Mikayla was still shaken by what happened when she entered her room. She went directly to the shower to wash off the... rejection. Nobody, but nobody, rejected her directly to her face. Inside, she was beginning to get a nagging feeling that Mr. Howard Dorough was going to be her biggest challenge yet. She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it, and let it run over her tired body. She removed every trace of Howie from her body, not wanting to even THINK about him again. It had been a very long day, and she was ready to get some rest. Her mind wandered as she stood there. She thought about AJ, and what a good sleeping buddy he was. Like a nice warm teddy bear, she thought, smiling. Maybe if he wasn't busy... She smiled to herself. Nah, she wouldn't do that to him. For once, she wasn't in the mood for more sex, and she wasn't going to lead him on like that. It was like Howie completely drained her urges. She got out of the shower, dried off, and put on a T-shirt and panties. She hopped into the big oversized king size bed. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

Somewhere deep in her dreams, she realized there was someone else in the room with her. She felt a hand run over her shoulder. She woke up, startled, and sat straight up. It was still dark in the room, and she jumped over to the side table to turn on the light. She looked back over to see Kevin laying beside her, shirtless, with his hands behind his head. He didn't look at all happy.

"Kevin, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked groggily. "Where's Kristin?"

He didn't answer her. He just turned and looked right into her eyes.

"Kevin, answer me. What are you doing here? Why are you creeping around in the dark? You scared the shit out of me!" she said, her voice still trembling.

"Why didn't you tell me, Mikayla?" he asked, his voice flat and sad.

"Why didn't I tell you about what, Kevin? About Nick? Well, because basically, it wasn't any of your business. You knew there were other guys. I never hid that from you. Why should it matter that Nick was one of them? You might as well know, I've been involved with AJ, too. " she answered, ready to get this all out in the open. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, rolling onto his back and crossing his arms over his stomach.

"Anybody else?" he asked, not really wanting to know.

"Yes, Kevin. I have been with Howie, too. Only once, though," she said, still feeling the sting of rejection. She didn't know if she had the heart to tell him about Brian. That might be a little too much information.

"What about Brian?" he asked, his eyes still closed. She couldn't lie to him. She had never lied to him before. She had kept information from him, but she had never outright lied.

"Yes, Kevin. I have been with Brian, but it's been a very long time," she said softly. He closed his eyes tighter and covered them with his hands, as if he didn't want to even picture that in his head. They were both silent for several minutes.

"Mikayla, I want to ask you something, ok?" he said, opening his eyes and turning to her.

"Ok, baby. You can ask me anything. I'll tell you whatever you want to know," she said, glad that this was all out in the open now.

"Ok..." he said, taking a deep breath, "did you ever care about me? I mean, do I mean anything to you, or am I just another guy?"

She laid down beside him and kissed his forehead. She looked right into his beautiful green eyes and smiled.

"Kevin, you mean the world to me. You know I would do anything for you. This has been going on for three years now, and I haven't ever given you a reason to think that I didn't care for you, right?"

He nodded his head and grabbed her hand, kissed it, and put it against his cheek.

"Now that you know, I'll let you decide what you want to do. If you want to call off our... um... arrangement, that's fine. God, I would miss you more than you would ever know, but I would understand completely," she said, hoping he wouldn't leave her.

"Mikayla, I couldn't leave you if I wanted to," he said, sighing. "I'm addicted to you. I won't lie and say it doesn't bother me, though. Just thinking about some guy's, oh who the hell am I kidding, Nick or AJ's, hands on you..." He trailed off.

"Kevin, stop," she said, putting her finger over his lips.

"Ok, I know. I'll stop it. You know, it does make me feel a little strange having you and my wife here at the same time. It's kind of unnerving, you know?" he said, a concerned look on his face.

Mikayla tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. "Well then," she said, pursing her lips,"I guess you'll just have to send her home, won't you?"

He laughed and opened his arms, an invitation for her to come let him hold her. He wrapped those gorgeous arms around her and held her tightly. It felt good to be held, especially after her scene with Howie. Kevin's warm flesh was like a tranquilizer. She could feel herself getting very sleepy, and she soon drifted back to her dreams.