I let his sentence hang in the uncomfortable tension that was filling the room. I could feel a nervous sweat begin on my forehead and I willed myself not to start actually shaking in front of this man.

He narrows his eyes, obviously displeased that I'm making him work for the conversation. "Manny.." he sighs, trying to decide which way was the best approach. "Why in the hell did you decide to go out drinking alone?"

I rock back and forth on my heels, racking my brain for something that will make it sound better. "Um..."

He gets off the stool and begins pacing back a forth. "And what would you have done had Vic not been there watching you?"

"Um well I guess I would have-"

He cuts me off, continuing on his rampage. "I mean honestly, Manny. What could have possibly made you think it was  okay?! Do you just not think?! And don't even get me started on you being gone when I woke up yesterday morning. If I hadn't talked to Eva first thing to have her tell me you were sick I would've been over here. Honestly, just be glad I'm here today instead because I was LIVID." He takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. He looks back at me and I hope he sees the regret in my eyes, because his face softens a bit and he takes a few steps towards me.

I clear my throat. "I'm sorry."

"That's all you have to say?"

The petulance in his voice immediately ignites my anger. "What the hell do you want me to say, Luke? I'm a fucking grown man who wanted to go out to a gay bar. Who was I supposed to go with? Eva isn't here. I have no friends. And I sure as hell can't take you with me! I should be able to go out when and where I want." I send him a hateful glare as I try to ignore his reproachful look. "And not have to worry about the ass chewing I'm gonna get when I get home. Newsflash: I lived in the fucking city for years! Years! I-" my voice cracks as my eyes begin to well up. Dammit. I turn away from him as fast as I can so that he doesn't see. My tear ducts seem to be directly attached to my anger these days.

I hear his footsteps get closer. "Manny.." a deep breath, "I'm sorry. You're right. I was just so worried. And with Vic there the way he was talking about you...the whole thing pissed me off."

Trying to ignore the slight tinge of embarrassment I feel at his words, I sniffle as softly as a I can. "And I'm sorry, again. All that being said, I really didn't mean on drinking that much. I was aware I was alone and that it wasn't such a great idea, but I just wanted something to help me relax."

I hear his footsteps walking away and I turn to watch him head into the living room. I follow him in as he stares at the air mattress on the floor.

"Is this what you're sleeping on?"

I shrug. "Yeah, got rid of everything on Saturday so until I get new furniture..." I gesture with my hands. "This is all I have."

"Hmm.." He purses his lips as he looks around. I roll my eyes at his obvious displeasure with my bed. Turning around I leave him in the living room as I head back to the kitchen. Deciding I want Tacos for supper, I start getting out everything I need and turn the stove on. "What are you doing?" I look back over and he's back at the door, leaning against the frame.

"I'm making my supper, I want tacos." The sentence hangs in the air as he waits for me to go on. Dumping some beef into the pan I decide to take his bait. "Were you wanting to stay for dinner?"

He tilts his head and taps his chin as if the thought of staying hadn't crossed his mind. "If you're making enough for two, I would love to."

I set a cutting board down on the counter and look at him. "Oh no, if you're eating, you're helping." I sweep my hand in front of me. "Get to cutting."

He stares at me for a few seconds, gauging to see if I'm serious. I put my hands on my hips as I face him. "Well?" I pat the cutting boards. "Come on, then. I know you can do it."

He rolls his eyes and walks towards me as he pushes the sleeves up on his shirt. "I can cook just fine, thank you. I just didn't think you would make me work for food!"

Oh my, he's pouting, and it does things to me as my insides stir. I laugh under my breath as he sends me a look that dares me to laugh at him again. We get to work in peaceful silence as he starts cutting the vegetables and I cook the meat. I decide I want some onions cooked in with the beef and scramble around to get it in the pot quickly.

He turns as he hears my movements. "What the hell are you moving so fast for?"

I get everything out on the counter and decide not to answer him as I quickly begin dicing it up.

He moves in closer as I try to focus on the onion and not the crazy amount of body heat coming off him. "Seriously, Manny, watch what you're doing." He comes even closer and I have to physically will my body to not combust where I stand. I try to hone in on the last part of the onion as I feel his breath on my neck. "Manny, slow do-"

"Shit!" I jump back and drop the knife as the blood starts pouring from the palm of my hand. Oh god, I do not do well with blood. I turn, panicking, and look at Luke.

His eyes dart to my hand and he jumps into action. He grabs my dish towel and quickly wraps it around my hand twice. "Squeeze this, keep the pressure on it." The pain is starting to set it and I focus my thoughts on trying not to cry and look, yet again, like a blubbering mess in front of Luke. He places a hand on each shoulder and leads me over to the stool and sets me down. My focus comes and goes as I watch him start cleaning the mess. Holy shit this hurts. I feel like I've cut myself with a knife before and it wasn't anywhere near this painful.

"Manny?" A hand waves in front of my face and I refocus my eyes to find him standing directly in front of me, obviously waiting for a reply to something he said. He reaches up to my face and uses his thumb to wipe away the trail of tears running down my face. Damn. Thought I was doing a good job of not crying. "Are you okay? Let me see it."

I frantically start shaking my head no and lean away from him. "Let me look first."

He winces. "No offense Manny, but you're looking pretty green in the face so I get the impression you're not big on blood."

I stand my ground. "No, let me look first." He huffs but backs up a bit to give me space to look. I try to take a discreet, deep breath so that he can't tell how hard this is for me. I give him another glance and I can tell by the look on his face I so do not have him fooled. I peel the towel back slowly, keeping my expression neutral as the cut comes into view. Fuck, it's deep. Fuck. This is not good. I keep my face from looking as freaked out as I feel, and put the towel back over it. "It's fine. The blood make it looks ten times worse, it's not even deep."

"Manny." His deep voice washes over me, and even though I know it's the last thing I should be thinking right now, considering the huge gash in my hand, but god I hope I don't get a boner while he's standing here looking at me. All I can focus on is his body heat and how close he is to me, the pain of the cut just buzzing in the background. "Manny, you look like you're about to pass out."

I take a deep breath, this time to keep me from doing something stupid. "Yeah, looking at blood usually does that."

He narrowed his eyes as he puts one hand on my left knee. "Give me your hand." I gulp as I feel his hand squeeze the knee it was holding. Oh god, he has to know what he's doing to me. There's no way I'm hiding it from him. "Manny!" I jump as he snaps his fingers in my face. "Give me your hand."

"But-"

He grabs my forearm and pulls slightly. "Now." I groan but let him pull my arm out. He gasps as he unwraps it. "Manny! This cut is serious! I have to take you to the ER, I can do your stitches there."

My inner twink sighs as we both start imagining the hot doctor/patient scenarios. Swoon. My cheeks begin to redden as I think about him sewing my hand up and realize I cannot take him being around me this close any longer. "No! No hospital, no stitches! I'm not going anywhere."

He watches me throw my fit and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Manny. I will pack you to the truck if I have to."

He moves towards me with his arms out and I jump back. "Okay, okay. Fine. But you have to just sit with me. You can't be the one that stitches me up."

He rolls his eyes as he ushers me out the front door and into the truck. He gets in a looks at me. "No promises. I will see who's working and if someone I trust is there I will have them do it. But I won't have someone I don't trust touching you." He starts the truck and peels out of the driveway.

My heart warms at his words. "Okay. Deal."