17 Nights

Ava woke up to the unfamiliar feeling of someone's arms wrapped tightly around her thin waist. She wondered if had come home drunk again, but then everything that happened last night hit her: the game, the Rangers loosing, seeing Marc and Francesca hugging intimately, her and Marc arguing and then finally them ending up in bed together.

A content smile graced her face and she muffled her squeal with her pillow. Turning slowly to her right, she smiled even wider seeing Marc's sleeping face. He seemed peacefully sleeping as he mumbled here and there incoherent things.

Ava moved a piece of hair from his face and smiled contently. Last night was amazing; Marc was probably the best person she'd ever slept with. The guys she usually slept with, their actions seemed arrogant and it was all about them. With Marc it was different, like she was the only thing in the world he wanted to please, like every touch, every kiss, was meant to make her happy.

"What are you doing?" Marc whispered, his eyes still closed.

Ava smiled sheepishly and kissed him on the cheek. "Just looking at the really cute ginger in my bed," she joked.

Marc laughed lightly and opened his eyes. Ava stared at him with a sultry look on her face. He grabbed her waist and placed her upper half on top of him. Ava squealed and laughed loudly, her long blonde hair cascading down her face hitting his bare chest.

"What a nice way to wake up," he stated and began to kiss her neck tenderly; his hands made its way to her breasts and massaged it.

Ava moaned not wanting to ruin the moment, but what happened last night and what it was supposed to mean bugged her. "You know we have to talk about this," she breathed and closed her eyes.

Groaning, Marc stopped kissing her neck, his hands stopping at the same time. "Major cockblock babe," he said and kissed her cheek.

Ava got out of his grip and sat beside him, covering her body with a thin blanket. "What, you expected me not to mention what happened last night? We had sex, we didn't make up yet," she informed him and looked at him.

Marc sat up and wrapped his arms around her. "Her name's Francesca. She's my brother girlfriend and yes I do like her," he confessed.

Looking down, Ava drew circles on the blanket. She didn't know what to say to him, she was right, he did like her. But she knew Marc liked Francesca more than he let on. It was just the way he looked when he was with her, content.

"But when I'm with you, I forget all about her and its just you," he added.

Ava looked up at him surprised, he had a smile, and there was nothing on his face that could tell he was lying about what he said. She smiled slightly, for now content with his answer. She climbed on top of him slowly and began to kiss his neck. "Then I plan to make you forget about her completely," she whispered in between kisses, earning her a shaky moan from Marc.

She wanted to ask him where they stood in their relationship, of they even had any, but she was afraid that it would scare him away. So she decided to keep her mouth shut and wait for him to ask her to be his girlfriend.

*

Ava parked Marc's black Cadillac Escalade in the private parking lot of the MSG training center. Locking the doors, she made her way inside smiling at the few personnel that would greet her a good morning. She fished out her Sidekick when it buzzed letting her know she received a message from one of her contacts.

We're going to AK Lounge tonight. Bring your boy toy; me and Lina want to meet him! Mimi text Ava.

Ava quickly text her response, saying that she would go but she wasn't sure if Marc was up for it because he might be tired. Forgetting to look where she was going, she bumped into a hard body. Ava winced in surprise as the person chuckled. She was about to snap at him when she looked up and saw Marc smiling at her fully dressed with his bags.

Smiling, she stood on her toes to kiss him on the lips. "Good morning ginger," she lovingly teased him. "How was practice?" Ava asked and walked beside him to the parking lot.

Marc shrugged. "A few hits here and there. Nothing bad."

Ava nodded knowingly. "So my friends and I are going to AK Lounge tonight and I really want to introduce you to them."

Marc put his bags in the back as Ava made her way to the passenger seat. She slipped on her glasses and checked her cell phone again before Marc joined her in the car. Checking her reflection through the mirror of the sun visor, she closed it when she felt satisfied with her appearance. She looked at Marc expectantly.

"I don't know," he replied unsurely. Marc and Ava haven't even talked about where they stood in their relationship. He was afraid of meeting her friends. Out of all the people she knew, Paulina and Mimi were the only ones that Ava would talk about. All he knew about them was that the three go way back in Chapin School when they were younger.

"Oh come on, please? They really want to meet you. Besides I want to show off my new b-boy toy," Ava recovered almost slipping and saying boyfriend.

Marc laughed and started the car. "Alright," he agreed earning him a kiss from Ava. "Do you want me to pick you up?"

Nodding, Ava picked up her cell phone and started to text Mimi that she and Marc were going. "You're not too tired are you?"

Marc shook his head. "If meeting your friends mean a lot, I'll go. But I do prefer to have you alone."

Ava smiled and leaned over to Marc. "We can leave early and you can do whatever you want with me after," she whispered in his ear, her left hand finding its way to his thigh and caressed it.
Closing his eyes for second, Marc moaned lowly thinking of all the things he would to Ava. "You're trying to get us into an accident," he stated huskily and looked her straight in the eye and went back to watching the road.

Ava sighed with a smile. "If you say so," she said and took her hand back. "Your loss," she said simply and he groaned.

*

Ava and Marc exited the car hand in hand as the paparazzi went crazy and started to hound Ava about who she was with and how long they'd been together. The blonde just rolled her eyes and entered the club without so much as looking at any of the paparazzi.

The two made their way to the V.I.P lounge, Ava smiling at the familiar bouncer who greeted her. Ava smiled when she spotted her two friends and led Marc over to them.

"Relax, they'll love you," she said and squeezed his arm in a comforting way. Marc just smiled shyly at her.

Paulina was the first to spot Ava and put down her drink as they got close. "Veve! What took you so long?" she asked and got up to hug her friend.

Mimi followed suit and led her boyfriend over to Ava and Marc. "Ve."

Ava hugged and kissed both their cheeks and turned her attention to Marc. "Guys, this is Marc," she introduced him, unsure if she should introduce him as her boyfriend or just friend. "Marc these are Mimi and her boyfriend, Brendon, and Paulina."

"Its good to finally meet Ava's friends," he said politely and shook Mimi's boyfriend's hand before being wrapped in a hug by Mimi and Paulina.

"We don't like formality. Besides you're our friend now," Paulina explained about the sudden friendliness. "How about a drink? Ve, do you want anything?"

Shaking her head, Ava led Marc to a two seater between Paulina and Mimi. Paulina got up and said that she would be back and that she just wanted to go make a phone call to her agent.

"Paulina's a model, and Mimi... she's just what we would call a socialite," Ava explained to a confused Marc. She chuckled when she noticed Marc watching Brendon flirt and practically fornicate with another woman in front of his girlfriend. "Mimi and Brendon go way back. They always on and off, they act more like friends with benefits. Mi doesn't really care that he's with other girls."

Marc looked at Ava and gave her a weird look. "That's really strange," he commented.

Ava shrugged and took a sip of Paulina's drink. "That's Mimi for you," she replied nonchalantly.

Mimi leaned on Ava to speak to Marc. "Why don't you be a dear and get us a couple of shots," she instructed Marc and smiled.

Shrugging again when Marc looked at her, Ava knew that Mimi probably wanted to talk to her about Marc. "I'll be waiting," she said and kissed his cheek. Marc nodded and made his way downstairs. Ava ignored the looks Mimi was giving her. "What?" she asked annoyed.

"You like him," Mimi stated simply.

Ava laughed and put down her drink. "I should hope so."

"No, I mean, you really like him. Like seriously like him," she said bluntly and looked at her friend.

"I do not," Ava denied and played with the ends of her hair she looked at Mimi like she said the most appalling thing in the world.

"Ava Jenkins, don't you dare lie to me. I've known you too long to know when you're lying and sweetheart you're shitting lies."

Looking down at her dress, Ava felt Paulina slide beside her. "What are we talking about?"

"Ava really likes Marc."

Paulina looked at Ava knowingly. "That's obvious," she said. "I mean, just the way you look at him sweetie, is completely different from how you looked at your other boy toys," she explained further when Ava looked at her.

"Well it's too bad because he's still hung up on his brother's girlfriend," she confessed.

Mimi Dawson leaned in and looked at Ava with wide eyes. Paulina just wrapped her arms around have and gave her arm a squeeze. "Are you joking? Ava come on! You aren't supposed to get involved with guys like that!" Mimi said.

Mimi was always the voice of reason out of the three; Ava guessed it came with age because she was the oldest, while Paulina was the wild partier that would support her friend no matter what even if her friend was the one at fault. Ava was always the one being protected because she was the youngest and the one that's always targeted by the media.

"I know okay! I know! I'm sorry, but I really like him," she admitted sadly. Paulina hugged Ava tightly sensing that she was on the verge of tears. "It's just different when I'm with him compared to all the other guys I've been with."

"Well, he'd better straighten shit out because I'd be damned if I let you go through all the shit he could put you through," Mimi said forcefully.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Marc asked with drinks in hand. He wondered why Ava was looking sad as Paulina was hugging her and why Mimi was scolding Ava. He had a feeling that Mimi sent him away so she could talk to Ava, he had a feeling it was about him.

Shaking her head, Ava patted the seat beside her when Paulina moved back to her seat. Marc obediently sat beside her and kissed her on the cheek. He heard Mimi make a disgruntled 'humph' and turn her attention to her boyfriend. Marc looked to Ava for answers as to why she was acting so oddly all of a sudden but she just shook her head.

Mimi's talk with Ava must have really gotten to Mimi because of her sudden cold shoulder towards Marc for the rest of the night they were at the club. He wondered if Ava had told them about their argument or if she was generally like that. Even from the moment they met, Marc got the feeling that Mimi was a little more distant than Paulina or Ava. A sigh escaped his lips, his thought going back to Ava's sudden change in demeanour.