Out Of The Friend Zone (12 page)

Nico stomped over to Brynn and pushed her up against the wall. He grabbed her wrists and slammed them against the wall, over her head. It happened so fast that Brynn didn't have time to react.

But she did have time to get a good look at his eyes. They looked strange...wide, with his pupils dilated...and Brynn realized with horror that he might actually be on something. He might actually be high.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, now more shocked than angry.

"I know you want me to touch you again," Nico hissed. "You miss the feel of my skin against yours."

"Let go of me right now!"

"You miss the feel of me inside of you," Nico said as he ground his hips into hers.

"Nico! Stop it! You're hurting me!"

"Then stop resisting me bitch, and let me make it feel good," Nico whispered in her ear.

"Get away from me!" Brynn screamed.

Nico put his mouth onto hers, kissing her hard. Brynn could feel his erection growing in his jeans as he pressed against her. When he shoved his tongue into her mouth, Brynn bit down hard, breaking through the skin. She could taste his blood in her mouth as she felt the bile rise up her throat.

He was stunned by the bite. He roared in anger and spun away from her, his hands going to his mouth. He turned and glared at her, a look that promised revenge.

Just before he could come back at Brynn, the back door flew open. Chandler charged in, called to the rescue by Brynn's wild scream. He looked at the two of them, at Brynn's look of shock and at Nico's look of fury, and sized the situation up in an instant. He put his body between Nico and Brynn. "I think you need to leave," Chandler told Nico.

Nico rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "And who are you?"

"I'm her boyfriend, and if you don't get the fuck out of here, there's going to be problems," Chandler warned.

Nico laughed. There was blood on his lip. "And I should be afraid?"

"Yeah, you should, you little bastard. She's moved on and doesn't want you in her life anymore. Don't make me hurt you, and don't make me get the police involved," Chandler said. He took a step toward Nico. "I think you especially don't want them called right now, considering that your eyes look like you're tweaked out on something that is bound to be illegal."

Nico just looked at the two of them. "The little slut isn't worth it," he declared. "She never was good in bed, so I had to find other women to satisfy me. Take her, she's yours. Don't come begging me to take her off your hands when she can't please you either," Nico spat, and walked out.

Chandler waited until he heard the sound of Nico's engine, then he turned to Brynn. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you."

"Are you sure?"

"He...my God, what was that? What was he on?"

"I don't know."

"Should we call the police? No...he would just lie..."

The shock finally hit her full force, and with it came a righteous anger. She lashed out at the most convenient target. "How nice, almost raped by my ex-husband, saved by the man who can't stand me."

Brynn slid down the wall and sank to the floor.

"Brynn, don't say that I can't stand you! You're too important to me," Chandler told her, kneeling down so that he could look into her eyes. "I was so scared when I heard you scream. I was terrified that something had happened to you. I don't want to lose you Brynn."

"Hard to lose me if you don't actually have me," she pouted.

"I want to have you. I want to be your boyfriend."

She blinked up at him. "You do?"

"I'm sorry for running out on you the other night. I just needed to sort some things out. I'm still not sure about everything, but I want to see where this thing between us leads," Chandler told her.

Brynn gave him a shaky smile. "Well, I guess we could give it a shot."

"I hope so...I finally feel like a knight in shining armor," he teased.

"You are," she said in all seriousness, and then burst into tears.

Chandler wrapped his arms around her as she shook and sobbed in the aftermath of what her ex-husband had tried to do. He simply held her until the tears ran out, not sure what to say, not sure that he needed to say anything at all.

When the tears were over, Chandler stood up and pulled her up with him. She finally realized that he was wearing his Yankees hat. She wiped her tears and gave him a brave smile. "Hey, you better get going. The game starts soon."

"Well, I can't go yet. You haven't put your jersey on," Chandler told her.

Brynn just looked at him, confused.

"Brynn, did you think I would leave you here? You and Barrett are coming with us. Grab his jersey, and put yours on, and let's go!"

"Are you sure?" Brynn asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes, now hurry up or we'll miss the beginning. We still have an hour's drive ahead of us!"

Brynn gave him a tentative smile. "So we're okay...?"

"We are more than okay," he said, stepping close to her and kissing her lips. Nico might have repulsed her, but this kiss - ah, this one made her head swim and her heart pound.

It was over far too soon as Chandler pulled away, grinned and turned her toward the stairs. "Jerseys," he reminded her.

Brynn ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She threw hers over her head, and tossed Barrett's on her shoulder. She raced downstairs where Chandler was waiting for her.

Chandler was waiting for her!

She charged down the steps, feeling entirely renewed, all the insanity of Nico forgotten. When she got to the last two steps, she leaped off and jumped into Chandler's arms.

Chandler twirled her around as their lips met in another steamy kiss. "We better go before the kids come looking for us."

Brynn nodded. "Thank you."

"Huh?"

"Thanks. For giving me another chance with my knight in shining armor."

"You mean, your knight in a Yankees cap?"

She gave him a dazzling smile.

"It was my pleasure. Now let's go!" Chandler said, as he grabbed her hand and took her out the door.

T
he group managed to get to the baseball game with plenty of time to spare before the first pitch was thrown. Barrett and Willow were both so excited to be at their first major league baseball game. Their little eyes took in everything that the stadium had to offer as they looked around in awe.

Brynn led them to their seats, in the first section on the third base line, only about 15 rows up from the field. Chandler was impressed with how great the seats were. Barrett and Willow acted like it was Christmas for them. As they sat down, they chattered on excitedly about all the players they saw on the field warming up.

"Well, I think you are Willow's new hero. She'll never forget this birthday," Chandler said with a smile. "How did you manage to get such great seats? They must have cost a fortune!"

"Well, one of my clients owns these seats, and he gave them to me for a really great deal. I'm glad Willow is enjoying herself. I just wanted to do something special for her. She has been a Godsend to Barrett. I thought he was going to take our move hard, but Willow sort of cushioned the blow for him," Brynn shrugged, smiling down at the excited little girl. "Their friendship has made it a lot easier on both of us. Besides, Willow is such a sweet girl, and I just love her. You have done a good job raising her. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, she did turn out pretty well," Chandler laughed. He was proud of his daughter, even though she was only eight. She came through a tough time in life with so few scars. He wished he could say the same for himself. "Well, I know I appreciate the tickets, and Willow does too. So, thank you."

"Trust me, it's the least I could do," Brynn said, with a smile. "Speaking of heroes, I may be Willow's, but you're definitely mine." Brynn looked down at her hands. She didn't want to think about what had happened in her house earlier. She was still completely confused and a little scared. "Thank you again for getting Nico away from me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come in when you did." She shook her head, feeling cold even in the warmth of the hot sun. "What if Barrett had walked in, and saw what his father was doing?"

"Well, I'm glad I got there when I did." He picked up her hand and kissed it, then entwined their fingers, resting both hands on the arm rest between their seats. They sat there silently, just enjoying the time they were all spending together. The parents listened to Barrett and Willow talking about how when they got older, they were going to be out on that field too.

Soon after, a voice came through the loud speaker, asking everyone to rise for the National Anthem. Everybody stood and removed their baseball caps. Willow and Barrett sang along loudly as the 'Star Spangled Banner' played throughout the stadium. After that, the first pitch was thrown, signifying the start of the game.

By the seventh inning stretch, the Yanks were ties with their opponents 4-4. It was a great game all around, and even Chandler had started rooting for the Yankees. 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' began playing, and Barrett and Willow got up from their seats and started dancing around, singing the song.

Once it was done, Brynn grabbed Willow and told her to look up at the Jumbo-tron.

Willow looked up and saw her picture on the screen for the whole crowd to see. 'Happy 8th Birthday, Willow!' flashed across the screen. She waved shyly at the camera that was displaying her picture. Barrett noticed that when she waved, it showed her waving on the screen. So, he jumped in front of her, hoping to get his picture up there too. As soon as he got in front of her, his picture flashed up there and was gone a second later.

"That's what you get for hot-doggin'!" Brynn told a disappointed Barrett, laughing hard.

"Dad, that was so cool! Did you see me up on that big TV screen? How did they know it was my birthday? Do you think any of the kids from school saw me?" Willow asked excitedly, rapidly shooting one question after the other.

"I saw you up there, Willow. Brynn told them it was your birthday and asked them to help you celebrate it. I'm sure if any of your friends are watching, they saw it," Chandler told her.

"Thank you so much, Brynn!" Willow shouted, as she threw her arms around Brynn's neck to give her a big hug. "This has been the coolest birthday ever!"

"You're welcome, sweetie. I hope you enjoyed your day," Brynn told her.

"It's not over yet, kiddo. I have a little surprise up my sleeve for after the game," Chandler told Willow. He looked over at Brynn and winked.

The game resumed, and the Yankees ended up winning 6-4. The kids were so excited that their favorite team won, and they immediately started chattering about coming back for another game. Chandler led them out of the stands, but instead of taking them out to the parking lot, he brought them to one of the security centers. He spoke to one of the guys there, and waited for a few minutes while the guy made some calls.

"What are we waiting for, Mom?" Barrett asked Brynn.

"I'm not sure, Barrett. I have no idea," she said.

Chandler turned around with a big smile on his face. "Come on," he said to them, as he followed a security officer through a hallway and some doors.

"Chandler, are you going to tell us where we're going?" Brynn asked, getting a little nervous.

"You'll all see when we get there. You aren't the only one with surprises today," he said with a smirk.

After walking through a few underground tunnels, they reached their destination. The security officer went into a room, leaving the four of them outside to wait. The door that the officer went through opened again, but instead of it being the guy who went in just a few minutes ago, it was someone else.

"Oh my God! It's Mike Mussina!" Barrett yelled.

Brynn stood there in shock. Chandler shook the pitcher's hand. "Great game tonight, Moose!"

"Thanks, Chandler. It's been a while. How've you been?" Mike asked Chandler.

"I've been doing pretty well actually. Not as good as you obviously," Chandler said with a smile. He looked down to Willow and said, "Hey Willow, you remember Uncle Mikey?"

Willow nodded shyly.

"Uncle Mikey?" Brynn gasped.

"Oh, sorry. Mike, this is Brynn, my..." Chandler looked unsure of what to say. "...Friend and neighbor. Brynn, this is Mike "Moose" Mussina."

Brynn was still stunned. "Nice to meet you," she said, as she shook his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, flashing a thousand-watt smile. "So, what's a beautiful woman like you doing associating with a chump like Chandler?"

Brynn giggled like a school girl.

"This is Brynn's son, Barrett," Chandler told Mike, as he pointed to the little boy who had been in awe since he first saw Moose standing in front of him.

"Nice to meet you, little man," Mike said, after he finally tore his eyes from Brynn. He shook the little boy's hand, and looked back to Brynn.

"So, you're married?" he asked her directly.

"No, divorced," Brynn told him.

"Interesting..." Mike said, nodding his head. He grinned at Brynn. Caught up in the moment, she grinned right back.