Andie mirrored Dom's stance with her elbow resting on the bar. Drink in hand. They were both at ease with each other. Familiarity always helped calm the nerves.

"So what are you up to these days?" Dom asked.

"I'm an EMT for City Emergency Services."

"Wow! Nice gig!"

"Oh and I'm a widow."She said bluntly. She shrugged.

Dom almost shot beer out of his nose. He choked down his beer and tried to recover. " What?" He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Eyes darting to hers.

She shrugged."I married a firefighter."

"Christ! I'm sorry." He almost choked on his beer. He knew the pain of loss far too well.

"I knew what I was getting into. It's been a few years now. Not that it's easy, it's, weird still. I miss him every day. I took a leave of absence right after. It took me time to get my head mostly back together. I actually don't even need to work, the insurance money paid off the house and cars. All I really work for is to keep myself busy and pay my taxes."

"God, I'm sorry. I know what that's like. Some of it anyway." His eyes held a sadness as he spoke.

"I heard about Letty. I'm so sorry Dom." She reached her hand out to rest on his and gently squeezed.

"Thank you. It's been a little over a year. It still sucks."

Andie nodded."It will, for a very long time. How about a toast."

"To?"

"Lost loves."she shrugged.

"I'll drink to that." Dom knocked beers with Andie and they both finished their bottles."You want another?"

"Yeah how about one more?"

"You got it." Dom got Gary's attention and got them both another round.

"How's Mia doing?"

"She's great! She's married and she and Brian just settled into their new home. I bought our old house. Been fixing it up."

"In the old neighborhood?"

"Yeah!"

"That's awesome! Tell me, you still have that hotrod in the garage?" She rested a hand on his forearm.

He nodded."Yup. I've been fixing her up too. I had a bad accident with it. Did a lot of damage. Right now I'm driving something a little quieter, and newer."

"Please tell me it's at least a muscle car."

"Of course! Still a Charger, just much newer." He grinned.

"Still fully loaded?" She grinned wider, a dimple showed on her right cheek.

"Come on! It's me! Factory original isn't original enough!"

"Never was! Is it loud?"

"Nahhh this one purrs like a kitten."

Andie nodded in approval. Taking another drink. "Fast as Hell I bet." She cocked an eyebrow and smirked at him.

"Wanna go for a ride?"

"Right now?"

"Sure! I feel like we're not done talking. But this isn't the right scene." He looked around then meet her eyes. "Not a great place to catch up."

"Yeah, I'm not really ready to go home yet. And I'd love to hear more about the things I've missed."

Dom finished his beer. Andie followed suit. They both thanked Gary and tipped him well. Gary was interested in Dom's new friend, not knowing that she was actually an old friend. Dom escorted Andie out to his black and silver pin striped Charger. Opening the door for her so she could slide into the bucket seat. He closed the door as she buckled up.
Dom slid into the driver's side seat as smooth as ever. Andie knew that was where he belonged. Starting the car, he wasn't joking, it really had a great sound to it. Definitely a sweet-ass purr.

"Dom, this is a cherry ride!" Her grin was huge, but it grew even more as he laid the pedal down.

" Thank you. It's my second favorite ride."

"So what does Mia's husband do?"

"He used to be a cop. He and I came into some money. We bought a shop. We run it together, Mia and Tej do our books. A few guys from the old crew rent our bays sometimes to work on their stuff. But we work on cars of all kinds. It's great! How 'bout I take you there first?"

"I'd love that!"

" All right. "

They sped off to Dom and Brian's shop. Angie couldn't help it, her nerves were firing like crazy. Partly because she still found Dom attractive as Hell and the car was such a damn beast. She felt electrified. It was nice to have the company too. That was one of the things she missed most, just having someone to talk to even about nothing. When they pulled up to the shop Dom parked right by the main door.

"Dom! This is fantastic!"

" Come on I'll give you a tour. Won't take long. "
Dom showed Andie every inch of the shop. He was so proud of the place. There were picture frames behind the service desk of the old crew and their racing days. Andie remembered some of those moments. She'd go with Mia sometimes when they were younger.

Andie looked up at the pictures with a smile. "I remember some of these! God it was fun as Hell watching you guys."Andies smile was thoughtful as she reminisced.

"They were some good times all right."

" Brian got into it as part of an undercover thing when he was a cop. We were adversaries for awhile. Things got pretty crazy, but he saved my ass. Then he fell for Mia big-time and that changed things a lot for him. "

"Wow. That's him?" She pointed to a picture of Brian and Dom on their opening day.

" Yeah. "

"He's cute! Good for Mia! That makes me happy."

"Me too. They're perfect together. You should see them." He stood by her with his arms crossed. Looking at all the old pictures, one in particular had Letty in it.

"I bet!"

"Eh, let's get out of here."

"Okay. You're not ready to go home either are you?" She asked softly.

"Not really. I have an idea of a place we can go. Come on." He shut the lights back off and turned the security system back on. Then he took her back out to the Charger and opened the door for her again. The chatter between them stayed pretty light hearted as they cruised along in the night. Dom was catching her up on a lot.

" God, I've missed an awful lot. I have friends, but not like all of you guys. "

Dom nodded in understanding. "I get that."

They were quiet for a little bit. Then they pulled up to the beach. Dom parked under a light in one of the many parking areas. No other cars were in that area. Up above the nearly full moon shone bright.

"The beach? Nice choice!"

"A better place to hang out than the bar." Dom said.

"Agreed."

They exited the car and Dom led her to the boardwalk so they wouldn't get sand in their shoes. A little fishing pier poked out into the ocean not far from where they parked. They walked to the end and looked out into the night. Off in the distance a light house flashed. There were barely any clouds in the sky. Just a few wispy clouds floating along. A refreshing breeze blew off the water.

Andie was still feeling the alcohol a little bit and as she thought about her crush on Dom she accidentally giggled out loud. Mortified she had meant to keep it to herself, but it was too late.

Dom stood next to her and smirked. "What's so funny?"

" Uh, nothing... It's silly. "

" Come on. What? "He nudged her elbow

If it hadn't been dark out he'd have seen how red her face was now.

" No! It's dumb! "

" How bad could it be? "

"It's...hmmm...it's So dumb." She stepped away, looking out over the water, running her hand through her hair in a nervous way.

Dom followed her. "It's just us. I'm not judging."

She looked out, her long hair blew in the wind. "All right, fine, but this could make things weird. Ok?" she couldn't make eye contact with him, she refused to look at him, but he watched her closely.

"Ok."he still watched her.

" I was thinking about how much of a...oh God. I can't say it. it's embarrassing! "

Dom didn't say anything, he just stayed silent hoping she'd open up. Then she took a deep breath and sputtered out what was on her mind.

"Fuck it. I was thinking about how when I was younger I had such a crush on you and here I am hanging out with you like it's just normal." She paused, " I was just Mia's little friend, ya know? The cars and well of course Letty were all you noticed! " she was feeling beyond awkward having spilled her guts. Then her nerves got the better of her and she started to walk away. She didn't know where the Fuck she thought she was going. He was her ride after all. But he took off after her, not saying a word. His stride held purpose as his eyes had been opened for the first time in a long time. He had been so oblivious when they were younger, but she sure caught his attention right now.

"Hold up." He said carefully. "Andie!" He caught up to her quickly. Reaching out he gently took her arm to stop her walking.

Then she just burst out giggling. " I am an idiot! I always screw things up! "

Dom's face softened. "No you're not."

" Yes. I am. This is kind of what I do. I'm great at making things awkward. I mean if that guy hadn't given me shit tonight, we wouldn't even be standing here right now. You wouldn't have even noticed me. "

Dom's huge hand was still on her bicep. He looked down at her, and her eyes met his. "Well, I'm noticing now!" He said gently.

"You wouldn't have."she shook her head.

He moved a little closer, "But I am now."His deep voice resonated inside her like the engine of his car, thrilling her, terrifying her. He thought for a moment. "I see you now." He felt his own heart speed up. Taking another step closer, she backed up. He followed.

"What are you doing? " Her voice faltered just a little.

"Seeing you." It was a revelation to him. He was intrigued. She stepped back again. Still he followed. Her back was to the railing now. No more stepping back, no where to go.

"I shouldn't have said anything." She whispered.

"You're fine."His thumb rubbed lightly on her arm. He kept his eyes on hers. "Easy." He said as if he were trying to calm a wild animal. Both of them were feeling some heavy shit. Dom used his free hand to catch the back of her head and hold her still. He tilted his down to her a little, his eyes still locked on hers. "Now I see you." He had such an intense look in his eyes and he just did it. Dom held her carefully, but kissed her strongly.

Andie was in shock. She barely remembered to breathe. His mouth on hers undid her. She sighed and as her mouth opened he deepened the kiss. Now she reached up and held onto him to help herself stay steady. His hand left her bicep to rest at the small of her back pulling her closer. Dom hadn't had any interest in girls since Letty had been ripped away from him. Suddenly though, he just felt something in himself wake up,a change inside as he had been talking with his little sister's old friend.