There are two flashbacks in this chapter, both in italics. I apologize if this seems weird, but this is the way the chapter came to me.

Chapter 3: PDA

"B, let me explain." Baron reached out for her.

She jerked away, "There's nothing to explain. You just let her come and shove her tongue down your throat while I sat there and watched." Her voice raised until she was yelling by the end of her statement. She had her arm out to the side, her hand pointing at the door.

"I pushed her away, but you didn't see that shit, did you?" He spoke, his own voice rising.

'Fuck. FUCK! I didn't come here to fight.'

"That's great. That's fucking perfect, Tommy, really. I'm supposed to be okay with that? You didn't even have the fucking balls to tell me you had a fucking – whatever the fuck she is to you. While you're all over me, making me think that we have something." Now her tone was a combination of pissed off and cutting sarcasm.

He reached out to touch her again. She slapped his hands away.

"We fucking do have something, Brennan. Jesus Christ. She doesn't mean shit to me." His voice was etched with anger and frustration. His hands went from grasping his hair to resting on his hips.

"Well, it doesn't seem like she got the fucking memo, does it? Besides, you couldn't give that much of a shit about me either since you lied about her."

"I didn't lie." His voice lowered.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant, abstained from the truth." Now she was being condescending. She turned away from him, shaking her hands out. She took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, trying to loosen the tightness in her chest as she paced.

'Fuck that. She wants to play this game, we can play.'

"You wanna talk truths? What the fuck is going on between you and Dennis, huh?" His voice was raised again. He couldn't seem to wrap his brain around what was happening. An hour before, he felt like he was on top of the world with the woman that had plagued his thoughts and now he felt like she was water slipping through his fingers. How could he be losing her before he ever really got to have her?

She stopped pacing, a look of confusion gracing her face, "What the fuck does Dennis have to do with anything?" She didn't quite yell, but her voice was still raised. She could feel her frustration at the situation building.

"You won't even let me get a word in edge wise... He fucking told me this would happen." His voice and tone remained the same.

"What did he tell you?" Her voice lowered considerably, her eyebrow raised.

"That it would be easy to fuck this up if I wasn't careful. And now I'm wondering exactly how he fucking knew that little bit of information." He was pissed, he wasn't yelling anymore though. Jealousy was raging through him. Part of him wanted to grab her and shake her until she understood that what happened was nothing. Another part of him wanted to rip Dennis to shreds for whatever bullshit he had pulled for making her believe that, because of what had transpired earlier, meant he didn't care about her anymore and probably never did to begin with. Did she think he thought she was a toy? That their relationship was a game to him? That was farthest thing from the truth. Baron knew he was falling hard for her. He knew the thought should probably be unsettling, but it wasn't. It was the complete opposite. When he was with her, he was at complete ease. There was no pressure from her to be something he wasn't. She didn't expect anything but trust, respect and understanding. And yet, he was standing there, knowing she was hurt because she felt like he had betrayed her trust by not fully disclosing things from his past.

"Why do you care?" Her voice was flat. The sound startled him, but he was still feeling the anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"Because now it's more than obvious that I'm not the only one keeping fucking secrets." His voice held an edge sharp enough to cut her.

"What happened between Dennis and me isn't a secret." She folded her arms across her flat stomach. She suddenly found her bare feet really interesting.

"So, something did happen with him? I fucking knew it! There was no way you two were just friends." His attempts at subduing his jealousy were failing miserably. He couldn't stand the fact that this man had put her through… Whatever he had put her through. Baron wanted to know. He was going to get answers one way or another.

'If I were 60 pounds heavier, I'd knock him the fuck out. He knew it? What the fuck, Tommy? What do you know? I thought you trusted me.'

"Forgive me for trying to be an adult and keeping things cordial and friendly in his place of business. And if you wanted to know what happened or if there was anything going on between us, all you had to do was ask." Brennan spoke, her voice still flat.

'Her and her smart ass mouth. She's frustrating the shit out of me right now.'

He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair, before he slapped it down on his thigh, "Well, I'm asking now."

"I should've been asking you 50 questions about psycho ex girlfriends and stage 5 clingers that you might have in your past, but I gave you the benefit of a doubt. And now I'm fucking pissed the fuck off and I have to rehash this fucking bullshit." She ran her hands through her braids, tucking some behind her ear. As she moved her hands along them, she rested her hands on her neck. Did she really want to reopen this not so old wound? She didn't want to be a hypocrite and tell Baron to mind his own fucking business, but she had half a mind to do just that. But that wouldn't be fair. She wanted to settle Baron's mind. She knew what it was like to feel like at any second, everything was going to come crashing down around you. One false move or shitty statement and everything would be over. She knew that feeling all too well. That was how she was feeling after the incident at The Menace. And if she could protect this 6'8" tall, 275 pound man from feeling the same way by telling him what happened with Dennis, she'd do it. She only had one problem…

Would things still be the same after she came clean?

The Menace was buzzing with the lunch crowd, preparing for the happy hour crowd that would be in a few hours later. Brennan had become particularly fond of the bar and grill after the owner, Dennis Avery, helped her when she blew a tire on the interstate. He had an edgy vibe to him that she was drawn to and after they got the tire changed, he gave her the address to his place of business, a bar. She had been in there more days than they cared to count.

The get to know you phase went quickly; Brennan and Dennis' talks sometimes lasting into the early hours of the morning – and after leaving the bar, went on even longer with text messages and phone calls. Brennan had to keep reminding herself that she and Dennis were just friends. He was eight years her senior and she tried to convince herself that nothing would come of it. She couldn't lie about enjoying the attention and playful, mostly flirtatious banter between them, but she held strong to them just maintaining their friendship.

That was until the night he kissed her.

They had driven an hour and a half from Winter Park to Tampa for a baseball game. Much to Brennan's delight, her beloved Oakland A's were in town. They sat behind the 3rd base line and ate junk food. The game was good, but the company was even better. It was light and flirty from the way their knees would touch to Dennis' arm around her shoulders to him pulling her close and kissing her on the temple, cheek or corner of her mouth from time to time. She'd blushed much to his amusement.

"That's really cute." He chuckled.

"Shut up." The blush only intensified.

"No, it really is. It's almost like no one has ever showed you any kind of affection before. Let alone in public."

Her eyes swept to him quickly. He leaned into her to whisper in her ear before she could fix her mouth to speak.

"I'm not afraid of letting people know how I feel about you. You're not a secret." He pulled away, his green eyes locking with hers.

The blush was gone and she was suddenly as quiet as he had ever seen her.

The walk back to his car was silent, but not as tense as he expected it to be. He knew the beautiful woman walking beside him had deep rooted issues about abandonment and trust. She had seen her parents' marriage nearly ripped to shreds because of her father's infidelity. She had seen her mother stand by his side for her and her brother's sake. She had been the target of bullying from her own grandmother about her weight since she was nine years old. And more so about what to do with her a life and finding a man to spend her life with. And when it came to men, she'd had more than enough of her fair share of let downs and a break up that woke her up to the shit she had been dealing with. She constantly felt like no matter what she did, what she wore or how she looked was ever good enough; she was never good enough and until she was, she didn't matter and no one seemed to care. It all ate at her, but because she had always been the one to pull herself up out of whatever dirty gutter her thoughts and feelings threw her into, she never let on that anything was wrong. I'm fine would still come out of her mouth with tears staining her cheeks. Over time she learned to just throw the shit that was bothering her into the pile with the other shit that used to bother her and keep moving. He meant for what he said to be a joke, but he knew what he said probably touched those parts of her that she tried like hell to keep in place. They were the parts that she stored away so she could function and pretend that she'd never been hurt before.

"B, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I was just teasing." He stopped walking. She was standing by his car. There was about five feet between them.

"I'm glad you find amusement in that, Denny." Her tone was flat, dry.

"It's not amusing. For fuck's sake. I was just trying to show you that you're nothing to be ashamed of. You're gorgeous, funny, smart, and artistic and really fucking talented at anything you set your mind to doing." He closed the gap.

She still had a disbelieving expression on her face.

"And I'd be really fucking happy to call you mine." His forehead was pressed against hers and his arms around her waist, holding her curvy body close to his lean, but muscular 6'4" frame.

Her eyes were downcast and her arms down at her sides. 'This is what I've been waiting for.' She smiled inwardly.

"What do you say, huh? Wanna give this a chance? We could be so good together. We'll take it as slow as you want." His soft breath was minty fresh from the gum she had given him inside the stadium.

Brennan's eyes rose slowly to meet Dennis'. Her arms lifted to wrap around his neck. A small flash of his white teeth graced his handsome face in a smile. He brought his left hand up to tilt her head back slightly so he could kiss her.

For a month, things were good, but the saying, "A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor", kept popping into her head. Something was going to happen. She knew it. And it wasn't going to be good.

After being ignored for three days via phone call and text message and being stood up because plans that were previously made were completely abandoned by Dennis, Brennan showed up at The Menace. Casually dressed in a loose fitting off-white colored tank top, tight light blue ripped jeans and black and white vans, Brennan gave a chin raise in greeting to Ricky, one of the bartenders.

"Is Dennis around?" She ran her left hand up and down her tattooed right bicep. "I haven't been able to get in touch with him and I'm worried."

Before Ricky could respond Brennan whirled around at the sound of Dennis' voice.

"So glad you dropped by, baby. I missed you."

Brennan frowned at the sight before her. Dennis was kissing a petite blonde on the top of her head.

'He's back with his wife? How long has this been going on?'Brennan ran her right hand over the back her two toned, grown out pixie cut, resting her hand on the back of her neck before she dropped her arm. It was all she could think to do in her current state of disbelief. 'I'm a fucking idiot.'

"I missed you too. I'll see you when you get home."

They kissed and she left.

Brennan rushed him, "You've reconciled?" Her voice was hushed so that only Dennis could her.

He paused, preparing to speak when she cut him off.

"Save it."

'So much for the "legal" separation he talked about before we got involved. I should've known better. I should've fucking known better.'

She body checked him, roughly knocking her shoulder into his as she walked out of the bar. As the anger coursed through her, the sadness she felt would surely make an appearance and weigh heavy on her chest.

'It's always me, right deities?'

Baron stood there quietly. She had her hands on her hips; where he wanted his hands to be. Tonight wasn't supposed to go like this. He wasn't supposed to feel the sudden flash of jealousy and anger he was feeling. He was supposed to be feeling her lips against his. Her body pressed against his as they got tangled in her sheets. He wasn't supposed to be standing there feeling like his guilt was going to eat him alive.

Dennis warned him about fucking up, because Dennis had fucked up with Brennan himself. And now so had he.

"Are you happy now? You know what happened between me and Dennis, okay?" The anger that was in her voice earlier had disappeared. It sounded emotionless, even to her.

She watched him. She couldn't read his face.

"Tommy?" She took a step towards him.

"I should go." He stepped away turning towards her door.

"T, don't..."

The door shut before she could finish.

"Leave." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She ran her hand through her blue braids, gripping them tight at the crown of her head. She stood there staring at the door.

'You deities couldn't wait to drop that other shoe, could you?' She turned her eyes upwards, towards heaven. She should've been used to it. It had happened so many times before, but this time it was different. This time it hurt so much more than it ever did before. It was different because she was different. She had grown and changed since the last time it had happened. Baron was different. The entire situation was different and yet there she was standing there trying to figure out if it was the right time to cry or just to hold it in.

'This is not how I pictured my night ending.' She ran her hands up and down her arms before turning to head into her bedroom.

"And to think the night started out so good." She mumbled into the darkness of her bedroom.

"How nice of you to join us." Alexa teased as Brennan approached their booth.

"I smelled like burnt hair and nail glue, okay? I needed a shower and a change." Brennan's response came with a smile.

And change she had. Her work attire for the day included a pair of black soft pants that fitted in the waist, but draped looser over the curves of the wide flare of her hips, a crisp long sleeved fitted white button down shirt that was tucked into the pants, well worn black on white Nike Air Force One sneakers with scuff marks on the toe of each shoe and a denim vest with black, silver and gun metal colored studs across the top back panel she made herself. Her blue braids were pulled up in a messy bun and her face had minimal makeup on it. The outfit she had on now was different.

Brennan slipped her small black bag from her shoulder and slipped out of her leather jacket and tossed them both on the pile of jackets and purses in the corner of the booth. Her feet were adorned in four inch heeled ankle boots, boosting her already 5'10" frame to well over six feet tall. The black and off white tribal print skirt stopped a bit below mid thigh, exposing half of each of the tattoos she had on the tops of her thighs; A siren pin up girl with blue hair to imitate the waves of the sea on the left and a lion with daisies and sunflowers in his mane with the words 'Lions don't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep' in script font. The skirt hugged the curves of her hips and ample backside. Her shirt was black, loose, sleeveless and collared; exposing her tattoos that adorned her toned arms. There was a black and white abstract owl on her left bicep, large enough to be a half sleeve, a cute purple compact with leopard print on the inside, a lipstick, a makeup brush and pink roses on the inside of her right forearm, script font running from below her left wrist bone almost to her elbow, another half sleeve of a pin up girl with a snake on her right bicep, the words 'Stranger than fiction' on the inside of her right forearm and another strange font made of triangles made her last tattoo that read 'Vanity' along the outer part of her right wrist.

She had a silver necklace around her neck and under the collar of the shirt. Her makeup was simple too; black winged eyeliner, full flirty false lashes and a deep wine colored lipstick. Her blue braids were on top of her head almost like a crown, but it was in a braided bun. Shimmery, dangly earrings hung from her ears.

"Damn, girl. If I didn't know any better I'd say you dressed to the nines for someone in particular." Alexa winked.

Brennan laughed. "Let's not get carried away, I will take these boots off and put on the sandals I have in my car in a heartbeat."

The pair walked across to where the Corey, Baron and a few of the other guys from work were playing a game of pool. Baron noticed them first. He did a double take at Brennan.

She approached him as he stood to his full height.

"Hey." She was being shy.

He glanced at her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Hey, yourself, you clean up nice."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her into his left side, absently kissing her on the temple.

She casually draped her arm around his waist; her hand almost slipping into the back pocket of his dark blue jeans.

"You don't look too bad yourself, wolf boy."

He was wearing a simple black v-neck t-shirt, it clung to his well defined arms and broad shoulders. He had on his ever present black beanie covering the top of his head, leaving only the ends of his dark exposed, dark blue jeans hugged his thighs, but sat midway up his hips even with a studded belt on. Black and white Chuck Taylor converse adorned his feet. Brennan liked his style; it fit well with her casual and comfortable, but edgy style.

He looked at her and noticed the smirk on her lips.

'Her eyes are dark green again. They looked like whiskey in the sunlight earlier. Damn, all this time and I'm just now figuring out her eyes are hazel.'

"Your shot." Corey called out to Baron breaking up his small moment with Brennan.

Corey shot Brennan a knowing look as Baron was concentrating on his shot. She slipped away with Alexa and Bayley to get drinks.

She and Baron hadn't put a label on what they were, but it was more than obvious they were something. Where one was, the other wasn't far behind. It was odd to see the man they called the Lone Wolf crazy about the new girl. He hadn't gotten his balls busted like that in a long time. To Baron, it was actually, in an odd masochistic way, a nice feeling.

He knew he had it bad and honestly couldn't care less what anyone thought about it. She was his girl as far he was concerned. They went on dates, whether it was him taking her out on his motorcycle to the middle of nowhere and stargazing or him playing personal trainer at the gym for her, when in all honesty he was just checking her out in her skin tight compression leggings and sports bra. They had spent nights together in each of their beds talking about life, or even sometimes just lying in comfortable silence, cuddled against each other and recently had upped the game to small public displays of affection; from small touches to holding hands to kissing each other on the cheek or him kissing her on the forehead. That little bit affection made her sigh in contentment on many occasions and in turn made his heart swell. She was easy to please which made her easier to love.

'Wait, what? I think it might be too soon to put that out into the universe. I haven't even kissed her yet. There's still so much I don't know.'

That's not to say that Brennan didn't have it just as bad. Alexa and Bayley teased her endlessly when the guys weren't around. It wasn't nearly as bad as what Baron got from Corey, but it was just as annoying. He plagued her thoughts in the most fantastic ways. She loved the way his eyes got little crinkles in the outer corners and the slight hint of dimples he had showing when he smiled. She loved when they would listen to music together then she'd threaten to hurt him if he didn't stop skipping the songs which would inevitably lead up to them wrestling. And that always led to him resting his hand where her neck met her shoulder, leaning in to finally get to feel her lips against his, only for something or someone to interrupt them in the process.

Or the times that he'd stop by hair and makeup and imitate her from the doorway which inevitably led to her throwing a comb or a clip at him. He'd always come back with the thrown object and scold her, telling her it wasn't nice to throw things, to which she would just roll her eyes at him. He found the whole situation amusing and would hug her tight from behind. He thought he was being sneaky, but he wasn't, by any means. She liked having his crotch pressed against her butt and he knew that. He also knew that if he kissed her neck or nibbled on her earlobe or ran the tip of his tongue along the shell of her ear, she'd be a quivering mess and he'd leave her like that, because he was an insufferable tease.

But that was them. That was their relationship. Their physical and mental attraction was palpable to anyone around them.

"So, when are you finally gonna kiss her?" Corey leaned on his pool cue, teasing smirk on his face.

"What makes you think I haven't?" Baron's eyes never left his impending shot

He technically hadn't, but that wasn't the point.

"If you had, there's no way you wouldn't have kissed her with the way she wrapped around you a few minutes ago."

"Shut up, Graves." He grumbled as hit the white cue ball into a solid blue one.

As the night went on, the group dwindled down to just Baron and Brennan.

"How is it that we're always the last two here out of all of our friends?"Baron looked around The Menace noticing that once again, he and Brennan were the last two standing; figuratively speaking.

She laid her head on his shoulder, looping her right arm through the bend of his left elbow. "Are you complaining about spending time with me?" She feigned hurt, placing her left hand over her heart.

He slightly turned his arm and laced his fingers with hers."I wouldn't dream of it."

She lifted her head and stared at him.

'You'll get sick of me eventually. They always do.'

"What?"He noticed the brief look of sadness that passed through her eyes, but as soon as it came it was gone.

"Nothing." She had a small smile on her lips as she stared at him.

"Are you ready to head out?"

She nodded as he grabbed her jacket and purse for her. She was back to her regular height, having given up on the sexy ankle boots half way through the night. As she stood, she slipped back into her jacket and slung her purse strap over her shoulder. He slid out of the booth behind her, grabbing her hand as they made their way out of the bar.

The pair barely made it past the neon glow of the signs in the front window of The Menace before he stopped them from walking.

"What are you doing?"She giggled as he kind of spun her to rest her back against the brick building.

"Something I've wanted to do all night."

Brennan quirked a perfectly arched eyebrow at him; she was curious as to what he meant. His right hand slowly lifted from his side as he rested it on the left side of her neck. His left hand still held her right one. She removed her hand from his, resting it on his lower back as he leaned in closer to her.

He was slow and deliberate as he kissed her. He wanted to savor that moment for as long as he could. She responded immediately. He knew her lips were soft from all the times she had peppered his face with playful kisses, but this kiss didn't compare. This was something different. This was something more. This was worth the wait.

He pulled away slowly, noticing that her eyes were still closed, but she was smiling.

"Do that again." Her breath was soft against his face.

He chuckled, but obliged her. This time her hand moved up to grip the back of his neck, applying more pressure. He groaned against her lips.

Their moment was short lived as a voice came from Baron's right. "Tom!"

He pulled away from Brennan slowly as she wiped away the traces of her lipstick from his lips. He leaned his forehead against hers.

"Maybe if I don't respond, they'll leave us alone." He whispered causing Brennan to chuckle then bite her lip.

'Please let this person…'

"There you are."

'Nevermind.'

He rolled his eyes, "Look, can I… Roxy?"His brown eyes finally registering the small blonde female.

"In the flesh, baby."

"Baby?" Brennan spoke up. 'What's with these assholes and blondes?' Her back was no longer resting against the brick siding of the building.

Baron's confused, nervous and slightly agitated gaze landed on Brennan before turning back to the smaller blonde woman.

"I've missed you so much, Thomas."

"Roxy, I…"

She grabbed him by the face and kissed him before he could finish his sentence. It was sloppy and wet and nothing like the kiss he had just shared with Brennan.

'What the fuck is going on? What the hell is she doing here? Why the fuck is she kissing me? Fuck, Brennan.'

He pushed her away breaking the kiss he could only describe as disgusting and saw Brennan round the corner to the parking lot of The Menace.

"Roxy, what the fuck?" He growled.

"I missed you, baby, that's all."Her voice was high-pitched and borderline whiny. It was nothing like the low feminine rumble and slight rasp of Brennan's voice.

"I'm not your fucking baby. I never was. What are you even doing here?"He was frustrated by her mere presence.

"Well, after you blocked my number and I'm assuming my email addresses and changed yours, I decided I had to come see you. And I didn't appreciate how cozy you looked with that other girl. You're mine, remember?"All she needed was a pouty bottom lip and a foot stomp to look like the petulant child she was.

"Listen to me, I was never yours. We were never a thing. We had sex, twice at the most and that's it. I've told you this a million times. You need to get it through your head. This whole thing is done." He was infuriated. This woman had the most in-fucking-opportune timing on the face of the earth.

"I just wanted to see you, Thomas. Catch up and all. And you know we actually were a thing, even if it was short lived."

"No, Rox. Stay away from me. I mean that shit. I don't want to have to get the cops involved, but I will."

"There's no need for all of that. Maybe I overstepped my boundaries a little bit."

"A little bit? You're fucking crazy, you know that?"He raised his voice.

"You used to love that about me."She shrank back some at his outburst.

He shook his head. "I used to love a lot of things about you, Rox. Mostly that you were good in bed and could do incredible things in the sack. Then I realized you were only using me for who I could potentially be in the NFL. Now, you show up out of nowhere pretending like everything is good? Not to mention, probably fucking up one of the best things I've had going for me in a relationship in a long ass time in the process. So thank you. I fucking hope all this bullshit was worth it."He turned to walk away from her.

"It was. I still love you." She called after him.

He whipped around and stalked back over to her. "Oh, you're so full of shit. You just can't stand the fact that I've moved on."

She was quiet.

"I was in there the whole night and you never noticed me; not even once. You've got your head so far up that bitch's ass…"She spoke quietly before he cut her off.

"Hey, you watch your fucking mouth talking about her."His index finger was in her face.

"I never knew you liked black girls anyway."She folded her arms defiantly.

"That's because you don't fucking know me, Roxanne! Jesus fucking Christ! She could be fucking purple and I'd still be into her. Her ethnicity doesn't have shit to do with anything. Now please, go fucking climb back under the mound of hot garbage you came from and leave me the fuck alone."He was exasperated. This woman infuriated the shit out of him and he had no idea how in the small amount of time they had spent together, she figured out how to push every button he fucking had.

"Everything alright out here?"Dennis stepped outside the bar after watching the back and forth between Baron and Roxanne.

"No. Get her the hell away from me. Did you have something to do with this?" Baron's tone was accusatory. His eyes leaving Roxy to look at Dennis.

"What the hell are you even talking about Corbin?" Confusion laced Dennis' voice.

"I see the way you look at Brennan. I wouldn't be surprised if you cooked something up to try to take her from me."

"You're out of your goddamn mind. First of all, I don't even know who this broad is."Dennis spoke as he pointed at Roxanne.

"Excuse you!" She screeched.

Both men ignored her.

"Second of all, why the fuck would I ruin her happiness? I don't give a fuck about you, but I've never seen her look the way she does when she's with you. Now, I warned your ass about hurting her and I see she's nowhere to be found. So, what the fuck did you do?" Dennis' voice was eerily calm.

"I don't have time for this." Baron stormed off.

"Baron!" Dennis called after him.

'God fucking dammit.' Dennis ran his hand over his hair as he stared off in the direction Baron had gone.

"I'm Roxanne." She stood there watching the exchange between Baron and Dennis. and as if a light bulb had just been turned on, she realized that Dennis was also a very attractive man.

"No one gives a shit." He shot over his shoulder at her before heading back inside the bar.

So, here's chapter 3. I see you guys. I appreciate the reviews, follows and favorites. I just suck at getting back to people individually. I would love to hear what you think and what could possibly be happening next. I already have the next chapter written, but I'm sure it needs some editing and fine tuning. All you writers understand where I'm coming from with that. I have a tumblr dedicated to my characters now. You can go check it out if you want. The url is the same as my pen name here. I suppose I should post a photo of Baron and Blue, eh? But yeah, review! Let me know what your thoughts.