A Tale Of Two Men

"Well hello there." The blond looked up at me as I walked in.

"Oh, hey you finished?" Adrianna asked.

"Yeah, you should be fine now." I smiled down at her and dropped the towel onto her table "Who're your friends?"

"Oh, this is Cassidy Garrett- she works with me at the hospital." She pointed to the blond who waved "And this is her roommate, Hunter."

"Hey, I'm Jack." I waved briefly at them.

"Wow, why aren't you two sleeping together?" Cassidy asked Adrianna.

"We're just friends." Adrianna looked at her pointedly.

"Ok then... I'm going back down to my place, shout if you need anything." I told her before making my escape. For the rest of the afternoon and the start of the evening I listened to the sounds of the women walking about above me and the occasional burst of laughter, eventually at around quarter to seven I decided to go and see what was happening. When I knocked on her door it was pulled open by Cassidy, she let me in once I told her I had come back to get my wrench.

"You have got to see Ade, she looks incredible." She lead me through into the bedroom where Ade was waiting, when I saw her I stopped dead and felt my eyes widen. She had cut her hair and straightened it so it hung in a glossy curtain to a few inches higher than it used to, she was wearing a knee length dark blue dress that hugged her figure and revealed more than I had seen in ten years of knowing her. She had a shockingly tiny waist and full breasts that were pushing up out of the strapless dress she wore, her legs were long and shapely and her arms were tanned and smooth. Her eyes had been lined with dark liner and her lips were a glossy pink colour, she looked so beautiful that I didn't even know how put it into words.

"I look stupid don't I?" She grimaced.

"No, no. You look... whoa." I finished lamely.

"Thank you." She beamed up at me.

"So what brought about all of this, I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress." I smiled at her.

"Well... to be honest it was Crystal's comments yesterday that did it. I realised that I had been working the baggy asexual look for too long, good change?"

"Very good, Evan is lucky to get to walk around with you on his arm. I'm a little jealous." A lot jealous actually, seeing her all dressed up had reinforced what Evan had said yesterday. I loved her as a friend but it seemed that my feelings were quickly evolving into something else, Jesus- I was even getting semi hard just looking at her in the tight dress and high heels.

"Stop messing around, why are you here? Except to observe me in all my glory."

"Oh, I forgot my wrench. I should be going now, have fun tonight." I told her before turning and stepping out of the door.

"Wait! Your wrench." She called after me.

"Oh yes, woops." I ran into her bathroom and picked up the wrench I had intentionally left by the bath.

Chapter Three: Adrianna

"So, did I do good?" Evan asked as we walked hand in hand through the busy streets of Chinatown, we had gone to dinner at the restaurant and had been walking through the streets for the past twenty minutes. We had talked about a lot of things including my work, his work, our families, our childhoods and our lives at the moment.

"You did very good, I love Chinatown but I haven't had chance to get out here recently." I smiled as I looked around at the stalls lining the streets and the people running about around us.

"I like Chinatown, my mom used to bring me here to get herbs."

"I grew up here."

"You miss it?"

"Sometimes, but sometimes it's nice to have the quiet available out there you know?"

"Yeah I do, I have four brothers and a sister so I know all about noisy, crowded homes." He laughed.

"Sounds hectic." I smiled, we continued talking as we walked down the street. We stopped off at a nearby stall and Evan bought me a sticky rice treat to nibble on as we walked, it was sweet and sticky on my lips and it had been a favourite treat of mine when I was growing up. "How's your arm?"

"Oh, not too bad. It's starting to itch though."

"Well don't scratch it, I'd hate to have you back in my ER because you scratched your sutures out."

"That reluctant to see me again, are you?" He smiled down at me.

"Not at all, I'd just rather see you somewhere other than the hospital."

"So if you do want to see me again, how about this Friday? Dinner?" He lead me off the main street until I felt my back press against the wall, his body brushed against my front as he stepped up in front of me.

"Sounds good." I tilted my head back to smile up at him.

"Brilliant." He breathed, he was going to kiss me and I wanted him to. My eyes fluttered shut as his mouth brushed over mine in a tentative touch, he pulled back and smiled down at me before coming back for another kiss. This one was deeper and when his tongue slid along the seam of my lips I opened for him without hesitation, his hands slid along my waist and pressed me up against my body as his mouth melded with mine. "Mmm, you sure you're not available sooner?" He murmured as he pulled back.

"Sorry, I'm on call most of the week." I sighed.

"Oh well, I'll have to wait until Friday then won't I?"

"Yes, now come on. I want some tea." I stepped away from the window I had been resting on and grimaced as I saw exactly which store it was.

"You ok?" Evan asked when I groaned.

"Sure, can you give me a minute? I need to go in here."

"You want to buy flowers at eight thirty while on a date?"

"Yep."

"I'll wait here." He assured me, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before letting me walk into the shop. The bell above the door chimed as I walked in but it was the loud click of my heels as I walked past the giant displays of flowers that caught the attention of the man behind the counter. My brother Nico looked up and smirked when he saw me, he had the same eyes as me but he had the light blond hair of out father instead of the caramel colour of our half Chinese mother.

"Don't say a word." I growled.

"I was only going to comment on how nice you look."

"Mmm-hmm." I arched an eyebrow and walked over to lean on the counter opposite him.

"So, who is he? And will he be coming to dinner tomorrow?"

"His name is Evan and he works with Jack, and no he will not be coming tomorrow. This is our first date."

"Isn't that a little weird, him working with Jack and all?"

"Why would it be? Me and Jack are just friends, I can date whoever I want."

"Sure, you've just been pining over Jack since the day you met him and now you're seeing his mate. That's not weird at all."

"Can it dork, can you do me a favour?"

"I won't tell them, you're secret is safe here." He grinned up at me.

"Thanks Nico, I owe you."

"I'll collect, now get lost. I have a date in ten minutes."

"Have fun, see you tomorrow." I waved over my shoulder as I strode out into the street, Evan was waiting where I had left him and he raised his eyebrows when he saw me.

"What happened to the flowers?" He asked as we set off walking down the street.

"Oh..." I frowned and chewed on my lip.

"You wouldn't have made up an excuse to get away from me now would you?" He grinned down at me.

"No, really I didn't. That is my mothers shop and I saw my brother through the window, I went in to ask him to keep this to himself."

"You ashamed of me?" He asked as he hailed a cab.

"No, far from it. But my family is... intense" I slid into the back seat and Evan gave the cab driver my address before joining me.

"So if they knew you were on a date with someone they would constantly hound you about it?" He asked me, I nodded and he grinned widely "My family are the same, trust me I get it."

"Oh good, I'm just not ready to deal with all the questions yet."

"No problem." He smiled and handed some notes over to the driver as we stopped by my apartment building, we climbed out and he walked me up to the front door before stopping, his smile slipped and his gaze dropped to my mouth "Is it bad that I really want to kiss you again?"

"No, considering that I was thinking the same thing."

"Good." He breathed as he leant forward and closed his mouth over mine, his lips were soft against mine and his arms snaked around my waist to hold me tight against him. His tongue thrust into my mouth and I slipped my hands up to grip his short blond hair, I felt his hand slip down to close over my behind so he could urge my body to rub against his. He was hard with arousal and all I could hear was the sound of our heavy breathing and the blood pounding in my veins, his hand gripped the curve of my behind and I moaned into his mouth. A loud throat clearing had us pulling apart to look to our side where Jack stood with a fast food bag clutched in his hand, embarrassment flooded through me and I felt my face heat up. Apparently Evan didn't feel the same.

"Hey Jack, quiet night in?" He smiled.

"Would be if I could get past the guys making out on the stoop." He smirked at me "See someone's going to get lucky tonight."

"Jack!" I yelled, he was being very crude and acting a little off.

"Just stating the truth, you get your friends to bring you some fancy lingerie as well? Maybe give you some tips?" He smirked at me.

"Hey Jack, man, that's a little uncalled for." Evan defended me and I felt a little spark of joy.

"Yeah, yeah... can I get past now? I have a date with a bucket of chicken."

"Fine." I glared at him but stepped aside so he could enter the building.

"Well that was weird, and he said he was fine with it." Evan muttered as he ran an hand over his hair.

"Fine with what?" I frowned.

"Before I asked you out I checked with Jack to see if he would mind, I wondered if there was anything going on between you two. He said he was fine with it and even gave me tips on where to take you, now he's acting odd." He narrowed his eyes at me "You sure you and him have never..."

"Positive, I'd remember. He's drunk." I sighed.

"Drunk? How could you know? I never smelt anything."

"I know him, he only ever acts like that when he's drunk. And he only ever eats fried chicken when he's completely off his head." I shook my head and sighed again "I'm sorry about this, I'm gonna go and make sure he's ok. See you Friday?"

"Friday, I cant wait." He kissed me softly before running back down to the cab, I stomped upstairs but instead of going to Jack's apartment I ran up to mine. When I fell asleep that night I had a smile on my face for the first time in months.

Three months later me and Evan were officially a couple, he had informed me of it one night while we laid in bed and then proceeded to explain what it meant. Apparently I could now call myself his girlfriend and he could call himself his boyfriend, we went on dates and we had met each others friends. One morning in September I woke up to find Evan gone from bed and pulled on my robe to walk through to the kitchen, I found him dressed only in his boxers sat reading the paper at my breakfast bar.

"Morning gorgeous." He pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder where my robe had slipped.

"Good morning, what plans do you have today?" I asked him as I poured myself a coffee.

"Nothing, in fact I was rather hoping to spend the day with you." I stood and came to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me up against him.

"How would you feel about coming with me to a family thing?" I asked nervously, I wasn't sure if it was moving too quickly or what but I suddenly wanted Evan to meet my family.

"Really?" I nodded and his face split in a wide grin "Thank God, I've been wanting to meet them for a while but I didn't want to rush you. What's the thing?"

"Oh, my brother just had a baby. He invited us over to see the baby at home."

"How old is the baby?" He asked.

"Erm... a month. So you'll come?"

"Yep, I'm looking forward to it." He grinned and kissed me softly "What time do we need to be there?"

"Two, at my brothers house on Prescott Street."

"Great, that means we have plenty of time."

"For what?"

"This." He grinned and picked me up so he could set me down on the counter and then pulled my robe open, his hands rested on my waist and pulled me forward until I was pressed up against his muscular body. His baby blue eyes darkened as they ran over me before he bent his head to my breast, he carried me back into the bedroom and proceeded to put me in a very good mood. Once we had climbed out of bed we made some lunch before I set about getting ready to go to my brothers house, I had recently bought a whole new wardrobe to go with my new attitude so I had trouble picking out what to wear.

"Hey Evan! Come and help me." I called, he appeared a moment later with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"What's up? I hope you're not planning on going like that, as much as I like it I think other people might object." He smiled and I looked down at the white lace bra and panties I wore.

"I know that, but I don't know what to wear. I'm new to the whole girl thing, you get me?"

"You seem to do well to me, just wear whatever you want. You look beautiful in anything."

"Thanks, go have your shower." I grinned as he padded back into the bathroom. I eventually picked out a pair of jeans and a fitted white and navy striped top before pulling on a navy blazer and slipping my feet into a pair of matching coloured platform heels, I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and slicked on some make up. "Evan, I'm going to see what Jack wants. He called earlier and left a message asking me to come down and see him."

"Alright, I'll finish getting ready and then join you. We can head out after that." He smiled at me.

"Sure."

"Oh wait, don't we need to take a gift or something?"

"Nope, I took one when the thing was born. This is just a family dinner, but if you want you can grab a bottle of wine from the counter. See you in a bit." I smiled and walked out into the hall, when I knocked on Jack's door he pulled it open with a smile.

"Hey, come on in." He stepped back to let me in, my heels clicked loudly on the floor as I walked through to his living room.

"So I got your message, what's up?" I grinned at him as I jumped up to sit on his pool table.

"Can you give this to your brother? And his wife." He handed me a light blue gift bag.

"What is it?"

"A gift, genius." He teased "It's a little stuffed animal, a Rabbit."

"Jack, that is so sweet. You can come with us if you want?"

"Us?"

"Oh yeah... Evan is coming, I'm introducing him to the family."

"Wow, things must be getting pretty serious if you're doing that. I knew you for a year before I met them, and we weren't even sleeping together."

"That was different, it was a delicate time. Now it's all good so I decided to take the plunge. So do you want to come or not?"

"Nah, I'm heading over to the site anyway."

"You didn't need Evan for that did you?"

"Nope, I'm just checking things out. Tell them congrats for me though, and have fun."

"Thanks I will" we both looked up as Evan appeared in the doorway "I'm going now, see you later."

"See you." Hugged me as I kissed his cheek but then let me go over to Evan. We walked down and climbed into his dark blue SUV and I settled back in the seat as he set off down the road, I felt him watching me and I turned to look at him questioningly.

"Tell me about your family, who's going to be there?" He asked me before I could say anything.

"Oh, my oldest brother Maddox and his wife Beth. They're the baby's parents. My other brother Nico, my parents Morgan and Ivy. I think that's it but my cousin Esme might be there, she moved in with us when she was ten so she's like immediate family now."

"Right, what's the baby's name?"

"His name is Jayden."

"Cute name." He muttered as we stopped at a red light, I noticed that he was agitated and fidgety.

"Are you ok? You seem... restless."

"I'm fine." He suddenly sighed and pulled the car over to the curb "No I'm not, I'm nervous as hell."

"Why?"

"Because I like you Adrianna, I really like you and it matters what your family thinks of me. I'm terrified they'll hate me and I'll loose you because of it." He confessed.

"Evan... yes it would be easier if my family agreed with every decision I made but that's just unrealistic. They wanted me to get married and become a mother instead of going to medical school but I didn't listen, and they didn't like the fact that I moved out before I was married but I did it... I've done a lot of things my family don't like and I still do them." I smiled at him "And I'm sure that they'll like you, almost as much as I do"

"Alright then, you're very good at soothing people." He kissed me quickly before starting the car again.

"It's the doctor thing, we have to develop a good bedside manner." I grinned at him as we sped of down the road, we pulled up outside my brothers house a few minutes later. My brother lived in a red two storey manor house with big windows and white painted frames, we parked by the sidewalk behind my parents car and hopped out to stand on the sidewalk. Evan looked up at the house as I lead him up the stone walkway to the wooden double doors, I stepped in without knocking and called out a greeting. My sister in law Beth came out from the living room with a big smile on her face, her shoulder length blond hair had been pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing a simple blouse and a pair of dark jeans.

"Ade! Hey, how are you?" She asked with a wide smile as she hugged me.

"I'm great, how are you doing since bringing Jayden home?"

"Tired but it's worth it, who's your friend?" She looked curiously at Evan as he shrugged off his jacket.

"This is Evan Stewart, my boyfriend." I announced, Beth widened her eyes at me as she shook Evan's hand.

"Nice to meet you Evan, why don't you two come in? You're the last to arrive." She told us as she lead us through an arch into the family room, my father was sat in a cushioned armchair by the window with my mother perched on his lap. My younger brother Nico was on the sofa chatting to my cousin Esme while Maddox was curiously absent, my mothers dark eyes lit up when we walked in and she slid off my fathers lap to walk over to us. Her caramel hair was hanging over her shoulder in a thick braid and she was wearing a floor length skirt and a plain red t-shirt and yet she still looked elegant, she was a few inches shorter than me and I could she Evan's shock at how little she was.

"Adrianna." She murmured as she embraced me, she turned to Evan with an expectant smile "And just who might you be?"

"Evan Stewart, ma'am." He shook her hand.

"Now I know your name but I'm lost as to why you're here." She told him and I sighed, my mother had very odd social skills.

"He is here because he is my boyfriend, and don't even think about starting an inquisition. Be nice." I warned her.

"You act like I'm going to chain him to the wall and torture him, why don't you come and sit down Evan. Nico go and get some drinks." She ordered as she ushered Evan over to the sofa "Adrianna, your brother is upstairs with the baby. Go and say hello."

"Yes mother." I smiled at Evan and turned to run upstairs, I found Maddox just buttoning up Jayden's clothes in the nursery. "Hey Madd, how's it going?"

"Great, you're late you know."

"I know, I know. Here let me hold my nephew." I held my arms out and Maddox handed me Jayden with an indulgent smile, the baby was a soft warm weight in my arms and I cuddled him closer as we walked out.

"So, have you brought that guy you've been seeing?"

"Yes, Evan is downstairs. Mom has already got him in her clutches."

"God help him." He grinned as we started out into the hall "Seriously though, if he's important to you he's important to us. All we want is to see you happy."