Thanks for all the reviews! =) I'm really busy right now so I might be slow to update. Here's a longer chapter...

Cate knew Baze was right. Dewey did like her as more than a friend. She shouldn't have used him to make Baze jealous.

Dewey had been nothing but nice to her, but she didn't like him that way. She wasn't being fair to him, she knew.

As someone who'd been on the receiving end, she knew how bad it felt to be used. She needed to make it right. She needed to make it clear that she only wanted to be friends with Dewey.

But the truth was Cate didn't know what to say to Dewey. She'd never been in this situation before. She'd always been the one whose heart got broken. She'd never been the one doing the heartbreaking.

Cate contemplated how to charter the unfamiliar territory. She didn't want to hurt Dewey's feelings. She knew all too well how much it hurt to find out that the person you liked didn't feel the same way.

She would have to see Dewey soon. They were lab partners in AP Chemistry. Cate was dreading having this conversation with Dewey, but she knew she needed to have it.

Cate briefly considered ditching Chemistry, but decided against it. She'd already missed too much school.

She slipped onto the stool next to Dewey and smiled, trying to act friendly and normal. "Hey."

Dewey grinned. "Hey.

Their teacher handed out the instructions for the day's lab.

Cate skimmed the instructions. "We need some ingredients. I'll go get them."

Cate returned to her seat with several tubes of ingredients.

Dewey helped Cate mix the ingredients. They watched for the reaction and took notes. Cate could feel Dewey's gaze on her. She concentrated on her notebook.

Dewey hesitated. "Are you ready for the Trigonometry test on Friday?"

"No," Cate mumbled. Her grades weren't what they used to be. Taking care of Lux cut into her studying time.

"Yeah. Me either," Dewey said. He took a deep breath, getting his nerve up. "Do you, uh, want to study together?" He asked hopefully.

Cate sighed. She met Dewey's gaze reluctantly. "Dewey, I really like you…"

Before Cate could finish her sentence with as a friend, Dewey interrupted. "I really like you, too," he said, grinning.

Cate winced. She'd wanted to tell him she didn't feel that way about him. This was going horribly wrong. What was she going to do now? She couldn't stick with her original plan.

Cate decided to try a different tact. "But I wanted to make sure you know I don't have time for a relationship right now."

Dewey's face fell.

"I'm so busy with school and my daughter," Cate said quickly.

Dewey nodded, though he still looked crestfallen.

They both looked up in surprise when the bell rang. They hadn't finished their lab write-up.

"Can you stay and finish?" Dewey mumbled.

Cate shook her head. "I can't. I have to go pick Lux up. We can work on it at my house. In about an hour."

Dewey smiled slightly. "I'll see you then."

Cate answered the door with Lux in her arms. "Hey. Come in."

Dewey stared at Lux.

"Oh, this is my daughter…Lux," Cate said. She smiled slightly when she said Lux's name.

"Hi Lux," Dewey said. He looked up at Cate. "She's, uh, cute."

"Thanks!" Cate beamed. Lux hadn't met anyone but family. It was nice to hear someone who didn't have to say Lux was cute confirm what Cate and Baze already knew. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

"Yeah, can I get a glass of water?" Dewey asked.

"Sure." Cate poured a glass of water for Dewey. He watched as she expertly balanced a baby and a glass.

Cate smiled as she handed Dewey the glass. "We can work in the living room."

Cate set Lux down in her playpen and joined Dewey on the couch. They started working easily. They worked well together, as they were both A students.

Baze finished football practice and headed to Cate's. He'd been doing homework all day Sunday, so he hadn't gotten a chance to see Lux. He'd only gone one day without seeing his daughter, but he already missed her like crazy.

He also had unfinished business with Cate. They hadn't finished their conversation earlier that day.

Baze had told Cate that he liked her, damn it. She'd asked him to kiss her. It had meant something. Or at least Baze thought it had.

But if it meant something, why the hell was Cate acting like nothing had happened? Worse still, why did she work with Dewey Johnson instead of him?

Baze needed to know that Cate liked him, too. That she wasn't interested in the school mascot.

Baze knocked on the door and waited impatiently.

Cate opened the door. She didn't look happy to see him. "Hey."

"Hey." Baze shifted uncomfortably, waiting for Cate to invite him in, but she never did. "Can I come in?" He finally asked.

Cate hesitated. "This isn't really a good time."

Crap! Never in her life had Cate imagined she'd have this problem.

She'd never been the most popular girl in school. The hideous headgear she'd been forced to wear for the first two years of high school scared away all the boys.

She'd dated Dewey off-and-on again, but she'd never really liked him. Not the way she liked Baze.

Truthfully her Winter Formal date with Frankie Palladino the previous year had been the first time she was really excited about going out with a guy. And that hadn't ended well. At all.

Then she'd been pregnant and hiding out for the better part of nine months.

So how had she ended up here? With two guys who liked her at the same time, Cate thought ruefully. She sighed as she tried to figure out how to keep the guy on her porch from finding the guy in her living room.

Then again maybe she was over-thinking this. Sure, Baze had been jealous that she partnered with Dewey instead of him in English class.

But this was nothing. She'd told Dewey she didn't have time for a relationship. They were finishing their lab assignment. It was completely innocent.

Baze crossed his arms in front of his chest defiantly. "I want to see Lux," he said firmly.

"It's just, I'm working on a Chemistry assignment. With Dewey," Cate admitted.

Baze frowned for just a moment and then his expression was stony, unreadable. "I'll hang out with Lux while you guys do chemistry."

Cate nodded slowly.

Baze sauntered into the living room as though he owned the place.

Lux had started crying while Cate was talking to Baze and Dewey had picked her up. He was holding the baby when Baze and Cate entered the living room.

Baze glared at Dewey furiously. "Can I have my daughter? Now." He said, his tone deadly.

Dewey looked up in surprise. It took him a moment to process what the jock had said. "Yeah," he stammered, holding Lux out.

Baze took Lux from him. "Hey Kiddo. It's OK," he said, though Lux didn't appear upset at all. "Daddy's here now." Baze shot Cate a dirty look.

Cate and Dewey resumed their positions on the couch. Baze sat down on the other side of Cate with Lux in his arms.

Dewey shifted uncomfortably. He could feel the jock's gaze on him. He glanced at his watch. "Uh, I gotta go. Can we finish the lab tomorrow? During study hall?" He asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Cate replied gratefully. The tension between the three of them was palpable. Cate didn't know how long she could take it.

Dewey hastily stuffed his notebook in his backpack and got to his feet.

"I'll walk you out," Cate offered politely.

"He's in all AP classes. I think he can probably find his way," Baze remarked.

"Yeah. I can find my way," Dewey said quickly, not wanting to piss the quarterback off. At least not anymore than he already had. He didn't know what he'd done, but Baze looked as though he wanted to throttle Dewey.

Cate glared at Baze, hands on her hips. "That wasn't very nice."

"I'm sorry, Cate. What am I supposed to do? Stand here and watch you guys on your little study date?" Baze practically spat out.

"It wasn't a date!" Cate protested. "We're lab partners. We didn't finish our lab during class."

"And you had to come here? What's wrong with school?" Baze demanded angrily.

"I had to pick Lux up," Cate said defensively. "Why do you care anyway?" She asked, hoping he would say what she'd wanted to hear earlier that day. That he wanted to be with her.

"You just let some random guy hold our kid?" Baze muttered. He didn't know what was worse. Seeing Cate with Dewey or seeing his daughter in Dewey's arms. He just knew he felt a very strong urge to punch Dewey Johnson in the face when he saw him in Cate's living room. Baze wondered for the second time that day how he could possibly be this jealous of a kid that wore a wasp costume in public.

Cate rolled her eyes. "He's harmless."

"Yeah, well, I don't want him around Lux," Baze muttered.

"If you just came over here to yell at me, you can leave," Cate said angrily.

"I came over here to see my daughter," Baze retorted.

"Fine!" Cate cried out in frustration.

She picked up her math homework and stared at the worksheet. Who was she kidding? She couldn't concentrate. Not with Baze sitting next to her. Not when their legs were touching. Not when she could feel his gaze on her.

But she wouldn't let Baze know he had this effect on her. That she was currently incapable of thinking about anything other that the good-looking quarterback. She pretended to be deeply engrossed in the trigonometry problem.

Baze smirked.

"What?" Cate demanded.

"You've been staring at that problem for five minutes. Seeing as you're the smartest girl in school, I would think you'd be done with the worksheet by now," Baze said, grinning cockily.

Cate glared at him. "I can't concentrate with you…"

"With me what, Cate?" Baze asked, his blue eyes boring into her chocolate eyes.

Cate blushed furiously. "Staring at me," she finished lamely.

"Funny, I can't concentrate with you in the same room as me," Baze muttered. Before he knew it, his mouth was on hers.

He hadn't planned to kiss her. She just made him so mad. And beneath the anger was passion. He couldn't control himself around her. He couldn't keep his hands off her.

Cate didn't want to kiss Baze. She didn't even like him at the moment. He had some nerve acting like she'd done something wrong.

As his tongue explored her mouth, she forgot why she was mad at him. Then she forgot she was mad at him. He tasted so good.

"Mmm," Cate murmured. Damn it! Had she said that aloud? She didn't want Baze to know how badly she wanted him, which at the moment was pretty damn badly. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

When Baze ended the kiss, Cate gasped. How had he done that to her? He'd made her forget about everything and everyone. Everyone but him.

"I'm still mad at you," Cate muttered.

Baze smirked. "The feeling's mutual."

"Then why did you kiss me? Do you always go around kissing people you're mad at?" Cate said.

"No, just you," Baze said softly.

"Just me?" Cate smiled slightly.

"Just you," Baze said again, his eyes focused on the pretty brunette sitting next to him.

They stared at each other, both understanding that Baze only wanted her. That they only wanted each other.

Cate wanted him to say he wanted to be with her so badly, but somehow she knew he couldn't. She understood the words were hard for him to say. She still wanted to hear them, but she supposed she could give him a little more time. As long as he didn't take too long.