*The Next Morning*
Shayla nestled herself into the warm sweet smelling body next to her. Still too much asleep to notice it was Brian. She'd fallen asleep as fast as he did last night and never made it to her bed. She was laying with her back to him as he spooned her with one arm around her. As she snuggled against him, he suggled against her. He himself was still too asleep and hungover to realize what he was doing and that it was Shayla next to him. The smell of her perfume drifted over his nose as the breeze blew through the open window. He reached up putting his hand under her chin and tilted her head back to his as he leaned in and kissed her. It was a warm, full kiss as his tongue encircled her mouth. It was only a second before Shayla fully awoke and pulled away with a gasp, awakening him.
"Oh my god Shayla," he said surprised. "I'm so sorry. That was just habit, I thought you were Leighanne. I totally forgot where I was. Please don't be mad, I'm sorry."
"Calm down it's ok. I understand really, it's no big deal," Shayla said still shocked.
"Oh man, I can't believe I did that. I feel like such an idiot," Brian said smacking his forehead and laying back on the bed.
"Would you calm down. It wan an honest mistake and I understand," Shayla said crawling out of the bed.
"Oww, damn my head hurts," Brian said wincing at the pain pulsating through his head.
"Well that's what happens when you drink half the tequila in town and chase it down with about ten beers," Shayla said reminding him of what he did last night.
"I hope I wasn't too horrible of a person last night," he moaned trying to recall.
"You weren't. It'll get better, you'll see," she said giving him a sweet smile. "I'm gonna go let the dogs out and get my shower. Why don't you go back to sleep for a while. You look like you could use it."
"Thanks, I think," he chuckled pulling the covers over his head. He laid there thinking about how stupid he felt for what he'd just done.
Shayla put the dogs out and started the coffee. Today she needed her morning cup of coffee before her shower. She sat down at the island counter waiting for the coffee while she though about what had happened upstairs. She hoped they wouldn't feel awkward around each other now. She felt a warm tingle go through her. The same tingle she'd felt as he kissed her before she realized and stopped him. The same tingle she felt whenever they touched or hugged, or just brushed against each other. The kiss had felt wonderful, but, she reminded herself tht it wasn't meant for her. He'd though she was Leighanne, he'd said. Shayla shuddered and shook it off. Why was she even thinking like that. They were very close friends and that's the way it needed to stay. She couldn't start having those kinds of feelings for Brian. She'd never had a friend like Brian before. Not a male friend anyway. Brian was special. Sometimes it annoyed her that he was about as close to perfect as someone could possibly get. But it annoyed her in a good way.
As she drifted off in her thoughts, unaware that Brian was laying awake upstairs thinking the same things, she heard the dogs begin barking like they were protecting their turf. She looked out the window and rolled her eyes. There was a photographer looking over the fence which divided her yard from Brians. He soon scaled the fence and was trying to pick up Tyke and Taco.
"Oh my god!" Shayla shrieked when she saw that.
Brian was already flying down the stairs as she made her way to the door. He'd heard them barking and had looked out the bedroom window. He was mumbling some obscenities about the photographer and was about to barge outside when Shayla stopped him.
"Whoa, whoa, don't freak out. I'll take care of it. If you go out there they'll be taking pictures and know you're here and they'll be saying stuff about you being here. Trust me, I know what I'm doing," she said. Before he could object and tell her she didn't know what she was talking about, she slid past him and out the back door.
"Oh no, she has no clue," he said watching from behind the curtains.
"Unless you want to pry that telephoto lens out of your ass, I suggest you put my dogs down sir," Shayla hollered firmly at the photographer as she crossed the yard.
Brian let out a little laugh at what she said and watched her march right up to the man. She picked up Belle and attached a leash to Taco and Tyke. Brian was surprised at how calm she was and seemed to know what she was doing.
"Why may I ask are you in my yard and taking pictures of my dogs?" Shayla asked.
"Are these all your dogs miss.....I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," the man said trying to throw her off guard.
"No, Shay, don't give him your name honey, don't, don't....yes!" he mumbled to himself.
"That's because I didn't give you my name and yes these are my dogs. And you have not asked my permission to photograph them. May I ask what you're doing here before I call the police?"
The photographer wasn't ready to back down yet. "One of these dogs wouldn't happen to be Tyke, belonging to Mr. Littrell next door would they?" he asked.
Shayla was not thrown and responded prepared. "I assure you sir these are my dogs. I'm aware that my neighbor has the same dogs, but if you were smart and wanted to do your job right, you would have noticed that none of their tags say Tyke on them," Shayla said showing him each tag.
"What the......" Brian mumbled.
"You may be able to stake out Mr. Littrell's home but you're not welcome at mine. I won't put up with your intrusions just because I live next door to a celebrity. And I believe you're trespassing on private property, so I will gladly take the film in your camera since you took pictures of my dogs without my permission," she said firmly holding out her hand.
"I'm not giving you my film. I won't print any pictures of your dogs," he said trying to walk away.
"Well, perhaps I should just call the police about it," Shayla said and turned like she was going to go inside.
"Ok, ok," the photographer opened his camera and pulled out the film.
Shayla smiled triumphantly before she turned around to face him and take the film. She told him not to return or she'd press charges and took the dogs inside. She pulled all the curtains shut and turned to face Brian. "What?" she asked as he stared at her smiling.
"I can't believe what just happened. How did you do that?" Brian asked totally amazed.
"It helps to be a photographer and know the rules." Shayla picked up Tyke and took off his collar and tags and tossed them to Brian. He looked at them and read the name "Tito" on it. He looked up as Shayla reached into the end table drawer and tossed him Tyke's real tags. "I figured when they showed up they might have questions when they saw the dogs knowing what kind of dog you have. So I got a fake dog tag for Tyke in case they looked. I figured this might happen. He's had it on the whole time. You didn't even notice."
Brian laughed. "You're something else ya know that? That's very clever."
"Thank you," Shayla said doing a curtsy and laughing.
"You handled that so well. You're incredible," Brian said hugging her. They both forgot all about feeling awkward from what happened earlier.
"I think he got the message. Now I'm going to take my coffee, finally, and go get that shower. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen and I'd stay away from the windows just in case," she said. She picked up her coffee and ran up the stairs.
Brian watched her leave in awe. He was still reeling from what had just happened. He picked up a mug and poured himself some coffee. He sat at the table and opened the morning paper. He chuckled to himself again as he mimicked Shayla. "Unless you want to pry that telephoto lens out of your ass," he laughed out loud.
The phone began to ring. Brian looked at it wondering if he should answer it. "Shayla," he called out. No answer. She must already be in the shower he thought to himself. He got up and looked at the caller ID. It was Kevin, which meant it was for him anyway so he answered it. "Hey cuz wassup?" he said.
"How'd you know it was me?" Kevin asked.
"Caller ID. Whatcha doin?" Brian asked.
"Nothing much. Kristin is out shopping with her mom so I thought I'd give you a call and see how ya were doing," he said.
"You don't have to worry about me. I've lived through break ups before ya know," Brian said.
"I know, I just wanted to check on ya. How's it going there with Shayla?" he asked.
"Ok. I went out clubbing with Shayla and AJ last night. I got a little drunk and out of sorts and Shayla had to bring me home. So I guess that means I'm on the road to recovery," Brian laughed.
"Well as long as you're ok," Kevin laughed. "So how long you gonna stay with Shayla?"
"Probably a few more days. The press should be gone by then," Brian told him. "Oh man, I gotta tell ya what happened this morning. This is so funny." Brian proceeded to tell him what happened with the photographer. They were both laughing about it. "You should've seen her man, it was incredible. She's really something," Brian said.
"Yeah, you said that already," Kevin reminded him.
"Oh sorry. She just......I don't know, there's something about her I guess." Brian suddenly realized he'd been smiling since the incident happened and it was because of Shayla.
"You're just now seeing that? What are you blind?" Kevin said laughing.
"No, I saw something in her the second I met her. It's just, there was Leighanne, she's my neighbor and a really good friend. I don't wanna blow that. I almost did this morning." Brian told him about being drunk last night and asking shayla to stay with him and then kissing her this morning out of habit thinking she was Leighanne.
"Wow, what did she say about that?" Kevin asked.
"She was a little shocked but seemed to understand. I'm just glad I didn't try to do something else to her ya know," Brian laughed.
"Uh yeah. Maybe it wasn't completely an accident though," Kevin said.
"What'd ya mean?" asked Brian.
"Maybe subconciously you wanted to kiss her. I mean you asked her stay there in the same bed with you. Maybe you actually were hoping something would happen. Maybe you have feelings for her that you should deal with. You guys have gotten awfully close over the last two months. You talked to her all the time while we were away after you and Leighanne broke up. And being best friends can be a bonus," Kevin said thoughtfully.
"Awright you're getting a little too deep for me now. I think you're over analyzing it," Brian told him, although he was having thoughts about Shayla.
"Think about it. Shayla's a great girl, with a good head on her shoulders and she likes you for you, not who you are. She might be just what the doctor ordered. I gotta go, I'm meeting Kristin and her mom for lunch. I'll see ya in a few days. Good luck buddy," Kevin said and hung up.
Brian stared at the phone for a minute thinking about what Kevin said. As he hung up, Shayla came bouncing into the room. "Who was that?" she asked grabbing a water from the frig.
"That was Kevin. I think he's bored. He says hello," Brian said trying to not think about what Kevin said about him having feelings for Shayla.
"Aww that's nice. I have to go into town and get some developing supplies. Do you need anything?" she asked.
"No I'm fine." Brian watched as her hair swished from side to side as she moved around the kitchen gathering her purse and keys. She did everything so gracefully. She was a little thing and had a very small frame. He'd noticed that when they danced last night. She could wear heels and still probably be shorter than him. He found himself smiling again.
"OK, well how about I pick up a movie for later? Unless you have plans already?" Shayla said turning to face him finding him off in space. "Brian? You ok?"
"Huh, oh yeah, um a movie sounds great. Get whatever you wanna see. I'm gonna jump in the shower," he said racing out of the room. Shayla shook her head at him and grabbed her things and left. As she drove down the street she noticed some of the press had already left. She figured that meant the rest would probably leave soon. The feeling made her a little sad. She enjoyed having Brian there. Shayla suddenly found herself smiling.