“So if Howie's taking the kids, what are your plans for tonight?” Nick asked.
“I figured I would grab a bite to eat, then after that, who knows,” I laughed.
“You're not going to stay with Howie are you?”
“Nope – my bed will be empty tonight,” I giggled.
“It doesn't have to be,” Nick said as he slid his arm up onto the back of the couch.

Amber View

I looked over at Rhonda and Nick happy that they seemed to have found each other. After all that has happened it was nice to see Rhonda smile and act like her old self again. From the looks on the other guys' faces I could tell that's not what they were thinking. AJ was scowling and the others looked kind of shocked.

Brian seemed to snap out of it first. He walked over and gently pulled Nick aside. “Man I told you before it's not cool to make a move on your friend's wife!”
I let out a loud breath, “I told you before…?” Damn, that meant that Brian knew about Nick and I.
Nick shook his arm from out of Brian's grasp. “Bri, I told you before this time I know what I'm doing. It's not like the kiss between me and Amber. That time it was just a drunken mistake.”
Oh my god, I couldn't believe that he'd said that. I turned to see if AJ had heard. From the look on his face I knew that he had. AJ leapt across the room and grabbed Nick forcefully by the shirt. “YOU FUCKIN' KISSED MY WIFE??!! he yelled as his face turned even redder.

“AJ let him go!” I said rushing over to help Nick who was struggling to break free from his grip.
“YOU GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” he said as he pushed me out of the way.
“That's enough man,” Kevin said stepping in and finally pulling AJ off of Nick. Brian walked over and helped me up off the ground. AJ looked from me to Nick and then stormed out of the room. Kevin, Brian and I ran after him.
Kevin grabbed AJ's arm. “What the hell do you think your doing?”
“What the fuck does it look I'm doing, I'm fuckin' leaving!”
“We're not going to let you leave in this condition,” Brian said helping restrain him. “We know you to well, who knows what you might do if you leave.”
“Who knows what I might do if I stay,” he said looking towards the door he had just stormed from.
“Let him leave,” I said turning around to walk away. Kevin let go of AJ's arm to grab mine. “You're not going anywhere either. You two are gonna work this out.”
“What's to work out she fuckin' kissed one of my friends!”
“I wouldn't have been in the situation to kiss him if you hadn't kissed Amanda!” I yelled right back at him. “I was drunk, what was your excuse?”
“Will you two stop and think about this,” Brian said stepping in between us. “You two have two kids to think about. Now stop the yelling and talk like rational adults.”
“How long have you two been together?” AJ asked staring at me with hurt and anger in his eyes.
“It was only one time, and I swear it was just a kiss.”

Rhonda's View

I stood just stood there. I could tell that Nick wanted to explain what happened between him and Amber but he didn't know where to begin.
“I'm sorry,” he said never once looking me in the eyes. “I didn't...”
“You have nothing to be sorry for Nick. It's not like you were a husband cheating on his wife. We're just friends.”
Nick moved closer to me. “You know that there is more than just a friendship between us,” he said as he tried to take my hand. I turned and began to walk away from him. “Don't leave,” he begged.
I turned around and looked up at him. “Nick – I can't do this right now. After everything that I've been going through with Howie...”
“Tell me that you don't have feelings for me and I'll let you walk away,” he said pulling me close to him. “You can't, can you? You know what I'm feeling and you feel it too.”
“Nick – I don't know what I feel anymore.”
“Tell me that you don't want to be with me – tell me that you haven't thought about us together – tell me that you don't need me as much as I need you.”
“I...I do need you Nick. I just...I just don't know why. I don't want you just to be someone that I turn to get over Howie. You mean more to me than that. You mean more than that to my kids too – they love you.”
“But do you?”
“Do I what?” I asked.
“Yeah – do you love me?” Nick asked, his blue eyes looking deep into my soul.
I looked away hoping that he didn't already find the answer and saw Howie standing by the doorway “I got everything ready to go,” Howie said not being able to look and me or Nick. “Are the kids ready?”
“Um...yeah just give me a minute,” I answered.
“We can finish this later,” Nick said feeling the tension that was now filling the room.

Amber's View

“How I can I trust you? How do I know you haven't been sleeping with him all along,” AJ said walking closer to me, his anger visibly growing with each step. I backed away from him until my back was against the wall.
“AJ!” Brian yelled grabbing him and stopping him from moving any closer to me.
“It was only a kiss AJ,” Nick said stepping out from the doorway and waking down the hall towards us. “That's all it was…a kiss. She's not the one I want.”
“And I'm supposed to believe you because…” AJ said turning to Nick.
“It's true,” Brian said desperately trying to fix the situation. “I've talked to him, Nick has feelings for Rhonda not Amber.”
AJ stiffened up his eyes flashing. “So you're not only fucking with my wife you're fucking with one of my best friends wives?!” He said in a controlled voice that was worse than him screaming. He turned and shaking Brian and Kevin off of him turned to leave.
“AJ…” Nick said starting after.
AJ swung around “Don't fucking come near me! I don't want you anywhere near me, not now…not ever. I quit! I can't be in a group where I can't even trust my own friends. You can all go to hell!” AJ turned once again leaving us all standing in the hallway shocked.

Rhonda's View

I followed Howie out to the van that was taking us back to the hotel. We were almost to the hotel when Howie couldn't take it anymore.
“Is this your way of getting back at me?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You and Nick? How long has it been going on?”
“Howie – Nick and I are just friends.”
“At least when I slept with someone else it wasn't one of your best friends.”
“Nick and I are not sleeping together!”
“Yeah sure.” The van stopped at a light and Howie got out and slammed the door shut. He turned and ran down the street. Nelson, Howie's security guard, got out of the van and chased him down the street.