The Gift
Chapter 11
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Lainie sat between Nick and AJ in the darkened theatre as they watched The Fast & The Furious. Both guys were really into the movie, and they were pretty loud about it. Luckily, they were the only ones in the place at the time.
"I want a car like that," Nick exclaimed.
"You want a SUPRA?" AJ laughed. "You've got to be kidding me."
"No! I mean I want one that goes really fast like that."
"Nick, you can't even drive the cars you have. You'd kill yourself," AJ laughed, throwing a few pieces of popcorn at Nick.
"Hey, hey, no popcorn fights," Lainie chastised. "Be quiet, y'all. I can't hear Vin Diesel talk. An I LOVE to hear Vin Diesel talk."
"Ohhh so you have a thing for Vin, huh?" AJ laughed, then added in his best Vin Diesel voice, which was actually pretty close to the real thing... "Are you afraid of the dark." He spoke directly into her ear, making her stomach tingle. Lainie closed her eyes and smiled.
"You're too much," she said, shaking her head a little.
"Yep. You couldn't handle me," AJ whispered, letting his lips graze over her earlobe. Lainie tensed up and shivered. AJ sat back and they watched the movie quietly for awhile. Nick reached over and grasped Lainie's hand, lacing his fingers between her own. His was so much larger than hers, he could practically hold her entire hand in his fist. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. Lainie relaxed at Nick's touch. Nick was comforting. AJ made her tense. Sexual tension, she thought.
When the movie ended, they ran to the grocery store so Lainie could get something to cook for dinner.
"It's been so long since I've had real home cooking," AJ laughed, browsing the aisles. "Hamburger Helper's about the limit of my culinary mastery."
"Hell, I can't even boil water," Nick laughed. "I honest to God burned a pot of water one day. I forgot about it, and it all boiled away. I ruined one of mom's pans. She was pissed."
"You two are pathetic. Do either of you know how to do anything besides sing and dance?" Lainie mused, picking up a pack of spinach pasta and reading the label.
"Well..." AJ said, smirking slightly, "I've been told I'm pretty good in the sack. And I'm getting to be a pretty good photographer. Hmmm... I feel an idea brewing.... maybe I could combine my two non-entertainment talents and... oh, never mind."
"You're incorragible," Lainie laughed.
"And you're hot," AJ quipped, throwing a jar of pasta sauce into the basket.
"Stop it," Lainie warned. "You're gonna make me blush, and it's not a pretty sight."
"Oh yes it is," Nick said, smiling. "And when your face gets flushed and your cheeks get all red, it makes you even prettier."
"You two are gonna be the death of me," Lainie laughed. She pushed the cart down the aisle and headed to the produce department. They followed closely behind, picking things off the shelves as they went. AJ grabbed a tube of cookie dough. Nick grabbed some Captain Crunch. Lainie shook her head. Unhealthy food. Yuck. When they got to the produce section, she stopped and threw some green beans into a bag.
"Ohmigod, it's them," Lainie heard from behind her. Then squealing. Then quick footsteps. She turned around and watched as AJ and Nick were accosted by four teenage girls holding teeny bopper magazines, all with pens in hand. Both guys were gracious and polite, signing everything, and even posing for pictures that one girl took with a disposable camera she happened to pick up as she was running over.
"How long are you guys here?" one cute little brunette asked, her eyes hopeful.
"Til Wednesday," Nick answered, grabbing a few oranges from the bin and dropping them into a plastic bag.
"Ohmigod, do you think you guys could come to my house and swim or something?" another girl asked.
"I don't know," AJ said gently. "We're gonna be pretty busy. Nicky's got some business to take care of, and we're trying to get a little rest while we're here. We'll just have to see. Besides, isn't it a little cold to swim?"
"Oh, didn't think of that," the girl said, blushing. "So y'all came HERE for vacation? Why on earth would you do something like that? This place sucks."
"No it doesn't," Nick laughed. "I love it here. It's quiet. Everybody's so friendly. It's less than two hours from the beach. You have lots of trees and stuff. This place is just great. I'd love to live here. You're lucky."
The girl's eyes were huge. "You'd love to live here?"
"Well, sure. Why not?" Nick said, flashing that perfect Nick Carter smile. "Listen, we've got to get going. Our friend Lainie's gonna leave us if we don't, and then we'll have to walk home."
Lainie smiled as she walked away with them following. She grabbed a few more items and went to the checkout. Nick grabbed a few candy bars, and Lainie shook her head at him.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"You wanted me to teach you yoga so you could get in shape. Those candy bars aren't gonna help," she replied.
"You want her to teach you WHAT?" AJ asked, exploding into laughter. "You've got to be kidding me. You're about as flexible as concrete."
"Fuck you," Nick replied.
"Hey, hey! No cursing in the grocery store!" Lainie exclaimed, hoping nobody heard him. "And AJ, you be nice to Nick."
"Sorry," they both replied in unison, sounding like scorned children. Lainie snickered. She felt like a mama.
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After dinner, they sat in the living room in front of the fire. Lainie was laid out on her stomach on the floor, flipping through People magazine. AJ was stretched out in the vibrating recliner with his eyes closed. Nick was on the couch with the remote in hand, flipping aimlessly though the channels.
"Let's do something fun," Nick said.
"Like what?" Lainie asked, not looking up from the magazine.
"Give me a facial," Nick answered.
"Give you a WHAT?" AJ laughed. His mind was obviously in the gutter.
"A facial. Look at Lainie's skin. She has the best skin I've ever seen. She has this whole regimen that she does, and I want her to do it for me. Look at my skin. It's terrible right now. I need some serious help."
Lainie looked up at Nick and raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? You want me to give you a facial?"
"Yeah!" Nick laughed. "Come on. It'll be fun."
Lainie shook her head and laughed. "Well, ok. But you'll have to come into the bathroom. I don't wanna get the stuff all over the carpet."
"Ok. Let's go," she said, pushing herself up off the floor. "Grab a chair from the kitchen." Nick followed her to the master bathroom. AJ sat in the recliner for a minute, then hopped up and grabbed a chair from the kitchen. He didn't want to be left out.
"Hey, me too!" he called, running up the stairs behind them.
"Good lord," Lainie sighed. "This is like a freakin' slumber party. Giving facials. You want me to paint your nails too? Then maybe we could roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories later."
"Sounds fun," AJ said, smiling.
"You two are nuts," she said, rolling her eyes. "Ok, off with the shirts. This mud stuff will stain if it gets on your clothes. If you wanna put on an old shirt, you can."
"Hey, I'm not afraid to let you see me shirtless," AJ laughed, raising an eyebrow. "What about you, Nick?"
"Naw, she's seen me shirtless a bunch of times," Nick replied, pulling his shirt off. AJ did the same. They sat in the chairs and Lainie went to work on them.
"Ok, virst ve'll exfoliate," she said, trying her best to put on a Swedish accent. She wrapped a towel around each of their necks and began to massage almond scrub onto AJ's face. He smiled up at her, then closed his eyes, enjoying her touch. She moved to Nick next. She put a butterfly clip in his hair to hold it out of his face.
"I need a haircut," Nick muttered. "It's getting too long."
"I like your hair like this," Lainie mused. She massaged the scrub onto his face. She let them rinse, then they sat back down into the chairs.
"Ok, next, we'll put on the volcanic mud and seaweed mask. It'll tighten your skin and draw out the impurities. It also makes your pores smaller and takes out discoloration. My God, could I sound any MORE like a saleswoman?" she laughed.
She smeared the cold mud on their faces and sat on the counter to wait for it to dry. They looked so funny. Their faces were muddy looking and they were trying to make each other laugh so their masks would crack.
"Oh, Nick, would this be a good time to tell you I talked to Rok this morning, and he's gonna be joining us tomorrow?" AJ mumbled.
"You did what? Damn, AJ, I was trying to get away from all you guys, and here you go inviting everybody down here. Oww I think I just cracked," Nick spat.
"Ok, time to rinse," Lainie laughed. "AJ, does this mean I'm going to have another houseguest?"
"Yep."
"I guess it's a good thing this house has 8 bedrooms, isn't it?" she laughed. Ok, Brian shouldn't be too intimidating. From what she had seen on television, he seemed like a lot of fun. She figured she'd probably like Brian...
"Ok, now we're going to put some toner on. This will remove the toxins from your skin and remove any trace of the mud," Lainie said, putting toner on some cotton balls. She stroked the cotton gently over AJ's forehead, then looked down into his eyes. He stared up at her. She felt herself getting lost in them.
"You have great eyelashes," she mused.
"Thanks," he said, smiling. He put his arms around her hips and pulled her to him. She gently pushed him back, unsure of how Nick would feel about seeing this. Nick just chuckled.
"It's an addiction, isn't it, Age?" Nick laughed.
"What is?" he asked, turning to face Nick.
"Once you touch her, you can't stop. I know the feeling," Nick said.
"You're telling me," AJ said, pulling her to him again. He lifted her shirt just a little and placed a kiss on her bare stomach. Lainie took a deep breath and stepped back.
"Ok, then, enough toner for AJ," she said, shaking her head. She stepped over to Nick and grabbed a few more cotton balls, applying toner to his face. Nick smiled up at her.
"Do we make you nervous?" he asked quietly.
"A little," she replied. "Just not used to this kind of attention, I guess. And from... you guys. It's just a little overwhelming."
"What do you mean "you guys"?" Nick asked.
"You guys... you know.. you two are like the hottest guys in the world and you're paying attention to me. It's just sort of... unreal, I guess," she said, stroking his cheek lightly. Nick could feel his arousal beginning as she touched him. Lainie stared down at him for a minute, then stepped back.
"Ok, now for the moisturizer. It's oil free," she said, trying not to think about what she was doing, or what they were saying, or anything except the moisturizer in her hand. She walked back to AJ, trying to keep her distance. She applied it with a gentle massaging motion. AJ closed his eyes and let her hands wander over his face.
"You have a great touch," he said softly. "Soft fingers."
"Thanks," she replied. She walked to Nick and began to massage his face gently.
"Mmmm that stuff smells like lemon ice box pie," he said, smiling. "I wonder what it tastes like."
"Probably not as sweet as Lainie," AJ snickered. "Can I find out?"
"Shut up," Lainie exclaimed, embarassed.
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Later that night, Lainie lay in her bed thinking about AJ and Nick. Nick... sweet, gentle Nick. He was so much fun, and she felt so relaxed with him now. Totally at ease. AJ... hot, sexy AJ. She was so attracted to him. She felt tingly every time he was around, and that voice of his just made her turn into a big puddle. She couldn't sleep. It was still raining pretty hard, and the wind and thunder were picking up. She walked over to the window and looked out. She could see the lightning in the distance. The worst of the storm would be there soon. She glanced at the clock. It was after midnight. She was starving. She hadn't been very hungry at dinner, but now she was famished. She pulled on a pair of boxers under her t-shirt and went downstairs for a snack.
The fire in the fireplace was just burning out, and all that was left were the bright red embers. Lainie went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She pulled out an orange and a bottle of water. As soon as she closed the refrigerator door, there was a loud explosion of lightning right outside, and all the lights went out. Lainie let out a little yelp and almost dropped her orange.
"Damn," she muttered. It was darker than pitch in the kitchen, and she couldn't see two inches in front of her face. She felt around until she found the counter, and followed it to the door. She started out of the kitchen and ran headlong into a person.
"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed, throwing the water and the orange into the air.
"OH FUCK!" AJ screamed at the same time, jumping back from her.
"AJ?" Lainie said.
"Yeah."
"You scared the hell out of me," she laughed nervously.
"Yeah, well... you scared the shit out of me. Did I piss my pants? Let me check. No. Still dry, thank God. That could have been embarassing. What are you doing down here?"
"I was hungry and I came down to get an orange. I'll never find it now. I think I threw it into the next county. And I'm glad that bottle of water was plastic," she laughed.
"Yeah, the storm woke me up," he said, leaning against the door frame. "Feel this," he said, taking her hand.
"Feel what?" she asked, a little worried about where he was going to put her hand. He placed it on his chest.
"My heart is beating 90 to nothing," he laughed. "What? Did you think I was gonna put your hand somewhere else?"
"Well, I..."
"Come on, give me a little credit," he snickered. "I wouldn't do that. Well, I probably would... but I think my dick's turtled up inside me right now along with my balls since I just got the holy hell scared out of me. I don't think I'd make a good impression at the moment."
Lainie burst out laughing.
"Hey, you think we could stoke up that fire and get some light in here?" AJ asked, walking back to the living room.
"I think so," Lainie said, following him. "I wonder if Nick's awake? The storm is pretty loud."
"Nah. He sleeps like the dead."
AJ walked over and threw a few logs on the fire, then poked it with the poker. The flames licked up the logs, and soon the fire was back. AJ sat on the couch beside Lainie and rested his head on her shoulder.
"This is nice," he said. "I haven't done this in a long time."
I'll bet... Lainie thought.
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12