Light my Fire

"You know that it would be untrue

You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire" Light my Fire by The Doors

After Uriel dropped me off, I text Staci letting her know I was picking up my car and to call me when she woke up. She called me back before I left so I told her I was outside. Once I saw that Mia was passed out in Staci's bed, I filled her in about Uriel.

"He sounds hot." Staci said in between sips of her coffee in the kitchen.

"Pretty much." I smiled, thinking not only about his body and sexy face, but his confidence and straight forwardness. That was very hot and attractive to me.

"You met him last year at your birthday?"

"Yeah, but we didn't start hooking up until recently." I admitted.

She gave me a sly grin. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Had what in me?"

"Date and sleep with different guys at the same time." She smiled.

"I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little part of me that felt like a hoe for sleeping with both of them. My therapist made me realize as long as I'm being honest with others and myself, I'm good." I explained it.

"I agree."

When Mia woke up, I made my exit. I spent the rest of my day coordinating with my family for my backyard party. My brother and dad would be spending the entire Memorial day weekend in town. Bianca and Noelle would be flying in Saturday evening and leaving on a red eye Monday morning. Since my cousin Benjamin's kids went to year round school and they had a break, he decided to make it a road trip. They were going to spend the week at Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park resort in Grapevine, TX.

Brittany was the only one who hadn't given me a definitive response. She messaged me back and said she didn't feel comfortable coming because I didn't invite her mom. I knew Aunt Patty wouldn't come, but I did reach out to invite her. Just like I thought, she declined. Brittany then told Bianca her boyfriend and future baby's father didn't think it was worth the time or money to drive to Dallas for one weekend. Once Bianca offered to fly them out and got them a room at Great Wolf Lodge too, she agreed to come.

I planned the party for the Sunday before Memorial Day. It was more than a month away, but since most of my family was coming, I wanted it to be perfect. I reached out to my friends on Facebook and let them know about the party. Once I had an idea of how many people I invited, I started listing things I still needed to purchase for my backyard. I planned to go shopping with Rocky next weekend at Pier One for the fun stuff like a new patio table, chairs, dining set, and decorative pieces. Richard also helped me pick out a grill. He got me a great deal from a manufacturer who was having it delivered to my house for free.

At work, I was thrilled when Dr.Tran offered Q the position. Q accepted, but I was surprised when I discovered he would be on the opening shift. Q explained how he preferred to get off early and negotiated for it. When I talked to Dr. Fahri, he advised me that another therapist, Dr. Tony Goodman, would be moving to the evening shift. I worked with him briefly during my training and he had been with the fitness center since he was an intern. Disappointment aside, Tony was a good therapist and I was happy Q was joining us.

Friday morning, my grill was delivered in a big box. When I reached out to Richard to tell him it arrived, he said he'd get in touch with me to put it together. To exaggerate my eagerness and helplessness, I posted a short video of the grill in the box and how I was putting it together by myself. I ended the video saying if I set myself or the house on fire, I loved everyone... And it was Richard's fault for not helping me.

An hour later, Richard responded with a comment that stated:

RIP. If only you waited until Tuesday, I could have helped and saved your life. 

I laughed and pushed the grill in my garage. On Saturday, I got a call from Ethan.

"Are you home?" He asked me.

"Yep. What's up?"

"I'll be over in 15 minutes to help you with your grill." He directed me.

"No. You don't have to. I'm good." I replied.

"Burning down your house and setting yourself on fire is good?"

I laughed. "No, I didn't even open it. Richard is going to help me on Tuesday."

"Or I can help and you can grill today."

My impatience got the best of me and he was already on the way so I agreed. I hurried to my room, looking over my track pants and t-shirt. I stopped myself as I considered putting on something cuter and less casual. It was just Ethan: he wouldn't care. I had my hair up in a bouncy ponytail by the time I heard my doorbell ring.

Justine and I raced to the door to let Ethan in. He turned down my help, easily carrying a grocery bag and a bag of charcoal in his arms as Justine ran around him. Once he put the bags down in the kitchen, he pulled out the same brand of snacks I bought for Justine. They were supposed to be good for teeth and Justine loved them. She begged for it excitedly, but Ethan wouldn't give it to her until she calmed down and sat. I smiled watching them, surprised when she finally did listen to Ethan's firm demands. Ethan rewarded her with her treat and a rub down.

"Where's the grill?" He asked me.

"Garage." I said as I started to empty his shopping bag.

"Hotdogs and hamburgers?" I frowned up as he returned with the grill, pushing it across the floor.

"Yes."

"I'm trying to be a grill master in time for my party. I need to learn how to grill ribs and brisket and a whole pig." I said as I put the food away.

"A whole pig?"

"Yes. Like luau style with an apple in it's mouth."

"I'm pretty sure those are cooked on the ground. Besides, you have to walk before you run." He said, continuing to push the box through the kitchen. "Walk with hamburgers." He lectured me.

I turned away to open the door to the backyard for him. "I can walk already."

"If you could walk, you would know you don't grill ribs or brisket, you barbecue them." He said, lifting up the box to get it through the door. I couldn't help but notice the muscles in his arms flexing under his shirt as he lifted the box up.

"What's the difference between barbecuing and grilling?" I said, focusing on his face.

He set the grill down on the deck. "Let's get this together and I'll show you."

After I grabbed my speaker and tools, I followed him closing the door behind me to keep Justine inside. I was connecting my speaker to my phone so I could put together a kid-and-my-dad-friendly playlist for the party. I stopped when I saw him reading through the instruction manual.

"Will music distract you?" I asked, remembering how he requested I turn it off when we put a chocolate fountain together a couple years ago.

"No. I learned to tune out your background noise."

"Music is life, not background noise. I can accomplish anything if the right song is playing." I stated.

He looked up at me. "We'll see. Turn it on and grab the Phillips head screwdriver."

I put on a shuffle of all my playlist before we got started. I assisted Ethan and together we had it fixed in no time. When it came to actually using it, he let me take the reins and supervised. While I started the fire, he explained the difference between grilling with direct heat and barbecuing low and slow with indirect heat. After I put the hamburgers on the grill, I went back inside to check on Justine. I grabbed a couple of beers on the way back.

When I came back out, Sweat by Inner Circle was playing. I love the song and I haven't heard it in forever. I handed Ethan his beer before I went over to save the song to my backyard party playlist. I opened my beer and took a sip. I closed my eyes, savoring the cold beer as I swayed to the music.

Ethan cleared his throat and I looked over at him as he watched me. "You should be checking your burgers grill master."

I grinned, sheepishly. "They're fine. You like yours well done right?"

He shook his head with a half smile. "No. Medium."

"Medium, coming right up." I grabbed the spatula and went over to the grill. I flipped the burgers over and Ethan joined me to put the hotdogs on.

"Do you remember how to check the doneness of the meat?" He asked me.

My fingers clutched the spatula, nervously as I remembered what he taught me a few 4th of Julys ago. He stroked my face, describing how each different temperatures should feel right before he kissed me. The memories of the flames that ignited between us when his lips and body pressed against mine felt like it happened yesterday instead of years ago.

"Yeah... I remember." I croaked out.

"Go ahead and test it." Ethan instructed me, moving closer to the grill and me.

I shifted away from him and closer to the grill. The open flame was a safer choice for me. I touched a patty gently. "Rare."

"Good. They should be done at the same time as the hotdogs." He told me, taking a step back from the grill.

"Good." I repeated as I exhaled deeply, not even realizing I was holding my breath.

Once we got the meat off the grill, we went inside to eat. I offered him another drink, courtesy of my makeshift bar. He declined and I fixed myself a drink and poured him a lemonade. As he fixed our plates, I explained why I had so much alcohol. I didn't reach out to Sammy to pick them up but she hadn't tried picking it up either. Ethan said Corey mentioned something about her shooting videos at his place, and I asked if EJ was still taking drum lessons.

Ethan told me not every week as Corey schedule was full and EJ was focused on his tryout for the club basketball team Jayden was on. He explained how EJ already had great endurance and speed thanks to his years of playing soccer, but they've been working on his skills like dribbling and shooting every night. I smiled as I imagined them training together and chalked that up to why I was noticing Ethan's solid, lean built more than I normally do. I asked him to let me know as soon as he knew if EJ made the team.

We ate at the kitchen table, turning on the Maverick's first playoff game in the living room. Due to Uriel's many post and threads, I knew they were playing Oklahoma in Durant. Ethan and I agreed that the Mavericks probably wouldn't go very far in the playoffs. Ethan even said he would be surprised if they forced a game 7 with Oklahoma.

"I thought you liked the Mavericks." I smiled at him.

"I like Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle. They don't have the talent to make it to a finals this year." He predicted.

"I know. It's all about the super teams now. I will never respect LeBron James for starting that."

"There were super teams before Miami. How do you think the Lakers got so many championships?" He argued.

"Kobe was outta high school when he was traded to the Lakers. It wasn't like he was a future hall of famer like the big three."

"Wilt Chamberlain was. So were Elgin Baylor and Jerry West." Ethan pointed out.

"That was before my time." I stated, refusing to admit defeat.

Ethan just smirked at me. "Lebron went back to Cleveland. No respect for that?"

"Nope. Every time I start to like him, I picture him taking his talents to Miami, dancing around, saying they're getting multiple championships before they even played a game together."

Ethan smiled. "That was a little premature."

"More like immature."

"That too."

After we ate, we retired to the living room to watch the rest of the game. I sent a text to Uriel, playfully taunting how bad the Mavs looked. By the second half, he responded back.

Uriel: Do you want to get together after the game?

Me: Do you really need to see the rest of the game? The Mavs are taking a L.

Uriel: Is that a yes or no?

I didn't respond because I was full, on my second drink and was still hanging out with Ethan. I didn't know how I would feel after the game. By the third quarter, Oklahoma was so far ahead, Ethan offered to help me clean before he left.

"No. I got it. You did enough already. Thank you for everything." I said, stretching as I stood up.

"You're welcome. We can level up to ribs next time." He promised, reaching over to give me a hug.

I laughed and as I hugged him back. "Absolutely, then a whole pig."

"Good night."

"Night."

I cleaned up as I watched the end of the 3rd quarter. At the beginning of the 4th, I decided I wanted to see Uriel. I text him to give me a call when he was home. He text me back to give him my address so he could come see me. I text it to him before going to my room. I watched the rest of the game as I changed the sheets on my bed. There was still a few minutes on the game clock when my doorbell rang.

I went to open it and let Uriel in. He was wearing a Maverick tee, jeans and his hair pushed back with a Dallas headband. Justine was all over him, jumping up on his legs and sniffing at him.

"I'm sorry. That was a tough loss." I told him, with a fake pout.

"It's the best out of 7." He said, side stepping Justine to pull me in for a kiss.

"Yep. Mavs will probably get swept in four though." I predicted, with a grin. He stiffened and pulled back to look down at me.

"Why would you say that? Oklahoma would have to beat us in Dallas twice. They don't play as well on the road." He frowned at me.

"Um... If Mavs keep playing like they did tonight, they will get swept no matter where they play." I explained when I saw how upset he got.

"We won't." He stated gruffly, before leaning in closer again. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

"I barbequ- no, I grilled today." I smiled as I thought about Ethan educating me on the difference. I pulled away from him. "Do you want something to eat while I shower?"

"I rather watch you shower." He said, tugging on my t-shirt.

I smiled. "Ok. C'mon."

I left Justine out in the living room and we had an amazing time in the shower together. Or an amazing time in the bathroom together. I tried to entice him into joining me in the shower as I undressed and got in. He truly just watched through the glass door as I lathered my entire body and rinsed off. There was something erotic about him watching me. Once I was done, he sat me on my bathroom counter, placed a condom on and plunged into me.

When we finished, I grabbed a towel to wrap around my body when he pulled away.

I smiled at his damp clothes. "I cleaned your sweats if you want them back."

"That's alright. Keep them. I'm going to shower when I get home anyway." He said, pulling up his pants.

"Oh. You know you can stay." I tightened the towel around my body as I stood.

"I have an early morning."

I walked him to the door. After a goodnight kiss, I took another shower, moisturized my skin and blow dried my hair before going to bed.

Sunday, Rocky and I headed to the store to shop for my backyard. We both loved Pier One. After selecting a long outdoor patio table and chairs, we walked around the store multiple times picking out cute dinnerware sets, cushions, pitchers, ice bucket and pillows that fit into my tropical oasis theme backyard. While we were in line, I noticed Rocky wincing in pain.

"Are you ok? Do you need to sit down?" I asked, rubbing her arm.

"No. I'm okay." She breathed deep. "It feels better when I'm moving around."

"Ok." I said as I studied her carefully. I wanted to check out Wal-Mart for insect repellent, but I held off to take Rocky home. I stayed to monitor her, but she seemed ok after a few hours. I left and stopped at Wal-Mart before I got home. I bought a folding picnic table with benches that I thought would be perfect for all the kids.

Richard came over Tuesday to discover the grill was put together. I heated him up some food and we sat outside and caught up. The next week, Uriel and I continued hooking up whenever we had time. Mostly it was him texting me to invite me over. If I hadn't heard from him, I would text and we would make plans when he was available. Other than making plans to hook up, we really didn't talk much. I definitely didn't bring up the Maverick's poor performance. Out of the 3 games they played, they only won one by one point. The other two were landslide victories. It wasn't a sweep like I predicted, but it was bad. The potential last game was in Oklahoma, but there was going to be a huge watching party at American Airlines Arena Tuesday night for game 5. Monica invited me and I made plans to go with my friends. I posted about it on my Facebook.

Q had his last day at his job and he invited me out to say goodbye to his former co-workers and celebrate his new job Friday night. Staci and Mia tagged along with me. As soon as I introduced Mia to Q, she immediately started complimenting and flirting with him.

"Where's your girlfriend Q?" I asked, blatantly.

"Who?" He said, amused.

"The girl that worked at Twin Peaks?" I reminded him.

"She worked at Twin Peaks. You thought that was going to be forever?" Q said with a laugh.

"That's messed up." Mia laughed with him.

"Maybe. But you girls do the same thing." Robbie accused us girls.

"I don't. My boyfriend is a bartender." Heather exclaimed.

"His job is the last thing I judge a guy on." I added.

"Aren't you dating some music guy?" Steven asked me.

"No!" I denied, vehemently.

"The guy she's dating does drive a Mercedes-Benz." Staci grinned at me.

"How do you even know that?" My eyes widen at her.

"I saw it when he dropped you off." Staci teased me.

"What are we talking about?" Jordan asked, joining us at the table.

"Q. Even though he's not joining my team, I'm still excited to be working with you again." I toasted with a grin. We all toasted and cheered.

Jordan and I caught up. She told me all about her engagement party in Fort Worth that Blake's parents were planning for them. It was going to be a small, intimate gathering for friends and family and she wanted me to come.

"I mean, you kinda introduced us." Jordan gushed. She chatted on and on about it until she froze, staring at the door. I looked over to see Derek, my former boss and her ex-boyfriend.

"You ok?" I asked her.

"Yes. I'm fine. I assumed he wouldn't be able to come out." She took a sip of her drink, watching him from her peripheral vision. He eventually made his way over to us and I greeted him, sincerely happy to see him. Jordan was polite and asked him about his work. Derek said it was going great and offered her congratulations on her engagement and a drink at the bar.

I let them go to the bar, honestly impressed how cordial and kind they were to each other. It was refreshing. While I was checking my phone to see if it was too early to duck out, Ethan sat next to me in the booth.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I gave him a smile and a hug.

"Pawning off a few projects." He nodded over to the bar.  Daniel was here too, arm around Staci as they talked to each other animatedly.

I thought about it then smiled. "He bribed you to come with him so he could see Staci?"

Ethan just smirked.

"Wow. Why doesn't he just admit he likes her? She's convinced he just wants to hook up." I pondered out loud.

"He claims once he commits that's it for him. He won't do that until he's sure he found the right person." Ethan explained.

I nodded. "I actually respect that a lot."

"Are you doing the same?"

"More like I'm trying to figure out what I want before I'm ready for a relationship at all."

"Can I ask what happened between you and that guy you were dating?" Ethan asked.

He had to be talking about Christian. "Um, we were getting to know each other and I realized I didn't really like him that much and stopped dating him." I replied, dying for a subject change. I wanted to forget dating Christian.

"What didn't you like about him?" He probed.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What didn't you like about Serena?"

"I liked her; I just didn't feel passionate about her. Someone told me how important that was." Ethan explained.

"Please don't take relationship advice from me. I'm the last person you should listen to." I chuckled humorlessly.

"You were right. Remember when you asked me when was the last time I felt passion?" Ethan asked, grabbing my hand. I looked up at him. "It wasn't Serena. She deserves someone that feels that way about her." Ethan confessed.

I shook my head and look down. "No. You were right. Compatibility is more important. Passion can burn out." I conceded.

He stroked my fingers, absentmindedly, as he asked. "What about both?"

I gazed at our hands together before I peaked up at him. I found him staring at me intently. I stared back into his deep brown eyes, my stomach churning with anxiety or nerves, I wasn't sure which one.

His lips parted to speak when my phone went off. I would have ignored it, if his phone didn't go off at the exact same time. We both pulled our hands apart to get our phone.

Brandon: Rocky went into labor. Medical City in Lewisville

Ethan and my eyes met once more before we both got up to leave the bar.