Part 419

Howie looked up at him as he stepped out into the hall closing the door behind him. "I told you that I was going to kick your ass if you upset her again," growled Howie. "And I meant it, Kevin. Sarah doesn’t need this right now. Between Jesse leaving and you calling Lynne ‘baby’, it’s a wonder her blood pressure isn’t through the roof. And now this!"

"Whoa! This? What ‘this’?"

"You grabbing her in the ‘underworld’! God, what an insensitive jackass!"

"Gee, that’s twice you’ve called me that," said Kevin sarcastically.

"If the shoe fits! Damn, you’re so desperate to get Lynne into bed that you’ll hurt someone who loves you unconditionally."

That set Kevin off, "Back off, Dorough! I have no fucking clue what crawled up your ass but I’m not going to stand around and let you make crude comments about Lynne. If we weren’t about to go onstage, I’d deck your sorry ass!"

"I’ll tell you what crawled up my ass! YOU! You grabbed Sarah by the arm in the ‘underworld’."

"So what? I was just trying to stop her and she got all hormonal on me! I’ve had about enough of it too!" Kevin shot angrily.

"JACKASS! The ‘underworld’, Kevin!! That’s where David raped her! You grabbing her just brought back all the memories. She hasn’t been in the underworld without me since it happened and you obviously cornered her in your need to make things right again. You didn’t stop to consider what you were doing to her!"

Kevin’s anger was deflated and he sagged under the weight of the realization that he had once again hurt Sarah. It had never dawned on him that she was still dealing with what David had done to her. She had seemed so much happier and back to her old self with all of her past in the open now.

Howie saw the realization of his actions in Kevin’s eyes and his tone softened. "Look, I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt Sarah…."

"God, NEVER, Howie. I do love her."

"I know that…"

"And so do I," grumbled Sarah sleepily from the doorway behind Howie.

"I thought you were asleep, Angel."

"Who can sleep with two over-protective grizzly bears fighting it out?"

Howie pulled Sarah beside him and wrapped her in his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Sorry about that."

"Sarah, I am SO sorry for scaring you."

"We’ll talk later, ‘Boo’," whispered Sarah taking his hand in hers. "You guys have a show to do now."

He squeezed her hand. "You were awesome tonight…’Baby’."

The tone of Kevin’s voice, soft and tender like all the times he’d held her when she cried over the problems with Howie, and the look in his eyes melted Sarah. She smiled softly, "Thank you, ‘Boo’. Go flirt with Lynne. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it."

Kevin gave her a kiss on the cheek and left Howie with her. He looked into Sarah’s eyes. "I’m sorry we woke you. I really wanted you to sleep."

"I know. I’ll stay here during the show and rest. I’m okay now and Raoul is here to keep me company," said Sarah seeing her bodyguard leaning against the wall next to Nick’s dressing room talking to Billy. "Becca must be in there with Garrett."

"I don’t know. I was too involved with Kevin."

About that time, Becca came out with Nick and Garrett and Sarah said, "Go on. I’m gonna keep Garrett so Becca can watch the show with Lynne."

"Are you sure you’re up to it?"

"Yeah. He’ll take his evening nap and I can sleep too. I love you, ‘D’."

Howie kissed her deeply, holding her body to his and running his hands through her hair. "I love you too."

Sarah had to resist the urge to do the same since he was ready for the show. She watched as he followed Kevin and as AJ walked by her, she gave him a kiss too. "Bec," she called as Nick joined Brian.

Becca joined Sarah. "Why aren’t you going out to watch the show?"

"I’m just not up to it tonight. Let me take Garrett and you go watch with Lynne," she said pushing the door open and going back inside.

"Are you sure?," asked Becca as she followed Sarah. "You look tired."

"I’ll be fine," said Sarah taking Garrett from Becca. Sitting down on the couch, she leaned over to take him out of his seat and set him on her lap. Taking his little fists in hers, she started making faces at him as she said, "It’ll give me some time with this little guy. I haven’t had a chance to spoil him."

Becca smiled watching Sarah playing with Garrett. "Thank you. Before I forget, Lynne was asking if there was something between you and Kevin. What do I say? I mean, do you REALLY want her to know about all that?"

Sarah shook her head, "No. Kevin and I agreed that it was best not to let Lynne know about our past. We’re just really good friends and he was there for Howie and me when things were rough. Now shoo!"

"Fine. Thanks for doing this. He’s been fed and there are diapers in Nick’s dressing room."

"If I need you, I know how to get hold of you…but I DO know what to do for a baby."

"Yeah, but can you feed him?"

"Sure, but I draw the line at feeding him. I’m not sure I want a Carter…"

"Don’t go there," laughed Becca. "I really appreciate this."

"It’s no problem," answered Sarah completely ignoring Becca as she made faces at Garrett.

Becca watched a minute longer and then headed out to go watch the show with the other girlfriends.

Part 420        Index