�Move your damn ass, you jerk!� Melissa muttered under her breath. On good days, the drive home from the dance studio took forty-five minutes. This was not a good day, and the ride would therefore take much longer. But as powerful as Melissa felt in her big car, she was careful to keep her road rage under control while stuck in traffic. After moving to Los Angeles, she quickly realized people in California are crazy. The last thing she needed was for someone to pull a gun on her.

�Not Destiny�s Child again!� Melissa groaned to herself, as a new song came on the radio. Tired of listening to the same five songs over and over, Melissa flipped the stereo off.

�Now what to do?� Melissa wondered aloud. She looked ahead of her, at an endless line of motionless cars. Knowing she�d grow bored, Melissa reached for her cell phone. She pressed a button on her speed dial and waited one, two, three rings.

�Hello?�

�Hey sugar,� greeted Melissa. �Where are you?�

�On the strand in Venice. I�m getting another tattoo.�

�You better be kidding, Nick.� Melissa warned. �You�re starting to look like AJ, with all of your tattoos.�

�I�m just kidding, baby girl.� Said Nick. �Its really boring being at your house all alone. So I walked down here to shoot some hoops at Muscle Beach. Besides, I thought you liked my tattoos.�

�I do like your tattoos. I just think you should quit while you�re ahead.�

�Funny,� Nick began. �Because I think you should meet me here and get a tattoo of your own. How about a little heart that says �I love Nick� on your booty?�

�Somehow I don�t think that�ll look too cute when I�m old and flabby.� Melissa said sensibly. �Plus, JC wouldn�t like me very much if I had another man�s name tattooed on my ass.�

�JC would never go for you.� Nick taunted.

�I know,� said Melissa sadly. �That�s why I had to settle for you. If I can�t nab a hottie from the best boy band in the entire world, I figured second best is better then none at all.�

�I don�t know why I put up with you,� Nick said. Melissa could just imagine he was shaking his head on his end of the line.

�I can tell you why you put up with me�� Melissa cooed sexily.

�Whoa! Stop right there, Missy.� Nick directed. �*NSYNC sings �Digital Getdown�, not us. I�m not into that phone-and-cyber sex deal.�

�You aren�t?� Melissa asked. �Because I seem to recall a night when you were all the way in Florida, and I was here in LA��

�Where are you?� Nick interrupted by changing subjects.

�Ugh.� Melissa complained. �Stuck in traffic on the freeway.�

�So you decided that calling me would spice things up?�

�Try I was sick of listening to ads on the radio,� Melissa retorted.

�Ooo�harsh,� Nick commented.

�I�m just teasing. I really did miss your voice,� Melissa cooed sweetly.

�Apology accepted,� Nick grunted.

�So what�d you do today, sugar?� Melissa asked.

�Not much,� Nick answered. �I just kind of sat around and watched TRL.�

�My boy sure is making quite a fine coach potato out of himself,� commented Melissa.

�I learned from the best. You taught me well.� As an afterthought, Nick remembered, �Oh! Your roommate called. He wanted me to remind you it was your night to cook.�

�Damn, I forgot.� Melissa said. She tapped her fingernails on the steering wheel, trying to think of a solution. Just then, Melissa spotted an exit off the freeway. �Okay then. I�m going to run to the store and pick up a few groceries. I�ll see you at home in about forty-five minutes?�

�Sounds good. I love you, baby girl.�

�I love you too, sugar.� Hanging up the phone, she tossed it into the empty passenger seat. She steered her massive truck across four lanes of traffic towards the exit. Sure, a lot of people honked. But even the most deluxe SUV couldn�t hold up against her hunk of metal.

Exiting the freeway, Melissa was relieved to see a Ralph�s grocery in the distance. Melissa pulled Butch to a stop in the parking lot of Ralph�s. She quickly checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. After a day of hard workout at the dance studio, pretty was the farthest thing away from Melissa�s appearance. Disgusted, she tried to pull her hair, plastered to her face with sweat, into a manageable ponytail. Ugh, Melissa thought. I look awful.

Leaning over, she dug around the pile of junk on the truck�s floor. If a blizzard ever hit Los Angeles, Melissa had enough crap in her car to keep a family of four satisfied during a snow-in. There�s got to be something around here to cover up my hair, Melissa thought. And sure enough, she found an old Tarheels baseball cap, discarded by Nick the day before. This will do.

Melissa entered the store wearing the North Carolina hat and her own rhinestone-studded sunglasses. An odd combination. But hopefully, no one would be around to recognize her.

But it was Melissa who recognized herself. After entering the store, she was immediately sidetracked by the magazine rack. Shopping long forgotten.

�Ooo�Keri Russell is on the cover of Allure,� Melissa said to herself. She reached out to grab the magazine, but stopped when she saw her own face nearby. �Backstreet Boy finds love with Britney dancer� read the headline on Tiger Beat. And there, in the upper-right-hand corner, was a picture of herself and Nick in Las Vegas. Intrigued, Melissa picked up the magazine and began to flip through it.

Nick never told me he was doing an interview on us. Locating the article, Melissa skimmed the reading. It didn�t take her long to find something of interest.

Tiger Beat: You�ve known Melissa since you were nine years old. When did you discover that you had feelings for her?

Carter: Actually, I realized it pretty early on. When we were thirteen, Lissie [Carter�s pet name for Baras] went away to dance camp for eight weeks. When she came back at the end of the summer, it suddenly hit me�

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