�Another day is goin� by
I�m thinking about you all the time
But you�re out there
And I�m here waiting
And I wrote this letter in my head
�Cause so many things were left unsaid
And I can�t think straight.�
I�m going to be surrounded by lovey, happy marriage stuff for basically the next week.
Gag me.
�So are you bringing a date?�
�No.�
I know, I know. He�s my best friend; I should probably be happy for him.
But he�s getting married!
Yes, I�m bitter.
�Jeez, what�s with you man? You�re my best man! You have to have a date! Come on. It can�t be that hard for you to find a girl.�
I kept my mouth shut so I wouldn�t make a sarcastic joke, a sappy sad love song tape-looped in my head.
When Michael kept silent for a few minutes himself, I turned to look at him. He was watching me as he considered something.
And thought too hard.
�So it really is true.�
�What�s true?�
I knew exactly what he was talking about, but a guy can still hope that his friend won�t bring up something so ego damaging.
�That you�ve sworn off girls. That you�re some celibate priest now or something� minus the incestuous young boys thing.�
He paused for a moment as he grimaced at me.
�At least I hope so.�
�I�m not Catholic, Mike.�
I rolled my eyes and stuffed my hands in my pockets, the sarcasm dripping from my voice though I fought it.
�I thought part of the best man�s duties was to hook up with the maid of honor the night before anyway.�
Mike laughed, looking down the street for whatever car his fianc�e might be driving.
�Not this time around buddy. She�s too young for you� and would probably kill you before you got her pants off. She�s a hellfire.�
Preferring this topic to the one about the lack of females in my life, I questioned further about this mysterious hellfire maid of honor.
�What�s �too� young?�
�Eighteen. Just out of high school. Graduated last week.�
Yeah, too young.
�She�s legal. I won�t get into trouble.�
�Do you seriously want to sleep with her? You swore off girls, remember?�
I stared out into space through my sunglasses, drifting off into random thoughts that didn�t involve anything remotely connected to our conversation.
�I didn�t swear them off. I just� haven�t found one of interest lately.�
�In six months?! Oh come on, Nick! You�re a fucking pop star! Girls would kill to get into your pants, much less escort you to your best friend�s wedding!�
He stopped and stared at me, a ghastly look covering his face.
�You aren�t gay now, are you?!�
I glared at him and probably should have kept my mouth shut.
�No, I�m not. I just� if you�d met Kara, I think you�d understand better. She�s beautiful and funny and just� beyond amazing.�
I should kick myself. It�s been six months and I still almost start tearing up when I talk about her. And it doesn�t help that I can still remember what it feels like for her body to be underneath mine when I was kissing her on my tour bus. And how her smile made me all weak and stupid.
He just stared at me. For a guy who�s about to get married, he doesn�t seem to be too in love. He started shaking his head.
�I don�t fucking have a clue who you are. I just know you aren�t Nick Carter. The Nick Carter I know would be having fun fucking twenty girls a week while he�s plastered off his ass. You�re on vacation! In June! For the first time in years! Go pick up a bikini-clad girl off the beach and fuck her senseless in the back of that huge ass car of yours!�
I glared at him again. You�d think I�d be happy to see Mike after the past eight or nine months of working. Let�s hope he�s not like this all week or I�ll have to beat him up.
�Maybe I decided to grow up. You should try looking into that.�
He snorted before cracking up hysterically, people glancing at him as I ducked my gaze to the concrete beneath me. A change of subject is needed.
�I think Angie�s late.�
Mike had the decency to calm himself down at the mention of his future wife.
�Well, her cousin�s plane could have been late.�
�The maid of honor is her cousin?�
He looked down the street.
�Yes, which is yet another reason you can�t sleep with her. Angie will kill me.�
I sighed, feeling incredibly uncomfortable standing on the sidewalk without Marcus right behind me.
�So does this girl have a name?�
When he turned back to me, he had a smirk covering his face even though a look of wondering confusion filled his eyes.
�That�s the odd thing��
A little girl grabbed a hold of my arm, ceasing Mike�s word that I hadn�t been listening to in the first place. When I looked towards her, she grinned up at me, revealing a missing tooth.
�You�re Nick Carter.�
Thank you. I forget that sometimes.
�Yeah, I am. You want me to sign something for you?�
I crouched down so I could be closer to her height.
Even though signing autographs is something I do enough on a regular basis, I still think it�s odd that people actually care about my signature. I could understand if it�s on the bottom of a check or a contract or something, but just a piece of paper?
It�s weird even after ten years.
�What�s your name?�
Shyly handing me over a sheet of paper and a marker, she grinned at me as I heard Angie�s voice behind me.
�Becca.�
I smiled at the cute little girl as I scribbled all over the paper she�d handed me. Giving the autograph and marker back to her, I leaned forward and smiled.
�Hey Becca, would you mine giving me a hug?�
The around-seven year old giggled before wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. A moment later, her mom called her away and she ran off, waving back at me.
I like the cute little fans that don�t scream.
�I�m not sure if I should be relieved or creeped out that at least you�re paying attention to the five year old female population.�
I heard Angie slap him as I tried to rub at the headache that was pounding against my temples from the bright summer sun and Mike�s taunting words. Still focusing my eyes on the ground in case I began to scream, I saw a set of silver painted toenails peeking out of sandals before I stood up.
�Okay� If you aren�t going to introduce yourself, I guess I�ll do it for you. Obviously��
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as my eyes slowly traveled up a pair of nicely tanned legs marred with a few scars until I saw the hem of a familiar blue dress.
��you�ve met Angie and this��
My heartbeat steadily increased as I held my breath against the nerves that threatened to take over while my eyes continued their slow travel up her thin frame.
There are more dresses like that than just the one I know of, Carter.
��is her cousin��
My eyes traveled slowly, fearful of finding a reason to be disappointed.
And then I saw the face of the young hellfire maid of honor cousin.
No way.