After I cleaned up from lunch, I went upstairs and hopped into the shower. Jessa was fast asleep in my Dad's room, so I had a little bit of me-time for once. I told him about Ezra stopping by and that she ran out to meet him. Dad smiled a little bit when he heard her singing "Ezwa" Shark.

Dad promised me he would talk to Mom about everything. He said she couldn't get mad at him in his condition. I was so thankful I had his support. I was too much of a coward to have a conversation with her.

The water was warm as it swirled around me. I poured some of my shampoo into my hair and scrubbed at it. My hair had gotten really long since I had Jessa, I had stopped putting any color in it, but it still was a mixture of blond and highlights from the sun. It reached down to the middle of my back, which meant it took forever to wash and blow-dry.

I scrubbed at my skin, making sure to take my time. I didn't know why seeing Ezra suddenly made me more worried about my appearance. It was not like I wanted anything from him and there was nothing left between us. He was engaged to that Jenna girl.

I looked down at my body in the shower. My hips were a little wider since I had Jessa and my breasts were a little fuller. I hadn't picked up that much weight during the pregnancy, but it still changed my shape slightly.

The biggest difference was the little faded lines that were on a few spots on my stomach from where my body stretched and grew. They were dark and angry at first but lightened up over time until they were barely recognizable. I knew they were there and that's all that mattered.

I sighed while I finished rinsing my body off and then reached down to turn off the shower. I wrapped the towel around me and came out of the shower to find Jessa sitting on my bed. She had my makeup bag opened and thrown across the comforter. She found a way to get in my eye shadow and drew on her face with it. I laughed at my little clown daughter with purple and blue smeared all over her face.

"Jessa Davis, what do you think you are doing?" I asked, leaning against the door.

She looked up at me and smiled. "I'm a princess."

I spent the next twenty minutes trying to scrub the makeup off her face. She squirmed and kicked and cried. It was during these moments I wished I had someone else to help me. I had to finish getting ready for work and didn't have time for this.

Once I got her clean, I realized I didn't have enough time to blow dry my hair. I opted for the simple braids. I tried to tell myself it didn't have anything to do with the fact that Ezra liked it when I braided my hair.

The hopeless side of my brain kept trying to convince the skeptical side it was only because I was running late. I split my hair into two sections and began braiding. Now that my hair was long, I had plenty of length to work with. I pulled a few strands loose in the front to give it the messy, "I didn't even" try look.

I applied my makeup, which was now mangled by toddler hands. It made it so much more difficult since the powders were smashed and loose. My dresser was a mess by the time I had finished. I threw on some lip gloss to complete the look and felt greedy little hands reach up for it. I bent down and brushed her lips lightly and she squealed as she ran out of the room to show Papa her makeup.

I slid my tight black work tank top on and wiggled my ripped black skinny jeans up over my hips. The tank was made to hit about two inches above my belly button. I added a thick studded black belt for decoration. I pulled on my boots and added a choker and some black earrings. I looked in the mirror one last time before heading downstairs.

Mom was in the kitchen, putting some groceries away. When she caught a glimpse of me, her mouth dropped open.

"Wow, you look amazing." She complimented me.

"Thanks, Mom." I grabbed my hoodie from the hook in case it got cold later.

"Where's my baby?" She asked, looking around me for my little shadow.

"She's upstairs with Papa showing him her makeup," I said, smiling.

"I'm sure he's up there telling her how pretty she is." Mom smiled.

"I may be a little later tonight. Inventory." I said, rolling my eyes, trying to hide my lie.

"Inventory, sure." Mom winked at me. She totally did not fall for my BS anymore. She knew I was up to something.

I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. I turned on my car and backed out of the driveway. My stomach was doing flip-flops knowing I would see him again tonight. I had to remind myself he was coming here to talk about Jessa; it had nothing to do with me. This was all for her.

I pulled into the parking lot of the bar and headed inside. Rachel was already in the parking lot and smiled when she saw me. She took a good look at me and her grin spread even more.

"Someone has got her groove back." She bumped into my arm and chuckled.

I bit my tongue, ready to throw insults at her for her role in orchestrating the Ezra reappearance. She and Jules were going to pay for what they did to me.

We prepped for the bar opening and took our places. Once the doors were unlocked, a small crowd entered the bar. Rachel started running for orders and I was slinging drinks behind the bar. We had worked so long together that now we could anticipate what the other one was thinking. She nodded at me and I poured and tossed. I spun my hand in a circle scanning the room and she jumped.

Minute after minute passed and the time flew by. I almost forgot about Ezra coming by to talk later. I was having fun at work tonight. I smiled and flirted for tips. I accepted when someone wanted to buy me a shot, which meant I took it and threw it back behind me when they weren't looking. I didn't ever really drink much anymore since Jessa was born. In fact, it had probably been at least two years since I had any alcohol at all.

I looked up not long before closing when the bar was winding down and caught Rachel dancing around the room again. She had way too much energy and I secretly envied her. She was so carefree. I had never been like that, even before I had Jessa; something was constantly weighing me down. I was lost in thought when the door opened and a tall, lean figure silently stepped into the bar.

Rachel motioned to me, snapping me out of my troubled thoughts and I saw him standing in the doorway. Ezra was wearing a tight black t-shirt and jeans over black boots. His shoulders looked delicious under the tight fabric of the shirt. I felt my insides tighten seeing him standing in the doorway.

Rachel ran over to me, almost knocking one of our regular customers off a chair.

"OMG!" She shook my arms with wide eyes. "What is he doing here? Did you know he was coming?"

"I don't know, Rachel, you tell me. Jules was the one who hired his band to play at the other bar and then called me to bail him out." I said, eyeing her.

"Wait. What?" She said with her mouth hanging open. A small smile crept to her face.

"Don't act like you didn't know," I grumbled, giving her the disapproving Mom look I had mastered.

"Well, we had to do something. You've been in a funk. He came in and auditioned a few weeks back and looked good. We figured you would thank us later. You need this, Riley." She said, smiling.

"Yes, Rachel, thank you. Thank you so much for bringing the guy who got me pregnant and then did drugs in my apartment. He also may or may not have slept with my ex-best friend. The jury is still out on that one. Oh, by the way, did you know he's engaged now?" I said grumpily back at her.

"Oh." She said, realizing what they just did to me. "I didn't know. I'm sorry, Ry."

"Me too, Rachel. I am just stressed about all of this. I didn't mean to bite your head off." I said, apologizing; they were only trying to help even though they went about it the completely wrong way.

Ezra looked around the bar, searching for me. When he found me, he pulled one corner of his mouth up in that devilish smile. I bit my lip and returned the smile before looking down. Ezra could always ignite a fire inside me, even when I knew it wasn't good for me.

Rachel burst out in laughter as she watched us exchange looks.

"What?" I asked, not understanding what was so funny.

"You two are literally eye fucking each other from across the bar. Engaged my ass. Have fun, Ry. I'm going to check my tables." She said, laughing as she walked away.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. This was too much. Rachel was wrong; we weren't doing anything like that.

Ezra walked over towards me. His long legs carried him faster than should be humanly possible. He looked so delicious as he leaned his abs against the bar.

"Hey, Ry." He said, looking at me. I saw him glance down to where my braids covered my breasts and then slowly studied the curves of my hips.

Maybe Rachel was right.

"Hey, Ezra, can I get you something?" I asked him, trying not to stare at the way the muscles on his arms moved. After all this time, my body still wanted him. Mock kisses with Aiden to make Ezra jealous wasn't enough to quench my thirst for him.

I hated the things Ezra did to me when he was using and I hated even more how much I didn't care about that right now. He scared me and turned me on at the same time. I had to get a hold of myself, he was engaged and I was not the type of girl who threw myself at a guy who was taken. I shouldn't even want to throw myself at him at all.

"Riley, earth to Riley, are you there?" He asked. I looked up from his arms, blushing. He must have said something to me while I was thinking about him in ways I shouldn't.

"Oh, sorry, did you say something?"

"Yeah, I said I'll take a Coke." He shook his head, confused.

"Coming right up." I filled a glass with Coke and slid it across the bar to him.

He smiled as he pressed the glass to his lips. He made an attempt at small talk that failed miserably. We both knew why he was here and this was extremely uncomfortable.

"How's Aiden?" He asked between sips.

"How's Jenna?" I asked back, raising my eyebrow at him.

He smiled and shook his head. He was not going to give me anything on this subject. We may not be fighting and hurting each other right now, but we couldn't pretend to be friends either. Ezra and I could never be friends.

"We close in 10 minutes. I've got to close out the bar and I'll be back." He nodded and turned to watch me as I walked by. I thought I saw him shift in his chair and adjust himself. I smiled a bit knowing I could still make him sweat. It was a major confidence boost.

I had his attention and was enjoying it.