After Bruce ended the web chat, Amber went to bed but sleep eluded her. She tossed and turned as much as her added girth allowed and had bad dreams brought on by Bruce's statement that he needed to talk to her.

"I'm too young to be saddled with a pregnant girlfriend," he told her as he walked out the door.

She would see him at school hiding in the shadows with another female where they were kissing and hugging. They would stop, stare and point as she walked by. She saw them stretched out on a blanket at the lake and the female sported the skimpiest bikini that she had ever seen.

Bruce's hands were busy slowly rubbing suntan oil on her flat tight stomach and both seemed to be enjoying it.

Twice she woke up with tears streaming down her face. She was dreading the talk that was coming.

Wednesday morning, Bruce arrived at work at his regular time and was shocked that Gina's car was already there. He momentarily toyed with the idea of going back home and calling in sick, but he needed the money so he went inside.

He was surprised that most of the opening chores had already been done based on what he saw. As he was checking the amount of pizza dough in he coolers, Gina came in from out of the kitchen looking as fetching as ever.

"Good Morning," she said giving him a smile. It wasn't one of her wicked sexy smile, it was one of genuine friendship and warmth.

"Good Morning to you. Been here long?" Bruce asked as he removed his coat.

"Long enough to get these tasks out of the way so we could have coffee and talk," she answered.

They poured themselves coffee and then took seats where they commenced to fix the cups to their taste preferences. They each took that first sip to ensure it was ready and then Gina reached across the table and took both of Bruce's hands in hers.

"Bruce, I want you to forgive me for acting like a whore in heat yesterday. I had heard you were seeing some pregnant chick and I imagined it was some skank that was using you and I wanted to offer you an alternative," she said in a quiet tone.

"Saving me from myself?" he questioned with a smile.

"Something like that. Then I met her when she came in for a pizza."

"Amber was here? When?"

"A little bit after you left."

"You talked to her?"

"Yes, Bruce and that girl is really and truly in love with you and you are in love with her, you just don't realize it," she continued.

"Really?"

"Yes really. If you weren't you'd have done me in the hallway downstairs and yes I'd have let you. Now before you say it, no I am not desperate. You are a handsome guy but you just don't realize it, plus you have personality. Those little sluts in your school just don't realize it."

Bruce had no response so Gina continued.

"I would give anything for someone like you which is part of the reason I came on to you. It was after I talked to her that I realized just how much she cared about you. Now if I were you, I'd tell that girl how you feel about her."

"What if you're wrong and she doesn't care about me?" he questioned.

"If I'm wrong then you come back and tell me and I will make you forget her, but I'm not wrong."

"Maybe I can cut out after the lunch rush to talk to her?" he asked.

"No problem."

The doorbell rang which meant Darlene and Jan had arrived. As they stood up, Bruce stepped in and gave Gina a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," he said and headed back to the kitchen.

For the rest of the shift, Bruce was his normal happy self. He smiled and joked with the girls whenever he came up front. He always had one eye on the clock and at the stroke of 1:00 PM he was out the door and headed home. He wanted to shower and change before he saw Amber.

When he stepped out of the shower her called her. She didn't sound like her normal happy self but said it was OK to come over. Bruce arrived at Amber's house at about 2:30 PM and parked in the street. He knocked on the side door and he could not believe the sight that opened it.

She had the build of a Valkyrie or and Amazon and was quite beautiful.

"Hi, I'm Bruce."

"I'm Allison. Amber is in he rec room," she responded and stepped aside to admit him.

He descended the stairs and saw Amber sitting on the couch and his heart began to beat faster. He noted her pale complexion and her red rimmed eyes.

"You feeling all right?" he asked.

"No, I am not feeling all right," she retorted with a touch of sarcasm.

"What's wrong?"

"Well let's see. I have not seen you since you brought me home from school. We haven't said more than two words to each other in the past two days. You look like hell and when I asked what was wrong with you I got a vague answer. The last thing you tell me is we have to talk."

With the exception of asking her out, she had never seen him more nervous or upset.

He cleared his dry throat and began.

"I had some other girl hit on me."

"Please tell me it wasn't someone from school."

"It wasn't."

"Was she pretty?"

"Yes."

"Who made the first move?"

"She did."

"Did she kiss you?"

"Yes."

"Was it a tongue kiss and did you kiss her back?"

"Yes. but only for a moment."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"No."

"Why not? Seems like the invite was extended," she asked again in her sarcastic tone.

Bruce's response was garbled as his head was down, so Amber asked again.

"Why didn't you bang her? I bet you wanted to."

"Because I don't love her, I love you," he blurted out raising his voice an octave and looking her straight in the eyes.

"What did you say?" Amber asked haltingly.

"I said, I love you and it felt like I was cheating on you," Bruce responded feeling his throat closing.

Amber just stared with a smile on her face. She was about to respond but Bruce cut her off.

"Amber Conway, I love you. I really love you. I have been miserable these last two days and had every bad dream you can think of because of what I did or wanted to do."

Tears ran down Amber's face and she beckoned him to sit next to her. She then placed her arms around him and her lips on his and they held each other in a lovers embrace for the longest time.