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Lily's P.O.V

My breath caught in my throat and I panicked. How was this even happening right now? Where did this kid come from? I realized I’d been staring in shock for several minutes and decided I had better speak up.

“How the hell did you find my house?” I snapped through the partially open door.

“Rumour has it you’re friendly with the young librarian…what’s her name?” He scratched his stiff hair.

“Georgia,” I groaned. Of course it was Georgia.

“Yeah, her. She was, uh, more than happy to tell me where you lived, y’know, so I could return your hat to you.” He smiled like he was completely proud of himself.

“Hat?” I asked. “I don’t wear hats.”

“Oh, well, I guess she didn’t know that.” Zak shrugged and tapped on the door again. “Are you going to let me in? I don’t like this.” He frowned.

“Why should I? You’re practically stalking me at this point.” I grumbled.

“Let me ask you a question. Are you going to come party with me?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Absolutely not,”

“Then you have no choice. Invite me in or I’ll sit out here knocking all night and I don’t care who I wake up.”

I bit my lip. I really didn’t want him in my house. Hell, I didn’t even know what he really wanted! But I knew now that when he threatened to do something, chances are he was completely serious about it. I didn’t need him waking up Avaya because he’s obnoxious. Maybe if he came inside and saw pictures of a little girl all over he’d get cold feet and leave. I’d had it happen before.

I sighed heavily, letting him know I was not happy. “Just a second,” I shut the door so I could unlock it. I quickly checked my face in the mirror before I opened it again. I brushed my brown bangs behind my ear and straightened my black glasses on my nose. My exhaustion was showing through on my face pretty clearly. Regardless, I opened the door and let him inside.

He looked around the dark kitchen and nodded in consent. I rolled my eyes behind him.

“Nice place you got here,” he said, strolling into the living room.

“Yeah, thanks.” I followed him at a distance.

“So,” He took a seat on the couch and patted the spot next to him, “come talk.”

I sat as far away from him as I could manage on the love seat. He had one arm resting on the back of the couch and I could’ve sworn he was playing with a couple strands of my hair.

“Lily is there any way I can get you to change your mind about tonight?” he asked.

“Well you’ve ruined my study time and bombarded me at my own home, so I’m not really feeling up to spending more time with you. Definitely not around alcohol and lord knows what else…” I shuddered.

Zak laughed. “Fine, I’ll stay here with you then.”

I blanched and stared in utter shock. “Y-you’ll what now?” I asked through frozen lips.

“I said I’ll stay here. Why? Do you mind?” He smirked. Something told me he enjoyed getting a rise out of me.

“Um, yeah, a bit,” I retorted. “I don’t even know who you are!”

“Then let me tell you. I’m Zak Bagans. I’ve lived in Vegas for a few years now and I’m currently in a film school just a few blocks from your college. I have two close buds, Aaron and Nick. You met Nick today. I’m an Aries, I love music, reading, candle lit group baths, and swimming naked. That about sums it up.” He nodded.

“Okay…but it doesn’t answer my main question. Why the fuck are you in my house?” I barked.

“Well because you invited me inside,” He gave me a confused look.

“Only after you threatened to keep knocking,”

“Yeah, and it worked, huh?”

I was silent for a moment. He just grinned victoriously. Again I found myself wanting to wipe that smile off his face. What an inconvenient son of a bitch.

“Now tell me about you, Miss Lady,” Zak said, gesturing at me.

“I don’t really want to,” I shook my head.

“Oh come on. That’s not very fair.”

“This is my house. I don’t need to be fair.”

“Alright, alright. But at least answer me this: are you single?”

I had to laugh. How ridiculous could one person be?

“Why? Who’s asking exactly?”

“Well Nick has a girlfriend and Aaron doesn’t know you, so I can’t be asking for them. I guess that means I’m asking. So, are you?” He watched me patiently.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. But that doesn’t mean I want to date.”

“Why not? A girl like you, you could have any guy you wanted I bet.”

“Just…bad experiences,” I rubbed my arms.

“Ah, I know what you mean.” He nodded solemnly.

I had to laugh out loud. “No,” I said, “I’m pretty sure you have no idea.”

He looked at me and his brow crinkled. “Why not?”

I bit my lip and looked down at my feet. “Just…because,” I murmured. I was getting that familiar feeling of anxiety again. New people brought new pain. I wrapped my arms tightly around my midsection and yawned.

He chuckled softly. “Am I keeping you from something?”

“Yeah, sleep,” I muttered.

He looked at the clock and scoffed, “It’s barely 9:30, how are you tired?”

“I-I do a lot in a day,” I stammered.

“Yeah? Like what? What did you do today?”

God, what was with the waterfall of questions? He didn’t actually think I wanted him to know me, did he?

“I went to my lectures, I went to work—”

“Where do you work?”

“A record company,”

“An executive chick…hot,” He grinned smugly. “What else did you do?”

“I tried to study but it didn’t go over so well. Of course, you already know about that.” I glared at him.

“Right. Good luck on that test, by the way.” He laughed.

“Yeah I’m going to need it thanks to you.” I got up from the couch. “Excuse me.”

I went into the kitchen and grabbed my cereal. I was hungry. I didn’t care who was sitting in my living room, I was going to eat. When I walked back in with my Cheerios Zak tilted his head to the side.

“Are you eating Cheerios at night?” he asked curiously.

“Yep,” I answered around a mouthful. Maybe he’d think I was too quirky and leave. I could do a ton of weird stuff if it meant he’d walk away.

“Huh…” Here comes the goodbye. “Can I have some?”

The spoon froze in the air halfway to my mouth. I stared in confusion at him. Never in my life had I met someone who didn’t make fun of me for eating breakfast food at night. It was a pretty big shock to me.

“Uh…”

“Mommy I can’t sleep,” The tiny voice came from behind me and I spun around to see Avaya standing in the hallway with Furry under one arm while she rubbed at her eyes. She blinked and found Zak sitting on the couch. “Who’s that guy?”

I looked at Zak, who appeared just as confused as Avaya. “Who’s that?” he asked, pointing at her.

If I’d been trying to get with Zak, I probably would’ve been panicking. But I wasn’t, so I found myself smirking instead. I set my cereal down on the coffee table and walked over to Avaya.

“Nightmares again?” I asked. She nodded. “Alright, do you want me to make you warm milk?”

“Yeah, with cocoa and cinnamon,” Avaya grinned.

I chuckled and took her tiny hand. “Alright, let’s go.” I stabbed a finger at Zak. “You. Stay where you are.”

He nodded very slowly, still trying to process everything. “Okay…”

I started to lead Avaya into the kitchen and she tugged on my hand, asking, “Who is he and why’s he here past my bedtime?”

“I wish I knew, sweetie,” I muttered.

I warmed up some milk for Avaya and she pushed a chair over to the counter so she could help me add the cocoa and cinnamon. She loved to help me make things. It made me smile, seeing how excited she got. When it was all finished and she’d drank the whole glass I wiped her mouth and smiled at her.

“Are you sleepy now?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, no more nightmares I think,”

“Good. C’mon, let’s go to bed.” She hopped down from the chair and tugged on my shirt before we could leave the kitchen.

“What’s his name?” she asked, pointing towards the living room.

“Um, Zak is his name,” I answered quietly.

“Okay,” She pulled me out of the kitchen, leading me down the hallway so I could tuck her in. While we were in the living room she turned around and waved at Zak, who was still seated on the couch. “Goodnight, Zak!”

Stunned, he waved back. “Um, night,”

I laughed at my silly girl. I quickly tucked her in and kissed her goodnight for the second time. I knew Zak was probably sitting there terrified and confused, wanting nothing more than to leave. With that thought in mind I strolled back out towards the living room and stood in front of the coffee table with my arms crossed.

“Who was that?” He asked quietly. I could see it on his face that he already knew.

“That’s my 5 year old daughter, Avaya,” I said firmly. “So if you were hoping I’d invite you to stay the night, you can forget it, and that’s why. She’s my whole life. If you say one bad thing about her I will castrate you.”

Zak swallowed and stood up to look me in the eye. “I would never say anything negative about that,” There was something new in his voice. It was softer; more emotional.

“Oh. Well…good.” My shoulders slackened a little bit.

“I think that’s really awesome how you’re balancing work, school, and raising a kid at the same time. I’m not a kids guy, but I commend you for it.” He put his hands in the pockets of his baggy black jeans and looked down at the carpet.

“T-thanks,” I stammered. I wasn’t sure if I should be bashful that he was being so nice to me, or if I should be critical of everything he was saying to me. Normally I’d tell anyone to quit sucking up to me, but there was something about the way he was speaking and not making eye contact with me that kept me from lashing out.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve acted,” he sighed. “I had no idea.”

“You were a bit of an asshole,” I critiqued.

He laughed sadly. “Yeah…it’s kind of a front I put up. I’m sorry. It’s just easier for me to be like that.”

“Why? No one likes a jerk, Zak.”

“I know, I know. I just—well it’s hard to explain. Maybe I’ll tell you another time.”

“Wait, wait, ‘another time?’ As in, you’re still planning on talking to me after this?” My green eyes widened in disbelief.

“Well…yeah, I’m not actually an asshole, you know.” He smirked.

“Oh. Oh, okay.” I felt like all my fire had been put out. I had no more sharp retorts for him. I had nothing. He’d completely taken me by surprise.

“I’ll let you get some sleep, I’m sorry,” He scratched his head again. “Is it okay if I come back tomorrow?”

“Uh…I have my exam at 9 and I’m working until 5.” What was I doing? I wasn’t contemplating letting him come back, was I?

“That’s okay; I’m not done work until 6:30. Can I come then?”

I sighed. “Um, maybe, I guess…but I need to ask you a question, Zak.”

“Sure, fire away.”

“Why me? I mean, you could go to that party and get with other girls who aren’t moms. So…why are you here?”

He was quiet for a little bit. His face was a closed book. He just looked really tired all of a sudden.

“I guess I feel better here than I would at some party,” he mumbled. “I don’t know, I’ll explain it better another time, maybe.”

I could tell then that this guy had more secrets than I did. Something about him was terribly broken and I don’t think he’d ever gotten around to fixing it. I wondered what it could be. How bad did it have to be that he’d try to hide it behind dark clothes, muscles, tattoos, and a shitty attitude? I was curious about him. I’d sworn I wouldn’t be, but I was. I promised myself I wouldn’t put myself in this position again, not with another guy like Matt. But I don’t think I really was breaking my promise, because Zak was nothing like Matt, or any of the guys before him. He looked the part, but in reality he was completely different. God, what was I saying?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily?” he smiled softly at me.

“Well since my scare tactics didn’t work on you, I guess so.” I ran a hand through my hair.

He laughed, said goodnight, apologized again and shut the door behind him. I locked it and slid down to the floor. I just couldn’t stop wondering what the hell I was getting into.