Emotions

"Do you ever miss it?" Kelly asked, turning away rather solemnly. "I always thought we were a great pair."

Yes, was what he wanted to say. As much as he loved Jane, he was also extremely compatible with Kelly. "What do you want, Kelly?" Cal kept his responses short in an effort to distance himself from her. However long that lasted, though...

"You. Always you." She turned back to look at him, setting her hand on his arm. "I didn't know what stories were spun about me, but you know who I am. I told you about my time in school, though I was at least kind enough to leave out names. We had a good year of dating before we had to say our goodbyes. I never truly got over you."

He let her hand remain where it was. Her touch had always been something that he enjoyed, sexual or not. Kelly's actions were genuine and soft. She didn't need to prove anything to anyone, at least not anymore. "So, what? You want me to cheat on my wife for a quick fuck?" Cal let slip some of his anger, though he wasn't exactly sure who he was angry at.

"I want to have you back. If I win this bet, I get you for a month; that's a whole month to ourselves to see if what we had can still exist. I can prove to you that you belong with me." Kelly was surprised when his eyes finally turned to meet hers.

Cal couldn't deny the temptation. On the one hand, he would be betraying Jane. On the other, he would get to have some stolen time back. "Only one of us is over here with you while the other is trying to appeal to people who don't even care about her. At least get friends were smart enough not to come here."

"So why are you here?" He asked back, slightly regretting it.

She looked down again, withdrawing her hand. "I don't know. Maybe to see if any of the friends I had in high school still cared about me. But I guess if they did, we wouldn't have lost contact. All I focus on is work now. It keeps me distracted."

It was his turn to reach out and put his hand on her arm, causing her to jolt slightly. She hasn't been expecting that. For her part, she was considering their conversation a complete failure on her part.

"What do you do for work?" Cal asked, hoping to make up for his curt comment.

"I'm a vet. Not, like, a veteran. I'm a veterinarian," she giggled and blushed at her own correction. She felt like a shy schoolgirl when he looked at her. It was so easy to put up the façade of sensuality when he was ignoring her, but his gaze melted her defenses. "It's nice working with animals; they're better than people most of the time. And none of them try to sleep with me."

Cal choked on his drink at that. "I would hope not!" A small chuckle escaped his lips. He was falling back into an easy rhythm with her. Dammit. Seeing her smile filled him with a warmth he didn't know he needed. While they continued talking, it felt like they were the only two in the room. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but he was willing himself to go further.