Life in Southern California had been pretty good. Alexandra had moved in to a house with her best friend, Serena, and the two of them had managed to make a few friends along the way. Two of their closest friends, Trevor and Anthony, lived about 20 minutes from them in Huntington Beach.
The two men had both reached financial success, and had purchased a nice, rather large beach house where they planned to live quite happily, spending most of their free time at the beach.
Trevor had been dating Serena for about a year, and it seemed that eventually the two would finally marry. Alexandra (Alex to her friends) on the other hand, was convinced she would end up single and never find the perfect mate. Anthony had similar views, but never expressed them. He did date, but none of his girlfriends seemed to be the one he would give up his bachelorhood for.
The neighborhood where Alex and Serena lived was usually a nice one, but lately there had been a few robberies in the area. Serena had been out of town visiting family the last couple days, so Alex was in the house alone, and felt rather uneasy about it. She didn't like to think about what could happen, since it always made her edgy. Just about the time she had convinced herself that she was doomed to be robbed, the telephone rang. It was Trevor. He wanted to know if Serena was back yet. Alex explained that she wasn't.
Trevor could sense something was wrong. "You okay?"
"Well, not really." Alex explained the situation to him.
"Why don't you stay over here for a few days?" he asked. "You can stay in Anthony's room. He will be out of town for about another week, and I know he won't mind."
After offering to sleep on the couch, which was promptly shot down as an idea, she accepted the offer. Trevor reminded her that Serena had a key to the place and usually left it home when she traveled, so Alex could come on over any time she wanted to. Trevor had to work tonight, but she was still more than welcome to come on by and make herself at home.
It didn't take Alex long to throw some clothes into a bag and take off. The sooner she got out of the area, the happier she would be. She made the drive in almost record time, since the traffic was very light.
Later that evening, Alex felt quite at home, watching a movie before heading off to bed. She reached into her bag to find her nightshirt and realized she'd forgotten to pack one. Maybe she could find something in Anthony's room.
She walked into his bedroom with her bag in hand and paused to take it all in. He had a large king sized bed with mosquito netting draped over it. The frame was a dark oak, which Alex though was very masculine, very Anthony. There were nightstands on either side of the massive bed, which were also made of the same dark oak, as were his dressers. He had a very large walk-in closet which housed a variety of expensive suits as well as his favorite old jeans. He had to have everything in its proper place, it seemed. He was very neat. He also had a large bathroom with a sunken tub, and the counters were all tile. Alex laughed to herself, thinking that his bedroom was bigger than any apartment she could afford alone. Along the wall overlooking the beach were large windows and a set of French doors, which led to a private veranda. Along the side of the veranda was a set of stairs that led to the beach below. He was just steps from the surf!
She knew Anthony liked to sleep with the doors open, to let in the cool ocean breeze, which explained to her the need for the netting.
Alex sighed as she returned inside to try to find a shirt she could sleep in. Anthony was nearly a foot taller than her, so she knew she'd have no trouble finding one that would be long enough for her. From the closet she took out a large white cotton button-style shirt. She undressed and slipped the cool fabric over her naked body. The shirt was so soft, she mused.
She left one of the French doors open, and closed the door to the hallway before climbing into the soft bed. She closed the netting around the bed and turned off the lamp. The comforter was made of down, and his pillows the softest feather. She could even smell his cologne on the pillow. Never before had she realized how good he really did smell. He had always just been "one of the guys" to her. He was someone to attend movies with. She had never really considered him in a romantic way before now. She contemplated his exotic good looks. He was very handsome. He had long, dark, wavy hair that he let flow around his shoulders and face. His eyes were like chocolate brown that you could melt into. His olive skin was beautiful, without a blemish to be found. He had a bright smile, a perfect smile.
Alex began thinking more and more about him. Maybe she did really like him, but had just not realized it before. She thought about the soft accent that went with the perfect timbre of his voice. It was a good thing that Trevor didn't know what she was thinking! He would run right out and tell Anthony. Trevor never did believe in being discreet about anything, and would have relished the chance to play matchmaker with his best friend and his girlfriend's best friend!
Alex tried to think of something else, because she remembered that Anthony had a girlfriend, Claire. They hadn't been dating long, and Anthony had seemed miserable ever since the two had paired up. Maybe he'd realize that she wasn't right for him and break it off. She wondered what he was doing at that exact moment, and then drifted off into sleep.
The sound of the front door opening, and then closing was a normal occurrence at the beach house. It seemed as if someone was always coming or going. Alex stirred in her sleep at the sound, but remembered that Trevor would be coming home from work, so she didn't think anything about it, and drifted back to sleep.
The sound of footsteps seemed to be getting closer to her. She knew that Trevor's room was on the opposite end of the house and wondered who would be heading her way at this hour. Maybe it was just Trevor coming to check on her. That had to be it.
Meanwhile, Anthony had returned. He had made his way through the house checking to see that everything was in order. When he was satisfied that everything was okay, he took his luggage and make his way up the stairs to his room. If it weren't for the luggage, he could have come in his normal way, up the beach stairs. He enjoyed stopping and looking at the ocean before going in the house, so he normally went in that way.
He set his suitcase down long enough to open the door to his room, then picked it up again and walked inside. He placed both pieces of luggage on the floor just inside his room and looked around. The room was dark, the only light coming in from the hallway. Everything seemed fine. His room looked as it did when he left one week ago. Except for one little thing. He noticed clothes were lying over the back of his chair in the corner of his room near the bed.
He knew he had left the room in perfect order, and wondered who's they were. He walked over to them and noticed they were women's clothes. Again he looked around the room. He walked over to the bed and very quietly pulled open the netting. He paused when he saw that Alex was in his bed. Of all the people in the world, it had to be HER. His good friend and long time social companion, and the girl he figured he really wanted to be with.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to disturb her. He had wanted so many times to ask her for a real date, but he just knew she would laugh. Accept a date with her friend? He must be mad. But there she was, in HIS bed, and, he paused. She was wearing his shirt. He let his hand trail over the outside of the blankets. How far did he dare to go? How would she react if he woke her up? He smiled as he ran his hand softly over her hair.
He reached down and took hold of her hand, ever so gently and raised it to his lips. Softly he kissed the back of her hand, and then the palm. His goatee tickled her wrist just enough to cause her to stir. He stopped, afraid of how she was going to react.
"Anthony?" she said sleepily, "you're home..."
He smiled at her warmly. "Yes."
"But Trevor said" she began, but her words were cut off by his own,
