Lance made his way through the room, scanning the faces for Summer. He could see the “Is it or isn’t it?” looks on people’s faces, wondering if it really was that guy from *NSYNC. Once they caught sight of Joey it confirmed their suspicions and left Lance wondering if maybe he should have left Joey back at the hotel and come alone. That was the thing about more than one of them going to the same place, they were invariably spotted.
He could see the guys in the room putting protective - or was that possessive? - hands on their girlfriends shoulders. What did they think they were going to do, just walk up and steal the girls from their arms?
Although he’d grown used to them, he didn’t relish the stares, especially in his downtime.
“HEY! SUPERSTAR! OVER HERE!”
Lance looked in the direction of the voice. The culprit sat in the kitchen, Summer by her side. Lance looked over his shoulder and pointed Joey in the right direction.
“Hey,” he grinned when he reached them.
“Are you crazy?” she cried.
Lance continued to grin. “I thought we’d already established that fact.”
Celeste butted in, drawing Lance’s attention away from Summer. “Hey loverboy, I’m Celeste.”
He smiled in greeting. “Good to put a face to the voice. Nice to meet you, Celeste.”
“Not as nice as it is to meet you,” she grinned. Celeste turned to Joey. “And you must be…”
“Taken,” Summer interrupted.
“Damn, and here I was thinking I could get me some boyband ass tonight.” She faced Summer with a devious look in her eyes. “Guess we’ll have to leave that up to you, Summer.”
Summer hopped down from the counter. “Drop dead, Celeste.” She grabbed Lance’s hand. “Excuse us a minute, Joey,” she said, before dragging Lance away, Celeste’s laughter ringing in her ears as they headed out o the backyard.
She pulled Lance around to the side of the house, away from the eyes of the starstruck. She opened her mouth to speak and was instead pushed back against the side of the house, Lance’s lips muffling any words that were about to be spoken.
“Mmm,” she mumbled, slightly flustered as his lips left hers. “O-kay, wasn’t expecting that one.” She looked into his eyes for a moment before slapping his upper-arm. “You made me forget what I was gonna say now!”
“I was that good?” he chuckled.
“So what are you doing here?” she inquired.
He shrugged. “Celeste invited me.”
She looked at Lance, thoroughly confused. “How do you know Celeste?”
“Now that would be telling.”
Summer crossed her arms and gave him “the look” which he was becoming accustomed to. He rolled his eyes. “I phoned your house, she answered, we talked,” he shrugged, “I’m here.”
“You phoned my house? Wait…this afternoon?” she asked, everything starting to click.
“Yeah.”
Summer shook her head. “Brat! She told me it was a crank-caller.”
“So you believed her?” he asked in amusement.
“We used to get some pervert ringing all the time,” she shrugged. “Looks like we’ve exchanged one pervert for another,” she grinned.
“Hey!” Lance protested. “That’s Joey, not me,” he chuckled.
“You’re mean. So don’t you have to work or something?” she asked.
“Not tonight. Besides there’s been too much work and not enough play.”
She raised an eyebrow. “So you think you’re gonna get some play from me then?”
“You offering?”
“No.”
“Damn.” He grinned. “I’m joking.”
“Well aren’t you full of the sexual innuendoes tonight.”
“Guess that’s what you get from being around thousands of women every night and not being able to touch them,” he joked.
“Women? I think the vast majority of them are girls.”
“Details.”
“Wanna get out of here?”
“Didn’t you just get here?”
“I’ve been here an hour, that’s far too long. I’m bored out of my mind and the only reason I’m here is because Cel dragged me. I don’t even know whose house this is.”
“I guess, if you want.” He hadn’t cared about going to the party, it was just an excuse to see her.
“What are you gonna do with Joey?”
“Think Celeste can keep him entertained?” he asked hopefully.
“I’m sure she could, but I don’t think his girlfriend would be too happy,” she chuckled.
Lance rolled his eyes as he followed her back into the house. Joey had joined Celeste in trying out the jello shots.
“Joe, we’re getting out of here, you staying or what?”
Joey, clutching his side from laughing at something so hard, looked up at Lance. “Huh? What was that?”
“We’re going, what are you doing?”
Celeste slung her arm around Joey’s shoulders. “I’ll look after your boy.”
“Cel, that’s not gonna reassure him,” Summer pointed out.
“I’ll get a cab back to the hotel,” Joey confirmed. “Now you two behave won’t you.” He looked at them both seriously before both him and Celeste burst out laughing.
Summer rolled her eyes and grabbed Lance’s hand, pulling him out of the kitchen.
“And don’t forget to use a condom!” Celeste shouted, before once again laughing hysterically.
“That wasn’t a wise move leaving him with her,” Summer told Lance as they exited the house. “You got a car?”
“Yeah.” They walked further down the street until they stopped at a sports car.
“Ooh flashy.”
“Not my usual type but what the hell, I’m famous right? I thought why not, splash out a little and live like a rock star for once.”
“Rock star?” Summer laughed, sliding into the car. “Oh please, you’re just a country bumpkin.”
“Since when did you have a wealth of knowledge about me?” He started up the car.
“Since Vanessa has started talking more about you than Justin.”
“I made an impression then?” he laughed.
“Kissing her sister? Hell yeah.”
“She knows about that?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah. She can be a perceptive young thing at times. Don’t worry, I quote, ‘My lips are sealed Summer…unless of course they come into contact with Justin’s.’”
Lance threw his head back laughing. “Seriously?”
“Scary, huh? She’s growing up way too fast.”
Lance slowly drove down the street. He glanced across at Summer. “So do you guys get on well?”
She shrugged. “We have our moments. Believe me, she can be a brat.” She sighed. “My mom said she learnt from the best, though.”
“You?” Lance guessed.
“Yeah,” she giggled.
“So where are we going?”
“Your hotel room.”
Lance’s eyes flew wide as he turned to face her. He almost went through a red light in his state shock.
“Joke,” Summer giggled.
“You’re mean.”
“I’m a tease,” she laughed. “How about the beach?”
“At night?”
“It’s the second best time to go.”
“The first being?”
“The day. Duh!”
Lance grinned, shaking his head. “You’re one strange girl, Summer.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“So…the beach?”
“Yep, I know just the one.”
She gave Lance directions as he drove. When they arrived she kicked off her shoes and stepped out of the car. “Come on slowpoke!” she shouted as she ran towards the ocean.
He grinned as he watched her run. She was definitely different. With any of his previous girlfriends he would have been in a restaurant having dinner. Girlfriend? Was that was she was now?
“Lance, come on!” she shouted.
He pulled his shoes and socks off.
Girlfriend?
He hoped so.
By the time he caught up with her she was at the edge of the water. She reached back a hand and smiled. He placed his hand in hers and she gave it a tug, taking a step closer to the water.
He dug his feet into the sand, not budging. “Are you crazy? It’ll be freezing!”
“Oh come on, live a little!”
He groaned and bent to roll his pants up. He grabbed her hand again as they took the last couple of steps before a wave washed across their feet. “Shit!” he gasped.
She giggled a little, pulling him out further. He could barely feel his feet by the time they had waded up to their knees. Summer was holding her knee-length skirt up a little, but it was still getting wet from the spray of the water. In the end she just let it go. Lance’s pants were also getting wet, but surprisingly, he didn’t care. He was enjoying the look of happiness on her face too much to complain about anything.
She looked back at him, her face lit up by the moonlight, and smiled. He noticed her shivering and pulled her back against his chest, locking his arms around her, and resting his chin on her shoulder. It was a lot breezier down by the water, added with the temperature of the water; it was making even him get chills. The girl in his arms may have also contributed to that, though.
She wrapped her arms around his and leant back into the warmth of his body. “I love the beach.”
“Me too.”
“There’s so many fake people around here, it’s good to come somewhere and see some natural beauty.”
“Hmm, it sure is.” He turned his head and brushed his lips across her neck. “I’m sure enjoying your natural beauty.”
She elbowed him in the stomach gently and laughed. “That was corny.”
“So sue me…actually, on second thoughts, don’t, I’ve had enough people do that already.”
“That’s okay, I’m not after your money anyway.”
“You’re not?”
“Nope.”
“Then what are you after?” he asked, noticing that this was leading somewhere.
She turned to face him. “Your body.” She closed the small gap between them and her lips came crashing down on his.
He was just beginning to enjoy the kiss after his initial shock when she pulled away abruptly. She bit her lip seductively as she backed away, a mischievous grin overtaking her face. The next thing he knew he was blinking away the salty water she had aimed at him, before running off giggling.
He wiped his face and took off running after her, along the shoreline. “Come back here! Summer, I’m gonna get you.” Nobody could mistake the happiness on his face, though.
Chapter 9
Chapter Index
Stories Page
Main Page