Eventually, I grew weary of watching Nick swim back and forth. I began to look around me and take in my surroundings. This gave Nick the opportunity to get sneaky. He went underwater and swam right at me. I didn�t notice him till he grabbed my foot. I squealed and kicked at him. When he came up he asked,
�What�s that on your ankle?�
�Boy, you play too much! What�s what?�
�On your ankle. . . . lift your leg,� he said. I lifted my right ankle. �No the other one.� He looked at my left ankle as I held it up out of the water. �You have a tattoo.�
�Wow, you�re not very observant. All this time and you�re just now noticing that,� I said.
�Well you�re usually wearing jeans,� he replied letting go of my leg.
�I wasn�t wearing anything last night,� I murmured against his ear.
�Yeah. . . . well I was a little preoccupied with your. . . . other parts,� he said. Then, �What is it?�
�A pair of ballet slippers, over my mother�s name. Her name was Eden.�
�Why on your ankle?�
�I got it when I was sixteen and I was living with my grandmother at the time. If she had known about it, she would have freaked and then killed me. So I put it somewhere she probably wouldn�t see it. She still doesn�t know about it.�
�You got your first tattoo at sixteen?�
�Yep.�
�My baby was a badass,� he said.
�Just a little bit,� I replied.
�Hhhhmmm. . . you know if you join me in the pool house I�ll let you be very bad for me,� he said sandwiching me between his body and the pool wall.
�I think we might be missed.�
�I don�t care.�
�Everyone will know. . . . what we�ve been up to when we come out,� I replied.
�So what?� He said tugging at the sides of my bikini bottoms.
�You�re a mess,� I said laughing. �I don�t know if we�re at a stage in our relationship where I�m ready for PSAs.�
�PSAs?�
�Public Sex Acts.�
�Are you saying you�d be up for it, later on?�
�Maybe. . . . just not here.�
�Ok, I�m going to hold you to that. You know that, right?�
�Ok,� I shrugged with a mischievous smile . He stared at me before clearing his throat a couple times
�I�m thirsty. Are you thirsty? I�m going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?�
�I could use a bottle of water.�
�Two bottled waters coming up,� he said before dipping underwater and swimming to the shallow end. I watched him walk away until he disappeared into the house. I pulled myself out of the pool and sat on the edge with my feet still dangling in the water.
�You look like you�re having a good time,� Kevin said sitting down next to me.
�I am. This day started off perfect and it�s just continuing in that direction. Hopefully, it�ll end perfectly,� I said. �Aren�t you having fun?�
�Oh yeah. Just a little peeved that someone told someone else that he makes the best ribs. Everyone knows that I make the best ribs.� I started to laugh.
�AJ�s ribs were good and I�m sure yours are better but no one makes better ribs than my grandfather. He�s originally from Texas.�
�Hhhhmmmm. . . . nothing�s better than some good ole Kentucky ribs. So. . . . looking forward to the tour?�
�Are you kidding me? If Nick and I still hated each other, I�d still be going,� I said. Kevin started to laugh.
�Ever been on a cross country tour?�
�No.�
�You�ll have fun especially, now that you have someone to show you what�s what.� I was about to reply when I heard Nick yelling.
�Alexis! Come on we�re leaving!� He was standing by the patio doors with a bottled water in each hand.
�Leaving? But why?� I asked.
�Just come on!� he yelled. I glanced at Kevin. He looked just as stunned as everyone else, myself included. He�s really angry, I thought. But why?
Rather than cause a scene because I wanted to call Nick on the way he was talking to me. If we weren�t in front of a group of his friends I�m pretty sure I would have told him that I wasn�t going to go anywhere until he spoke to me like a human being. Reluctantly, I stood and headed for the pool house to collect my things.
Instead of redressing, I toweled myself dry, tied the sarong around my waist and slipped back into my flip flops. I pulled my camisole back on and grabbed my little tote bag. I made sure I had everything before I left the pool house. When I went back to the pool Nick wasn�t there and neither was Kevin.
�Where�d he go?� I asked the group.
�Oh he said he�d wait for you in the car,� AJ replied. �I�ll walk you out. Somebody man the grill. . . . and don�t let Kevin near it.�
�Do you know what�s wrong with him?� I asked as we went inside.
�There are a lot of things wrong with that one. What�s wrong with him right now though, I�m not sure exactly. It may have something to do with Kristin.�
�Kristin? How do you know that?�
�While you were in the pool house, Nick told Kevin that his wife needed to mind her own business. He�ll probably tell you everything when you get in the car.�
We passed the kitchen, where Kevin and Kristin were deep in conversation. They stopped talking when we walked by and I could have sworn I saw a guilty look cross Kristin�s face.
�I hope he does. I was having a good time. After he tells me what his problem is I�m going to give him hell for talking to me like that and dragging me away from the party.�
�You go get him, girl,� AJ said once we reached the door.
�Ok see ya, AJ.�
I climbed into the truck next to Nick. He didn�t say anything. I tossed my bag in the back and then buckled my seat belt. He still said nothing as he started the engine.
�Ok. . . . . I guess I�m going to have to ask. What the hell was that back there?�
�Nothing,� he muttered.
�Really? Nick, would you please explain to me why we just left AJ�s barbecue, after having so much fun, the way we did? Can you explain to me why you yelled at me the way you did in front of everyone, embarrassing not only me but yourself as well? Can you tell me why you�re so upset now when not five minutes ago you were in the pool trying to undress me?�
�Something Kristin said. She thinks she�s all high and fucking mighty. I hate when she gets all fucking self righteous with me. Sometimes she�s worse than Brian.�
�Ok you�re not telling me anything. What happened?�
�When you sent me inside to get your water she was in there. We started talking and she basically told me how she felt about us dating and working on tour together.�
�And how�s that?�
�She doesn�t think it�s a good idea. She thinks if something happened. . . . if something went wrong between you and I it could put a strain on the �work environment�. Then I pointed out that there were a lot of times when she would work for us and she says, �And how many times did Kevin and I fight at that time? How many times did we break up?� Then I said, �But you two are married now. I don�t see how anything you�re saying is going to affect Lexie and me. Just because you and Kevin fought all the time when you were working with him doesn�t mean that that�s going to happen to me and Lexie. Even if we did fight before we got together, so what? Nothing bad happened then, I doubt it�ll happen now. So just stay out of it.� She�s all like, �I�m only looking out for your best interest. I genuinely like Alexis but I don�t know if its wise that she work on the tour while you�re dating. You weren�t dating before. Things are different, now.� She was fucking serious, too. I mean she was talking like she expected me to go outside right then and tell you not to come on the tour. Then she goes, �Just think about the way things went with you and some of your past girlfriends that you took on tour with you.��
�What did you say?�
�I told her that was different because they were just along for the ride. So, they got bored easily and angry when I couldn�t spend time with them, when they wanted me to. You, work on the tour so it�s not like you�re just there for the ride. I told her that maybe she needed to mind her own business. She says, �Nick, I�m only trying to help. You don�t have to take it that way. It was just a suggestion.� So I said, �Well who asked you for your suggestions?� I am so sick and tired of people poking their noses into my. . . our relationship.� I just had to ask.
�Besides Kristin, who else has poked their nose into our relationship?�
�Well. . . . there was Kim,� he said. So he�s not going to tell me about his mother, I thought.
�Well you know Kristin might have a point,� I said.
�What?�
�Well you remember how much we used to fight and you know how much you can get on my nerves.�
�So what? We don�t fight like that now, do we?�
�No, but I can see where Kristin is coming from.�
�So what are you saying, Alexis? You don�t want to go on the tour?�
�No Nick, I�m saying that I get what Kristin was saying,� I said. And I get why you�re so angry over it. After the argument with his mother the last thing he needed was someone else telling him there was something wrong with his relationship.
�You know she probably knows about our fights. I�m sure Kevin told her. She really was trying to look out for you. . . all of you. And she does like me and I like her. I don�t think she meant any malice by what she said. She just probably shouldn�t have said it the way she did. She talked to you like she was your big sister or mother.�
�She always does. Not to everyone just me.�
�Is there some reason behind that?�
�Yeah but, I don�t know if you want to hear this.�
�No, go ahead. I asked didn�t I?�
�Well. . . when I first met her I had a crush on her.�
�Aaww that�s so cute.�
�Stop it. Do you want to hear the story or what?�
�I�m sorry, go ahead.�
�Anyway, I was young and stupid so, I told her and actually asked her to dump Kevin for me. She turned me down and promised to be my friend instead. She never told Kevin about my demand and ever since then she�s treated me like her little brother or something. Sometimes, its nice but mostly its really annoying�
�Do you still have a crush on her?� I don�t know why I asked. He shot me a sideways glance.
�Naw, there�s this other girl that I kind of have a crush on right now.�
�Really? Who is she?�
�I don�t know if you want to hear this, either. You remember Katie?�
�Katie? AJ�s girlfriend, Katie?�
�Yeah did you see her in those short shorts and that top. She was hot!� I stared at him as he stared at the road. I popped him upside the back of his head.
�That�s not funny.�
�I was only kidding. I was really checkin� out the girl in the white bikini. Damn!�
�That�s better. So, what do we do now?�
�Well, I�ve made an ass of myself, so we can�t go back to AJ�s. Wanna go back to my house?�
�So you can take advantage of me?�
�We can do something else. Wanna watch a movie?�
�Ok. . . but let�s swing by my hotel then, we can go back to your house. I want to pick up a few things.� I�ll be damned if I was going to end up wearing Aaron�s old clothes again, I thought.
