Tristan and his mom arrived close to dinner time. When the hired car parked, a little boy in a superhero costume jumped out of the car. He ran up to Zeke, Max and Terence. Each wore t-shirts with the symbol of the super hero they played. Tristan ran as fast as he could up to them, but when he got there he wobbled.

Zeke put out his hand to steady him. "Whoa, buddy! You gotta take it easy. We have all week."

"I'm just so excited." Tristan wheezed.

"Tristan! I told you to take it easy." His mom followed behind with their bags.

Talia ran down the steps past the three so-called super heroes and helped her with her bags. "Let me help you with those. Apparently, these three are just good for posing."

Tristan's mom laughed and followed Talia into the house leaving an admiring Tristan with the three men.

"I'm Annie Boyd."

"Talia Walker."

"Oh! I've heard of you." Talia felt warmth flood her cheeks.

"Unfortunately, you probably have. Gossip Queen at your service." Annie looked confused.

"What do you mean Gossip Queen?"

"Isn't that what you meant by having heard of me?"

"No. I've heard you were Zee Jaxon's girlfriend."

"Oh. I am that too."

"Let me show you where you and Tristan will be staying." Talia carried two bags up the stairs to one of the large guest rooms. "You have your own bathroom so you don't have to worry about sharing."

Annie walked around the room in awe. Talia knew that feeling. Normal people didn't live like Zeke did. Most people had one bathroom in their house. Not one bathroom per bedroom.

"This is crazy."

"That was how I felt when I first walked into one of Zeke's houses."

"Zeke?"

"Zee Jaxon and I have known each other since we were children. I call him by his childhood nickname instead of his Hollywood name."

"Oh. Ok. What I meant when I said this was crazy was that we are even here. Running into him at that diner was a fluke. Tristan had just gone through a bad treatment and I was taking him and his cousin for breakfast. Who would have thought that one little moment would allow my little guy to have an experience of a lifetime?"

"Hopefully, this is only one of many to come."

Annie wilted and collapsed on the bed. "I'm afraid it probably won't be. The doctors have only given him six months to a year." Tears welled in her eyes. "How do you fill a child's lifetime in that amount of time?"

Talia sat next to her. "I can't even begin to try to relate to what you are going through. But, I see you are doing your best to give him everything for the time he has with you."

"I won't be ready when the time comes."

Tears gathered in Talia's eyes now. She linked her hands with the woman she barely knew to give her comfort.

"Thank you, Talia."

"No need to thank me." Talia wiped the tears away. "Now, let's get back down there before those three troublemakers teach your son bad habits." As Talia walked toward the door she remembered something. "Oh and I invited my friend who has a daughter Tristan's age. I thought maybe they could have fun together this week."

"Tristan will love that."

Annie and Talia descended the stairs. All trace of tears and sadness washed away with the sound of laughter and chatter. Everyone had already seated themselves around the dining table. Two seats remained available. A chair between Zeke and Chrissy and a chair between Terence and Tristan.

Talia sat between Zeke and Chrissy. Chrissy leaned over and whispered, "Thank god you finally got down here. Max kept eyeing that seat. I was worried he was going to move over here."

Max was indeed looking at the seat Talia took. However, he was more interested in the woman sitting next to it than the seat itself. Hmmm, interesting.

Introductions were made as Addie placed dish upon dish of delicious smelling food on the table. Traditional southern fair was spread upon the table. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, sweet tea and if Talia's nose wasn't deceiving her peach cobbler was sitting on the counter.

After a short prayer, the dishes were passed around the table. They ate their fill of southern comfort food. Chatted about what will happen that week and listened to the stories both Mariah and Tristan told. By the time the cobbler was brought out with ice cream, the men with the rock hard abs were loosening the buttons on their pants and a quiet settled over the group.

"Mama!" Mariah yelled.

"Mariah, we don't yell at the table."

"Well, I had to get your attention somehow." She huffed. "Anyway, Tristan and I want to have a sleep over movie night. Can we do that tonight?"

"I don't know what they have planned, Mariah. You will have to ask Zeke, Max and Terence."

Two sets of big bright eyes focused on the men. When the bottom lips stuck out, Talia knew the exact moment those super heroes were hit with their kryptonite.

"Of course, you can. In fact, why don't we make a huge pillow fort and watch movies from there." Max suggested.

He stood from his chair and strode to the living room. Little feet ran after him. Mariah and Tristan held hands as they told Max the best way to build a fort.

"That was unexpected." Chrissy said.

"I agree."

Chrissy nodded. "I better go over there to make sure everything goes well."

"Ok. Have fun." Chrissy flipped her the bird then walked over to where a lopsided fort was forming.

Annie and Terence were deep in conversation while she and Zeke sat in an awkward silence. They hadn't spoken since that morning. He hadn't tried to touch her since then either. Talia wasn't sure how she felt about that quite yet.

"I'm going to go to bed." She announced. "Goodnight everyone!"

A few echoed goodnights followed her upstairs. When she headed toward her room she remembered that Chrissy and Mariah were staying there. Reluctantly she went to the one room she'd been avoiding.

Opening the door, Talia saw her things to the side next to a sleeping bag. Rifling through her bag she found her pajamas and toothbrush. She escaped into the bathroom to do her quick clean up.

Exiting the bathroom, Talia paused, Zeke sat on the edge of the bed with his hands folded in his lap. "Hey."

"Hey." He said.

Talia shuffled over to her bag. Unrolling the sleeping bag, Talia readied for a horrible night's sleep on the hard wood floor.

"What are you doing?" Zeke watched her slip into the sleeping bag.

"Going to bed. What does it look like?"

"It looks like my girlfriend is refusing to sleep in my bed."

Her eyes squinted at him. "We are still in the middle of a fight right now. You remember that right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we can't work on making it better."

"How do you suggest that?" Zeke opened his mouth to speak but Talia cut him off. "If you mention make-up sex you will become a eunuch tonight." His mouth snapped shut.

He raised his hands in surrender. "How about we just sleep together?"

"I just said no to make-up sex! Are you really an idiot?"

"I'm not saying sex. I am suggesting a deal. We sleep together every night. Nothing more than sleep. No kissing. No holding hands. Nothing."

"For how long?"

A smirk crossed his face. "For the next week."

"Ok. What happens after the week is up?"

"We go out on a date to see where we are."

Talia squinted up at him from the floor. "Ok."

Happiness washed over Zeke's features. He stood removing his clothes leaving him in only his boxer briefs. Pulling back the sheets on the bed, he waited for her to get in. Talia stood from the floor folding the sleeping bag and placed it to the side. She got into bed sticking so close to the edge one wrong move and she'd fall off.

Zeke laughed. His weight bounced the bed. "Don't worry, Lia, I will stick to our deal. Goodnight."

He shut the bedside light off. Moonlight bathed the room in a pale glow. It felt like a spotlight to Talia. It illuminated all of her thoughts and feelings about Zeke. The tension was thick between them in the small bed. She wasn't going to get any sleep if she didn't cut the tension.

Heaving a sigh she said, "Goodnight, Zeke."