Sandra whispered back. "Yeah, I saw it. Isn't that insane? I would've never guessed that she would be his type....."
"Ahem," said Nick. "No whispering around here. If you can't say it in front of everyone, then you don't need to say it at all."
Kim Ann smiled and looked at Sandra. "Well, I couldn't help but notice that you and Angela are kind of.....chummy. Anything you care to share, Mr. Carter?"
Nick was shocked that she'd just come right out and asked him such a thing. "Well, uh, we're just friends. She, uh, she.......she thinks I'm good looking." He was grasping at straws, but he thought his answer was pretty good on such short notice.
"Yeah," replied Kim Ann. "We little people know what the 'just friends' thing means in superstar lingo."
"What?" Nick asked, half-smiling. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, " Kim Ann replied. "Nothing at all." She then looked at Howie, slyly. "Howie and I are just friends, aren't we, Howie."
Howie blushed and started laughing a little. "Well, uh, what does that mean again? In superstar lingo?"
"Howie, Howie, Howie." said Kim Ann, shaking her head. "Didn't your mama teach you ANYTHING?"
"Uh, I DO recall her warning me about crazy redheads or something....Yeah, that's it....crazy redheads." Howie was not to be outdone in front of his friends.
"And yet, here you are, staying in the same house with one tonight. Go figure," said Kim Ann coyly.
"You know, that IS subject to change," interrupted Kevin. He wasn't so sure about the stay over now. He was envisioning a National Enquirer story about a Backstreet Boy orgy. He knew that Tori, their PR person, would NOT be happy with this turn of events and she would be asking him for the answers as to how such a thing happened.
"That's fine, but I'M not staying at Kenneth's house. He's a prick," said Kim Ann, showing attitude. "We got into it last time I came to visit. I can't stand the way he treats Angela." Her eyes showed her disgust as she added, "Dick." to the end of her comments about Kenneth.
"Yeah," said Howie, "Wait until he sees what Nick did to his car."
"Kiss it, Howie!" interjected Nick.
"Oh my God! What did he do to Kenneth's car?" asked Sandra. "Kenneth will FREAK!!"
"He jumped on the hood and dented it," said Brian, laughing. "He was chasing AJ and he jumped on the hood!" Brian jumped and poised himself just as Nick had on the car earlier, only mockingly.
Nick started laughing. "Yeah, but, we're not going to TELL Kenneth that I did it, ARE we, Brian? Remember, he's got my Durango."
"YOU'VE got a Durango?!" asked Kim Ann, suprised. "Dayam, I'm impressed. Those are cool!"
"Why thank you," Nick said suavely. "I pride myself in my vehicles."
Kevin spoke up again, still thinking about how he would explain a stay over to Tori. "Seriously, guys, I don't think the stay over is a good idea. We can stay at Angela's house or the girls can. I wasn't thinking about the repercussions when I considered it before."
"Kevin, YOU can stay at Kenneths. I'm staying here with the chicks, man," said Nick, breaking out into a dance and singing. "Let's have a pa-a-artay."
Kim Ann smirked at Kevin and said. "Yeah, we can get some beer, and.."
"Uh, I don't think so, Kim Ann," interrupted Kevin. "You're not having alcohol and women in a house with the Backstreet Boys. Not like this."
"Oh, so it's okay if it's on YOUR terms, like in a hotel room or something, but if it's on MY terms, then it's bullshit? That's hardly fair, Kevin." Kim Ann folded her arms and copped a stance at him.
Kevin's anger flared and he stared at Kim Ann momentarily to show her he meant business before replying. "I don't know what you're implying, Missy, but all I 'm going to tell YOU is that it AIN'T...GONNA....HAPPEN. End of discussion."
"All I have to say to that," argued Nick, "Is...YOU'RE...NOT...MY....GUARDIAN, Kevin. And if I wanna stay here, I'm staying here." He smiled at Kim Ann and Sandra. "I'm a superstah!"
Kim Ann smiled back at Nick, and then looked back at Kevin, daring him to say something.
"Well, let's give Tori a call right now. You can tell her that, Nick. I'm not gonna stand here and argue with you about it. But you're gonna be the one explaining another Enquirer story to her." Kevin was tired of trying to reason with him.
"Oh," said Nick. "So THAT's what this is about. You know, they print crap like that about EVERYBODY. I just happened to be the flavor of the week. Nobody believes that crap, anyway."
"I believed it," said Howie, laughing.
Nick rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, right, Howie."
"I'm SERIOUS, Nick," pleaded Kevin, hoping to talk some sanity into him. "If the press catches wind of such a thing -- with ALCOHOL added, it won't be good. Think about it."
"But the press won't HEAR about it, Kevin," pointed out Nick. "Besides, I don't think you're afraid of the press. You just don't want TORI to think you're screwing around."
Kevin took two steps towards Nick and stopped. He knew if he stepped any closer he'd deck him. "You leave Tori out of this. This has nothing to do with Tori. We have a professional relationship and that's it."
"Yeah," said Kim Ann, "and AJ never screwed the red-headed dancer, either."
"What?" asked Brian, shocked. "Where did you hear that?"
"On the internet, ba-beeee," answered Kim Ann. "There's a lot of crap out there about you guys."
"And that's my point," said Kevin. "And it's probably from girls like YOU."
"Kevin, Kevin, Kevin!" Howie said, stepping between Kevin and Nick, Kim Ann and Sandra. "Calm down, man. That's not right, man. She didn't deserve that."
Kevin blinked slowly and looked down at the floor, obviously trying to calm down. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry about that. But I'm not changing my mind on the stay over."
"Kevin, it was fine when it was just Angela," pointed out Brian. "What's the diff?"
"Angela is harmless," Kevin replied.
"Yeah RIGHT!" huffed Kim Ann. "I'd be more afraid about her and NICK finding a dark corner than me and Howie."
Nick cringed and looked at Howie. Howie shrugged innocently. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on here," Nick interrupted. He didn't like people reading him like a book -- especially when it was about women. "I have NO interest in Angela whatsoever, Kim Ann. Let's just get that straight. I'm just tryin' to have some fun, that's all. So you just worry about you and the D-man, okay?"
"Hey," argued Kim Ann, "I just call it like I see it."
"Yeah, well you're WRONG," Nick shot back, vehemently. "She's not my type."
Down the hall in the bathroom, AJ wiped off the last of the paint from his arms. He and Angela had been listening to the entire argument through the vent by the sink. They had laughed together when Kim Ann mentioned her and Nick finding a dark corner, and especially about the "red-headed dancer," but now Nick's adamant denials that weren't intended for her ears made her look away, humiliated.
AJ crouched just enough to look up into Angela's eyes and said softly, "Hey man, he's just frontin'. Nick likes you. I mean, Kevin even noticed it."
"Nick can kiss my ass, AJ," she replied. "And he doesn't have to worry about me cos I don't want anything to do with the jerk."
"Come on," AJ persisted. "It's a man thang, Angela. He's embarrassed."
"Not as bad as I am. He said that in front of my friends, AJ. Like I'm some worthless piece of shit he feels sorry for." Angela walked out of the bathroom and went downstairs. She wanted to leave and never come back. She wished she'd never called Sandra and Kim Ann. In a single hour, Kim Ann had undermined everything she had built up with Nick. Everything!
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty
Story Index