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Marco smirked smugly when he saw Paige and Spinner walk down into the restaurant from Spinner's apartment laughing. He figured there was a reason Paige hadn't been answering her phone, and if he'd been forced to guess he would have said the reason was Spinner.
Paige glanced over and saw him and Dylan waiting by the bar. She shook her head at Dylan's worried expression.
"Paige!" he exclaimed in relief when he saw her. "What is this brilliant idea of yours?"
She smiled up at Spinner before answering. "We can have it here."
Dylan glanced at Spinner in deisbelief. "Really?"
"Sure man. I've recruited the staff and got a sample menu planned." Spinner said.
"Already?"
Spinner laughed. "What can I say, your sister is highly persuasive when she wants to be." He glanced down at her and she flushed slightly.
Marco stiffled a chuckle.
"This is so great Spin, thank you." Dylan puts an arm around him and they walk off toward the kitchen, deep in conversation about shrimp versus halibut.
"So ... " Marco says in a singsong voice, waggling his eyebrows.
Paige eyed him warily. "What?"
"And just what have the two of you been doing all day?" Marco asked. "Because there are very few activities that can get Paige Michalchuck to ignore a ringing phone."
Paige felt the heat creeping up her neck, a mixture of embarassment and anger. "You caught me. Spinner and I had hot, wild sex all day right over a restaurant full of people." she said sarcastically. She hoped Marco wouldn't see through her defensiveness.
"Okay, I get it. None of my business." He held his hands up in defense. Glancing over to where Dylan had Spinner cornered he laughed. "I'm gonna get over there befor Dyaln makes Spinner want to throttle him."
With a sigh full of regret, Paige sat down in one of the empty bar stools. Why had she just done that? Any of it. She was a grown woman, she didn't have to apologize for sleeping with somebody. Unless he was married or something. And she certainly didn't have to explain it. What was wrong with her? There was a time when she would have gladly recounted every detail to Marco over coffee and cookies in his kitchen while Dylan was out playing hockey. Did she regret it? She wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it was the idea of having sex with your high school boyfriend on a whim that seemed slightly pathetic to her.
But then Spinner threw a warm smile at her and she knew that she didn't regret anything. Spinner was a good part of her past, she was glad to have all the amazing memories of him that she did. And now she could add today to that list.
Marco's knowing look when he cuaght the little glance they kept throwing at each other made the real reason hit her square in the stomach. She didn't want to tell Marco because it was too personal.
The private details of her romantic life, however sordid or pitiful they were, didn't mean as much to her as when combined as just the one day she had spent with Spinner. He meant too much to her, always had.
That's the way first loves worked. They never really went away. Not completely.
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Spinner kept the restaurant open late on Friday nights. Since college he, Ash, Jimmy, and occasionaly Marco, would have dinner together and maybe go out for a movie or something. It was their way of staying connected. Naturally, with Paige back in town she was invited.
Jimmy and Ash were already there when she arrived. They were sitting with Spinner in the same corner booth they had had dinner in. It was hard to believe that she was looking at the same golden couple of grade eight. She hardly recognized Jimmy with the goatee he was sporting and Ash was dressed like she belonged at Woodstock. Not to mention the fact that she was eight months pregnant with her third child.
"Paige!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her. Or as much as she could with her huge belly in the way.
"Hi." she squealed, pulling bak to look Ash up and down. "Oh my God, look at you."
Ash rubbed her hands over her stomach. "I know. Pretty wild, huh?"
"Very. And I hope you brought pictures."
The cooing over the pictures of Ash and Jimmy's boys lasted way too long in Paige's opinion, but she politely gushed over every single one.
"What about you Paige, don't you ever want to have kids?" Jimmy asked once the photos were finally put away and he dinner was set on the table.
"Ever? I'm 26, not 46. There's still time if I ever decide to." she said.
"But having kids is so amazing ..." Ash got a dreamy expression on her face as she talked. "I don't know why anyone would want to wait."
"Well, there is the little problem of me not having a husband, or even a serious boyfriend for that matter." she said.
"Not really a requirement." Spinner said, as he picked a tomatoe out of her salad.
She swatted at his hand. "Maybe I just don't have the Mommy gene. No offense, but when I see a baby I don't ooh and ahh. All I can think of is runny noses and dirty diapers." Paige wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Jimmy saw the retort flariring up in his wife's eyes and interjected before things got ugly. "I guess it's not for everybody."
Paige and Spinner both shot Jimmy greatful looks while Ash stuck her lower lid out in pout. Paige sighed. It was going to be a long night.
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"Can you believe Ash? What was up with her trying to imply that there's something wrong with me because I don't see the glamour in being barefoot and pregnant?" Paige demanded angrily.
Spinner looked over at her from behind his counter. He knew she was angry, beyond angry, at Ash's remarks that had continued through dinner. He just hoped the wine he was uncorking and some time would cool her down.
"It's the hormones. Ash always gets like that. By the time the baby is three weeks old she'll be ready to sell it to the highest bidder." He handed her a glass of Merlot and she sipped it thankfully.
"Do you think it's strange that I don't particularly want to be a mother?" she asked quietly. "Be honest."
"I think everyone has the right to choose." he said.
Paige scoffed. "That's really helpful Spin."
"Alright. Honestly, I always figured you'd want at least one."
"I just ..." she searched for the right words, "I don't have room in my life for a baby."
"Okay."
She scowled at him. "What about you? Do you think I'm a horrible person like Ash?"
"Paige, I could never think that." His voice was tender and his eyes soft. He brushed a stray tendril of hair back out of her face gently, letting his fingers slide down her face.
Spinner was standing on one side of the counter that acted as a divider for the living room and kitchen. Paige was on the living room side, and at his touch, she leaned up on the counter to softly brush her lips against his.
He responded without thinking, his hands sliding up to her cheeks as her own wound in his hair. Paige moaned against his lips, and he gripped her tighter. "Paige." he whispered huskily.
She pulled back and looked at through heavily lidded eyes. "I don't think we're in the best place for this." She tapped the counter dividing them.
"Wanna move this somewhere else?" he asked. She smiled at the somewhat shakiness in his voice.
"Yeah," she said as she kissed him again, "I do."
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