AN: The unedited version of the story is posted at an ezboard I'm a member of. I'll ask the ladies who own the board if they mind me pimping it a bit, and if they don't than I'll provide the link to their join form. You do have to prove you're over eighteen to be a member of the board it's on, however. Once I have an answer, I'll put it up with the next update so those interested can join if you qualify, and read the entirety of the story. With that said, here is yet another warning that this story walks on the razor's edge of M. You're warned. (To the person who asked who reported me before, I don't know. They left an anon review to the effect that they had or would. I have my ideas because a certain group of immature people sort of stalked me around here for awhile, but I truly have no idea who it actually was.)

The Funeral of a Good Girl

By – TempestRaces

Chapter four: Of Daydreams and Heated Conversations

When he woke up the next day the main thing on his brain was how much it hurt. He liked to drink and get drunk as much as the next person, but the heights of drunk he had been pushed to by the silly rivalry between him and the small package of trouble still sleeping pretty much where he'd left her staggered him. At least I didn't have a reputation for having common sense to uphold, he thought with a grin. If he had, he knew he would have shot it to shit with everything he'd done the night before. He wondered for a moment longer about what it was like to find out the girl from the night before was still there the morning after. It wasn't something he would normally have allowed. Figuring how strangely comfortable he was with it again tied back to how he knew the commitment wouldn't be for longer than the two weeks she'd be there for, he decided he really needed to use the washroom.

He slid carefully out from under her, staggered to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, drank about eight gallons of water and wandered back, feeling slightly more human. A glance at his clock showed the time to be just after one pm. He stood beside his bed for a moment, wondering what to do. Get back in and risk waking her, or just get up for the day and risk killing the first person who looked at him cross-eyed. He wasn't the most pleasant person to be around when he was so hung over. He sat on the edge of his bed at watched her to see if she'd wake up at the motion. She didn't. Rather, she sighed and wrapped herself up in a little ball. Figuring if she wasn't ready to be awake, neither was he, he uncurled her as gently as he could and allowed her to resume her position from the night before.

She almost seemed to melt into him with a happier sigh than the first one she'd breathed. He allowed his hand to idly rub up and down her back as she slept. He tried to go back to sleep himself, but it just wasn't an option. But he knew he was still happier in the dark of his room with no one to talk to than he would be up and about, facing his friends and the public in general. At least in the mostly dark room he could pretend he didn't have a splitting headache. The only thing that gave him some comfort was the fact that she'd be just as ill when she finally woke up.

He found himself with one of her curls wrapped around his finger as he watched her sleep, her deep and rhythmic breathes the only sound in the room. It was like everyone else had left the house. The place was never as quiet as it currently was after lunch time on a Sunday. There should have been people walking around over their heads. As he pondered where everyone would be, with a small groan Tempest regained consciousness. She blinked sleepily in the gloom.

As flashes of her conduct the night before returned to her in images of intense colour, sound, and sensation she pulled the blankets up over her head with a sigh. After everything she'd so boldly done last night, how was she supposed to face him now?

He unburied her head and used a finger under her chin to tip her face up. Her eyes were fully closed. "Regrets?" he asked, oddly upset with the thought she might say yes.

She shook her head no. "It's just a little awkward, is all."

"Haven't woken up in guy's beds very often?"

"Never," she answered before she thought better of it. She should have padded her answer just a few.

"Never?" he questioned. He was wondering if she meant never, like never ever. That was more than he wanted to be involved with, even if it was too late to do anything about it now.

"Never, as in never stuck around to wake up in the same place as the guy."

"You never dated a guy and slept over at his place?"

"Not after sex, no. Normally when I stayed over it was because I was too tired to go home." She changed the subject. "How long have you been watching me sleep?"

"'Bout half an hour. I tried to join you, but just couldn't. How's your head?"

"Fine," she answered honestly, again before she could think better of it.

"How's your head fine? You had the same amount to drink as me."

"That's why I mostly drink gin. It doesn't give me bad hangovers."

"You're feeding me the biggest line of shit I've ever heard," he growled.

She knew she was busted, but when he was clearly miserable, how was she supposed to admit she'd cheated? "I drank a shit load of water before I came to bed last night."

"That tells me why you're not using Mia's bucket. It doesn't tell me why you don't have a splitting headache."

Maybe if she admitted to the one time she'd gotten sick right after they went downstairs he'd leave her alone. Or maybe he'd gloat for the rest of the time she knew him too, she realized with a mental groan. She shrugged, deciding to admit nothing. "I dunno why. I just got lucky?"

"Well, yeah you did," he answered with a satisfied smile, "but so did I, so that doesn't explain it either."

She blushed. She couldn't help it for once. She hoped the darkness of the room hid the colour in her face. She decided to turn the situation around on him. "They say that a massage is good for relaxing. Maybe if I just rubbed your forehead for you it'd make your head feel better."

"I guess it couldn't hurt." He knew he'd try again to find out the secret of how she had not only kept up, but come out of it better than he had. He had about a hundred pounds on her and all of it muscle. There wasn't any way that she should have been able to handle her liquor better than him. But for now he was oddly intrigued by the thoughts of her hands on him and was willing to just go with her plan instead of arguing with her.

She brushed his eyes closed before sitting up onto her knees beside him and running gentle fingers over his brow. As he seemed to become more relaxed her touch grew more confident, her stroking more firm. After a few minutes her position of leaning over became uncomfortable. She pulled the sheets half way up his chest before throwing a leg over him and settling onto his stomach. Leaning forward, she resumed her stroking. His hands came to rest on her calves.

He fought the need to open his eyes and see her. He knew she was still as naked as when she'd come into his room the night before. He figured the only reason she'd gotten up her courage to be where she was, was the fact she figured he was asleep or close to. After a few more minutes it wasn't far off to say he was half asleep. That was until she leaned down and pressed a soft, closed mouth kiss on his lips. "Better?"

He ran his hands up her calves, over the backs of her thighs and up to her ribcage to hold her steady before he opened his eyes, wanting to see her perched on top of him in her birthday suit. "Gettin' there. You know, they do say there's one really good thing for headaches."

"Aspirin?" she asked.

"Nope," he answered. "Come down here a minute, Trouble."

She leaned down. "Wha?"

"I'm still an invalid, you gotta come closer."

She leaned down even farther, until her lips were a hair's breadth away from his. "Wha?"

"Mornin'," he drawled before he started to kiss her and watched her eyes close.

Half an hour later she was laying on her side in his bed with the sheet tucked under her armpits, watching him pull his pants up. Foolish or not for her to get with him once, let alone twice, she sure couldn't deny he was one hell of a nice specimen of manhood. He bent to get a tank top out of the bottom drawer of his dresser and she watched the muscles play across his back with fascination. Then she noted the eight crescent shaped wounds across his shoulder blades and the several longer scratches there as well. He pulled his tank top on and some of them still showed.

"You might need to rethink your choice of shirt there sweetness."

"Why's that?"

"I guess I got a little carried away. I guess I should get something to clean you up with."

"Is that why my back's itchy?" he asked, crossing to his mirror and turning to look over his shoulder. "Damn, you must got a good set'a nails on you Trouble."

"Pretty good."

"You gettin' up today, or just gonna stay there?"

"Stayin' here has its appeal."

"Why's that?"

"Cause the whole place knows what we did last night."

"How'd ya figure?"

"Because Leon and Jesse walked by that empty couch this mornin'. They know I slept somewhere else."

"Well, yeah, but in all likelihood they heard both of us last night anyway." He grinned in a very self satisfied manner. Until he remembered that the loudest noise of all was the one where he pushed her too far too fast and made her cry out. He walked back up beside his bed and looked down at her. The expression in his eyes was unreadable. She stared back, unblinking. He never should have had her again in the morning, knowing she was likely sore as it was. "You ok?"

"Fine. Why? Do I look ill?"

"No," he shrugged. "I'm just curious if you're ok. Not too," he sighed, not wanting to put it into words. "too sore after everything."

"I'm fine," she stammered.

"Good. That's good." He grabbed a hold of the blankets and moved to throw them back off her. "Get up and I'll take you out for breakfast."

"Go get my duffle out of the living room, would you?"

"Why?"

"I need clothes. If you want me to let you take me out in public I need to be dressed and not in pyjamas."

He went and got her bag. She forced herself to dress in front of him without making a point of asking him to turn his back or close his eyes. After everything he'd already seen she knew it was silly to get embarrassed about him watching her dress. Once she had on a pair of denim cut-offs and a tank top she fished to the bottom of her bag and got out her favourite flip flops. "Ok, I'm ready."

He opened the door and motioned for her to precede him out of the room. She stopped at the foot of the stairs. "I'll tell ya, I might not have woken up with a headache, but I sure am sore. That was a lot of dancing and those look like a lot of stairs."

Vince tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him. The minute she did he crouched down, put his shoulder into her stomach and stood up with her slung over his shoulder like a sack of wheat. He started up the stairs with one hand on her ass and the other holding her legs steady against his chest.

"This is high handed Vince. Set me down."

"You didn't want to walk up the stairs so I'm not making you. The right answer is thank you Vince."

"I didn't ask you to carry me."

"I know. I did it to be nice."

"You decided to carry me like a big bag of flour over your shoulder to be nice?"

"Yeah." He crested the stairs and found the house wasn't empty, as he had assumed, but that everyone was suffering from the night before except Mia. They were all sitting around the kitchen table looking miserable while Mia looked around smugly, clearly wanting to say I told you so.

"She's so sick she couldn't even walk up the stairs?" Mia asked.

"She's not sick at all. She danced her legs too sore to walk up the stairs," Vince said as he set her down on her feet.

Mia took in Tempest's cheerful demeanour. "I know what you drank. You should be curled up in a ball of misery someplace."

"I'm very resilient. I told you I had it on lock last night, remember?"

"I will find out how you managed it," Vince growled against her ear.

"You ain't that slick, Slick," she retorted with a smirk.

"Oh, we'll see tonight who's slick, Trouble."

"Trouble's a good name for you cuz," Jesse said in a low tone.

Tempest took in his slightly green appearance. "Too much to drink last night Jess?"

He nodded with a groan. "And we've been walking on egg shells not to be loud and wake up Vince, cause none of us wanted to even hear about it, knowing how hung over he was bound to be, and how nasty."

"It was a pretty sad sight," Tempest admitted with a chuckle. Then she watched Dom's head snap up. She realized belatedly that he had gone to bed with Letty before most of the stuff she and Vince had done the night before, and that he wouldn't know the sleeping situation in the basement because surely Leon and Jesse wouldn't have just brought it up in conversation. But he knew now. And he didn't look happy about it. To cover up her discomfort she went and kissed Jesse on the back of his head, wrapping an arm around his neck affectionately.

"We're goin' out for a greasy breakfast. Anyone else down?" Vince offered, saving them both from answering the questions clear in Dom's eyes.

"For real Dawg," Leon stood up and rubbed his gut.

"Count me in too," Jesse got up as well, then leaned on his cousin, pretending he couldn't stand without her help.

"I'm fine, thanks anyway," Mia cried off. Letty and Dom also decided to stay home. Jesse and Leon both got into Leon's car.

"You ridin' with me or takin' your own car?" Vince asked Tempest when they were standing on the driveway.

"Ridin' with you I guess. Lemme grab my shades outta the car."

He watched her dart across the lawn, unlock her doors and bend over into her car. He couldn't help himself from admiring how the denim moulded itself to her body when she bent over. In a lot of ways it made him wish the only thing they had in common wasn't between the sheets. God knew all they did was drive each other crazy the rest of the time.

"I'm ready. You gonna drive this car, or daydream on the driveway all day."

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If I tell you what I'm dreaming about will you make it come true?"

"Not on the driveway, but if you're a good boy today who knows what tonight might bring." Did I just say that?

"I think I'm in trouble. I don't think I've ever spent a whole day bein' good."

"Well, you might find my definition of good and other people's is a little different. Come on, we should go before they get impatient waitin' on us."

"You just mean before Dom comes out here and gives you hell for corrupting his best friend."

"I didn't corrupt anybody. If anything you corrupted me."

Since he knew she was right he really didn't know what to say. "Just shut up and get in the car."

"You're comin' dangerously close to usin' up all your freebees. Soon I'ma half to start kickin' your ass for this shit."

"I live for the day you try."

"So if I try now, you go away?"

"Come again?"

"Well, if I try to kick your ass now, your reason to live will go away and you'll stop, right?"

"I know you think you're funny, but you ain't."

"I find myself very funny. I'm also likely operating at a level of humour too far above you to grasp, so I understand that you don't get it."

We she saw the look in his eyes at that insult some instinct told her to get away. She ran toward the Skyline. "I think I'll ride with Jess and Leon."

Much to her disappointment, it wasn't that hard for him to catch her. He did so with a growl, threw her over his shoulder again and carried her toward the passenger side of the Nissan. "You'll ride with me so I can yell at you on the way there."

She got in the car, rolling her eyes.

"You ever seen anyone stand up to Vince like your cousin does?"

"No. I'm kinda surprised he hasn't killed her yet."

"Yeah. I was a bit shocked how far he let her go too."

"Yeah, well I was more than a bit shocked how far she let him go."

"What'd you mean?"

"The last thing I expected was for her to hook up with Vince. I was hoping to convince her to move down here."

"What's that got to do with her hooking up with Vince?"

"Well, he's not likely to encourage her to stick around now, is he? You know he's only ok with her because she's leaving in two weeks."

"Jesse, she doesn't have to go to another country for them to be ok with a 'friends with benefits' situation. I don't think Vince ever lied to her about what he was looking for, and you said she knew the score."

"Yeah, well saying what she knows I want to hear and telling the truth are two different things. Truth is, my cousin is good at hiding her true feelings. She thinks to show any emotion that's not bad-ass is a weakness. What's she gonna say? I think I really like you despite the fact you're clearly in love with this other girl so I'll have sex with you hoping you change your mind?"

"Isn't it possible that she just wanted to have a fling while she was on vacation?"

"Maybe, but she hasn't ever worked that way before. Besides, they have nothing in common."

"Maybe not, but the way they bounce off each other is good for creating sparks. See, it's not likely to get serious between them anyway. They only have chemistry because of how they rub each other wrong. There wouldn't be anything to build a real relationship on there."

"It didn't sound like they rubbed each other wrong last night."

"You heard too, huh?" Leon asked with a smirk.

Jesse grimaced. "Unfortunately. I tried to pretend I didn't know what it was."

"I thought Dom was gonna blow his top when she let it slip what they did. So much for trying to keep him in the dark."

"He'll deal. Dunno what his problem is anyway."

"You know Dom. He doesn't like anything in his life he can't control. He didn't count on your cousin being so strong willed."

"She is that. But still human under the exterior. I just don't think Vince would know if things were getting out of hand with her because she'd do her best to hide it from the rest of us, him and the world."

"What are you gonna do about it now Jess?"

"Try to find as many things for her and me to do that he won't do with us that I can."

"Worth a try, I guess." Leon clearly didn't think it was as big a deal as Jesse was making it out to be.

They got to the restaurant and found Vince and Tempest standing beside the car involved in yet another 'heated conversation.' "It never ends with those two," Leon said with a smile.

They got out of the car and walked over to where Vince and Tempest were fighting. "If you hadn't taken the corner at thirty kilometres an hour too fast I wouldn't have been jolted and it wouldn't have spilled."

"I never take corners too fast. I took the corner just fine. You shoulda been watchin' what you were doin'."

"Its water you big fuckin' baby. It'll dry."

"Every time you two are together I start to think Dom was right. You both seriously need to shut the fuck up." Leon chuckled.

"He needs to grow the fuck up! If he didn't act like a two year old most of the time I wouldn't have so much to argue with him about."

"Argue about? Try bitch and moan about."

"Fuck you pal. You only think I'm bitching about anything because you're too dense to get the truth."

"Bitch is a good word for you, that's for sure."

"I'm glad you think so. I somehow doubt I could sum you up in one word. I'd need several. Like ignorant, backward, and stupid. Scratch that last one. Calling you stupid would be an insult to stupid people everywhere. And last but not least, how about asshole? Now there's a word."

As Jesse watched Vince's face start to turn red he grabbed his cousin by the wrist. "Comeon T. Let's go get a seat."

"Yeah, lets." She turned her back on Vince with a flip of her hair over her shoulder and swished off with Jesse.

Leon and Vince started to follow after giving them a few seconds head start. "What happened there, dawg? When you came up the stairs you were like old pals, now all of a sudden you almost kill each other in the parking lot?"

"Her big mouth happened."

"It's gonna be a long two weeks if the two of you are always at each other's throats."

"Well, we're not always at each other's throats," Vince said, smirking as some of his good humour was restored.

"What possessed you there anyway? Wouldn't thought you'd'a known better."

He shrugged. "She's a nice lookin' girl who isn't attached to anyone else. What's to know better?"

"She's practically family dawg."

"No she ain't."

"How do you figure? She's Jesse's cousin and Jesse's family."

"Jesse's family because he lives with us. She don't."

"However you wanna rationalize it, I guess," Leon said and gave up with a sigh. He hadn't ever thought he'd meet anyone as hard headed as Vince. Then he'd met Jesse's cousin. Too bad she then had to meet her male counterpart and cause sparks libel to start fires all over the place. When they walked into the restaurant it was to find Jesse and Tempest sharing one side of a booth. Jesse had his arm around Tempest's neck and was busily giving her a noogie. She was trying to fight him off without a lot of success.

Leon snorted his laughter into his hand. He looked at Vince and couldn't make sense of the look on his friend's face. Their attention was brought back to the couple in the booth when Jesse yelped. It was clear from the way he was rubbing his arm that it had crossed in front of her mouth and she'd taken the opportunity to make him let go by biting him. She turned to sit cross-legged on the seat, facing Jesse. Jesse faced her back.

Leon started up to the table and slid in. Vince followed him in a moment later, still strangely quiet.

"What are you two doin?" Leon asked.

"Staring contest," Jesse answered, never looking away from his cousin.

"Isn't that a little childish?" Vince asked.

"If anyone would know, it sure would be you," Tempest snapped back, her gaze never leaving Jesse's.

"You have a scar at the corner of your left eye," Jesse said to Tempest, trying to distract her and stop them from another verbal sparring match.

"I know and so should you. You gave it to me."

"I did not."

"You did too! We were four and we were playing outside at Nanny's one winter. You had a spade ended shovel you were using for something and you swung it around in the air and caught me in the face. Don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah! You cried blue murder for ten minutes before someone got you ice cream and you got to sit at the adult table for supper. I was pissed."

"Well you scarred me for life, how do you think I felt?"

"I have a scar on my knee from where you pushed me off my bike and I fell."

"We're far from square."

Leon and Vince shared a look. For two people who hadn't seen each other in seven years, they were extremely close.

"You coulda put my eye out."

"I coulda broken my arm or leg."

"A broken arm or leg can be fixed. You only get two eyes. If you lose one, there aren't any do over's."

"She's got you there Jess," Leon interjected, laughing.

"Shut up!" Jesse retorted.

"J?"

"Yeah T?"

"How we gonna order if we can't look at our menus?"

"Like so many other times in the past, we're going to have to declare ourselves tied at staring each other down and just stop, I suppose."

"Ok. One, two, three."

They both looked away at the same time.

"You two are like a pair of kids," Leon told them, still laughing.

"At least we fit right in with present company," Tempest shot back, her head cocked to the side as she smiled at Leon.

"Hey, you got no beef with me!" Leon held his hands up in mock surrender.

"I never said I was talking to you, either."

"If you're gonna call me names, at least call them to my face," Vince growled.

"If I feel like talking to you later, you'll be the second to know." She picked up her menu and started to look over the Sunday all day breakfast menu. "As for looking at your face, I'm about to eat so I'd rather not."

Jesse kicked her in the shin under the table, trying to get her to stop pushing the volatile Vince so close to the edge. They were saved from hearing Vince's answer to her insult by the arrival of the waitress.

"Fruit and toast? That's what you're having for a breakfast after a night of drinking?" Leon asked, incredulous with her choices.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I like fruit and toast."

"What about bacon, ham, sausage and eggs. You know, breakfast food. Grease for your stomach."

"Not in the mood. If I'm still hungry when I'm done than I'll have pancakes."

"You never were much of a breakfast eater," Jesse reminded.

"Still makes me sick to eat in the morning half the time. Dunno why. I'm normally ok with light food though."

"You won't like the mornings around our place than," Leon said. "Mia makes the whole spread everyday."

"We need it. We work hard all day long," Jesse said. It was like he was trying to convince Tempest it was ok for him to eat a thousand calorie breakfast everyday.

"Well, you're still a beanpole Jesse, so I guess it don't matter how much you eat. I gotta watch my intake when I'm hittin' the gym. I guess it doesn't matter so much now, because I'm on vacation and all, but when I'm goin to the gym I need at least four hundred grams of protein a day."

"You're too into all that bodybuilder crap for me to follow cuz. How is it you don't bulk up like a dude, anyway?"

"It's more effort than just lifting weights for a woman to bulk up the way female body builders do. I spend half my week doing cardio. I suppose you still just 'get enough exercise at work'?"

"Of course. Leon and Vince go to the gym and so does Dom though."

"You never thought you should tag along and see if you couldn't get strong enough to beat me at arm wrestling?"

"I like to take it easy on you. You're a girl and all."

"Yeah right. You're just ashamed of how easy I can take you."

"Yeah, well you still pull wrenches. I'm more evolved than a common grease monkey now. I do the intellectual part of mechanics now."

"Keep on telling yourself that Jess," Tempest said, before winking at her cousin.

The waitress dropped off their meals and Tempest almost gagged at the sight and smell of all the food placed in front of the guys. She started to eat her fruit, eating being one of the only things she did in a lady like fashion. She had always been a slow eater and today was no exception. Everyone else finished way ahead of her, watching her take dainty bites and ensure none of her food touched any of her other food on her plate.

Vince watched her bite into a section of orange, watched juice run down her chin, watched her tongue dart out to get as much of it as possible and then watched her lick her fingers clean all while fighting a need to lean across the table and lick her lips and fingers clean for her. Still pissed off at her or not, he still found himself wanting her and it pissed him off even more. He watched as her long fingers shredded the crust and back off her toast and she ate only the buttered top she scraped off the unbuttered side. She again licked the butter off her fingers.

Jesse looked between Vince and Tempest. "Say cuz?"

"Yeah?" she asked after she swallowed the end of her breakfast.

"Wanna hit the beach after we go home?"

"Hell yeah! You know it." She turned to look at Jesse. "Can we take the Skyline?" She pouted.

"Of course. Can I drive the Skyline?"

She looked like she was seriously going to say no. She saw the look on Jesse's face. "Do you know how to drive the Skyline?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I've driven Leon's a few times."

"Than yes, on the way there you may drive the Skyline."

"It's painted like a girl's car," Vince mumbled in a low tone.

"It is a girl's car, genius."

"Jesus, you two. It's been an hour since the fight in the parking lot. Let it go!" Leon looked from one to the other.

Tempest just looked at Leon with one eyebrow cocked. He grinned at her. "Not in the cards for you to let anything go, is it?"

"Nope," she chuckled at his swift understanding. "I'm a grudge holder, guilty as charged."

"Let's go," Jesse said as she started to push Tempest out of the booth. "We better get a move on."

"Ok." She stood up and waited for Jesse before heading for the register and pulling a Visa out of her back pocket. She waited only long enough after signing her slip for Jesse to pay before they walked outside the restaurant. Jesse headed for the Skyline. When he looked back and noticed Tempest had followed him right past the Maxima and was standing at the passenger side of Leon's car with him he gave her a quizzical look.

"You're not going to ride with Vince?"

"Do I look retarded?"

"No. What do you mean, anyway? You came with him."

"And then he roared at me, and I roared back and now I don't want to leave with him. You have some sort of issue with that?"

"Guess not. He might though."

"What he has issues with doesn't matter a fig to me. I'm not riding in his car again. Ever."

"Ok," Jesse let it go with a sigh and let his cousin slide into the back seat of Leon's car, Leon having unlocked the doors remotely for them from inside the restaurant. Leon got in and they started home. Before long Vince passed them on the highway and streaked past.

"I take it Prince Surly is still in a temper?" Tempest addressed her query to Leon.

"Prince Surly?" he questioned with a snort.

"She started calling him that yesterday afternoon, right after she met him," Jesse filled in with a chuckle.

"Yeah, he's still pissed. Don't think he expected you to jump ship and ride with us."

"Well, he's even stupider than I gave him credit for if he thought I was gonna give him a half hour opportunity to yell at me some more while I'm a captive audience."

By the time they made it back to the fort, the fight at the restaurant was almost forgotten as they joked and teased in the car. Leon decided to ride to the beach with them as it was a nice day. Too nice to be stuck inside, he said. When they got out of the car at home, still laughing and teasing each other, it was to find that where ever Vince had gone when he flew by them, it hadn't been home. His car was no where to be found. Grateful for the chance to get her stuff out of his room while he wasn't around, Tempest excused herself to get changed for the beach right away.

She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her bathing suit on under her cutoffs and tank top, her hair in pigtails and a beach bag tossed over her shoulder. She knocked on Jesse's door. "Yeah?"

"You decent?"

"Yeah, come in."

Tempest pushed his door open and walked in. "You almost ready?"

"Yeah, go check on Leon."

"I'm not goin' to check on Leon. I hardly know Leon."

"You don't need to know him to go knock on his door and see if he's ready."

"Fine," she gave up with a sigh and left Jesse's room. She knocked on Leon's door. "You decent?"

"Mostly, come on in."

She pushed his door open and found what he meant by mostly decent. He had his shorts on, but no shirt. "Jesse wants to know if you're ready."

"Almost. Just gimme a minute to find my shoes."

"Dude, you left them by the front door." She sat on his bed as she watched him root in his closet for whatever it was he thought he had to find.

"Not my sneakers. I ain't wearin' sneakers with shorts to the beach. I'm not a total fashion victim."

"So you're not gonna wear socks with your sandals?"

"No. I do know better."

"That's good. I won't have to ditch you when we get there."

"Why would you anyway?"

"'Cause I got a rep to maintain. I can't be seen with somebody who's a fashion victim."

"You wanted to wear a wifebeater to races."

"You wore a fuckin' jersey tank top!"

"I'm a guy. Like it or not, it's different for me than it is for you at races. That's just how it is."

"Yeah, well if I ever go again I'll be starting a new fashion trend for the chicks there."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"A little thing I like to call, and wait for it now, wearing clothes!" she finished with a flourish.

"Perish the thought!" Leon answered, a hand to his heart in mock fear that she would accomplish her goal and dress the women of races in clothes which didn't display every 'asset' they possessed.

"Heaven forbid they left something to the imagination."

"Well, that's where the difference between race skanks and nice girls comes into play. Nice girls leave something to the imagination. Race skanks don't."

"There was a very fine line between what Mia had me wearing and what those other girls were wearing."

"Yeah, but the line was still there."

She shrugged. "I guess so. I still missed my boots." She leaned back on his bed and stretched one leg up into the air out in front of her before studying her toes, displayed by her flip flops. The purple polish on her big toe was chipped. She shrugged before grinning at the thought that Mia would likely freak out about a little chipped polish.

"I just bet you did when you thought you were gonna have to fight those three guys."

"Don't even go there. I'm still kinda pissy that I didn't get to." She looked at Leon around her still outstretched limb. "I was having a bad night and kicking the crap outta them woulda went a long way to improving my mood."

"Where'd you learn the little thing you did with your hand to knock the middle guy out?"

"Either karate or self defence class. I don't remember which."

"You took Karate?"

"Yeah, for awhile."

"That's cool." Leon looped a towel around his neck. Before he could say anything else a growl cut in from the door.

"Well, isn't this cozy."

Leon chose to overlook the tone of the question. "We were just about to head out for the beach. You comin' dawg?"

"Not in this lifetime," Vince answered.

Tempest stood up and headed for the door. "Well, I'm ready. Leon, you comin'?"

"Yeah." He hung back, waiting to see what she would do when she reached the door, which Vince was still blocking. She hadn't made eye contact with him and it was like she was pretending he hadn't spoken and wasn't there. She slid under his arm, which was braced on the door frame, and was careful not make physical contact with him in any way. She went back into Jesse's room.

"I take it she's still being unreasonable?"

"I dunno dawg. You called her a bitch."

"She called me stupid."

"Yeah." Leon refused to get in the middle of it. "I better go. Catch you later man."