"What's going on here?" Dean asked, looking back and forth between her and Zander.

He looked angry and confused.

"Hey Dean," she said, trying not to sound like she was freaking out. "Zander came over to hang out and watch a movie. I let him know about that guy from high school I'm seeing now so we decided to just hang out as friends tonight."

"Oh so you're having a friend's hangout? Well am I invited then since I'm your best friend?" he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Ummm. I don't care. Is that alright with you?" she asked Zander.

Zander looked back and forth between them thinking and finally said, "Yeah. Sure. I guess that's fine with me."

"Great!" Dean said with a big smile, patting Zander on the back and then hooking an arm around his shoulder. "Ooh. You brought wine? Nice," he said, taking the wine from his hands and inspecting it.

'Well this is thoroughly awkward,' she thought to herself.

The timer on her phone went off and she felt relieved for the distraction because the tension between these two men could be cut with a knife.

"That's the lasagna. Let's go downstairs and eat in the dorm kitchen. It'll be easier than the three of us trying to eat up here," she suggested.

"Lead the way," Dean said with a victorious smile on his face. Man he could be so annoying sometimes. He didn't even care about how awkward his third wheeling on her hang out time with Zander was making it for everyone. He actually seemed to be enjoying it.

'Cocky asshole,' she thought to herself as she led the way downstairs.

When they got down there the lasagna was done and she whipped up some garlic bread really quick to go with it while Dean poured the three of them a glass of wine and sat down at the table across from Zander. She couldn't help but notice the tense glances those two were shooting at each other.

She scooped a big square of lasagna onto each plate and sat down at the table and said, "Let's toast," lifting up her wine glass.

Dean and Zander lifted their wine glasses too, still glaring at each other.

"To Freshman year. May this year be the best year ever. May every test come back an A and every quiz be open book. May every drunken night end without a hangover and time spent with friends be longer than time spent with enemies. Salut!" she said with a smile.

"Salute" Dean said, taking a sip.

"Salute," Zander said awkwardly. "So is your family Italian or something?"

"Yeah. My Dad's Italian," she told him.

"Well then I have high hopes for this lasagna," he said with a smile.

"It's not as good as Grandma Esther's but it's pretty decent," she said proudly. Cooking had always been really important to her Italian family.

"So, how was your weekend in the Hampton's?" Zander asked.

Her face flushed about 10 shades of red and she took a sip of wine, looking across the table and locking eyes with Dean.

She cleared her throat. "Ummm. Mostly boring. We just hung out at the beach. We did go out to a club one night and this drunk guy was grinding all over me and getting pretty handsy." She looked across the table and said, "Dean saved the day and interrupted us. Didn't you Dean?"

He locked eyes with her and said, "Yes I did. I'm always there to save the day aren't I?"

There was a sexy smirk on his face and a glint in his eye when their eyes met across the table as he sipped his wine. He was obviously alluding to the fact that he had sex with her to save her from sleeping with Zander. She felt her face blush as she smiled and looked down. She looked over at Zander and noticed him locking his jaw and narrowing his eyes at Dean with jealousy.

"Yeah except for that night on the boat. I got to be the hero that night huh?" Zander asked, taking a drink of wine and glaring at him. "Where were YOU that night Dean?"

She didn't like the tone of Zander's voice or the way he seemed to be rubbing it in that he saved her and Dean didn't as if it was his choice. She knew if he had been there he would've done everything he could to save her.

She could see Dean's eyes narrowing and his fist clenching and he looked like he might jump across that table any minute and knock Zander off of his chair and let him have it. It was obvious he really struck a nerve with that question because it was a sore subject for Dean.

The night the boat sank he was hooking up with a girl and had his phone on silent and he didn't know what happened until the next morning when he saw all the missed calls and texts. He had felt so guilty for not answering the phone.

She cut in to break the awkward tension and change the subject. "So Zander. Tell us about the Coast Guard program you're in. Do you get to do rescues very often?"

"I've done six so far but once I go full time after graduation I'll get to do a lot more."

"How did you get into something like that?"

"I used to be a competitive swimmer in high school. I won the State Championship and even went to the Olympic trials but I didn't make the team by just a fraction of a second. It sucked but then the Coast Guard reached out and the rest is history."

"Oh that's cool," she said, trying to sound interested. For some reason she felt like she was trying to force herself to like him now. Before her weekend with Dean she liked Zander a lot but now, everything felt a little different. She could feel Dean's eyes on her from across the table but she kept her gaze on Zander and pretended not to notice.

"So what's this guy like that you're seeing now? You said you went to high school with him?" Zander asked.

She looked across the table and her eyes met Dean's and then she looked down at her food and took a bite.

"Yeah. I went to high school with him. He was the popular guy in school, really good at sports, had all the women after him. The bad part was he knew how good looking he was and he was really full of himself and arrogant, treated women like dirt."

"He sounds like a real asshole," Zander said laughing. "So why do you like him?"

She looked right into Dean's eyes as she took a sip of wine.

"I don't know really. I'm still trying to figure that out."

Zander turned to Dean. "What do you think of this guy?"

Dean looked across the table at her and said, "I like the guy. I think he's just a bit misunderstood. People judge him by the way he looks but on the inside he's a good guy and a good friend. He would do anything for his friends and the people he loves. Wouldn't he Berkley?" he asked.

She clutched her thighs together, trying to stop the tingle she felt between her legs when she heard Dean's deep sexy voice.

She locked eyes with him and knew what he was alluding to. The fact that he had sex with her just to save her from having sex with a bad guy that would break her heart. The ironic thing was that he broke her heart worse than any other man ever could have.

"Yes I think he would," she said, looking down and taking another bite.

They finished their awkward dinner and cleaned up the mess before going upstairs to watch a movie. Berkley laid in her bed and Dean laid in her roommate's and Zander laid on the floor. They all watched the movie in silence with the lights off and when it was over Zander got up and said, "I'm heading out. I've got an early day tomorrow."

She stood up to walk him to the door. She leaned in and gave him a hug and said, "Thanks for coming over still. I had a good time." That was a lie but it sounded good coming out of her mouth.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek and said, "This isn't how I thought tonight was gonna go but it is what it is. I hope you'll be happy with that new guy."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a pained smile as he opened the door and gave her a second look before walking out and closing it behind him.

"So where's your roommate tonight?" Dean asked.

"Oh. She's ummmm, spending the night in a friend's room tonight. Originally the plan was for me to sleep with Zander so she made plans to give us some privacy."

"So she won't be back all night?" he asked.

"No," she said, sitting down on her bed and laying back, looking at the ceiling.

He laid there in silence like he was struggling with something for a minute before he stood up and said, "I better go too."

He walked towards the door and right before he grabbed the handle she asked, "Will you stay?"

He hesitated, with his hand on the door knob and finally he hung his head and exhaled. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Please?" she asked softly. "I really want you to stay with me tonight Dean."

He paused, standing there with his hand on the door knob with his head hanging down, but then he let out a sigh, opened it and he was gone.

He was out the door and her heart broke all over again and she clutched her pillow to her chest and cried into it. She didn't know what she had done wrong. Why didn't Dean love her? She remembered her therapist's advice to be patient and give him time, but it was so hard. Being around him and knowing he didn't love her back was like rubbing salt in the wound, but she couldn't imagine her life without him.

She texted Ember to see if she would come back but she got a text that she was drunk and an hour away at a party with a friend. She was planning to crash there tonight.

She knew she didn't want to be alone tonight because an empty room made her feel claustrophobic and made her anxiety spike so she got out her phone and texted Zander.

''

'Sure. I'll be right there,' he answered back.