Chapter Two: The Invite

"Quit glowering," Whitney scolded, swatting Fox playfully. Her eyes lit up as she surveyed the very thing that Fox was glaring at—Theresa and Dylan, chatting up a storm. "Honey, be happy that another man is showing interest in Theresa! This is just the kind of thing she needs to get Ethan out of her mind."

Fox didn't reply right away, as he thought back on when he had told Dylan that he and Theresa were over. Dylan's initial response had been, 'So, when can I make my move on your lovely ex?'

To which Fox had pretty much replied, 'Stay away from her.'

But now that Dylan was in town, presumably for a while…there was nothing Fox could do to keep Dylan from getting what he had wanted for quite some time—a shot with the lovely Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. Ever since Fox had sent him that picture of her Dylan had most definitely agreed that she was beautiful. And now that he was in town…

Theresa's sparkling laugh sounded just then, jerking Fox back to reality. He snapped his eyes back up towards the pair of them—his two best friends. For a moment, he almost grinned at the look on Dylan's face. It was a look of complete and udder fixation, almost a look of stupor, as he watched Theresa throw her head around as she laughed, her thick, dark hair falling all around her face, cascading down her back tantalizingly, her bright, soulful eyes glittering with amusement. But then, Fox remembered, he had probably looked quite a bit like Dylan did when it was HE who was dating Theresa. She just had this captivating quality about her, one that most men flocked towards.

All but the man who Theresa wanted the most, that is.

"I'll agree, Theresa does need to get her mind off Ethan," Fox admitted begrudgingly, his eyes never moving from Theresa and Dylan. "But I mean, to have DYLAN be the guy to take her mind off him? That's just not right." After all, that would mean that Dylan had succeeded in the area that Fox hadn't. He had tried numerous times to get Theresa to forget about Ethan, tried to get her to commit to their relationship and put Ethan in the past, but it was to no avail. Which was why Theresa had broken up with him in the end—she felt bad that she was in a relationship with Fox while her heart still belonged to Ethan. But if Dylan managed to be the one to finally get Theresa's focus off Ethan, the one thing that Fox had failed at, no matter how hard he had tried, then what did that mean?

Whitney, not enjoying being ignored by her boyfriend, heaved a huge sigh and made a face, a face Fox did not see, as he was still watching his two best friends continue to converse animatedly. She did not like Fox lavishing all this attention on Theresa when rightfully; he should be paying attention to HER. Reaching up, she rested her hands gently on his shoulders, and said in a soothing voice, "Fox, honey, don't worry about it. Theresa's a smart girl. She's not going to let Dylan take advantage of her or anything like that." She then placed a soft, seductive kiss on the back of his neck, trying to draw his concentration back to herself.

However, Fox appeared unmoved by this act. Instead, he shrugged her hands off, his brow knitted together in thought. "I really don't like this…" he muttered to himself as Whitney dropped her hands dejectedly back down to her sides for a moment, before crossing them angrily over her chest.

This was so not the way she had envisioned her day.

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"Tell me something, Theresa," Dylan requested, watching as she pulled her sunglasses off her face and then slid them into her hair.

Stretching her arms up over her head in a languid fashion, she smiled at him. He seemed genuinely nice, she had decided. A bit flirtatious, true, but nice. "Sure. What?"

"Why did you and Foxy boy break up?" he questioned, nodding over in Fox's direction. Theresa cast Fox a sideways glance as well, and noted the fact that he was watching her and Dylan quite seriously. The moment he saw that Theresa was watching him in return, he immediately averted his gaze.

Giggling, Theresa rolled her eyes. Fox could be so juvenile sometimes! What were they, back in junior high? Turning back to the question at hand, she merely shrugged her tan shoulders. "We were both in love with other people, and I saw no reason why we should be with each other if we weren't committed to one another." Sighing, she brushed back her hair away from her face. "I mean, he's always loved Whitney, I've always loved Ethan. There was no way around that."

"So…you're still hung up on Big Ethan then?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am."

"Oh." There was a short pause, as wheels in Dylan's head were turning. Theresa was gorgeous. Absolutely breathtaking. And if she was even half as amazing as Fox claimed she was, then he definitely wanted to get to know her better. If it should lead to something more then friendship…well…he had no problem with that. With a bit of a grin, he said rather abruptly, considering the circumstances, "Have dinner with me tonight."

Startled, Theresa dropped the bottle of tanning oil she was holding. "What?"

"Have dinner with me tonight," he repeated, bending over and retrieving the bottle off the cool blue tiles. As he handed it to her, he scrounged up an explanation for wanting to take her out the best he could. "If I'm going to be staying here for a while—and I really think I might—then I'm going to need someone to show me around…" he trailed off hopefully, the suggestion hanging in the air.

"Well…it's usually my night to watch Little Ethan, my son, you know," Theresa told him, mentally debating in her head. It sounded almost fun, going out with Dylan. After all, she hadn't been out with a guy since she and Fox had broken up months ago. It might be nice to get out of the house. "But…but I don't think Julian will mind if I switch to tomorrow instead. It's not like he cares about Little Ethan anyway, I doubt he even remembers he exists, with all that alcohol intake." She paused there briefly, before agreeing, "Yeah. Yeah, sure, that might be fun." Nodding her head, she confirmed, "I'll go to dinner with you tonight."

A grin blossomed over Dylan's face, a wide, happy grin of a guy who had just gotten his way and loved it. "Excellent."