Chapter 6

"Where have you been all night, and today?" Amanda asks me when I go in.
I think. I don't know what to say.
"Out. I met someone. I think I'm in love" I say and go to my room.
"In love?" she asks following me.
I drop my purse on the floor, go in the hall and grab a towel out of the hall closet so I can go shower. If I smell like booze, weed and fucking, Spencer might get upset with me.
"In love?" she asks again.
I smile. "Yes" I say and go in the bathroom.
I turn the shower on and start stripping.
Amanda stands in the doorway. "I guess his dick wasn't ugly?"
"It is not ugly. It's beautiful. Can a dick be beautiful? His is."
"Well I guess you didn't tell Spencer you're in love because I talked to him a little while ago and he said you finally agreed to meet his friend."
I step into the shower. "Nope I didn't tell him. I thought it would be nice if I meet his friend."
"Can I come with you guys? I am dying to see this guy he wants you to hook up with."
"No it's a double date. We're setting Spencer up with Beth" I say.
"What? We who? I wish I knew what was going on" she says.
I realize I'm an idiot and just sort of told on myself. I wonder if I should just confess everything to her?
"Well...do you really want to know what's going on?' I ask.
"Yes!"
"Last night that cute guitar player stuck something in my hand when we walked by. It was a guitar pick. I was kind of mad when I saw what it was but turned it over and it had his name on it. I dropped it in my purse, I thought, but then couldn't find it" I start explaining.
"Is that what you were so upset about?" she asks.
"Yeah. I thought maybe I was losing my mind. That I dreamed him up or something. Anyway after you guys went into the bar I sat on the curb feeling sorry for myself, then someone came by, helped me up and showed me the most wonderful night of my life."
"I am so fucking confused" she says.
"About what?" I ask.
"Ok you have guy number one that found you on the corner and you are in love with. Then guy number two, the guitar player. And guy number three, the guy Spencer is setting you up with" she says.
"Well yeah, that sounds about right" I say. I turn the water off and step out of the shower. She hands me my towel.
"And...I feel like you are leaving out details...like you always do."
I smile. "It's all the same guy."
"Wait...so you're in love with the guitar player, and he also happens to be the guy Spencer has been trying to set you up with?"
"Exactly" I say laughing.
"Why do I think Spencer has no idea" she says.
"Because he doesn't. Eddie had this idea that we should tell Spencer we will meet but only if he buys us dinner. And wine."
"Eddie had the idea? And I guess Eddie is the guy?" she says.
"Yeah Eddie. Or Ed. And ok maybe it was my idea about free dinner, but Eddie said wine too. So Spencer is picking me up, Eddie is picking up Beth and we're all meeting at the bar by the coffee shop."
I go to my room. Look in my closet, not much hanging in it, most everything is on the floor all over my room.
"I have nothing to wear!"
Amanda just stares at me for a minute. "You know,  you could clean your room..."
"It's clean-ish. But fuck I need something to wear now. I want to look cute."
"So just to get this straight in my head, you're in love with that guitar player we saw, and coincidentally he is the guy Spencer has been trying to set you up with. Spencer is setting you two up tonight because he has no idea you two met last night. And somehow your sister is involved. Damn now I'm even more confused.  Can I at least meet this guy if you won't let me come?" she asks.
"I'll see if he wants to come here after we all meet. We're meeting at the bar, we're supposed to go eat, but I really just want to get naked somewhere with Eddie" I tell her.

"Bring him back here. I'll make cocktails" she says.

Her phone is ringing so she leaves to answer it.

I get a clean pair of underwear out of my dresser and put them on. I kind of want to look nice tonight, but I have nothing clean. 

I find a pair of jeans on the floor of my closet and put them on. I stand in front of my mirror in just jeans, well and underwear. Not bad, I just need a shirt of some sort, and shoes I guess. 

I go dig in my closet for a shirt of some sort and find a cute red dress I haven't worn in awhile. I put it on and look in the mirror . Yeah I think I'll wear this.

I take off the jeans. I find some black sandals and put them on. I put a black sweater on over the dress since it's kind of chilly out.

I towel dry my hair then brush it out. I think I'll leave it down tonight. 

I hear people talking in the living room, Spencer must be here.

I'm not sure I can stand to have my hair in my face all night so I pull the top of it up into a bun and leave the rest down.

I stand in front of my mirror for one last look. I think I look ok, hopefully Eddie does too.

I can't wait until Spencer knows about me and Eddie so I can ask him about Megan. I want to know what is up with her.

I go out into the living room, they're sitting in there drinking wine.

Spencer whistles when he sees me.

"Do I look alright?" I ask him.

"You look gorgeous. Fuck maybe I should keep you for myself" he says.

I sit on his lap, lean back and kiss his cheek. 

"Where's my glass?" I ask them.

Amanda gets up and get me one, pours me some wine and hands it to me.

"Shall we get trashed before we go?" Spencer asks.

"Should I? Does your friend only look good if I'm wasted?"

"Fuck no. He's pretty fucking hot. Always has girls after him" he says.

"Then why are you setting me up with him? Obviously he doesn't need you to."

"I think you two would be great together. I think you belong together" he says.

I sit there and quietly agree with him.

"And he says he's bringing someone for me. So now I know how being set up feels so I will never set you up again" he says.

"You said this guy is my dream guy, so you shouldn't need to set me up anyway" I remind him.

"You're right. I think he is. I can't wait until you guys meet."

Me and Spencer get to the bar before Eddie and Beth. I'm actually a little nervous about seeing Eddie again.

I let Spencer buy me a beer. 

We're just sitting there talking when Spencer gets a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"I don't understand. Eddie just came in with I guess my date and it's your sister" he says.

I smile. "Really? That's strange."

They come and sit with us.

"I'm so fucking confused" Spencer says.

"Yeah? About what?" Eddie asks.

"I need a beer" Spencer says.

Luckily a waitress comes to our table. We all order a drinks.

"Spencer, this is Beth" Eddie tells him.

"I know Beth. I went to school with her. And this is Mara, she's Beth's sister" Spencer.

Eddie holds his hand out to me. "Hi Mara, I'm Eddie."

"Hi Eddie."

"This is kind of weird" Spencer says.

"Why is it weird? You don't want to be my date tonight?" Beth asks him.

The waitress brings our drinks so we all sit quietly for a minute and drink.
"So how do you know Beth?" Spencer asks Eddie.
"Um...she's Mara's sister" Eddie replies.
"Ok...but you don't know Mara, so how do you know Beth?" he asks.
Me, Eddie and Beth all look at each other.
"Um...well..." Eddie says trying to think of something.
"Beth likes you" I blurt out.
"Oh my god you bitch! Don't tell him that" Beth says to me.
Eddie laughs.
"Well she does" I say.
Beth looks like she wants to hide under our table, or slap me. Spencer looks even more confused and slightly scared.
"Yeah? And Mara and Eddie fucked last night" she says.
Spencer looks at me. I pick up my drink and take a drink. I drink too much, too fast and start choking.
Eddie gets up and comes over by me.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
I nod my head because I'm still coughing.
"What the fuck is going on?" Spencer asks.
Eddie sits back down. "We kind of met last night. Completely by accident. You guys left her sitting alone on the curb, when I found her she was crying. I asked her if she wanted to get coffee with me."
"So why didn't you guys tell me?" he asks.
"Mara thought we should agree to be set up, but make you buy us dinner, and wine" Eddie tells him.
"The wine was your idea?" Beth says.
"And how the fuck do you figure into all of this?" Spencer asks her.
We all laugh.
"I hate you assholes. I swear to god. I should just leave. You all set me up" Spencer says.
"Yeah we did. How does it feel?" I ask him.
"Ok. You got me. I will quit trying to set my friends up. But really, you guys are such assholes" Spencer says.
"Hey if it makes you feel better, you were right about me and Mara" Eddie says.
I smile. "Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right."
Eddie leans over and kisses me. We kiss.
"Let's skip dinner and go get naked somewhere" he whispers to me.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
We kiss. I feel one of his hands slowly moving up my thigh.
"So Beth, how have you been?" I hear Spencer ask.
"Good. And you?"
"Pretty good."
Eddie takes his other hand, picks up one of my hands and puts it on his dick. He's hard.
The waitress comes to our table. "Does anyone need anything else?"
"I guess just the check. Looks like we need to leave" Spencer tells her.
"Hey Eddie. What do you want to do now?" Spencer asks him.
We stop kissing and look at Spencer.
"Are we still doing dinner?" Spencer asks us.
"We can just go to me and Amanda's, order pizza, hang out" I suggest.
"That sounds amazing" Eddie says and kisses my neck. "Think I can see your bedroom?"
"I think you're going to sleep in it tonight" I reply.
"I forgot my jammies though..."
"I think you'll be ok without them" I say.
Spencer pays the check.
"Shall we get out of here?" he asks us.

We all go outside. It's gotten chilly, I kind of wish I had worn my jeans instead of this dress.
"Did you guys walk?" Eddie asks us.
"Yeah" I reply.
"I guess we can all walk, I can pick my truck up later" Eddie says.
"Or tomorrow..." I say.
I shiver.
"Aww baby come here" Eddie says and pulls me to him.
He wraps me in his arms. "You know, the three times I've seen you you looked adorable, but you never dress for the weather. It's chilly, why did you wear a dress?"
"Because it's cute."
"My silly Mara. I love you" he says.
I try to push him back. I look at him so confused.
"What?" I ask him.
He actually looks as surprised as me.
He kisses me hard. So hard if his arms weren't around me I probably would have fallen backwards. We kiss. I know it's only been a few hours since we've been apart, but I missed him badly.
"How far to your place?" he asks me.
"Not far. About fifteen minutes."
"Let's go then. I just want to get as close to you as I can."
"Are we ready now?" Beth asks.

As soon as we get there I go in my room to get some warm jammies on. Eddie comes with me.
"Man I thought I was a slob" he says when he sees my room.
"It's not that bad...is it?" I ask.
He just looks at me.
I pull my dress off over my head, and drop it on the floor. Sit on my bed and kick my sandals off. I really am so tempted to just get in my bed with this gorgeous warm man and snuggle with him. I will be nice though, I'll be friendly. I will smile and play along for a couple hours, then I am bringing this delicious little elf to bed with me.
I put on a tee shirt, a hoodie and a pair of pajama pants.
Eddie looks at me. "That's a little excessive."
"I'm cold."
He grabs one of my hands and pulls me to him. "How about I just warm you up."
We kiss. Damn I want to be with him right now. And maybe forever.
"Come on you guys, let's get food I'm hungry" Spencer yells.
I pull away from my gorgeous little guitar player. "Come on, let's go play nice for awhile."
I take one of his hands and drag him to the living room. We sit together on one end of the sofa.
He sits down, I sit on his lap. I lay my head on his shoulder, close my eyes. This is where I want to be forever.

When the pizza gets there, I sit on the floor by Eddie's feet so he can eat without me on his lap. He spreads his legs apart so I can sit between them.
I pick at my piece of pizza. I'm not really hungry. We did eat a lot at my parent's house.
I drink a beer. Then another.
Eddie is running his fingers through my hair. Caressing my neck, my ear.
He lights a cigarette. Ewww I didn't realize he smoked.
I sit back up on his lap. I guess he's finished eating if he's smoking.
I kiss his cheek, his ear, his neck.
"I can think of better stuff you could be doing with your mouth and hands..." I whisper.
He leans forward and sticks his cigarette in one of the empty beer bottles.
"Let's go fuck" he whispers while kissing my ear.
"Should we wait until Spencer and Beth leave? I don't want to be rude" I say.
"It will be ruder if I start taking your clothes off right here."
He unzips my hoodie and takes it off of me. He kisses me. Just a sweet soft kiss on my lips. He reaches up and touches my ear, strokes it a couple times. He gently rubs his thumb across my cheek.
We're looking at each other. Our eyes locked. He's so beautiful.
I lean close to him, our lips just out of reach of each other. I can feel his breath on my lips. I kiss him, our lips barely touching, then pull away just out of reach again.
He pulls me close to him. His nose nuzzles against my neck. His lips touching me so softy I don't know if they really are, or if I feel them because I want them on me so badly.
I reach up and play with his curls. I twist one around my finger. Rub it across my lips. His hair is so soft. Last night when he was kissing my knee, kissing down my thigh, his hair fell across my leg and tickled so badly. I want his head between my legs again.
I realize it suddenly seems really quiet in here. Like deafeningly quiet. I pull away from Eddie to see if we're alone. They're all still here. All of them are just looking at us.
"What?" I say to them.
"What what?" Spencer asks.
"You're all looking at us..."
"I'm just jealous" Amanda says.
"Are you sure you two just met last night?" Spencer asks.
Eddie puts his hand on my cheek and turns my head so I'm facing him. He kisses my lips softly.
"I feel like I've known her forever. And now that we're together I don't ever want to be apart" he says.
I lay my head on his shoulder. The thought of him going home makes me sad. I feel the same way, now that we're together I don't ever want to be apart.
He cups my face with a hand and runs his thumb across my cheek.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asks.
"Don't leave me" I say quietly.
He smiles so sweetly. "Now that I have you, I'm never going to leave you."

Chapter 5

My phone ringing in the morning wakes Eddie up. He gets up to figure out where it is so he can bring it to me.
He finds it on the back of the sofa, he picks it up and answers it.
"Hello."
"Who is this?" some girl asks him.
"Um...Eddie."
"Who? I'm looking for my sister, Mara" she says.
"Oh. She's asleep. Want me to have her call you?" he asks.
He hears her sigh. "She needs to get her ass up and get here. My mom is going to be pissed if she doesn't show up today."
"Was she supposed to be somewhere? She didn't say anything to me" he says.
"Yeah she was supposed to come hang out with her family today. She hasn't been here since the Fourth of July. She told me she would make it here today" she says.
"Want me to wake her up and give her the message?" he asks.
"Yeah wake her up and tell her she better have her ass here in the next hour"she tells him.
"Alright. I'll wake her up, see what I can do."
"Thanks um..." she says.
"Eddie."
"Eddie yeah. Thanks" she says.
He goes to the bathroom before he gets back in bed with me.
I wake up slightly when I feel him cuddle into my back. He kisses my neck. His hands slide up to my boobs.
"You awake?" he asks me.
I shake my head. "Mmmm...no. But you can try to wake me up."
"Yeah? How can I do that?" he asks. He moves his hips closer to me, I feel his cock against my ass. "With this maybe?" he asks.
I push my ass back against him. He kisses my neck, sucks on it.
His hand moves down from groping my boob, across my belly, down between my legs.
"Let me do this for you. I want you to cum" he says.
I lift my leg up, move it behind me over his legs. I feel his fingers slowly slide inside of me.
"You're so wet already" he says.
I want to tell him yeah maybe a little, but most of that is probably his cum from last night.
Shit why didn't we use a condom either time last night. I am usually so good to remember to use one every time.
He takes his fingers out of me and starts rubbing my clit. Jesus. This won't take long.

He kisses my neck, my ear while he strokes my clit. 

"Touch me. Touch my dick" he says so quietly. 

I reach my hand back to find his cock. He's hard already. I play with his cock. Gently drag my fingers up and down a few times,  then grip it tighter and stroke it.

"I love the way your hands feel on me" he says. 

I can't  say anything.  I'm about to cum. 

I grip his cock tighter, squeezing it in my hand while I moan his name.
He keeps his hands between my legs. 

"Want me to finish you?" I ask him. 

He kisses my neck. "No.  Maybe later.  Let's just lay here and enjoy each other."

We're just laying there, I really think I could fall back to sleep. I hear the door open and someone come in.
"Oh hey sorry if I'm interrupting anything, I'll be in and out in just a minute" some girl says.
Eddie sits up. "It's ok, we just woke up."
She stands by the mattress and looks at us.
"Hi. I don't think we've met" she says to me.
"This is Mara. We just met last night" Eddie tells her.
"Hi. I'm Megan" she says to me.
Megan...Spencer said something about Eddie fucking her recently.
"Last night? Always working your charm I see" she says to Eddie.
"Of course" Eddie replies.
"Anyway I just came by because I left my bra here the other day" she says.
"Yeah it's hanging on the bathroom door" Eddie tells her.
"That's what I thought. And you're just waking up? It's after noon you know" she says walking into the bathroom I guess to get her bra.
I sit up by Eddie. "Fuck is it really noon?"
"Yeah. Why?" he asks.
"I was supposed to be somewhere. Shit."
Megan comes back into the room. "Thanks. You doing anything later?" he asks him.
"No idea. Like I said, we just got up."
"Well call me if you want company" she tells him.
She walks to the door. "Nice to meet you" she says and walks out.
I look at Eddie.
"We used to be a thing I guess. Not for long. We're better as friends...with benefits I guess."

I'm not sure what to say. 

"So was Spencer right?  Did you fuck her the other day?" I ask him. 

"Probably. Really though,  we're just friends. And we fuck sometimes."

I sit for a minute.  I want to ask him so many questions,  but I need to pee. I need to get up and leave anyway. 

I kiss him. "I need to get up. I'm supposed to go see my family today."

"Oh hey, your sister called.  I forgot. Your phone kept ringing so I answered it. She said I should wake your up and tell you to be there in the next hour" he says. 

"Shit.  I really need to go" I say and get up. 

I walk to the bathroom so I can pee.

"I'm sorry.  I feel bad I forgot to tell you."

I come out of the bathroom and start looking for my clothes. 

"It's ok. I need to go now though.  I'm not even really sure where I am, no idea how long it's going to take me to get there."

"I could get dressed and take you.  Just drop you off if that's what you want" he says. 

I smile.  "Or you could stay..."

"I'd like to stay. Then later maybe we could do something. What do you think?"

"I think you should get dressed."

We're dressed and on the way in about twenty minutes. Hopefully my mom won't be too mad at me. I'm not too late.
When we pull up to the house I start to worry. It's so crowded. Looks like everyone is here today.
"You sure you want to do this? It looks like my whole damn family is here" I tell him.
"Yeah. Unless you don't want me to come."
I lean over and kiss him. We kiss for a few minutes. I move over to his lap, straddle him.
He pulls my tank top down in the front and sucks on my nipples. I grind up against his dick. He's hard already.
He holds my head in his hands. "As much as I'm enjoying this, maybe we should go in and finish this later."
I sigh. "Yeah. My mom would come out here probably if she sees us parked out here. Are you going to be alright?" I ask him stroking his dick.
"It will go away soon. If you quit being so fucking adorable...and horny" he says.
"If not...we can sneak away into the bathroom, or my old bedroom."
I pull my shirt back up, open his door and get out, he gets out behind me.
He reaches into his shorts. He smiles at me. "Sorry I need to...um...adjust."
"Want me to do it?" I ask him teasing.
"If you do it I'm going to be hard all day."
"We could always get back in your truck..." I say.
"I'm good. Come on, let's go" he says and grabs my hand.
We walk up to the porch, I take a deep breath, open the door and go inside.

When we go in, the living room is packed. My parents, my sisters, a few aunts and uncles, cousins, and my grandma.
I see a banner hanging across the living room doorway. Shit it's someone's birthday. I wish I knew whose.
"Hey stranger" my dad says.
"It hasn't been that long dad" I reply.
"Um...three months I think" my sister Beth says.
I give her a look that says shut the fuck up.
Beth gets up and holds her hand out to Eddie, "Hi. You must be Eddie. We talked earlier."
He smiles, shakes her hand. "Yeah. Nice to meet you."
"I guess were lucky your grandma has a birthday or we would never see you" my mom says.
My grandma, yeah, I vaguely remember Beth texting me a few weeks ago about it being her birthday.
"Of course I was going to be here for grandma's birthday" I say.
I go over and hug my grandma. "Happy birthday grandma."
"Thank you Mara" she says.
"So you are...?" my mom says to Eddie.
"Um...I'm um...Mara's" he says and looks at me.
"Friend. He's my friend" I say.
"Hi. Eddie" he says holding his hand out to my mom, then my dad.
"Nice to meet you" my mom says.
"Where do you know Mara from?" my dad asks him.
"Spencer. He's Spencer's friend" I say.
"Oh that's nice. How is Spencer, you haven't been here with him in a long time" my mom says.
"He's good, I was hanging out with him last night" I tell her.
"That's good" she says.
"Are you guys hungry? There's food in the kitchen" Beth says.
I look at Eddie, he nods his head.
"Yeah we could eat" I say.
"Good, come on" she grabs my hand and drags me into the kitchen. Eddie follows us.
"What the hell Beth?" I ask when we get in the kitchen.
"Have you two been together like all night? You smell like old booze, weed and fucking. Both of you" she tells us.
Eddie laughs. I can't help but smile.
"Uh...maybe" I say.
"God. I would suggest you go shower but that would look suspicious and weird. Did you wear those clothes yesterday?" she asks me.
I look at Eddie and laugh.
"I wore them last night when I went out" I say trying to explain.
"Do you even really know Spencer?" Beth asks Eddie.
"He does. It's a long strange story" I tell her.
"Ok tell me while you get something to eat."
I sigh. "Alright."
I hand a plate to Eddie and get one for myself. I explain it to her while we fill our plates.
"Remember me telling you that Spencer wanted to set me up with one of his friends, well it was Eddie. But I didn't know that."
"She stalked me instead" he says.
"I did not! I casually watched you one night" I say.
"It was at least two nights" he says.
"Anyway. Friday we all went out. Well we all as in me, Spencer, Amanda and Dave. We lost Spencer and Dave and while looking for them we saw these people playing music on the corner..." I start saying.
"And she couldn't take her eyes off of me" Eddie says.
I stare at him for a minute.
"Sorry. Continue" he says.
"Ok yeah I thought the guitar player was kind of cute. I guess so cute that last night when we went out I was hoping I would see him again. And luckily I did. Then  I got upset, my friends all ditched me and left me on the curb..."
"I found her there, crying. So I picked her up and took her with me" Eddie says.
"You did not pick me up."
"You're so cute when you get angry" he says and kisses me.
We sit at the table and start eating.
"So...is there more to the story?" Beth asks.
"Not really. Um she was sitting on the curb crying. I found her, took her home. There may have been some drinks and some smoke in there some time" Eddie says.
"And some fucking" I say.
"We didn't smoke at my place though" he says.
"Your apartment smells like weed" I tell him.
"And you were asleep until I called, got up, put the clothes you wore last night back on and came here" Beth says.
"That sounds about right" Eddie says.
"I'm still slightly confused about some stuff. Spencer didn't set you two up?" she asks.
"No. He's been trying forever, but I kept saying no" I say.
"And I was always too busy" Eddie tells her.
"You two just happened to meet last night?" she asks.
"Yep" I say.
"Funny. Does Spencer know?" she asks.
I shake my head because my mouth is full.
"Are you going to tell him?" she asks.
"Oh you know what we should do, let's tell  him we'll meet, but he has to pay for dinner" I say to Eddie.
"And drinks. Tell him you want a bottle of wine too" Eddie says.
"You guys are assholes. Spencer is a nice guy" Beth says.
"He is, but he has been such a pain trying to get us together, so he should buy us dinner and wine" I say.
"You're so mean to him. He's so nice. Just wants to help everyone. Wants everyone happy" she says.
I suddenly realize something. "You like Spencer!"
She blushes. "Um..."
"Double date" I say.
"Are you guys going to come back to the living room?" my mom comes in the kitchen and asks us.
"Yeah we'll be there in a few minutes" I tell her.
She sits at the table with us. "So how long have you two known each other?"
Me and Eddie look at each other.
"Um...not long" I say.
"So I shouldn't send out wedding invites yet?" she asks teasing.
"Not until next week probably" I say.
My mom picks up a chunk of cheese and eats it.
"When are we doing the cake?" Beth asks her.
"Everyone just ate, so maybe thirty minutes or so. Should we give her presents now?" my mom asks.
"Why didn't anyone remind me it was grandma's birthday?" I ask them.
"So we could make you feel bad. Do you?" my mom asks.
I nod my head.

Spencer calls Eddie at four.
We go in my old room. Eddie puts him on speaker phone again.
"Did you just get up?" Eddie asks him.
"A little while ago. So are you busy tonight? Are you going to flake out on me like usual?" Spencer asks him.
"No. I have no plans for tonight. Well except for with you. So what are we going to do?"
"Just hang out I guess. Want me to come over? Or do you have a better idea?" Spencer asks him.
"I thought you wanted to set me up with somebody? Or did you change your mind?" Eddie asks him.
"I can still. Want me to call Mara and see if she's busy? Or see if she'll even come. She can be so stubborn. I bet if I offer to pay for dinner she'll come. She might be a bitch though" Spencer says.
Eddie is trying not to laugh.
"Fucking asshole" I say quietly to Eddie.
I can't believe Spencer said that about me. It's probably true, but I still can't believe he said it.
"I bet if you bought her some wine she would be in a good mood" Eddie says.
"She probably would. Ok I guess I'll call her, see what she says, then call you back."
"Sounds good. I'm going to bring someone for you. Somebody I think you should meet. She's nice" Eddie tells him.
"What? You're going to set me up?"
"Yeah that's the plan. So call Mara, see what she says and call me back" Eddie says.
"Yeah alright. She better be up and answer her damn phone."
My phone rings a minute later. Spencer of course and I put him on speaker phone.
"Yes Spencer."
"Are you up my little Mara?" he asks.
"Yes I've been up for hours. I'm at home, like my parents home. I promised them I would be here today. It's my grandma's birthday."
"What are you doing later?" he asks.
"Nothing that I know of. I haven't talked to Amanda yet today though, but I guess nothing. Why? Are you going to try to set me up...again?" I ask him.
"I was going to try. Please. My friend says he'll do it. He finally has a free night. I'll pay for dinner and a bottle of wine. Just come, meet him. If you hate him I promise I will never try to set you up again."
"You're this certain that me and him will like each other?" I ask him.
He's quiet for a minute. "Yeah. I really think you two are perfect for each other."
I look at Eddie. I almost feel bad about our plan.
Eddie nods his head.
"Ok. I'll do it. Are you picking me up or what?" I ask Spencer.
"I will pick you up. What time though? Seven too early?" he asks.
"No seven is good. If I'm not home and ready by then I'll let you know."
"Perfect. And thanks" he says and hangs up.
Eddie's phone rings. It's a text though, not a call.
'Mara agreed. Meet us at the bar by the coffee shop at 7:30'
Eddie sends him back a smilie.
"Ok how are we going to do this?" Eddie asks me.
"I guess we better tell my sister you just set her up with Spencer for tonight. Then you take me home, you go home and get ready. I guess you can pick Beth up, or have her meet us all at the bar."
"You know what I really want to do? Throw you in your bed and fuck. Is this your bed?" he asks.
I smile and nod. "That's Beth's bed" I say pointing to the other bed in the room.
I lay back. I push my tank top up exposing one of my boobs. "Do you want to play with this?" I ask him. "Or this?" I ask and roll to my side, pull my skirt up so he can see I have no underwear on. He caresses my butt for a minute.
"I want to play with everything. Would anyone come in here?"
I roll back onto my back. I pull him down on me. We kiss.
"I'm sure someone will interrupt" I say.
And then my door opens and Beth comes in.
"Jesus you guys. I thought you were on the phone" she says.
Eddie sits up, I sit up next to him.
"We were. We made plans for you tonight" I tell her.
"What plans?" she asks.
"You're double dating with us, and Spencer. Eddie set you up" I say.
She looks at Eddie. He smiles this mischievous smile he has.
"You guys will be there?" she asks.
"Yeah. Do you not want us to be? We can disappear if you want to be alone with him" I say.
"I don't know" she replies.
"Well you need to go home, get pretty, then meet us at the bar at seven thirty" I say.
"What bar?" she asks.
"Want me to pick you up?" Eddie asks her.
"Yeah. That will work better. I don't want to get lost, or end up at the wrong place."
"I guess we're going to go since he has to drop me off so I can get ready, then he has to go home." I tell her.
"Alright. I was coming to find you because some people are leaving, mom said to come out there and be nice" she says.

An hour later we are finally leaving. I tell Eddie how to get to my apartment.
When he stops in front of it I don't want to get out. What if this all wasn't real? What if after I tried to find the pick I fell asleep and he isn't real?
I look over at him. This beautiful little man. He smiles at me.
I stare at him.
"What's wrong?" he asks after a couple minutes.
"You'll think it's stupid if I tell you."
He kisses me. "I would never think anything you tell me is stupid."
"I was just thinking what if none of this is real. What if you're not real. Last night I was sitting on the curb crying because I couldn't find that stupid guitar pick you gave me. I was thinking you weren't real. So now what if you aren't real. What if this is all a dream."
He kisses me. We kiss.
"Did that feel real?" he asks.
I nod my head.
He reaches under the seat of the truck. Then he hands me something. It's a guitar pick just like the one he gave me last night.
"Is that real?" he asks.
I nod my head again.
"I promise I'm real" he says.
"I'm afraid to get out of your truck. To let you out of my sight. What if I never see you again?"
"I'll see you in about an hour" he says. He kisses me. "I promise."
I nod my head. I really feel like I might cry.
"Now you need to go inside. Get ready for Spencer to come pick you up. And I'll see you in an hour, then I'm never letting you go" he says.
I kiss his lips. I get out of his truck and go inside the apartment building. I don't look back. I can't. What if he isn't real?

Chapter 4

We go into a bar. Not a bar like I'm used to going to, this is an old one. Not a new fancy cool one, this one is dreary. It smells of old alcohol and mildew. It's so quiet in here. Just the sound from an old jukebox by the bathrooms.
Eddie takes me to the bar and we sit down.
"What are you up to tonight?" the guy at the bar asks Eddie.
"Not much. I made a new friend, so I thought I would show her around. Take her to the places she's probably never seen downtown."
"I bet she hasn't" he replies.
He brings us each a Corona. Eddie picks his up and holds it up to me. "Cheers."
I pick mine up and tap it against his. "Cheers."
Eddie talks to the guy sitting next to him, I just look around at the bar.
So dreary. This is the place you would come to drown your sorrows. It's really very depressing.
"Well what do you think?" Eddie asks me.
"Honestly?"
He nods his head.
"It's very depressing. If I were going to drink myself to death, this would be the place to do it" I tell him.
He smiles. He looks around. "Should we make it a little happier in here?"
"How would we do that?"
He gets up and walks over to the jukebox. He looks at it for a couple minutes and then puts money in. I hear the song change. I've Been Loving You, Otis Redding. He comes back over to me, holds his hand out.
"Will you dance with me?"
I take his hand and follow him. He wraps his arms around me and we dance. He holds me so tight. I put my arms around him, lay my head on his shoulder. He smells so good. I take a deep breath. This feels right. How can it, I don't know him. Like I told him earlier, I don't know anything about him. But right now, it doesn't matter.
I just enjoy him. The way he feels, his wonderful scent.
"The song's over" I hear him say too soon.
I back up a step so I can look at him.
He kisses my forehead. "Thanks."
He takes my hand and we walk back over to the bar where we have new Corona's. We sit and drink them, then he says it's time to go.

We walk a few blocks to a house. I can hear music playing and it seems loud inside. I don't do well with crowds, and loud noise.
"Some of my friends. We won't stay long, I don't think you would enjoy yourself here. Let's just get some smoke, then we can go" he says reading my mind.
We go in a side door, into a kitchen. Some girl runs over to Eddie when she sees him. Hugs him. She tries to kiss him, he turns his head and the kiss lands on is cheek.
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in months" she says.
"I'm always around somewhere."
"Who is this?" she asks eyeing me.
"This is my Mara."
My Mara?
"Strange to see you with a girl. Like with one girl. You usually have a bunch with you" she says.
He ignores her. "Anybody have any weed?"
"I'm sure Mike will give you some" she says.
We go out into a hall. I can see into the living room, about twenty people are in there. Luckily we go the other way down a hall.
He knocks on a door. "Mikey are you here?"
The door opens, and some guy hugs Eddie and drags him into the room. "Hey asshole, where have you been?"
"Like I told your sister, I'm around."
I take a few steps into the room. I feel so out of place. Eddie grabs my hand and pulls me closer. "Come in, he doesn't bite."
"Who is this sweet little thing?" he asks me.
"I found her lost on the street corner, thought I should take her home" Eddie says. And actually it isn't a lie.
"Aren't you lucky."
"And I hate to just stop by and have to leave, but do you have any weed?" Eddie asks him.
The guy laughs. "I should have known that's what you wanted. Sure."
He gets a box out of his dresser. He gets a bag out of it and brings it to Eddie. He hugs him. "Come see me some day when you have time to talk."
"I will. Thanks" Eddie tells him and we leave through the kitchen.

We share a joint walking back downtown. And then another while waiting to get into a bar.
While we're standing there so many people say Hi to Eddie. Girls hugging him. I really want to grab him and take him to my apartment so I can be alone with him.
Some guy he knows gives us each a beer, then another.
We can hear music playing so we dance right there on the sidewalk.
Another friend of his hands us a bottle of wine.
"Should we just take this and go home?" he asks me.
I nod my head. Three margaritas, four beers and sharing two joints, I just want to be somewhere that I can lay down.
He looks at me and smiles. "Let me get you home."
We start walking but I'm slow.
"How much farther?" I ask him.
"A few blocks. Can you make it? Let me carry you."
"Carry me? How?" I ask.
"Jump on my back" he says and squats down.
Somehow I manage to do it. Being on his back is very hot for some reason. My legs spread apart around him. I know I'm hot and wet, I wonder if he can feel it.
I move my hands down to his chest. I pull his shirt up so I can feel his chest bare. It feels so warm, so smooth. I realize I'm nuzzling his ear, his neck. Kissing his neck, nibbling his ear. I want him so badly.
I reach down to his bare belly. He's so warm. My hands go lower. I feel a trail of hair under his navel. I touch it. Run my fingers up and down it a few times. It feels so nice. Such soft hair. My fingers follow it down one more time. Down until they reach the waistband of his pants. I stick just the very tips of them into his pants. Into his underwear. All I feel is warmth. So much heat. I play with the hairs right inside his pants, start to follow them but his cock is right there. Should I touch it? Is he going to be mad? He didn't seem mad when I stuck my fingers in his pants.
I touch the tip. It's dripping. I get some of the wetness on my fingertips and then run my fingers down the length of his cock. I stroke it a couple times.
He stops at a doorway. I take my hand out of his pants and climb down off of his back. We're kissing. He's digging in his pockets while we kiss."I can't find my fucking key."
"Don't worry about it" I say.
I unfasten his pants. I push his underwear down and pull out his cock. He pushes me against the door. He reaches under my skirt and pulls my underwear down and off. He grabs one of my legs and lifts it up. I put it around his waist.
He takes a step closer to me, he thrusts his cock inside of me. I gasp so loudly. He thrusts inside of me again,this time even harder. Deeper. I throw my head back, it bangs on the door. He keeps thrusting his beautiful cock into me. It seems like each thrust is harder and goes in deeper.
I think I hear music coming from inside. I hope no one is in there and opens the door.
He groans deeply with his next thrust.
I can hear a dog barking somewhere far away. This is slightly surreal. Maybe I'm just really wasted and I'm not really fucking some guy I really don't know in his doorway.
He thrusts in again groaning louder this time. And again. And again.
Ok so maybe this is real.
One last time and this time he's in so deep it's kind of painful. I whimper.
He's still. After a minute I feel his cock slide out of me. He steps back, pulls his clothes back on. He smiles this half smile at me. Shakes his head.
"That was amazing" he says and kisses me. "Thanks Mara."
He takes a deep breath in. "Jesus" he says while letting it out. He kisses me again. This time we kiss for a minute.
He pulls my tank top down in the front. He kisses one nipple, then the other. Bites one. Kisses my neck.
"We should go in, before we start round two" he says.
I smile. "Probably."
He feels around in his pockets again for his keys. "I must have left them inside. No worries though."
He walks over to the window, pushes up the screen, then the window and climbs in.
He unlocks the door and opens it for me. I start to walk in, he leans over and picks something up. He hands me my underwear.
"You might want these" he says.
He picks up the bottle of wine too.
He shuts the door behind us.
"Um...well this is it" he says.
I can't really see much because there's no light on, just a bit of light coming in the open window.
He walks over to the window and shuts the screen.
"Uh...lights would probably help" he says. He walks away from me and turns on a lamp.
I look around. Hmmm...not much of anything. A turntable in the corner, on the floor. Some crates with albums in them.
A guitar case on the floor by them. Two guitars laying on the floor, another on a stand, and an amp.
A sofa. A very well loved sofa. There's a couple pillows on it and a blanket. Maybe he sleeps there. I mean there is also a mattress on the floor, but maybe the sofa is more comfortable.
A cluttered coffee table in front of the sofa. It is covered mostly with notebooks and papers. A couple overflowing ashtrays, some beer bottles, and even an empty pizza box are on it too.
A small kitchen area, and a doorway with a sheet hanging over it. A bathroom? Maybe?
"So?...I know it's not much...but it's home to me" he says.
I kiss him. "It's perfect. Why don't you get us some wine...while I get comfortable."
He kisses me back. "That sounds like a good idea."
He walks over to the counter in the kitchen area and sets the bottle of wine down. He gets two glasses out of the cabinet.
I kick off my sandals and sit on the sofa. He brings the glasses and wine over and sets them on the table. He pours us each a glass of wine, and hands one to me.
He taps his glass to mine. "To us."
I smile. Us. Is there going to be an us? Is this just a tonight thing? I guess it actually doesn't matter.
I drink my whole glass of wine. He fills my glass back up. I drink about half and the room is spinning.
I sit up and try to set my glass on the table, but set it on the edge and it falls on the floor.
"Fuck" I say and laugh.
Eddie starts laughing. He takes off his shirt and throws it on the spilled wine. He sets his glass down.
I lay back on the sofa. I lift up my tank top, play with my nipples, bite my bottom lip.
He pulls the tie on my skirt and unties it.
He takes his shoes and socks off.
He faces me, grabs my ankle closest to the back of the sofa and bends my leg up. My other leg is still on the floor. My skirt falls open. He kisses my knee of my bent leg. Kisses down my thigh.
"I wonder how wonderful my Mara tastes?" he says.
His phone rings.
"Fuck" I say.
"Ignore it" he says.
He bites my belly. Licks my belly button.
We kiss. His hand is on my thigh. He gently runs his fingers up my thigh, to my butt.
"I want to fuck you again" he whispers.
And then his phone rings...again.
We try to ignore it but whoever it is keeps calling. He grabs his phone off the table and looks at it.
"It's Spencer" he says and answers it. He puts it on speaker phone.
"Hey Eddie are you busy?" Spencer asks.
"Uh...yeah" Eddie says and laughs.
"We really seem to have lost Mara. She didn't want to come into the bar. We left her sitting on the curb and she's nowhere to be found now. She won't answer her phone. We're pretty worried. I was hoping you could help us look."
"Um...Mara is missing? Why did you guys just leave her alone?" Eddie asks him.
He looks down at me smiling.
"We were drunk and making stupid choices I guess. But now we're freaking out, so can't you forget what you're doing and come help us look" Spencer says.
"Well I was about to fuck someone. I was seriously about to slide my dick in her, but my damn phone kept ringing..."
"You're such a whore. Weren't you fucking Megan last night, or a few nights ago? Jesus. I'm glad I never set you up with Mara, she's too good for you" Spencer says.
Eddie sighs. "You're an asshole."
Eddie sits down on the sofa, so I get up to find my purse so I can text Amanda and Spencer so they don't think I'm dead.
I must be pretty drunk because I am walking around naked in front of this guy I really don't know. I find my purse by the front door, I get my phone out of it and sit back down by Eddie.
I text Amanda.
'hey i'm not dead. be home later. or tomorrow.'
"I'm not an asshole. Mara is sweet and I thought you and her would be great together, but I guess I forgot what a damn slut you are" Spencer is saying.
Eddie puts his hand on my knee, slides it up my thigh.
"Are you jealous? I think you have a thing for Mara..." Eddie starts to say.
"Wait, Amanda just got a text from her."
"So she's fine, does this mean I can finish what I was doing?" Eddie asks him.
"Sure. Go fuck the snatch you found tonight. Always too busy picking up girls to ever hang out with your friends."
Eddie laughs. He picks up his glass of wine and drinks the rest. He sets his glass down and pours more in his glass, picks my glass up and fills it for me.
He hands me my glass. I drink some of it. I get a text from Amanda.
'where are you?are you ok? where the hell did you go?'
I drink more wine. I really want to drop my phone and say fuck it to everyone tonight. Everyone but this gorgeous man sitting next to me.
I reply to Amanda.
'i'm fine. little drunk. going to sleep. see you tomorrow.'
I set my phone on the back of the sofa.
Eddie drinks his whole glass of wine.
"Hey you never know, this girl might be my soul mate" Eddie tells Spencer.
I finish my glass of wine, drop my glass on the floor. Luckily it doesn't break. I lean over and kiss Eddie. I suck on his bottom lip as I pull away. I reach down and unfasten his pants. I stick my hand into his underwear. Sadly he's not really hard. I look at him and pout.
He smiles. "Take care of  that for me" he whispers to me.
I wrap my hand around his cock. I play with the tip of it, rub my thumb around it a few times. I lean over and nibble on his ear lobe.
"I really want to feel this in me again" I say as I stroke my hand up and down his cock. It feels kind of strange that he's getting hard while I touch him.
"Spencer I really need to go. You know what, tomorrow we'll do something. Call me when you get up. Right now though...I gotta go" Eddie says and hangs up. He sets his phone on the table.
He stands up and drops his pants and underwear. He picks me up and carries me to the mattress. He lays me down in the middle.
He lays next to me. Kisses me on the lips. He caresses my ear, then slowly glides his hand down my neck, down to one of my nipples. He plays with it for a few minutes. His fingers travel down further, into my navel. He keeps circling his finger around my navel, and it tickles so badly. It gives me chills.
"You have goosebumps my little Mara" he says.
I pout at him again. "I need you."
He smiles his half assed smile. "Yeah? Well...I think I need you too."
I pull him to me. He lays on me.
"You're so beautiful" I say.
He laughs. "So are you."
"I watched you. Last night. Tonight."
"I know. I saw you. I kept telling everyone, see that girl, I'm going to get her. And now I have you. I may never let you go."
He raises his hips off of me and thrusts his beautiful cock deep inside of me. I raise my hips to meet his.
He thrusts in deeper and deeper. My hips meet his with each thrust.
We kiss, then he leans down and bites one of my nipples. Then the other one.
He thrusts in deep. I know he's cumming. He whimpers in my ear. I rub his back. Play with his curls.
We lay still. Him half way on me. We cuddle up together. He nuzzles my neck, my ear.
"Sorry" he says.
"It's fine. Next time" I reply.

Chapter 3

I slowly follow my friends. I take one last time to turn back and look at my beautiful musician. He's playing his guitar again. The singer girl isn't singing this time. She's in front of him, facing him, dancing very closely. Very seductively. He's smiling, then laughs.
He is the biggest tease I've ever known.

We find Spencer easily when we walk into the restaurant.
"Oh my god I am fucking starving!" he says when we sit down.
"Yeah, what's new" I say teasing him. I sit right across from him.
"Oh my Mara, speaking her mind. I like that" he replies.
"Shall we get nachos?" I ask him.
Me and him love nachos and almost always share an order.
"Of course."
 When the waitress comes over to take our order we get a loaded nachos to share, but I'm not sure what else to get. I love Mexican food. I get a couple tacos and some rice. And a frozen margarita.
The place is packed and by the time the nachos are on the table I'm on my second margarita. My third when the rest of my food comes. Needless to say, I only eat a bite or two of my tacos.

We don't hang around the restaurant tonight, it's too crowded. When we get outside I'm so heartbroken to see he's gone. I wonder where he went and if the singer is with him. I wonder if I'll ever see him again.
We start walking down the street. Everyone wants a drink, but all the places are crowded.
We come to a place near the end of the downtown area, only a couple blocks left of bars, restaurants and cool little shops. It's not too crowded, only a handful of people in line to get in so they decide to wait here.
I just want to find my guitar player. I'm a little drunk and that always makes me despondent. I need proof that he's real. I dig around in my purse trying to find the guitar pick. Maybe he didn't really give it to me, maybe I imagined it.
I keep digging around, but don't feel it. It has to be in there. It has to be real. I couldn't have imagined it.
Amanda notices me frantically digging around in my purse. "What are you looking for?"
"I dropped something in here earlier, but I can't seem to find it."
"Oh. Well what is it? Are you sure you put it in there?" she asks.
"Yeah, I don't know what else I would have done with it. It has to be here" I say.
I sit down on the curb and dump my purse out next to me.
"What is so important that you're looking for?" she asks me.
I never carry much in my purse, especially when I go out. Small wallet with ID, debit card and cash. Lip balm. A couple tampons and pads. Hair things in case my hair starts driving me crazy. My phone. And a pen as back up to write down a phone number if my phone dies.
I keep digging through my small pile of stuff. Where is it?
"Hey pick up your stuff, come on, it's our turn to go in" Amanda tells me.
I don't even want to go. I really want to go home now.
"Go ahead. I don't want a drink."
"I'm not leaving you out here alone" she says.
"I'm fine. I'm just going to sit here and then maybe go home, or I'll come in."
"There's no way we're letting you walk home alone."
"If I decide to leave, I'll call a cab. And I'll call you to let you know. Go ahead, I'm fine" I tell her.
She looks at me. "I don't feel right about this."
"I'm fine. Just go."
She sighs. Turns and goes inside with our friends.
I dig through my stuff again. It's not here. Where did it go? Did I imagine it, or lose it? Did I imagine him? Damn how drunk am I? I feel tears run down my cheeks. What a perfect Saturday night. Maybe I should have stayed with Seth, ugly dick and all. He really was nice. I'm a really shitty person to break up with him for that.
"Hey are you ok?" I hear a beautiful deep voice ask.
I look up, it's him. My musician. My beautiful musician. Now he has all of his hair hidden away under a ballcap he's wearing backwards. His guitar slung over his back.
I wipe the tears off my cheeks. "I'm fine."
He squats down in front of me. "You're a really bad liar. What's wrong? Anything I can do to help?"
I shake my head. "I'm fine."
He smiles. "You're not.'
He stands up. I see his hand reaching down to me. I take it and he helps me up.
"What can I do to help?" he asks.
"Nothing, really. I'm fine."
"I was about to go get coffee, why don't you come with me" he says.
I take a deep breath. You can do this, you know you want to, I tell myself. I look at him. At his perfectly beautiful face. Right into those eyes. Blue eyes. Such an amazing shade of blue. So calming. I nod my head, and smile.
He smiles back. "Perfect. Come on" he says and takes my hand.
We start walking down the street.
I'm confused when we walk past the last coffee shop downtown. Confused but very relieved. It's always so crowded, like it was when we passed it.
"Where are we going? I thought you said coffee?" I ask him.
"Not in there. All those pretentious jerks, I don't go there. I have another place I go."
I'm suddenly a little nervous. I don't even know a thing about him except that his name may or may not be Ed.
We walk a couple more blocks until we come to a diner. Like a greasy diner straight out of a fifties movie.
He holds the door open for me and we go in. We walk to a booth. I sit on one of the bench seats, he sets his guitar down on the other one and slides in next to it.
We both turn our coffee cups over and wait for the waitress.
"Better?" he asks me.
I nod my head. And honestly I already do feel better, because now I know he's real and I'm here with him.
The waitress pours us coffee. "Do you want anything else?" she asks.
He looks over at me.
"Um...."
"Maybe in a little while. After we've had our coffee" he tells her.
"Ok. Just call me over when you do" she says and leaves.
I take a drink of my coffee I look across the table at him. Right into those deep blue eyes. He smiles that smile he has. The one that makes me smile.
"So, do your friends really call you Ed?" I ask him.
"They do. Ed or Eddie. And you're?"
"Mara."
"Mara the meek" I swear I hear him say.
"What?" I ask him.
"Oh it's nothing. I have this friend and he has been trying to set me up with this girl. He's always telling me how shy she is. Always saying something about my meek little Mara, Or calls her Mara The Meek" he explains.
"Spencer is an asshole" I say.
He looks surprised. "So you are that Mara. Mara The Meek."
I sigh embarrassed. "I guess so ."
"Spencer is an asshole" he says.
I don't know what to say now. I really just want to crawl under the table and cry.
"Are you ok?" I hear him ask me.
I can't look up. I can't look at him. I know my face is red, it feels so flushed.
He reaches over and holds my hand. Squeezes it.
"You know Spencer. He doesn't mean to say stupid stuff, it just seems to come out. I bet he said stupid stuff about me to you. Let's forget about him" he says.
I wonder what Spencer said about me? And he never really said anything to me about Eddie, just wanted to set me up with him.
I nod my head.
His phone rings, he looks at it. Smiles. "Guess who."
"Hey Spencer what's up?"
"Thought I would see if you can hang out" Spencer says.
"Sorry not tonight. I um...I'm busy."
"I guess I'll give up trying to set you and Mara up. I think you're perfect for each other, but neither of you seem interested. And you're always too freaking busy. We seem to have lost Mara anyway."

"You lost her?" Eddie asks.

"Not really lost I guess, I think she's outside."

"Maybe you better go check. I need to go anyway, like I said I'm busy" Eddie tells him.

"They still think you're sitting outside" he tells me.

"Should I call? What should I tell them?"

"Tell them you ran into an old friend. Or made a new one" he suggests.
I get my phone out and call Amanda.
"Hey I um...I'm going to hang out with a friend, so I'll see you later at home" I say.
"I can't really hear you, it's loud in here. So I'll see you later" she says loudly, and hangs up.
I put my phone back in my purse.
"That was quick" he comments.
"She said she couldn't hear me so she hung up."
The waitress comes over to refill our coffee.
"Do you want anything else?" she asks us.
Eddie looks at me, I shake my head.
"I guess not. Thanks" Eddie replies.
"Ok. Enjoy your evening" she says and walks away.
"So what are you going to do tonight?" he asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. "It's late, probably should just go home."
"It's early. We've got all night. Let me show you all my favorite places."
"I don't know you. I don't know anything about you" I say.
"Spencer knows me. Trust me. Trust your gut, what does it say?" he asks.
"Where are we going?" I ask him.
"Everywhere. Are you ready?"
I look at him. I try to read his face. Look at his eyes. He looks safe. I think I can trust him.
I stand up. "Are you ready?"
He gets up, gets a ten out of his pocket and lays it on the table. Picks up his guitar and we head to the door.

When we get outside he takes one of my hands and we start walking down the sidewalk. Walking away from the downtown area. I wonder where we're going. I think about asking, but decide I'd rather be surprised.
"I'm going to stop at a friend's and drop my guitar off" he says.
We walk quietly a couple blocks. He stops at a small building.
"She lives here. Do you want to come with me?" he asks.
I really don't want to stand here alone, but I wonder who this 'she' is.
"Is it ok if I come?" I ask him.
"Yeah. I can introduce you too" he says.
We go inside, into a really dark hallway. "Sorry the light is always burned out."
He takes my hand so I don't get lost.
He knocks, then opens the door. "It's just me" he says.
"It's Saturday night, shouldn't you be out having fun?" I hear a voice say.
We go inside. There's an older lady sitting on a sofa in there.
"I am. Just wanted to drop my guitar off, if that's ok" he tells her.
"Only if you play me a song when you pick it up" she replies.
He smiles. "You know I will."
He takes his hat off and puts it on her head. "You can keep this for me too."
All of his beautiful curls fall down around his shoulders.
"So is this someone new?" she asks, about me I guess.
I look at Eddie, he actually seems like he's blushing.
"Yeah. This is Mara" he tells her.
"Mara this is my friend Margaret" he says to me.
"Hi" I manage to say.
"Let me see your hand" she says to me.
I hold my right hand out to her. She takes it in both of her hands. She just holds it for a minute.
"I like this one. She's good. Keep her" she says to Eddie.
I think he's blushing even more. "I like her too."
"You show her a good time tonight. And be a gentleman" she says.
"Of course" he tells her.
He sets his guitar down in a chair, then leans over and kisses Margaret on the cheek. "I'll call you tomorrow and let you know when I'll be over."
"Have fun" she says when we're leaving.

When we get outside he grabs my hand and we start running. I can't keep up.
"Eddie, I'm wearing sandals, I can't run that fast."
He stops.
"Why are we running anyway?" I ask him.
He grabs me, pulls me to him. Kisses me. Kisses me so hard.  I kiss back just as hard. His tongue suddenly in my mouth. And then just as quickly as it happened, it's over.
He takes my hand and we start walking down the sidewalk. I still have no idea where we're going or what he has planned. I'm excited and a little scared.

Chapter 2

I stumble into the kitchen in the morning. Amanda is already sitting at the counter eating breakfast. I'm not a morning person at all. Or just not an easy to wake up person no matter what time it is.
I grab my box of FrankenBerry off the top of the refrigerator and sit down by her.
"There's coffee" she says.
I give her a sad look that means yes I would love coffee but there is no way I can get up and get it right now.
"And yes I will get you a cup" she says.
She pours me a cup of coffee and brings it to me. "Do you want a bowl? Milk? Spoon? Anything for your cereal?"
I shake my head.
I stick my hand in the box, get a handful out and cram it into my mouth. I need sugar.
I take a drink of my coffee. So hot and delicious. I lay my head down on the counter.
"Why don't you eat some of what I'm having. So much better for you. That shit is killing you slowly" she says.
I sit up and look to see what she's eating. Looks like yogurt with all kinds of crap in it. Drinking some slimey looking green goo. Like she put frogs in the blender and chopped them all up.
Don't get me wrong, I love fruits and veggies, but not all mushed up together. And not in the morning when I need sugar and strong coffee.
I reach in my box of cereal, get another handful, and cram them in my mouth.
"I have no idea why you don't have a boyfriend" she says teasing me.
"I don't know" I reply with my mouth still half full.
"Michelle called and wants to know what we're doing tonight, so any ideas?" she asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. Of course my brain is screaming GO TRY TO FIND THE SEXY MUSICIAN WITH THE MAN BUN.
"I guess I'll call Spencer and see if he wants to come, or meet us somewhere. Really you have no ideas of what to do tonight? Should we just hang out here?" she asks.
NOOOOOOOOO my brain is screaming. I'll never see him here.
I casually shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, last night was kind of ok. Just hanging out downtown. We could go eat and just hang out again."
"I don't know if Spencer will, he was kinda pissy when he got lost."
"Yeah. We can ask I guess. Or maybe Michelle has an idea" I say but secretly think, I'm going to look for my man!
Amanda dials Spencer's number. She puts him on speaker phone. "Hey sexy, are you up?"
"Um...yeah...sort of I guess. Probably not as awake as you, but more awake than Mara. Why? What's going on? Is it even noon yet?" he asks.
"You're an asshole Spencer" I say.
"Yes I know. You tell me at least once a day."
"So asshole...plans for tonight?" Amanda says.
"Well I can call my friend..." he says.
"Spencer, do it and I will never talk to you again" I say.
"You need some sex in your life. Meet him and at least fuck him. I think it will change your whole outlook on life" he says.
"I'm not having a random fuck with your friend."
"Just give her a friend fuck" Amanda tells Spencer.
"NO!" me and Spencer say at the same time.
We all laugh.
"I don't need a friend pity fuck thank you very much. And it hasn't been that long. When did I break up with that dude?" I ask them.
"Which one?" Amanda asks.
"That one, you know. Um...that guy. He was um...nice" I say.
"That like really dirty hippie dude? He was nice, what happened to him?" Amanda asks.
I don't want to say, so I just shrug my shoulders.
"Yeah what happened with him, did he get too wasted and is lost somewhere in the city?" Spencer asks.
"Who knows" I say.
"What did you do?" Amanda asks me.
I try to look sweet and innocent. "What do you mean?"
"What happened? What did you do? You broke up with him didn't you?" she asks.
"Is my meek little Mara being bad?" Spencer asks.
"I didn't do anything" I protest.
"She did something, you shoud see the smirk on her face" Amanda tells him.
I cram cereal in my mouth so I can't talk.
"She's stuffing her mouth full of her trashy cereal so she can't answer us" Amanda tells Spencer.
"Fine, she won't tell us. I think I need to go. I'm going to call my friend, set them up for tonight. What time works for you Mara?"
"I didn't like his dick ok. It was just not pretty. I know every time I saw it I made a face. And the thought of it in me was just like eww, so I told him I was gay and didn't want to fuck any more, or that we should break up."
Amanda looks at me like she doesn't believe me. Only silence from Spencer.
Then Amanda starts laughing.
"Wow. I don't know what to say" Spencer says.
"So what are we doing tonight? Can we ever stay on the subject?" I ask.
"I'll be over in a couple hours, we'll figure it out then" Spencer says.
"Are you bringing anyone?" I asked, kind of scared, kind of curious.
"Dave will probably want to hang out again, and yeah I might call my other friend. Just to hang out with us, I promise I won't try to set you guys up, but you can meet and see what you think. Ok?" he asks.
"Sure."
"And if she doesn't like him she can just tell him he has an ugly dick" Amanda says laughing.
"Fucking assholes" I say. I grab my box of cereal and wander back to my room.

I lay on my bed eating dry cereal off and on while messing around on my phone. I text my mom to let her know I'm still alive, then I call my older sister Beth.
"Hey" I say when she answers.
"Hey. You do know that if you're not here for dinner tomorrow night mom is going to probably make you a plate and invade your sanctuary" she tells me.
"Oh god no. I was there like a couple weeks ago. Why is she coming?"
"It was actually several months ago. Fourth of July, it's almost October now. So I suggest you get your ass here" she says.
"Shit. Yeah I guess I will" I say.
"So what have you been so busy with that you can't come see your family?" she asks.
"I don't know, just nothing I guess. Stuff. But nothing really."
"Well that explains it" she says laughing.
"Just work, coming home, going out some nights. The weekend mostly."
"Is that what you're doing tonight?" she asks.
"Yeah. Probably having dinner, then hang around downtown."
"Who all is going? Are you still with that one guy, um...Seth?" she asks.
Oh yeah Seth, that's what his name was.
"No. It just wasn't working. Spencer keeps trying to set me up with one of his friends, but you know he has to be some loser if he needs set up."
"Well you do realize that you saying that means you're calling yourself a loser too, since he's trying to set you up."
"What an asshole. I never thought of that. It doesn't matter anyway I told him no way. It's just going to be me, Amanda, Michelle, Spencer and maybe a couple of his friends. No set up though, I told him no."
"Spencer is just trying to be nice. You know how he is, just wants to take care of everyone.Wants everyone to be happy" she says.
"Yeah."
My phone beeps, someone is calling me. I look to see who it is. Michelle.
"Hey Michelle is calling me so I need to go. I'll be there tomorrow though. Bye."
"Yes Michelle."
"What are you wearing tonight?" she asks me.
"I don't know, did anyone ever decide where we're going? What we're doing?"
"Well no, but I was going to wear these cute shorts I have but I need some sandals, can I borrow a pair of yours?" she asks,
"Yeah you can wear some of mine. You know, last night we went downtown, ate and then just hung out. Watched some of the people playing music. Just walked around. It was fun. We could just do that again."
"That's fine with me as long as I can drink. Did they give you guys any shit? Did you drink?" she asks.
"No. No one said anything to us. We did lose Spencer and Dave for about an hour though, but we eventually remembered we could just call Spencer and ask him where they were. It was fun. I thought we could do that, then maybe come back here and I don't know, do whatever."
"Sounds fine to me. I'm going to eat something, shower and then I'll be over, so in about an hour. Bye."
"Bye."

I get up to see if there's any coffee left.
Amanda is in the living room painting her toenails. I get coffee and sit next to her on the sofa.
"Michelle's going to be here in like an hour."
"Yeah? What are we doing?" she asks.
"I told her we had fun last night just doing nothing. She seemed ok with doing that."
"Yeah. Cool. I guess I better shower after my nails are dry."
"I called Beth and she says I haven't been home since the Fourth Of July. She said if I don't go tomorrow that my mom will come here to check on me. So guess where I'm going tomorrow."
"Fun."
"Yeah."
I sit there and drink my coffee.

I realize an hour later I'm still sitting there just spacing out. Amanda left to shower and get dressed about thirty minutes ago.
Someone knocks on the door. That's strange, no one knocks on our door ever. Well none of our friends. I guess I better see who it is. All I have on is a little tank top and someone's boxers. Spencer's probably. Couldn't be Seth's he didn't wear underwear. He really should have to keep his ugly dick covered.
I look through the peephole. Some guy, no idea who it is.
I open the door and look at the guy suspiciously.
"Oh hey um...you are either Amanda or Mara. Let me guess...Mara" he says.
I look at him, raise my eyebrows. Who the fuck is this.
"I'm Spencer's friend. He told me to meet him here. Well at first. But he just called me and said to tell you he's going to meet all of us downtown, but was hoping it's ok if I come with you guys" he says.
"Spencer's friend?"
That fucking asshole. I am going to kill him when I see him.
"Yeah. Um...I hope it's ok" he says.
"Who are you talking to?" I hear Amanda ask.
She comes to the door.
"Hi. I'm Spencer's friend. He told me to meet him here, but now he just wants to meet us all downtown. If that's ok if I come with you guys" he tells her.
"Spencer's friend?" she asks.
"Um yeah. Spencer's friend" he says again.
"Sorry. Come in. Mara has no manners." she tells him.
"I have no manners? What about Spencer?" I say.
"See. No manners. Sit down. Do you want a drink or anything?" she asks him.
"No I'm fine. Sorry to just show up. He was going to call one of you, I guess he hasn't yet" he says.
"It's ok" Amanda says.
Michelle comes in. She has no shoes on.
"You came over here barefoot?" I ask her.
"Yeah. I didn't see any reason to wear any shoes since I was borrowing yours."
She sees the stranger in our living room. "Oh hey who are you? I'm Michelle."
"Hi. I'm Matt. Spencer's friend" he says.
"Spencer's friend ?" she asks us.
"We don't know" Amanda says.
"I'm going to go get dressed." I wander to my room. If Spencer really sent his friend he's trying to set me up with here, I'm never talking to him again.
I dig through my closet that is really such a mess. Pretty much I went through this last night, looking through my clothes and what I didn't like was tossed on the floor, or my bed.
I put on my favorite brown silk hippie wrap skirt. I try to find the brown tank top that matches it and I can't. I do find a green one and decide it matches well enough since there's green in the skirt. I find a pair of sandals and slide them on.
I stand in front of my dresser mirror and brush my hair. I decide to put it up so I twist it up into a bun and put in a barrette to hold it up.
"I need sandals" Michelle says coming into my room.
"Yeah there's some here, somewhere."
"Somewhere? Like can you give me an idea where" she says.
"Under my bed, bottom of my closet. Or scattered on my floor. Sorry. You know I'm a slob."
"So did Spencer call? Is this the guy he's been trying to set you up with?" she asks.
"I haven't heard anything from him. Call him and ask him for me. Please? If you do, I'll look for my sandals" I tell her.
"Deal" she says and calls Spencer.
I get down on my knees and start looking for sandals. I try to sort of listen to her side of the conversation, but sort of not.
"Hey who's the guy you sent over here?" she asks.
"Yeah Matt, we got that" she says a minute later.
I find a sandal and toss it over by her feet. I keep looking. I know I have two or three other pairs besides the ones I'm wearing.
"He just keeps saying he's your friend so you know what Mara is thinking" she says.
I find two more sandals and toss them to her. Sadly none of them match.
"Ok yeah I'll tell her because I think she's ready to kill you" she says.
I find one under my bed and toss it with the others.
I head for my closet.
"Alright. Yeah I think we're leaving soon so see you there in a little while" she says and hangs up.
I find the last two sandals in the bottom of my closet and toss them over with the rest.
"So?" I ask her.
"So. He says no this isn't that friend. He actually did call that guy to see if he could come tonight but he said he already had plans, but he might be able to meet up later. Depends on what happens tonight. This is just another friend, but he is single if any of us are interested" she explains.
"Well good for him, I guess. Well no not really since he did try to get the guy to come. Will you explain to him tonight that I really hate to be set up. I get so uncomfortable. And tell him I don't need to get laid."
I get up and walk over to where she is, sitting on my bed. I sit next to her.
She leans over and kisses me. We kiss for a minute. Her hand on my thigh, moving under my skirt.
"You need sex? We have time" she says.
I smile and shake my head. "Thanks but no. I don't want friend pity sex."
Amanda comes in my room. "Are you guys hiding from this guy? Any idea what's going on yet?"
"I called Spencer. Matt is just one of his friends. Not the friend. He is single though, if you're interested" Michelle tells her.
She blushes.
"Oh my god you are!" I say.
"Maybe."
"Cute. Ok let me pick a pair of sandals and we can go if everyone is ready" Michelle says.
"Yeah. Where are we meeting Spencer? Matt said he wasn't sure."
"He said same place you guys ate at last night if that's ok" Michelle says.
I smile. Yes! Hopefully my little guitar player will be at the same place pretty near there.

About forty five minutes later and we're all ready and walking downtown. I keep my ears open for music, especially guitar music.
And then I see him. We're across the street, perfect place for me to stand and watch and hopefully he won't see me.
"Oh it's those one people from last night that you liked, isn't it?" Amanda asks me.
"Yeah I think so."
God he looks even more beautiful tonight. His gorgeous curls hanging down. I watch his fingers as he plays his guitar. So mesmerizing. I wonder how they would feel touching me like that.
They finish the song. A couple girls that had been standing near walk closer to him. One talks to him. Smiles. Flirts. He smiles and talks back. They talk for a minute. He reaches in his shirt pocket and gets something out and hands it to her. I can't figure out what it could be at first, then I realize it's a guitar pick. The other girl looks at it and then says something to him, and he gives her one. I guess she asked for it. Yuck. Maybe he's some egotistical asshole. I can see that. I look around, almost everyone standing around watching them are girls.
"Are we ready to go? Spencer just sent me a text wondering where we are" Matt says.
I sigh. Yeah we need to go. No reason to stand and watch the most perfect human in the world because he's probably a jerk in real life.
We have to walk right past them to get to the restaurant. I cautiously look at him as we cross the street. Taking little sneaky looks so he doesn't catch me again. He's so beautiful up close. Breathtakingly beautiful.
While we're walking by I keep my eyes down and my face turned so he doesn't see me and recognize me from last night.
I feel someone grab my hand. I look back, he has a hold of it. My little musician. I look at our hands, mine in his now. He looks at me and smiles.
I pull my hand away and keep walking. I realize he put something in it. I look down to see what it is. A guitar pick? What? Why? Does he think I'm one of his little groupies? Happy to have any little crumb he might toss my way. I start to turn around and throw it at him, then I turn it over and realize it says something on the back.
                                                              MY
                                                          FRIENDS
                                                          CALL ME
                                                               ED  
Did he want me to know his name? Maybe he's not a stupid egotistical jerk. We cross the street. I turn around to look at him again. Some girl is talking to him. He's smiling. He turns his head and looks at me. Raises his eyebrows. I know I'm smiling at him even though I don't want to. I don't know him enough to know if he deserves a smile from me. He could be a stuck up asshole.
"Come on. What are you looking at?" Amanda asks grabbing my hand and dragging me away.                  

Chapter 1

"You could just meet him," Spencer says for about the millionth time. 
"No. Just forget about it. I don't want to be set up with anyone. I don't care who it is." I tell him for probably the millionth time.
"He's really nice," Spencer says.
"Great. Then he doesn't need your help  finding someone."
"I give up!" he says finally.
"So what are we doing tonight?" Amanda asks us.
I'm actually happy just to stay home tonight. Hanging out with my two best friends.
"Food. I'm starving," Spencer says.
"You're always starving" I mumble.
"What was that? Meek Little Mara, you can't be a sarcastic bitch and be meek about it. You have to be a loud mouthed bitch," he says.
"Her? Never," Amanda says.
I sigh. "What are we doing tonight?"
"Let's just go hang out downtown. Walk around, get something to eat. A few drinks," he says. "And then maybe you'll want to meet my friend," he says to me.
"Is he hot? Set me up with him if he is," Amanda says.
"He's hot I guess. All the girls always seem to think so," he starts to say.
"Ok yeah, so not my type. Sounds like a stuck up douchebag," I say.
"He's not though. He's...well he's...he umm...needs someone...special," he says.
"Ok forget it. Sounds too complicated to me already," Amanda tells him.
"He needs the perfect person. And he'll be perfect for her," Spencer says.
"And her foot fits the shoe, he kisses her awake, blah blah blah. There are no perfect world fairy tales. Life sucks and you die. And if you're lucky you have some good times, and great friends," I say.
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine tonight," he says to me.
Spencer leans close to Amanda. "Let's get her laid. I think it's been way too long."

I go find my sandals and sit on my bed to put them on. Why is Spencer so insistent about me meeting his friend. He's tried to a couple times before, but I'm not interested. I'm really picky. Maybe. Or maybe I just want to be free to do what I want.
Honestly...I think everyone thinks me and Spencer will end up together, even my parents. I've know him for years, since we were in high school together. He's the sweetest guy I've ever known. Kind, and very generous. And yes he's very nice looking.
In high school he kept his dirty blond hair long, but now he keeps it super short. He has me shave his head about every six weeks keeping his hair under an inch long.
He always has a goatee, well almost always, sometimes he gets too bothered to keep nice facial hair and just shaves it all off.
When I said he was sweet and kind, I think it's because he has these beautiful hazel eyes that make him look sweet and kind. I mean, he really is sweet and kind too, but his eyes really portray that.
BUT we'll never be anything more than friends...best friends. I love him dearly, but I'm not in love with him. I don't have those kind of feelings for him.
Amanda pokes her head in my room. "Are you ready, Spencer is starving," she says and laughs.
"Yeah, give me a minute," I reply.
I really don't feel like going anywhere. This loser friend of Spencer's better not show up. If Spencer set me up I'm going to be pissed.

We walk down the street to find somewhere to eat.
After sitting and eating, and drinking for nearly three hours, I honestly don't care if Spencer wants to set me up or not. I am feeling no pain at all. Not drunk, just in a good mood.
We run into a friend of Spencer's, not the friend though. I have to admit, I'm relieved, but a little sad too.
The four of us walk around. There's a lot going on in the streets at night. Drinking even though you're not supposed to have open containers. A lot of entertainers. Somehow we lose Spencer and his friend Dave.
We stand on a corner watching for Spencer and Dave to come by, but also watching the people playing. Two guys and a girl. The girl is singing, one guy playing a drum, the other playing guitar.
The guitar player is gorgeous. I swear when I first saw him, time slowed down. I heard angels singing and harps playing. Our eyes locked and neither of us could look away.
In reality though, I thought he was hot, stared at him, ran into the back of Amanda when she stopped and made a fool of myself. Mr Guitar player smiled and slightly laughed. I turned a million shades of red and looked away quickly.
We stay there trying to find Spencer and Dave and yes I watch Mr Beautiful Guitar Player too. He really is beautiful. And seems to be a pretty good guitar player. He is so tiny, at least compared to the other guy. He isn't much taller than the girl. Both are taller than me, not by much.
It's getting kind of chilly now that the sun is going down. I still wore sandals and shorts though, I always dress wrong for the weather, but dress to be cute. He was much smarter, although his clothing choices are a bit strange. He has on shorts, but some sort of leggings, or long underwear on under the shorts. A short sleeve tee, but under it is either a long sleeve tee or a long underwear shirt.
Slouchy boot socks and old banged up Dr Martens complete his outfit.
They finish the song. He pulls up a bunch of his hair to the top, sorta back of his head and puts it into a messy little man bun. I don't normally like men with ponytails, or a man bun, but I think I may have gasped when he put his hair up. His hair was beautiful before. Long, curly, brown hair. Down a little past his shoulders. Curly, but very messy too. I would say it hasn't seen a brush in a long time. But now all pulled up, well most of it pulled up, into this messy little man bun, it's even more beautiful if that's possible.
They all talk for a minute before starting another song. I really hope we don't see Spencer any time soon. I know that makes me a horrible person, but I could watch this guitar player all night.
"Should we go look for them?" Amanda asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. "Let's give them a little more time. At least until this song is over."
"Yeah? You like them?" she asks me looking over at my guitar player and his friends.
"They seem ok."
She watches, listens for a minute. "Yeah, maybe."
I watch this little man. This little adorable man. He seems to be having fun. And I am having fun watching him. He leans over and says something to the girl. She smiles at him. I wonder if there's something going on between them? She says something to him, he looks up at me, smiles, then looks back at her. Oh my god he must have noticed me watching him. I want to die now.
"We should probably go" I tell Amanda.
"What? Why now? Do you see them?" she asks.
"Come on" I say grabbing her hand and pulling her down the street. "We can just call him."
"Oh yeah. Why didn't we think of that before?"
I call Spencer and we meet him and Dave at a place down the street. We all walk back to our apartment.
We all drink a little when we get there. They all talk, I can't get my mind off of my little guitar player. He was just so cute. I wonder if he's down there often playing guitar? Wonder if he'll be there tomorrow? I wonder if him and the girl are together? I hope not! Of course I'll never do anything but stand and stare at him, from farther away next time so he can't see me. I wish I wasn't so shy, but I am and probably always will be.