Maybe she'd met up with Griffin, to congratulate him on his big event. But, it just as easily could have been somebody else that she'd hooked up with. Anna and Griffin had a weird relationship. When they were together, they were inseparable-all hands and tongues and, ugh, grinding. But when they were apart from each other...well, you'd never even suspect that they were involved. They were very open to being with other people. It was odd to me, but it seemed to work for them so I didn't say much about it.

When Anna's bright voice sounded a greeting, I immediately hoped Kellan wasn't in his boxers. I even looked around the ground to see if his clothes were still on my floor. Luckily, they weren't. While he and Anna only ever acted friendly around each other, I didn't need my sister ogling him anymore than she already did. Physically, she'd kept her distance once she found out that we were involved, but like any fine piece of art, her eyes lingered on Kellan, appreciating the masterpiece before them. I understood. I appreciated him daily.

"Hey, Kellan, good morning."

"Mornin', Anna. You're out late...or early."

Kellan laughed as Anna sighed, a heavy bag clunking to the floor. "Yeah, went to Pete's. Ran into the guys."

Kellan chuckled lightly, probably surmising what I had earlier, that she'd been entertained by Griffin until the wee hours of the morning. It hurt my stomach a little to think about what they'd probably been doing, and as I forcefully made my sluggish body stand up, I tried not to.

Anna laughed huskily while I grabbed some lounge pants out of my dresser, quickly throwing them on my nak*d body. "I heard you guys did great at your big show." Anna sighed forlornly. "I'm sorry I had to miss it."

Seeming like it made no difference to him, Kellan replied with, "It was just a show, nothing you haven't seen before. Don't worry about it."

I shook my head as I threw on a thin, comfortable shirt. Just another show? He was so casual about the whole thing. I knew that it had meant something to him, though. It had excited him, invigorated him. I'd seen it when he'd shoved me against the door last night. I bit my lip at that thought and quickly ran my fingers through my thick hair a few times, eager to see the passionate man again.

Stealthily walking out of my room, I immediately saw Anna and Kellan in the kitchen. He was leaning back against the counter, facing me, his arms crossed over his chest as he carried on a quiet conversation with my sister. She had her back to me, her long, luxuriously shiny hair ridiculously perfect for the early hour.

Watching them, I tilted my head. If my sister had had her way last year, the two of them would have ended up together and I'd be walking up on a couple, instead of a couple of friends. As his lips curved into a small smile while he spoke softly-his hair a distractingly charming mess-I could easily picture them as the gorgeous pairing they would have been.

Raising my chin, I inhaled a big breath. That wasn't what happened, though. He'd never touched her. My sister had no idea what his lips felt like, what he tasted like, what his fingers felt like, what he sounded like when he was making love. She'd never heard him say I love you. But I had...repeatedly.

That confidence pushing aside my lingering insecurities, I meandered into the kitchen. They both twisted to look at me when I stepped into the small room. Kellan's small smile for her turned into a wide one for me, his deep eyes brightening.

He smiled down at me as I slung my arms around his waist. "Mornin', sleepy," he breathed, kissing my head.

Exhaling contently, I buried my head in his neck. "Good morning."

My sister sighed. "God, you two are adorable." Smacking my arm, she rolled her eyes. "It's annoying."

I smiled, laughing a little. "Good morning, Anna. Late night?"

Grinning devilishly, she bit her perfect, red lip and cocked an eyebrow just as expertly as Kellan could. "Oh, yes." Her finger shifted between the two of us. "And I can guarantee you it wasn't as cutesy as your night."

I flushed and looked away from her and she laughed, her voice throaty and seductive in a way that mine never would be. Kellan laughed with her, squeezing me tighter. "I wouldn't say our night was cute, Anna."

I flashed my eyes up to Kellan and smacked his chest, my face reddening even more. While Kellan's and my love life might be a bit tamer than he was used to, and my sister for that matter, I didn't need him chatting about it. Grinning down at me, he said nothing further and I relaxed. Kellan wasn't exactly an open book, and he generally didn't talk about his life much. Thankfully, that included our sex life.

Anna snorted and I looked back at her. Her face in a playful grin, she said, "I know." She poked my shoulder. "I know how hot you guys can get." My jaw dropped and my face paled. She laughed and jerked her thumb towards the hallway. "My bedroom is only one room away from yours, Kiera." Raising her eyebrows, she leaned in and muttered, "Maybe the two of you could remember that in the future?"

I covered my face with my hand and twisted into Kellan's body. God, sometimes I did forget. Being with Kellan could just be so...consuming. Chuckling as he held me close, rubbing my back, Kellan causally answered her. "We'll try and keep that in mind, Anna. Thanks."

Laughing, Anna rubbed my shoulder. "I'm just teasing you, Kiera. Go ahead and scream away, I don't mind." As I peeked at her from between my fingers, I watched her eyes rake over Kellan's body. "Lord knows I would," she murmured.

Kellan chuckled again, shaking his head before kissing mine again. Winking at him, she patted my arm again. "Well, I'm off to bed. I'm beat."

Twisting away from us, she started sashaying back to her room. The tight pants she had on emphasized the curve of her hips. Anna was definitely beautiful and provocative. Sometimes it was hard to live with her never-ending perfection, but she was family, and she'd swooped into my life when I'd needed her the most. She'd helped me get back on my feet when both men in my life had dumped me. She'd helped me find a place to live when I'd had nowhere to go. She'd helped me heal my shattered heart when I was sure I couldn't. She'd even helped Kellan and I get back together. No, whatever her eccentricities, I loved her.

I was smiling and shaking my head at her when she tossed back, "I'll be out like a light if you guys want to go at it again?"

I sighed as Kellan laughed. Pulling back to look at him, I smacked his chest again. "Would you stop encouraging her?" He smiled, still chuckling and I sighed again. "I wish the two of you had a better hobby than trying to embarrass me."

Twisting me around to face him, he placed a tender kiss on my forehead. "Well, you wouldn't have to worry about it at my place." Rocking my h*ps back and forth, our bodies touching and retreating enticingly, he added, "Maybe I'll just embarrass you back to my home?"

Raising an eyebrow, he grinned crookedly at me. I wanted to smack him again, but that look was too damn sexy. I ended up kissing him instead, which, of course, made him chuckle.

Kellan stayed with me all afternoon, helping me go over everything and anything that had to do with school. I was starting my last year soon. I had everything ready to go, all my classes lined up, all my books purchased, but going over my plan helped me to not feel so nervous about it.

I don't know why I was still nervous about the first day of school. You would think that after sixteen grades, I'd be used to it by now, but I wasn't. That first day of school phobia had even made me delay starting college after high school.

My mom and dad had been furious about that, but I'd just been too nervous to do it. My mom had been going through a small cancer scare at the time, a small lump found that she'd had to have removed. Even though they'd protested, I'd taken the opportunity to stay home with her while she went through treatments. She hated me missing school, but it worked out for me. I got to take care of her and delay doing something that terrified my eighteen-year-old self.

She was one hundred percent better long before the school year was up, and begged me to quit wasting my time with her and enter late. I'd already deferred for a year, though, so I took all the time I could.

I may have delayed for another year, but eventually Anna had had enough and had marched me down to the office after my year hiatus and forced me to get registered at the school I'd already been accepted to-Ohio University. And of course, once I was there I was fine. It was getting through the door that was the hard part for me. I was working on that too.

But I suppose my delay had ended up being a good thing. I probably wouldn't have met Denny if I hadn't taken that year to lounge around my parents' place. And then, if I'd never met Denny, I definitely wouldn't have ever met Kellan. Even though I hated how we started, how much we'd hurt Denny, who was an incredibly good guy who really didn't deserve everything we'd put him through, I was still grateful that fate had led me to Seattle, to Kellan.

Kellan thought my nerves were cute. He didn't seem to get nervous about much of anything. He could probably walk into the first day of school, thirty minutes late, completely nak*d, and be absolutely fine. I smiled to myself as I reconsidered. No, people and places may not affect him, but feelings did. Telling me that he loved me for the first time had sure scared him, probably worse than all of my first day jitters combined.

Well, it was nice to know that he wasn't impervious to nerves.

I was majoring in English this year, a fact that Kellan teased me about. He seemed to think I'd be better suited for Psychology. Personally, I think that was because he wanted me to take another class like my Human Sexuality course last year. He was sort of incorrigible when it came to the baser instincts. Not that I had much room to talk, at least, not when it came to him. I just couldn't stop myself from wanting to be all over him whenever he was near.

After a full day of helping me map out everything, right down to which path I needed to walk through in the quad, it was finally time for me to go to work.

Smiling as we walked through the apartment's parking lot, I started to grab the keys from his hand. "Can I drive?" I asked playfully, walking backwards in front of him as I tried to jiggle the keys out of the death-grip he had around them.

Scowling wonderfully, he shook his head and jerked his hand away. "No, you cannot."

Stopping and putting my hands on my h*ps as he walked past me, I stuck my lip out. "Why not?"

He took two steps and then stopped and walked back to me. His mouth was instantly sucking on my pouting lip. I was instantly no longer pouting. Against my skin, he murmured, "Because...that is my baby, and I don't share her." He growled that to me and my breath quickened.

"I thought I was your baby," I managed to squeak out.

Smiling, he grabbed my h*ps and pulled me into his. "You are." His lips returned to mine, his kiss deep, territorial almost. When I felt that familiar fire starting to ignite, when I was ready to yank off that bothersome t-shirt and glorify his body with my tongue, he broke apart from me and breathed, "And I don't share you either."

As my body was a delightful, gooey warmth of sensuality, I could have melted right there into the sidewalk. He laughed and finished pulling me to the car. I-quite happily-scooted into the passenger's side.

Still smiling over his declaration of possession, it wasn't too much later that we arrived at my second home here in Seattle. Well, third truly. Kellan's place will always feel like home to me. Even with all of the bad memories that lingered there.