"You don't have to see him." I wanna go with you," I stated, and Seth didn't argue with that. Instead, he pulled into the first drive-thru we came to ...and looked at me again."You're thirsty," he said, always being the observant one. "What do you want to drink?"I sat upright in the middle of the bench seat, watching Seth as his eyes darted around the parking lot while his fingers continuously drummed the steering wheel. Parked in front of the apartment complex, we could hear the party, but there. It was not just the crew who were worried because Beth was more than alittle uneasy about reopening Pandora's box. Having been sober andstraight for over six years she admitted privately to me that she wasafraid of falling off the wagon when faced with the pressures that almostruined her. It had taken her a long time to come back from the brink andeven though she was a much stronger person today, I could understand thereasons why she was so apprehensive about coming back. Deep down howeverI. "Dawn Zender had been Jenny's friend for a long time. Jenny had watched Dawn's marriage crumble and fail. Small town attitudes constrained Dawn's efforts to find a replacement dad for her children. The very small number of eligible bachelors complicated matters. Dawn was dating a little bit. This morning, Dawn's children, Abigail, 13, and Noah, 11, were still at home, two doors down."Dawn," Jenny continued, "I'm not very good at beating around the bush. I'm looking for a friend to live with, to. He put a hand on my back to announce his presence, and I immediately turned on my stool to face him. “What the hell did you tell him?” I asked, still smiling. Levi shrugged. “The truth.” “The truth!” I laughed. “You could sell sand to the beach!” “You, darling, are not sand,” Levi said, quirking an eyebrow. “Even if your job gets it lodged in odd places sometimes.” I laughed again, feeling rather giddy. But underneath this bubbliness was that deep, rumbling desire that had been brewing in me.