�Nick�� she whined.
�Come on its not like you have anything to do today.� Each of his eyes scanned through another rack of vintage tees. Exactly how many vintage tees, Nikes, Diesel and jewels did one 24-year-old man need?
�Granted that�s true since my work is looking for more shirts!�
Ignoring her snippy comments, Nick continued looking through the pile till he came across an Irish green shirt.
�What do you think of this one?�
�Great� she said flatly.
�Could you sound a little more enthusiastic?� Throwing on a fake smile,
Tina sat straight as a board in the chair across from Nick readying herself for a lie of a lifetime.
�That shirt looks great Nick! The green really brings out the gradual tan building up on your skin and the colors speak to me in volumes.�
Nick knew she was lying but he asked for it.
�Thank you, that�s all I ask for.� Noting her impatience Nick made this his last purchase. Tina blew a sigh of relief as they walked out of the umpteenth vintage store and back to the car. The two chatted animatedly along the long tan halls of the Westin arriving back from their little shopping trip when A.J. stepped out of his room just in time to see the missing Nick and his �assistant� carrying a hoard of shopping bags. Typical.
�Where in the fuck have you been?!� A.J. stomped up to Nick so fast he hadn�t even realized how close he was until he felt his steaming hot breath on the tip of his nose. A.J. was more than apparently mad, more like irate.
�I was out.�
�Out? What the fuck is out? You knew we had a fucking meeting this morning and you left anyways. Didn�t bother picking up your cell or two way and as for you� A.J. turned to face Tina who was standing beside Nick.
Due to her height the heat that radiated from him didn�t wash over her with the same affect as Nick but still she felt his anger from his stance. �You were with him and you didn�t even bother picking up your phone as well. What in hell is the matter with the two of you?!� A.J. was ready to give her a little more of the Alexander James McLean touch of anger before Nick stepped in, grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against the wall with such brute force that even Tina�s back felt that.
�Don�t you ever in your life fucking talk to her like that!�
�Nick stop!� she pleaded but he didn�t let up.
�Apologize.�
�I�m not doing shit,� A.J. shot back.
�I swear if you don�t apologize to her right now I will beat you to hell.� A.J. knew Nick wasn�t going to let up. He�d get his in due time but not now. So reaching deep deep within, A.J. looked over to Tina.
�Sorry,� he said through gritted teeth.
�Yeah, Nick come on lets go.�
�Fine.� A.J. felt his breath come back from the loosening of his collar. The fury still remained in his eyes confirming that the little tiff between the two were nowhere near and probably would never be far from over. Against the wall, he watched the two gather their mountain of bags and retreat to their room. As soon as the many bags hit the floor, Nick turned to face Tina who was more than confused about what had just happened. Well she knew what just happened but the intensity was what made it confusing. Tina tried to open her mouth but Nick held his hand up to stop her. �I�m not going to let him talk to you like that.�
�Thank you for your chivalry but he still had a valid point for his incense.
Everything he mentioned was true. We totally ignored him and--�
�Backstreet is nothing without Nick, Tina. If I miss a meeting, I miss a meeting. No one is going to keel over if I�m not there.�
�Nick I hate to be a bit cynical here, but don�t you sound a bit egocentric?� A pregnant pause grew amongst the two as Nick pondered over her previous statement.
�No.� Nick wasn�t going to change that mind of his; in fact she wasn�t going to convince him anything different. �Anyways that shit is all over--get some rest, we have some reservations at Bella�s in like 3 hours.� She said nothing, just walked into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. What in the world was going on?
^*^
�So if I go online and tell all your adoring fans that you are indeed the caring romantic man they gush about will you be upset?�
�Honestly?�
�Honestly.�
�Nope, maybe it�d be good, I mean I do have this reputation of being a �ladies man� when in all truthfulness I�ve only been with 5 women.�
�Wow a little bit more info than what I was going for but ok��so 5 women?�
�One hand.� Sure�.5 women. Five women multiplied by 9 but there was really no point in divulging that little tidbit to Tina right? Along dinner, Tina was cradled in Nick�s arms. She knew it was wrong to be held in such fashion but she couldn�t help but welcome his touch. Hello he was Nick Cater, if he was holding you that way all your inhibitions would be out the window too. Dinner was amazing. When Nick asked her to make a reservation that night before she had no clue it would be for the two of them. She was thinking along the terms of maybe many of his leggy blondes or other masses of women that he occupied his time with. But with the amorous set restaurant, yellow rose he presented her with, attention-grabbing conversation and embrace she couldn�t help but feel a bit of wonderment for the handsome man who had his right arm around her waist, his left hand grazing her left bare arm and chin upon her shoulder. Any further caresses would�ve made her melt but she had to keep her cool.
Tina was more than determined to not let Nick see that he was getting to her. Or at least she thought it looked as if he wasn�t getting to her.
�Whatever Nick, what time are we supposed to be meeting your friends?�
�In an hour. I think that�s sufficient enough time to show you a few sights of Los Angeles, come on lets go.� Oh thank goodness that closeness was broken apart because if they stayed any longer Lord knows what would�ve happened. Through the streets of L.A. Nick drove around in his silver TT showing her whatever she brought up that she wanted to see. Tina looked in awe taking picture after picture of everything to send to her friends back home. That hour went faster than they both could imagine. Since they felt as if they were still dressed appropriate for dinner as well as the club, both opted just to head right in without stopping by the hotel first to change. Oh how Tina thought that first half of the evening was crazed; little did she know the remainder of the night would be even worse.
^*^
Laser lights and smoke from smoke machines filled the exclusive Los Angeles club. Tina had never seen anything like it in Detroit or Orlando. Stuff like this was only emulated on television, not real life right? Wrong because here it was right in front of her very eyes. Feeling a little bit over dressed compared to many of the other women, Tina looked down at the black tube jumpsuit she decided on wearing out that night.
Nick due to his fame automatically got dibs on a swanky maroon colored VIP booth that looked as if it was taken out of a set of a bad porno movie. That in turn made Tina extremely uncomfortable. Besides she didn't want to lounge around drinking overly expensive champagne, she wanted to burn some calories on the dance floor.
"Hey Nick lets go down there and dance!" she screamed over the loud music.
"Nah, I wanna chill out up here some." He replied. Booorrriinnggg, but since he was the only person she knew there she went along with his plan of relaxing a bit on the smarmy matching maroon couch. Along to the beat she swayed as Nick filled the table with mindless chatter amongst friends who soon later joined them.
"Hey Nicky, I'm gonna go to the little girls room ok?"
"Yeah sure," he brushed her off almost as if she hadn't said anything.
Rolling her eyes she kept the snide comment she wanted to deliver inside. Once she approached the lavish bathroom, the bathroom alone made her somewhat angry. Why was it that the rich got the luxurious bathroom yet the clientele that filled the club more got probably some shabby bathroom with spray painted walls and toilet paper all over the place? Forget that! Being in that bathroom reminded her that being with the elite was...well, boring! Her kind was down there dancing their asses off to Paul Oakenfold, not up here drinking chilled champagne and laughing at jokes that simply weren't funny.
"WHAAT-EVERR" she groaned. Checking herself out once more in the bright-lit mirror, Tina waltzed out of the bathroom towards the table. She was going to tell Nick where she was going but at the moment the table that was once half filled with a few guys and two girls now had about 3 guys and 7 girls. The smile on Nick's face was so wide that she was sure his eyeballs were gonna crack. Their laughter almost drowned out the music that was the loudest thing in the establishment. And as far as Nick goes, his hands were all over one blond bimbo's thighs. Back to whaat-everr. Fuck going back to the table, Tina was gonna have fun on her first and probably only night here in LA. Turning her back from the table, Tina stepped over the pitiful rope that was supposed to block regular folk out and down the steps for a good time. Since she still had 6 months left till her 21rst birthday, Tina opted for a plain glass of Coke all the while scoping out a potential dance partner. Instead someone scoped her out instead.
"Sup" a voice called from behind. Hey dude wasn't too bad on the eyes.
About 6'2-6'3 give or take, muscular with a killer chiseled jawbone, haunting green eyes and coal black hair to contrast with those eyes basically standing before her was one of the sexy sexy.
"Sup" she replied trying to remain calm which was getting harder and harder by the minute. Trying as hard as she could to moisten that dry spot in the middle of her throat was getting harder and harder. Damn she knew she shouldn't have drank that coke so fast.
"Nothing, noticed you were by yourself." Technically she wasn't and technically she was. Nick was too busy with his birds upstairs so basically she was alone right?
"Yeah, that I am."
"Maybe you'd like to spend a little time with me then?"
"Bet...Tina," she held out her hand. With a firm shake, he reciprocated that handshake.
"Craig, nice to meet you. Can I get you another drink Tina?"
"Yeah sure." Man California was gonna be hard to leave with cutie Craig there. Hell he was worth not being on the tour not making any money. If you saw him, you'd say the same thing. Craig ordered her a rum and coke without realizing that she wasn't 21, but he didn't care. Through the 15 minutes they talked she was slowly but surely in love with that boy.
Ok well maybe love was a bit of a stretch but dayum he was fine along with a deep voice and a cool personality she was just falling head over heels. What ya got by Abs began to play causing Tina to move along upon the stool that sat underneath her. Warm liquor was now running through her veins and the crowd on the floor was more inviting. Now it was time to party. �I love this song!"
"Well come on then girl." Craig grabbed Tina's hand and led her down to the floor where in a matter of minutes it got hot and steamy. Ooh wee Craig had all the right moves getting Tina hot and bothered fast. Each grind of his hips or touch of his hand against the small of her back made her moan out. He knew exactly what he was doing to her because he made sure he did it so well. Turning to face the beautiful man that moved his body behind her, Tina once again was mesmerized by the color of his green eyes that shimmered in the darkened room. If she could only thank his momma for giving birth to that one. Lust filled both of their eyes as they danced so close that there couldn't possibly be a space, even of millimeter size between them. "Would you object to coming home with me tonight?" Tour? Bus? Nick? Who? His stare almost made her forget her own name. A night with this guy was like an advanced Christmas gift.
Tina opened her mouth to answer his question with a dead yes when she felt a vice grip around her small forearm. What the hell? Wait no! Craig was growing further and further away. He tried to keep up with her but with the thick crowd in the way he was soon halted. Trying as hard as she could to see who had carried her off, he finally they came to a stop and pulled her around.
"Nick?! What the fuck?!"
"Did you know that I was looking all over for you!!" he screeched. No he didn't have the gall to be upset. Nick's face was completely red with fury. Fury, that's funny because what in the world did he have to be furious about?
"Oh really? I thought you'd be a little preoccupied with T&A to wonder where I was."
"Bullshit Tina, that's fucking bullshit and you know it."
"Why are you getting angry? I'm the one here who barely knows anyone.
You were surrounded by people who you not only knew but people who were more than willing to get to know you by any means necessary. So since being the only person I knew was a bit occupied I took it upon myself to go and make some friends. And if it weren't for you, Mr. Grabby hands I would've definitely made myself a friend." Nick thought he was furious before when he couldn't find Tina now he was just plain CRAZY! Friend?
Friend? Please that dude wasn't a friend, that dude was some package of hotness willing and waiting to throw it on her. That shit so wasn't gonna happen on his watch. He so wasn't gonna hear that shit.
"Whatever Tina, we're out of here."
"What? We haven't even been here for awhile!"
"We're out of here, end of story."
