"And this, ladies, is Mr. Nick Carter!"
AJ grinned as Nick walked to the back of the bus where he and three girls were sitting. The girls looked about 17 or 18. Not bad looking either, not that Nick noticed. He just smiled at the three girls and nodded at AJ.
"Hey Nick!" one of the girls screamed.
"How you doin'?" he replied. They all squealed again. "AJ, we leavin' soon?" he asked, trying not to sound rude.
"I think so. Kev and Howie are still inside." AJ smiled, not looking at Nick for a second. His eyes were on the girls.
"Alright. Nice seein' you ladies... uh, where's Rok?" Nick asked AJ again.
"He's probably in his bunk or outside with fans." AJ answered.
"Alright thanks. See ya." Nick finished and waved as he left the back area.
Then he walked to the front of the bus and peeked into Brian's bunk. No, he wasn't there. He kept walking and found Brian and his wife, Leighanne, sitting at the table near the front of the bus.
"Hey Bri, hey Leigh..." Nick let my voice trail off.
"What's wrong Nick?" Brian asked him right away.
"Nothing. Uh, you think we could talk?" he asked him.
"Of course." Brian answered. He leaned over and kissed Leighanne and then she got up and walked away. Nick sat down next to Brian. "What's up bro?" he asked his best friend.
"Well... I did something today... just now... I'm just not sure if I should've done it." Nick told Brian.
"What'd you do? Please tell me you didn't cheat on Savanna?" he jumped to conclusions like Nick always did.
"No, no... the opposite, pretty much. I... told her..." He wasn't sure how to tell him. Luckily he didn't have to.
"You told her you loved her?" Brian asked him, reading his mind. Nick nodded. "Wow, that's great. What'd she say?"
"Not much, actually. She just sort of said thanks and stuff... she didn't say it back... I don't think she loves me..." Nick whined again.
"Hey, just cuz she didn't say it back, doesn't mean she doesn't love you. It's hard for chicks to say it, you know... they gotta really mean it." Brian laughed. Nick smiled.
"I know. I just sort of wished she'd say it back. Just so I knew for sure." Nick said.
"I know how you feel. I was the first one to say 'I love you' between Leigh and I. I just felt it, so I said it. I took her a few weeks after that to say it back, but she always felt it, just couldn't say it, you know?" he asked Nick.
"Really? I can't see Leighanne as the type who'd not be able to say 'I love you'. She tells everyone she loves them!" he laughed. It was true, when Leighanne was happy, she went around telling everyone she loved them.
"Well... it's just like that for chicks. So just give her time. I'm pretty sure she'll say it soon. I know she does love you. I can tell just by the way she acts. You two are perfect together." Brian told Nick seriously.
"Thanks man, that means alot to me. I'm going to go crazy when I see her tomorrow." he smiled.
"Yeah, you are. Just don't do anything you'll regret." he said. "Wait... Nick... have you two... you know...?" he asked.
Nick was a little shocked that Brian asked him that, but he wasn't scared to tell him the truth. He knew Nick wasn't a virgin.
"No... it's kinda crazy, don't you think? We've been together for over two years, and we haven't had sex, but I only knew my last girlfriend for like a month and we slept together four times... I'm such an idiot." Nick told Brian. He grinned.
"You were young and pretty stupid, but that was like, three years ago." Brian joked. "But... you're alot more mature and smarter now... you'll do it when both of you are ready." he finished.
"Yeah... thanks Brian..." Nick finished and gave him a hug. "You know what...?" he asked.
"Huh?" Brian asked, letting his Kentucky accent out.
"She doesn't know I'm not a virgin... fuck..." Nick whispered.
"You never told her you weren't a virgin?" Brian practically yelled.
"Shhhhh... I didn't tell her I was a virgin, I just didn't say I wasn't..." he said.
"Oh man, Nick... you're going to get it." Brian smiled. "Sorry to ask... is she a virgin?"
"Yeah... she says she is. I believe her. But what the fuck am I going to do now? She's going to want to know if I'm a virgin..." Nick mumbled.
"You can't lie to her, Nick, not now. You have to tell her the truth. I'll back you up. I'll tell her you were a horny 17-year-old when you lost your virginity. You were stupid. But you're not stupid anymore. She'll forgive you." Brian grinned, making Nick smile.
"Thanks Rok. I'll tell her the truth, I could never lie to her. Love you bro..." He hugged Brian again and then got up and went back to his bunk.
We started driving again a few minutes later, and Nick guessed they were heading to the staduim for the soundcheck. It was the middle of the afternoon, a beautiful Tampa day. Nick knew Tampa like the back of his hand. He knew Orlando almost that well, too. Actually he knew alot of cities pretty well. That's what happens when you visit the same cities over and over. It was ok though, Nick loved it. He was watching out the window as they passed a few resturants. Food looked good to him right. He was starving, which made him wonder if AJ had even bought him anything. Oh well, he'd find out later. He kept looking out the window. His house was pretty far from the city, it was about half hour drive from the middle of town. Nick lived right by the ocean. He had two huge motor boats and a dock, and everything was perfect there. He doesn't get to be there that often though. Wishing he was driving out to his house instead of to the stadium, he closed my eyes again. When he closed his eyes he could imagine anything. His mom said he'd always had a large imagination. Nick imagined being with Savanna, sitting on his dock with their feet dangling in the water. That would be the perfect day.
The bus came to a stop just five or ten minutes later, and he looked to make sure they were at the stadium. They were. Nick jumped out of the bunk again, but turned back and grabbed a baseball cap before he left. He threw the hat on backwards and then followed the other guys off the bus. He didn't have to bring anything to the soundcheck, just his voice. They saw that the other bus (their dancers' bus) was already in the parking lot. They ran into the building quickly. It was quarter after 2pm.
The first person Nick saw when they got in was Josie, one of their female dancers. She was pretty, but a little older. Nick thought she was 26. She and him talked alot about alot of things. She'd been dancing with them for a few years. Nick gave her a quick hug, since he hadn't seen her since the night before in Jacksonville.
"Hey Nick... how was the drive here?" she asked him. She was one of the only girls who he could talk to and not feel guilty.
"Ok. I talked to Savanna a little while ago." Nick told her.
"Awesome... how is she?" Josie asked.
"Good. I can't wait to see her." he said.
"I bet you can't. You two don't see enough of each other." she told him. He nodded, agreeing. "Well, after the show tonight, you can go back to Lakeland and be with her." Josie smiled.
"Yup." Nick smiled, thinking about it.
"That's it, boy. Keep smiling. Don't look so sad all the time." she laughed.
"Sorry Jo, I just miss her, alot." Nick mumbled. She nodded and gave him another hug.
"You'll be ok, pal. See ya later." she finished and took off.
Nick kept walking and then suddenly remembered something. His family was supposed to be flying up to Tampa for their last show, tonight. They lived in the Florida Keys, a little south of there. Nick's little brother Aaron just finished acting in the broadway musical Suessical. He was 13. He and their 15-year-old sister Leslie would start another tour in June as well, but had a few weeks off before that. Nick's other two sisters, Aaron's twin sister Angel and 19-year-old BJ were also at home at the moment. So his whole family were planning to fly up to see the last show of Nick's tour, tonight.
He saw a stage person, Matt, walk by just seconds later, so he stopped him.
"Yo, Matt... do you know if my family came up or not?" Nick asked him. He wasn't sure if Matt would know or not, but there was no harm in asking.
"Actually I was just told to tell you they'll be there in a few minutes. Their plane just landed." Matt grinned.
"Really? Thanks..." Nick smiled. Matt walked away.
Maybe seeing his family all together for the first time in quite awhile would keep him from thinking about Savanna. Maybe hanging out with his crazy little brother for awhile would keep her off his mind. He sure hoped so, because he thought he'd go nuts if he2 didn't stop thinking about her.
