Ryan worked hard the following month. She avoided Rob when she could and concentrated on the frat boys instead.

As her captain had suggested, they were very willing to talk when a pretty woman was hanging on their arm.

She made her lists and crossed checked them. A picture was forming of the structure of drug dealing. It wasn't so much her department. It had been a few years ago, when she was a part of the "A squad" with Gus, Kyle, Lawson, and Doug.

But after Gus and Doug had moved to California, which was shortly after Kyle had been shot, they separated her, Kyle, and Law, putting them on different cases. They'd worked too long together and cared too much about each other, they were told.

Case in point, Kyle. Ryan shook her head. She wasn't going to think about that. She had nearly lost Kyle, and she had lost Doug.

She took a deep breath to focus. Her department focused more on the illegal gambling, bookies, and money laundering. Ryan had found some of that as well, at this college, leading her to the college football and basketball pools, and some small poker games. Minor infractions.

She had to do more digging to find anything that would be worthy of pressing charges.

She watched Rob as well. Ryan was finding out that he was asking a lot of questions that she was asking. She hoped that Rob wasn't being pulled into the whole mess.

Especially because of what had happened to his brother. Ryan didn't want Rob to follow down the same path to destruction.

Ryan looked up as he came into their bedroom. She couldn't help to think about what happened between them whenever she saw him. It was driving her crazy. What she'd give to be in his arms again. To kiss him again.

"Hey."

"Hi," Ryan answered non-nonchalantly, turning back to her biology book.

"Man, I'm beat," Rob yawned.

She watched as he tossed his backpack on his desk, and then threw himself dramatically on the bed exhausted. Rob closed his eyes and then frowned.

Ryan smiled and then chewed on her lip to contain her excitement. Rob pushed on the bed with his hand and Ryan innocently looked back at her book.

"What happened to my bed? This isn't my bed." Rob asked frowning in confusion.

"Of course it is. Don't be silly," she said, not looking up.

"I'm serious. This is not my bed. My bed...has four broken springs that poke me, here, here, here, and here," he said, rolling over, and he gestured to each sore location of his back. "This bed is comfortable," he explained, enjoying it. It'd been months since he'd slept in a real bed.

"Maybe it was the bed fairy." Ryan suggested.

"Ry-an," Rob said in a sing-song tone, leaning up on an elbow with an understanding and pleased smile.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"What did you do to my bed?" he asked accusingly yet in a playful manner.

"I threw it in the dumpster. Sorry, I didn't think you'd mind," she said as if it were nothing.

"You are awesome. Thank you," he said with a grin, truly touched. He pulled himself up into a sitting position

"No prob," Ryan answered, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear.

"Where did you find this one?"Rob asked amazed, lying back down to enjoy it.

"I heard a shipment of new ones were coming in for next semester. I bribed the delivery guy," she said with a shrug.

"With what?" he asked curiously, his eyes narrowing ad he studied her face.

She groaned and looked at her watch. "That reminds me, I've got a date to get ready for," Ryan said, getting up.

"You're kidding me," Rob said in disbelief,  scrambling to sit back up as he realized what she'd done for him.

"Nope," she answered, simply opening her closet.

"Ryan, you can't go on date with some delivery guy just for a bed. I won't accept it."

"Don't worry about it. He's cute," she answered smiling, and patted his cheek.

"Come on, don't do this," Rob protested as he watched her pull out a skirt and top from her closet.

"Look, if I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't have done it, okay?"

"You're sure?"

"Positive," she said, taking her clothes to the bathroom.

"Besides, I get a free dinner out of it."

"Ryan," he sighed, leaning on the wall next to the door. No one had ever done something so nice for him.

She came out of the bathroom changed in a short black skirt and a green tank-top blouse.

"What do you think? Hair up or down?" she asked, pulling her hair up, and then dropping it to show him how each would look.

"Either way," he said with a shrug. She looked incredible either way. He wanted to tell her that, but didn't.

"I'll leave it down. Don't have time to mess with it anyway," she said, looking over her shoulder at him.

Ryan walked to her closet, and then knelt on the floor in search of a pair of shoes. She pulled them out triumphantly, stood up, and put them on.

"Thanks, Ryan," he said closing his eyes in defeat, not knowing how else to thank her.

"What are friends for, right?" Ryan kissed his cheek when he didn't answer.

Rob opened his eyes and looked at her in shock. Did she really consider him a friend?

"Don't wait up!" she called, running out the door.

****

He did wait up though. He lay awake in his comfortable bed, when he could have been sleeping. Rob thought about her and how wonderful she was, and how she was out on a date with another guy.

He tossed and turned, telling himself that he was just used to his old bed, so it would take him a while to actually relax in this bed.

He did some homework, did some of his real work, and then tried again to get back to sleep.

Ryan crept in about one in the morning. Rob heard her kick off her shoes. He heard her slip off her skirt. His heart raced thinking of her changing in the dark, just a few feet away from him.

He heard her phone vibrate. He'd gotten used to it. She always had it on vibrate so that the ring wouldn't disturb him, but he always heard it. Another one of his frat brothers begging for a date he was sure.

"Oh, hey, baby," she said in a low voice. "Nah, I just got in. What?"

"I'm fine, okay? We'll see, I don't know if I can get away," Ryan whispered. "Yeah. I miss you too. Look, I gotta go, okay? You shouldn't call," she told the person on the other end. "Yeah, I will. I love you too. Take care. Bye," she said, hanging up.

Rob heard her sigh hard and set her phone on her desk. She walked over towards the bathroom, shut the door behind her, and the light from under the door pierced through the room.

Rob rubbed his face. He couldn't take just lying there. She went out with some strange guy, she comes home and talks to another. And he's just lying there.

Rob got up, went through the living room to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of juice.

He peeked into Larry and Joe's room. Joe was sound asleep, snoring, and Larry was on his computer, as usual, typing away with a headset on, blaring music.

"Hey," Ryan said, coming into the living room.

"Hey," Rob answered with a grunt, taking a gulp of juice.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Ryan asked as she walked into the kitchen and then took the gallon of juice from him.

"No, I was having trouble sleeping. New bed adjustment period, I think," Rob replied, trying not to show his annoyance, and took another drink.

She poured herself a glass. He took the gallon from her and put it back in the fridge.

"How was your date?" he asked, studying her.

"Oh, fine," Ryan with a bit of a wince and took a drink.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "He try something?"

Ryan laughed. "You're such a sweetie," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Okay. Goodnight," he said with a lopsided smile.

"What? You don't like being called a sweetie?" Ryan asked, taking his empty glass and set it in the sink for him.

"Oh, yeah," Rob answered sarcastically, "It ranks right up there with 'Let's just be friends'."

"But we are friends, right?" she batted her large eyes at him.

He swallowed. "Of course we are." 

"So, if we're already friends, then the 'let's just be friends' line is not an issue, so why should "sweetie" be an issue?"

He groaned. "It's just a guy thing. You don't call a guy sweet unless ..." he trailed off.

"What?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"What? Unless you're sleeping with the guy?" Ryan offered.

"And then, only when you're alone," he said, raising an index finger in the air to make a point.

Ryan shook her head in exasperation and set her glass in the sink. "Can I call you sweetie if we're alone?" she asked in a flirting tone.

"Are you going to sleep with me first?"

She swatted him across the chest.

"Ow! No wonder you're home early," he said laughing, and then moved out of the way quickly before she belted him again.