***

I was sitting on the floor of my living room on a Wednesday night, which was starting to look like a party planner's nightmare. Sydney's birthday was in two days, which meant she was throwing herself a huge party at one of the swankiest hotels in town, and as payback for dropping out of the Deltas she strong-armed me into helping her get everything together. She had just left, and I had finished making the final calls to the caterers and bartenders who would be helping out. Austin was lying on his lanky black legs next to my notebooks as I leaned over and snuggled him, ruffling his fur. "Why can't I stay home with you instead?" He my nose and I laughed, wiping his saliva off on the back of my hand when I heard a knock at the door. Damnit, Sydney, go home.

I uncrossed my legs and stood, tightening the belt of the champagne silk robe I threw on after she left. "Dude, I ordered the vodka you wanted, go home and stop obsessing." I yelled through the door while I unlocked it.

"Well, thank you, but I'm more of a bourbon man myself." Sehun's towering frame filled my entryway, obviously entertained by my surprised expression. "Hi."

"Uh...hi." I barely got it out, my mouth gone dry at the sight of him. His hair was shorter than it was in August, but there were ringlets still curled over his forehead. A navy blue cable knit sweater hugged his upper body, paired with jeans and black work boots. He wore his glasses, which always gave him a sort of naughty professor look, but couldn't hide the brightness of his green eyes. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else. What are you doing here?"

"I had somethin' to talk to you about, and I figured you wouldn't pick up if I called. Is this a bad time?" He nodded toward my attire, eyeballing the curves of my body through the thin material. I folded my arms over my s, trying and failing to hide the fact that my s were hard. "Yes. I mean, no. Come in." I stepped aside as he strolled into the living room, the apartment feeling so small around his immense stature. I shut the door, cursing my body for reacting so strongly to his presence. "Can I get you anything?"

"A beer would be great, thanks."

I pulled two Heinekens from the fridge, taking a moment to collect myself. Just find out what he wants and then he'll leave. Then you can go get off and get back to work. Calm down. Keep your on. Wait...definitely not wearing . Damnit. I walked in to the living room where he was wrestling around with Austin. The sight of them being playful made my heart drum loudly in my chest. Down, girl.

He took the beer I offered and took a lengthy sip. "You been doin' okay?"

I followed his lead, taking a swig from my bottle before answering. "Yeah, just busy. You?"

"About the same." He pointed to the piles of papers on the floor. "Sydney's party?"

"Among other things. Finals are in a couple of weeks. The stuff for her party is but a small stack in that sea of crap."

He chuckled, and the low-pitched rumble shot to my most intimate of places like a bolt of lightning. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. She called me a couple weeks back and invited me. I don't know if she told you I was comin', but I didn't want to catch you off-guard."

"Um...no, she hadn't." Sneaky . "Thank you for letting me know."

He set his beer on the coffee table and gripped the back of his neck apprehensively. "I also thought...maybe, if you wanted to, we could go together." I gathered my hair over one shoulder and started fiddling with the ends, suddenly as nervous as he seemed. "I'm not sure going on a date is the best of ideas right now."

"Didn't say anythin' about a date. We'd go as friends."

"Friends?"

"Yeah, friends. You know, that stage we skipped when we went from strangers to in' in all of a few weeks." My mouth gaped open and he laughed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist."

I glared at him but couldn't hold back my grin. God, I missed his smile. ". This is a terrible idea."

"Yeah, probably." He stood in front of me, grabbing the end of my belt, feeling the soft texture between his fingers. "Look, I know dating is out of the question, but I miss hangin' out with you, kid. If we're gonna be at the same place, we should try to keep it civil, right? Strictly platonic. I'll keep my hands to myself."

"Like you're doing right now?"

"Well.... Look at you. A man can only take so much." He dropped the belt and ran his hand down the length his face, stopping at his mouth as he mumbled. "Go. I should go. I'll pick you up Friday. I'll take a cold shower before I get here, or just dip my balls in a bucket of ice." I followed him to the door, holding it open as he turned back to me. "I'll be here at nine."

"I'll be the one in the dress." I propped my head against the edge of the door, craning to look at his face. "You know this whole 'friends' thing is going to predictably crash and burn, right?"

He intimately ran his thumb across my chin, just below my bottom lip. "What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment."

"So I'm a punishment now?"

"Only the very best kind, sweetheart. I'll see you Friday." He released my face and left down the hallway. I shut the door and locked it, then put the deadbolt on, as if that would somehow keep me from chasing him down the hall and flinging myself at him. I decided it would be better to fling myself at the books instead...after I had a date of my own with my showerhead.

***

The next 48 hours passed like ten minutes. Everything was set for the party, even though Sydney was deliberately ducking my phone calls. I relayed messages through Sam because frankly, I was a little pissed she didn't tell me about inviting Sehun. The damage was done, I couldn't do anything but try to enjoy our friend-date. As the minutes ticked down the butterflies in my stomach fluttered anxiously, an indication I was failing miserably at not getting excited to see him.

I was checking myself out in my full-length mirror in the closet, completely feeling myself. Sydney had chosen a "devilish" theme for her party - red and black. Dark. y. I was wearing a silk babydoll dress from Versace, with a bold metal waistline and a pleated skirt. My full C's were practically spilling out of the bust, but I had lost almost twenty pounds since my mom died so I had to buy a smaller size. I strapped on my spiky four inch heels and turned around to see the back of the dress. There would definitely be no bending over tonight. You sure about that? I debated changing when I heard a knock at the door. Grabbing my clutch off the bed I trotted to the door, opening it to a sight that would remain in my dreams until the end of time.

Dressed in a deep burgundy shirt and black dress pants, I was already starting to regret this whole friendship thing. His top buttons were undone, giving him a more casual look, though the look in his eyes was anything but. "Hi."

"Hi." He remained still, staring intensely at my outfit. "Eyes up here, buddy."

His eyes locked with mine and he gave me a guilty smirk. "You're not making this friendship deal easy on me, are you?"

"That's funny, I was just thinking the same exact thing." I pulled my coat on, freeing my shoulder-length curls out of the collar. "We