The five guys were sitting in Kevin’s living room still, waiting for the girls to get back from shopping so they could all go somewhere for lunch. Management had gotten right to the point that morning, which gave them extra time, and they actually decided to give the guys a break for once. They were now finished with boring meetings for the entire week, and Nick and Beth could go back to Ruskin whenever they wanted.
“I’m telling you, guys, she’s perfect for me!” Nick said excitedly. He quickly filled them in on his two dates with her, of course excluding all the personal details about herself that Beth had shared with him. “I really fell for her.”
“I’m happy for you, Frack,” Kevin said. “You seem incredibly happy about her. I’ve never seen you this excited about a girl before.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited about anything at all before, besides maybe hearing our songs on the radio all the time and seeing the crowds of fans at our concerts in Europe,” Howie added, patting him on the back. “Dude, you’re literally glowing.”
“I thought only girls did that,” Nick stated, confused.
The other guys laughed. “That doesn’t say too much about you then, buddy,” Kevin teased.
“Anyway, have you kissed her yet?” Brian demanded.
“Nope, not yet. I’m taking this really slow because she’s had some rough times with guys. I don’t want to freak her out or anything. So no, I haven’t kissed her yet. I want to, but I want to wait for the right time.”
“You must really care about her,” Kevin stated.
A grin spread across Nick’s face. “Man, I fell really hard for this girl. I mean, she’s absolutely wonderful.”
Just before he got the last two words out of his mouth, the three girls walked into the room. “Huh? What’s absolutely wonderful?” Leighanne asked curiously.
“Oh, Nicky was just talking about his girlfriend. Beth is absolutely wonderful,” Brian teased in a girly voice, making both Nick and Beth blush furiously.
Nick quickly changed the subject to avoid any further embarrassment. “Um, yeah, anyway, do you girls all want to go out to lunch with us? That’s what we had been planning on. Believe it or not, management actually gave us the rest of the day off.”
“Sure, sounds good to me,” Beth said.
“Yeah, fine,” Leighanne said. Kristin nodded.
After lunch, Beth and Nick said bye to everyone. “It was nice meeting you all, and I had an awesome time shopping!” she exclaimed.
“Next time you come to Orlando, we’ll go get our nails done,” Leighanne suggested.
“Sounds great!” Beth replied. “Or we can go see a chick flick or something.”
Eventually, Nick managed to drag his girlfriend away from her new friends to the car. “What did you think?” he asked.
“I had a really great time! I’m glad I went!”
“So you liked everyone?”
“Absolutely. They’re all really nice.” She smiled. “When we get home, it’s your turn. You get to spend time with the most important person in my life, my Lissa.”
“That is so cute that you’re so close to your sister. I wish I was that close to my family.”
“Well, she’s my baby. I’ve been babysitting for her for forever, and I used to hate it, but then I realized that I had to do it so I should at least make an effort to have fun, and I did. She’s such a doll, and she already loves you.”
“How can she already love me?”
“I guess I’m her role model, so whatever I do, she does. If I like you, she’ll like you.”
Nick grinned. “My sisters and brother always hated me because I teased them nonstop. Now I lay off them a little bit because I spend so much time away from them, and when I am home, I want to be getting along with them.”
“How old are they?”
“BJ is fifteen, Leslie is eleven, and Aaron and Angel are nine. They’re twins.”
“Yeah, Liss hasn’t gotten to the stage where she annoys me yet, so I still love her to death.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to hanging out with her tonight.”