Chapter Seven
Brian could not believe what he hearing. Something was totally wrong with all the idiots she knew- that was for sure!
"Truth or dare?" Stephanie asked, hoping to change the subject. The shell-shocked look on his face did not look good.
"Huhwhat?" he asked. "Dare" he then decided.
Stephanie looked around the room, trying to decide what to make him do. "Which one of them will probably be the last to wake up?" she asked.
"Kev. Why?"
"I want you to…. Do you guys have a pen back here?"
"Yeah, probably. What are you gonna make me do?" Brian asked suspiciously.
"Go draw a circle on the end of Howie's nose" Stephanie said, giving Brian his dare.
Brian smiled and got up to get a pen out of the magazine rack by the door. "Should I fill it in or leave it empty?" he whispered questioningly as he crept toward Howie.
"Fill it in, of course. We want everyone to see it when they wake up" was her whispered reply.
Brian tried not to laugh as Howie wiggled his nose and messed up his artwork. Now it was a circle with a line sticking out of it. Brian told Stephanie as he came back and sat back down. She giggled. "Truth or dare?" he asked.
"Dare" she replied. She didn't trust him not to ask her more questions related to that last one.
But Brian wasn't so easily deterred. He knew exactly what he wanted her to do. Or rather, what he wanted her to allow him to do to her. "I dare you," he said, then dropped his voice to a very low whisper, " to let me kiss you."
"I... uh..........What did you say?" Stephanie stammered.
"I think you heard me" Brian stated quietly.
"Yeah, I did. But.... why? Why would you want to do that? It's not like I mind or anything.... Really. But.... why?" Stephanie struggled to form a coherent thought. She brought her eyes up to Brian's and looked into his eyes.
Brian could see in her eyes that she truly didn't comprehend why he would want to kiss her. He smiled and shook his head at her naiveté. She really didn't believe that she was pretty or desirable.
"Stephanie, don't you see? I think you're a sweet, kind, generous person. You can laugh at my jokes and tease me. You're beautiful, even though you don't think you are. You're a talented writer. And, " he finished, " you see me as a person. Not as a Backstreet Boy." He reached his hand out to brush a stray piece of hair back of her face.
Stephanie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Brian was still looking at her straight in the eye while his hand rested on the side of her face and his thumb caressed her cheek. She broke eye contact and closed her eyes. She could hear Brian as he shifted closer. His hand moved and one of his fingers traced the outline of her mouth. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and opened her eyes to see Brian's face only inches away. His eyes looked at her questioning. Stephanie closed her eyes again and made a barely noticable nod.
Brian couldn't believe his good luck. But he could still feel the tension in her. "Take a deep breath. Relax" he commanded. "It's not like you have anything to be afraid of" he teased and watched in relief as she giggled. Brian lowered his head and kissed her gently. God, those full lips of hers were great to kiss! Not to mention that kissing her was producing some major sparks! Brian reluctantly ended the kiss, not wanting to spoil the moment by going farther with the kiss and scaring the living daylights out of her!
Stephanie couldn't remember ever feeling like this. She just felt so totally alive! Stephanie opened her eyes to see Brian looking at her with the same look of wonder. "I never thought it could be that good!" she whispered.
"Same here" Brian whispered back. It seemed that speaking in a regular tone of voice would ruin the moment. Brian moved his hand down to her waist as hers moved behind his neck to pull him back down. Within seconds, they were kissing passionately and deeply. Only when Howie turned in his sleep and began to snore did they remember that they weren't alone.
"Guess it's a good thing that it was only Howie snoring, not someone who had woken up" Brian said with a sly grin. Stephanie grinned back as she snuggled against Brian and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Brian?" she asked.
"Hmmm?"
"Will you sing for me?" Stephanie asked as she raised her head to look at him.
"Sure. Whadya wanna hear?" Brian asked obligingly.
"Do you know all the lyrics to 'All I Have To Give'?" she asked hopefully.
"I think so. If I don't, than you can help me out" Brian said. He hummed a bit to get his voice in the right key and started singing "I don't know what he does to make you cry, but I'll be there to make you smile...."
Stephanie settled her head back on Brian's shoulder and closed her eyes as she listened to the song and the vibrations in his chest. When Brian came to the refrain, she joined him in singing "But my love is all I have to give. Without you I don't think I can live. I wish I could give the world to you, but love is all I have to give...to you."
Brian had been concentrating on the lyrics and starting the refrain when he heard the sweet-sounding soprano join in. It had surprised him at first, but he continued singing and harmonizing his voice with hers automatically. She continued to sing the chorus with him each time it came up, but she just listened as he sang the verses. When Brian's voice finally trailed off at the end, he spoke, saying "You didn't tell me you could sing!"
"You didn't ask!" she laughed. "Seriously, though, I was in the school chorus for three years. Each year, the chorus put on a Christmas concert. Two years ago, I tried out for a solo and was placed in a group of 5. This past year, I tried out again, and got one of the prized verses to 'Jesus Christ Is Born Today.' And that's been about the extent of my musical career!" Stephanie concluded with a laugh.
"You're something else, you know that?" Brian said. Stephanie could hear his smile in his voice. She didn't get a chance to reply, though, 'cause her beeper chose that moment to go off.
