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"I have cancer," I told hi

Then I collapsed into a puddle of snotty tears, right on the floor Stevie in on the door and locking it He whipped his iPhone out and called Sutton I could hear hiently to her for a few ing ht while I cried

Sutton arrived in thirtythe sound barrier on the highway By then Stevie had ently lowered , cushy chair behind his desk, then promptly plied me with hot herbal tea

I recounted to them as best I could what I had been told so far, which was practically nothing Stevie and Sutton were a above and beyond to bolster th Not a one of us knehat the future held forin inforot done withto whip this cancer's ass straight into the depths of hell

And for the next few days, I tried to push this ominous news to the back of my mind and not obsess too much about it Which was practically impossible Sutton even invited me over to the Cold Fury party, and whereas I'ood book, for so To prove toto do

So I h, and for the brief time I was there I had a lot of fun Granted, ranted, the fun that was had was in sparring verbally and flirting with Garrett Samuelson, but fun all the same

Not just fun Scintillating banter Thrilling flirtation

Daeous Of course, I'd heard enough about hiave your heart to, but I couldn't deny the anih I repeatedly denied his advances, every ti atme that I needed to live life to the fullestwhile I still had tie of a supre sex

Still, er it would have had the fortitude to hold out Had Sutton not come up and practically chased Garrett away fro I would have capitulated, because my mind was all kinds of fucked up and twisted over the terrible thoughts that kept circulating through me

But then I got the phone call fro appointment for the next day, and the reality of ain While I didn't necessarily have to leave because it was late, I suddenly didn't feel like being social any me were a painful reminder of all I stood to lose

"So, hoas the party?" Stevie asks as he pulls out a large foa to work on a funeral arrangeood at them as he is, as they require precision and balance I do ements

"It was good," I tell hi internally over my conversation with Garrett

"What?" Stevie exclaims "What's that look on your face?"

I blink at him in surprise as I wipe down the table so I can prepare to work on the next arrangement "What look?"

"That little secretive, maybe even a little bit sensual, look on your face"

"You're crazy Batshit crazy, in fact," I scoff at him, even as my cheeks heat a little

"Oh, hell, no," Stevie says as he pushes the foa atmy hands in his, he pulls me back over to my stool and pushes me down onto it He then hops on the other stool across froether Looking atjuicy to tell, and you better spill every bit of it to me"

I grin His ossip excites me and expels all my troubles out of my head momentarily I'll take the reprieve

"Okay," I say conspiratorially "So, Iquite the conversation"

"How so?" Stevie asks, his eyes twinkling

"He just approached me and told me some crap about how beautiful I was, and that it wasn't a cheesy pickup line, but oh, Godit was so cheesy and completely a pickup line"

"Is he hot?"

"Beyond hot," I tell hiabout near his chin, but it's cut in like these choppy layers"

Stevie closes his eyes and sighs at the fantasy I'

"And the ht and reflective Oh, and he's tall, and you can tell he's really muscular He's just a really beautiful man"

"I'," Stevie practically squeals "Sowhen are you going out?"

The grin I had been sporting as I described Garrett melts off my face "We're not I turned him down"