SUBTITLE: BREAKING CHARACTER

CHAPTER 23

"I'm telling you girl, Wade heard everything!" Robin laughed as Olivia filled her in on her night. The women had just landed in Philadelphia and were preparing to get in Liv's car for the trip back home when they heard somebody calling Robin's name. They turned around to see Derrick jogging towards them.

"Haha, here comes your boy, Robin." Robin rolled her eyes and laughed at Liv as Derrick caught up to them. He had flowers and a small box in his hand.

"Hey baby, I've been waiting for you to get here. I need to talk to you. I'm so sorry about Texas. Can you forgive me?" Liv slowly walked away feeling a bit embarrassed for Derrick.

"Derrick, I told you I'd call you. I needed a minute away from you." Robin continued putting her suitcase in the trunk of Liv's car.

"I know, Robin, but I just wanted to give you these…" He handed her the roses. "And these…" He opened the little box revealing diamond earrings. "This was a part of your birthday gift that I didn't get a chance to give you at your dinner." Robin stood with a pissed off look on her face. The only thing she hated more than corny guys were the guys who thought they could buy your forgiveness.

"Derrick, this is really nice, but I don't want anything from you. I will call you when I'm ready." Robin opened the car door to get in.

"So, your ex can throw you a party, but I can't give you a gift? What the hell is that about?" Derrick hung his head knowing he'd crossed the line yet again.

"Are you fucking kidding me? It's in your best interest to take these roses and these earrings and get the hell away from me NOW!" Robin shoved the flowers into Derrick's arms and quickly got in the car with Liv.

They pulled off watching Derrick curse himself in the rear view mirror.

"So, Mr. Romance strikes again, huh?" Liv chuckled to herself as she saw Derrick walk back toward the airport shuttle.

"He just doesn't get me, Liv! I don't want him to buy me things and take me on trips. I just want him to…get me."

"You can't force a connection like you had with Dean." Robin gazed out the window for the rest of the trip reflecting on Olivia's words.

When they got back in town, Olivia had some errands to run so she dropped Robin off at home. Just as Liv parked outside of the grocery store, she got a text from Wade.

"Busy?"

"Just grocery shopping…why?"

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't fucking anybody before I called…" Olivia was so embarrassed she was convinced that her face was red. Before she could think of a rebuttal, Wade called her.

"Hi Wade."

"Well, hello there. How are you today?" She could tell that Wade was pissed, but trying to be cordial.

"I'm good. Just running some errands."

"Oh I didn't think you'd have any energy after the way Seth pounded you last night!" Olivia didn't have a comeback. She was embarrassed and didn't have an explanation for why she picked up the phone while she was with Seth.

"Wade…"

"No, no need to explain. I knew what I was getting into. I shouldn't have just called. From now on I'll text first." Olivia was quiet and unsure of how to approach this situation with him. "I need to see you." Olivia was caught off guard. Just a second ago, he seemed as though he wanted to punish her.

"Umm, ok. Maybe we can schedule something in a few weeks…"

"I want you now." Olivia stood in the produce aisle fanning herself.

"Uh, ok…I don't know how I can do that…"

"I'll fly to you. I can be there tomorrow." Olivia wanted to object, but she went silent. "Liv? You there?"

"Yes! Sorry! Tomorrow what time?"

"I'll check the flight schedule. I can stay until Friday…if you don't already have plans with Seth."

"No I don't have any plans with Seth, but I do have to work."

"No problem, love. Let me come and take care of you for a few days."

"Ok, I guess I'll just wait to hear from you."

"Talk to you soon, Livy." Olivia hung up and immediately started modifying her grocery list. If Wade was staying for a few days, she'd need to stock up on all of his favorite foods.

Robin decided to do some work from home to keep her mind off of Dean. Her mind drifted to his silly facial expressions and crazy hair. Just as she settled into her daydream, her phone rang. She thought it was going be Derrick but it was Liv.

"Hey girl. What's up?"

"Wade is coming in town tomorrow and he's gonna stay until Friday!"

"What! You know what this is about, don't you? He's coming to our little ole town to put it on you since he heard Seth blowing your back out!" Olivia was cracking up in the middle of the market.

"I know! I don't know what he has planned, but I'm a little nervous."

"Liv, sit back and enjoy these two beautiful men taking turns turning you out! Don't over think it, just enjoy it!" Olivia thought about what Robin was saying and decided to embrace her situation.

"Maybe you're right! I'm just going to stock up on groceries and let Wade handle the rest."

"There you go, girl! Don't forget to sweep your back porch. You know how y'all like to fuck outside! Bye!"

Robin hung up and she was genuinely happy for her friend who was taking her time figuring things out with Wade and Seth. At the same time, she wished she knew what was going on inside of Dean's head. She tapped her fingers on her desk as a somewhat crazy idea popped in her head. There were two people who knew Dean better than anybody on the planet and she just happened to owe one of them a call. She decided to text first in case Dean was around.

"Hey Roman! Do you have a second to talk?" She was nervously waiting to hear her text message alert.

"Hey Robin. I'm just checking into my room in Vegas for the house show tonight, but I'll be free in about 15. Is that cool?"

"Yes, that's fine! Thanks!" She got a glass of wine and sat on her couch waiting for her phone to ring. When it did, she hesitated to pick it up. She knew it was time to have an in depth conversation with him and she also needed to talk to him about Dean. She picked up the phone, but couldn't say anything.

"Hello? Robin?" Roman's deep voice filled her ear and she started to have flashbacks.

"Yes, I'm here. Hi Roman."

"Hey, is everything okay?" It was clear from his tone that he was a bit nervous too.

"Yes, I just felt like we should talk." He fell silent and Robin knew it was up to her to try and get the conversation flowing. "I haven't really talked to you since…well, you know."

"Yeah…I know." Roman's tone was riddled with disappointment.

"I just feel it's time to bury the hatchet. You and Dean are friends again…"

"We're cool, but I know he's always gonna look at me skeptically." Hearing this made Robin feel even worse.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I'm not sure if he'll ever want me back." The awkwardness started to dissipate and they just talked to each other like friends who shared a common hurt.

"He's still healing, ya know? He loves you, Robin and it's clear that you love him. You guys will be fine." Roman sounded sad and reminded Robin of something she had been curious about for months.

"Roman, what was going on that you got so crazy with me?" He was quiet for a while and Robin wasn't sure if she should've asked. "You don't have to tell me…"

"No, you deserve to know. I explained all this to Dean and I think it helped him to understand where I was coming from." He sighed and Robin could hear a change in his voice like he just laid down. "My marriage is worthless…"

"Aww, don't say that, Roman."

"No, I mean it! I married Galina because my daughter started asking questions about why Galina's last name wasn't the same as hers. How do you explain that shit to a kid, ya know? So I thought 'How bad could it be to marry Galina?'" Robin felt so bad for him that she rested her hand on her heart as if she could feel his pain. "I never loved her and she just looks at me as a meal ticket! Then, I saw you and Dean. I've never seen him as happy as he is when he's with you! I just wanted some of that. I wanted a 'Tweety' in my life. So I figured I'd try to take his 'Tweety'."

"Oh, Roman…"

"I know. It was stupid as hell, but I still tried it. I knew you at least thought I was attractive. So I capitalized on it. When you seemed to return my interest, I knew I was in there. I thought it was love and that shit drove me crazy!"

"Sex isn't love, Roman. It was just sex."

"I know that now, but I got it twisted. My wife won't even have sex with me unless she wants something. You had sex with me because you wanted me." Robin started to see Roman clearly for the first time ever.

"Roman you didn't have to marry her."

"If you could've seen my daughter's face, you'd know that I did." Robin knew that Galina probably put their daughter up to asking Roman about their last names.

"That sneaky bitch." Robin uttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing, Roman. Go ahead…"

"Well, now I'm here trying act like I'm happy in this shit for my daughter's sake." Roman sounded helpless and Robin had nothing to tell him. This was a situation that she knew Roman wouldn't free himself from until their daughter was grown.

"Roman, I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, but please know that I'm here if you ever need a female friend."

"Thanks, Robin. I really appreciate that and I know I've apologized before, but I'm really sorry for putting you in a bad position with Dean."

"No need to apologize. We were both on some crazy shit." The two of them laughed like old friends, but Robin was still unsure about her future with Dean. "Roman, I gotta ask you. What's up with Dean and this Jasmine chick?"

"Oh boy, Jasmine…" Roman laughed heartily as he thought about seeing Jasmine's bloody nose. "You really messed her face up, girl!"

"I didn't want to do it, but she called Dean her man." Robin felt weird discussing her feelings for Dean with Roman. "I'm sorry. Is this weird?"

"Nah, it's cool. Look, she's not his girl and she never will be. In Dean's eyes, you're always gonna be his Tweety. You just have to give him a second to lick his wounds."

"Thanks Roman."

"Hey I'm here anytime you need to talk, but I gotta go cuz your man will be here any minute." Robin felt great being able to talk to Roman, but she knew it could be detrimental to her progress with Dean if he came to Roman's room and they were talking on the phone.

"Gotcha! Talk to you later…hang in there man."

"Only thing I know how to do, Robin. Bye." After they hung up, Robin smiled to think about always being Dean's Tweety. He'd for damn sure always be her favorite lunatic.

Olivia sped through the streets after work to beat Wade to her apartment. He took a car from the airport and had called about 15 minutes ago saying that he was on route 422 which wasn't far. As she pulled up to her apartment, she saw a black town car parked in front of her door. When she got out, she noticed Wade step out of the town car dressed in a slate grey suit.

"Damn!" Liv could barely control her reaction as he walked towards her carrying flowers.

"Honey, I'm home." Wade smiled and took her into his muscular arms. The smell of his cologne had become like a familiar drug that she got high on every time she saw him. The driver took Wade's bags out of the trunk as Olivia opened her apartment door. Wade tipped the driver and took his bags directly to the bedroom.

Wade carefully walked around her bedroom imagining how many times Seth had been in there and he clenched his teeth. Olivia came in and his anger quickly faded.

"Make yourself at home." Wade turned and grinned at Liv.

"I fully intend to make myself at home." He wrapped his long arms around her waist and stunned her with his gorgeous green eyes. "I made reservations for us at Prima at 7." Wade looked at his watch and saw that it was already 6:25. "I guess we should get going then." He had a troubling look on his face accompanied by a sinister smile.

"Umm, okay. I guess I'll drive."

"No, no I can drive. You just sit back and enjoy the ride." His smile widened and Olivia was officially suspicious.

They got into the car and made their way to the restaurant. Olivia giggled at Wade's long legs wrapped around her steering wheel.

"What's so funny?" He reached over and placed his hand on her thigh.

"Nothing. It's just that I don't think my car was intended to be driven by giants." Olivia giggled until Wade moved his hand up her skirt and quickly slid her panties to the side. She moaned and tried to keep her composure as Wade whipped through the traffic single handedly.

"Not so funny anymore, is it?" He massaged her and slide one of his long fingers inside of her.

"What are you doing? Mmm…"

"I told you to sit back and enjoy the ride." He slid a second finger inside of her while continuing to drive her crazy. After a few minutes of skillful, one handed driving, they were inside the garage of the restaurant. Wade slide another finger inside of her and rapidly moved his hand in and up and down motion until she had an orgasm right there in the front seat.

"I knew you had something planned. You play dirty!" Olivia rubbed her legs together wishing she could climb on top of Wade.

"The night is still young, Livy." Wade licked each of his fingers as he got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Olivia. "You make one hell of an appetizer." Wade continued licking his fingers until they got into the restaurant.

"Good evening, welcome to Prima." The perky young lady at the door greeted them, but seemed to keep her eyes on Wade. Olivia felt her inner Robin coming out, but Wade wrapped his arm around her waist to calm her down.

"Good evening, we've got a reservation for Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Bennett." Olivia's head snapped in Wade's direction and he smiled without looking back at her.

"Yes, let me show you to your table Mr. and Mrs. Bennett." As the young lady showed them to their table, Olivia pinched Wade's arm.

"Really? Mr. and Mrs. Bennett?"

"I just wanted to see what it sounded like. Olivia Bennett…has a nice ring to it!" Olivia playfully slapped Wade's arm.

"This is Frank. He'll be your waiter tonight. Enjoy your meal." The young lady walked back to her post at the door and the waiter pulled out the chair for Olivia.

"Good evening, can I start you off with a bottle of wine this evening?"

"I'll just have water for now, but I'm sure my wife would like a bottle. Anything she wants is fine with me." Wade once again flashed his million dollar smile. He stood to go to the restroom and stopped to whisper in Olivia's ear. "I'll be right back, Mrs. Bennett." Olivia blushed as the waiter patiently waited for her order.

"Umm, I'll take a bottle of the 'Roth' Merlot."

"Excellent choice. Shall I bring one or two glasses?" Olivia thought for a second and decided it could be fun to play Wade's little game.

"Bring two, please. I'm sure my husband will wind up having a glass or two." Olivia glowed as the waiter took the wine list and went to get the wine. Robin's voice rang in her head as she told herself to just go with the flow and enjoy her time with Wade. As she saw Wade resurface from the men's room, she knew this was gonna be an interesting few days.

**I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I have a bonus scene with Wade/Olivia/Seth that takes place in between this chapter and the next. Please PM me if you'd like to read it! As always, feedback/reviews are appreciated!**