grabbed her phone since it was flashing getting her attention. She opened the phone and noticed that Mark called. She then saw a text message from Jessica saying 'Sorry, I couldn't let this happen again.' Kassie stopped and looked at the girls as she tried to think what Jessica was even talking about, but the alcohol was starting to hit her as fast as she was putting them down and thinking was starting to slow down.

"Come on Kassie! Get your glass!" Jennifer called to her and she looked over at her. She walked over the bar and got her shot as three girls raised their shots and cheered them together as Amanda started to say something.

"Kassie!" Mark called to her as he walked over to her. Kassie just stared at him walking in just with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Mark?" She said a bit confused about why he would even be here.

"I think you had enough. Let me take you back to my house." He reached over and took the shot out of her hand and she pulled away.

"This is not yours," Kassie said to Mark and Kassie took the moment and swallowed the shot. "Why are you here?" she said her words a little slurred and Mark could just tell she had enough to drink for a bit.

"For you," Mark said and he could tell Kassie would be the easiest person to get into the car or the hardest. He took a deep breath and looked at all three of the girls.

"Well, I am sorry, but" Amanda started to talk to him "Sometimes people need to put their big boy pants on and tell a woman that they are off the market." Jennifer and Amanda started to laugh at the two of them at him.

"Kassie lets just go," Mark said as he reached out to her. Mark tried to ignore Amanda and Jennifer's comments as he tried to get Kassie to come with him.

"No, you're playing me, Mark. I would change anything for you and you just keep flipping hot and cold on me." Kassie said and she started to have some of that liquid courage kicking in, but the raw emotion that Mark brought out in her was winning as a few tears that fell on her cheek.

Mark walked closer to her and he ran his hand against her cheek catching the tears that escaped "You don't need to be strong around me, Kass. I want you for you." He paused as his heart raced a bit.

"You never told me. I always chase you... even to Philadelphia." Kassie said to him and "Why are you saying this to me now?"

Amanda and Jennifer could not help but stand there and watch what was going on. Mark and Kassie were nose to nose as they continued to talk and the girls just stared.

"I told you in Philadelphia. Do you remember what I wrote 'You mean more to me than I'll ever let you know.' You have no idea how much, Kass. I could tell from the first time I saw you at the bar how fascinated I am by you." Kassie looked down as more tears just began to fall as Mark could tell she was hurting and part of it was because of him. "There is no reason to cry. You are just ruining your makeup" He said as she looked at him and he wiped away a few more tears.

Kassie's heart beat faster and faster as Mark's thumb ran over her cheek. She closed her eyes as she stood in front of Mark taking in each touch that his fingers brushed across her skin. Mark knew he wanted to kiss her for the longest time. He held her cheek and went in for the kiss. Their lips touching and then parting his touch tasting the Jack that she as drank already in the night.

Mark and Kassie's lips touched each other and it was like fireworks going off in the room. Amanda and Jennifer just stood there and their mouth dropped open which felt like forever. There was no doubt in their mind that Mark was falling head over heels for Kassie. They also knew that Kassie was already head over heel for him.

Kassie woke up and moaned a bit. Her head was pounding as she opened her eyes to the lights shining in on her. She began to wonder why her shades were left open when she remember closing them before she left last night. "oh man" She said softly to herself as she rubbed her head. She rolled over slowly trying hard to not make the world spin. She noticed then that this was not the cover on her bed. She sat up and see that Mark was sleeping next to her. 'He looks to beautiful sleeping' She thought to her self. 'What happened last night?' She began to think as she stared at Mark 'I went out to Amanda and Jennifer revenge was the flavor of the night.' Kassie decided that she needed to get up and go to the bathroom. She looked around the room. It was a very county feel. She noticed where she believes that the bathroom was. She sat up in the bed and noticed she was just in her panties and bra.

"Good Morning," Mark said very sleepily as he looked over at Kassie and smiled. His hair a mess as he sat up and pulled his hair back.

"Morning." She paused and looked at Mark as she had all these questions that she wanted to ask, but just pushed her lips together.

"I will make us some breakfast. My daughter's room is down the hall. I believe that you can find some clothes and makeup in there." Mark said to Kassie as he reached out and touched her arm and smiled at her. Mark then lifted the covers and got out of the bed and Kassie noticed he already had some gym shorts on. Mark grabbed himself some shorts and made his way out of the bedroom.

Kassie took her time as she looked around and seen that her phone was on the nightstand. She went to the bathroom as she opened the phone and started to read the text messages from last night. The memories that she could not remember slowly started to come flooding back. Kassie cleaned up and then went down the hall into his daughter's room and grabbed her self some clothing and sneakers. She walked down the hallway and back into Mark's bedroom to get a shower. She allowed the water to just flow over her. She was embarrassed about her behavior and should not have gone out last night.

Kassie looked at the clothes that she had in the bathroom with her. She was impressed with the style that Mark's daughter had. She put them on and pulled her hair up and clipped it high on her head. She walked out of the bathroom feeling a little better about her self. She noticed a photo on the nightstand she picked it up and it was a photo of Mark and his kids. Kassie smiled and wondered how he was a father to them.

Kassie felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She grabbed it and seen that it was Jessica "Are you still talking to me?"

"Yes, thank you" Kassie texted back and put her phone in her pocket. Kassie walked downstairs and into the kitchen her wet hair dripping a little. Mark made a big pot of coffee, scrambled eggs, toasts, and some sausages. He placed everything on the table and turned around to just see Kassie stop and watched him.

"Thank you," Kassie said to Mark as she put her hand on her hips, and Mark walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her pulling her in close and kissing her forehead.

"Come, let's get some food in you and some medication for your head," Mark said as he put the pan in the sink. The two sat down at the table and slowly began to eat.

"I feel like I should explain what happened last night." Kassie started and Mark put a big forkful in his mouth.

"You had a bad day. It happens. Trust me I had plenty of years of them." Mark tried to play it off and not ask.

"I was out for revenge." She said slowly "I should have stayed at home. I can't remember much beyond we were drinking at the bar and getting a strange text message on my phone from Jessica." Kassie stopped as she watched Mark eat and she took a few bites of toast. "Remember when I told you I need to restart. So, I moved down here..."

"mm-hmm," Mark said and continued to eat.

"I was with a guy for over 5 years and he never proposed. He always kept telling me that marriage is just a piece of paper. It always rubbed me the wrong way, but I gave up on a lot of my dreams for him. That wasn't what broke the camel's back. He started he dropped hours at his job and I couldn't find him. Needless to say, he was cheating on me and I found out slowly and painfully. I then went on the revenge and would drink until I could not see anymore."She paused and looked at Mark. "He is married now 2 kids. I doubt he is happy." She snickers and put food in her mouth. Mark just looked at her ignoring the last bit of information.

"Is

he the one that is labeled 'Fucking Cheater' on your phone." Kassie looked up at him and swallowed hard

"Yes," She paused "I know he has been calling. I never answer them." She paused "He only started to call again right after Philadelphia."

"So that is what you were doing last night?"

"Yeah, Jessica calls it to revenge" She paused "Because it is all about the person drinking and not about the pain that is left behind."

Mark finished the food in his mouth and took a drink of his coffee "Are you in pain now?"

"I feel like a fool," Kassie said her head down at the table "I don't know what we are" She began to be honest and sat back in the chair her eyes starting to well up. "I am just being honest. I have been on a dating app since I moved here. Yeah, I would go out with the girls, but those were most of the time revenge nights. The second time that I saw you you know in that little black dress that I wear the silver necklace." She paused and Mark smiled as he could not forget that dress "That was the only revenge night that you found me. I went out with several guys from the app. Each one failure or one reason or another." She paused and took a breath and then just decided to just skip the whole Edi issue.

"Are you still on the app?"

"Um," She paused "No, I inactivated it the other day." She paused again "I don't want to hurt anymore." There was silence at the table.

"So, what do you want?" Mark asked

Kassie took a sip of the coffee and she knew what she wanted to say. She took a deep breath and finally said softly "Forever"

Mark smiled and snickered a little as he sat back his plate empty and he put his coffee to his lips take a few sips out of the warm mug. "Kass, I am going, to be honest, and I am sure I will hurt your feelings with what I am going to say. You want forever with anyone the revenge nights need to stop." He said and Kassie hung her head. She knew he was going to say that and she knew deep down they had to stop too. "I have years on you, and the way you girls had that liquor down last night was not idea... for anyone." He paused and took a few more sip of his coffee "I am not perfect by any means."

"Yeah I know," She said and took a deep sigh and Mark stood up he started to clean up breakfast. Kassie could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket like it was on fire. He didn't want to grab it since she wanted to absorb every moment that she was having with Mark.

Mark looked over at Kassie who was helping to clean up and started to laugh. "You know I saw my daughter ware that top of a million times. I never took it that that shirt was a belly shirt." He said as Kassie smile as she looked down at how she had the shirt tied to the side.

"I made this shirt look fashionable." Kassie laughed as she posed a bit in the kitchen and Mark just laughed at her.

The two of them cleaned up and hung around the house a bit. Mark took Kassie around and showed her around the house. Kassie was a bit impressed that the house was kept in order in every room. Mark walked into his garage and turned on the light. "Makeshift home gym and my motorcycles."

"You have a nice house." She said as she looked over at Mark.

"Yeah, normally the summer it is packed with the 3 kids running in and out and the babysitter." Mark started to laugh and crossed his arms at the memories going through his head.

"Sounds like a busy event. Where are the kids now?" Kassie asked as she walked over to Mark and leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around her.

"My son is now an adult and I see him here and there. The girls are with their mother." He squeezed her against him and made a face. He leaned his head on her and kissed her forehead once more. "Come let me take you back home. I am sure there are things you need to do before tomorrow's presentation."

"Oh yeah," She paused as she looked up at Mark. "Are you going to show up for this presentation?"

"Yeah," He said as he grabbed his keys and a bag that he put all of Kassie items from last night. "Here are your things from last night" Mark handed her the bag.

"Thank you," She said and took the bag pulling it over the shoulder. "Am I running the presentation alone?"

"Well, if you need me to interject a few things. I can, but I think at this point you could sell a stick of gum to them." Mark said as Kassie got into the truck as Mark held the door. Kassie grabbed her phone and seen that text message that was flying. Mark got into the car and noticed she had her phone in her hand. "So, what is the crew up too?"

"Amanda and Jennifer are making there way back home. Sounds like they both found a mate for the night." Kassie tried hard not to feel the sting of it, but it still came to the surface. "Jessica wants to know if I am talking to her anymore. Ashley is giving her motherly advice."

"Sounds like a busy Sunday" Mark paused "Jessica cares for you," He said out of the blue and Kassie looked over at Mark as she closed the phone. "I am serious. She called me and told me that you were not okay last night."

"Yeah," She said and calmly placed her hand on Mark's hand sitting on the center console. The ride was quiet as Mark pulled up to the condo. Kassie and Mark walked up to the condo door.

"Come in for a while? I can use your opinion on the presentation." Kassie said to Mark and he shook his head.

"Sure, let's see what tomorrow is going to bring." Mark came into the condo and looked around just like he has done before. Each time he noticed little details that he has missed the first time.

Kassie went into her bedroom and changed her clothes and fixed her hair. She then took the clothes from Mark's house and put them in the washer and started it. Mark grabbed two glasses of water and went into the living room and sat them on the side table. He sat on the couch and looked out to the ocean. It was a bright blue day and you could see miles and miles into the ocean. He stood at the balcony window and looked out to the ocean. He got lost in the silence as he stared at the ocean coming up to the beach over and over again.

Kassie grabbed her items for the presentation as she walked into the living room and see Mark just standing there. She stopped and just stared at him. Mark turned around and looked at Kassie and smiled and turned back to the ocean. "I can see why you are obsessed with the ocean."

"Yeah," She said with a smile "So, I ran through the presentation a few times. I feel so so with it." She paused and Mark turned back around and sat down on the couch. She walked over to the side table and took a drink of the water. "Let me run through this and you tell me where you see the weakness."

"Sure," Mark said as he placed his arms on his knees and leaned in to watch the presentation. Kassie finished up and stop and stood next to the board.

She looked at Mark as she took a breath "So, what do you think?"

"I think you might need some more practice feeling the facts because you are going to sell it to them. You need to believe that you know all the facts."

"Yeah, I feel like my game is off right there and the closing."

"Your closing will get stronger when you are in the room. You will just get that feeling from them and then close it out."

"Yeah, your right."Kassie said as she fixed the board putting it back to the start "I am not wanting to do a presentation on a Monday. You know how bad Monday's are hard."

"Yeah, but think of it this way. Do it... concur it and then you have the rest of the week."

"Yeah," Kassie said with a sighed. Kassie put away the board in her room and then came back to the living room and sat with Mark. He put his arm around her as the two continue to talk about the presentation and little things to possibly change. "I am worried I am going to screw this up."

"As long as I am here. I promise to support you in anything you do" He paused as he took her hand and held it. Kassie looked up at him and Mark smiled and kissed her forehead once more, and Kassie beginning to believe that she was going to be okay as long as Mark was around.

The night came in and Kassie found her self alone again in the house. Kassie sat down on the balcony. She took out her phone and started to catch up on the day of text messages. The common theme from both Amanda and Jennifer was what happens after Mark took her home.

"So, I don't even know what to say?" Kassie texted the group

"Well, first tell us that you got a piece of the action?" Amanda texted

"No, nothing like that" Kassie texted

"You could of fool us. That kiss in the bar. OMG girl. There should have been fireworks in the place" Jennifer texted with a bunch of emojis.

"I don't even remember it" Kassie texted "I inactivated the dating app."

"Wow" Jennifer and Amanda both texted back

"Does that mean that you are giving Mark a chance?" Jessica asked

"Oh yeah, let's hear that answer," Amanda said and Kassie just stared down at the messages.

Jessica called and Kassie picked it up. "Hey, I figured that I should just call you."

"Yeah might be a better way to chat."

"I am sorry Kass. I could not see you go down that path again."

"I am not mad at you" She sighed and looked out in the darkness as she snuggled into her sweatshirt "I am worried. I have a feeling that I could be jinking the relationship that did not even start yet."

"Why do you say that?"

"Remember how we kept talking about the universe and the sign it sends us?" She paused "Over the last what month every time there was something that went bad Mark showed up."

"I think you're overthinking this" Jessica tried to calm her fears "I can only think of the Caleb issue, and him showing up at the bar the few times you when to the one that local. But that could just be his local whole."

"Yeah, and last night he just took me to his house and nothing happened?"

"And what you wanted it to?"

"Well, yeah"

"But listen to what you are saying. I sent him to The Colosseum. So, that was me, and as for nothing happening last night. Maybe he is a gentleman."

"Yeah," Kassie said and sighed

"I think you need to just take one thing at a time and do no compare Mark to the others especially fucking cheater."

"He has been calling" Kassie casually said

"Cheater?"

"Yeah"

"What the hell could he want?"

"I have no idea. It started after the Philadelphia photo leaked of Mark and me"

"Pfft" Jessica started to laugh "I bet he is looking for his 15 minutes of fame than"

"He doesn't leave any messages. He just calls." Kassie paused "Mark knows about him. He saw that he has been calling when he is around. He asked about him."

"Well, I will tell him straight out that was your past and you are not going down that path. I will tie you to a chair before I allow that again." Kassie started to laugh "I think you should give Mark and honest chance."

"Yeah, and what about..."

"Fuck them!" Jessica screamed and her husband looked at her as she walked out of the room "Kass, just like Ashley and me our life change we grow up and stop going out to revenge night."

"Yeah"

"Kassie, I am telling you right now the universe has your back. You just need to open your eyes."

"Yeah, your right. I am going to turn in. I have that presentation tomorrow morning."

"The superstar needs to shine."

"You're a brat"

"Yeah, but you know I will always back your ass up. Goodnight"

"Goodnight"

Kassie closed up her condo and moved everything into the bedroom. She sat in her bed as she tried hard to just read her book. Her phone started to buzz against the charger. "Fucking Cheater" flashed on and off as she just looked down at the phone. Her mind went back to several of the memories she had of him and her. The phone finally stopped Kassie picked up the phone and started to text "I owe you a big thank you."

"You owe me nothing" Mark texted back "get some sleep- Secret One"