When the two got to the beach, Drake glanced back, a frown on that face that was almost beautiful. “Lana, are you coming?”

The look of longing was quickly masked behind a grin. “Maybe in a little while. I want to change first.”

I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like disappointment crossed the rocker’s face. His smile wasn’t as big as it had been when they had gotten back. “Okay.”

Yes, I really needed to talk to Lana later!

Jesse

It took for fucking ever for my dick to calm down after nearly kissing Layla in the pool. A cold shower hadn’t helped. Masturbating hadn’t even taken the edge off. I wanted that little goddess to the point of pain, and I wasn’t used to denying myself when it came to things I wanted. Damn, I had become spoiled over the last ten years!

Sunday I tried to stay away from her. I told myself I was letting her get settled in, that I didn’t want to crowd her. In actuality I was scared shitless. I was sure that I cared about her, and that was terrifying. How could I have feelings for a woman that I just met? How was it that she was constantly on my mind while I was awake? Why was she haunting my dreams while I slept?

But by Monday I knew that I needed to do something about how I was feeling. Maybe I should try to get her out of my system. That had to be what was going on. She was something I wanted, and I had been denying myself for days now. If I fucked her out of my system, then this ache in my chest would go away, right?

Fuck I hoped that was all it was. Relationships scared the hell out of me. None of the ones I had ever seen in the past had worked out. My mom and dad’s relationship sure hadn’t worked out. I’d never even had one that lasted past a few days, and that had only been about fucking. Terrifyingly enough, I wanted more than that with Layla. I had enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her. I wanted to know what made her laugh—because God, that laugh did things to my dick! I wanted to know what made her cry because I never wanted to see tears in her big chocolate eyes.

“Jesse!”

I frowned when I heard Emmie calling for me. I had dropped down on the long part of the sectional when we had gotten home from the studio and must have fallen asleep. The last two nights I hadn’t gotten much sleep. Layla had invaded my mind. Fuck, my hand was developing calluses from all the jacking I had done over the last few days. When I did sleep, it was to wake up with another raging hard on that had to be taken care of or I’d suffer the bluest balls known to man.

“Jesse!” Emmie called out again, and I rubbed a hand over my face to try to clear it of the sleep that still lingered. “Are you in the house?” I heard her soft padding of footsteps and sat up.

“In here, Em,” I called back just as she appeared in the doorway of the living room.

She frowned down at me, concern in her green eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired. Haven’t been sleeping lately.” Her eyes darkened with worry. “I’m fine, Em. I swear. I’m not sick or anything.” Just constantly hard because my little goddess was driving me crazy with want!

She still looked worried. “Dinner is ready. Are you hungry?” My stomach grumbled loud enough for her to hear, and her worried expression eased into a small smile. “I’ll take that as a yes. Come on, I made meatloaf.”

“Not with bacon.” I didn’t think I could handle bacon tonight.

She laughed. “No. I only put it on a small portion.”

I followed her into the dining room where Drake and Shane were already loading their plates down with mashed potatoes, homemade baked mac and cheese, and fresh green beans. Nik was putting a basket of yeast rolls on the table and taking his usual seat. We had been eating homemade meals like this all summer, and I had gotten used to it. I loved sitting down with all the people that mattered to me and sharing food that had been made with some TLC.

Emmie took her place, and I finally dropped down between her and Drake. The first bite of one of the rolls made me groan. “God, Em. This is amazing.”

“Thanks, but I didn’t make them.” She was drizzling a little ketchup over her bacon crusted meatloaf. “Layla helped me out in the kitchen before heading out. I’ll let her know that you like them.”

Layla. Just the sound of her name made my dick twitch, and I took my time savoring the rest of my roll and two more. Conversations were going on around me and I tried to keep up with them, but I was too consumed with thoughts of Layla to pay close attention to what was being said.

“Jesse, can you do it?”

My head snapped up at Nik’s question. He was frowning at me, as if he were worried about me. I sighed and realized I had missed an entire conversation that probably had been important. “Sorry, man. What?”

“Em has a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Can you take her since we don’t really need you in the studio tomorrow?”

“You know I will.” I pushed my plate away and reached for my barely touched beer. “What time do we need to leave, sweetheart?”

She shrugged. “About ten thirty. So you can sleep in if you want.”

“Sounds good.” I didn’t mind going with Emmie to the doctor. I meant that I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and it never failed to move me. My little ‘niece’ had already invaded my heart.

As soon as he was finished with dinner, Drake stood and muttered an excuse. I figured he was going to go hit a new bottle of Jack Daniels. When he was out the door, we all shared a dark look but went back to our food. I hated that my friend was so dependent on a bottle to get through the night. I hated even more his reasons for needing it...

Pushing those dark thoughts away, I helped Nik clear the table. We filled the dishwasher but didn’t turn it on because really neither of us knew what was what on the stupid thing. I shut the door and turned to find Nik pulling a beer out of the fridge. “Want one?” he asked.

“Nah, man. I’m good.” I wasn’t in the mood for more beer. Instead, I pulled a can of coke from the fridge and popped the top. The sugary soda woke me up, at least for the moment, and I followed Nik out onto the patio where Emmie was already curled up on one of the loungers looking up at the star filled sky.

It was cooler out and Nik spread a thin throw over the both of them as he sat beside of her and pulled her close. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, enjoying the sound of surf crashing on the beach. Shane came out mumbling something about a run but no one bothered to say anything as he headed down the beach.