"Please tell me you're not crying."

"Of course she is," Paul replied sleepily, raising his head from the back of the couch. "Keegan always cries when Bruce Willis dies at the end."

Embry laughed softly, earning himself a tickle to the ribs. "No tickling," Embry reminded me gruffly, causing me to back into Paul's arms and lap.

"I'll save you," Paul sighed as he closed his arms around me.

I pushed him back and scoffed, now standing over them both. "You're both terrible. And I'm tired, so..."

Embry looked disappointed and Paul looked happy. "Time for you to go," Paul declared as he stood next to me.

"He's staying?" Embry huffed.

"No. You're both leaving. I don't need a babysitter."

Embry stood and pouted. "I have to get my books," he announced before disappearing down the hall.

Paul dragged his fingers down my back and let them rest on my hip. I turned my face slightly to find his lips mere inches from mine. "Don't you want me to spend the night? I know you hate being in this house alone."

"Not tonight," I replied quickly, trying not to focus on his mouth.

"Scared to be alone with me?" he called out to me as I scurried down the hall. Actually I was. I didn't know if I could be alone with either one of them at this point and trust myself to behave. I felt like every nerve ending was frazzled and I could explode at any moment.

The second I stepped into my bedroom, Embry pulled me close and gripped the back of my neck. He claimed my mouth with his feather soft lips in a kiss that was anything but gentle. He kissed me hungrily, angling his mouth over mine and pressing his tongue between my lips. I slid my tongue over his and sucked hard. I felt his hands tighten around me, holding me by my lower back and pulling me impossibly closer.

All the touching and teasing on the couch had resulted in this one passion filled kiss that I never wanted to end. Embry kissed his way down my neck, finally resting on my shoulder with both of us gasping for air. "I've been wanting to do that all night," he admitted as he lazily raised his head.

I nodded, feeling the same way and not being able to get the words out. "Let's go," I urged, pulling on his hand and leading back to the front door.

"Can you give Embry a ride?" I asked sweetly, hoping Paul wouldn't be a dick about it.

Paul narrowed his gaze, glancing back and forth between Embry and I. He knew. He noticed Embry's bragging smile and my shy expression and the look on Paul's face said it all. Jealous.

"Whatever. Let's go," Paul grumbled, yanking the front door open and motioning for Embry to come on.

Embry turned to give me one more smile before striding out the front door. Paul gave me a scowl and before he could pass through the doorway, I pulled on his beater and waited for him to face me.

"Goodnight," I breathed as I pressed myself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Paul immediately softened...and hardened. God. My nose found that spot on his neck and I breathed deeply, wanting to let his scent invade my nose as his hands wandered up and down my back. He leaned back and locked those lusty dark eyes on me. "No kiss?"

I sighed and nodded, leaning forward brush my lips across his cheek. "Thanks not interfering...well not as much as you could have," I laughed softly near his ear.

"I'm trying to be good," he whispered, his eyes drifting to my mouth. "It's not easy, Keegan."

I knew what he meant. He was referring to me being with Embry and wanting to kiss me right now. And I felt just as conflicted. I reached up to cup his chin and sighed, "You should get going."

"Ask me to stay? I'll drop him off and be right back," Paul suggested sinfully.

I considered it for a brief second before shaking my head. "Not tonight," I repeated. I untangled myself from his arms and pushed him out the door. "Drive safely."

"Don't worry," Paul groused. "I'll get your boyfriend home in one piece."

I yanked on his arm and waited until he looked me in the eye. "I want you to be safe, Paul. Don't forget that."

Paul nodded and bounded down the porch steps and disappeared down the dark driveway. I shut the door and collapsed against it. I felt tingly all over and my mind was bouncing with all the possibilities. I worried that I would never get to sleep feeling this way, so I decided on a warm bath to relax me.

~*🖤~🖤*~

"Fuck!" I gasped when I returned to my room and found I wasn't alone. "Why are you here?"

Paul chuckled lightly as he sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face. "You should know why I'm back."

I sighed and shifted my weight nervously. I was still wet from the bath and barely covered with a towel, that I kept yanking on to insure no body parts were hanging out. "I'm getting ready for bed, Paul. You should just go home."

He leaned back, resting his flattened palms on my mattress. "Go ahead. I'll wait," he flirted. "You're worth the wait."

"Paul..." I warned, tightening my towel with one hand while I pushed wet strands of hair away from my face. "Go home."

Paul smiled devilishly as he hooked his ankles behind my knees, forcing my body on top of his. Instinctively, I held out both hands to brace myself from the fall, causing the towel to come loose and reveal a bit of cleavage. Paul kept his eyes locked on mine as he pulled me tightly against him.

"Do you have any idea what I would love to do to you?" Paul mused playfully as he leaned forward and brushed his lips along my hairline.

At a loss for words, I simply shrugged. He slid a hand behind my head and pulled me down to rest on his broad chest. I gasped when he pushed the towel down, revealing my bare back. His fingers immediately began kneading all the muscles in my lower back and worked their way up slowly.

"What...are you doing to me, Paul?" I sputtered and held back moans because his hands felt so...damn...good.

He chuckled as he worked my shoulders now. "I'm returning the favor, Keegan. You always give me the best back massages and I've never even offered to give you one. Doesn't this feel good?"

"It doesn't suck," I managed to eek out.

He laughed and I felt his laugh rumbling in my own chest. It was like we were one person, almost as if...

"Paul..." I protested weakly, suddenly feeling too close, too vulnerable, too...needy. I pushed off of him, gathering my towel back around myself as best as I could as I sat on the edge of my bed.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked softly as he shifted around to sit behind me, his thighs on either side of mine, his hands going immediately back to kneading my shoulders.

I openly moaned...loudly when his expert hands landed on the tight knot at the base of my neck. He rubbed it softly, picking up the pressure with my increasing whimpers. "Oh that's it, right there."

He scooted back, hooking his arm around my waist and pulling me back with him. I relaxed against his chest as his hands encircled my waist. "This feels nice," I murmured as his nose dropped to my shoulder and he inhaled deeply. "I love that you always smell like apples, Kee."

I sighed softly, loving how comfortable I was in his arms. My head swirled with ideas of letting him sleep in my bed. But I couldn't do that now. It's too dangerous after that kiss. Because it was one thing for me to ignore my own desire for him, but now he felt it for me too. Was I strong enough to say no if he wanted to have sex? That erection of his, poking me in the back said he wanted me.

"Are you getting sleepy?" he hummed against my shoulder between kisses to the sensitive skin there.

"Yeah, I should probably go get changed," I told him as I wriggled out of his grasp and scooted back to the edge of the bed.

I struggled to wrap the towel back around myself as I stood. Paul stepped up behind me and helped cover me up, which was weird since I assumed he wanted it off of me. "Thanks," I murmured as he walked around to face me.

"If you really don't want me to sleep over, then I guess I'll just go home," he offered pitifully, even shooting me the puppy dog eyes.

I sighed heavily and laughed. "No, I'll be fine. You should go ahead and get home."

He cupped my shoulders and trailed his fingers down my bare arms, causing me to shiver noticeably. "So how about that kiss goodnight?"

"I already kissed you earlier," I reminded him, raising my chin defiantly. "Wasn't that good enough?"

Paul smirked and shook his head. "I bet Embry got a better kiss than that. Don't I deserve a little better than a peck on the cheek?"

"So you're jealous now?" I goaded.

He pressed his forehead to mine and held my hips tightly. "Of course I am. You held his hand and played with his hair and kissed him. You should be doing all that with me."

I reached up and cupped his jaw with one hand, the other still gripping my towel. "I wanted all that with you, Paul. It was all I ever wanted, but..."

"Don't say 'but.' We can still have everything you wanted. We can still be a couple, Keegan," he pleaded, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I can't."

"Because you still want to punish me?" he challenged, leaning back a little with his eyes dark and storm cloudy. "Because you can't forgive me for something I'm so fucking sorry for?"

"You need to give me more time."

He scoffed angrily. "More time for what? More time to fall for Embry? More time to torture me while I watch you two be all lovey dovey in front of me? Fuck that. I've given you enough time to make a decision."

I opened my mouth to argue and I gasped when his mouth descended upon mine. He kissed me hard, like this was his last chance. He held me tightly against him, gripping my towel as his hands moved to my lower back. I accepted his tongue in my mouth and whimpered at how demanding his kiss was. I let both my hands curl around the back of his neck and pulled him deeper. My body was betraying me. My words said I didn't forgive him but my body was tattling on me, declaring what a liar I am.

I still wanted Paul.

~*🖤~🖤*~

After kicking Paul out of my house and barely getting any sleep, I made my way out to Paul's truck the next morning. He looked oh so happy and that kinda pissed me off. He was the reason I couldn't sleep. His fiery kiss had me second-guessing myself. And then there was Embry. The guilt over kissing them both was really doing me in. I needed to make a decision and stick with it. Yeah right.

"Rough night?" Paul practically sang when I climbed into his truck.

I grumbled and sighed, not really giving him an answer. Paul just chuckled as he hooked a finger into my belt loop and yanked me closer to him. "Maybe one of my mind-blowing kisses will get your motor running this morning?" he suggested as he leaned into me.

I pressed my finger to his forehead and growled. "No way, buddy. Just drive."

Paul cut the engine and sighed. "What's wrong with you?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared straight ahead. "You annoy me," I finally replied. "Can't we just go."

Paul turned his body more toward mine and I could see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. "My services require payment...up front."

I glanced at him and scowled. "Services?"

"Your ride to school."

"I'll walk."

He laughed and pulled on my arm when I tried to escape. "You don't have to walk. All I ask for is a kiss for payment."

I looked at Paul again, as his index finger tapped his cheek. I sighed dramatically and leaned over to kiss his cheek. He turned at the last second and kissed me on the mouth. I only engaged for a moment before pulling away with another scowl. "No fair," I pouted. "You moved."

"Nah," he murmured. "You were just too slow," he announced as he turned the key and his loud truck came roaring back to life.

I settled in the seat beside him, not even bothering to argue when he put his arm over my shoulder. When we turned a different way and I realized we weren't going to school, my scowl was back. "Where are we going?"

"We're picking up your boyfriend," he grumbled. "I guess I should be happy he doesn't have a car, but still."

We pulled up to Embry's house, I guess because I hadn't been there yet. Paul honked once while twirling locks of my hair between his fingers. "Good morning," Embry said happily as he climbed in beside me.

I scooted away from Paul and gave Embry a quick hug before he had a chance to shut the door. The truck lurched forward and we broke off the hug. I glared at Paul, who threw me a guilty smile. "Sorry, I forgot to put it in park."

Embry shut the door and we were on our way. I broke off from them when I got to school, telling them I needed to use the restroom before classes started. I watched the two of them saunter down the hall together and wondered how long the peace between them would last, especially when I needed to make a decision.

Embry...or Paul.

That was the question.

I left the restroom and looked down the hall. "Keegan!" Paul called as Embry waved. I stared at the two boys standing near my locker and sighed. They were both beautiful, but complete opposites. Paul was brash, cocky, and made me quiver with anticipation. Embry was sweet, made me smile, and was helping mend my heart after Paul had shredded it.

I could only choose one. It shouldn't be this difficult...should it?

For the rest of the week, the three of us spent all our free time together. It was weird and sometimes uncomfortable for me, but I was getting to know Embry without Paul feeling left out. I knew I needed to make a decision soon. They were both impatient in their own way. I knew Embry was worried that I was just using him and Paul always reminded me of our long time friendship, like that was somehow making us better suited to be a couple than Embry and I, because we were new friends.

Regardless, I felt it was only fair to make a decision and stick to it. I'd been awake many hours in the past week trying to make a choice and today I finally felt I had found it. Now I just had to tell him.

"I heard about a party tonight. Would you want to go with me?"

I glanced at Embry as he sat beside me. "You don't seem like the party type," I whispered back as we were supposed to be picking a topic for our history report.

Embry shrugged and squeezed my hand under the table. "I'm not. But I never go to parties so who knows? Maybe I'm a party animal and I just haven't discovered that side of me yet."

He's so cute.

I shrugged and nodded. "I guess we could go. It could be fun, I suppose."

Embry leaned into my side and whispered, "We could always just go and people watch. As long as we're together, who cares?"

I nodded again. "We'll have to finish this report first, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Keegan."

By the time, last hour rolled around, I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. It was art class with Paul. We took it for fun when we signed up last Fall. We always enjoyed teasing each other about who had the least amount of artistic talent. But we always had fun together.

But that might end today.

I made my way to class, finding Paul at his easel and setting up his supplies. "You get lost?" I inquired playfully when he looked up at me.

"I'm not that late," I grumbled as I sat down beside him. He pulled my stool closer to his and scanned my face. "Did something happen?"

"Something?" I echoed and shrugged. "Nothing really. But Embry and I might go to that party at Trent's house tonight."

I kept my gaze trained on my supplies and oversized pad of paper. I didn't want to discuss this until after school, so I hoped class would start soon and Paul could quit worrying.

I glanced up at the teacher when I heard her grumbling near the door. She had a note from the office and whatever it said had made her mad. "Well that's just great!"

Finally she turned to address the class, announcing, "I had scheduled a model for today's lesson on figure drawing but he is a no show, so...I'm not sure what we can do now."

"Mrs. Moore? Why couldn't someone in our class be the model?" Cassie Blunk suggested, soon to be followed by certain names being thrown out. Paul was mentioned a few times as he had the best body among the junior class, along with some of the wrestlers, who worked out constantly.

"Well, Mr. Lahote, you seem to be the popular choice today. Would you be interested in modeling for us today?" Mrs. Moore asked shyly. She was at least 40 and mousey as hell. I had always wondered if she had a crush on Paul with the way she got flustered around him.

Paul never being one for modesty, pulled his t-shirt over his head and beamed. "Where do you want me?"

For the next 45 minutes, I had to endure all the commentary from the girls in the class. They acted like they had never seen a shirtless guy before. Animals. I could feel my skin prickling as I studied his bicep, trying to get just the right shading to his muscular definition. I tried to concentrate, but Paul kept locking eyes with me, which made everything just that much more awkward between us.

I didn't like hearing the comments about his god-like body or the way he seemed so proud to show off his spectacular body to everyone. I couldn't really blame him. Paul had been so scrawny and bony sophomore year, that he had to work extra hard to put on weight and build muscle mass. He was proud of his body and I was too. I just wasn't used to sharing it with anyone else.

After class, he shrugged his shirt back on and beamed at me. "Well that was something, huh?"

I nodded and forced a smile as I packed up my supplies. "So this party tonight? You want a ride or what?" he asked sweetly.

We made our way down the hall, which wasn't easy considering it was the end of the day. We approached our lockers and put our things away. Paul tugged on my sleeve and lowered his head to get my attention. "So did you want a ride?"

"I'm going with Embry."

"Okay?" he began, leaning against his locker and eyeing me cautiously. "You know that offer extends to him, too."

"I think we're gonna go alone," I declared as I shut my locker and looked him in the eye.

"He doesn't want me there?" Paul asked skeptically, ditching his casual position in favor of a more imposing stance, towering over me for affect. "Should I talk to him?"

"No, Paul," I insisted. "I don't want you to come with."

His expression immediately hardened as he trapped me between him and the lockers with those muscular arms in had just been sketching in class. "Why not?" he demanded.

I raised my gaze slowly and found his eyes blazing with anger. He already knew what was coming. He just wanted to hear me say it. "I've decided to be with Embry," I said softly. "I still want us to be friends though."

"Friends?" he scoffed as he leaned closer and we were nearly nose to nose. "Are you sure about this, Keegan? Cuz once I walk away, that's it. I'm not coming back. I'm not gonna let you fuck with my heart anymore."

"Paul, don't say that. You know I never meant to hurt you," I offered as my hands drifted up to hold his face. "You know I still love you...as a friend.

Paul grimaced and twisted away from me. "I don't need that. I wanted more and so did you," he whispered, pausing to suck his lower lip into his mouth. "He'll never make you happy. He'll never make you feel as good as I can," he added, leaning in to brush his lips along my collarbone.

I blinked quickly when he pulled back and backed away. He nearly ran into Embry as he retreated down the hall and out the double doors. Embry glanced between me and Paul, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"What's wrong with Paul?"

I sighed as I continued to stare down the hall, even though my oldest friend was long gone. "He's mad at me."

"What now?" Embry chuckled.

I looked up at Embry and sucked in a deep breath. "I just told him that I chose you."

......

A/N: okay. I'm ready for all the complaints about Keegan's decision 😘 lol Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this story. I'm going to work on being more consistent!