So by now you must realize that this book could turn in any direction. There imperfections to my characters that in my opinion makes them human…including Wanda.

Heaven and Hell

Everyone slept in till late morning. It was mid week. The kids were in school. Breakfast turned into brunch. There was lots of chatter at the kitchen table. It reminded me of the kitchen in the caverns where everyone like to congregate. After brunch, Nate and Burns decided to take Kyle and Sunny on a tour. They took Ice with them leaving me and Ian alone for the first time in three days.

"Should we lock the back door?" Ian asked in the hopes that I would agree.

"That might be rude."

"Well, we could claim the Jacuzzi!"

I liked this idea. "Now you're talking!"

Ian followed me into the bathroom and locked the door. He grabbed me by the arm, spun me around, and engulfed me in his arms. His warm lips were inviting. He teased me by licking my lips. "Do you know that every man wants you, including Ice and my brother?"

I protested. "Right. Ice does not want me."

Ian's forehead creased. "I see the way he looks at you."

I was frustrated. Why would he stop in the middle of this to tell me that? "Ian, I am not going to have this fight with you. There is only one man I want."

"And who would that be?" He sounded serious.

"You!"

"I'm sorry who?" Now, he was messing with me. Two could play that game.

"Well now that I think about it, Ice does have those chocolate brown eyes and wavy chestnut hair. And those full lips…"

Ian cracked like an egg. "I'll kill him if he touches you."

Now, I had the upper hand. "Hmm. Then again I like my men with arms of steel, a chest like Zeus, abs like mm-mm-mm." I pulled his T-shirt up, and ran my fingertips over his rippled muscles. Then I began to gently kiss his chest.

He pulled his shirt over his head and off of his body. He slid his hand under my chin and pulled it up so my eyes met his. "You cheat. You know that?"

I smiled a most wicked grin. "I learned from the best. Now, kiss me, Superman."

We never made it to the hot tub. He scooped me up and carried me to the bedroom where he had his way with me. It was a wonderful afternoon.

When we were done, we held each other for a long time. Even though I was crazy happy at the turn of events, I was still bothered by the fact that Ian was so jealous of anyone who gave me the time of day. I decided to broach the subject. I lifted my head off his chest to look at him. "I'm hurting."

He slid up into a sitting position. "What? I'm so sorry. Why didn't you say anything? I didn't think it would still be painful for you." He had misunderstood my meaning.

"No. I don't mean the sex, that's fine. That's better than fine."

He put his hand on my cheek. "I don't understand."

I bit my lip as I deliberated how to put my feelings into words without starting a fight. "It hurts me that you don't trust my feelings for you. The jealousy thing with Burns, Nate, Kyle, and now Ice. It really hurts me."

"It's just that you are so comfortable with each of them. I hate sharing you. When you were in Mel's body, my only obstacle was Jared. Now…"

I interrupted him because I knew the point he was going to make. It was more important now that I make mine. "I want…no, I need you to understand that most of my life in Mel's body was spent in fear of my life. Almost everyone detested me. I was extremely grateful that you, Jeb, Jamie, Doc, and eventually Jared had found a way to love me."

"So, you love me out of gratitude?" Ian was so like me in that he was prone to hearing only parts of what was said.

"No. Of course not. Let me finish. When I was put into this body, no one had ill feelings towards me. It was just the opposite. They had their Melanie back so everyone liked me."

He corrected me. "Everyone adores you."

"Okay, I'll accept that. The point is who wouldn't want to be adored? It is so easy to love all of you and I do. I love Burns. He is like me and he has lost his baby sister. I am honored that he looks at me to fill that hole in his life. Kyle is different. I was afraid to be close to him for a long time. Those minutes in the bathing room still haunt me, but I have worked very hard to not let that be the thing that defines Kyle. He has tried very hard to be a big brother to me. He honored you the way he protected and cared for me in your absence. Those nights in the hotel room, no matter what may have crossed his mind, he never acted on it."

Ian was silent for a minute. His forehead was creased as he thought about the things I had said. "Okay, but what about Nate?"

I took a deep breath. Nate was definitely not like a brother to me. "Unfortunately I cannot defend Nate. He does love me but I can't just turn my back on him. I love him as a friend, and I know it hurts him to see me with you but I love you. One day he will accept that." I leaned into Ian's face and kissed his lips tenderly. "I want you to know that if anything happened to you…" A lump had already formed in the back of my throat just at the thought. I swallowed hard. "If I lost you, I would go to Doc and ask him to pull me out of this body and let me die too. I don't want to live without you."

He pulled me to his chest and held me tight. He lay back down on the bed pulling me with him. When he finally spoke, his voice was hitched. I sat up to look at him, and he was pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to stop the tears that trickled from the corners of his eyes to the pillow. "If I die, I want you to live out the rest of your life. I don't want to be responsible for your suicide. Promise me you will continue to live this life without me."

Seeing him cry brought the tears to my eyes as well. "I don't know if I can make that promise Ian. I don't know if I could live with a broken heart. If it was me who died, would it be so easy for you?"

"No, but I've already figured that out."

"What do you mean?"

"I was lying in the baseball field the night you left here. I was thinking about how your soul is protected by this body. I wished I could take you, and open my chest, and stuff you inside to keep you close and safe. That's when it hit me."

I had no idea where this was going. Then he said the most wonderful thing I had ever heard in any of my ten lives. Even better than 'will you marry me?'

"I hope and pray that it never comes to this because I love you in this body but…if you die, I want Doc to take you out of your body and put you into mine."

I was shocked. I couldn't speak. I was just staring off into space my thoughts racing. He would be the first entity ever to take a soul willingly. Melanie had said in the past that she would take me back in her body if it meant saving me, but now there were other options. They could easily find another body and remove the soul, and place me in it. Ian wanted me with him.

"Wanderer, are you okay?"

"I…I" I still couldn't form words. I knew he loved me but to sacrifice his own will to me? I blew out my breath slowly again and again. Ian looked scared. I had to get myself under control and speak. Finally, I took his hands in mine and squeezed them as I spoke. "Ian, do you realize that if you did that you would be giving up all control of your body to me?"

He looked into my eyes. "But I would still be with you and we could talk to each other, right?"

"Yes, we could talk to each other."

"And then when I died, I mean when we died; we could truly be together forever."

That was it. I crumbled. I fell into his arms and sobbed. I had tears of joy for the love I felt for the unselfish human, and tears of sorrow that one day our life on this planet would end. He whispered in my ear. "It's okay, my plan?"

All I could squeak out was "Yes, it's okay." Eventually I cried myself to sleep in his arms. When I woke up, he was still holding me. He released me as I sat up.

"Hey." I murmured.

He brushed my hair away from my face. "Hey, you okay?"

I smiled. "Yes, are you?"

His smile was bright. He lay with one arm wrapped behind his head, and traced my jaw line with his thumb. "Never better."

"Do you want to go in the Jacuzzi?"

"I would, but the house is full of people. I'm surprised the noise didn't wake you when they came in. They were pretty loud. My guess is it's the kids."

"Oh! How long did I sleep?"

"A little more than an hour."

"I guess we should join them."

"Yes, your admirers await."

"Well if it's the kids then they are your admirers." I leaned in close "I love you Superman."

"I love you too." He kissed me but I stopped it before it could escalate into more. We dressed as quickly as we could, considering he stopped to kiss me several times. Each time he hit me with the slow burn kiss. Each time I had to remind him that we were trying to get dressed not undressed. Eventually, we made it out of the bedroom but we never let go of each other.

The living room was filled with the Coach's kids. Blake rose from the couch. "Hey coach, we didn't want to disturb you. I know it's late, but we would still like to have practice if it's all right with you." It amazed me how much the kids loved and respected Ian.

I squeezed Ian's hand. "Yes, let's go to practice Coach."

So, we all left the house together. We stopped at the root cellar to pick up the equipment. We must have looked like a mob or a gang as we walked to the field. The only ones missing were Jamie and Megan. As we approached the field, I could see that Nate, Kyle, and Ice were working on the dugout. Jamie, Megan, and Sunny were with them. Kyle looked up at our motley crew and called out. "Did you two have a pleasant afternoon?"

I knew Ian would not respond so I did. "It was…life changing." I squeezed Ian's hand.

It was Nate who responded. "Damn! If it's that good then no wonder I never had a chance!"

Ian and I answered in unison. "Shut up, Nate!"

"Hey! I'm just saying!" I hated that phrase.

Ian ignored Nate and directed his attention to Kyle. "I see you've done a lot of work on the dugout."

"Yeah, it feels good to build something. I can see how you muscled up so quickly."

"Superman." I cooed to Ian.

Blake bellowed. "Coach? Practice?"

"Right. EVERYONE PAIR UP. YOU KNOW THE DRILL!"

I grabbed Sunny. "Come on. Practice with us!" There were extra gloves in the equipment bag. I grabbed one for each of us. Sunny was not much of an athlete which struck me as odd considering she was in Jodie's body. I would have thought Kyle would choose a girl who was an athlete like himself. "Come on! You throw like a girl!" I teased. "How did Jodie meet Kyle anyway?"

"In a bar," she yelled back to me. "I guess you could say that Jodie was his biggest fan, and now I am."

Ian came over to give Sunny tips on how to throw the ball. It helped a little. With practice she would get better.

After warm up we ran the field followed by stretching exercises. Ian devised a drill I had never done before but the kids recognized it. He had us line up at the second base and short stop positions. If you were playing short stop and the ball was hit to you, you had to throw it to first base. If you were playing second and the ball was hit to you, you had to throw it to third. Kyle and Nate decided to join the practice so Ian put Kyle on first base and Nate on third. Ian stood at home plate and hit the ball continuously to both positions. Everything happened very quickly. There was not a lot of time to think, you had to charge the ball and react. Many of us missed the ball because we were already looking to where we needed to throw it. If you missed it or had a bad throw, you ran.

"People, you can't think about where you are throwing it until you have control of the ball. Once you are in control, take the two seconds you need to know where that ball is going when it leaves your hand. I would rather have a runner make it to first by a second or two than have a bad throw because then that runner is going to second. Use your head!" He had Blake who was his golden boy hit the ball to him as he played the short stop position to demonstrate. It was like watching a god in action. He moved on the ball like it was a part of him, and his release was quick and accurate. The ball hit Kyle's glove with a 'thwack'.

The practice continued in this way for nearly an hour before Ian was satisfied that everyone was improving. Then he moved on to batting practice. He had each person play a position, and we rotated with each batter until everyone had the chance to hit. At the end he let Kyle have a turn. He moved everyone to the outfield. Nate put on the catcher's gear and squatted behind home plate. Ian threw his first pitch. Kyle swung.

Ice was again tethered to the bench. "Holy crap!" He bellowed.

Kyle smiled at Ian. "I see you've had quite a bit of practice. Just give me a little time. I'll hit it."

It took five more pitches before Kyle connected. The ball soared deep into the outfield. Megan yelled "I got it" and she made the catch.

Everyone hooted and hollered at her great catch.

Ian commented to Kyle. "With practice I can make her as good as the boys. She's got some talent."

Ian threw several more pitches and Kyle connected with a few of them. "Okay, let's see if you can hit this." Ian threw the fade ball that made Burns crazy so many weeks ago. Kyle swung, but like Burns he couldn't adjust to the drop in altitude the ball suddenly made.

"You are the man!" He ran out to Ian to give him a high five.

After a few more pitches, Coach called everyone in. Nate suggested that tomorrow we try to have the game that was rained out last weekend. The kids cheered. "Same team captains?" Nate asked Ian.

"Yes, but this time I get first pick." Ian replied.

"Deal."

Ian would obviously choose Kyle. The invincible duo. This game was going to be a slaughter.

We packed up the equipment, and began to walk off the field.

"HEL-LO!" Ice called. He was still tethered to the bench.

Ian dropped the bag of equipment and ran over to Ice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to forget you man."

"You know if I hadn't said anything I could have escaped." Ice was right. He could have. He was already proving his loyalty to us. I was becoming more and more convinced that he would eventually be a trusted member of our family. The humans were more wary that it could be just a smart ploy. They weren't ready to take chances. "Well, I'm glad you didn't. I would hate it if Jeb had to shoot you." Ian smirked but Ice knew he was telling the truth.

I volunteered to help clean up after dinner. A bunch of the guys headed to the root cellar for a poker game. The root cellar was quickly becoming the game room. Burns had been missing all day. He apparently had to go into town for some reason. Sunny waited for me in the living room to finish my kitchen duty. She offered to help but I told her she was a guest.

After dinner, we went for a walk in the woods. We were busy gabbing and walking when we heard a rustle in the leaves ahead of us. Sunny wanted to run but I pulled her behind a small stand of bushes. We knelt down and remained very quiet. We could see through the branches of the bush two people together. They were leaning up against a tree. As we watched I realized they were kissing. They were two far away for me to make out who it was. Sunny picked up a rock and handed it to me. "Throw it over there." She whispered. It seemed like a good idea to me. So, I pitched it over my head to the left of where they were standing. When the rock hit a tree and bounced into the dead leaves, the two of them stopped kissing. They looked around and then ran towards us. Sunny and I remained in our hiding place. As they ran by, we discovered our two lovers were none other than Jamie and Megan! When they were gone Sunny and I burst out laughing.

"Should we say something to them?" Sunny blurted out in between the laughter.

"I don't know. They were only kissing."

"Yeah but what if we hadn't come along?"

"You don't think? Come on. Jamie's only fourteen!"

"And how old are you?"

"It's not the same." Again I was being the hypocrite. "I'll talk to Ian about it and see what he thinks we should do."

"You have to admit they look cute together."

I giggled. "I know. It's Jamie's first crush."

We finished our walk and headed back to the house just as it started to get dark. It was officially summer even though the kids still had school. We had our kids go to school year round. They only went in the morning so they had all afternoon to do other things. There were some people in the living room watching TV but Sunny and I weren't interested. We decided to go into the Jacuzzi. I brought my CD player in the bathroom. We had a blast. We talked a lot. Sunny was fast becoming a good friend of mine, and hopefully one day soon we would be sisters-in-law. Our hands and feet were like prunes when we got out of the tub. It was nearly eleven o'clock when we decided to go check out the poker game. We were very surprised to find the guys had been drinking. Apparently Burns had returned during our walk, and brought several cases of beer. Burns, Ian, Kyle, Nate, Ice, Jeb, Carl, Tom, and Rob were all in there. It was like a huge testosterone party.

When Sunny and I entered, we became the entertainment. Ian grabbed me and started talking in a way that made me uncomfortable. "Hey, Babe. Kyle says that Sunny can dance. I've never seen you dance. Will you dance for me?"

"Stop it Ian. You're drunk." I was annoyed and tried to break free.

"Oh come on. Dance for Superman." He rubbed his hand on my butt.

Nate came to my rescue. "Ian. It's your turn."

"Can't you see I'm hanging with my girl?"

"Yes. She's going to go get some food for you."

"Food…munchies. Yes, wench. Get some munchies." He bellowed in his drunken state.

Ian released me and I rushed outside. Nate retrieved Sunny as well and brought her outside. "I'm sorry. They are a little drunk."

"A little?" I didn't want to argue with Nate but I was angry. "What are we supposed to do?"

"You two can sleep in the house. I'll lock them all in for the night."

"And what if they have to go to the bathroom?"

"I don't know. I didn't think they were gonna get blotto. I figured they'd have a few beers. I guess it's been a while since any of them have had a drink. What do you suggest?"

"What do I suggest? I suggest that you stay here at the door and monitor this shindig."

"How about if I try to get some of them to go?" He reasoned.

"That will help. The less there are the easier it will be to deal with the ones who are there. Right now, Ian is unmanageable."

"Okay I'll tell Carl, Tom, And Rob that I am going to lock them in if they don't leave now."

"All right, and grab what is left of the alcohol and bring that out and we will put it in the kitchen."

In the next several minutes, Nate pulled several open cases of beer out of the root cellar. Sunny and I scooped them up and returned them to the house. We put them in the refrigerator in the back where they couldn't be seen. When we got back outside to the root cellar Carl, Tom, and Rob were just coming out the door. Nate enlisted Jeb's help in getting Ian out of the root cellar and into the house. He got him to sit on the couch. Burns was the least drunk out of the remaining three so he was in charge of locking Kyle and Ice in the root cellar.

I turned to Sunny in desperation. "This is a nightmare. It's bad enough they are drunk but we need to keep an eye on Ice and make sure he stays in the laundry room. I'm afraid to go near Ian. I've never seen him like this."

Sunny tried to be helpful. "If you can get Ian to relax enough to sleep; then that will be very helpful."

"I'll try."

I entered the house. Ian was on the couch, and Nate and Jeb were trying to keep him there, but he wanted to go back to the party. Then he saw me. "Ah! The party girl is here. Come here Babe!"

I stood there staring at him. I was afraid to move. Nate tried to keep him seated on the couch, but he broke through Nate's defense. "Go! Wanda. Get out." Nate ordered.

I turned to run for the door, but Ian was on me quickly. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. I struggled to pull his hands away. "What's the matter Babe? You know you want me."

I did the only thing I could think of doing at that moment. I screamed the most ear piercing scream I could pull from my body. It worked. Ian let go of me immediately. I ran out the door. I couldn't go to the caves. I wasn't allowed there. I couldn't go to the root cellar. I couldn't go in the house. I went to the only place that might be safe. I got in the back of the van, slammed the door, and locked it. I couldn't deal with any of this. I wasn't equipped. I laid down, shed some tears, and eventually fell asleep.

In the morning I woke and all was quiet. I opened the door not knowing what to expect. Nate was asleep in a sleeping bag on the ground at the back door of the van. I could only guess that he was taking a protective measure on my behalf. I climbed out and stepped carefully over Nate, and went quietly into the house. As I opened the back door I stopped to survey the room before entering. Ian was out cold on the couch. All was quiet in the house.

I decided I would make Ian and the others pay for their idiocy. I knew where all the drugs were kept. I took all of the 'No Pain' and hid it in the van. Then I went to where the children were in school. I spoke to Maxim and Miranda, and told them of my plan. They were only too happy to let the children out early for this occasion. I felt like the Pied Piper as I led them to the house. I held the door open for them as they ran into the house screaming like children let loose on the playground. The TV was turned immediately to cartoons. I stood in the far corner of the room with my arms folded across my chest as I watched Ian come out of his coma.

"What the hell? Get out of here you kids. Can't you see I am sleeping?" The children stopped and looked at me and I just nodded my head and pointed for them to continue. Ian realized that I was in the room and looked at me. I didn't say a word. I left the building.

I walked towards the caves. I half expected Ian to run and apologize but he obviously must have been in worse shape than I thought because he didn't follow me. Nate was the one who caught up to me. He too had been awakened by the noise of the children running into the house.

"Wanda, are you okay?" He was backtracking to keep the pace the same way Holly had done.

"No! I'm angry!" My eyes stung as the tears came. He stopped me by putting his hands on my arms.

"I'm sorry! This is all my fault. I called Burns when he was in town and asked him to get the beer. I didn't think…"

I cut him off. "No, Nate, you didn't think. How could you? Ian was out of control! I was afraid of him! I never ever want to be afraid of him!"

Nate just stared at the ground. "I'm sorry."

I put my face in my hands and began to sob. What I didn't know was Ian had caught up to us and was standing behind me and had heard me. I thought that Nate had been the one to put his arms around me until I heard Ian's voice. "I'm sorry. I'll never drink like that again."

I pulled away from him and ran to Nate. I turned to face Ian. "Do you even know what you did last night?"

"No." he whispered. "But I can imagine."

"You treated me like a whore Ian. Like I was your personal whore!"

"I'm sorry."

"I can't talk to you right now. Just leave me alone. Both of you!"

I stormed away leaving both of them staring at the ground. I needed to get away. I went back to the house and grabbed the keys and headed for the van. Burns was awake and he tried to stop me.

"Back off, Burns." I barked.

"Where are you going?" He pleaded.

"Out."

I jumped in the van and drove off towards town. As I drove I wondered what Sunny had endured last night and what she might be dealing with now. If I hadn't been so angry I might have thought to find her and take her with me. I didn't know what to do with myself. I could go see Fluttering, but she would see that I had been crying. I could drive back to the caverns and be with Mel and Jared. I could just chuck the whole thing and meld into the population. No, I loved Ian. I would forgive him. I decided that I would go and see Fluttering and I could tell her that my boyfriend back home broke up with me over the phone because I was going off to college. She would believe me.

My visit with Fluttering was everything I thought it would be. I hadn't eaten so I asked her to join me for lunch. She was like a doting Aunt. I told her Burns was home for a few days but he was ill equipped to deal with break up problems. I also told her that he was leaving in a day or two and I was going to go and visit a friend for a little bit. This way she wouldn't come to the mountain unexpectedly. I had to admit I felt better when I left her.

I wasn't ready to face Ian yet so I decided to go shopping. Pet loved to shop and it always made her feel better. I figured Sunny deserved something special after last night so I bought us each a halter dress. They were light and summery. I also bought myself and Ian a robe so that when we were running naked through the house we would have something to cover up with. It might be a while before they got any use though. I wasn't planning on Ian seeing me naked for a while.

When I got back to the house I had expected Ian to be waiting on me but he wasn't. Burns was sitting on the back steps waiting for my return.

As I walked towards the steps, Burns rose. "Wanda, I'm sorry. It was all my fault."

"Look, I know that Nate was the one who initiated the idea of alcohol. I know that you are the one who bought the alcohol. The truth is each of you was responsible for yourselves and unfortunately it was my guy who turned out to be the scary drunk. The one person who should be here apologizing isn't. Where is he anyway?"

"Remember the baseball game?"

"You mean they are all hung over and playing a baseball game?"

"No. The game was cancelled till tomorrow but the kids, well, they were mad at Coach for screwing up their day. He felt bad, so he took them to the field for practice. He's suffering. We couldn't find the 'No Pain'."

I went to the van and retrieved the 'No Pain'. I handed it to Burns. "Where is Sunny?"

"The last time I saw her she was in the house still chewing out Kyle. He woke up only about an hour ago."

"Excuse me." I passed Burns on the stairs and went into the house. Sunny and Kyle were sitting on opposite sides of the couch. I let the door slam behind me. They both looked up. Kyle looked like a child who had been spanked. Sunny looked the way I did before I left for town. I ignored Kyle and went straight to Sunny.

"You need to take a walk. Come with me."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to town to visit a friend and then I went shopping. I would have taken you with me but I didn't know where you were."

"I fought with Kyle till late and then we both slept late and then we fought some more."

"I'm sorry. I know how you feel. I'm not talking to Ian either. I considered getting drunk myself, and flirting with Nate as a revenge move but I don't know if I can hurt him the way he hurt me. I did buy you something when I went shopping though."

"Really? What did you get me?"

"It's the cutest dress. You know what we should do?" My brain clicked with an evil idea. It wouldn't hurt the boys but it would make them crazy.

When Ian got back from the field, Sunny and I came out of the bathroom with our new dresses on and our faces made up and our hair done. Ian and Kyle immediately got up to address their beautiful ladies.

I spoke to Sunny. "Are you ready?"

"Ready, willing, and able," she replied.

"Let's go."

We walked right past Ian and Kyle to the back door, down the steps and towards the van. They ran out behind us. "Where do you think you're going?" Kyle demanded.

Sunny stopped. "I'm sorry. Are you talking to us?"

Kyle grabbed her arm. "You know I'm talking to you."

It was my turn. "We are going to Irving. They have clubs there. You had your fun last night, now it's our turn."

Ian spoke for the first time. "You're bluffing."

He actually accused me of bluffing. "Why would you say that?"

Ian walked up to me and put his hand under my chin so he could look directly into my eyes. "There is no way you would have forgotten the conversation we had yesterday. I screwed up, Wanderer. I admit it. I don't want you to ever be afraid of me, and I never want to be in such a state that I would treat you as less than the amazing woman you are. Please. Please forgive me. I love you."

So, how was I supposed walk away from that? I sighed. "What do you think Sunny?"

"I think you got your apology."

Ian hissed at his brother. "Kyle if you don't apologize to your girl so I can kiss my girl I'm going to pulverize you."

"Sunny what more do you want me to say? I've been apologizing all day."

"Come on, Wanda. I really want to go to that club." She opened the door to the van.

"Okay, okay! Sunny, you know I love you."

"And?"

"And I promise the next time there is alcohol present, I will let you monitor me because I obviously cannot drink the way I did in college."

"And?" She was being obstinate.

"And what?" Poor Kyle was so clueless.

"And forgive me." Ian muttered under his breath.

Kyle grabbed Sunny and dragged her away from the van. He scooped her up and carried her away from us.

"Should we help her?" I asked.

"I think they'll be okay. I need to know if we are okay."

"You promise you won't get drunk like that again?"

"I promise. I don't know how I got so drunk so fast. In my college days, I used to be able to drink a twelve pack by myself."

"Well you're not in college anymore. And I think you had better kiss me before I go find Sunny." Ian took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine. He kissed me tenderly at first and then he became more aggressive. I was enjoying the kiss immensely until his hands traveled to my breasts. I pulled away.

"You are going to have to earn that."

"I thought I did."

"I'm no whore." I was being mean but I was still angry.

"Oh. Come on, Babydoll."

"That's another thing! Last night you were calling me Babe. You know how I hate that name."

"I was drunk." He raised his hands up to me in surrender. "You know what? You're right. I don't deserve you."

He walked away. I was stunned. My first instinct was to run to him, and that is exactly what I did.

"No. You deserve me. I love you." I put my arms around his neck.

He smiled. "I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?"

He got me. He out scammed me. He was better than Nate.

"Okay. Pick me up," I ordered.

He scooped me off the ground. "Now what?"

"You see that van over there?"

"Yes."

"It's empty."

So much for my punishment. I melted in the heat of his lips. He would have anything he wanted from me, and I would give it willingly. I slept in the van for the second night in a row, but this time I slept peacefully.