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They sat at a table in the Hershey's ice cream place with peanut butter-chocolate and rocky road cones respectively. Adam fixed his gaze on his ex-girlfriend as they ate and talked, and he was again reminded of one very clear fact...
He was still in love with her. All the feelings he'd always had for her had rushed back to him in a hurry. Tonight, they were probably even more pronounced.
Moments later, he checked his watch, his brows raising at the time.
"Wow, it's late... I bet everyone went back to their rooms by now."
Amy glanced at her own watch.
"Unless they started on White Oleander."
"Nah... Five bucks says Melina dragged Phil back to their room," he said with a wink. "I'd bet on it."
She laughed and reached for a napkin in the dispenser on one side of the table. Adam just so happened to be reaching over there at the same time, and his hand brushed the hers. Amy couldn't deny the jolt of electricity she felt at the touch.
*
Mickie suddenly opened her eyes, rousing lightly to realized she'd fallen asleep on Chris' shoulder. She sat up, bleary-eyed, and realized her boyfriend was still dozing.
"Chris," she whispered, shaking him lightly, "wake up!"
As the blond man opened his eyes abruptly, disoriented, the brunette glanced around the hotel room. Alvin was still slumped in the easy chair to their right, over by the window. As she crawled over to the foot of the bed, she saw that Trish and Jeff had gone, but Melina and Phil were slumped together on the floor. Adam and Amy were no longer in the room, and the movie had ended, the stark blue DVD screen showing on the TV.
"Wha...? Mickie? What time is it?"
The young woman took a quick glance at her watch. She nearly did a double-take.
"Wow, it's almost two-thirty," she replied in a whisper.
Chris yawned and rubbed at his eyes.
"Well, I'm wiped," he said as he started to get off the bed. "Time to his the sheets, juniorette."
Mickie smiled and raised a finger to her lips to shush him. That was when he realized they weren't alone.
"Think we should wake Sleeping Beauty over there?" he asked, a short nod of his head gesturing in Al's direction.
"Nah, let him sleep," the little brunette insisted. "And be careful - Phil and Melina are asleep at the food of the bed." She had to tell him that, since, knowing him, he might have ended up tripping over the couple.
"Jeff and Trish must be getting it on," the short-haired blond quipped with amusement.
His girlfriend swatted him in the chest for his troubles. He couldn't help letting out an exclamation as his hand flew up to the area. Damn, but Mickie was a lot stronger than she looked!
"Hey, what happened to Amy and Adam?" he wondered aloud as they slipped out of the room.
"Good question. I was wondering that myself."
*
"Yikes!" Amy exclaimed as she noticed the time on the clock on the wall. "It's seriously late. How long have we been here?"
As he'd done earlier, Adam glanced in the direction of where she'd just looked and was surprised. Two twenty-three in the morning. A while after their ice cream cones and subsequent walk, they'd stopped at the all-night cafe and had gotten some hot toddies. The time had just about flown by, but then, it always had seemed to do that when he was with Amy. And how very precious their time was when it was spent together.
"No wonder I'm so tired," he said. He was, but sleeping didn't matter mcuh when he was in the company of the beautiful redhead.
"I guess we ought to head back," Amy said, a small hint of reluctance in her voice. She had really been enjoying herself. It almost felt like old times. She wondered if their freinds had even cared that they'd picked up and left in the middle of the movie. Well, the way she figured it, there was most likely a little gossip going on because of their departure, and certainly due to the length of time they'd spent away.
The tall blond man rose from his chair, yawning and stretching. He gestured to her with one hand as he came toward her, reaching out, and she smiled and accepted it.
A rush of familiar warmth flooded through Amy as he helped her out of her seat. Smiling, she felt as though she were on a second wind of adrenaline - and could not take her eyes off of him.
As they exited the cafe, Adam glanced sideways at her.
"So... What are you doing during the week?" he asked.
"The band's got some gigs back in Atlanta," Amy replied matter-of-factly. "Me and the guys are playing every day there isn't a houseshow this week. Shane and I even got a couple of new songs done recently."
Adam didn't respond. It hurt, it really hurt for him to hear her talk about her band, but more especially Shane Morton. God, that man was one lucky bastard. And what had he ever done to deserve this goddess who was walking beside him? He was so bitter about it, and yet, it wasn't as though it were Shane Morton's fault. He swallowed hard, wanting badly to break the suddenly silence that was between them. And damn it, he couldn't think of anything to say.
"Oh." By now, they were just coming to the hotel's automatic double doors. Although Adam had relished spending all this time with her, all of a sudden, he couldn't wait to be alone.
He walked her back to her room, the hallway silent. As Amy dug her card key out of her bag, the blond man kept his gaze on her back.
She turned, a small smile on her face as she got the door open.
"Well, it was fun. Goodnight, Adam."
He forced a smile as he gazed into her eyes.
"Night, Ames," he said.
He left her then, and the redhead beat herself up mentally. How could she have slipped up and mentioned Shane again?
She stood with her back pressed to the door, agonizing.