"Justin, no, we're not going to buy beer." I sighed. �We'd been having this argument all day.
"But come on," he whined. �"It's my birthday."
"No, it's your brother's. �And if it WAS yours, it wouldn't be your twenty-first, and until it is, you're not getting any. �Sorry."
"You're no fun, Josh," he complained. �I rolled my eyes at him and he opened the door to the beverage center, looking up as the little bell dinged. �He held it open grandly. �"After you," he said with an exaggerated bow. �
"Thanks," I said sarcastically, walking ahead of him. �"But even though you're being OH so polite, we're here for soda, not beer. �And Lynn would kill me if I bought some. �You want my blood on your hands?"
He considered that. �"You're right. �That doesn't mean I don't want any though," he reminded me.
"Of course it doesn't. �But for some reason I doubt a party for your little brother would look right with a few six packs lying around."
"You wouldn't mind it," he shot back.
I shoved him in the arm. �"Shut up."
"You know I'm sexy. �Come on, you want this."
That was a bit random. �"Not quite, JuJu. �That would be like kissing my brother, dude." I made a face. �"Sorry."
"Well, I don't want you coming onto me anyway," he said.
"Who says I would? �Now shut up and go...find something Jon'll like." �He flipped me the bird before wandering off into the aisles. �"No thanks."
"Bite me."
I thought about saying something, but realized he was out of earshot, so I went in the opposite direction. �We were buying soda for Justin's brother's birthday party, because, for whatever reason, Lynn didn't have any. �Jon lived with his father in Tennessee, but he had a lot of friends in Florida too, so he got to have two parties. �None of us living in the house minded; I know I loved Jon like I had loved my own brother. �I looked around and found myself at the counter, where a woman was buying an awful lot of soda. �"I hate family reunions," she was muttering to herself. �I suppressed a smile.The guy at the register chuckled and handed her the change. �"You want some help getting that out to your car?"
"Sure," she said.
He picked up a walkie talkie sitting next to the register. �"Hey, Lance," he said. �The instrument crackled a minute before there was a slightly labored sounding reply. �
"What, Chris?" came the reply. �Smooth voice, I noticed. �Nice sounding.
"Come on up front for a second," the guy at the register, I presumed he was Chris, replied.
"Man, you know I have-- Never mind, I'll be right there." �He evidently realized there was probably a customer standing there.
"All right." �In the meantime, I looked around at the soda near the register, wanting to catch a glimpse of this Lance guy. �He sounded hot. �And Chris started making small talk and loading the cases of soda onto the metal thing I couldn't remember the name of. �But it had wheels! �
"What'd ya need, Chris?" a soft voice said. �Sounded southern...and it was deep...even better...I looked up and saw the most beautiful man in the world standing there and wiping his hands on his smock.
"Can you bring these outside?" Chris asked.
"Sure," he said, smiling easily.
"Thanks, Lance."
Lance smiled and took that metal cart...thing, then opened went out. �I wandered over to the window, looking at "Soda over there," and wondered who the hell I thought I was kidding.
Not Chris, apparently. �"You know, staring is a little bit obvious," he pointed out.
I looked at him, tearing myself away from the sight of the extremely strong looking arms lifting boxes full of cans of soda into the woman's trunk. �"Excuse me?" I asked.
"I asked if there was anything you needed?" he asked with a bright smile.
Lance walked back into the store. �"No," I said, "I'm just looking around over here..."
I watched the beautiful blond make his way over to where we were standing. �"Chris?" he asked.
"Yes, Lance? �Before you say anything let me remind you that I'm your superior here, I could so get your ass fired..." he trailed off when Lance pulled him over to the counter, glancing at me in apology. �
"Just because you thought it would be cool to buy walkie talkies so we could talk to each other during work -- and I was the only one that would take the other -- doesn't mean I want you calling me up to load a car while I'm in the middle of unloading a truck in the back. �Kay?" he asked sweetly.
"Got it," Chris said with a nod. �"You wanna take over up here and I'll unload?"
"You sure it won't throw your back out, Gramps?"
"Shut up."
That was when I decided to go find Justin; eavesdropping wasn't exactly polite. �I found him looking at the beer. �"JUSTIN!" �
His eyes widened. �"Hey, Josh," he said. �"Look, I found this kind that I thought you might like, so I thought I'd--"
"Soda," I said.
He rolled his eyes but went into another aisle. �"Hey," he whispered conspiratorially. �"That guy at the counter...you think he's cute? �He's lookin' at you." I rolled my eyes. �Justin was always pointing out guys for me; though I'd told him time and time again I didn't exactly want a relationship just now...but he was right this time. �
"Who, Lance?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to see how he would react to that.
"You know his name?" he asked. �"Damn, you work fast."
I flipped him off and went into a different aisle. �"Hey," I called, "What kind of soda does Jon like the best?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Dude, he's your brother," I said. �"Even I know what kind of soda Ty likes best, and the guy doesn't talk to me anymore."
Ha, that shut him up. �"Maybe he likes Coke," Justin said quietly. �Oops, I think that upset him a little. �He doesn't really like talking about the way I was disowned...I've always wondered if he thought it was his fault or something. �
"What about orange?" I asked, trying to change the subject a little.
Justin shook his head from the other aisle. �"He said it tastes like...oh, what did he use? �Doggy poopy, I believe was the exact term."
I nodded. �"Oh...what about...Dr. Pepper?"
"Cat pee."
"Eloquent little man, your brother is," I commented. �"Okay, how does this sound. �Coke, Sprite, cuz every kid has to like ONE of those, right? �And then Root Beer and Dr. Pepper."
"I don't know about Root Beer, but I told you, he doesn't like Dr. Pepper--"
"I know, I know, cat piss." �I rolled my eyes. �Jon probably got his vocabulary from Justin.
"Pee."
"Sorry. �Pee. �But I like Dr. Pepper, and I like Root Beer."
"We're not here for you, Josh," Justin said.
"Nah, we're always here for me. �And since your mother would kill me if I bought alcohol, I figure I might as well be able to have the kind of soda I like." �
"A HA!" Justin sounded like he'd won a huge victory. �He walked over and I raised an eyebrow. �Jamming a finger into my chest, he beamed. �"You do want beer. �I knew it!"
Oh God the boy had a one track mind. �Rolling my eyes, I handed him a couple 2-Liter bottles of soda. �"Come on, J." �We walked towards the counter and Lance. �He was on the phone with someone.
"No quiero hablar a espa�ol ahora, idiota." �What was that? �Spanish? �"Por que no me siento como hablar en espa�ol."
Justin had come up behind me. �"He said, more or less, that he doesn't want to speak Spanish right now, then he called whoever he was talking to an idiot, then he said he doesn't feel like speaking in Spanish." �Ah, yes. �That's what Justin was here for. �He'd been taking Spanish all through high school. �French was my language. �It sounded better anyway.
"Tu no los impresionar� que usan un lenguaje que no sea ingl�s, Joey." I looked at Justin.
"Joey, whoever he may be, won't impress them speaking a language that's not English."
"No la clase de muchachas que t� desea!"
"Not the kind of girls he wants. �Pretty much...I don't know how good his Spanish is, but that makes sense."I nodded. �"Thanks, J. �I knew you were good for something." �He punched me in the shoulder.
"Molestas Chris."
I looked at Justin expectantly. �Seriously hoping that "molesta" didn't translate as directly as some words in Spanish did. �Justin rolled his eyes. �"He said he was going to go have sex with Chris."
"WHAT?!"
"Kidding," Justin sighed. �"He wanted him to bother Chris instead." �I sighed with relief.
"Chris!" Chris was coming up behind us. �"Come here and take Joey off my hands, will you? �Tell him that most of the girls he's gonna be out with tonight while I'm covering for his ass won't know the difference between Spanish and English?"
"He trying to be impressive again?" Chris asked.
"Apparently," Lance said dryly. �Suddenly noticing us, he thrust the phone into Chris' hands. �"Sorry about that. �You all set?"
I think my throat broke. �Odd. �Was he talking to us? �Justin had a smile on his face and he kicked me in the shin. �"Yeah we're all set," he said. �"We've got the Coke, the Sprite, the Root Beer, and the cat pee, right Joshy?" �Oh no the little bastard did not just go and say--
"Justin!" I yelped. �"Dude, just cause your brother doesn't like the soda doesn't mean you have to go using his words to mock my Dr. Pepper." I put the bottles on the counter.
Chris chuckled from the shelf behind the register. �"Don't knock it in front of Lance, that's for sure. �Lance'll love you forever if you like Dr. Pepper." �Lance blushed. �This Chris guy was pretty cool. �Wait, did he just say Lance liked Dr. Pepper too? �Woah. �And the loving me forever part didn't sound too bad either...Justin shrugged and started flipping through tabloids on the magazine rack. �"Look, Nick Carter pushed a fan into a wall."
I made a face. �"Don't read that shit, Curly, it's only gonna screw up your brain.""AJ's got a paternity suit. �From like, five years ago."
"Amazing," I said with a yawn. �Lance smiled as he scanned the soda.
Justin finally tossed it aside in disgust. �"You know, I can sing better than them," he said. "You probably could."
"You could too."
"Maybe," I said with a nod. �Lance still had that odd little smile on his face. �WOW his eyes were beautiful. �Penetrating green...I wondered if they could tell how much I liked him right about now?
I guess Justin thought I wasn't paying attention, cause he decided to milk it for all it was worth. �"I'm hotter than them." �Though he wasn't exactly very subtle. �I think he just outed me, actually. �Bastard. �Well, I wanted to see if this Lance was gay, too, so I guess it didn't really matter...but revenge was first on my list.
"No you ain't. �You're just a wannabe pimp. �I know I don't want you."
"But just last week--"
"$22.50," Lance broke in, obviously needing the money, but I wondered how much he wanted to end the conversation.
"I told you the same thing," I said, rolling my eyes. �I'm all for being open, but he was really gonna get it this time. �"Dude, you know what," I said, "I'm not so sure you should be trying to seduce me if you're as straight as you proclaim." I took out my wallet and gave Lance the money. �"Talk to Brit though; I'm sure she'd love it if you did." �Justin punched me on the arm. �This was certainly an excellent conversation to be having a beverage center.
"Maybe I will," he said. �"Good, then you'll stop coming on to me. �You're not quite as irresistible as you seem to think you are."
Lance gave me my change, a half smile still playing on his lips. �Our fingers brushed as I took my $2.50 back. �That was kind of a lot for soda, but we did buy so much...oh well, that was really the last thing on my mind. �What nice, soft fingers he had. �Hmm. �I saw Justin and Chris giggling over something. �Did I miss something? �Oh, look, he wasn't giving me my hand back. �Not that I minded or anything. �Oh, now he had my shirt. �Interesting position. �I decided to see if his lips were as soft as his hands were. �And oh, they were, most definitely. �How nice. �"Thanks for the change," I whispered. �"That was your tip."
"Mmm, I'm not allowed to accept tips."
"Maybe you'll make an exception?"
"Rules are made to be broken. �I've wanted to do that the second I saw you come in the store."
I could've sworn I heard Justin mutter something about cheesiness, but that was okay. �Lance's lips were really soft, did I mention that? �
"Um, Lance? �And -- Josh, is it? -- I don't know if--"
Never mind, Chris wasn't very cool. �"Yeah," Lance sighed. �I pulled away with a sigh, eyes still locked with that incredible green. �"I guess we better be going, then?" Justin said. �I nodded and handed him a bag, grabbing the other one. �
"Bye," I said. �We were out the door when Justin took the other bag from me. �I looked at him questioningly.
"Wait," I heard a breathless voice say. �I turned to come face to face with Lance. �My eyes widened when he pulled me against him and attached his mouth to my own. �I raised an eyebrow at him when we pulled apart, not that I minded him kissing me. �
