Chapter Twelve
Stephanie started out hesitantly. "Bri, if I say yes, and that's an if, do you think we could make this work? I mean, like how often-" She didn't get to finish her sentence because Brian began kissing her long and hard. When they stopped, Stephanie asked "What was that for?"
"To shut you up, woman" he teased. "Really, to show you why it's worth a try. Are you willing to give that up just 'cause it won't be a normal relationship?" Brian watched her expectantly.
Stephanie raised her fingertips to her lips and smiled. "No, I'm not" she told him decisively. She squealed as he dragged her into his lap.
"Somethin' tells me I'm never gonna know what you're going to say next, woman" he growled before kissing her. "But as Nick would say-"
The door to the bus burst open and Nick finished Brian's sentence "It's all good!"
Stephanie started laughing uncontrollably as Brian shot Nick a look that would have killed, it looks could kill. AJ, Kevin, and Howie followed Nick back on the bus cheering Brian on. "I shoulda known they would be listening" Brian said, playfully glaring at his friends and bandmates.
"Sorry, cuz, that was too great a temptation for even me to pass up!" Kevin laughed. Everyone laughed along with him.
Soon, the bus was moving again, since each bus had carried an extra 5 gallons of gas in a storage compartment.It even turned out that they were only an hour away from the venue in Charlotte.In the meantime, AJ was on the phone talking, telling someone named Jake an extremely exaggerated version of what had happened to him in the past 8 hours. Kevin was listening to his discman and reading a book while he laid down on his bunk. Nick and Aaron were playing Nintendo 64. Howie was up front keeping Mac company and swapping stories about what each had done in the past 8 hours. Stephanie and Brian were contentedly cuddling on his bunk.
"Hey, Bri" she teased.
"Huh?" he grunted.
"You guys owe me big time for this little, unexpected trip" she told him.
Brian propped his head up on his hand and looked down at her. "I'm not enough?" he teased back.
"Course not! Guess what I want?"
"I hate guessing games..........." he groaned.
"Spoilsport. Chad loved playing guessing games." Stephanie figured a little name dropping couldn't hurt her cause.
Brian narrowed his eyes and looked down at his girlfriends smiling face. "Who's Chad?" he asked suspiciously.
"My 'boyfriend' when I was five. Now, what are you guys going to give me for this little expedition? Maryanne, Carly, Phillip and Charles, too" she hinted.
Brian thought. Then it hit him. "Take you all to the concert tonight!" he announced.
"Good boy!" Stephanie praised him, reaching up to pat him on the head.
"You're going to pay for that!" he growled and leaned down to kiss her.
"I oughta do that more often if that's how you're gonna punish me!" Stephanie proclaimed impishly when he pulled away.
