I. Chapter 2 | Part 1 - Aubree

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Maybe I should have called first to make sure he's even here? Aubree bit her lower lip as she looked up at the apartment building with its twenty-floors and secured entrance. Wouldn't it suck monkey-balls if he was out late with friends or had gone to bed early? It was eleven-thirty-three after all.

Dragging her two heavy, extra large wheeled suitcases to the front doors, she stepped inside the first set of doors and stood before the intercom system. Dialing his three-digit number, she stepped back and waited.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait too long. When he answered, confusion laced his voice.

"Hello?"

"Dan, it's me!" she sang.

There was a pause. "Aubree?"

"Yeah. Wanna let me in?"

A loud buzz answered her as the second door opened.

She wheeled her luggage to the elevators, thankful that one of the three was already there with its door wide open.

She pressed the button labeled 15 for his floor and the door slid closed. The elevator groaned at first in protest before it fell silent and starting climbing. Anticipation filled her despite exhaustion ransacking her body of energy ever since that scare outside of town.

That's behind you now, so let's not think about it again, she coached herself.

She pictured Dan's lean face with the dimple in his chin, high cheekbones, wide forehead, clean-cut dark brown hair that he swept to one side, and deep brown eyes. It had been so long since she last trailed her fingers across his jawline and pressed her lips to his hungry, pink ones.

So long since we last kissed... A small smile crept across her face as she pictured him kissing her deeply with pent up emotions.

Her stomach fluttered happily at the thought and if it weren't for the fact that her luggage weighed a ton, she would have skipped out of the elevator and down the hallway to his apartment.

Alas, she had to use what little strength she had left to tug her belongings to his door at the end of the hallway and knock.

Unfortunately, the huge grin she had been expecting wasn't there.

Her frown matched the one greeting her. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

He ran a hand through his thick hair and cast a sideways glance to his living room. She followed his gaze and wasn't happy with what she saw.

The place wasn't quite a disaster, but it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a few weeks. A few mismatched socks littered the floor, along with dirt lining the corners of the tiled floor in the entry. A T-shirt was draped over a lamp and a pair of boxer briefs were wedged between the cushions of the couch. Crumbs sprinkled along the carpet under the coffee table in front of the flat screen television that had a few dirty dishes and empty take-out containers on it. The carpet itself needed to be steamed clean.

She wrinkled her nose as a musty smell leaked out the door in greeting.

"I was going to clean up tomorrow before you got here," he said.

She arched an unimpressed eyebrow at him but was too tired to make a big deal about it at this point. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on his bed and fall asleep.

Both mentally and physically exhausted, she shrugged, "Whatever," and pushed her way in. "We can deal with it tomorrow. Right now, I'm too tired to care."

He hung his head. "Yeah, sorry. You can take a shower or draw yourself a bath if you want." He brightened a little as he wiggled his brows and added, "Maybe I can join you?"

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