"Damn," he said while letting out a big sigh, "it's almost seven.....guess she's not coming. Shit Kev...you pushed too hard...."
He started to just pace around the room when he heard the pounding on the door.
"Train...c'mon...you ready?"
Kevin opened the door and saw Brian and AJ standing in front of him.
"Kev...let's get a move on...Nicky and Howie are waiting for us....time to go meet and greet our fans," AJ said, while reaching a hand out to touch Kevin's arm.
"Yeah...guess it is....," Kevin sighed.
"Hey cuz...everything ok," Brian asked.
"I don't know Bri..I just don't know. I invited Kaylee and her friend to come back here tonight...and I thought she'd be here...guess I thought wrong."
"Kev...how do you know she's not out front? Think positive...she may be here after all."
"Yeah AJ...I guess.....sure....I'm just so damn afraid that I came on too strong. I mean..we had one helluva kiss earlier....and....well....shit .. I think she felt......no....I KNOW she ... aw fuck it......she knew what was going on...," he stopped suddenly recalling how aroused he'd gotten earlier just kissing her in a hallway.
Brian blushed while AJ laughed.
"It's not funny AJ...I just hope I didn't scare her off."
"Kev....I can't tell you what to feel....or if she's coming here....," Brian said, while reaching for his cousin, "but...I can tell you to not be so negative, ok? Just don't give up until you're sure she's not here, ok?"
"Yeah...you're right. Let's get this show moving," Kevin said, while glancing in the mirror one last time. He adjusted his belt, grabbed his leather coat and gloves, then fixed a couple out of place cornrows.
"Let's rock and roll fellas," he exclaimed while leading them out of the door. And with one last long look up and down the hall, he headed for the one constant in his life....a performance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ali didn't know what Kaylee's reasons were for wanting to attend the meet and greet, but she sure wasn't going to argue. She was a big fan of Backstreet, and this was like a dream come true.
She stole a couple sideway glances at her friend, thinking she was going to make a run for it at any minute.
"Kay...calm down hon. He will be so glad to see you here...I don't think he's going to mind at all that you didn't go back to the dressing room."
"I hope so.....I just hate thinking that he thinks I'm not coming. But, I had to do it this way.....I just did. I'm so afraid to be alone with him. I KNOW how silly that sounds...I mean.....I hardly know him....yet...he makes me feel so many things all at one time. Good things.....but scary at the same time. Damn him! He makes me weak in the knees Al. He really does....."
Ali put her arm around her friend...not quite sure what to say that would make her feel better.
Just then the door at the front of the room opened and one by one...5 leather clad men made their way in the room. Kaylee couldn't believe that her heart hadn't stopped when she saw him. He looked so imposing in that costume. So imposing and so damn sexy that she forgot to breathe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin worked his way through the fans. He didn't mind the meet and greets, it was good for the fans, and to Kevin that is what mattered. He did, however, tend to zone out toward the end of the sessions.
There was a group of about 5 women that approached the Boys for their turn. As they moved forward, Kevin lifted his head and actually looked out to see how many more fans were still there. What he saw made his heart flip over in his chest.
"Kaylee......," he whispered.
She was laughing with Ali, and not even aware that he had seen her there. When she finally looked up toward him, he was posing for a picture.
"My God Al....he's gorgeous. I can't believe I was kissing him earlier today. Holy shit!"
Ali had clearly gone into "star struck" mode, and all she could mumble was, "mmm hmmm."
It was now their turn to "meet" the group, and Kaylee and Ali made their way forward. The local security guard tried to direct Kaylee away from Kevin and toward Howie, but Kevin was having nothing to do with that, as he just slid down to the other end of the guys.
He looked down at her and found that he was suddenly at a loss for words.
"You're here," he whispered, his breath hot on her ear, "and you look incredible.....again!"
"Of course I'm here, silly. You really didn't think SHE would let me get away with not coming, do you? And...you look awfully damn incredible yourself....your hair looks amazing like that."
Kevin swept his gaze over the woman standing in front of him. She had on a pair of jeans, a red blouse and a short denim jacket. He couldn't help but smile when he noticed how tight her jeans were, and how great she looked in them. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and she looked to be all of about 17 years old to him.
"So...is Ali the only reason you came? No other reasons," Kevin asked, as he tried to say so much, in so little time.
"Well...there may have been one other reason. One tall, dark haired....really sexy reason," she said while squeezing his arm, and looking him directly in the eyes. Their eyes locked for a split second before Kaylee and Ali were asked to move. The intensity in Kevin's eyes nearly knocked Kaylee on the floor.
"Have a great show Kevin......thank you for inviting us to come back," she said while leaning closer to him to be heard.
"I will darlin'....I sure will...now..."
Luke was waiting to take the two women out to their seats when he looked up at Kevin and saw him looking back at him. He nodded, turned and walked away.
Kevin knew that tonight would be completely different for him. In fact, he had a strong feeling that everything in his life would be completely different from this moment on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaylee and Ali followed Luke out to their seats. Kevin had two tickets put aside for them in the front row, and Luke also gave them each a backstage pass for after the show.
"Please be careful with those, ok? I'll be back for you right before the encore is over. They're changing up the show tonight so Shape won't be the encore. But..please just wait for me. He'd never forgive me if I let you two get lost, ok?"
Kaylee and Ali nodded, and Kaylee grabbed Luke's arm as he turned away.
"Luke...thank you for the advice earlier. I am so glad I'm here....scared as hell...but really glad. What's going to go on after the show....why do we need these," she asked while pointing at the pass that Luke had put around her neck.
"He wants to see you after the show...that's what those are for. Beyond that....I can't begin to tell you what goes on in his head, but...I'm sure right now...now that he knows you're here....there's some major shit flying around in there. Kevin can overthink things at times," he chuckled.
"Wonderful...two 'overthinkers'....that's great. We may never get anywhere for all the thinking we do," she replied while laughing, too.
"Kaylee...just remember what I said earlier....let things happen as they happen. Don't try to figure out why," he said, and then looked her directly in the eyes as he asked, "do you like him Kaylee....are you enjoying yourself with him?"
Kaylee looked away for a minute, before she grabbed his arm and leaned in closer to him.
"Like him Luke?!?! How could I not....he's handsome, charming....everything a woman would want in a man...but Luke....I've also never been so scared of anything in my life....I can't put my heart out there again. I won't! It hurts too much......." Her voice had trailed off to a low whisper and Luke couldn't hear the rest of what she was saying.
"Kaylee....no one is asking you to put your heart out there again......not yet anyway. Just enjoy the company of a good friend would you? Please? Trust me...he doesn't want to put his heart back out there right yet either. Now...I've GOT to run....please think about what I've said...don't think about it TOO much, though...and PLEASE...I can't stress it enough...wait for me right here."
"Thank you for listening Luke....I'm not crazy...really...I'm not...I'm just afraid. And, yes...we'll be sure to wait here...we won't move. Now go...before someone has a fit."
Luke had turned to walk away when he walked back and put his head close to Kaylee's ear, and said, "oh yeah...just so you know...the meet and greet....great idea. You made his night! Now..I'm gone.......enjoy!"
The lights went down as Luke was jogging away, and Kaylee and Ali found themselves caught up in the excitement of the show all over again. The video played....the fog rose....the platforms lifted...and Kevin was right in front of her. She couldn't take her eyes off of him for even a minute. Halfway throught the song, as he strutted across the stage, he glanced down and nodded ever so slightly. A movement so subtle that no one in the crowd would even notice it....no one except one person, and she smiled back.
The show was even better than the night before. They were getting ready for their encore and Luke was right...they were doing a different song tonight. A song that most people had never heard before...a song that would come to hold a very special meaning for two people, who were on the road to rediscovering their hearts.
