She’s
A Stripper
“Where’s JC?” Joey asked, wandering down the
hotel hallway.
“Dunno,” Lance replied with a shrug, unlocking the door to he and Justin’s
room. “Probably in his room, sulking over Shaina. You know, since she always
spent the whole tour with him before she...you know.”
“For real!” Justin added from inside the room.
Joey shook his head and continued down the hall to JC’s room. He knocked softly
on the door and walked into the room as his friend opened it. He walked over to
sit on the bed as JC continued to talk on his cell phone.
“Yes, I know. I promise you, I’m not using your sister...yes, Laura.” He smiled
to his friend and rolled his eyes. “Laura, I understand your point too, but you
have to believe me that I really do like your sister...can I please talk to her
now?” He smiled. “Thank you so much for the interrogation, but I didn’t call to
talk to you, babe.”
He was silent for a few seconds before his smile grew. “Hey, beautiful. I take
it Laura’s feeling better?”
Joey’s eyebrows perked up.
“How are you doing?...Yeah, I’m all right, I miss you, though...yeah, me too…”
He was quiet as he listened. “Hey Abs? Could you manage to take a few days off
work and come visit me? It’s been a month since I’ve seen you.” He nodded his
head and walked over to the window. “I’ll send you a plane ticket and an All
Access Pass for whenever you can get away...Yeah, I’ll take care of
everything...you will? Great...yeah, let me know...I’ll talk to you later,
babe. Bye, Abby.” He smiled to himself and shut off the phone.
“Abby, huh?” Joey asked, startling the man, since JC had forgotten his friend
was there in the first place.
“What do you want, Joe?” JC asked, a blush covering his face.
“I was going to ask to borrow a CD, but now I wanna talk about Abby. Who is
she? Is she the one who keeps ending your dry spells?”
JC sat down on his bed with a sigh. “Yes, Joey. She’s the one. I guess she’s
technically my girl now.”
Joey smiled and patted his friend on the back. “Cool man! You’re over Shaina! So
why haven’t we met this goddess, huh?”
JC tensed up at his friend’s question. “Um...I’m just not ready to introduce
you guys to her yet.”
“Why, man? We’re your best friends...we’re not gonna scare her that bad!” his
friend argued.
The older man shook his head. “No man, it’s not you guys...it’s-”
“Her? Are you embarrassed about her or something?” Joey asked, suddenly
catching on. “What’s wrong with her, Jace? One eye? One leg longer than the
other?”
JC shook his head. “I guess I have to tell you guys eventually. Abby’s a-a
stripper.”
Joey coughed. “What? You’re kidding me! You...got a stripper? What, were you
like hanging out at a strip joint the whole time down there?"
“No, man! I told you guys how I met her! She just happens to be an exotic dancer.
She’s not sleazy or anything...she’s just...a stripper. I really like her, and
I just wasn’t sure what you guys would think about her.”
“Dude...if you like her that much, she’s gotta be great. You really need to let
us meet her. She gets brownie points from me just for getting you over Shaina.”
Joey smiled. “Dude, can I see her show sometime?”
“No, Joey,” JC replied quickly, glaring at the man. “I’ll introduce you guys to
her, but you really need to respect her. And I’m not necessarily over Shaina.
That girl killed something in me that I don’t know if I’ll ever get back. I’d
like to think that Abby may be the one to save me from myself, but I don’t
know. If she is...great. If not...I dunno if we’ll make it or not. It’s going
to take a lot to get over everything, but I think that if anyone can do
it...Abby can.”
Joey smiled. “She’s great, huh?”
JC nodded. “She’s amazing.”
“Good for you, man. I’m glad you’ve found someone.”
“Thanks, Joe.” JC smiled to his friend and sighed. “I feel like a huge weight
has been lifted off my shoulders. I really felt bad for keeping that from you
guys, but...you understand.”
“Yeah, Jace. “ Joey stood up and headed to the door. “If I had a stripper
girlfriend, I’d keep her from you guys for a while too…ya know, so I can stake
my physical claim on her first. And it looks like that’s what you did.”
JC shook his head. “Shut up, man.”
Joey laughed. “Forget about the CD...I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay,” JC replied. “Just let me know when you want it and what you want.”
“Oh, and Jace?”
“Yeah?”
Joey smiled wickedly. “I still wanna see this Abby-chick’s show.”
“NO, Joey.”
~*~
“Jace is onstage right now for their first sound-check, but you can wait in his
dressing room for him,” Mike said with a smile, leading Abby down the hallway.
He checked his watch. “They should be done in about five minutes or so.”
“Thanks,” she replied with a smile, stepping into JC’s dressing room. She sat
down on the couch with a yawn and closed her eyes.
~*~
Mike stepped out into the audience area of the venue they were performing at
the next night. Catching JC’s eyes with a wave, he gave the man a thumbs up. JC
smiled and began to jump up and down in the middle of the choreography.
“JC!” Wade yelled from in front of the stage. “What the hell are you doing?” He
signaled for the music to stop and glared at the older man.
JC continued to smile. “Sorry, Wade. I just got excited. Run it back…I’ll do it
right.”
“You better,” the young choreographer replied, rolling his eyes. “If you guys
all do this right, I’ll let you out of here until practice again tonight at
ten.”
JC clapped his hands once and jumped again. “Come on, guys…let’s go!”
Justin put his hand to his friend’s forehead. “Are you sick or something?
First, you’re all concentrating on this dance, and next, you’re jumping like a
friggin’ kangaroo!”
Joey smiled. “I think I know what’s up with him.”
“Did he get laid again?” Chris asked, his question causing Wade to raise an
eyebrow.
Joey shook his head. “Nope, but he’s about to.”
JC groaned. “Come ON, guys!”
Justin snickered. “He’s getting horny!”
"Don't worry Wade," Chris added. "Give him a second more and
he'll be UP to par!"
“Start the music, Wade…please?” JC begged.
Wade nodded with a grin. “Alright, man. Start it over! But y’all need to fill
me in on this shit, you know.” He laughed and started the music again.
~*~
JC jumped off the stage and ran to the back hallway toward his dressing room.
Stopping outside the door, he took a deep breath to calm himself. He opened the
door and stepped into the room with a smile at the sight before him.
Abby was sleeping, curled up on the couch. Her hair fell down around her face
and her breathing sent strands flying. Walking further into the room, he sat
down on the edge of the couch and put his hand on Abby’s side. He leaned over
her body and placed a gentle kiss to her lips.
Abby’s eyes opened slowly and she looked up into the blue eyes she’d just been
dreaming about. “Hey you,” she said with a smile.
He pulled her into his arms for a hug before kissing her gently on the lips.
“Hey, beautiful. I missed you.”
She yawned as she stretched, then sat up on the couch. “I missed you too,
superstar,” she replied, leaning forward to claim his lips again.
A whistle came from the doorway, and the couple looked up to find Joey standing
there with a grin on his face.
“Joe,” JC warned.
Joey shook his head and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
“Dude, you weren’t lyin’ when you said she was beautiful.”
Abby smiled as JC blushed. She looked at him and kissed his cheek. “Aren’t you
sweet. Who’s your friend? I like him already.” She stood up and walked over to
the man, shaking his hand.
JC followed her and put his arms around her from behind. “Abs, this is Joey.
Joe, this is Abby.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Miss Abby,” Joey said with a grin. “I can already
tell that you’re good for my man here, and for that reason, don’t let him scare
you off.”
Abby wrapped her arms around JC’s waist too. “He couldn’t possibly.”
JC smiled and nodded to his friend. “Yeah, man. The only way she’ll get scared
off now would be because of you freaks.”
She looked up at him as Joey stuck his tongue out. “Baby, can I meet the rest
of your friends now?”
JC groaned. “I wanted to spend some time alone with you. It’s been over a
month!”
She shook her head and pulled on his hand. “No...please? You can wait a little
longer. I want to meet them.”
He sighed. “Fine. Come on.” He led the two down the hall to the room where all
of their ‘toys’ were. He knocked and smiled to Abby. “Hey guys, are y’all
decent?”
“Why do you care?” Justin asked, flinging the door open to reveal himself,
bare-chested, but otherwise clothed. His smile dropped as he saw the young
woman with his friends. “Hey baby! Come to meet your favorite *N Syncer?”
Abby put her arms around JC’s waist again as he pulled her close. “I’ve already
found my favorite *N Syncer.”
Justin pouted and held the door open for them. “Damn! You’re Jace’s new woman.”
He plopped down on the couch and smiled to her. “Welcome to the family.”
JC grinned and pointed around the room. “Abs, these are the guys. That’s Lance
over there on the phone, Chris is playing the Playstation, you already met
Joey, and the freak that was hitting on you is Justin. Guys, this is Abby.”
The group talked for an hour or so, as JC continued to get more and more antsy
for some ‘alone time’ with Abby. She was enjoying knowing that everyone could
see the effect she had on him. It was good to know that she could still do that
without having to dance on a stage and strip. She knew that the relationship
between them was more than just physical, although that was an added bonus to
it. JC felt something for her, and she could see that when she looked into his
eyes.
After watching the man suffer for a few more minutes, she leaned into his side.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” she whispered to him as Justin told a
story about some girl they’d seen a few nights before.
JC looked at her helplessly. “Baby, I need you…now. Please, let’s go back to
the hotel.”
She put her hand over his and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
JC smiled. “Hey guys, me and Abs are gonna get outta here for a little while.
We’ll be back in time for the next rehearsal. He grabbed her hand and stood up,
pulling her up with him. “See y’all later.” He pulled the young woman from the
room, and they hurried down the hallway.
Joey looked around at his friends. “I told you guys.”
~*~
The couple couldn’t get into the hotel room soon enough. JC had already freaked
out an elevator load of people by insisting on kissing her neck all the way up
to their floor.
As he pushed the door shut with his foot and paid all his attention to Abby,
she suddenly realized just how much she had missed this man.
~*~
“And here are the lovebirds!” Lance called as JC and Abby entered the practice
room hand in hand. “It’s about time, man.”
JC blushed. “Sorry. Time sorta got away from us.”
“Understandable,” Wade said, eyeing Abby with a grin.
“Stay back, Trigger,” JC warned, glaring at the man, a smile still finding its
way to his face. “This one’s mine.”
“Whatever man,” Wade replied. “Get your ass in formation. The sooner you idiots
get these dances perfect, the sooner you and your lady can get back to bed.”
JC shook his head to Abby and silently apologized. “Do you mind watching, or do
you want to go?”
She smiled. “I’ll watch. It’s no biggie.” She took a seat against the wall near
the mirror where she could watch the guys and read the book she’d brought with
her. She caught JC’s eye every now and then, causing him to stumble slightly,
warranting a dirty look from the young choreographer. Nothing too serious,
though.
~*~
Abby hung onto JC’s arm after he stepped offstage the next evening. “Baby, you
were amazing!” she said with a laugh before he kissed her long on the lips.
“Mmmmm…” he groaned against her lips as he felt hands on his back, pushing him
toward the bus. He pulled away and smiled down at her. “It helps having your
own private little cheering section.”
“Where are we going?” she asked as they settled into the bus.
He smiled and slung his arm around her. “Charlotte, North Carolina. You don’t
have to leave already, do you?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Not yet…just wondering how long it will be before I
get you all to myself again.”
JC groaned. “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”
