~ Chapter 29 ~
*The morning after Nick and Shae's drunkfest*
Shae's eyes popped open. She felt her head throbbing at once. 'What the heck did I do last night?' she groaned inwardly. Rolling over, she came face to face with a sleeping Nick. A quick once over and she realized he was wearing nothing but his boxer-briefs. 'WHAT THE F**K DID WE DO LAST NIGHT?' her mind screamed. She sat up slowly. Trying to recall last night's events. With much effort, but in vain. She remembered the concert. The laughter as she and Nick came back to his dressing room. His idea to sneak into the other rooms and pilfer as many bottles of wine as he could. Looking around the room now, she spotted five empty bottles sitting on a small table. 'Shit! No wonder my head feels like it was stampeded by herd of cavalry.'
She stood up on shaky legs and went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Coming back into the room, she stared at Nick. Tried to remember what happened after the first three bottles of wine. They were laughing over silly movies they'd seen. Images came and went, but there were gaping holes. She remembered him tickling her. And music playing. But that was it. "Great. Hours of my life that I'll never remember. A reminder never to drink that much again, Shae-Lyn,' she scolded herself.
Her eyes travelled up and down Nick's sleeping figure. He had rolled over on his back, one arm tossed carelessly over his head. His hair fell into his face and his mouth was slightly ajar. She could see drool pooling at one side of that perfect mouth. She giggled. How would the teenies react if they knew that their sex God drooled in his sleep?
Her eyes rested on his boxers. There was a slight bulge in them. She wondered if he was having a wet dream. Tearing her gaze away and resisting the urge to curl beside his soft body, well, not all soft, she grabbed her purse and left the room. She didn't want Nick waking up and seeing her there. Heavens knows what he'd think. She didn't want to ruin the friendship he had found in her. Knowing his moodiness and temper, she kind of thought he might be angry.
Lost in thought, she didn't see Brian until he was practically on top of her. Startled, she let out a curse.
"Going somewhere?" he asked icily.
Perplexed by his tone, Shae raised her eyebrows questioningly. "I was going to look for Lo. Is something wrong?"
Brian took her arm. "We need to talk. Come with me. I'll buy you a cup of coffee. I'm sure you need it."
'How does he know I need it?' she wondered uneasily.
Ten minutes later, they were escounced in a private booth in a small restaurant near the venue. "I want to talk to you about last night," Brian began.
Shae's face changed colors. "Yea?" she said warily.
"Shae, don't take this wrong. I like you. You're a nice girl. Nick likes you. You've done wonders for his morale these past few weeks..."
"But?" Shae interrupted impatiently.
"What were you thinking letting Nick get drunk last night?"
Shae felt squeamish. "What do you know about this?"
"I know what I saw. I want to know why Nick was drunk and naked with you in in his dressing room?"
Shae's face lost it's color as she gasped outloud. "N...naked?" she stammered.
"Don't play stupid with me. You were there."
Taken aback by the anger in his voice, Shae squelched the desire to break down. Mustering up her courage, she said indignantly, "For your information, I don't remember much about last night. Nick decided he wanted to drink a little. It's not like he's never done it. Obviously we got carried away."
"Obviously," Brian stated drily.
Ignoring him, Shae went on, "I only recall bits and pieces. I don't remember Nick being naked. He's asleep in his boxers right now. My question is, how do YOU know about this?"
"I walked into the room and saw you guys. In a very compromising position, I might add."
"Care to elaborate?"
"I'd rather forget I ever saw it, but, well, you and Nick were standing a few inches apart, he was naked. Looked like he was about to kiss you, and...well...uh..."
"What??"
"He was standing at attention, if yanno what I mean."
"WHAT??!!?" she shrieked, then looked around sheepishly as the other customers glared in her direction. She lowered her voice. "What were you doing staring at Nick's, er, member?"
Brian's ears reddened. "It was hard not to notice." He reddened more as Shae giggled at the expression. "Oh you know what I mean. Hell Shae, I thought you and Nick were just friends?"
"We are. We were drunk, Brian."
"Good thing I walked in when I did. Who knows what could've happened if I hadn't."
"Well don't worry your balding little head. We didn't have sex. That I'm sure of."
Brian looked offended. "No need to get nasty."
"Why don't you mind your own business? What Nick and I do is none of your business."
"It IS my business when my 19 year old friend, who's like my little brother, gets sloshed after a show, which is something he never does, and ends up naked with a girl he's merely friends with. But that's hardly my point. Nick f**ks around and I couldn't care less who it's with. I just don't want you influencing him."
"I would never do that!" Shae sputtered angrily. Who does he think he is?
"See to it that it doesn't happen again. Nick is easily swayed. He's very vunerable right now."
"And easy prey for a 23 year old with wild drinking tendencies, right?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to. It's written all over your face. You don't know anything about me, Brian. Lemme tell you a few things. First of all, I rarely, and I mean, RARELY drink. Second, if I can put a smile on Nick's face for one minute of the day, I will. Third, Nick's not Kevin. He's not about to drink his way to hell. So lay off. I don't need a lecture."
"Whoa. I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted you to understand Nick's state of mind."
"I understand it better than you ever will! I know what he went through. I'm trying to help him cope with it. Plus the issue of your cousin."
"Alright. I digress. Can we just forget about this and move on? I won't tell Nick what I saw if you won't."
"I won't lie to him."
"What he doesn't know..."
"...is lying by omission. And he may remember anyways." She stood up. "See you later. I have to go pack."
*At the airport*
"Think you can behave yourself until we see each other again in three weeks?" Leighanne asked Brian as she kissed his forehead.
He sighed unhappily. "Do I have a choice? I wish you didn't have to go."
"Me too. But I really want this job. If the pilot pans out, you may be looking at a new TV star."
Brian smiled. "I hope so, baby. Break a leg."
"Thanks B. I love you. Just a word of advice."
"What?"
"Leave Shae and Nick alone. Shae told me what you said to her this morning. She was really upset. You know how she feels about Nick. She'd never do anything to hurt him. Give her a break."
"Alright." He sighed. "Why do you always get your way?"
"Cause I'm smart and you love me." She grinned.
"I do," he agreed, kissing her.
Loreto groaned as she walked up the aisle to her seat and noticed her seatmate. Kevin sat there, staring idly out the window. She sat down, hoping fervently that he would fall asleep. She didn't know what to say to him. They had been avoiding one another for weeks now. She took a magazine out of her bag and began flipping through it. An article titled "Multiple Orgasms and How You Can Have Them" caught her eye. 'Really? People can have five orgasms in a row?' She almost choked on her saliva. Wowee. She'd never even had one. Then again, you need to have sex to have one. Totally engrossed in the article, she jumped a mile high when Kevin leaned over and said cockily, "I once had six. Top that."
She turned to look at him, her face bearing a look of shock. "Uh...six?"
"Yep!" He boasted proudly. "Maybe you can find out for yourself sometime?"
This time she did choke.
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