ANYONE BUT YOU
by Bailey

.script by Binha.

|story visited times|

Chapter
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Chapter One

Throwing his legs over the bed, he stood and turned around to look down at the tan brunette wrapped up in the white sheets. “I'm going to take a shower. While I do, you might get dressed and head on out then?”
“Can't I just stay the night?” She asked, giving him a sultry smile.
“No, I think it's best you don't. I have an early call and I need my sleep. You know how it is.” He gave her a wink and made his way towards the bathroom. As he jumped in the hot shower he thought back on the night, thinking to himself he'd certainly picked a good one this time. He raised his head and let the steamy water fall over his body, as the memory of the things she could do with her own raced through his mind. He quickly reached out and turned the knob, switching the water to a harsh cold temperature, knowing he didn’t have time for another round.
When he got out of the shower he wrapped his waist with the large hotel towel and opened the door to the bathroom. He expected to find an empty suite, but let out a sigh when he saw the fully dressed brunette sitting in a plush chair. “You're still here then.”
“Ya, I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.” She stood and walked up to him, reaching out for the towel, attempting to pull it off.
He took a step back, pushing her hand away. “Why don't you let me walk ya to the door?” He turned to the side and held out an arm towards the door, leading the way. She pouted as he made her way to the door. He came up behind her and opened it for her, almost wanting to just push her out. He was tired and really needed to sleep if he expected himself to wake up at a decent hour. The girl slipped past and turned to him. “It was a pleasure, .” she said as she leaned up for a kiss.
Appeasing her, he gave her a quick peck. “No, the pleasure was all mine...” froze when he realized he had no idea what her name was. Thinking quick on his feet he didn’t let much time pass. “...love.” He gave her his winning smile and was thankful to see her giggle. He knew the girls fell for him when he gave them the smile and called them >love’. It almost worked better than calling them by their actual name.
“So you'll give me a call sometime?” she asked, her eyes pleading with him hopefully.
“Of course I will. You have a lovely evening now.” He said as he pushed her gently to make her exit.
Before she turned around completely she spoke again. “But you don't have my number.”
sighed again. He didn’t have time for the exchange of numbers and frankly he didn’t want to. “You already gave it to me darlin'”
“I did?” she asked him confused. He could tell she was racking her brain to remember when she had.
only gave her a nod, one she bought and let out another giggle before she backed away. She gave him a small wave, which he returned and let out a sigh of relieve to see she had finally gone. Before he could make his way back into the room he heard a voice a few doors down. “Forgot her name, didn't ya?”
looked down the opposite side of the hall to see a girl holding onto an ice bucket and a few sodas placed inside. He looked her over, laughing when he saw her oversized Rainbow Brite pajamas. “Does it really matter?” he asked, leaning against the door frame, his arm out keeping the room open.
“To most people, yes. But to you, apparently not.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
only shook his head and let a laugh out. “Nice PJ's.”
“I guess I could say the same thing to you.” she said motioning her head towards his towel.
“Come off it, , ya know ya like it.” gave her a wink and one last look before walking back into his room, letting the door shut behind him.
growled to herself as she stuck the key card into its slot and opened the door to her hotel room. “ ...” she mumbled as she entered her room.

Reaching across the table, grabbed the half empty glass of orange juice and started to empty the contents of it into another half empty glass of cranberry juice in front of her. She heard a laugh and looked up to see across from her shaking his head. “If we ask they might do that for ya.”
“It tastes better this way, they always get the measurements wrong.” She grinned at him as she stirred the drink with her finger and took a big sip. She watched as went about eating his breakfast. She loved spending time with him, she'd known him since she was five and he was nine. Their parents had become fast friends once her family had moved three doors down from them and ever since then looked at as his little sister. At first he really didn’t have a choice since she'd follow him around anywhere he went but soon he didn’t mind it and was happy to just look after her. Just a month ago she'd finally finished her schooling and asked her to take time off before finding a job to tour with him and his band mates. Never missing the chance to hang out with him she said yes and joined the group the day before.
Noticing she had no extra napkins, stood up from the table. “Where are you going?” he asked as she got up.
“I need some more napkins.” she informed him as she walked up to a waiter’s station on the other side of the room.
“They can get that for ya.” he called after her but laughed when she didn’t hear him and went about her mission. She was always more of a do it yourself girl and never really understood others would grab anything she needed, especially when she was with him.
Pulling out a chair at the table, sat himself down in front of an open spot. He gave a nod as he reached out for a glass of ice water.
“Mornin' .” greeted him as he stuffed a piece of pancake in his mouth.
“Mornin'” picked up the menu and looked over his choices for this morning, knowing full well he'd ultimately decide on his usual, a bowl of cereal. Looking over the top of the menu he watched as a girl walked towards them. She was dressed in a pair of light jeans and a large navy blue Adidas hoodie, her hair peeking out from a faded green cap.
didn’t notice at the table until after she sat back down, placing a napkin in front of her and handing another over to . When she saw sitting to the side of her, he rolled her eyes and took a sip from her glass. “Did you have a nice evening, ?” she asked.
“It was absolutely fantastic, thank you for asking.” He curled up his lip in a smile.
“Hmm...And how did you meet this one? Was she falling all over the club or did you just find her on the side of the street?” She gave him a look. She had gotten to know well enough over the years to know he found at least three or four of these girls a week. He'd take them back to the hotel for the night and see them off before they would even have a chance to fall asleep. was the group’s 'player' and made sure he kept that title by picking up as many ladies as he could while on tour. This absolutely irritated , she hated the way he'd take girls and use them for one night of fun. What she didn’t realize was that most of the girls met were perfectly happy having at least one night with him.
“Honestly, I can=' remember. I think I was having a snog with her friend at the club, but somehow ended up with her.” shrugged. “Either way, she was good fun.” He raised his glass to to give him a cheer. kept his eyes on his plate, knowing he didn’t want to get involved in this conversation, as much as he wanted to congratulate his friend. He tried to hide the smile on his face with his head down.
“My God, , you are such a whore.” shook her head at him, so disgusted by him she found it hard to eat the food in front of her as long as he would be sitting there.
“Wow thank you, I believe I'm going to take that as a compliment.” he gave her a clever raise of his eyebrow and laughed as he watched her stand.
“Ah, I can't eat with you.” She picked up the bagel on her plate and wrapped it in her napkin. “See ya later .”
The two men watched as she left the restaurant and turned to . “You're horrible, mate.”
Raising his glass again he was happy to see raise his as well this time. “Ya, I know.”

Chapter Two

The group exited a large SUV that was pulled up outside of a local radio station, followed by . They were ushered inside and led to a small room to wait for their live interview to begin. found a table with beverages lying out and grabbed a cold bottle of water, when she turned she was disappointed to find waiting behind her. He gave her a good look over as he reached around her for a bottle of soda. “I like the look.” he said, referring to her dressed down attire.
“Thank you, . I'm sorry if my clothing doesn’t appeal to you.” She gave him a hard look before attempting to push past him.
“Wouldn’t you rather dress yourself up, make yourself pretty?” he asked as he refused to let her pass, keeping his body close to her and he smiled down at her.
“And why would I do that? It's not like I have anyone around I need to be impressing. Look at the men around me right now.” she nodded around the room. “I've got , basically my big brother. and , both wonderful blokes, but both taken. And then there's you...” paused to look him up and down. “Ya, I don't think I'll be making myself pretty for you anytime soon.” stepped around him and was able to successfully pass him and have a seat next to on a couch.
, who was standing near them, laughed as he watched take her seat. popped open his soda and took a large swig. “She's spunky, ey.”
gave him a good slap on the back. “I think ya may have found your match.” and laughed again before walking away.
Twenty minutes later the four boys were all sitting around a table inside the station with large headphones on. They were well into the interview and all laughing over a story was telling the DJs about 's recent fall on stage. leaned against a window in the corner, watching quietly. She found herself looking over each of them, every now and then she'd realize just how charming and handsome all of them were. She'd often forget since she'd spent so much time with them over the years, always hanging around since the group was first formed. She was only fourteen when they got together so obviously at the time she had crushes on the other boys, not . Originally she had the biggest crush on , his classic good looks and the smile that seemed to light up a room won her over instantly. But as time went on he grew into his playboy status and lost all interest in him.
As she watched talking, she was amazed at how charming and sincere he could come across during an interview. As far as the rest of the world was concerned he was just the nice boy next door made good. He had everyone fooled and all the girls loved him for it, which only aggravated more.
pulled herself from her thoughts as the boys were talking about relationships. was telling them how he wanted a down to earth sensitive girl and smiled because she knew he wasn't bullshitting them. As much as he'd tried to play a bad boy with the other guys, at the end of the day he just wanted someone nice. The female DJ then turned in her chair towards and asked him if he thought as himself as a romantic.
gave her a sweet smile. “I'd like to consider myself one. I don't think life is worth living without a little romance in it, don't ya think?”
Before could stop herself, a loud laugh escaped her lips and she quickly covered her mouth realizing what she'd done. The entire studio turned to look at her, the room becoming quiet. kept her face covered while they looked on. gave her a pair of wide eyes, while glared at her. She mouthed >sorry’ to the room and put her head down as they continued the interview, her face red.
Once the interview had finished, quickly made her way out of the studio, trying to avoid . Unfortunately he found her quickly, grabbing her arm and gently but forcefully pushing her against a wall. He placed an arm behind her and leaned into her, giving her a clever smile. “Don't make me have you banned from any public appearances.”
“I really am sorry for the outburst, .” felt uncomfortable with how close he was to her. “But can you blame me? You a romantic? I couldn’t help but laugh.”
“One man's romance is another woman's...whoring around?” He gave her a wink as he pushed himself from the wall and walked away.
growled as came up behind her. “He is so irritating!”
let out a laugh. “You know he just loves to get a rise outta ya. You're his favorite target, ya know.”
“I would love to target him with a set of darts.” narrowed one eye as she threw imaginary darts at 's back.
Placing an arm around , led her towards the door. “Come on, lets get ya out of here before ya end up killin' the lad.” laughed as they made their way back to their ride.

“Ooo...I hate him! He's so...so...arrogant!” shouted into her phone as she paced the hotel room. “And he thinks he’s God’s gift to women, but he’s really not! He’s God’s gift wrapped in every STD imaginable to women!” She heard a stifled laugh on the other end of the line. “What’s so funny, ? Because I don’t find infecting these poor women funny!”
“Would you listen to yourself, ? You sound like a mad woman right now.” told her friend, hoping to talk some reason into her. was ’s best friend from school and she knew full well of her hatred of .
“It’s just he drives me so crazy. I can’t understand why these girls willingly jump into bed with him. He never calls them, pushes them out of his room right after he’s done with them and half the time doesn’t even know their name! There really should be a memo sent out on him since these girls can’t seem to figure it out for themselves.” As she let out her rant, pulled clothing from her open suitcase, selecting an outfit for that night.
“You really have no idea why they find him so appealing?” asked with a laugh in her voice.
“No, I really don’t. He’s disgusting.” said as she pulled out a pair of black fitted slacks.
“He’s .”
“And?” asked, dropping the clothes in her hand to focus on the answer.
“He’s Bloody , one of the hottest lads in all of Ireland. No, the UK. No, the world!”
“Ok, I get it!” She yelled, just wanting her to stop. “So the world fancies him, it’s only because they don’t know what a dirty pig he is.”
“Oh, but he’s a beautiful dirty pig.” could hear her friend let out a sigh.
“You have got to be kidding me. You fancy him too!” She screeched as she threw a top she had just picked up onto the bed.
“No…” gave an unconvincing answer and quickly corrected herself. “Yes, of course I do.”
groaned, was she the only woman in the world who saw for the man he really was? “I’m hanging up now.”
“No, I’m sorry. He’s a horrible disgusting human being.” laughed.
“Liar. I’m really hanging up, I’ve got a concert staring your boyfriend to attend. Goodbye, .” Before she could receive any sort of response, shut her phone and tossed it on the bed. Yet another one of her good friends who have fallen to the charm, she really had no idea just how much more of this she could handle.
Trying to push from her thoughts, she looked down at the outfit she had pulled out from her bags. She gave herself a shrug and figured it would do. quickly dressed and stopped in front of a mirror to fix her hair and reapply any make up as needed. She gave herself a look over, turning around slightly to give her rear a glance. “I think I look quite lovely.” She told her reflection. “ can go sit on a stick and spin.” She gave herself a nod before walking out the door to jump in a car which would bring her to the arena.

Chapter Three

ran through the backstage area minutes before the guys were set to go on. The car she was in ran into traffic and once inside she had found it hard to push past the screaming girls only to nearly be mauled when she flashed a backstage pass. She almost passed but back tracked to give him a quick hug before he had to go out. Holding her at arms length, looked her up and down and let out a whistle. “Wow little , when did you go and grow up?”
looked down at herself. She was wearing the black pants she’d picked out in a hurry, which just clung to her hips in all the right spots. For a top she had on a shear pale pink spaghetti strapped blouse, with a white tank underneath, keeping it tasteful, finished off with a pair of black peep toe heels. “Oh hush, I’ve always been grown.” Rolling her eyes she gave a push. She began to walk away to find her seat in time. “Have a good show, and stop checking me out. It’s gross, you’re my big brother!” She yelled out to him with a laugh.
Without seeing him, she breezed past who pulled the bottle of water from his lips to watch her go by. His mouth fell open as he gave her a look over. In all the years he’s known her he’d never seen her as the woman she’d clearly become. She had a perfect little body with skin that glowed against the faint light back there. He asked himself why he’d never noticed her this way before and felt himself become warmer, a familiar feeling when he saw a girl he thought was attractive.
didn’t realize the bottle in his hand was still placed right up to his open mouth when gave him a nudge. “You going to drink that, mate, or just breathe on it?”
quickly took a swig. “How old is now?” he asked as he watched her walk through a curtain and out onto the floor.
“She’s…” looked down at his fingers, doing the math on them. “I believe 24 now, just turned.”
“You know, , she has grown to be a lovely young woman.” gave a sly smile, his eyes still fixed on where she had just exited.
looked over ’s face and laughed. “Don’t even think about it, she is not one of your little conquests. For one, she’d never go for you. And two, would kill ya.”
“Oh, I know. Just commenting on how’s she’s grown before our eyes.” gave another smile and slapped his back before walking off to find his place. As he made his way to the stage he thought about . This was an interesting new development, one he’d never considered. She might be a challenge, but one would be willing to give a try.

After the show, sat in the hotel lobby, waiting for the group to shower and dress for a night out. She was soon approached by a fan whose mother had booked a room there so she’d be able to roam as she pleased. The young girl insisted was with Westlife and she tried to deny it, not wanting to cause a scene. Unfortunately the girl could not be swayed, she was so sure because, as she told over and over again, she had seen staring at her for almost the entire concert. This made laugh out loud and as she told her once more she didn’t know the boys, came up behind her to grab her waist. He pulled her with him as they quickly left the lobby to be lead by security through the crowd that was forming outside. As they left the fan yelled after her. “I knew it!”, causing to laugh again.
, , , and all waited in the back of the SUV sitting outside of the hotel, watching as girls pushed their way up to the windows. “Where the hell is ?” asked, getting annoyed from the wait.
“He’s probably picking out a pretty pair of boxers. Has to make sure he’s ready for the lucky lady who will be seeing them tonight.” said, causing the guys to all laugh. Just then she heard the screams outside get louder. “And here he is now.”
The door flew open and jumped inside, slapping away a hand that had a hold of his jacket. “Sorry, lads, lost track of time.” He said, unfazed by the hand he had just swatted. As the vehicle began to pull away from the curb, looked over to who was sitting next to him. He gave a smile which lasted a little too long for her taste.
“What?” she asked as she shifted in her seat closer to .
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking you look lovely tonight.” He told her as he gave her a look over, glad he’d fallen into the seat next to hers.
“Thank you.” She said, giving him a look before she turned to for a chat. She could feel still staring at her but tried to ignore it, his eyes burning into her back. didn’t know what he was up to but she knew she wouldn’t like it.
Leaning back in the seat, reached his arm around the back casually. He could feel her tense up next to him as his arm brushed up against her and he smiled the entire way to the club.
Once safely inside, and sat at a booth where they were talking about their families as they drank. was telling him all the gossip and how her cousin, who had dated very briefly, was now marrying an older man purely for his money. She poked him and informed he should be thanking her for sabotaging their relationship because she happened to know what a horrible person she really was. He laughed and promised to buy her a shot later as came up to their table and grabbed a hold of ’s arm. “You are going to have a dance with me.” He told her and gave her a grin.
“Do I have a choice?” She asked and was given a shake of his head as he grabbed her drink, handing it over to , and pulled her from the seat. She laughed and turned to give an amused shrug as she was pulled onto the dance floor. She tried to dance with , but found it hard as he was busting out as many ridiculous moves as possible. She was laughing hysterically when bent over to slap the floor and she gave his rear a slap as well before dancing up against him.
Leaning up against the bar, took a sip from his beer as he watched and on the dance floor. He smiled as he watched her laughing as she grinded up against , who was now attempting a sexy version of the chicken dance. had the urge to just grab her for a dance himself, but he was sure she’d only push him away. So he stood there, waiting for the moment she’d have to stop dancing and get herself another drink.
was relieved to see when she stopped dancing and fanned herself in the face from the heat before giving a hug, thanking him for the dance. laughed the entire way to the bar and leaned up against the counter a few feet away from , trying to catch the attention of a bartender. Walking up next to her, placed a drink before . She looked down at it and back up to him. “What’s this?” she asked and picked it up, raising it to her nose to give it a sniff.
“Your usual, grabbed it cause ya were looking hot out there.” leaned in towards her, seeming as though it was so she could hear him.
gave him a wary look. “What did ya put in it?”
“Nothing. You don’t think I’d slip something into yer drink, do ya?”
“Wouldn’t put it past ya.” She said as she took a hesitate sip.
“I don’t use those.” leaned into her, curling his lip up into a smile. “I only accept the willing.”
“Right, I forgot all the ladies are willing with you, .” said before rolling her eyes and walking off, holding on to her new glass. “Thanks for the drink.”
let out a sigh as he watched her walk away. He should have known a stupid come on wouldn’t work with her, she was going to be the challenge he really had to work for. He kept his eyes on her for awhile as she socialized with the others, laughing and having a good time. He only took his eyes from her when he saw in the corner an attractive blond in the mist of a group of other beautiful girls. Being so close to gave him a tightening in his pants he knew he’d have to relieve somehow. Turning around towards the bartender, ordered himself another and a new cocktail. He grabbed them both and made his way towards the blond.
After taking the promised shot from , saw walking towards a few girls. She watched as he handed a pretty blond a drink and leaned into whisper in her ear. The blond laughed and gave him a smile which told both and she was interested. shook her head as she watched the scene unfold, she knew was in his element and would soon be taking her with him back to the hotel.
An hour later as he held on to the blonde’s hand and led her out of the club he thought to himself that he wished it was ’s. He stopped before they made their exit and looked back towards , who was now having a turn on the dance floor with . looked up for a moment and they made eye contact. gave her a nod and a wink as he wrapped his arm around the waist of the blond to lead her the rest of the way outside. froze for a moment as she watched them leave. She let out a low growl and thought to herself just how disgusting he was before being grabbed by to continue dancing.

Chapter Four

Spinning a piece of his hair with his fingers, making sure it was perfectly in place, reached out and knocked on the hotel door in front of him. He waited while he heard shuffling behind the door. As the door opened he smiled when he saw standing there, wrapped in a white towel and her wet hair falling around her face. “What do you want?” asked as she adjusted the towel around her tighter.
“Seein’ if ya were ready for some breakfast, but I can see you may need more time.” He glanced over her legs and watched as water dripped down them towards the floor. He looked back up and gave her a smile.
“Well, as you can see, I’m not. But I don’t plan on going down there with you anyways.” She was shocked when he pushed past her to enter her room.
“It’s okay, I can wait.” He said as he gave the room a look over.
“, get out.” held the door open for him.
“I’d rather not.” had himself a seat on the edge of the bed. “I think we need to become more friendly, . I’m trying here and you're making it extremely difficult.” He looked up at her as she stepped in front of him, giving him a look.
“Why don’t ya go find your blond and become friendly with her?” She asked, glaring down at him.
let out a laugh. “Because I’ve already become as friendly as I’d like with her. And I don’t find her nearly as interesting as you.” Reaching out towards her, he grabbed a hold of the tag on the towel around her. He moved it around, pretending to read the wording on it, but hoping to catch a glimpse of more skin. slapped his hand away. “Go along, get ready. I really don’t have all day.” pushed her towards the bathroom.
She let out a long sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to budge. She watched him carefully as she grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top before entering the bathroom to change.
After he heard the door shut, stood to look around the room. He walked up to the dresser and picked up a bottle of her perfume, taking a sniff. It was a soft floral scent that reminded him of a sort of innocence, which he found appealing. Once he placed the bottle down he reached out to pick up a set of camera booth photos of and her. He laughed at the four photos which consisted of two serious ones, one with their tongues sticking out and the last of her licking his face. Out of the corner of his eye noticed her open suitcase and a pair of black lace panties hanging out. He looked back towards the bathroom to see if she was coming and made his way over to the suitcase. He picked the pair up and looked them over, impressed that a girl with such an innocent scent had a racy pair of underwear.
“Please tell me you are not looking through my panties.” froze when he heard ’s voice behind him.
He turned around slowly, still holding them in his hand. “Nice knickers.” he said before tossing them back in the suitcase. stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. He gave her a good look over, happy to see that at least today she had decided against an oversized sweatshirt. Instead she had on her jeans and a tight gray ribbed beater, her hair was pulled up into a messy wet ponytail. was disappointed though when she grabbed a zip up sweater and motioned for them to leave.
They rode the elevator and made the walk to the hotel restaurant in silence. After seeing him with her underwear, had no intention of making conversation with him. was just pleased at how uncomfortable he could make her feel.
was relieved to find was already at a table and quickly went up and sat next to him. followed slowly, watching from behind as she walked. He had a seat right next to her, which only gave him another glare that caused him to laugh to himself. In his experience, the more tension there was between two people, the better the sex would be and he had a feeling theirs would be absolutely amazing.
looked back and forth between the two, wondering how it came to be that they had come down together. He shrugged it off and asked how she had slept.
“I slept just fine, but we should be asking the same question.” She put down the menu in her hands and turned to him. “Did your friend keep ya up all night or did ya kick her out for some beauty sleep?”
“Only kept me up half the night, she was very polite about that, ya know.” He said as he opened three packets of sugar and poured them into a cup of coffee.
“Well, isn’t that sweet of her.” rolled her eyes.
grabbed his pants pocket as he felt his phone begin to vibrate. He pulled it out to look at the number and then back at . “Do you mind ordering me some Cheerios? I’ve got to take this.” stood up to excuse himself from the table.
“Cheerios? Really?” Why was she not surprised would be the guy to eat cereal in the morning instead of a good hot breakfast?
“Ya.” he said before walking away, but turning back around. “Make it Honey Nut if you can. Thanks, love.” He smiled at her as he lifted the phone to his ear and walked to the edge of the room.
After a waitress came over and gave her their orders, she leaned over, grabbing onto ’s arm. “You have to save me from him.”
“From who, ?” looked over to where was pacing back and forth, talking on his phone.
“Yes, he kidnapped me and made me come down here with him.” told him with wide eyes, hoping he’d understand her plight.
“Right, so he escorted you down to breakfast then? Yes, I will have to have a talk with him.” tried to suppress a laugh as he looked at , who clearly was distraught.
“He’s being all nice to me, he said we should become friendly.” She nodded at the waitress who had just placed her orange and cranberry juice glasses in front of her. “That’s odd, right?” she asked before downing half of the orange juice quickly, scrunching her nose up and giving a sour face right afterwards.
“What’s odd is you drinking your juice that fast, not . So he wants to be friendly with ya?” shook his head at . “This could be good for you two, I’m sick of hearing you bicker constantly.”
“I will never be friends with that man.” raised her glass towards , who was coming back their way, before chugging half of the cranberry juice.
Unaware of their conversation, sat himself in his chair and turned his head to . “Thirsty?”
When he didn’t receive an answer, gave him one. “She has this weird thing with her juices, it’s best to not ask.” Both men watched mix her beverage.
“So , you’ve just finished school?” asked, hoping by asking questions he might get her to open up a little and let him step his foot in the door with her.
“Yup.” She gave him a short answer, wishing it would shut him up so she could enjoy her breakfast in peace.
“And what did you study?” asked as the bowl of cereal and a small pitcher of milk was placed before him. He picked up the milk and poured it over the dry cereal.
let out a sigh as she took a bite of her eggs. had known her for over ten years now, which included her entire time at school, he should have known this already. “Music Business.”
“Lovely, maybe you can manage me sometime.” He gave her a wink as he ate a large spoonful of the cereal.
had a feeling he was using the term ‘manage’ in some vulgar context and chose to ignore it. She looked up as stood. “I need to go get ready. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast.” he nodded at and laughed when he saw ’s face, pleading him to stay. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, whispering before he moved away. “You’ll be fine.”
stared at as he walked away and slowly turned to once he’d left. Giving him a look, she put her head down to concentrate on her meal.
“ told me you just turned 24.” had finished most of his bowl and placed the spoon down, turning his full attention on .
“Ya, a month and a half ago.” Yet again she was surprised this wasn’t information he wasn’t already familiar with. “You were at my birthday party, ya know.”
“Was I?” he asked. could tell his mind was working, trying to remember that night.
“Yes, you hit on my cousin and I believe slept with her as well.”
“Oh right.” smiled as he finally recalled the night, leaning back in his chair. “How is she?”
“She’s engaged now.” looked his face over, hoping for some kind of reaction, but his face remained blank.
“Was she with the bloke then?” He asked as he reached across her plate to snatch a piece of bacon.
“Yup.”
“You know, I think I knew that.” He smiled and ate the bacon in his hand.
stared at him, unsure of what to think of him. He obviously didn’t care about what a relationship meant, and she was fairly sure he didn’t have a heart. She thought to stand up and walk out on him like she did the day before, but was surprised when he stood first.
“I’ve got to run. Will you make sure they put this on our bill?” he asked her. She looked up at him, half relieved he was leaving but also upset she wasn’t able to walk away first. Before he made his exit placed his hands on the back of ’s chair, leaning into her. His mouth was inches from her ear when he whispered in a low husky voice. “It was a pleasure, .”
His breath was hot against her skin and sent goose bumps up her neck. She took in a deep breath, taking in his cologne. For a moment she felt lightheaded and smiled when he saw the small bumps on her skin. His lips brushed past her neck as he placed a kiss on her cheek. Before she could respond, pushed himself from the chair and walked away, taking one last glance back at her. He was glad to see she was still frozen in her seat. He knew the effect his voice had on most girls and was pleasantly surprised to see it seemed to have worked on . The seed had been planted and hopefully all he would have to do is wait till the right moment when she’d want to take him on.
sat in her chair, staring ahead. She was embarrassed with herself that she would allow him to give her chills of the good kind. Something about his voice and cologne made her swoon for the smallest of moments. She quickly shook the feeling off and finished her meal. She wanted nothing more than to wash her neck and any feeling of him off of her, making sure she reminded herself just how many women he has probably slept with.

stood in the corner of a small pub, leaning up against a wall as she sent out a text to . The group had ended up there after the show, hoping for a more low key night seeing how they would be getting on a bus the next morning for hours. None of them planned on drinking too much because a hangover on a bus ride was never very pleasant. laughed when she received a quick response. She was telling about ’s sudden interest in talking with her and how he’d basically spent the entire day following her around. suggested he might fancy her which she quickly laughed off. As she was pressing the keys on her phone felt a presence before her and instantly knew it was from the scent of his cologne. “Yes, ?” she asked, not bothering to look up.
“I’ve brought ya a drink.”
looked up to see him holding out a full glass to her. “Second one in two nights, to what do I owe the honor?” She asked as she hit send on her phone and closed it before accepting the drink.
“I can’t buy a pretty girl a drink?” asked and gave her a smile.
let out a snort. “Right.” She looked him over and decided to finally get to the bottom of his behavior. “Okay, what are ya up to? You’ve been around me all day and frankly it’s kind of creeping me out.”
“I told ya, I want us to be a bit more friendly. I feel like we’ve missed out on years by fighting all the time.” He kept his eyes on her while he took a sip of his own beer and then tried to give her a sincere smile.
“Well, unfortunately I don’t think we’ll ever be friends . It would have to take a miracle for me to ever trust you.” took a long sip from her drink, almost choking when she realized how strong it was.
“And how can I change that?” As he spoke, ’s eyes fell over a stunning woman who breezed past them. His gaze followed her and he looked over her body, smiling.
“You could start be being less of a skeeze bag.” When looked back at he saw she’d been watching him.
“Did you just call me a skeeze bag?” laughed.
“Ya, I did. Look how you ogle the woman like she’s a piece of meat.” motioned towards the girl who was now sitting at a table with a friend, giggling as they stared at and .
“Okay, less ‘skeeze bag’. What else?” He turned his complete attention towards as he leaned against the wall into her.
“Stop acting like the world revolves around you might help as well. Yes, I realize you're but that really doesn’t mean everyone fancies you, I certainly don’t.” took a deep breath, taking in the scent of his cologne when he leaned in, for a moment reliving when he’d given her the goose bumps, but quickly pushed it from her mind.
“Ah, but I fancy you.” gave her a wink.
“Whatever.” pushed past him, uncomfortable with his closeness. “Like I said, it would take a miracle. Thanks for the drink again.” She raised her glass as she walked away, leaving him there to stare at her.
As she made her way over to the table occupied by and , the girl from earlier jumped from her seat and grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry, but you know him?” followed her gaze towards who was still leaning against the wall, watching her.
“Unfortunately.” mumbled, ready to continue along on her way.
“Are you two seeing each other?” she asked and let out a laugh.
“No, we certainly are not.” saw her eyes light up when she told her that.
“Would you mind introducing us then? If it’s not a bother.” She batted her eyes at her. had every intention of telling her right then it would be in her best interest to stay away from but something occurred to her. This was the perfect opportunity to see if had listened to her and truly wanted to be friends, which she was sure he was just playing her.
“You know, he’s very friendly, you should just go up and introduce yourself. I’m sure he’d love to meet you.” gave her a sweet smile.
“Really?” she asked and nodded, giving her a small push towards . She watched as the girl slowly walked towards him, turning to give another look. Nodding towards her, she continued until she reached . The rest unfolded just how had assumed it would. She leaned into him, he leaned into her. She whispered in his ear, he whispered in hers.
“What are we watching?” stood next to now, following her gaze.
“We’re watching pick up a girl and prove my point.” she told him, keeping her eyes fixed on .
“And what’s your point?”
“That he’ll never change.” pointed towards the pair as placed his hand on the small of the girls back, an almost certain indicator that he had every intention of bringing her back to the hotel. “Ah ha! See!”
“I think ya might be right. will always be .” laughed.
Just as he was about to lean in and ask the beautiful girl in front of him if she’d like to join him at the hotel, he felt eyes on him and glanced up. He made eye contact with and she turned her head quickly, as if she didn’t want him to know she was watching him. Looking at the girl before him he realized she had been a test set up by and let out a laugh. He’d almost fallen for it because it wasn’t like him to pass on a girl like this.
narrowed her eyes, trying to lip read, when gave the girl a quick hug. She could have sworn he said ‘It was lovely to meet you.’ But that was just impossible, he couldn’t be dismissing her so soon.
“Well, it seems may be surprising us tonight.” nodded towards as he made his way over to them.
gave a nod back before leaning into and whispering in her ear. “Skeeze bag, ey?” let out a low growl as walked past them to the bar to get himself another drink.
Putting his arm around ’s shoulder, turned her and led her towards the table. “Come on, we can watch at work another night. ’s been asking for ya.”
At their table, had joined now and they were having a small argument. “If you think ya can out drink me, you have lost ya mind!” slammed down his empty pint.
laughed at and looked up to see and coming there way. “, ! Would you please tell he can’t hold his liquor?” he said, waving them over.
gave a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid he’s right. Last time you were pissed ya ran through the streets with ya pants around ya ankles.” he told him and was hit with a peanut as he sat on the bar stool.
“See! Thank you, .” grinned, triumphant.
“Well, if you ask me, can’t hold his either. He passes out everywhere.” laughed, taking a sip her drink and pulling herself onto her seat.
“Oi, that sounds like a challenge, then!” yelled as he waved a waitress over to them. “I bet you can’t stay drink for drink with me.” He pointed at .
Out of the corner of her eye she saw walking up with a fresh drink. He pulled a chair out and sat next to her, giving her a smile. “You're on, . But we’re not drinking your silly beer, we’re drinking mine!” raised her cocktail in the air and the table cheered, excited to see how this evening might pan out.

Chapter Five

By the end of the night, , as predicted by , was carried out of the pub by security after passing out in his seat. refused help and insisted on making the trip up the elevator and to her room by herself, however highly intoxicated. Standing in front of the door to her room, shook the handle vigorously, cursing to herself when it wouldn’t budge.
She heard the bell on the elevator and turned, with fuzzy eyes, to see walking towards her. “!” she yelled out and he looked up. “, where’s your lovely lady tonight?” she slurred, still jiggling the handle.
“I sent her away, don’t you remember?” He reached her and looked her over. He tried not to laugh at her state.
“Did ya see me drink under the table?” asked as she swayed in place. “They carried his arse out.”
“I did see.” He watched her struggle with the door and laughed. “Have you forgotten your key?”
“Key?” gasped and started patting herself down, her eyes filling with panic.
Looking behind her and over her back pockets, saw the key card sticking out. He slid his hand over her rear, smiling as he gave it a squeeze, and pulled the card out. He raised it in front of her face. “Looking for this?”
She snatched it from his hands. “Were you hiding it from me?” asked as she first slid the card into the door upside down.
“Yes, that was my plan all along, .” placed his hand over hers, helping her turn the key card over and inserting it correctly. pulled the handle and pushed the door open, falling into the room as she did. Before she could hit to the ground, reached out and grabbed her waist, holding her from behind. “Easy now.”
“I got it!” pulled herself away from him and continued to stumble into the room, smacking the light switch and turning it on. followed her into the room, figuring he’d keep an eye on her until she was safely in bed. He stood in the middle of the room, keeping his eyes on her. “I told him he couldn’t drink…he’s such a girl!” babbled on about the night as she sifted through her suitcase, throwing clothes out while she searched for something to wear to bed. She located a small t-shirt and shorts and tossed them onto the bed, turning her attention on the task of removing her shirt. She looked up and saw standing there. “Turn around, you can’t see this.” She waved her hands at him.
laughed and turned his body around, pleased to see a mirror in front of him and her reflection in it. He watched as she struggled with the buttons on the front of her tight blouse, unsuccessfully opening the top two. He allowed her to tug at them for a moment before turning back around and stepping up to her.
“Need some help, love?” looked up at him and sighed as she dropped her hands from the shirt and nodded. He slowly undid the buttons, smiling as the shirt began to fall open.
stared at while he helped her. She tilted her head, trying to focus on his face which she saw three off. “Did you know I used to fancy you like crazy?” she blurted out.
“Did you?” stopped for a moment to look at her, his lips curling up in a smile. He opened the bottom button and pushed the shirt from her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. He looked over her lacy bra and bare skin, thanking God for his luck.
“Mmhmm. You were so sexy.” giggled, starting to fall back onto the bed only to be caught by again.
“What about ? I thought ya had a thing for him?” asked. With one hand on her hip to keep her standing he used the other to unbutton her jeans while she was pressed up against him for support.
“I did, but I fancied ya more.” allowed to push her pants down past her rear. “But when I was 17 I discovered yer dirty.”
“Oh yeah? How’d ya find that out?” pushed her gently to sit on the bed behind her, kneeling to the ground to pull the pants from her legs. His eyes fell over her smooth legs and he could feel his pants becoming tighter. He cleared his throat and tried to concentrate on his task.
“I caught ya shaggin’ my best friend Kara.” let out a drunken laugh. “I just walked in on ya!”
tossed the pants to the side and looked up at her. “That was you? I thought I heard the door open.”
nodded her head a little too fast and felt dizzy, holding her hand to her head. “She wasn’t my best friend after that.”
looked over her for a moment, trying to talk himself out of just taking advantage of the situation right then. He decided against it because drunken sex was always too sloppy and if he was going to seduce her he wanted her to be fully aware of it. He stood and grabbed the clothes she had pulled out from the bed and motioned for her to raise her arms.
She did as told. “So that’s why I hate ya, .” she laughed as he slid the shirt over her.
“I suppose that’s a good enough reason. But for the record she came on to me, she was a bit of a slut, ya know.” He pulled the shorts up her legs and raised her so they could make it all the way.
let out a snort. “Ya, I know!” picked her up gently to lay her under her covers on the bed.
Once he’d pulled the covers over her body, he placed his arms on either side of her, looking down as he leaned over her. “But ya fancied me, this is the important part.” nodded and grinned up at him, her eyes glazed over from the alcohol. Reliving the time she had a crush on him, she had the urge to grab him for a kiss but her body was so heavy at that point she couldn’t reach out. gave her a devious smile as he looked over her lips, wanting to run his tongue over them. “So does this mean I have a chance?” he asked in a husky voice.
“Chance for what?” She asked her eyes blinking as she struggled to keep them open.
“A chance with you.” He asked, his face inches from hers.
let out a small laugh as she felt herself start to fall asleep. “No, , cause yer a whore.”
Laughing, leaned his head in closer, giving her a kiss on her forehead before pushing himself up and away from her. He looked down at her and smiled as he watched her fall into a deep drunken sleep. “Night, .” he said as he walked himself out of the room, switching the light off as he did.
As he closed the door to the room behind him and made his way to his own he smiled to himself. This had been a nice discovery. The fact that she had once found him attractive gave him hope, it meant she probably still did. In which case it was only a matter of time before she’d finally give in. He decided his approach would have to be different if he wanted to have any sort of chance with her though. She wasn’t his typical conquest, she wouldn’t fall for his charm alone. She’d need to be wooed. might take time, but time was something was willing to give to get her, he had a feeling it would be fantastic when he did.

Making his way up the steep steps on the bus, looked around the small first half of the interior. and were both staring up at a TV, controllers in hand, as they played a video game from the little dining table. Slumped over in a plush seat, held his head in his hands, obviously nursing his hangover. “Looks like ya lost that bet last night, mate.” said as he took the seat next to him.
“Quiet, I’ve got a splitting headache.” moaned without raising his head.
The door to the bus closed and soon after began to pull away from the curb. surveyed the area. “Where’s ?” he asked, making sure she wasn’t left in her room still.
“She’s passed out in a bunk. literally carried her down to the bus.” looked up now, attempting to smile but the muscles in his face were still laced with alcohol. “Guess she didn’t win after all, ey?” They both let out a laugh. groaned and clutched the seat when the bus jerked and turned a corner. “Maybe I should lie down too.” stood slowly, holding onto his stomach when there was yet another unexpected lurch. He moaned the entire way to the back of the bus, causing to shake his head and laugh at him.
An hour into the trip had joined the other two in his own bunk, leaving and in the front. was deep on conversation on the phone with his girlfriend, while flipped through a magazine. He shut it when he came across an article about the group and tossed it onto the table. His eyes wondered the bus and he looked down the isle of bunks. Standing up, he walked over to the small fridge and pulled out an ice cold bottle of water and then rummaged through a cabinet, finally locating a bottle of aspirin. Holding on to both, made his way towards the bunks. He peeked his head behind one curtain and saw snoring softly. He was relieved to find curled up in a ball, facing the wall, behind the next one he checked.
pulled the curtain half way open to the top bunk and leaned in, whispering to her. “, wake up.” moaned and rolled over to face , keeping her eyes closed. When she didn’t fully respond he reached out and shook her gently. “Wake up, I’ve got something for you.”
Her eyes fluttering softly, finally forced her eyes open to see standing before her. “.” she moaned. “Go away.” She covered her face with her arm, trying to block him out.
“You need to drink some water, love.” held up the cold bottle in his hands for her, smiling when he saw her peek her eyes over her arm.
“I’m not thirsty.” She lied, the fact was she was completely parched and had almost gotten up fifteen minutes ago for some water, had it not been for the pounding headache. But at this point, coming out of her sleep she only knew she didn’t want to accept any more drinks from , not even if she really wanted it.
“You’re going to get dehydrated and I’m not leaving until I watch you drink this.” said as he pulled her arm away from her face to look at him.
Realizing he probably wouldn’t leave her alone until she did, started to sit up. reached out his hand, covering her forehead before she hit the top of the bunk. “Careful, wouldn’t want to have to bring ya to the hospital.” looked up to see a metal rod inches for her face and gave a hesitant smile before grabbing the water from his hands. She unscrewed the cap and began to chug the water but was stopped when he grabbed the bottle. “It this ya first hangover? Drink it slowly.” he told her and watched her sip it slower. He opened the bottle of aspirin and let a few pills fall into his hand and held them out for her.
looked down at his hand and pulled the bottle from her lips to grab the pills. She threw them into her mouth and washed them down with the water. “Thank you.” She gave him a look, trying to figure out why he was there, helping her, but gave up when she felt dizzy and began to lie down again.
“Go back to sleep and I’ll come back to check on ya in a bit.” watched her as she curled up in her ball again and closed her eyes. Closing the curtain, smiled to himself. Hopefully she’d remember this later because he thought this was the perfect opportunity to work his way into her head. Of course he had ulterior motives for bringing her the water. He was grinning when he walked back to the front of the bus, imagining what might be like in bed.
“What are ya smiling for?” asked when he saw ’s face as he sat at the table.
“Oh nothing, just fantasizing.” told him as he reached across the table and grabbed the remote for the TV, switching it on.
“About?” inquired. He only received a shrug as settled into the seat, pretending to watch the television as he let his mind wander.

Chapter Six

“Ah, watch it!” jumped when a pin pricked him near the top of his waist, a little too close for comfort. The young woman taking care of his last minute adjustments looked up and gave him an apologetic look. “It’s ok, just be careful down there. Can’t afford any damage, ya know.” He gave her a wink and allowed her to go about her business while she kneeled in front of him.
Looking around the room, tried to keep his mind off of the movement taking place with his slacks. He noticed in the corner looking over a catalog. He thought back on the last few days and began to get frustrated. As much as he had tried, nothing seemed to be working with her. He’d been nothing but nice to her, complimenting her any chance he got, letting her have the very last chocolate bar before the show last night. He even offered up his suite to her that day because it was far better than the room she had been given and his was across from ’s. But she only seemed to hate him more, her comments became more vicious and she’d pretty much taken up ignoring he was even there.
had spent all this time, not even thinking about another woman, and it was taking his toll on him. He’d never gone this long without sleeping with anyone and he thought he might lose his mind any minute now. Feeling another tug on his slacks, became warm and stepped back. Forcing out a cough he looked down at the girl. “I think it’ll do, Tracy.”
“Are you sure, ? It still looks a little loose around here.” She reached out to grab some fabric around his crotch and he stepped back again.
“Trust me, it’ll be too tight by the time you’re done with it.” He tried to avoid eye contact with her, feeling as though he might just find a quiet place there and take her if he looked at her once more. He thanked her before walking quickly away.
Seeing again, he decided to give this one more shot, because if he didn’t get her soon he was going to have to give up and find another girl tonight. He walked up and noticed the catalog was for Victoria’s Secret and smiled.
saw him walking towards her when she glanced over the top of the catalog and turned in the swivel chair away from him. She didn’t think she could handle speaking to him once more. His behavior lately had become down right strange, she couldn’t go anywhere without him popping up. She thought if she pretended he wasn’t there he might just walk on by, but let out a sigh when she could feel him behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, first glanced at the bare legs sticking out of her short skirt and then over the models on the glossy pages. He found a set of lingerie he wouldn’t mind finding wearing. He pointed to the black and pink nearly see through lacy set. “I rather like this one.” he said, leaning into her.
shut the catalog and placed it in her lap. “I really don’t think I’ll be taking your advice on lingerie, . Now if I’m in the market for crotch less panties I’ll make sure you’re the first one I call.” She spun around in the chair, glaring at him. laughed when he just stared down at her. “What’s the matter, love? Don’t have anything clever to say now?”
Clenching his jaw, didn’t know why he was at all surprised she’d come back with something nasty to say. His face became hot from anger and frustration. He’d had just about enough, and this was the last straw. If she wasn’t going to seduce her he was at least going to give her a piece of his mind. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her up and out of the chair, letting the catalog fall to the ground. He kept a firm grip on her as he pulled her towards a utility closet in the backstage hall.
’s mouth dropped open when he grabbed her, she tried pulling her arm from him but was unsuccessful. “What the hell do you think you're doing?!” she yelled as he overpowered her, dragging her towards the closet.
remained silent until he opened the green metal door and pushed her inside, following close behind, slamming the door shut. “What the fuck is your problem, ?” he said in a low shout, keeping his voice down so passerbies couldn’t hear them.
“My problem? You’re clearly the one who’s lost their head!” yelled at him as she reached for the door handle, attempting to leave the small room. She was quickly stopped when stepped in front of the door, locking it.
“No, the problem is yours. I’ve clearly been trying here with you and you’ve been nothing but a cranky bitch and I can’t take it anymore! What exactly is it that you have against me?” held firm to the handle as tried grabbing at it again.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that you’ve just locked me in a closet?!” She screeched as she gave him a firm side of her fist in the chest. Grabbing a hold of her wrist, spun both of their bodies around, pushing her up against the door.
“Come on, you’ve had a problem with me for years, and please don’t tell me this is still about me shaggin’ yer best friend.” Pushing at him, tried to move away. placed a firm hand around her waist, keeping her in place.
“It’s because you're arrogant, you’re rude and you take advantage of women for your own sick pleasure.” spat at him, feeling her blood begin to boil as he held on to her. She couldn’t believe he had crossed the line by dragging her in here and was now yelling at her. The way she saw it, she should have been the one doing any of the yelling.
“You really think I take advantage of them? Trust me, they don’t mind.” Keeping his one hand on her waist, he tightened his grip as he placed the other against the door, leaning into her. “You want to know what I think your real issue is.” smirked at her.
“Oh ya, and what’s that? Please enlighten me.” squirmed as he held her up against the door. She felt a warm sensation shoot through her body when her shirt shifted under his hand and he was soon touching her bare skin.
“You’re jealous. You can’t stand to see me with the other girls because deep down you wish it was you.” He moved his face closer to hers, feeling her breathing become deeper.
let out a loud laugh. Her jealous? It had to be the most ridiculous thing that had ever escaped his lips. “Are you joking? I wouldn’t touch you even if my life was at stake.” she hissed. Becoming more infuriated, wanted nothing more than to push him away and give him a good smack across the face. At the moment she had never hated anyone as much as she hated .
“Oh, but I think ya would.” couldn’t help but smile down at her. He had a feeling he was correct, he could sense her body become warmer under his touch. Behind her anger he knew lied a passion she was waiting to unleash on him. “Just admit it, ya still want me, like when you were younger.” His voice was deeper now with his face inches from hers. Letting his hand slide up her side, he could feel a trail of goose bumps following his touch.
could feel her heartbeat begin to race, taking in a deep breath. She stared him down, suddenly unable to speak as she felt his fingers move over her skin. With all the hate flowing through her, she couldn’t understand why her whole body was beginning to respond to him. She looked over his face, his eyes piercing into her, his lips shiny from his tongue recently running over them. As much as she wanted to claw at his face, she also had the urge to kiss him, which only irritated her even more.
“Well?” ’s breath was hot against her, his thick Irish tone was husky now.
Before she knew exactly what she was doing, grabbed a hold of his shirt, clutching it as she pulled him in for a kiss. A shock when through both of their lips as they met, he pressed his lips firmly against hers as soon as he felt them. Taking control, let his tongue travel over her soft lips, slipping inside when she allowed them to part. A soft moan escaped her as he pushed his body against hers, her back pressed against the cold metal door behind her. All the anger she once felt had been converted into pure passion and she wanted nothing more to feel his touch.
Taking the opportunity that was presented to him, let his hands fall to her rear, pulling her up. instantly wrapped her legs around his waist and felt him press against her, never letting their lips part. “I take it I was right?” asked between kisses.
“Shut up.” mumbled as she placed a hand behind his head, urging him to not break the kiss again. What happened next was a blur to her, she wasn’t sure if it was herself or someone else who was with then. Almost like an out of body experience, barely remembered covering her mouth as she yelled out his name, hearing a group pass by them in the hall. Years of built up tension was released, forgetting their hatred of each other.
Gasping for breath, let stand on her own, releasing her from his grasp. He leaned into her, holding onto the door for support as she too tried to control her breathing. She looked up at him, trying to process what had just taken place. Somehow all the rage she had towards him was released, but never in a way she thought possible. She’d hadn’t consciously considered in a sexual way since she was seventeen. placed her fingers to her lips, still warm from his kiss, leaning back against the door.
leaned in too, removing her fingers from her lips to replace them with his own lips. He was still breathing heavily as he kissed her, needing to feel the passion they had just shared again. Smiling against her lips, he was pleasantly surprised to find all his assumptions were true. Angry sex was always the best, and she certainly was an angry girl.
Letting him kiss her, images of what had just happened flashed through her mind. His hands holding her up, pressed against the door. Him kissing her neck as her head was thrown back from the waves of pleasure. And right then it finally hit her, she’d given into , the man she hated with every fiber in her body. Every reason she despised him came flooding back and she began to panic. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. “What was that?” placed a hand on her forehead, as if to keep her brain from exploding over the fact she had just had sex with . “What did we do??”
laughed at her reaction as he bent down to grab his pants, pulling them on as he looked at her. “I believe one would call that releasing sexual tension.”
“That wasn’t sexual tension, that was…” began to get angry again, not at this time, but at herself for allowing it to happen. “a mistake!”
“Ay, but a good one.” grinned as he finished fastening his belt and bent down again, this time grabbing a hold of her thong on the ground. He stepped up to her, holding it out towards her. “One we should really make again.” He winked as she snatched them from his hand quickly.
“Oh no!” She yelled and turned around, trying discretely to redress herself, pulling them up and under her skirt. “That will never happen again.” turned back to him and pointed a finger in his face. “Actually this never happened, we’re never talking about this. Got it?”
“If that’s what you’d like.” found her sexier than ever as she stood there, trying to deny what they had just shared. Before she could stop him, stepped into her again and pushed her into the door once more. He placed a hand firmly on the side of her face, his fingers wrapping around her neck and he brought his lips to hers again, making sure the kiss was as deep as possible this time. He could feel her become like jelly from his touch and was glad he had that effect on her.
gave in for a moment, finding it hard to resist, before pushing him off of her again. “!” she gasped, giving him a hard look.
He laughed. “Sorry, figured if this was the last time I’d at least get one more in.”
only growled at him as she reached behind her, unlocking the door. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to remove any evidence of him from her lips. “Ok, I’m going to go first and you wait a few. Don’t come out until you're sure I’ve gone.”
“Right.” nodded that he understood and tried not to laugh as he looked over her face. He wondered if she realized just how red her face was from their encounter.
Turning her back to him, quickly opened the door and slipped out, shutting it tightly behind her. She had ended up facing the door as she pulled on the handle, making sure it was completely shut.
“There you are.” jumped when she heard ’s voice behind her and turned around quickly, trying to hide the shock on her face. stood there, completely dressed and ready to go on stage. He gave her a strange look when he saw how she appeared to be blushing, her hair a bit disheveled. “Why are you so flushed? Are you alright?” he asked, looking at the door she had just exited.
“Uh…” racked her brain for an excuse. “I just had a fight with someone earlier and I suppose I’m still angry.” It was the only thing she could think of, and at least she wasn’t lying.
“With again?” laughed. “Can’t ya two figure out another way to let out your anger?” he asked and looked up as the door to the closet opened and stepped out.
froze when she heard coming out, unsure of how to react. Giving him a look over as well, saw the same flushed look on his face and could tell something was up with his friend. When he looked back at who was now staring down at her feet, he assumed they had both been in the closet together, her probably giving him a good yell. The truth of what had just occurred never crossing his mind.
let out a laugh, gesturing towards , who refused to make eye contact with him. “My god, did really give it to you or what?” he asked, referring to what he thought was a fight.
tried to hide the shock of his question and cleared her throat. She felt close behind her as he chuckled. “Ya, she really let me have it.” He leaned in towards her and spoke in a devious voice. “She’s vicious.” could feel his breath on her neck before he walked away, leaving her standing there with . She stood there in silence as she tried to convince herself none of that had just happened.
She was pulled from her thoughts when grabbed her hand, leading her towards the stage for the show. “You should really stop giving him such a hard time, I think he actually wants to be friends with you, ya know.”
rolled her eyes and remained quiet. She knew exactly what wanted now, and she was sure he’d never get it…again.

Chapter Seven

Deciding against watching the show that night, spent the time in the rear of the bus watching TV and trying to forget about . She found it hard when every program she flipped through seemed to have some sort of underlying sexual tone. She even came across one of the groups music videos and almost threw the remote at the set when ’s face appeared.
eventually fell asleep on the curved couch, her mind forcing her to experience explicit dreams. The dream was so vivid and real, she could almost feel his hands on her. This time they weren’t held up in a utility closet, she and were in the back of the bus she was in now. was leaning over her as he opened her shirt, placing a trail of kisses on her as the bare skin was exposed. Even though it was just a dream, her skin felt like it was on fire when his lips brushed against it. She could feel herself become warmer between her legs as he made his way down her shirt, finally pushing it open. The warm lips that were just grazing her belly were brought up to her own, he was kissing her as his hands roamed her now bare chest.
was the first to enter the bus after the show, hoping to find . He was pleased when he found her sleeping in the back, the TV still on. Leaning against the frame to the entrance of the small area, watched her sleep, a small smile spread across her lips. He could have sworn at one point she let out a soft moan and was sure she was dreaming of him. He forced himself not to wake her for another go, knowing the rest of the guys would soon join him on the bus.
It was almost as if was really there, his kisses felt so real and could have enjoyed her fantasy forever. She felt another presence with them which forced her to come out of her dream, opening her eyes slowly to find standing before her, watching. He was smiling and she sat up quickly, pushing the dream from her mind.
“What are you looking at?” She asked him as she adjusted her hair that was a mess from her slumber. She prayed he couldn’t read her mind and see she’d just had a fantasy about him.
“You were smiling in your sleep, good dream then?” gave her a sly smile, knowing it was.
was relieved when she saw and enter the bus and stood up quickly. “It was actually, you were being attacked by a pack of angry dogs. That’s why I was smiling.” She lied as she pushed past him to make her way to the front.
“I doubt that.” grabbed a hold of her for a moment as she passed, making sure his body was pressed against hers in the small space. could feel his hands on her again and her she started to feel hot, memories flowing through her mind. She squirmed from his grip and continued on her way, feeling his eyes piercing through her as she did.
The next day was hard for to handle, every time she laid eyes on her heart would begin to race and she’d become flushed again. And unfortunately he made sure he was near her as much as possible, liking the way he knew he made her feel when he was. She tried to ignore him, making every effort to completely wipe the previous day from her mind but couldn’t every time he purposely brushed against her. Even during the show they had that night, could feel his eyes on her almost the entire time and ended up walking out of it half way through. smiled from stage when he watched her leave, he’d gotten to her and he loved it.

growled to herself as she rode the elevator to her floor after the show. She sat in the far back of the van from the venue, trying to avoid who sat in the front with . He had turned around at one point to give her a smile while he licked his lips, causing her to take in a deep breath and instantly avert her eyes. She wanted to hate him alone, not wish for his touch every time she saw him. How was she supposed to forget what had happened if he was always there to remind her?
When the door to the elevator opened she looked up to see almost to his own room, pulling the key card from his pants. decided she was going to put an end to this whole thing, she just couldn’t take it anymore. She called out to him as she exited the elevator. “!”
When he heard his name he turned his head to find coming towards him. He looked over her tight dark jeans and peach lace top which was covered by a short fitted khaki jacket. He placed the key card back in his own jeans and turned to her, smiling. She was calling him out now instead of the other way around, a good sign.
“Can I have a word?” she asked when she had reached him.
“You can have more than a word if ya like.” raised his eyebrows at her.
Narrowing her eyes, gave him a look and tried to ignore the comment. “Listen, we need to talk about…” she spoke in a low voice but cut herself off when she heard the elevator doors open, she turned to see two crew members stepping off. Not wanting anyone else to overhear their conversation, she pulled out the card to her room. She opened the door directly across from ’s and motioned for him to come in. followed her into the dark room, where flicked a switch, lighting the room. She let the door shut behind them and watched as looked the room over before finding an armchair near the window, taking a seat. He placed his arms behind his head and leaned back. “So, what would ya like to chat about?”
“Well…” looked back at the closed door and to again, realizing they were once again alone in a room. She felt a bit uncomfortable and unsure if she could trust herself with him but decided to push through it, there were things that needed to be said. “About yesterday, I think…”
“I don’t know what you're talkin’ about. I was under the impression there was no yesterday.” cut her off. His hands were linked behind his head, holding it up as he looked her over, attempting to keep a straight face.
“You know what I’m talking about, .” whispered, as if someone might hear them. “I need to forget about it and you're making it incredibly difficult. You need to stop this, stop being around me, brushing up against me.” She made hand gestures as she spoke but stopped when she saw the look on his face. held a small grin, as though he was picturing her giving her speech nude. “And stop that!” She pointed at him. “Stop looking at me as though we’ve…” She made another hand gesture, not wanting to say it aloud.
laughed as he leaned forward now, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at her. “But we have.”
“This is exactly the problem! You planned it, didn’t you?” placed her hands on her hips, staring down at him.
“Did I plan on havin’ a shag in a closet?” pretended to ponder the question for a moment. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect it to go that way, but I’m not complaining. I was only trying to give ya a piece of my mind, you’re the one who started it all.”
“Me??” hissed. “I only kissed you because you were putting all these thoughts in my head.” She pointed an angry finger at him. “You seduced me!”
“Possibly.” shrugged as he leaned back in the chair again. “But it really wasn’t that difficult, ya know. Only had to get ya angry enough.”
“You need to take it back, I can’t have this thing hanging over us. I can’t have all these stupid images burned into my brain every time I see you.” paced in front of him, not able to look directly at him.
“I don’t think I can take it back, love.” laughed as he watched her. He knew she was becoming agitated and it was right where he wanted her.
“Don’t call me love!” stopped before him. “You know, I liked what we had before. We worked with the whole despising thing. I need to hate you , not want you!”
“By all means, please hate me.” kept his voice calm, a vast contrast from ’s, who’s was becoming increasingly panicked. He pushed himself from the chair to stand before her. “I’d rather ya did. It only creates more passion, don’t ya think?” He stepped in closer, and looked down at her. When she didn’t respond, ran a finger over the seam of her jacket and looked into her eyes. “Just do me a favor and stop pretending like it didn’t happen and that ya didn’t enjoy it. You and I both know ya did.”
Biting her bottom lip, tried as hard as she could not to breathe him in. Feeling how close he was to her, she began to feel light headed, reliving the day before. He had a pull over her and she was sure he knew it now. quickly weighed her options, she could fight the urge or give in once more, hopefully getting it out of both of their systems. She watched as his fingers ran over the single button that kept her khaki jacket closed. undid the button, opening her jacket and slid his hand over the lace top that covered her stomach. When she felt his touch, she finally took a deep breath, taking in his cologne. It was all she needed to make a decision.
Pushing him back gently, watched him fall in to the armchair. She stepped up and looked down at him. “Ok, this is defiantly the last time.”
“Whatever ya say.” smiled as reached out to grab a hold of his shoulder, straddling his lap. She quickly moved in, allowing her lips to find his for a kiss. Her body instantly became warmer when both of their lips parted and their tongues met. admitted to herself how incredible it felt to be with him as he deepened the kiss. As much as she detested him, he made her feel things she never had, a longing she once thought impossible. She ran her hands over his shirt and began to unfasten each of the buttons.
Lost in the task of removing his shirt, both almost missed the ringing coming from ’s front pocket. Pulling himself away from her lips, he raised ’s hips for a moment to retrieve his phone. She grabbed it from his hands before he could answer it and looked at the caller id. ’s name flashed across the screen as she looked up at him. “Ignore it.” she said before tossing it to the floor.
Leaning in, she kissed his chest as she continued to open his shirt. She had finally made it to the last button and was bringing her kisses back to his lips when a familiar ring tone came from her back pocket. let out a sigh as she reached behind to pull out her own ringing phone. “It’s again.” His personalized song became louder when it wasn’t muffled by her jeans.
gave her a pleading look as he reached out for the phone. “Ignore him then.”
Pulling the phone from his reach, shook her head. “He’ll keep calling.” she told him before flipping it open and holding it to her ear. “Hello .” She attempted to sound completely normal, but found it hard as she was slightly out of breath from kissing .
“Are you alright?” asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Ya sound a bit breathless.”
“Ya, I’m fine. Just ran over to get the call. What’s up?” she asked, trying to hurry along the conversation. She felt a breeze of cool air when pushed the jacket from her shoulders as she spoke.
“Did ya want to meet us down in the lobby? We’re all heading out to a club soon.”
“Um…” tried to think of a quick excuse to get out of going. “I think I’m going to just stay in tonight and catch up on some sleep.” placed his hands on her waist, slipping his hands up the side of her shirt as he leaned in, leaving kisses along the thin straps of her tank top.
“Are ya sure? ’s asking for a dance.” could hear in the background shouting something she couldn’t make out.
looked down to see the head of hair moving his lips across her collar bone, sending shivers through her body. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Alright.” Just when she thought her coast was clear, stopped before he said his goodbyes. “By the way, have you seen ? I can’t reach him.”
“Have I seen ?” She repeated and he looked up at her. “I haven’t. You know he’s probably run off with some random girl already.” tried to suppress a soft moan as reached down to grab a hold of her rear, pulling her hips into him. He smiled when he felt himself pressed up against her.
laughed on the other end. “I’m sure you're right. Get some sleep and I’ll see ya in the morning.”
“Night, .” she said and quickly closed her phone before he could speak again. grabbed it from her hands and dropped it onto the carpet, allowing it to land near his own.
“Some random girl, ey?” asked as he let his hands slide up her shirt again.
laughed as she leaned in for another kiss. “Had to make it believable.” she said before biting his bottom lip.
“Good call. Think we can get back to this then?” his lips curled up in a smile as he looked over the in his lap, not wanting to wait a minute longer.

Chapter Eight

Sitting up in the bed, held the white sheet against her, covering her chest. lay back against the wall, running his fingers along her bare back. He drew a line down her spine to a small tattoo of a black music note sticking through the middle of a heart and a tear drop falling from both. He traced the heart. “Had no idea ya had a tattoo.”
Keeping her body faced forward, turned her head, resting her chin on her shoulder to look at . “ and I got one for my eighteenth birthday, after ‘Unbreakable’ was released. I talked him into it.” She smiled at him.
“I like it.” Chills ran through ’s body from his touch.
studied ’s face as his eyes gazed over her exposed back. As hard as she tried to convince herself that this needed to end, she just couldn’t bring herself to push him out of the bed. She enjoyed the last few hours they shared, as much as she hated to admit it. “Okay, this is how this is going to work.” She turned her entire body towards him, causing his gaze over her back to break and look up at her.
“How what’s goin’ to work?”
“This…” motioned between both of them.
A smile came to his lips. “I thought this was the last time.”
“Would you like it to be? Cause I can put a stop to it right now.” She lied, she knew she wouldn’t be able to, he had a hook in her now.
sat up quickly. “I’m listening.” Normally after the first few times, would lose interest in a girl. But with he only wanted to see more of her, he didn’t think he’d be able to get enough.
laughed. “Right, no one finds out about this. Don’t go braggin’ to the lads, especially .”
“Do ya think I have a death wish? I’d never tell , he’d have my head.” leaned in to kiss her shoulder after giving her a smile. “What else is there?”
“No more girls.” pushed on his head, causing him to look up. “I’m not asking for a relationship, I just refuse to share a man with your skanky women.”
Pretending to seriously ponder it, scrunched up his forehead. “You drive a hard bargain.” He smiled before pulling her in for a kiss. “What about me? Don’t I get some terms.”
“What rules could you possibly have for me?” asked as she allowed him to push her back down on the bed.
placed small kisses over her collar bone as he leaned over her. He grinned when he peeked under the white sheet covering her and looked back up at her. “You need to buy that hot little number from the catalog, the one with all the lace.”
let out a laugh. “Ya, I’m unemployed ya know. You buy it for me.”
“Done. You’ve got a deal, Ms. .” sealed their agreement with a kiss. With his lips still pressed against hers his eyes looked up to see the light of the digital clock on the night stand. It was almost 3:00 and he knew if he was going to wake up in the morning he’d need to get some sleep soon. He gave her another quick kiss before pushing himself off of her. “I’m going to let you get some sleep.”
sat up in bed and watched as stood and began to pick up his clothes scattered around the room. “You can stay here, ya know.”
“I know, but I snore. It wouldn’t be fair to you.” gave her a smile as he pulled his boxers on. The truth was never stayed the full night with anyone, he hadn’t since his brief relationship with his only girlfriend five years ago. “Plus we can’t risk me sneaking out of here in the morning and getting caught.”
“Fair enough.” laughed as attempted to pull his pants up quickly, hopping on one foot when he couldn’t get the other leg in. He grinned at her when he finally pulled the pants over his waist and leaned over the bed to give her a quick kiss.
“Same time tomorrow then?” he asked, holding his shirt in his hand as he backed up towards the door.
nodded and watched as gave her one more smile before finally reaching the door and leaving her in the room by herself. She let herself fall back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. She asked herself how she had gone from despising a man one day and having a secret affair with him the next. She didn’t ponder it for too long, soon she found her eyes closing and drifting off to sleep, smiling as she dreamt of .

Picking up a warm roll with the metal tongs, placed it on her plate and continued down the buffet table. When she had finished filling her plate she grabbed a few napkins and turned to survey the room. She found at a small round table, with his back to her in the chair across from him. She tried to hide the smile on her face as she made her way over to them. The last two days of their brand new secret tryst had been a whirlwind for her. Every time she saw or was near him her cheeks would get hot thinking of the night before. Both nights they had met up in her room, once after hours at a club trying to avoid eye contact with each other to give anything away.
kept his eyes on his plate, pushing the food around, when he felt her come up from behind and pull out the chair next to him. From just the scent of her perfume he could feel his pants tighten and he shifted in his seat. He’d never had to see a girl he was sleeping with on a daily basis and was finding it difficult not to steal her away every five minutes.
reached across the table to hand a napkin and then one to , who looked up to give her a small smile. watched as he did and looked between the two when blushed slightly. “What’s goin’ on between ya two?” narrowed his eyes and pointed his fork at them.
froze as she brought her drink to her mouth, her face going pale. had figured it out, she didn’t know how but he knew what they were up to. had an equally shocked expression, if knew he’d kill him. You don’t mess with and live to tell about it, he’d hit a stranger once for grabbing her ass in a pub.
“How do ya mean?” asked, trying to mask the fear in his voice. He wasn’t the type to scare, but right now he was. He quickly stuffed some food in his mouth and avoided eye contact with his friend.
“I haven’t seen ya fight in days. Are ya on drugs?” laughed and took a bite from the pasta in front of him.
and both let out a collective sigh when he laughed, knowing he didn’t suspect them of what they thought. “We just had a talk.” looked over at from the corner of her eye. “I’ve come to realize that I may have been judging too much. It’s not my place to tell him how he should live his life, even if he was being a bit of a whore.” She caught ’s eye and gave him a smirk.
“And I may have been a bit hard…” paused to take a sip of his drink, reaching out to brush his fingers over her legs under the table. “…on her too. ’s a good girl.”
“Well, it’s ‘bout time. If I had to hear you screaming at each other once more I was gonna lock ya in a room till ya worked it out.” coughed as he swallowed the liquid in his mouth, holding back a laugh.
“Ya still could. I’m sure we still have a few…issues to sort out.” said, soon after feeling a sharp pain shoot through his foot from the heel of ’s shoe. His face hid the pain well as he tried to ignore it.
Looking down at his watch, stuffed the last of his roll in his mouth and stood. “As much as I’d love to stay and witness this strange miracle, we’ve got to get to wardrobe.” He looked at , who wasn’t moving from his seat, as he picked up his nearly empty plate. “Ya comin’?”
glanced at who was picking at her food. “In a minute, I’ll meet ya there.” nodded and went along his way, handing over his plate to a craft services worker. waited till was completely out of site and leaned into . “So what do you say? Feel like working it out tonight?”
“You need to be more careful with him around, he almost found us out.” glared at , but laughed when she saw him giving her an eye she knew well now.
“I can’t help it. You make it very difficult, ya know.” He gave her a wink. “So, tonight?”
“Yes, . Now go, you need to go entertain the masses.”
After giving her thigh a quick squeeze under the table, stood to leave, taking his plate with him. He glanced back a few times at as he left the room, smiling to himself.

Chapter Nine

looked down in to the clear water of a large fountain, the silver coins lying at the bottom shining back up at her. She leaned down to dip her finger into the water, watching a ripple form from the touch. The group was behind her getting a tour by local school kids who had won a contest to spend the day with them, in their latest stop. They had made it to the city square and were stopping for a photo opportunity with photographers.
caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye. It had been two weeks since they had secretly begun seeing each other and was surprised he’d kept it going this long. By now he would have moved on to another conquest, finding himself bored. A smile crept to his face thinking of her, she had turned out to be far from boring and he couldn’t pull himself away from her. He looked around him, finding most of the attention to be on while he gave a child a piggy back ride. took the opportunity to slip away and walk up to .
She felt a presence behind her, pulling from her thoughts. “Making a wish?” she smiled when she recognized ’s voice.
“Haven’t got any coins.” She turned to show him the lack of pockets on her black shorts.
“Make one on something else then.” He looked her over, smirking when an idea came to mind.
“What do you suggest?” asked, not seeing the twinkle in his eye. shrugged before grabbing her suddenly, lifting her up into his arms. Letting out a squeal, squirmed only for him to hold on to her tighter. “Don’t you dare, .” she laughed, realizing his plan now.
Without saying a word, grinned and tossed her into fountain, watching her scream as she hit the water. wiped the drops of water from his face, the backlash of him throwing her in. Sitting in the fountain, the water coming halfway up her arms, tried to give a dirty look. He placed his hands on the marble edge and leaned into her. “Well, I got my wish.” He grinned as he looked over the soaked girl in front of him, her hair clinging to her face in a disheveled manner.
was only an arms length away from her, gave him a growl when she saw the smirk on his face. Before he realized what she was doing, she reached out and grabbed a hold of his shirt, yanking him into the fountain with her. misjudged her strength and screamed again as flew into the water, landing on top of her. She fell back and under the water again when he crashed into her. ’s face was covered in pure shock as he pushed himself up, keeping his body over hers. How a girl her size could pull a man his size that hard baffled him and he soon found himself laughing when her face came out of the water, letting out a cough.
“You okay?” he asked between his laughter.
“That didn’t go quite as planned.” shook the water from her face as she raised herself, leaning back on her arms. ’s laughter became infectious when stared up at him, still leaning over her with his clothing clinging to him now. After a good laugh, stopped, staring at her, drops of water sliding down her face. He forgot they were in public for a moment and had a sudden urge to kiss her. He leaned in towards her and nearly did but was stopped when there was a loud voice behind him.
“Children!” shouted, standing at the edge of the fountain, staring down at the pair.
pulled away from her quickly and turned to sit next to her, hoping hadn’t seen what had almost occurred.
“Ya have an audience.” motioned to the crowd behind them that only seemed to be getting larger. A few flashes went off as photographers snapped pictures of them in the fountain.
“We were only making a wish.” gave him pouty eyes and reached an arm out to him, hoping for a hand. “Mind helping me up?” she asked sweetly.
narrowed his eyes at her and reached out, grabbing a hold of her hand. “Normal people make wishes on coins, but obviously…” he was cut off as he felt the hand in his tighten its grip and give him a swift pull. His eyes became wide as he felt himself fall over the edge and soon land in the water before him. began laughing hysterically as he watched his friend sit up next to , slapping the water to his sides angrily. turned his head to and and shot them looks which only made laugh harder. Standing up quickly, stumbled as he pulled himself from the fountain, shielding his eyes from the cameras flashes. He turned to look down at the wet pair still sitting in the water. “I think I liked it better when you two were fighting.” He growled and pushed past a few people, now including and who was shaking his head at them.
Both tried to suppress their laughter and stood up, looking down at as he held a hand down to her. She gave him a look, wondering if she should trust him to help her up. Reading her mind, smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t pull anything.” reluctantly gave him her hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She slipped slightly on the wet tiles under them and grabbed a hold of her, steadying her. “Careful now, wouldn’t want you to take me back down again.” Laughter filled his eyes as his hands gripped her waist, holding her close. He could have stayed in the fountain with her for as long as she’d allow but was pulled from his gaze on her when he remembered the crowd surrounding them. “We should probably get dried off.” He nodded towards the staring faces and released his hold on her. Both unsuccessfully suppressed giggles as he helped her from the fountain.
sat in a seat behind and as the three were driven back to the hotel to change. and stayed behind to finish with the tour and interviews. turned her head to give a quick smile before bringing her attention to , who had his arms crossed and a pout on his face. She laughed when she noticed his body begin to shake a little. “Are you shivering?”
instantly tried to control his shaking, not succeeding. “I’m wet and I could catch a cold.” He said, refusing to look at her. let out a snort at how was acting, which caused to turn his head quickly and glare at him.
“Aww, sweetie.” reached out to rub ’s wet back. “I’m sorry I pulled ya in.” she lied, she was actually quite pleased with herself but she knew him well enough to know she needed to succumb to his pouting.
“It’s okay.” mumbled and continued to shiver.
“Let me warm ya.” let her arms surround , pulling him against her as she hugged him tightly. He allowed her arms to engulf him and stopped shaking as he rested his head on her shoulder. smiled to herself, knowing she’d done good work and placed her head on his.
watched the two in front of him and an unfamiliar feeling came over him. There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and his eye began to twitch a bit. He didn’t know why, but the last thing he wanted to see was with her arms over another man, even if it was only . He tried hard to shake the thought from his head but soon realized what he was feeling was jealousy, something he never had over a girl. He’d never found a girl worthy enough to warrant his attention this much and was unsure of how to deal with it. His heart beat picked up as he gripped the seat below him, telling himself not to grab a hold of her to pull her to his own arms. He let out a sigh of relief when the SUV pulled up outside of the hotel and released her hold on . As he stepped out of the vehicle behind the other two, forced himself to forget the twinge of jealousy that had just swept over him. He didn’t like the feeling and didn’t want another person to allow him to ever get to him that way.

Making her way through the maze of crew members and stereo equipment, spotted and in the distance. Both were jumping in place as they got their adrenaline pumping for the upcoming show. She laughed and went to wave out to them but was shocked as an arm reached out from a black curtain, grabbing her and pulling her behind it. Before she could let out a scream she was pushed up against the cement wall and a pair of lips crashed onto her own. She immediately recognized the lips and smiled against them as she allowed them to kiss her.
“Hi .” She whispered breathlessly when he broke the kiss to look at her.
His eyes were well adjusted to the dark from waiting there for her and he could see her clearly. Her eyes sparkled in the darkness and her hair seemed to shine as he pushed away a stray piece that had fallen over her face. “Sorry, had to see you.” He leaned in for another quick kiss and wrapped an arm around her to pull her against him. He smiled when he felt her heart beating quickly from the rush.
“You could have asked.”
“This is me asking.” He licked his lips and gave her a smirk. “Want to meet up after the show?” After seeing her with all he wanted to do was get her alone and have her all to himself.
“I’d love to, but we’re both jumping on a bus afterwards, remember?” shook her head at him. He had to be the most absent minded person on earth, if he didn’t have someone guiding him through every step of his life he wouldn’t make it anywhere.
growled when he realized she was right but quickly smiled again. “Meet me in my bunk then.” He gave her a wink.
“Not gonna happen, .” laughed. “Can ya wait till tomorrow night?”
Sighing, wanted to say no but stopped himself. “If I have to.” he pouted and pressed his lips against hers once more. It then occurred to him they had the next night off after traveling. He pulled away and looked at her thoughtfully.
Not recognizing the look in his eyes, cocked her head to study him. “What?”
“Why don’t you let me take ya out tomorrow night?”
“Out?” she asked him suspiciously. “Like a date?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are we dating?” gave him a mock gasp and pushed him playfully. It was the first time he’d ever suggested anything more than a secret night in and she found herself giddy from the thought.
A smile crept on his face and shrugged. “I suppose we could call it that.”
“Where will we go?”
“Don’t know, I’ll figure it out.” He ran his hands up and down her sides, wondering if he could just run off with her without anyone noticing. Both looked up to the curtains opening when they heard a loud voice calling out their ten minute warning.
“We need to get you out there.” said, disappointed their short time together was ending. “I’ll go first again but this time you have to make sure ya wait.” She gave him a look, reminding him of their last attempt to sneak out undetected. She went to push herself away from him, reaching for the curtain but was stopped when ’s lips found hers again, holding onto her tight. He needed to feel her once more before stepping foot on stage and entertaining thousands of other women.
let out a soft sigh, finally allowing herself to break the kiss. She gave him a final smile before peeking her head out of the curtain, looking in one direction before deciding the coast was clear. She quickly stepped out and jumped when she saw once again standing in front of her. How did he always seem to end up before her at the most inappropriate times?
“Do I want to know why you were back there?” He gave her an odd look and tried looking past her, inspecting the curtain. was frozen behind it, hearing on the other side.
Thinking on her feet, reached up to her ear, tugging on it. “Dropped an earring, just finding it.” She swiftly pulled the hoop from its hole without him seeing and held it out to him. She smiled when he bought her story, she’d gotten extremely good at thinking of excuses for her odd behavior lately.
“Have you seen ? Everyone’s looking for him.” asked, forgetting about her strange exit from the curtain.
“Ya, I think I saw him over there.” pointed towards the stage and grabbed ’s arm, leading him away. She gave a quick glance back, smiling to herself as she thought back to a few moments ago.
Leaning against the cement wall, held his breath and waited until he heard bring safely away. He took a deep breath, still smelling her on him, before pushing the curtain back and jumping out. He’d hoped he could make a quick, swift exit, but nearly let out a scream when he practically ran into .
“What the fuck, ?” jumped back, caught off guard from ’s sudden appearance. “What were ya doin’ behind a curtain??”
“Lost an earring?” blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. His face turned bright red when he quickly reached up and realized his ears were bare.
“Have ya lost yer head?” stared at , trying to figure him out before shaking his head at him. “You need to get out more, mate.” he said and pushed towards the stage. “You gonna go out with us tomorrow? I feel like ya haven’t been out in ages.”
“I got plans.” kept his answer short, already rattled, he didn’t want to give anything away.
“You’ve always got plans lately. What have ya got, a secret girl somewhere?” laughed as they two made their way towards the others. looked up and smiled when he made eye contact with whose arm was linked with ’s. glanced over and caught the smile on ’s face as they passed two girls from wardrobe. “You have!” He gave a smack on the arm. “It’s Tracy, isn’t it?”
broke his gaze on to turn to . “Who?” he asked, confused.
“You know who. Ya can’t keep secrets from me.” nodded towards the blonde who had helped weeks ago with his slacks. She was smiling and trying not to blush as the two men looked her way.
Deciding it might be best to allow to believe he was hooking up with this other girl, only shrugged and walked away. He could hear making kissing noises behind him and laughed. was a smart lad and if he put his mind to it he might figure it out sooner or later and it was a good idea to steer him in the wrong direction instead of correcting him.
Standing beside the entrance to the stage, watched as each of the boys breezed past her to their places. As passed, he gave her a quick pinch on her side and winked at her. put her head down, attempting to hide the smile on her face and turned to make her way to her own seat.

Chapter Ten

“Must you go out with tonight? We never get a night off.” called out as he flipped through one of ’s photo albums. He stopped at a picture of him when he was fifteen with a horrific haircut and quickly slipped it out of its plastic sleeve. He looked up towards the bathroom and stuffed it into his shirt pocket as he dropped the album on the bed and stood up.
“She’ll kill me if I leave town without seeing her, .” She looked into the mirror, applying a layer of shiny lip gloss. Out of the corner of her eye she saw at the door to the bathroom. She told him she had already made plans to see , who lived in town, as an excuse to sneak out with . She felt guilty when she saw his face, she’d been neglecting him lately and hated that she had to lie to him. But she knew she could never tell him about her and , he’d never trust with her and make them end it.
gave her a look over, her make up applied with absolute perfection and hair pulled halfway up in a soft twist. She was wearing a pale yellow sundress with thin spaghetti straps and simple white flip flops. “How is it a man hasn’t scooped ya up yet?” He asked, leaning up against the frame. had literally grown up before his eyes and had become one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. He wondered how someone as amazing as she was could remain single.
Placing the lip gloss down on the counter, turned to look at her friend. “I’m picky?” She shrugged and gave him a smile as she passed him to exit the bathroom.
’s eyes followed her as she walked over to a suitcase, pulling out a white cardigan. “What about Patrick? He always fancied you.”
turned to him and let out a laugh as she pictured a boy they knew when they were children. “Patrick from down the street? Patrick, who used to wear his sisters skirts around the neighborhood?”
“Ah, he was only seven then.” laughed with her when he realized he might not be the best match for .
Walking up to him, leaned up and gave a quick peck on the cheek. “Please don’t set me up with anyone, I’m perfectly happy.” She gave him a sincere smile before glancing over at the clock behind him. She realized it was the time she was set to meet up with . “If you don’t mind, I need to get going. Unless you’d like to sit around and think of women for you to date.” winked at him as she passed him to stand by the door, opening it and to usher him out.
“If that means I get to spend more time with you than so be it.” followed her out the door and watched it close behind her.
“I promise we’ll have - time soon.” looked into ’s eyes, seeing he was hurt by the fact they never had much alone time anymore. She vowed to herself she’d make more time for him.
“Why don’t ya come by later, I’ll wait up.”
As much as she wanted to say no because her and would most likely end their night in her room, she knew she couldn’t. “Sure. And when I come by, you can give me back that picture ya stole.” She gave him a half smile as she backed up, making her way to the opposite side of the elevators. had told her to meet him on the staircase so they could sneak out the back together.
placed his hand over the pocket that housed the photo. “Yer not getting it back, it’s getting burned.” he laughed and watched her turn to leave. He looked the other way and saw the elevator door and turned his head back to . “Don’t you think ya might want to go this way?” he called out to her.
stopped in her tracks, her mind flipping through reasons for her direction. She turned back to him slowly. “Uh, I’m having meet me in the back. Your fans are a bit insane tonight.”
“Right. Tell I said hello.” waved to her and turned, leaving her to make her exit. She quickly made her way to the stairway, not giving another chance to stop her. She pushed the door open and frowned when she didn’t see behind the door. As the large metal door slammed behind her, leaned over the railing, peering down to the floor below. She smiled when she saw top of a cap and soon ’s face when he tilted his head back to look up. quickly made her way down to the next floor and soon stood in front of him.
stood there with his hands stuffed into his dark jeans, wearing a charcoal t-shirt with silver designs, covered by a black sports jacket. “Took ya long enough, thought I was getting stood up.”
“Sorry, wasn’t making it easy to sneak out.” told them as he pulled his hands from his jeans to motion for her to go first. She stepped in front of him as they walked down the flight of stairs.
“And how’d ya get away from him tonight?” watched her walk below him, his eyes falling over her dress and cardigan in her arms. He preferred her bare shoulders and hoped she wouldn’t resort to wearing the small sweater.
“Told him I was meeting up with my friend . What about you, how’d you get away from the lads? I heard talking about trying to get ya to a club.”
“He thinks I’m shacked up with another girl.” stopped in her tracks, almost causing to run straight into her.
She turned to look up at him, one step above her. “Really.” She didn’t say it as a question, but more as a statement of shock.
Smiling when he saw the same look in her eyes that he had only a few days earlier, he knew what she was feeling. “Oh yes, a beautiful blonde. You know Tracy, don’t ya?”
“And why would he think that?” She narrowed her eyes, not able to mask the fact that she was concerned. The thought of him with another woman suddenly made her feel uneasy, not because he broke their rule, but because she wanted him to herself.
“He just assumed I was and I didn’t correct him. Would you rather he thinks it was you?”
laughed when she could only respond with a soft, “Oh.”
“Jealous, are we?” He held on to the railing and leaned into it, awaiting her answer. He wanted to know he wasn’t the only one feeling the annoying pangs of jealousy.
Before she could speak, a door below them flew open and the stairwell filled with giggles and excited noises. peeked down and quickly moved away from the railing when he saw a group of fans running up the stairs. Pushing himself and against the wall he prayed they wouldn’t make it up the three floors to where they were standing. He placed a finger over her lips when she went to speak, silencing her. They stood there in absolute silence until they heard the door directly below them slam shut and the hall was quiet again.
Before the girls could come back, grabbed a hold of ’s hand and urged her to run the rest of the way to the bottom floor. They quickly ran down four flights of stairs, finally making it to the door which led to the back alley. pushed the door open and they stumbled out, laughing as they tried to catch their breath.
“That could have been interesting.” laughed as she leaned down to adjust the flip flop on her foot that had fallen off as they exited the building. She looked back up to who was pulling on his cap, attempting to hide his identity. “So where are we off to?”
“How do you feel about mini golf?” He looked over her face, waiting for a reaction.
laughed. “Mini golf?” She wondered if he was serious or just pulling her leg.
“Ya, I thought you liked it.” cursed himself, pondering if he should play it off as a joke and bring her somewhere else. He could have sworn had told him of their tournaments they had at home as kids, he thought it was a good idea.
“I do. I’m just surprised you knew that.” couldn’t even remember attending her last birthday party, she didn’t expect him to suggest one of her favorite pastimes.
“I’m full of surprises, .” He smiled at her and nodded towards the street for them to walk. “It’s not far, thought we could walk.” Stepping up beside , and he made their way through the alley to the street. She looked down between them when his hand slipped into hers, linking his fingers with hers and giving her a gentle squeeze. wasn’t sure how he came to reach out for her hand, he hadn’t walked with someone hand in hand for years. It just felt right and he saw her smile as he ran his thumb over her soft skin.

In her perfected stance, held the short golf club as she made a few practice motions before finally letting the club make contact with her pink ball. She growled as she watched the pink dot roll to the far right of her intended target and completely miss the entrance to the plastic dragon’s mouth. She tossed the club to her side and threw her arms up in frustration. “I give up!”
laughed and shook his head at the sight. “I thought you said ya were good at this.”
“It’s rigged.” She mumbled as she walked up to him. She hated losing, which she rarely did. She won most of and hers tournaments they had every year and couldn’t understand why she was missing almost every shot.
handed her their score card and tiny pencil and made his way to the starting pad, placing his bright green ball in front of him. Looking down at the scores, gasped at how much she was losing by and looked back up to . She refused to let him defeat her by so much and decided to take drastic measures.
As he lined up his putt, didn’t notice come up behind him as he concentrated. He bit his bottom lip like he did every time before and went to hit the ball when he felt a hand reach out and pinch his rear. Shocked, he swung, not making contact. He looked down to see the ball unmoved and turned to look behind him. He saw standing there, looking around as if nothing had happened. “Did you just pinch me so I’d miss?” gave her a questioning smile, knowing full well it was her.
“Did I?” faked shock. “It was this girl, run by bum pinching.” She pointed off into the distance as if the girl had run that way.
“Sure.” He narrowed his eyes at her and turned back to his task. took a step closer, standing close behind him. As he raised the golf club again and watched it begin to swing down she reached around his waist, pressing herself against his back. When he felt her run her hands over the front of his jeans, his club hit the ball harder then expected, sending it flying into a makeshift river. He saw the green ball bobbing in the blue water and dropped his club, turning around quickly. He grabbed a hold of her waist, pulling her into him. “You play dirty.”
“Do not. If ya can’t handle pressure, you should just give up now.” She gave him a cheeky grin which was quickly wiped from her face when he leaned in to kiss her. gripped the back of her yellow dress, pushing her body into his as his tongue parted her lips. Tasting her lemonade flavored lip gloss, he smiled inside as his tongue danced with hers for a moment.
He pulled away, keeping his forehead against hers and licked his lips. “I can handle the pressure. I kinda like it when ya cheat.”
“I wouldn’t call that cheating. It’s more strategic playing.” hooked her fingers through his belt loop, making sure she kept him close to her.
“Mmmhmm.” raised an eyebrow at as his lips found hers once more. One of his hands slid up her back to the top of her dress, running his fingers over her skin as he kissed her. He felt a soft moan escape her lips when he brushed against her bare skin. He loved the way she tasted and how she felt in his arms, getting lost in the moment as he held her.
completely forgot where they were and it was just the two of them as he deepened the kiss. She raised herself on her toes, giving him more availability to her lips. Gone were the thoughts of him with other women or how much she had once despised him. She replaced all her negative memories of him with the new ones, which gave her butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
The two of them could have stayed there forever in front of the tenth hole, but were interrupted when they heard someone clearing their throat behind them. pulled his lips from her and looked over, keeping his hold on . He was shocked to find a family, including a few small children, staring at them, all clutching their golf clubs. let out a small embarrassed laugh when her gaze followed ’s and he released her.
“Mind if we play through?” The father asked, nodding towards the dragon statue behind them.
“Right, of course.” said as he stepped aside, pulling with him. They both watched as a mother, father and five children passed them to begin playing the hole. A girl, probably around the age of twelve, looked up to stare at as she walked by. He gave her a small smile and a nod when her face lit up, realizing she recognized him. The girl tried to keep her eyes off of him but was unsuccessful until her father caught her attention for her turn.
and laughed to each other as they stood behind the family, watching the children struggle with hitting the ball. Leaning against the fence behind him, pulled towards him and wrapped his arms around her once more. Finding it hard to keep his lips away from hers, he forgot about the large family and kissed her again.
They spent their time between holes giggling with each other and kissing, glad the group in front of them took so much time to play. It gave them plenty of opportunities to forget about the game and enjoy one another. By the time they reached the eighteenth hole they had lost their score card and mini pencil, but really didn’t care. lied and said she must have won, before pulling her in for a final kiss at the golf course.
Hand in hand the pair made their way back to the hotel, sneaking back up the stairwell to their floor. Before opening the door which would lead to their hall, looked down at her. “Back to your room then?” he gave her a smile as he licked his lips, looking her dress over.
“I’ve got to run by and see real quick. I promised I would.” let out a laugh when she saw the disappointed look on his face. “Meet me at my room in half an hour?”
reached out to the handle, preparing himself to open the door. “Why don’t ya just come by mine afterwards, that way you can take your time with him.” He opened the door and both of them stepped into the hallway.
”Sounds good.” Looking down, seeing they were alone in the space, raised herself to give him a quick kiss. She gave him a small wave before she walked away towards ’s room, leaving to watch her as she left.

Chapter Eleven

Rubbing the towel over his wet hair, exited the steamy bathroom to enter his suite. He tossed the damp towel on a chair as he passed it and ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to give it some order. He stopped at the foot of his king size bed and looked over the head of hair peeking out from the covers. ’s eyes fluttered softly as she fell into a satisfied sleep, a tiny smile on her lips.
Now was the time of night would be making his exit from her room, but this time they were in his and he looked around, wondering what he wanted to do. As much as he wanted to wake her so she could go, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. For the first time since he could remember, he didn’t have the urge to kick a girl from his bed and enjoyed watching her sleep. He decided against waking her and quietly made his way around to the open side of the bed. Lifting the covers slowly, he slipped under them, holding his breath when he felt her move.
slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw sitting up next to her, his wet hair sticking out in all directions. She let out a yawn and realized she had fallen asleep, forcing herself to sit up beside him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She pushed the covers from her legs, revealing a blue pair of his boxers and one of his old t-shirts.
“Raid my suitcase, did you?” He laughed, enjoying the sight of his clothing hanging off of her small body.
“Ya, hope you don’t mind. I’ll go and let you get some sleep.” threw one leg over the bed, preparing herself to stand.
Before he knew what he was doing, stopped her. “You don’t have to. Stay if you’d like.”
She turned her head to look at him, giving him a questioning look. Not once had he suggested they spend the entire night together and was unsure of what to make of it. “What about your snoring?”
Shrugging, gave her a smile. “If you can deal with it, I think I can.”
“Alright.” She pulled her leg back on the bed, throwing the covers over them again. “I was too tired to walk across the hall anyways.” She told him as she let herself lay back down, resting her head on the plush pillow.
pushed his legs farther down under the covers as he lowered himself to the bed as well. Lying on his side, he looked over , who was facing him. She smiled at him and let out another yawn. They laid there in silence and watched as her eyes closed slowly, unable to keep herself awake. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her as her breathing became deeper and she fell back asleep. If he wasn’t so tired himself, he probably could have stayed up watching her and wondering how he’d wound up being perfectly fine sharing his bed for an entire night. Within minutes let his own eyes close, falling asleep beside .

Unable to ignore the sunlight shining beyond her shut eye lids, slowly opened her eyes, shielding them from the morning light. She shifted in bed and suddenly became aware of an arm draped over her body. She heard him breathing deeply, his breath hot against her neck. She smiled to herself when she realized the warm body behind her was . One of his legs were bent and settled comfortably between her own and his body pressed up against hers. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so content in bed and hoped he wouldn’t wake for another half hour so she could enjoy it.
It baffled her how in such a short time seemed to change so completely. He never mocked her anymore or made crude comments just to get a rise out of her. And she couldn’t stop herself from smiling every time she saw him walk into a room. She never would have thought when asked her to join them for the tour she’d end up here, actually pleased she was with him. She wasn’t sure how he felt about everything but she couldn’t help but feel she might be falling for him and she was perfectly okay with it.
’s nose twitched when he felt a strand of hair fall over his face and he blinked as he struggled to open his eyes. His eyes became wide when he saw himself curled up next to a girl, but let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was . Reaching up a hand, he brushed aside her hair to expose her neck, moving in to place a small kiss next to her ear. “Mornin’” he whispered and watched as she turned her body around to face him.
placed an arm under her head, holding it up to look at him. “Mornin’” she whispered back. “You’re a liar.” She smiled at him.
“How so?” he asked as he followed her lead, propping himself up with an arm.
“You don’t snore.”
“I know.” grinned, almost glad she figured out his little secret.
took a moment to look him over, her eyes wondering from his face and over his shirtless chest sticking out from under the covers. She let out a sigh as she pushed herself to sit up. “I should get going before comes looking for me in my room.”
almost reached out to pull her back down with him but stopped himself when he looked behind her at the clock. It was later than he had realized and he knew he needed to get up and get ready himself. He sat up as well and watched throw the covers back standing up next to the bed.
She looked down at him as she removed an elastic from her wrist and pulled her hair up into a neater ponytail. “Want to meet downstairs for breakfast?”
He nodded as he pulled himself to the edge of the bed, sitting there staring at her. He didn’t want her to leave and he certainly didn’t want to share her with at breakfast. He watched as she collected her clothes that had landed in a nice pile beside the bed. When she stood before him again he reached out and pulled her so she was placed between his legs. “Are we doing this again tonight?” he asked and ran his fingers along the edge of his shirt she was wearing, looking up at her.
“Can’t. I made a date to go out with tonight.”
“Is that an excuse to run off and see another bloke?” raised an eyebrow at her, knowing it was the same excuse she gave last night.
“No, I only lie to my friends when I want to see you.” laughed. “I can’t leave town without actually seeing her, she’d never forgive me.”
let out an over done sigh and ran his hands up her smooth legs. “Fine, but I get ya tomorrow.”
“Done.” leaned down and gave him a quick peck. “You should go out with the lads tonight. was saying he doesn’t see you much anymore either.” began to back up, knowing if she didn’t leave soon she wouldn’t be able to.
leaned back, resting on his arms and kept his eyes on her. “Well, that’s your fault. You monopolize all of my time, ya know.”
“You like it.” smiled at him and paused, holding on to her clothes as she looked at him. She stood there in silence for a moment before walking back up to him. “I don’t know what it is that we’re doing, but I want you to know I like it.” She brought her face down to his and gave him a soft kiss. removed one of his arms from the bed and placed his hand on the side of her face, brushing his thumb against her cheek as they kissed. He felt a wave of pure contentment wash over him, not wanting her to break it. He was disappointed when she finally did and pulled away from him. Without saying another word she gave him one last smile and made her exit, leaving alone in his suite.
As he watched the door close behind her a new feeling swept through him, unlike the one he experienced the other day. Small butterflies danced in his stomach and he could have sworn his heart palpitated, skipping a beat. He held a hand over his chest, wondering if there was something wrong with him but shook it off when he didn’t feel it happen again. He pushed himself up to stand, walking over to search a disheveled suitcase for his clothing. He agreed with , he wasn’t sure what they had going now. It had gone from just a tryst, into something more and as much as he hated to admit it, he thought he might like it too. He couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as he selected a plain t-shirt and jeans before getting dressed to meet her and downstairs.

“One. Two. Three!” shouted before him and the other boys threw their fists on the bar in front of them. A small glass filled with a shot of warm saki fell from its unsteady position on a set of chopsticks, causing it to drop into a large glass of Japanese beer. instantly grabbed the glass and chugged the liquid, nearly choking as it went down his throat too quickly. The crowd that mostly consisted of women cheered all four guys on behind them.
“What the hell was that?!” shouted, coughing as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It was warm!”
“Haven’t ya ever had a Saki Bomb?” asked and gave his back a hard slap before grabbing the beer from the bar that had replaced their empty glasses.
“I think I might be too old for the Saki Bomb.” pulled a face as him and the others made their way through the Japanese inspired club to a set of tables roped off in the back. As they walked past the dance floor a woman stopped the group.
“!” she called out as she walked up to them, her friends huddled in a group behind her, giggling.
stopped and turned when he heard his name. His eyes fell over the stunning brunette wearing a barely there red dress and tall heels that didn’t seem like they could be any higher. She tossed her long hair behind her shoulder, giving him a sultry smile.
“I was wondering if you could join me for a dance.” She asked and looked behind her for encouragement from her friends and then looking back to . “There are a few moves I’d love to show you.” Licking her lips she gave him another smile.
Taking a sip of his beer, looked past the brunette to the dance floor. It was already insanely crowded and he had no desire what so ever to join everyone out there. “I really don’t feel like dancing right now, but thank you anyways.” He gave her a cordial smile before turning his back to her and continuing the walk to their tables.
The girl turned around on her heel and gave her friends a confused shrug as she walked up to them. , , and stood there frozen for a moment, giving each other looks. Not once had turned down a girl like her.
When all four boys were settled at the table, could feel all three sets of eyes on him and he looked up from his glass. “What?”
“Ya just declined an offer from a gorgeous lady, are you feeling alright?” asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
shrugged. “Didn’t feel much like dancing.”
“I don’t think she had just dancing on her mind, mate.” smirked as he looked back at the group of her girls who were still staring at them.
“Ah, I know what it is. ’s got his lady friend now and doesn’t need to bother with anyone else.” told the group.
“Lady Friend?” and said in unison and looked at them confused.
“You know Tracy from wardrobe? Our has been secretly seeing her.”
The other two cooed while tuned them out, thinking of his last night with . He couldn’t help but smile, picturing her wearing his clothes and waking up beside him. He knew he’d turned down the girl because he didn’t have the desire to dance with anyone but her and he was okay with that.
He was pulled from his thoughts when let out a gasp. “Yer in love!” he pointed across the table at him, his eyes wide.
Looking up at him, snorted. “Ya right. Have you lost yer head? I don’t fall in love.” There were a few things that considered a certainty in his life. He would always shower at night, always had three packets of sugar in his coffee or tea. And most importantly, always slept alone and would never fall in love, one rule of which he broke last night.
shook his head at him, insisting he knew he was right as and looked on. “If you can think about her without smiling then I’ll believe it, but I don’t think ya can.”
ran his finger around the rim of his glass and let himself think of again, unable to keep his mind off of her. He attempted to keep his mouth firm, refusing to smile. When he pictured her face and the way her nose scrunched up when she drank her orange juice too fast, his lips curled up into a smile without realizing it.
“AH HA!” shouted, waving his hand at so the others could see the smile now on his face. “Yer in love!”
Quickly covering his mouth, shook his head quickly, forcing the smile to leave his lips. Once he knew it was gone he moved his hand. “You can’t tell me not to smile and expect me not to, I couldn’t help it!” ’s mind began to race as he told himself over and over again that he wasn’t in love, he couldn’t be. His heartbeat became quicker and he felt that small palpitation again. Sure he’d been spending more and more time with and hadn’t even looked twice at another woman, but that certainly wasn’t love. began to panic, realizing he might have let himself get a little too close to her and he turned his head to look over the brunette and her friends. He wouldn’t allow himself to become the guy who gives in and falls in love, turning into a romantic sap.
Quickly pushing back his chair, stood and started to walk away from the table. “Where ya goin’?” yelled after him.
turned around and gave the table a sly smile. “I’m off to show ya how much in love I’m not.” He gave them a wink and made his way towards the group of hers. He was doing this partly to convince his friends he wasn’t in love, but mostly to convince himself. He had to put an end to it and prove to himself that he was still the same old .
shrugged at the other two when they saw reach the brunette and lean into whisper in her ear. He decided to forget buying her a drink and dancing and bring her straight to the hotel, not wanting to change his mind. pushed the thought of from his head as he grabbed a hold of the girls hand and led her from the club. He gave a quick glance back to his friends, giving them a nod before making his quick exit.

Chapter Twelve

thanked the young man who held the large glass door open for them as her and entered the lobby of the hotel. She held her stomach and groaned as they walked past the hotel’s restaurant, thinking of the large meal she just had. “God, I don’t think I’ll eat again for a week.”
“Are you still full? We ate a good two hours ago!” laughed.
“I know.” moaned as they made it to the elevator and reached out to hit the green ‘up’ button. She looked to her side, noticing staring at her with an odd expression. “What’s the look for? Have I got food in my teeth?” she asked and brought her finger up to pick at her teeth.
“No.” shook her head and laughed. “I ran into earlier tonight and it was the strangest thing. He asked if I had a good time with you last night.”
Letting out a gasp, ’s eyes went wide when she thought her cover may have been blown and she’d soon have to explain to why she had lied. “What did you tell him?” leaned in and whispered, noticing a set of fans nearby sitting on couches.
“Being the best friend I am, I of course told him I had a lovely time.” As the elevator door opened before them, they both stepped in, soon followed by two other girls who ran to catch the door. “But I would like to know why I had to lie for ya. What were you doing that was so important you had to lie to ?”
Both of the girls who were standing in front of them turned their heads quickly when they heard ’s name. Realizing they were fans, only shrugged, hoping wouldn’t push the subject any farther with their company.
“Did ya have a date?” asked and received a smile that couldn’t help, knowing right away she was correct. “With who? Who could you possibly date that you would need to hide from him?” She asked, completely unconcerned with the fact that there were a pair of fans in their mists. The two young girl’s ears perked up, trying to hear as much information as possible before they reached their floor.
When remained quiet nudged her. “Well? Don’t keep secrets from me, miss.”
Making sure the two heads were facing the door completely, turned her head to mouth to . “.” She wasn’t sure how she’d been able to keep this secret from her friend for the entire night and almost felt relieved when she finally told her.
“?” mouthed back, and shrugged, not understanding.
sighed, realizing she’d have to be more specific. “.” she mouthed slowly.
gave her a look as she tried to process the name in her head, still unable to comprehend. A bell sounded as the door opened and it suddenly hit her as the girls exited the elevator. “ Bloody ?” gasped loudly. Both girls turned back to them with wide eyes as the door shut in front of them. “You’re dating ?!” screeched again once they were alone in the tiny space. “How, when, why?”
“I don’t know, it just happened.” laughed at her reaction. “But you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially fans.” She motioned towards the door.
“So is it serious? You hate him!” gave her a small push, angry she hadn’t known this information sooner.
“I’m not sure what it is. It’s weird, I want to hate him still but I just can’t.” The elevator came to their own floor and the girls exited.
stopped them right outside the elevator and looked over ’s face, finding a new twinkle in her eye. “Holy shit, you really like him, don’t ya?”
Looking up and down the hall, relieved to find it empty, pulled her to keep moving. The last thing she needed was someone coming out to hear their conversation. She thought over the question that was just proposed. She was enjoying more and more, she saw him in a new light and smiled as she thought of him. “I think I do.” bit her lip and looked down at the floor as they made their way to her room.
Standing in front of her door, searched her clutch purse for the room key. “Do you love him?” raised both eyebrows at her, giving her a grin.
“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” blushed as she found the key card and placed it in the slot, pushing on the handle to open the door. As she did they heard a door open a few feet down. Both looked up to see a brunette in a wrinkled red dress exiting a room and adjusting her hair. Tilting her head, studied the room number on the door that was closing. She could have sworn that was ’s room and looked over the girl as she walked past them, giving them a smile with a familiar look on her face. Once the girl had passed them, held her own door open for , asking her to keep it open. “I’ll be right back.”
As she made her way to the other room told herself she had to be mistaken, she probably just got the room numbers confused and she hadn’t just exited that room herself this morning. Her heart pounded as she knocked on the door, looking down at her feet, praying she was wrong. She heard the handle turning and the door click as it opened. Her eyes moved up, seeing a pair of wet male legs covered by a white towel wrapped around his waist. She held her breath when she finally looked into his eyes, staring back at her. “, what are you…” He hadn’t expected to see her that night, and was slightly shocked as he ran his fingers through his wet hair.
“Oh good. You are in.” said shortly and quickly turned on her heel, marching back to her own room. Her face became hot and she could feel tears filling her eyes. She couldn’t believe just moments ago she was telling her friend she could possibly falling in love with this man and then saw a woman leaving his hotel room.
looked down the hall as walked away and saw the brunette stepping into the elevator and it hit him. As soon as he realized what he’d done he instantly regretted it. How could he have been so stupid to push away the first good thing that had ever happened to him just because he was too scared to admit he might be in love?
A tear fell down her face as she reached who was staring at the scene, baffled. pushed past her to enter the room, followed by who gave one last glance down at before letting the door slam behind them.
Gripping his towel, let go of the door he was holding open and ran down the hall, hearing his door shut. His heart began to pound out of his chest, finally letting himself admit he loved her and needed to tell her. His fist hit the door as he pounded on it. “!” he yelled, his voice full of panic. He couldn’t let her think he’d done it just to spite her, she had to know how he felt. He stood their, knocking on the door loudly, “Please open up!” He stayed there for a few minutes, not getting a response. He refused to move until she came to the door.
His hand started to turn red from banging on the door and he let out a sigh of relief when the door finally opened. Expecting to find on the other end he was surprised when stood there instead. “I need to see her.” looked past her, trying to step inside.
Holding a hand up against his chest, kept him outside. “Now’s probably not the right time, .” She looked into his eyes and could see the panic in them. She let out a sigh, she could see his eyes pleading with her and it wasn’t the same she’d met before. “Try back tomorrow morning.” She whispered and looked behind her, hoping hadn’t heard.
took a step back, knowing she was right. As much as he wanted to plead his case right now, wouldn’t be in the right frame of mind. “Tell her I’m so sorry.” He choked out, trying to control the emotions running through his body. She nodded and shut the door, leaving in the hall alone.
As he slowly walked back to his own room, his mind raced, trying to sort everything out in his head. He’d never seen so much hurt in someone’s eyes and it killed him to know he’d been the one who’d caused it. When he reached his door he pulled on the handle, realizing he’d let it lock when it wouldn’t budge. He let himself fall forward, hitting his head against the door. He stood there for a few minutes, trying to relieve the pain he felt in his chest by inflicting it on his forehead as it banged against he door over and over again. He stopped only when he heard the elevator door open and looked up to see stepping off of it.
saw standing in the hall wearing only a towel and a red forehead and let out a chuckle, shaking his head at him. “What happened to you, mate?” he asked as he made his way towards him.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” mumbled. “Just let me use yer phone so I can get my door opened.” He followed to his room, ignoring his questions until he was finally able to have his door unlocked by the hotel. Once in his own room, threw himself back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He’d made a complete mess of things and he knew it. He prayed she’d some how be able to forgive him and promised he’d change when she did.

Leaning into the counter, stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He let out a deep breath as he worked up the nerve to go see . He pushed himself up and exited the bathroom and then his suite. As he walked down the hall his mind raced, he’d stayed up the entire night trying to figure out what he was going to say to her. He’d tell her the truth, he had scared himself when he realized he might be in love with her and did the only thing he knew, sabotage a good thing. For the first time in his life he finally understood the reason he never let anyone in was because he feared getting hurt himself and wound up hurting the one girl he’d ever fallen for.
felt sick to his stomach as he reluctantly reached out to knock on her door. His heart pounded out of his chest when he realized he was about to do the first mature thing he’d ever done in terms of a relationship. He let out a slow breath when the door opened, half expecting to see behind it again. froze when stood before him, his jaw clenched tight. He recognized the look in his friend’s eyes and he knew instantly was fully aware of what had happened. They stood in silence for a moment as stared him down.
“Can I see her?” was the first to speak, trying as hard as he could to avoid eye contact. He attempted to look past him but was met by ’s arm reaching across the door frame, blocking his view.
“No, ya can’t.” ’s voice was rough, a tone he’d never heard from him before.
“Please, mate. I just need…” began but was quickly cut off.
“You’re not my mate.” ’s eyes were filled with rage, doing everything in his power not to hurt the man in front of him. “You could have had any girl on this entire fucking planet and you chose her. You had to make her one of your conquests, didn’t ya?” he hissed.
“It’s not what you think, . I mean, it was at first…” ’s brain felt like it was going to explode as he tried to think of a way to reason with him, explain things. “She was different from the others.”
“Damn right she is, she’s my . You fucked with MY !” ’s voice grew louder and his body shifted, removing his arm from the door frame to put a hard finger into ’s chest. quickly stepped back and as he did he was able to look past , finding sitting in an armchair across the room. As soon as he saw her he knew he needed to talk to her, find a way past to get to her. Noticing throwing his arms up in anger, took the opportunity and ducked under them, rushing into the room past him. “.” he called out and saw her look up. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her legs pulled up on the chair, her arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were red and swollen from an entire night of crying, feeling his heart break when he saw the pain in them.
“You’re not talking to her, , you're talking to me!” heard yell behind him, but ignored him and walked to her.
fell to his knees in front of her, reaching out to grab the hands that were clutching her legs. He tilted his head, trying to make eye contact with her as she looked away. “You have to know I didn’t mean to hurt you, . I didn’t know what I was doing.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Please look at me.” let out a slow breath when she kept her eyes off of him, realizing he’d have to go on without them. “I did it because I had all these feelings I didn’t know what to do with and I lost my head for a bit. The truth is I love you and it scared the shit out of me.”
“Are you kidding me?” shouted behind him. “You don’t fuck another girl when you’re in love with someone!”
Spinning his head around, lost his cool for a moment. “Would you just step off! Give me a chance to fucking explain this to her!” he yelled back. He took a deep breath before turning back to whose chest began to heave as another round of tears came bubbling up. He reached a hand up to wipe away a tear that fell over her cheek but she pulled her face away from him. “I was trying to prove to myself that I didn’t love you, because I didn’t think I could handle it if I did.” he choked on his words when he saw her tears flowing freely now. “But as soon as I saw you last night I knew I messed up. I wish I could take it back, I really do…”
“…” whispered as she finally turned her face to him.
“Yeah?” he let out a sigh of relief when their eyes finally met, but looked down as she pulled her hands from his grip.
“Please just go…” ’s heart dropped in his chest when he heard her. He swallowed as he felt his own eyes begin to fill with tears, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so helpless or cried.
let go of the hold on her legs as she let them fall to the floor in front of . She pushed herself so she was standing and without another word walked past him, making her way to the bathroom. Still kneeling, turned to look at her as she closed the door behind her.
He felt completely defeated and stayed there for a moment before looking up to see who was still staring down at him. shook his head and stared down at the floor as he pulled himself up. He knew he didn’t have a chance now, he’d ruined things beyond repair and had no idea how to go on. Walking past and out of the room, held his thumb and index finger to the innermost part of his eyes, trying to hold back the tears he knew were coming. Once out of the room he leaned against a wall, he’d never once hated the man he’d become, until now. With one finger raised to his face he wiped away a tear and stared at it. How did he get himself here, in love but nothing to show for it but a lousy tear?
sat herself on the toilet lid and placed her face in her hands. She gasped for breath as she cried uncontrollably. Why did he have to say he loved her? She knew he couldn’t if he’d done something like that. She hated herself for allowing herself to fall for him, knowing who he was. She was a fool to think would ever change, she knew it from the beginning and chose to go along with it anyways. ignored ’s calls from the other side of the door as she continued to cry into her now soaking wet hands.

Chapter Thirteen

Feeling a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind, smiled as she turned in the arms to face . She allowed him to embrace her, resting her head on his shoulder as they hugged. After a few moments he released her and gave her a good look over. brushed her hands over her high waist black pencil skirt, adjusting it. A tight white button down shirt was tucked into the skirt and her hair pulled back in a low ponytail.
“Wow. You look every bit the professional woman.” shook his head and smiled at her.
“Sorry.” blushed. “I didn’t have time to change after work.” In the last two months since she had seen she had started her new job with Westlife’s management firm and was working so hard she barely made it to their show on time. It was the last stop on their tour, ending it in Dublin where she was now living. Since she was running so late she hadn’t even seen the guys before they went on and had to meet them afterwards at the club they booked for their wrap party.
“Don’t worry about it, , you’re a business woman now, I’m gonna have to learn to live with your career choice.” he smirked and placed an arm over her shoulder to lead her to an empty table where two fresh cocktails waited for them.
“Like you should talk.” laughed and had a seat in the chair pulled out for her, watching him take the one directly across from her. “Thank you again for getting me the job.”
“All I did was set ya up with an interview, you did the rest. They absolutely love ya.” He raised his glass to his lips, taking a sip while did as well. “So tell me everything there is to know about your work. I feel like I haven’t seen you in what, two months?” He leaned across the table towards her, tuning out the loud music behind him to focus on his friend.
and spent the next twenty minutes discussing everything about her new life, everything from her tiny office and crazy assistant to her new apartment. was laughing as told him about her first overflowing toilet when she stopped the story, losing her train of thought. Her eyes locked on a male leaning up against the bar, staring down into his pint of beer. She felt her face flush when looked up towards two beautiful women approaching him. turned his head to glance back at what had caught ’s attention. noticed look behind him and turned her gaze back to him. “Have you started speaking to him again?” asked .
“Of course.” refused to make eye contact with her and downed the rest of his beer, telling he was lying.
“And I don’t mean only business related.” tilted her head, catching his eye. She knew well enough to know when it came to her he wasn’t one to forgive quickly, even if it was one of his best friends he was mad at. Since she’d last seen she’d come to terms with what had happened, accepting the fact that would always be . She decided that she was the one to blame and never should have fallen for him in the first place. stopped hating him weeks ago and almost felt pity for him now. shrugged without giving her an answer and knew she was right. “You should forgive him, ya know. It’s killing you that you hate him so much, don’t let me be the reason for that.”
“And have you?” looked at her across the table. “Forgiven him?”
nodded, sipping on her drink. “Ya, I knew what I was getting myself into when things started with him. I shouldn’t have expected anything less, will never change.” placed the empty glass in front of her and pushed it away. She looked past to again and saw one of the ladies lean into him, brushing her manicured fingers over his arm.
“I don’t know, I think he might have.” turned her eyes back to , giving him a questioning look.
“How so?”
“He rarely goes out with the other lads after shows and when he does he always seems to pop out early.” let out a chuckle when raised an eyebrow at him, knowing what she was thinking. “No, not with a woman. Actually I can’t remember the last time I saw him with one.”
remained quiet, not sure if she believed was any different now, not after how he’d treated her. recognized the look in her eyes and sighed, no matter how much he hated at that moment he knew it paled in comparison to the pain was trying to mask. He knew she was hurting and as much as he hated to admit it he also knew was a completely different person since then and she had to realize it.
“You know, the night you went out with .” pulled herself from her thoughts to look back at . “ called out at the club, insisting he was in love. At the time I thought might be right, I’d never seen the look had in his eyes before, and he could barely keep himself from smiling. Of course…” reached out to ’s empty glass now in the middle of them, stealing her uneaten cherry. “I had no idea he was thinking of you at the time.”
watched as tossed the cherry into his mouth and she looked across the busy club to again. He placed his now empty pint on the bar behind him and pushed the woman’s hand from his, shaking his head at her.
As he refused her advances, looked up and made eye contact with . He felt his heart drop in his chest, seeing her for the first time in months. She looked more stunning than before and he held his breath, remembering why he still loved her so much. Feeling as though the room was closing in on him, he looked towards the neon ‘exit’ sign and decided he needed to get out of there. He pushed past the two women still hovering around him and made his way out of the club.
kept her eyes on him as he left. When she had looked into his eyes she saw what she hadn’t before, she could see the broken heart behind his eyes. She felt the air sucked out of her, realizing what she refused to believe before. Was what told her before she left the truth? She knew , she knew he couldn’t deal with his emotions well. If he had fallen in love like he said he would have taken drastic measures to prove he wasn’t, including sabotaging any chance at happiness with her.
“How about I get us a few more drinks?” remembered she was sitting across from when he spoke and she took her eyes from the door recently exited by .
“Could you?” She pushed her chair back and stood as did. “I’m just gonna step out for some air real quick while you get them.” She gave him a small smile as he nodded and followed ’s path to the exit.
Her heart pounded out of her chest as she pushed the door open and practically ran down the dimly lit stairs. Once at the bottom she reached out and gripped the metal door, willing herself to open it. She took a deep breath as she pushed on it and stepped out into the dark alley.
stood with his back to her, his hands stuffed into his pants as he kicked a stone into a near by puddle. “Needed some fresh air as well?” looked up from the ground when he heard her voice and turned around slowly, trying to hide his surprise when he saw her.
“Ya, it was getting hard to breathe in there.” kept his eyes down, not wanting her to see his vulnerability.
“I know what you mean.”
As slowly stepped towards him, took her in. She looked like a completely new woman, more beautiful than ever. “You look…” he paused, unable to even collect his thoughts. “…fantastic.”
looked down over her outfit and let out a nervous laugh. “I feel like I’m playing grown up right now. I must look so silly.”
“No, it suits you.” gave her a small smile. gave him a smile back and they stood there in silence for a moment. His mind raced, searching for the right words. He had her to himself, something he never thought he’d have to chance to have again and he knew he had to take advantage of it. broke the silence. “, I…”
Before he could get anything out stopped him. “Do you still love me?”
“Yes.” he said without hesitation. He felt the now familiar heart palpitation when took another step towards him, placing her directly in front of him. He held his breath after he took her sweet scent in.
“Good.” smiled as she grabbed the skinny tie resting against his chest and pulled him into her. She lifted herself up on her toes and crashed her lips onto his. He responded immediately by wrapping his arms around her, resting a hand on the small of her back he held onto her tight. smiled when both of there lips parted and their tongues met. Every memory they shared before came flooding back to her as deepened the kiss. She brought her arms up and around his neck, keeping herself from falling when she realized just how much she loved him too.
was the first to pull away from the kiss, staring into her eyes. He couldn’t believe she was there holding on to him again. “I’m so sorry.” he whispered, clutching the back of her shirt, refusing to let her go. “I was such a fucking idiot.”
“You were.” gave him a smirk. “But I understand. In your own crazy way you were just reacting to something you couldn’t control. Part of me was relieved because I didn’t want to accept the fact I might have been falling in love with you too.”
“So…does this mean…” ’s lip curled up into a half smile.
“Yes, , I love you too.” It was all he needed to hear before pressing his lips against hers again, only for her to pull them from him. “But this time, no other girls.” She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to give him a serious glare.
“Done.” He moved his face within inches of hers again. “Not that I would want any others now.” whispered against her lips and gently brushed his over them. ran her fingers up his neck and pulled him in for another kiss, letting out a soft moan as she lost herself in it. They stood in the middle of the dark alley, finally allowing them to be in love with each other.
Both forgot about the club full of people until they heard a door shut behind them, taking them from the kiss suddenly. lifted his head from to look past her. He instantly released her and took a step back when he saw staring at them. “It’s not what you think…” stuttered, unsure of how he was going to react to finding him with again.
spun around quickly, just in time for to cut off. “What? You’re not kissing my best friend in a dark alley?”
“, please.” sighed, as much as she loved him, at some point he needed to let her make her own decisions.
“Why don’t you just man up and do it in public already, mate?” let the smile he was suppressing spread across his face. “This whole sneaking around shit is getting a bit old, don’t ya think?”
Letting out the deep breath he was holding, held on to his chest trying to control his beating heart. “Damnit , please tell me yer serious.”
“Ya, I am.” He smiled when he saw reach out and grab ’s hand, pulling her towards him. “Truth is, I always knew you two would be great together.”
“You did not.” gave him a look and laughed.
“I did, the way you fought, there was obviously something there. You were just so damn stubborn to notice it, both of you.” motioned with his arms towards them. “And here wasn’t ready for it. But apparently ya are now, thank god.” and looked at each other, trying to hold back a laugh. They both knew, deep down, that was probably right. “So are we good here? Because as usual everyone’s looking for ya. ’s ‘bout to make one of his infamous toasts and we need ya up there.” motioned his arm back towards the door.
His fingers still intertwined with ’s, nodded and held her hand as he led her inside. held the door open for the pair and watched as entered first. He held his arm out and stopped before he could make it entirely through the doorway. “Don’t think this means if you fuck with her again I won’t smack ya this time.”
let out a laugh, and gave a smile, his hand still in hers. “I know. You don’t have to worry, ya scare me, mate.”
“Good. Now get yer arses up there.” gave a push inside and all three made their way back into the packed club.
Once inside, they stopped at the edge of a crowd formed in the corner of the room. stepped onto a chair and gripped ’s shoulder as he put a foot on a round table, raising himself up. A few people let out a gasp as he wobbled on the table for a moment before regaining his balance and reaching down for the beer and microphone was holding up to him. ’s eyes scanned the room and he grinned when he saw , , and .
“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” shouted out as hit the side of his own pint with a metal spoon. When there was still noise from the crowd yelled out again. “Ey! Will ya please shut the fuck up!” A hush fell over everyone as all eyes looked up at him. “Thank you.”
stepped up behind and wrapped his arms around her, smiling when she leaned back into him. Giving the top her head a kiss, prepared himself for ’s toast.
“I’d just like to say a few words to all ya lovely folk.” waved his pint in front of the crowd, showing he was already a bit tipsy as beer spilled from it. “First of all. On behalf of the lads and I, thank you for making this the best fuckin’ tour in the entire world! We may be gettin’ old, but we still got moves!” He attempted to jump around on the table to show his ass to the group but nearly fell in the process and tried to steady himself yet again.
laughed up at him as he took a large swig. “Don’t hurt yerself ol’ man.”
turned his attention from the toast to look over at the couple beside him. was completely oblivious to his surroundings as he enjoyed ’s body finally against his again. He nuzzled his face into her neck and placed small kisses on it, causing her to smile.
pulled a face at before turning his attention back to the crowd where his eyes found . “To all the ladies in the house, I’d like to make a bit of an announcement.” He nodded towards so could see and grinned, clinking his pint again. “Our own is apparently spoken for.” He pointed his beer towards and who looked up from their own world. There was a collective sigh of disappointment from most of the women as everyone turned to look at the couple. “I know, I know, its heart breakin’ isn’t it?” He gave all the girls a drunken pout, pushing out his bottom lip. “Can I just say it’s about fuckin’ time sorted him out!”
turned away from the crowd, trying to hide her face which was becoming redder by the minute. laughed and wrapped his arms around her as she pressed her face against his chest. She told herself as soon as she got her hands on the drunken she was going to strangle him.
Pulling himself up on a chair, looked over the sea of heads to watch hiding her face. He reached out and grabbed the microphone from ’s hands. “Aww, , love. Are ya embarrassed? Can’t say I blame ya, if I was dating I’d hide too!”
The crowd erupted in laugher as all eyes fell on and again. “If I wasn’t in such a good mood, I’d come over there and kick yer arse, !” yelled across the room.
Before could respond, stole the microphone back and jumped down from the table, dropping his beer all over the floor in the process. Unfazed he pushed his way past everyone until he stood before the pair. “There’s just one last thing I need to say. I want everyone here to know that I was first to call this!” He waved his hand over their heads as turned back around to face him. “And I think it’s about damn time admits I was right and that he’s in love! So please, sir, how much do ya love this lovely lass?” pointed the mic at before handing it over to .
shrugged as he pulled the mic to his face. “I suppose she’s alright.” He smiled when gasped and gave him a shove. “Ok, fine.” he sighed and looked down at her, his eyes piercing into her. He cleared his throat and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I am completely, head over heels, in love with .” Without taking his eyes off of her, handed over the microphone to and smiled when he wrapped his free hand around her.
“Kiss her, kiss her!” began to chant into the microphone soon followed by most of the club, excluding a few very disappointed females.
Still clutching one of her hands in his, moved his face within inches of ’s. He slid his hand a bit higher up her back and slowly dipped her back, pressing his lips against hers as he did. let out a squeal as she felt her body tilt and let one leg lift off the ground, enjoying the feel of his lips. The room cheered and they deepened their kiss, trying to tune out the crowd. Smiling against her lips, slowly pulled her back up without letting go.
They both tried to catch their breath from the kiss. “Well that was a first.” whispered, his eyes still fixed on ’s.
“What was?” she whispered back.
“I’ve never had a kiss in front of an audience before.” He released his hold on her hand and moved it up to her face, running his thumb across her soft lips.
“I don’t think you’ve ever professed your love publicly either.” laughed as she gave his thumb a small kiss.
“That’s because I’ve never been in love before.” Winking, slid his hand over her cheek and around to the back of her neck. He pulled her in for another kiss, not caring if the entire world witnessed it.

THE END