"How much longer are we going to have to go through with this? I know you know where Emily is and you better be telling me, or your little vacation isn't going to be happening," he said as he pulled out his knife and pointed it towards the tire.
"Riley..I don't know exactly where she is. All I know is she's somewhere south and that she's OK," Emily said as she walked to her car and threw her suitcase in the back. "I don't know anything else."
Riley sighed before putting his knife away. "I swear to God, Stephanie..you better enjoy your little vacation because if I find out that you've been lying to me..the only vacation you're going to be taking is six feet under."
"I hear harassment isn't taken lightly these days," she said as she pushed him away from her car and got in before pulling out, leaving him standing there glaring at her. As she drove down the road, she smiled to herself when she realized that she was about to be spending the next two weeks with not only one of her best friends, but one of the hottest guys that she had seen.
It didn't take her long to reach the airport because there wasn't a lot of traffic out on the highways. Once she was finally seated on the plane, she closed her eyes and prepared for take off, knowing that in less than an hour she was going to be in a better and warmer place.
"I have a few words for you," he said as he raised up to look at her with a playful tint in his eyes. "How about you shut up and lay back on this here bed and let me do what I do best."
"How about this..no," she said before pushing against his chest to put some space between the two of them. She sat on the edge of the bed avoiding Justin's questioning glare. It wasn't that her body didn't want him at that very moment, because she was surprised that she had pushed him away, but she still kept thinking about her argument with JC.
"What's wrong?" Justin asked as he crawled over and began massaging her neck.
As soon as his hands had touched the base of her neck, she had jumped off the bed and walked over to the window in the room, not wanting to turn around and look at him. "Just leave me alone right now, Justin."
"There's something wrong that you're not telling me and I won't leave you alone because I care about you."
"Its nothing," she lied, inwardly groaning when he walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, spinning her around to where she was facing him.
"Tell me the truth, Whitney."
"Justin," she began but stopped when she realized that he wasn't going to leave her alone until she confessed what was on her mind. "I just miss Emily."
"Its something deeper than that. I have a feeling it has something to do with your talk with JC," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest and continued to look at her with that questioning glare.
"Justin ..lets just drop this."
"Fine," he said as he watched her move across the room towards the door. "Walk out and leave this unfinished. I won't push you to talk to me..but I do know this, nothing good can come from keeping secrets."
Her hand reached out to open the door, but she pulled it back as soon as he said those last few words. "Sit down, Justin," she said softly as she took a deep breath and walked back over to where he was sitting on the bed. "The other night when JC and I were arguing...he said some things that really got me thinking, and vice versa."
"What exactly did the two of you say to each other?" he asked as he reached out and touched her hand, letting her know that he was willing to listen to anything.
"I accused him of falling for Emily..."
"Which he did," Justin interrupted as he snickered. "Sorry..please continue with what you were saying."
"He asked me if it bothered me that.." she said her voice trailing off as she suddenly became embarrassed about talking to Justin about all of this. "He asked me if it bothered me in any way that you weren't touching me in a loving way."
Justin was silent for a moment before his eyes narrowed in slight anger and confusion. "Did he imply that you were a whore?"
"Not directly..and we were both tired, Justin. Don't get mad..I said some pretty harsh words to him."
His facial expressions softened as he reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek. "Does it bother you?"
She lowered her head before shrugging her shoulders. "I've asked myself that question over and over and I can't seem to come up with an answer."
"I don't want you to think that I don't care for you..you're special to me, Whitney..I can't say I'm in love with you, but I do know you're unlike any other girl that I've been with."
"Justin," she said before resting her head on his shoulder. "What's going to happen when this promotional tour is over and I have to go back to South Carolina.."
"You don't have to go back, Whit..you're welcome to stay with us as long as you want," he said before looking over at the clock and laughing. "You need to get going before Stephanie starts to worry about where the hell you are."
She followed his gaze before jumping off the bed and grabbing the keys to the rental car that security had gotten her. "I'll be back later on."
"I'll probably be here," he said winking at her before she turned around and made her way to the door.
"Steph!"
Stephanie smiled when she saw Whitney jogging over to her. "Its about damn time that you got here."
"I'm sorry..I'll inform you of why I was late later on..now have you got everything?"
"Yes..just get me out of this place. I'm tired of seeing all these damn people walking by me," Stephanie said, handing one of her suitcases to Whitney. Once they were in the rental car, Stephanie turned to Whitney and smiled. "Fill me in on everything!"
"There's nothing to tell really..I've been worried sick about Emily, basically that's it."
"What has happened between you and Justin?"
"Nothing really except the same things that did before I agreed to stay and finish the promotional tour with them," she said as she turned on her blinker and made her way into the hotel where everyone was staying. "You're sharing a room with me, by the way."
"Sounds great," Stephanie said, her eyes growing larger as they took in the massive building before her. "This place is huge."
"Wait until you see the rooms," Whitney said before parking the car and getting out and grabbing a suitcase. "They're ...wow..that's the only way I know how to describe them."
"You haven't changed," Stephanie said in between laughs as she followed Whitney into the massive hotel.
"I will never change..I haven't changed since around the seventh grade, why the hell should I start now?"
Stephanie continued to laugh, silently remembering all the times that they had shared together when they were kids. It seemed as if it were only yesterday that they had been outside running around playing together without a care in the world, and now in a blink of an eye, they were adults having to find out what they were meant to be in life. "Wow," Stephanie said when Whitney opened the door to the room she assumed she would be staying in.
"I told you these rooms are nice," Whitney said before putting the suitcase she was carrying down onto the bed that was made. "I bet you're just eager to see the guys."
"Actually," she said as she licked her lips and winked. "I am."
Whitney shook her head before walking out of their room and down the hall, coming to stop at a room that was two down from theirs. She knocked on it before leaning against the wall as she waited for someone to answer it. The door swung open to reveal Lance standing there with a cellphone held up to his ear, rolling his eyes once he saw Whitney. She reached out and pushed Lance further into the room before motioning for Stephanie to go on in.
"Have fun," she whispered before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her before Stephanie had a chance to object. Since there was no way she could leave without seeming rude, she sat down on the king sized bed that was in the middle of the room and crossed her legs, waiting for him to finish with the phone call that he was in the process of. She didn't want to be rude and seem like she was spying on what he was saying, but there was no way she could stop herself from over hearing what he was saying.
"Beverly...it won't work between us. I told you that a long time ago," he said, his voice deep voice rising to where it filled the room. "I have to go now."
His back was turned to Stephanie, only allowing her to witness the muscles tightening in his back as his arms moved around. She was caught up in staring and didn't realize he was trying to talk to her until he reached up and acted like he was going to remove his shirt. "Good..I've got your attention now."
She immediately began to blush, her hands flying to her face to try and cover up some of the redness. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said before walking over to her and lightly flicking her on her nose. "I'm used to people staring at me."
"So.." she said as her hands slowly made their way to her lap.
"Stand up," he said softly, his green eyes latching onto her brown ones. She was hooked now and the only thing she could do was to stand up like he had told her. His arms came to rest on her waist, pulling her slightly against him, their eyes never breaking contact. His head slowly began to lower, causing her to nervously bit her bottom lip as she waited for his lips to finally touch hers. There were only a few more inches left and then their first kiss would finally be an actual thing, not just something that she had thought about. Her eyes fluttered closed as she continued to wait for what seemed like ages for those lips.
Lance was fully enjoying making her wait. One of his hands moved from her waist to reach in his pocket and pull out a foiled Hershey Kiss that he had placed in there while he had been on the phone. He put the foiled candy on her slightly parted lips before moving away as her eyes jerked open in confusion. He laughed as she watched her reach up and remove the candy, her eyes shinning back at him with slight frustration and humor.
"You're evil," she said as she sat down on the bed and tried to calm her racing heart.
"I know," he said as he reached over and opened the door. "I have to run and do something really quick, but I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't worry..good things come to those who wait."
She laughed as she watched him close the door, leaving her alone in his hotel room. She laid back on the bed and unwrapped the Hershey Kiss, before plopping it in her mouth. 'Two people can play this game,' she thought to herself as an evil smile replaced the grin that had previously been there. "Just you wait, Lance."
He motioned for Lonnie, his security guard, to follow him as he made his way towards the elevator, putting his sunglasses and hat on to help hide his features. He wasn't hungry, but he needed to get away from everyone so he could think about some things that had been on his mind lately. But who was he kidding? He knew that the only person who had been on his mind lately was Emily. Ever since his argument with Whitney, he couldn't deny that he had fallen for her. He couldn't get the night of the awards out of his head. He knew that she had wanted for him to kiss her just as much as he had wanted to kiss her, but he hadn't been able to do it. Now he wanted to touch her lips and just hold her in his arms. He wanted to show her love like she hadn't ever known. It was official: JC had fallen hard for Emily.
Now that he had finally admitted it to himself, he needed to let her know how he felt, only there was a problem with that. He had no clue where she was. All he knew was she was beginning to consume his every thought and dreams at night, something only one other woman had been able to do and that was Wendy. That was what scared him. He didn't want to be hurt again but he knew he couldn't ignore the feelings that were pulsing through his heart and brain.
"JC..is this place OK?" Lonnie asked, placing his large hand on JC's shoulder.
JC's head snapped up, not realizing where they had walked to. In front of him stood a small restaurant called Ginger's, advertising to have great home cooked food. The small place made him think of Emily and the first time he had saw her. "Its fine, Lonnie."
The two men walked in, both relieved when they saw there was only a few people scattered around in the place. They both slid into a both near the corner of the restaurant, both wanting to get something to eat and then head back to the hotel. Under normal circumstances, all the guys would be staying at home since they were in Orlando, but they were doing a special promotion tomorrow and had decided it would just be easier to stay in a hotel. After all, they had been gone from home this long, why not wait an extra day?
JC stared out the window as he waited for someone to come and place their orders. They didn't have to wait long.
"Welcome to Ginger's...I'll be your server today," a soft female voice told the two men. JC knew that voice. He slowly turned his head around and his heartbeat increased when he saw her standing there.
"Hi Emily."