Kevin glances along the plane at where Brian and Jade are snuggled up. He sighs heavily and sits next to AJ. Howie is in the aisle just in front and Nick and Ali are across.
“Ok, listen up,” Kevin tells them.
“This a Backstreet thing?” asks AJ with a groan. “Cos if it is… I’m tired.”
“Should I go get Bri?” asks Howie.
“No to both,” Kevin replies. “This is about Brian and Jade. Ok, so we’re goin’ to be in Vegas for three days and two nights. Do NOT let ‘em out of your sights!”
“What?” asks Howie, confused. “Do they have some secret gambling problem I don’t know about?”
“No. I’m just thinkin’ they might try and get married…” The others stare at Kevin in shock. “Hey, this IS Vegas y’know. People do impulsive things.”
“No,” Nick shakes his head. “Not Brian. He wouldn’t get married without havin’ us all there. And his family.”
“But when he gets with Jade… He does stupid things.”
“Hey, I object to that!” Ali says. “They’re just in love, that’s all.”
“Yeah and when they get together the whole world just melts away,” mutters Kevin darkly. “They can NOT get married in Vegas. Jeez, his mom would KILL me. And I’d kill him.”
“Be kinda hard if you’d already been killed,” AJ points out. Kevin shoots him a glare. “Whoa, that look’d do it.”
“So, they are not to go any place alone in Vegas. Except to their room and that’s cool cos we have bodyguards on every floor.”
“You can’t hold ‘em prisoner,” Howie says.
“No, but I can make damn sure they don’t run off and get married.” Kevin folds his arms and looks around at the others, “You guys with me?”
“I trust Brian and Jade,” Nick says. “You need to do the same.”
“Besides, why would they want to get married without us all there?” asks Ali.
“They won’t even try,” Howie says. “AJ’s the one we need to put a guard on in Vegas.”
“Yup,” agrees AJ. “Me and some stripper named Sally Sue.” Everyone cracks up laughing as AJ reclines his seat to get some sleep. “G’night Sally Sue,” he tells Howie who leans over to smack him.
Jade’s book slips off her lap and onto the floor. Brian slips off his headphones and retrieves it. Seeing that she’s asleep, he puts the book on the empty seat beside him. He gently moves her head to slip a pillow behind it and covers her with a blanket. He kisses her nose softly and settles back into his seat. He loves everything about her. Her cute nose, her eyes, the little noises she makes when she’s asleep or reading. Everything. But especially the noises that no one else hears. The noises that only he can draw out of her with a kiss or a touch. And in exactly two days time, she will be his. Forever. And he will be hers. But he already belongs to her. He has done since the first time he ever set eyes on her. He closes his eyes and remembers how mad she had been at Nick on that first meeting. The way her eyes had flashed and her face had set stubbornly. He had just wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until he died. Every time she touches him, he forgets how to breathe.
“I wish I could fast-forward tonight and tomorrow,” Brian whispers in my ear. “All I can think about is marrying you.”
“Me too,” I giggle and move round on his lap so that I can kiss him. We’re sat backstage at the MGM, waiting for him to go into wardrobe. “Are you gonna do something tonight? With the guys?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“You should. I’m gonna go for a drink with Ali. She doesn’t know yet but I’m sure I can persuade her,” I grin. “Y’know, we really shouldn’t see each other at all between now and church.”
“But that wouldn’t be practical,” he says and I agree. “Besides, we would miss each other too much.”
“Plus, everyone else would think we fell out,” I giggle.
“I know. They would probably lock us in a room together…”
“And bang goes that superstition,” I finish with a laugh. “Are you excited?” I start to play with his fingers, rubbing them gently and interlacing them with mine.
“I don’t think I have ever been so excited or nervous in my life,” he admits.
“Me either. I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I mean, it’s YOU. I know you already, what’s to be nervous about?”
“But this is a lifetime commitment,” he says quietly. “It’s only natural to be nervous.”
“But we’re doing the right thing,” I say. “Aren’t we?” I add nervously and he kisses me.
“Jade, I love you more than anything else in the entire universe. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I want to be your husband. I think we’re doing the PERFECT thing, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I smile and feel shivers run down my spine. “I really do.”
“Good,” he laughs and kisses me. His hands tighten around my body as his warm tongue slips into my mouth. I touch him with my own tongue and smile deep down inside. This is the man I’m going to kiss like this for the rest of my life. And I’m the only one who will ever be kissed like this by him. It makes me feel indescribably good.
“I’d say get a room,” Janice interrupts us with a laugh. “But you don’t have time. Brian, c’mon.”
“Ok,” he says and kisses me quickly. I move off his lap and he stands up. “Have a good time tonight.”
“You too,” I smile and he follows Janice into wardrobe. I stand up to go find Ali and get lucky ten minutes later in catering. She’s sat on her own with a coffee. “Hey Ali,” I greet and sit opposite her.
“Hey Jady,” she smiles.
“What you doin’ tonight?”
“Uh, waiting for Nick to finish posing up on stage I guess,” she laughs. “Why?”
“I wondered if you wanted to do something? Just me and you. We could go to a bar and get totally trashed. I mean, how long has it been since we did that?!”
“Have a total girls’ night?” she laughs. “Sure! I would like that. Anywhere in mind?”
“Hell, this is Vegas!” I laugh. “Pretty much everywhere!”
“Let’s go already!” she says. “We can go back to the hotel and get changed before moving on.”
“Ok,” I agree and we both stand up. We head out to the back of the arena and find Marcus talking to a driver. “Hey Marcus, do you think we could borrow a car back to the hotel?”
“Sure thing,” he nods and turns to the guy he is talking with. “Would you mind?”
“Nup,” the guy shakes his head and opens the car doors for us before climbing in himself.
“You guys just going to the hotel?” Marcus asks. He always likes to know where we are because we get recognised a lot these days. I guess he sees us as part of his responsibility.
“Nup, we’re gonna hit Vegas BIG time,” I tell him. “It’s a girls’ night out.”
“Oh,” he looks a little worried. “You guys want security?”
“Naw,” I shake my head.
“You planning on getting wasted?” he asks.
“NO!” Ali and I yell together. He studies our faces and then gets on his cell.
“Hey Tay, get out back will ya?” he hangs up and looks at us. “Tay will shadow you.”
“You don’t believe us!” Ali exclaims and he chuckles.
“Should I?”
“Uh, I guess not,” she admits and climbs into the car.
“Have a good night,” Marcus grins and I join Ali in the car.
A few minutes later, Tay climbs into the front seat and we head back to the hotel. We arrive ten minutes later and the three of us head inside.
“We just need to get changed,” Ali tells Tay.
“Ok, I’ll be here,” he nods and heads off to sit down in the lobby. Tay is a cool guy. He is an extra security guy, in that he’s not assigned specifically to a Backstreet Boy, so he often ends up looking after me or Ali. He’s a big guy – about 6ft 3 easily and well-built. He’s pretty good-looking and certainly turns female heads wherever he goes. He will probably attract more attention than we will.