I’ve Dreamed Of You

By:  Stephanie Woodworth

© 2000 Chaotic Bliss Fan Fiction

 

                Always a bridesmaid, never a bride was becoming my personal slogan.  I had more dresses in my closet that I’d never wear again then one’s that I would.

                Today’s marriage was the last of my close friends to get married.  Shannon and Tom had known each other all of ten months and here they were getting married.  As I stood at the back of the church waiting for my cue to walk down the aisle, I began to wonder if something was wrong with me.  I was smart, friendly, not super model material, but not ugly, and was told fun to be around.  So why was I the only single person left in my group of friends?  My younger sister was married and already had a family.  Was there something wrong with me?  I took hold of the arm offered to me and began walking down the aisle.

                I glanced down at the dress I was wearing, not terribly bad I thought to myself.  It was ivory and had a full-length skirt.  The flowers were ostentatious though.  They were all dried and the bouquet was huge and weighed about twenty pounds.  I wasn’t looking forward to having to hold both Shannon’s and mine.  Guess I’ll be building my arm muscles up today.

                The wedding went off without a hitch and I was even brought to tears during the sermon.  The reception was going to be held in the church basement and should only last a short time.  I was conveniently placed sitting next to one of Shannon’s single guy cousins.  I think being set up sometimes was worst then being single.  In this case it was definitely worse.  The guy was not that bad, but obviously not interested in me.

                The reception soon ended and I headed home.  I still lived with my parents and found that most days this wasn’t a problem.  My parents didn’t charge me rent and only requested that I help around the house.  This weekend was a busy weekend in my life, not only the wedding, but my parent’s were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.  As I walked into the house I tried to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn’t wake my grandparents who were sleeping in the family room.

I quickly got ready for bed and finally let the heartache of being alone set in for the hundredth time.  I sat down at my desk to remove my make-up and began to cry.  Why can’t I find someone to love? 

Sleep wasn’t an option.  I tossed and turned all night long.  As morning approached I grabbed my robe and headed for the kitchen. 

Relatives were everywhere making the already too small house even smaller.  I grabbed a muffin and a mug of coffee and headed for the solitude of the deck.  For the beginning of August the weather was very cool.  I sat down on one of the chairs and pulled my knees up to my chest.  I must have been really deep in thought because I didn’t hear my Aunt Barbara walk up behind me.

                “Stef!” she yelled again.

                I shook my thoughts from my head and answered, “Yeah?”

                “I asked you what you were doing.”

                I took a sip of the now cold coffee before answering, “Just watching the sun rise.”

                She sat down in the chair across the table from me and kicked her feet up.  “Is there something wrong?”

                I pondered how funny it was that she picked up on my problem.  I only saw her once a year or every other year.  It was kind of weird to talk to her at all, we had nothing in common and most of the time I left the conversation with the feeling that she thought I was stupid.  “Nothing’s really wrong, I just realized that I need to get away.”  I shocked myself at that last comment.  Until I’d said it out loud I’d never realized just how much I needed time away from my life.

                “I know what you mean.  I’m ready for a vacation, too.” 

I really didn’t mean a vacation, I thought, but that could be nice too.  I just wanted to be someone different for a week or so, not me.  I’d already heard all about the trip that Aunt Barb and her live-in girlfriend had planned.  They were leaving from here to go to Italy for a month to take some classes for their bakery.  Barbara Richardson had lived with my aunt for over the last ten years and was now accepted as if they were married.  “Italy, right?”  I asked.

“Yeah, you heard all about it, I guess.”  I nodded.  “Can you get time off of work?”

“Sure, I have lots of days to use, why?”  Did they want me to go to Italy with them?  God I hoped not.  It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

“You could go stay at our house while we’re in Italy.  We could use someone to watch the place and stop in at the bakery every once in awhile.”

My day was looking up.  “Sure, I’d love to!”  My aunt lived on a lake in Texas in the middle of nowhere.  The house was designed by her and was absolutely gorgeous.  It would be the perfect place for me to spend some time and regroup.

The rest of the day went fairly well and I was excited about my pending escape.  I'd arranged for a temporary leave of absence and packed my Jeep Grand Cherokee.  I'd told my parents what my plans were and after the last guest left I headed for my month of solitude at the cottage.

I pulled up to the keypad at the entrance to the lake, punched in the code, and waited for the gate to open.  It was after three the next afternoon and I'd been driving since the night before.  I couldn't wait to take a hot bath and climb into bed.  I quickly unpacked the Jeep and entered the cottage.  As I opened the door I remembered how beautiful the cottage was.  The first time I'd been there my sister and I had decided it would be the perfect place for a honeymoon.

The layout was simple yet breath taking.  As I entered the door and turned the alarm off, I noticed that the sun was shining perfectly through the wall of windows on the far side of the room.  The place hadn't changed that much since my last visit.  The kitchen/living room area was the majority of the cottage with a circular fireplace that separated the two rooms.  I noticed that they had added a love seat and couch in the loft along with the futon that was already there.  I dragged my bags along the hard wood floors to the only bedroom.  The sun was streaming through the windows in this room too.  I wondered how I was going to sleep in a room where three of the walls were all windows.  I supposed that today wouldn't be all that difficult.

I grabbed my pajamas out of my suitcase and headed for the bathroom to change.  I no more than laid down and I was sound asleep.

I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the cottage.  I drove into Winnsboro every couple of days to spend some time at the bakery.  The first week I enjoyed shopping at the antique stores in the small town.  I'd been to one of the farms nearby and picked fresh raspberries for myself.

I was heading home from the bakery one day for my normal afternoon walk when I pulled up to find a car parked at the cottage.  I cautiously exited my car and headed for the house.

I opened the door and was surprised when the alarm was turned off.  I knew that I had set it before I'd left.  I dropped my purse on the counter in the kitchen and considered grabbing a knife from the block setting there.  I turned to head towards my room when I heard the shower in the guest bath running.  Oh great, a burglar who loves to be clean.

I decided that I'd surprise the person and opened the bathroom door just as he stepped out of the shower.  I was about to ask him what he was doing but ended up standing there staring at the most strikingly beautiful creature I'd ever seen.

My mouth was wide open and I couldn't move.  The man had the greatest body, the greenest eyes I'd ever seen, broad shoulders, and perfect abs.  Oh my god, my brain screamed as my eyes wonder down his body.

His cheeks turned slightly red before he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.  I was still standing there with my mouth wide open.  I quickly turned and left the bathroom shutting the door behind me.  I leaned against the wall outside of the bathroom as realization set in; Kevin Richardson was just standing naked in front of me.

I couldn’t believe what I’d just saw.  Wait a minute, what is Kevin Richardson doing in my bathroom?  I turned without thinking and went to grab the doorknob to go back into the bathroom to ask him just that.  As I turned the knob the door flew open and I flew forward with it.  I stumbled and fell into Kevin’s waiting arms.

I composed myself and pushed myself out of Kevin’s grip, but not before I placed my hands on his chest.  It felt just how I’d always imagined it would.  Too bad I had to spoil the image.  “What are you doing?”  I demanded.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”  Kevin said as he pulled a t-shirt on.

“I’m supposed to be here, I’m staying here while my aunt is on vacation.  This is her house!”

“Well, I was told you would be here, I just didn’t expect you to walk in on me showering.”  Kevin walked around the room and then headed upstairs to the loft.  “I put my stuff up here since I saw that you were already staying in the bedroom.”  I stood open mouthed again as he began to unpack his things.

“Wait a minute you are not staying here!”  It wasn’t a question it was a statement.  I wasn’t going to let anyone interrupt my solitude, not even Kevin Richardson!

“I am so.  My aunt lives here too and she told me that I was welcome here any time.  I just talked to her last night.  She said she was going to leave you a message telling you that I was coming.”  We were beginning to sound like children.  Kevin was still unpacking his things.  I turned and looked at the answering machine.  The light was blinking.

I went over and hit the play button.  The first message was from my mother.  I stood and listened to her ramble on about nothing.  I could almost feel Kevin’s eyes on me.  The next message began and I recognized my aunt’s voice.   ‘Stef . . . this is Aunt Barbara . . . Barb’s nephew, Kevin, is coming to stay at the cottage for two weeks . . . play nice . . . who knows maybe he’s what you need right now.’  I felt my face redden.  How embarrassing!  And just what did she mean about me needing something right now.  All I needed right now was to be alone and regroup!  All I needed right now was to go on my afternoon walk and back to my normal vacation schedule.  I turned around slowly to find Kevin starring down at me.

“See I told you so.”  He smiled that gorgeous smile at me.  Oh how I hated being told ‘I told you so’.

“Fine, I guess we have to make the best of this!”  I was in full spoiled mode.  I grabbed my purse and stomped off to my room to change for my walk.  I grumbled to myself while I changed.  I already hated him!  I hoped we could survive two weeks together.  I opened the bedroom door and found Kevin sprawled out on the couch reading the novel I had left lay there.

I grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and checked myself in the mirror by the door for no reason at all.  I had pulled my long hair up in a ponytail and placed my ND cap on.  I reached for the doorknob to leave and Kevin said, “Where are you going?”

“Not that I plan on clearing my every move with you, but I’m going for my afternoon walk.”  I barked out.  I turned quickly and strutted out of the house.   I could hear him trying to tell me something, but continued on.  I continued to grumble about Kevin Richardson the whole walk.  It was the most unnerving walk since I’d been there.  I normally found this my favorite part of the day.  I walked the same paths every afternoon and today decided that I needed a longer walk to calm down.  I turned down an unfamiliar path and found myself face down in mud.  Oh this just makes the day better.  I picked myself up and tried to dust myself off just making it worse.  I reached for my water bottle to use it to wash my face off only to find that I’d lost it.  Oh I couldn’t believe my luck.  I quickly thought about the lake and decided to walk down to it to wash up before heading back.  I couldn’t believe my luck. 

I got to the lake and bent down to wash my face.  An animal scurried by and scared me making me fall face first into the lake.  Oh this day just keeps getting better and better!  I tried to pull myself out of the water, but ended up slipping back in and twisting my ankle in the process.  I started laughing hysterically hoping that no one was video taping this.  I finally got myself back on my feet and headed towards the cottage.  I only hoped that Kevin had miraculously disappeared.

Unfortunately he hadn’t.  He was sitting on the deck when I limped up to the cottage.  “Are you okay?”  He asked trying no to laugh.  I just kept grumbling to myself as I tried to climb the three stairs to the door.  “Wait, let me help you.”  Kevin was at my side before I could protest and had me swept off my feet carrying me into the cottage.  Oh how I hated men helping me!  “Let me help you into the bathroom.”

“No, I can take care of myself!”  I tried to get down, but he wouldn’t let me leave.  “Kevin, put me down!”

“No, I want to help you.  If you hadn’t left in such a huff you would have heard me tell you to be careful that I slipped in mud earlier.”  Kevin placed me on the edge of the bathtub and turned to get a washcloth from the cabinet by the sink.  He wet it in the sink and wiped it across my mud-smeared face.   Oh how I hated a man taking care of me.  I tried to push his hand off of my face, but he grabbed my hand before I could.  What was the feeling that I just got when he touched me?  The surge of electricity was too strong.

A tingly feeling ran down my spine.  The things I wished his hands would do to me.  No, my brain screamed!  You can’t allow a man into your life.  This was the ultimate battle I fought daily.  I knew exactly why I was the only single person out of my group of friends; it was because I chose to be.  I didn’t have to worry about what would happen if I let someone in my heart and then they left and I knew that it was inevitable that Kevin would leave.  I tried to stand again, but he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Your aunt was right, you are strong willed and very stubborn.”  Kevin continued to softly wash the mud from my face.  “You can let someone help you.  I mean you no harm.”

I laughed at his comment.  “Men never mean harm, it just happens.”  I reached up to touch his hand.  I really wanted to allow him to continue, but I knew that if I did we’d end up doing more than just washing my face.

“Stef, you are very beautiful, has anyone ever told you that?”

Oh great, I’m sitting covered in mud and Kevin Richardson thinks I’m beautiful.  How funny is that?  “Thank you,” I mumbled.  I smiled back at him; maybe I could get him to leave me alone if I was nice to him.  “Kevin, do you think I could finish this on my own.  I’m quite able to do this, plus I’d love to take a warm shower.”  Kevin got a huge grin on his face.  “The key word was alone.”  I stood up and pushed him towards the door.  I now knew exactly what my aunt and Barbara were trying to do and I’m sure their hearts were in the right place but there was no way I was going to fall for Kevin.

As he left, I thanked God that he was going.  I’d love nothing more than to have a great two-week fling with this fine looking man, but my heart would never be able to handle the pain.  As he slowly shut the bathroom door I quickly locked it from my side.  “You can run Stef, but you can’t hide.”  I heard him chuckle and tried to ignore the urge I had to run.

Kevin was right I couldn’t run very far.  My ankle was extremely sore and I could barely stand let alone try to escape.  Wait a second, I was here first, and I wasn’t the one who had to go anywhere.  I’d just go about my normal routine for the next two weeks and completely forget that Kevin existed.

I quickly showered and changed into a t-shirt and pajama bottoms.  I opened my bedroom door and limped out into the kitchen.  Kevin had a pillow and ice bag set up for me on the couch.  I looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.  I limped over to the couch and put my foot up grabbing the ice pack and the novel I was reading. 

A half-hour later I heard the door open and refrained the urge to look.  I knew who it was and was bound and determined to go ahead with my plan to ignore Kevin.  I glanced sideways at him as he placed a bag of something on the counter in the kitchen.  I hoped it was food because I was starving.  I continued to pretend that I was reading as he unpacked the bag.

The longer he didn’t say anything to me the more upset I got.  How dare he ignore me!  That was my plan first.  I was just about to get up and stomp, well limp, off to my room when he came over to me with a glass of wine and two aspirin.

“It’s all I could find to drink in the house.”  He said with a smile.

“There’s plenty of water.”  I said as I thought of what the combination of the two would do to my stomach.

“Come on, the wine will go better with dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah, I hope you like peanut butter and jelly.”  Kevin grinned at me.

“It’s my favorite, how did you know,” I joked.

“Seriously, I got pizza, how’s that?”  I watched as Kevin went back out to his car and came back carrying a pizza box.  “Ham and BBQ, your favorite.”  He said proudly as if he’d just cracked a big mystery.

“Boy, my aunt sure does have a huge mouth. I didn’t even know that she knew my favorite pizza.”  I said as I dug into my first piece.

“She didn’t, that’s why she referred me to your sister.”

Note to self, kill Gina next time you see her.  “I’ll have to give you credit, you’ve done your homework.”

“But it’s still not working is it?”

“Nope.”  I went back to reading and finish off the glass of wine and slice of pizza.  Somehow my glass of wine never ended and by the time I was ready to go to bed I had had way too much to drink.  I tried to stand and only managed falling back down.  The combination of the wine and my sore ankle was too much.  Maybe I should just sleep here I thought, but before I could give it a second though Kevin picked me up.  “What are you doing?

“Taking you to bed.”  I tried to escape his arms, but he held me tight.  “I didn’t mean it that way.”  He said reading my thoughts.  “I’ll get you all tucked in.”  And with that he carried me off to my bed.  My head was aching from the wine and I was glad he was there to help me.  I must be getting soft.  Kevin placed me in my bed and pulled the covers up to my neck.  He leaned over and kissed my forehead.  “Sweet dreams.”  I’m sure they will be.  I shut my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Morning came to quickly and with it the horrendous hangover.  What is it about wine that causes the worst hangovers?  I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was barely three o’clock.  I needed a drink of water and a handful of aspirin, but didn’t want to get up.  I finally sat up causing the room and my head to spin.  I hated this feeling.  I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and stood.  I’d forgotten about my ankle.  The pain had subsided and I only had a slight limp as I headed off to the kitchen.  I glanced up at the loft to see if Kevin was asleep.  He was.  I limped over to the sink and poured myself a glass of water.  I jumped when I heard Kevin mumble my name.  Was he awake?  I stood there totally still and listened.  He did it again and I had to stifle a giggle.  He was dreaming about me.  I turned quickly and ran back to my room.  I collapsed on the bed and buried my head in my pillow before I began to laugh.

I decided to get dresses and head off to the bakery for the day.  They’d just be getting started and it would keep me away form Kevin for a while.  I did have to admit that he was a nice guy.  Nice guys just happened to be the beginning of my biggest problem.  I only wished that I could allow myself to fall in love.  I listened to the radio the whole way to the bakery and had to laugh when the newest Backstreet Boys song came on.  I realized that that subject had never been brought up and wondered if he knew I was a fan.

I helped at the bakery all day and by five o’clock I was extremely tired.  I didn’t even want to drive back home.  I decided that I would stay at one of the other employee’s houses and followed her to the apartment.

The next morning I awoke early and drove back to the cottage.  When I walked in the door Kevin was already up, or maybe he hadn’t been asleep yet.  He looked disheveled and like he hadn’t slept.  He was up and right in my face before I could even say good morning.

“Where have you been?  Do you know how worried I was?  You could have been dead!  Hasn’t anyone ever told you to call and check in?”  He kept firing questions at me and I couldn’t help but laugh.

                “Sorry Dad next time I’ll make sure I call you.”  I started to walk towards my room when Kevin grabbed my arm.

                “You don’t understand.  I was scared to death.  I almost called the police to look for you.”  Kevin couldn’t understand why Stef not coming home bothered him so much.  He was used to the guys staying out, but this was different.

                “I think you’d better let go of my arm.  I’m not your property and I’m a grown woman.”  I yanked at my arm to no avail.  “Kevin, I said let go!”  Anger was ever present in the room and the tension thick.

                Kevin grabbed hold of my other arm pulling my up off the ground.  “I know your a grown up, but you still scared me.”  Kevin smiled which made me even more upset.  “You are awfully cute when you’re angry.”  He placed me back on my own two feet before capturing my mouth and kissing me like no one had ever kissed me before.  I wasn’t that successful in resisting the automatic counting of the years since I’d had sex.  I wanted nothing more than to drop to the floor and have the most unforgettable, life altering sex.

                I quickly resisted the urge and pulled away from Kevin.  “We can’t.”

                “Can’t what?”

                “Can’t continue like this.  I have to go.”  I headed for my room.

                “Go where?”

                “Anywhere but here.”  I grabbed a bag and started throwing clothes into it.  I stopped and looked at Kevin who was standing in the doorway staring at me.  “You don’t know me at all!  I’m not what you think and anyone who has told you differently lied!”  I continued packing.  “I’m wrong for you.”

                “You’re wrong Stef, just let me prove it to you.”

                Before I lost the nerve I grabbed my bag and ran out of the cottage.  I had no idea where I was going to go.  I had to stop running someday.  I grabbed the CD off the seat next to me and went back into the house.  I’d given up on falling in love.  Until Kevin.  When I opened the door I was surprised to find Kevin standing on the other side.

                “I’m so glad you came back.  You were here first.  I should leave”

                “No, neither of us should go.  Here I have something for you to listen to.”  I went to the CD player, put the CD in and hit number three.

                dreaming comes so easily . . . cause it’s all that i’ve known . . . will anyone get close to me . . . i’m damaged as i’m sure you know . . . i’m scared when i’m alone . . . i’m ashamed and i need you to know

 

                “Interesting song Stef.  Not really what I listen to, but not bad.  Are you trying to tell me something?”

                I hit the stop button and grabbed the CD.  “Kevin you are driving me nuts!”  I wanted to strangle him.

“Is that bad or good?”  He asked with a smart-ass grin on his face.

“Very bad!  Do you have any idea what I do to men?”  I began to nervously pace around the room.  “Did you happen to ask my sister or aunts or any other member of my family that you questioned that?  Huh?”  I was right in front of him with my hands on my hips.

“You just don’t understand what happens when I fall for a guy.”  I shook my head.  I really didn’t want to go into this with him, but he had to know for his own good.  “No, no, I can’t!  I just can’t!”  I fought with myself.

Kevin stared at me like I was some sort of alien.  “Stef, I don’t understand.”

I walked away from him and began to pace again.  “My last two boyfriends don’t like girls anymore.  Do you understand?”  I stopped to stare at him.  “They are gay!”  I said the word like it was a prison sentence.  Kevin tried to stifle his laughter.  “Great laugh at my heartache!  Very mature!”

“I’m sorry.”  Kevin managed to get out between laughing fits.

“Don’t you get it?  Can’t you see the headlines? ‘Backstreet Boy, Kevin Richardson latest victim of the Testosterone Stealing Vixen.’ on the cover of the Enquirer.  Or better yet, Entertainment Weekly rounds up the other two for interviews on how I turned them towards men.”  I was still pacing.  “Oh of course you wouldn’t do the interview, but there would be a nice ‘no comment’ from your publicist.”  I glanced at him for a minute before pacing again.  “And you know the best part, if they dig deep enough there might even be another victim, but then again I really can’t take credit for him because we’d broken up long before he came out of the closet.”

Kevin had stopped laughing.  I took that as a sign that he was finally taking me seriously.  I stopped pacing as the tears started to fall.  Kevin walked over to where I was standing.  He tuned me towards him and pulled me into a hug.  This definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.  He leaned down and whispered in my ear in the huskiest voice I’d ever heard.  “I’m very flattered that you’re worried about me, but you shouldn’t be.  The guys from your past were idiots for choosing someone else over you and even more for choosing a man.”

It was amazing, in the mere minutes it took him to whisper those words to me the wall I’d built up around my heart were slowly tumbling down.  My head was spinning and I didn’t recognize the feeling I was experiencing.  Was it love?

This time it was Kevin who pulled away from me.  “Do you want to go out tonight?”

I had to laugh.  The sexual tension in the room was high and I was sure that I wouldn’t make it through the night without tearing Kevin’s clothes off of him.  “You know there isn’t a club in this area.  There’s not even a movie theater.”

“I’m sure there’s somewhere to go.”  He swatted my behind.  “Now go change!”

                I hesitated slightly before turning and walking to my room.  What was I going to wear?  I hadn’t planned on going out on a date while I was here.  Is that what this was, a date?  I rummaged through my closet all I could find was jeans and a cute little sweater.  I quickly changed and was in my bathroom doing my hair and make-up when I heard Kevin ask, “Are you about ready?”

                I sprayed my hair with hair spray and turned to leave.  I ran smack into Kevin.  He was leaning against the doorframe.  Oh my I have to stop running into his chest like that.  “What are you doing there?”

                “Watching you get ready.  I love how you talk to yourself.  I’m just glad that you don’t answer yourself,” he teased.

                I lightly punched him.  “Let’s go.”  He pulled me to him and pressed his lips to mine.  If there was one thing this man could do it was kiss.  We broke apart.

                “Do you want to drive?”

                “Sure, I know my way around here pretty good.”  We headed towards my jeep.  As I pulled from the cottage Kevin grabbed my hand.  He held on to it the whole way to the next town.  We drove in complete silence; just the hum of the tires on the road.  I loved the feeling of mot having to say anything.  I’d never experienced that before.  The radio had to be on or we had to be talking.  This was perfect.

                The silence was finally broken when Kevin asked, “How about that place?”  He pointed to a small bar that had a sign that boasted ‘live music’.  The parking lot was partially full.

                “Sure, that looks fine.”  I parked the jeep and started to open my door to get out when Kevin stopped me.

                “Wait, I’ll come around and let you out.”  I was shocked yet again.  I’d never had my door opened for me before, especially when I was the one driving.  I looked at myself in the mirror one more time as my door swung open.

                “Ready?”  He offered me his hand.  I grabbed a hold of it and we walked hand in hand into the bar.  “You’re really beautiful.”  I looked up to see Kevin smiling at me.  I was shocked.  Did he really find me beautiful?”

                “Thanks.”

                Kevin paid the cover and we headed towards the bar.  “What would you like to drink?”

                “Amaretto Sour.”

                Kevin gave the bartender our orders and we headed for a tiny table in the back of the bar.  The music was loud and very country.  I would just die laughing if anyone here would recognize Kevin.

                We sat and watched as couples danced together and a group of others line danced.  “Can you do that?” he finally asked.

                “A little.”  I’d been dancing before at a local club back home, but only learned two line dances.  The rest of the night I’d watched as the drunk fools in the club tried to ride the mechanical bull.

                “Let’s give it a try.”  He was on his feet and pulling me towards the dance floor before I could protest.

                We danced to a slow song first, just swaying with the music and the couples around up twirled and danced about.  The song ended and I turned to leave the dance floor as the fast music began.

                “Where are you going?”  Kevin pulled me back to him.

                “I don’t know how to do this.”

                “We’ll learn together.”  And we did.  The next three songs we learned the line dances from the group of people dancing.  As the forth started I recognized the dance.

                “Oh my god, the tush push.  I know this one.  I began the dance with the others as Kevin tried to keep up.  I began to laugh.  He was having trouble learning the easy dance.  “No, no, it goes like this.”  I said sliding my arms around his waste.  I tried to show him the dance, but he still wasn’t getting it.  I started to laugh harder and harder.

                “What?”

                “You can learn all that choreography for the shows, but you can’t learn this simple dance step.”  Before I knew what was happening he’d swung me around and was pressed up against my back.

                “You mean this.”  He moved us both in time with the music.  Oh my god, this man was causing my body to quiver.  He leaned down to whisper in my ear.  “I think we should go home before I ravage you right here.”  I could feel his erection pressing against my back.

                I’ve never driven so fast in all my life.  As I stopped the Jeep I didn’t even bother waiting for Kevin to walk around and open my door for me.  We both hopped out of the jeep and almost ran into the cottage.  I’d barely shut the door and we were tearing each other’s clothes off.  With a trail of clothes left strewn throughout the cottage we made it to the bedroom.  Kevin picked me up and more or less threw me on the bed.

                He paused momentarily, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

                All I could do was nod.  Kevin covered my body with his and was deep inside of me in one smooth move.  We achieved a fast and furious pace quickly bringing each other to crescendo.

                 Not exactly what I expected for our first time, but as the night progressed Kevin and I made love numerous times and he showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could be gentle and loving.  As the sun rose over the horizon we fell sound asleep wrapped in each other arms.

                I awoke hours later completely relaxed and extremely happy.  I moved to stretch and found myself handcuffed to the headboard with fuzzy pink handcuffs.  I pulled at the restraints hoping they’d give under the pressure, but they didn’t.  “Kevin,” I said just above a whisper.  No answer.  “Kevin,” I repeated a bit louder.

                He appeared before me wearing nothing but a smile,  “Yes?”

                I simply picked up my wrist and pointed with the other hand.

                “Oh the handcuffs,” Kevin chuckled.  “They are our aunts, let’s not dwell on them, but you are wearing them because you are under bedroom arrest.”  He smiled, “I couldn’t let you leave when I’m far from done with you.”  He turned and headed out the door and my eyes followed his well-defined body.  I didn’t say anything.  What was I supposed to say or do?  I obviously wasn’t going anywhere even if I’d wanted to and I absolutely didn’t want to!

                Kevin returned with a tray full of food.  “I though I’d feed you before I ravaged you again.”  He placed the tray of food on my lap.

                “Can you un-cuff me?” I gave him my best puppy dog look.

                “Do you promise not to run away?”

                “Why on Earth would I do that?” I giggled knowing full well that I’d given him no reason to believe me.  I’d been a real pain the last couple of days and I regretted it now.  I could have spent the rest of my life in bed with this man beside me.

                Kevin leaned over and unlocked the cuffs.  As he moved back across me he stopped and kissed me, taking my breath away.  “I love you Stephanie Marie.”

                Oh my God, my brain screamed.  I’d waited my whole life to hear someone utter those words to me.  I had no clue how to respond.  I think Kevin could tell that I was at a loss for words.  “Um you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to.  I just wanted you to know how I feel.”  He stood and walked across the room grabbing his sweats and pulling them on.

                “Kevin, I thought that I was under bedroom arrest.”  She got up and walked over to him.  “I was hoping to spend all day in bed with the man that I love.”

                He swung around and stared at me.  “What did you just say?”

                “I said, I thought that I was . .”

                He interrupted me, “No the last part.”

                “What, the part about staying in bed all day with the man that I love.”  I smiled up at him.  “I do love you Kevin.  I tried really hard to hate you, but I just can’t.  And after last night and this morning I know without a doubt that I love you and you are the only man that I've ever loved.”  Tears were streaming down my face.  Kevin reached down and wiped the tears away.  He picked me up and carried me back to the bed.  We made passionate love and were still wrapped in each other arms as the sun set that night.

                “Stef, I’m going to ask you something and it might be a shock, but hear me out okay,” Kevin had rolled onto his side and was propped up on one elbow.  “You know that I have to go back to my Backstreet life in two days.  I want you to go back with me.”

                “I . . um”

                “Let me finish,” Kevin placed a finger over my mouth.  “I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.  I want to marry you.”

                “I don’t know what to say.”

                “I was hoping for a yes.”

                “Yes, oh yes I’ll marry you.”

~*~*~*~*~

                A year to the day that I first ran into Kevin Richardson in the shower at my aunt’s cottage I married him.  The weather was perfect as our families gathered at the same cottage and Kevin and I became husband and wife.

The End

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