Page 7 of Zane

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Iopenmy eyes to stare into her caramel colored ones again for a brief second before she looks at him, thanking him for the brew. He has delivered two Coors Light in the bottle. She pulls one to her and pushes the other to me, then she looks at meagain.

I smile at her and ask, "So what else have you been upto?"

"Oh, not much. I work all thetime."

"Single?" I give her a sideways grin. "I’m hopingso."

"Yes, I’m single." She laughs, catches the insinuation and responds. "No, I’m not cheating on anyone. I wouldn’t do that. That’s just wrong." Then she frowns and asks, "You?"

"I’m single too," I smirk, "and I wouldn’t cheat either. I’ve been on the receiving end and it is definitelywrong."

Her words send me back there. I haven’t thought about it in years. I caught my college roommate fucking my girlfriend in the Frat house at the Christmas party. They were too drunk to even care. The betrayal was unacceptable to me and when I drug them out by their hair, she was kicking and screaming. Several dudes tried to intervene and help her. That’s the night I perfected my "Bah Humbug, Motherfuckers" delivery. I kicked ass and took no prisoners. I smirk and tip the bottle to draw the brew into my mouth. I notice her eyes are watchingme.

"I heard about that. I’m sorry." She says softly. Her tone touches something inside me and when I set the bottle down, it’s with less pain than when I liftedit.

"Ever married?" I askher.

"No," She shakes her head, then lifts her beer, takes a drink, and asks, "Kids?"

"No, I don’t have any kids. Doyou?"

"No, I don’t either." She smiles and the softness of it sends a spark of warmth throughme.

Blake comes out and tells us. "Your pizza is coming up in about 10 minutes." He grins at her. "It is good to see you. It’s been a while since you were inhere."

"Thanks, Blake." She says. "I’ve missed your special sauce. No one makes it like youdo."

"How’s Bruce Wayne doing on that hambone?" I askhim.

"He’s working it over prettygood."

Welaugh.

I tilt my head and lift my eyebrow. "He’s a rescue, you know. I picked him out of a lineup at the pound. He’s had to fend for himself for a while. I don’t know that I’d leave him alone in thekitchen."

He cuts his eyes in that direction and says, "Oh lord." Then takes off at slight jog back toit.

"Really?" Sheasks.

"No, not really," I tellher.

She laughs hard at my practical joke and the sound is so familiar to me. I study her face as she tilts her head back and releases the volume freely. This girl loves to laugh. Then it hits me. I realize who she is. She isn’t anyone I dated before. As a matter of fact, she isn’t anyone I hung with in school. But I remember her. I remember that laugh. I could never forget that laugh. Her laughter wafting in my window late at night when we were children helped me stay sane at a time in my life when hatred was an everyday feeling shoved down my throat. Her laughter had a magical tone that made me feel like life wasn’t so bad after all. This mysterious beautiful woman is LankyLaura.

Suddenly, I want to kiss her again and feel her velvet, sweetness reach down inside me. She’s the only person in the world who I confided in and she never once betrayed me. I reach for her hand and I stroke it with my thumb. She gives me a squeeze and it’s strong and confident. My dick thumps wanting to fell that grip crush him and never let himgo.

"Laura," I tell her softly. "I’m sorry I left youbehind."

Her eyes look into mine and I see that same hunger in them for me, that I have for her. "It’s okay, Zane. We were kids and we weren’t in charge. You couldn’t help whathappened."

I look down at the hand, remembering. Then I puff air out of my nose disapprovingly and tell her. "I could have donemore."

She laughs. "Like refuse tomove?"

I laugh. "No, like get on my bicycle and ride back to seeyou."

She grins. "I would have flipped out and run away fromyou."

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