Brittney sat on the other side of Nick and immediately tried to engage him in conversation, leaning forward so he could look down her low cut shirt if he wanted.
But he didn�t.
He kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye instead.
�So what�s it like to be a pop star?�
Oooh, bad first conversation topic.
*
I heard Kara snicker beside me the moment the busty blonde asked me a question I�ve heard too many times. It�s not like I felt like talking to her anyway, especially with her leaning forward so half of Tampa could see down her shirt.
Mike seemed to enjoy it though.
Jeez, dude, you�re getting married this weekend!
With everyone except Kara looking at me or the annoying girl, I felt it necessary to answer with something.
So I shrugged.
�It�s my job.�
*
Nick: 1 Brittney: 0
She didn�t know how to respond to the curt answer that, anyone who could take a hint would have known, should have been a conversation killer.
But then she went on.
�Just your job?! You�re famous! And rich! And you travel everywhere with girls throwing themselves at your feet� I bet you have a lot of groupies.�
�what?!
Okay, I think I have the right to beat my head against the table after that.
When I turned to see Nick�s reaction, he looked at me with a terrified look on his face. I bit my lip hard and closed my eyes to fight off the sudden burst of laughter.
Poor boy.
*
Did she just say all that to me?
Out loud?!
But it�s okay because it got Kara to look at me. And if she wasn�t fighting it, she�d be laughing.
An uncomfortable silence fell across the table that only I could break.
Well, my and the waiter.
As everyone else ordered, Kara leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table and covering her mouth as silent laughter rocked her body. The moment her shoulders started shaking, I leaned towards her and whispered into her ear.
�I�m glad you�re amused.�
Glancing quickly around the table and finding everyone�s attention currently engaged somewhere else, I brushed my lips under her ear, cutting off her laughter abruptly.
God I�ve missed her.
I�d rather hear her laughter, but the silent laugh is pretty damn cute too.
*
Damn him.
And his lips.
As the waiter left, the conversation turned to Angie, Michael, and their wedding, saving me from smacking Brittney or Nick getting any more embarrassed.
When I turned back to Nick, he looked at me hopefully with a small hesitant smile.
I can�t look at him.
I can�t look at him and not break down crying or blubbering about how sorry I am. And it�s impossible to just sit next to him in public without feeling like my head is going to explode.
*
Damn it.
Why did she just turn away? Things were almost looking like we might be able to get� back to normal?
No, that�s not right.
Back to where I can pull her dangerously close to me and kiss her.
Then again, that might be normal for us.
Sigh.
�So Nick, it�s really nice of you to offer your house for this special occasion.�
Okay, this one is the nice one that suggested Kara should be near me.
How come I don�t know any of these girls� names?
Perhaps because you were too busy looking for Kara earlier that you forgot to listen to introductions?
Before I could respond, the loud one started up again.
�Well, he is a millionaire! Why shouldn�t he?�
Oh jeez�
She turned toward me with a sickeningly sweet look on her face that made me want to puke.
�You know, I�d really love to see the inside of your house sometime. You could give me a private tour on night.�
Umm� don�t think so. Not even in your dreams.
�Brittney!�
So that�s her name!
Well Brittney, I don�t want to even talk to you, much less bring you into my house. And why should I?
You talk too much. You seem like a whore. You bring up my career. You suggest I�m a sex-driven pervert. You�
Whoa.
�have both hands on the table.
But then who�s currently�
I turned to Kara to find her talking to the nice girl about something. While propping herself up with one arm and the other one� disappearing under the table.
Glancing around, everyone minus the three of us stared at Brittney while Angie reprimanded her.
Giving me time to consider the pieces of this very obvious situation.
Currently there�s a hand resting on top of mine, which was sitting on my leg balled into a fist at the audacity of this Brittney chick. The unidentifiable hand is slightly cold and small, much smaller than my own.
And strangely familiar.
Most likely with silver painted fingernails.
But why?
Even better question - why does it matter as long as she is responsible for her hand being on mine at this moment in time?
What the fuck am I thinking? Why am I still thinking?
When I began to pull my hand away in order to rearrange the situation, Kara tried to pull away.
Un uh. No way woman. You started this, so it�s fair. Plus I�m not planning on turning my second dirtier idea into reality. You�re here and I don�t want to change that. Especially if my groin might get crushed in the process.
Somehow she managed to carry on whatever conversation she was having as I entwined my fingers in hers, squeezing lightly when she glanced over at me.
I think I can get through this thing now.
All I need is to be able to touch her and everything will be all right.
�Don�t give up on me yet
Don�t forget who I am
I know I�m not there yet
But don�t let me stay here alone.�
Five