I'm back!

Chapter Six

"So, where are you taking her?"

Tonight is the night I'm taking Andy out. I haven't been able to stop thinking about her all day. Well, I haven't been able to stop thinking about her since the bonfire. I have to make this night perfect. I can count on one hand the number of dates I've been on…none of which went past the first date. I feel like a teenage girl getting ready for prom- that's how excited and terrified I am. It's ridiculous. But I love it, I think to myself with a smile.

And now Leah has parked herself on my couch with a beer in her hand while I get ready. I eye her while I button up my shirt. "The Luna Piena."

Leah snorts. "You are such a cheeseball. I'm guessing that's the nicest restaurant within the town limits, right?"

"One, Andy wants to stay in town in case Max has any issues while she's gone. Her assistant from work is watching him. And two, I don't remember inviting you here to drink all of my booze and harass me." I give her the best glare I can, but I know it's not much. I'm just too excited.

Leah stretches out until she's taken up the entire couch. "Love you too, little brother. You should be thanking me right now. I'm trying to help make sure your goofy ass doesn't screw this up."

I grab a throw pillow she'd knocked on the floor and chuck it at her. She catches it without any effort. "You know, you're really making me feel confident about tonight." I sit on my recliner and run a hand through my hair. "She's so great, Lee. I want this to be perfect for her. I really don't want to mess this up on the first date."

Leah sits up and her face is serious. "She's your imprint, Seth. You'd have to do something pretty horrible to scare her away." She leans forward. "You're a handsome, smart, funny, and successful cop. Why wouldn't she love you?"

Her words do make me feel better. When she says something kind, it's because she really means it. Leah always has a rough exterior. Ever since…Sam and Emily, she almost always has her guard up around everybody. I know I'm one of the only people she can let that guard down with. I lean forward and squeeze her hand. "Thanks Lee."

She smiles and squeezes back. "Now go win your imprint." She finishes her beer with a gulp and walks towards the front door. As she leaves, she looks over her shoulder at me. "Oh, and let her know that if she messes with you, I'm gonna kick her ass."

"You're here early."

Max is peering at me from the doorstep. He's barefoot in a blue pajama set with elephants dotted all over them. I hold my hands up. "I said I'd be here at seven!"

Max just blinks. "Our clock says it's six fifty-five. You have to wait." Before I can reply, he shuts the door. I blink. I wasn't expecting that.

I hear Andy's voice. "Max! Can you please let Seth in while I get my shoes on? He's allowed to be here a little early honey." I chuckle. This kid is a riot.

The door opens slowly. "Mom said you can come in." He's eying me intently.

I grin and step around Max in the door. "Thanks, bud. How's the elephant skeleton looking?"

Max eyes widen with excitement. "I'm almost halfway done! I just finished the ribs." His eyes narrow. "You're going on a date with my mom."

I cough uncomfortably. "I am. Is that okay?"

He holds his gaze on me for what feels like forever. Then he shrugs. "As long as she wants to be your friend, then I guess so." I release a breath that I didn't even know I was holding.

"Max, why don't you go back to the kitchen? I know you're not finished eating yet." My eyes follow her voice until they land on Andy while she comes down the stairs. My breath catches. She looks incredible. She's wearing a dark green dress that lands just above her knees and leaves her arms exposed. Her skin looks like ivory. Her hair is pinned behind her head and the closer she gets, the harder it is for me to keep my eyes off of her exposed neck. She stops in front of me, smiling softly. "Hi."

I can't keep the stupid smile off of my face. "Hey."

We stand there, looking at each other in silence, until a voice clears its throat. Andy blinks and looks down, blushing. "Oh gosh, I'm being so rude. Seth, this is Sara. She's basically been my eyes and ears for the store before I moved here. Well, she still is," she chuckles, while gesturing to the woman behind her.

Sara and I exchange small pleasantries. She lets out a big breath and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I'm going to go eat with Seith." She smiles slyly at Andy. "You two have fun, and don't stay out past curfew!" She winks while Andy rolls her eyes.

I hold out my arm. "Ready?"

She grins and loops her arm through mine. I'm hit with her scent instantly and it makes me flush. I take a deep breath of the cool air while I help her in my truck. It's almost overwhelming to be around her and I love every second of it.

She turns to me while I start the truck. "So…where are we headed?"

"It's an Italian place here in Forks. Well, pretty much the only Italian place in town. You like Italian, right?" Shit, what if she doesn't? I didn't even think about that."

Her hand is on my arm suddenly, and my heart slows down. "It's actually my favorite." She gives me an encouraging smile.

We make the short ride to the restaurant mostly in silence. I have the radio on and we both seem to enjoy just listening to the music. It's not long before we're at our table in the restaurant. Conversation begins naturally and flows so easily. I tell her about high school, and how scrawny and shy I was until I phased. Well, I tell her it's until I met all of the guys in the pack. She laughs at that. "I can't imagine you being scrawny at any point in your life." Then I tell her about community college studying criminal justice, then my time at the local police academy. She tells me about her parents in Florida, and how she grew up with them in Illinois before she headed off to college at Northwestern and her parents retired and moved to Florida.

"I did the typical college thing…sorority, partying, drinking….It was fun, but in the beginning I almost got put on academic probation!" She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her glass of wine. "I put my poor parents through the ringer with that one. They were furious. But I figured out how to balance work and school, and I managed to graduated with a 3.5 in business management." She grimaces. "Granted, that victory was sort of shadowed by me being 6 months pregnant and getting ready for a shotgun wedding, but what can you do." Her eyes widen. "That is completely inappropriate for date talk. God, I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm such a sharer with you." Pink begins to dot her face and neck.

My stomach clenches when I hear shotgun wedding, but I try not to let that show. "It's no big deal. I like learning about you. " I pause, trying my best to sound casual. "So, I'm guessing you married Max's father?"

She nods. "We were married for four years. But once we started really understanding what was going on with Max, it stopped working."

She isn't making a pleasant face talking about her ex and I can't help but feel relieved when I see that. "When did you learn that Max had Asperger's?"

She bites her lip. "It took while to officially get a diagnosis. But it was shortly after his first birthday we really started noticing something was wrong. He had so much trouble with language development. I was worried he would never be able to talk at all. He would have these massive tantrums over what seemed like nothing at all. We saw pediatrician after pediatrician, and finally we were referred to a child behavior specialist and he told us about Asperger's. Will and I had differing opinions about how to…deal with Max and his therapy." Her brow furrows. "We still do."

I can't stop myself from reaching across the table and squeezing her hand. "Well, it seems to me like you're a great mother to him." She smiles and squeezes back. I let go of her hand and reach for the bottle of wine I had ordered for the table. While I refill our glasses, she giggles softly.

"If I didn't know better, I would say you're trying to get me a little tipsy, Seth!" She winks.

I wink back. "Shh, I'm trying to do that in secret."

She laughs. "Of course. I know nothing." She mimics zipping her lips shut. I grin. God, she is perfect. She takes another sip. "It has taken me so long to get back to liking red wine. It was seriously ruined for me for years! All I can say is spring break, junior year, and a ton of sangrias." She rolls her eyes. "I was sick as a dog for the entire second half of our trip."

I laugh. "I haven't had any experiences like that yet, thank God." Of course, I'd have to drink about four of these bottles before I even felt buzzed, I think to myself. Then I remember my last big birthday party. "During my twenty-first birthday party, Jared's wife Kim- the small girl with the glasses?" She nods in recognition and I continue. "We had a "luau" at the beach and that girl threw back the Mai Tai's until she has heaving in the sand. It's been two years and she still can't even stand the smell of rum."

I'm laughing until I notice that Andy's smile has faded. "You turned twenty-one two years ago?"

I nod. "I know, I look like I'm twenty-three going on thirty-five, right?" I joke.

She laughs, but it has an edge to it. "Wow, you are a lot younger than I would have guessed," she murmurs.

I frown and try to do the math in my head. It's obvious that Andy is older than me- if she had Max right after college then she must be- but that doesn't matter at all to me. But judging by how quiet she's become, it's bothering her. I reach for her hand again. "You okay?"

She gives her head a little shake and smiles. "Of course." The smile doesn't quite reach her eyes.

We make small talk for the rest of the dinner and before I know it, the bill has been paid and I'm walking her to the truck again. The ride home is silent again. I'm completely distracted by her scent so close to me in the cab of the truck. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to keep her closer to me. She's tough. She has to be to raise a kid and build a business all on her own. But I don't want her to feel like she has to stay strong all of the time. I can tell she's got a wall just like Leah does. I want to stay with her on her side of that wall. My wolf's instincts are crying out to protect her, to shelter her.

We stop at the front of her house and I rush to get the truck door open for her. We walk slowly to the front porch of her house. I give her a gentle smile. "Andy, I had an amazing time with you tonight. I feel like I could talk to you nonstop. I want to see you again. Soon," I add at the end. I reach for her hands but at the last second she crosses her arms.

"I had a great time too, Seth." I can tell there's a but about to follow, and I'm right. "But Seth, I…I think that maybe we should keep this at just one date." My stomach lurches at that. I must look distressed, because she sighs and runs her hand through her hair. "Seth, you're a great guy. I had the best time tonight that I've had in such a long time." She rests her hand on my arm. "Really. I love spending time with you. But Seth, you have to understand that being in a relationship- or even dating me comes with so much baggage. I'm a single mother to a child with special needs. Max has never acted so comfortable around a man as he does with you, and that's great. But you don't deserve to get saddled down so early in your life to this. You should be dating girls and having fun, and the last thing you need to be doing is getting yourself entangled in something complicated. You're…too young to have to grow up so fast for me." She bites her lip and looks down. "Do you understand what I'm saying? I know I sound like so condescending trying to explain this."

I don't know what to say. My eyes are down at my shoes. "It's not a burden to me Andy," I mumble. "I don't see it that way."

She sighs. "I know you don't. That's what makes you such a great guy. But things aren't always as easy with Max as they have been when you've been around him. Things can get so messy and difficult. And not just with him. I'm constantly fighting with my ex on how to raise Max and how to get support from him. I don't want you to get buried in that before you even realize that you have been." Her hand is through her hand again, and I can practically smell the stress she's feeling. "I really like spending time with you Seth." She looks at me uncertainly. "I would really like to be friends with you. I don't want this to be goodbye for good. But I can't start a relationship with you." She shakes her head, like she's trying to convince herself. "I just can't," she repeats resolutely. "Do you hate me?"

I feel like I'm going to be sick. She's saying no. She's afraid. She doesn't want this with me. For one of the first times since I've phased, I feel anger. So much anger at myself and at this night that the only thing I want to do is let the wolf take over. I take a deep breath. I can't hurt her because of what she wants. I have to be what she needs, even if it kills me. I try to force a smile. "Of course, Andy. If that's what you want." I cast my eyes downward again.

And then her arms are around me. She hugs me tightly to her, and then she releases me. "I'm so sorry Seth. I know this isn't how you wanted this to go. But I really think it'll be better for both of us." She clears her throat. "So…friends?"

I have to get out of here. But I force a smile again so she's not upset. "Friends."