A/N: I will post the CD chapter on Sunday! I would like to thank my muse for being so lovely. 😍😍😍

Chapter 8

Alcide arrived shortly before closing and sat at the table with Eric. He picked up on the dynamic right away.

"You and Sam, huh? What's up."

"It is nothing. A disagreement over a shared interest."

Alcide leaned over and sniffed Eric's shirt and then raised an eyebrow. "I think that I might share that interest, too."

Sam threw down his bar towel and gestured towards his office with his head. He barked an order at his waitress and Eric and Alcide followed him in and took their seats in front of Sam's desk.

Alcide grinned. "So, this is awkward."

Sam glared at him. He wouldn't look at Eric at all.

"Let's just get this over with."

Eric nodded. "I agree. I don't have all night. I have a date tomorrow I need to prepare for."

Sam finally looked at Eric. He growled deep in his throat.

"Don't you hurt her, Northman."

Eric narrowed his eyes. "Shifter, I have no intention of hurting her. I thought I had made myself more than clear."

Alcide raised an eyebrow. Eric ignored him.

"I think it's time to get down to business."

…

Sookie woke up and the butterflies hadn't gone anywhere. She thought maybe they'd reproduced again. It had been a long time since she'd had a date, and that one was to the prom with JB. She hadn't even gotten more than a kiss on the cheek. Unlike last night after work.

It had been sweet, kind of like him, although she guessed most of that was for show. She liked him, though. Even though he was cocky and, more likely than not, being a real jerk to Sam about it on purpose. But she was pretty sure he'd been interested before he'd known about Sam's feelings. She didn't think he wasn't just interested in her to be petty.

She felt a little guilty for being in the middle — for Sam's sake — but not enough to say no to a date with Eric. Especially while waiting for an invitation from Sam that might never come. Besides, she thought she liked Eric even more than Sam. She was certainly more attracted to him, even though Sam was no slouch in the looks department. She had every intention of keeping it casual with Eric to start. If Sam wanted to date her, he just needed to hurry up and shoot his shot. She had no plans to ask. She wasn't going to invite drama.

She made herself breakfast and washed up and changed into her smallest bikini. She grabbed her radio and current romance novel and headed out to her chaise lounge.

The breeze was cool but she ignored the chill and soon the sunshine warmed her up. She always felt like a few hours in the sun recharged her batteries, almost. She read while she was lying on her stomach and sang along to the radio with her eyes closed after she flipped over. She was letting her mind wander and started daydreaming about that night's date. And what could happen (but wouldn't) after she invited him inside (which she had no intention of doing).

She closed her eyes and cast out her mental net. Nobody was nearby. She slipped her hand into her bikini bottoms and touched herself. She lived alone, in the middle of nowhere, and she was a horny, red-blooded, twenty-one year old virgin. Who would see? She thought that she was still young enough to blame it on hormones, anyway.

Doing it outside felt a little naughty, which made it feel even better. She pushed any thoughts about her increased libido aside — she was convinced it had more to do with the interest from Sam and Eric than anything else — and imagined her fingers were Eric's. Or maybe even his tongue. She pulled a breast out of her bikini top with the other hand and stroked her nipple and then pinched it.

As soon as she started to cum, she heard someone turning onto her driveway, and her orgasm slipped through her fingers. Almost literally.

"Shit."

She pulled her hand out of her bottoms, tucked her boob back into place, and stood up. She felt a little vulnerable, standing there practically naked while whoever-it-was would be fully dressed, but she pushed it aside. Her metabolism seemed to have sped up some and her clothes felt a little bit looser, so she didn't mind it as much as she might have.

And part of not minding might have been that she was still really horny and would maybe get off on someone looking. A little bit, anyway.

It was Sam. She was surprised. She knew he knew her address, of course, but she hadn't expected to see him until she had to go back to work on Wednesday, and it was only Sunday. The butterflies got a little bit knotted up. She hadn't wanted to talk to him about her date with Eric and now she would have to talk to him about it twice. She was sure he'd ask about it afterwards, too.

Then again, it was pretty exciting that it was one of the two guys she kind of wanted to sleep with who would be seeing her almost naked. She walked over to his truck.

"Hey, Sam. I was just getting a bit of a tan. It's awful for me, I know, but a girl's got to have her vices. Come on in. You want a glass of lemonade or a Coke?"

Sam was staring. He caught himself and tried looking somewhere else but then his eyes were devouring her again a few seconds later. They lingered on her breast and then traveled down to her thighs before he dragged them back up to her breasts again. She should have been annoyed but she had to rub her thighs together a little instead. God, she was so turned on.

He managed to drag his eyes all the way up to hers.

"Uh, yeah. I'd love a Coke, Chère."

He followed her inside and she could almost feel his eyes on her backside. She almost reached back to adjust her bathing suit but she didn't want to draw attention to it if he wasn't looking. She hoped her ass wasn't hanging out too much. Her bikini wasn't a thong, but it wasn't what you'd call full coverage, either. She tried to not feel self-conscious. Or swing her hips.

When they got inside, she turned around. She thought she saw his nostrils flaring.

"I'm just going to go and throw on some more clothes. The kitchen is right through there if you want to help yourself. There are Cokes in the fridge. I'll be right back."

He was sitting at the kitchen table with a bottle of cola in front of him. He smiled at her.

"I was going to get one for you, too, but I wasn't sure if you didn't want something else."

She wondered if he worked on the whole aw shucks thing or if it was natural. Either way, it worked. She couldn't help but smile at him.

"I kind of would rather have some lemonade, as a matter of fact."

She got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it up before she sat down across from him.

"What can I do for you, Sam?"

She had thrown a dress on over the bikini and Sam seemed much more able to look her in the eyes and have some kind of intelligible conversation with her.

"Well, I kinda wanted to ask you something and I didn't want to do it at work."

Her stomach fluttered.

"Oh? What did you want to ask?"

He ran his fingers through his hair.

"There's a movie I've been dying to see. Do you maybe want to grab a bite to eat in Clarice and then go to the movie theater? I'll buy you the big popcorn, as long as I can share."

She smiled. She, Sookie Stackhouse, town crazy and social pariah, was officially dating two guys. Two very attractive — gorgeous, even — sweet and funny guys who appeared to be totally into her.

"That sounds like fun. When?"

"How about Tuesday night? A little bird told me you have that day off."

She laughed. "I do, as a matter of fact. And, yes, I would love to go to the movies with you on Tuesday night. What do you want to see?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

She laughed again. "Well, I'm sure whatever it is will be great, when you figure out what it is you're dying to see. I'm looking forward to it."

His smile was wide and genuine. "Me, too."

But then his smile sort of fell apart.

"And that sort of leads me to… About your date tonight…"

She was surprised to find herself irritated. Angry, even. At least a little.

"Sam, this is really none of your business. I agreed to go on a date with you. That's it."

"No. No, Chère. I'm not trying to stake a claim here. I'm worried about you, is all. I've known Eric Northman for a while now. He's into some things that I don't think a girl like you should be exposed to."

She was frowning and her arms were crossed. "What kind of things? Illegal things?"

He paused. "Well, no. At least, not that I'm aware of. Right now, anyway. But I know he has been in the past. And, illegal or not, he could put you in danger."

"Well? You're gonna have to give me more than that, Sam."

"Look, he isn't trustworthy. Some of the people he surrounds himself with are really bad. Dangerous. Even more than Eric."

"If he's so untrustworthy, why did you go into business with him?"

He sighed. "It's complicated, Chère. I wouldn't be if I had the choice. Believe me."

Her anger had mostly drained away, but she was still annoyed.

"I'm not going to just push him away because of a bunch of cryptic shit a jealous guy told me. Sorry, Sam."

He sighed again. "No. I get it, I guess. But I just don't want you getting hurt. Yeah, I like you. And, yeah, I'd be glad if he was out of the picture. But I am not lying to you, Sookie. He's a sketchy guy."

She shrugged and then her shoulders fell. Sam's visit had drained the batteries the sun had recharged already, even with the excitement of the invitation factored in. It had taken a lot of her anticipation away, that was for sure. For her date with Sam, but she was afraid it was also for her date with Eric.

"I'll keep it in mind."

She didn't say anything else. He finished his Coke and stood up after setting his empty bottle on the table. He ran his fingers through his hair again.

"I'm sorry I fucked that at all up. Tuesday?"

She paused and then nodded. He looked relieved.

"Good. I'll see you then. Seven Ok?"

She paused and nodded again. There was less hostility this time.

She finally stood up but stayed on the other side of the table. She'd had a feeling he might kiss her, too, and she'd been looking forward to it, as a kind of test of her shields as much as anything else. She wasn't interested now. But she wasn't going to write him off over this, either, as long as he dropped it, too. She didn't want to borrow trouble. He smiled at her, but it looked forced.

"Great. Bye, Chère."

"Bye, Sam."

It was just after noon when he left. She was glad to be alone again. She made herself a sandwich and ate it standing at the sink. She was still feeling kind of down so she went back outside, pulled off her dress, and lay back down on her chaise. She had lots of time to top up her batteries again.

When she went inside again a couple of hours later, she realized that all of her scars had been on display when Sam was there. She felt self-conscious that he had seen but was really pleased with how much they'd faded, even in just the past few days. Especially considering her newly-refreshed tan.

The evening dragged. She got ready long before she'd needed to and tried to lose herself in the television but she wasn't even close to being able to concentrate.

She heard the gravel crunching on the driveway outside a few minutes early and the butterflies were back and going crazy. She held her breath, waiting for the knock on the door. She heard it not fifteen seconds later. She blew out a shaky breath.

"Well. Here goes nothing."