"Wren! Wren, wake up!" Whoever decided to become the demon of sleep deprivation forced me to open my eyes. After my eyes finally adjust to the light, they land on Reese, who is propped up on his elbow looking at me with a smile. What an asshole!

"You hate me!" My voice is emotional but serious. "What have I ever done to you, for you to deprive me of sleep like this?" I shout breathlessly, putting on my best pouty face.

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out.

It's rare when Reese is speechless. I turn on my side dramatically so that my back is facing him.

"You know I love you," he coos, scooting closer to me, my back is once again pressed against his bare chest.

"What time is it?" I mutter, ignoring him. My kids should be home by three and boy, do I miss them.

"It's two-thirty in the afternoon," he answers, placing his head back on my pillow. "What time will the kids be home?" He asks softly as he snuggles his face in my hair.

My children go to their father's house almost every weekend. No matter how bad Maxen has treated me, he has never hurt them. Plus, he is still their father.

"He said he will have them here by three," I push back his head, flinging his arm off my hip, and climb out of bed.

"Where are you going? " He groans. He is such a nosy fucker.

"To pee if you must really know," I yell over my shoulder, "I'll let ya know when I need to take a shit too."

I hear a loud laugh from the hallway. "You're fucked up, you know that," he states from outside the bathroom door. I finish up quickly and open the door to find him standing there.

"I'm fucked up sometimes," I push past him and smirk, "but you, my friend, are fucked up all the time."

I think we are both equally fucked up. He laughs again and follows me down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Do you work today?" Reese asks as he opens the refrigerator, pulls out the orange juice, and pours himself a glass.

"Nope, I don't go back until Tuesday," I tell him and steal a drink of his juice.

"Nice, you have an amazing boss and he's super hot," he says wiggling his eyebrows up and down. His ego gets so big sometimes that I have to knock it down a few sizes.

I give him a wicked grin. His eyes lock on me as he takes a drink of his juice. I lean my elbows on the table and place my chin on my hands. "He's alright, but his arrogance makes him annoying and ugly," I smirk.

Reese chokes on his juice, spitting it everywhere. Good, serves him right, cocky fucker.

"I hope you know you're cleaning all that up," I point to the liquid mess.

"I am the best boss you have ever had," he shouts between coughs and begins to pout. He is so cute when he pouts. I try to hold back my amusement but fail.

I roll my eyes playfully. "Oh stop it, you know I was just kidding," I chuckle and throw him a towel.

His smile widens. "Yeah, I know." Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to have him as a best friend.

I look at the time and begin to pick up the house. My kids should be home any minute.

"Wren," Reese's voice calls out.

"Hmm?"

"Stop it," he commands and walks towards me. I immediately stop what I'm doing and look at him with confusion. "The house is clean, there's nothing more for you to clean," he tells me softly. "You don't have to worry about him."

Reese places his hands on my arms and begins to rub his hands up and down soothingly. He knows just what to do. I take a quick look around the house. He's right, it is clean. Why do I do this to myself?

"You're right, I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know I'm doing it. I guess old habits are hard to break," I tell him, taking a seat on the couch.

Reese looks as if he wants to say something, but only sighs before taking a seat next to me and turning on the television.

A knock at the door grabs my attention. I make my way to the door and open it. "Mom," both my kids yell, throwing themselves at me. I laugh and wrap my arms around them.

"I have missed you guys so much," I tell them, giving them both a kiss on the top of their heads. They hug me tight for a moment before they make their way into the house. I turn my attention to my nightmare in the flesh.

"Hey babe, miss me?" Maxen asks with a smile. A smile that used to melt my heart. Now, it disgusts me.

"I'm not your babe," I state sternly. His smile is replaced by a scowl, and he takes a step towards me. I instinctively step back, causing a smile to reappear on his face. We might not be together, but being this close to him makes me uneasy and he knows it.

"Everything alright?" Reese's voice calls out from behind me. Max stiffens but never breaks eye contact with me as he answers Reese.

"Yeah, everything is good," he says and takes a step back before turning to walk away. After watching him disappear down the hall, I close the door, lock it, and make my way to the living room.

"What a fucking dick," I sigh. When I enter the living room, both my kids are sitting on the couch with Reese watching television. Everyone looks at me as I approach them.

"Mom!" Oakley calls out. "Is it ok if I go to the dance on Friday?" Her beautiful hazel eyes sparkle with hope. She squeals with excitement as I agree to let her go and rushes to her room.

She is such a good kid. It's hard to believe that she's going to be twelve in just a few months.

It's amazing how fast they grow.

"Hey Mom," Grayson is next to call out, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yes, baby?" I smile. He is also a great kid.

"Don't forget, I'm going camping this weekend," he reminds me. I couldn't forget even if I wanted to with all the post-it notes he left me all over the house.

"Oh crap, I forgot," I spit out jokingly. He gives me an annoyed look and I chuckle. "Are you spending the whole weekend there or what?" I ask, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Yep," he replies, popping the 'P'. A long piece of dark brown hair falls over his forehead.

I push his hair back, "How about a haircut?"

He shakes his head, trying to get me to stop touching his hair. "Mother," he whines, swatting at my hand. I can't help but laugh.

"Leave the boy be." Reese comes to Grayson's aid as always. They always team up against me.

"Thanks, Uncle Reese," Gray says. He sends me a glare, before heading to his room.

"He's ten now Wren, stop treating him like a baby, " he tells me. Did he really just say that?

I send him a glare. "No matter how old they get, they will always be my babies," I shoot back and walk into the kitchen.

Reese follows suit. "So I have a few hours before I have to meet up with my brother, how about I order us dinner before I go?"

How could I forget about his brother coming to town? "You truly are the most amazing friend in the world," I tell him truthfully. I don't know what I would do without him. Without another word, Reese walks towards the door, slips on his shoes, and leaves.

Not long after, Reese returns with Chinese for dinner. Oakley selects the movie 'Grown-Ups', and we all sit around the living room table to eat. When the movie ends, Reese helps me clean up. "I have to get going," he says looking at the time and I frown.

He smiles, pulling me into a hug, "Don't be sad, Wren." I hate it when he leaves. He gives me a light squeeze, "You act like you'll never see me again."

I let out an exaggerated sigh, "You never know," I tell him shrugging my shoulders.

His body shakes with his laughter, "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were in love with me."

I giggle at his statement. "Yep, I can't hide it any longer, I can't get enough of your sexiness," I roll my eyes and give him one last squeeze before letting go.

"You're lucky this friendship means the world to me, Wren. Cause I would be all over you," he states seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Casanova," I laugh, patting his chest. He just smiles.

"Oh, that reminds me. Keep your brother away from me. From the stories you've told me I don't want him anywhere near me," I said pointing my finger at him. His smile widens.

"Well, that's going to be hard since he is not only my brother, he's my business partner and co-owner of the nightclub you work at," he points out. Damn it, he's right. How could I forget? I groan.

Reese and his brother own the largest and hottest chain of nightclubs throughout the country, and it's extremely hard to get into any of them. I work for Reese at his nightclub, helping to plan weekly events, choreographing the dances for the girls, and occasionally, I'll fill in for the dancers if I need to. But that's not all. Reese's family also has ties with organized crime, dealing with weapons, drugs, and whatever else they do. Even though I know everything about it, Reese makes sure to keep that part of his life away from me, which I am extremely grateful for. I had to deal with that shit with Maxen and I really don't want it in my children's lives or my own.

The only thing I do that's illegal is support Reese with his underground fight club. I've always enjoyed watching hot, sweaty men, beat the living shit out of each other. I met Reese during one of Maxen's fights a few years back. He and I clicked instantly. So much so that he offered me a job as the ring girl and I've been doing it ever since.

"Plus, he wants to meet my best friend that I'm always bragging about," he says bringing me out of my thoughts.

"What, why?" I cry and take a step back. I really don't want to meet his brother.

"Look, everything will be fine. I'll introduce you both and be done with it. Who knows, the two of you might get along. If you know what I mean?" He sends me a wink as he walks out the door.

I grab a shoe that was sitting by the door and throw it at him. To my surprise, it actually connects with the back of his head. He yelps and rubs his head. I usually have bad aim.

He turns around slowly and looks down at the shoe and picks it up. He sends me a devilish grin. "I'll be keeping this," he says, and he jogs to his car.

"That's my favorite shoe," I yell from the porch. He opens his car door and climbs in. Before heading down the road, he throws me the bird.

"I can't believe he took my shoe," I mumble to myself.

"Good morning, Wren," the sweet old lady from across the street yells.

"Good morning, to you too, Miss Mare," I greet her back and wave. She is just the sweetest little thing I have ever met in my life.

"I'm headed to the store do you need anything dear?" She asks as she slowly heads to her car.

"Oh no I'm okay, thank you though," I tell her with a smile.

"Ok well if you think of something just give me a call. Oh, and if I don't answer right away it's because I haven't figured out how to use this damn smartphone my grandson gave me," she tells me as she enters her car. I laugh and head back into the house.