“What is with all the crappy music out now?” Riley Jones pondered while looking at the New Releases rack at Sam Goody in Los Angeles, California. Originally from Las Vegas, Riley had only lived in LA for three years, but she had “marked her territory” (so to speak), and Sam Goody was at the top of her list. She knew the location of all the Sam Goody stores within a two-mile radius of the UCLA campus, where she was a psychology major.

It was only when she reached for Nick Carter’s “Now or Never” that she realized that someone had appeared next to her. Someone who reached for the exact same CD at the exact same time.

“Sorry,” the mystery person muttered, embarrassed.

Riley looked up at the person only to find herself face to face with a very tall, blue eyed, very cute stranger wearing a baseball cap. “No, it’s ok.” She handed him the CD. “I didn’t think guys listened to stuff like that…”Riley said, smirking.

The guy blushed slightly and took the CD.

“Yeah, well, it’s—um—for my sister. Yeah…” He shook his head under his baseball cap.

Riley ran her hand through her brown hair nervously. Whoa, this guy is hot. “I’m Riley,” she said, extending her hand in between the two of them.

The guy took her hand and smiled. “I’m—”

“NICK!”

The guy was interrupted rather abruptly by a female voice yelling his name.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He smiled apologetically. “Stay here—lemme go see what she wants.” He turned and walked in the direction of the voice.

Riley absentmindedly looked over the CDs in front of her. Nick, huh? she wondered. He looks so familiar! Where have I seen him before?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Nick jogging back towards her.

“My little sister spazzed. I’m supposed to be buying her a birthday present, but she tagged along.”

“I know how that is, I’ve got a little sister, too.” Riley smiled.

“Yeah,” Nick said awkwardly.

“So, do you live around here?” Riley asked. She wanted to keep the conversation going. He was really hot.

“No, just, um, visiting. With my friends. You?”

“Yeah, I’m a junior at UCLA.”

“Really? What’s your major?”

“Psychology.”

“Cool,” Nick adjusted his baseball cap nervously.

“So are you in town long?” Riley figured she had nothing to lose, especially if he was only in town for a couple days.

“I think like another day or two. Then we’re going to Vegas. I love Vegas.”

“No way! I’m from Vegas.”

“Are you serious?”

“Born and raised.”

“Family?”

“Brother and sister. I’m in the middle. My sister is a freshman at UCLA, she followed me, little copycat.”

Nick laughed. Riley blushed nervously.

“And my brother’s a writer for the LA times. You?”

“I’m the oldest. 3 sisters, one brother.”

Another awkward pause. Why is he so hot? I’m totally spazzing out here! Riley thought to herself.

“Listen, I gotta get on this whole birthday present thing, but, I was thinking…” Nick started to say.

Is he gonna ask for my number? Riley thought excitedly. “Maybe, if you’re not too busy one night, I could give you a call and we could, um, hang out or something.”

Aww, that’s so cute. He looks so nervous! Riley caught herself smirking, which probably didn’t make Nick feel any better.

“Is it that audacious that I’d ask for your number?” Nick asked.

“No, just the way you said it. It was really cute.” Riley took a pen out of her purse. “Lemme tattoo you.” She smiled as the rolled up his shirtsleeve. She wrote her first and last name and cell phone number on his forearm.

“Gimme your pen.” He wrote on her arm: Nick Cart…then crossed out the beginning of his last name. He wrote his cell phone number on her arm and handed her back her pen. “Ya know, just in case I come down with amnesia and forget you. You can call me and give me a reminder.”

Riley smiled, embarrassed and flattered at the same time. “Yeah…” She didn’t really know what else to say.

“I gotta go, but listen, I think you should get this CD.” He handed her Now or Never. “I, um, heard it’s really good.”

“Thanks.” Riley was in a daze.

Nick stuck his hand between the two of them. Riley shook his hand and he brought hers up to his lips and kissed it ever so softly.

“Until we meet again. I always wanted to do that.” Nick smiled widely.

Riley was speechless.

“I’ll call you,” Nick said as he smiled and walked away.

“Bye. You better!” Riley called after him.

“Don’t worry!”

Riley looked down at the CD in her hands. Nick Carter, huh? she wondered. She looked at her arm and, for the first time, saw that he’s scratched out his last name. C, a, r, t and that was it. Coincidence? Probably.

*****

“I’m telling you, Lucy, this boy was gorgeous!” Riley lay on her back on her bed in her dorm room. She was telling Lucy, her roommate and good friend, about her encounter with the hot boy at Sam Goody. Lucy was a dance major at UCLA, and she was stretching all over the place. Sometimes it really bugged Riley when Lucy would be stretching on her deck when she was trying to do homework. But she loved Lucy, so she could get past it.

Lucy shook her dark blonde head patronizingly at Riley. Lucy had known Riley for three years, and she’d seen Riley go out with her share of guys. She always ended up getting hurt. “I don’t doubt that he was. Just be careful. I mean, he didn’t even give you his last name.”

“I’ve got part of it. I just need the rest.”

“Whatever.”

“Plus, he said he’d call.” Riley pulled out her new CD out of the Sam Goody bag. She put it in her portable CD player and hit “play.”

“Fine, you don’t have to listen to me. Just go out with the strange guy from the CD store. That’s fine!” Lucy sighed and sat down on her bed. She looked at Riley, lying contentedly on her bed. Well, she deserves to meet a nice guy for once. Lucy thought. Better this stranger than another asshole.

Riley suddenly sat up straight on her bed. She has just heard Nick Carter’s speaking voice on the CD. He sounded impossibly like that Nick she’d met at Sam Goody.

“Lucy, do you think it’s possible that the Nick I met at Sam Goody and Nick Carter are one and the same?” Riley asked warily.

“How do you figure that they’re the same?”

“Well, I just heard his speaking voice on the CD and it really sounds like Nick from Sam Goody.”

“Well, it could be possible. What did Sam Goody boy look like?”

“He was tall, blue eyes, great smile, I couldn’t see his hair cuz he had a baseball cap on. He had a really nice voice, too. He could be a singer. I don’t know.”

Lucy laughed in spite of herself. Here she was, a college junior, and she was talking with her roommate about whether or not she met Nick Carter. It was insane. “I don’t know, it could’ve been him. Just go to sleep.”

Maybe that’s why he looked so familiar, cuz I’d just seen him on the CD cover… Riley debated in her head whether or not to call him. She figured she’d be better off not calling, and just waiting to see if he called her. She finally fell asleep around midnight, daydreaming about Sam Goody Nick.