Nerves danced around in Rachel Bass's stomach. She wiped her palms on her denim shorts and blew out a breath hoping to settle herself. It didn't work.

 

‘Ring the doorbell.' Her mind told her firmly. She wished she was as confident as her conscious appeared to be. She wasn't confident at all. In actuality she was liable to puke all over the welcome mat. What a greeting that would be.

 

Taking another breath she blew it out again and with confidence she didn't feel, pressed the doorbell. The chime rang from within and her stomach rolled threatening to reintroduce the breakfast she had been able to eat that morning. Lunch was out of the question. No way would she have been able to choke anything down.

 

The longer the door stayed closed, the more nervous she became. She worried her bottom lip. He was home. That she was sure of. Least that's what her brother told her. Though it was possible he had been mistaken. Instead of going home after rehearsals JC could have stopped somewhere. Rachel wasn't sure she could ring the doorbell again. She could only muster up the confidence to press the button once.

 

Before she could turn away and walk back to her car, Rachel heard the lock turn in the door and the door swung open revealing the man she was after.

 

"Hey!" JC Chasez smiled seeing Lance's younger sister on his doorstep. Lance had mentioned she was visiting during rehearsals. He thought it was cute that she'd rather spend her spring break with her older brother than in Cancun or Panama like most her age. It had started a discussion amongst them especially Joey saying he wouldn't spend his spring break with family but on a beach somewhere with a lot of alcohol and twice as many girls. JC had rolled his eyes because of course Joey would. "Lance said you were in town."

 

"Yeah," Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. JC's hair was damp, curling on the collar of his t-shirt, indicating he had showered before she arrived. Lance had returned home worn out and beat. Not to mention a sweaty mess from rehearsals. She expected JC to be the same way so she'd given him time to shower. The next NSYNC tour started in a little over a month. From the way her brother talked, it was another grand scale event like No Strings Attached had been. She couldn't wait to see it and all of its ridiculousness. Lance had mentioned mechanical bulls. Someone should really be around to tell them no. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by... Lance said you'd be home. I hope I'm not interrupting?"

 

"No not at all," JC opened the door wider and stepped to the side allowing her to enter. "Just got out of the shower."

 

"I think Lance was gonna soak in Epsom salt. Wade must have killed you guys today." Rachel followed JC through his house and into the kitchen. Nerves still bounced around inside of her like they were balls in a pinball machine.

 

"No more than usual," JC chuckled lightly. His muscles were sore. Loose. Nothing he wasn't used to. The start of rehearsals were always rough. No matter how much any of them worked out during their downtime, rehearsing for tour always took a lot out of them. Rehearsals would ease up the closer it got to the start of the tour as they nailed down the routines and just concentrated on polishing.

 

"Lance thinks Wade is sadistic." Rachel accepted the bottle of water JC handed her. Out of politeness, she took a sip.

 

JC laughed. "Yeah." He twisted the cap off his bottle of water and took a drink. He had already killed three of them from the time rehearsals ended. "We've all taken great pleasures in coming up with ways to kill him."

 

"Poor Wade..."

 

"Yeah right," JC laughed again. "The last thing that man needs is pity. He takes pleasure in torturing us."

 

"Well you do get paid the big bucks." Rachel leaned on the island in the center of JC's kitchen. The kitchen was immaculate like it stepped from the pages of some design magazine. Lance's was the same way. It always blew her mind when she visited Lance seeing the decor and the cleanliness. For a 21 year old she imagine tacky photographs on the walls. Lots of take out containers. Pizza boxes. His house barely looked lived in. Though he spent more time on a tour bus than at his house in Orlando. JC as well. Easy to keep that magazine photograph ready house when you're rarely home.

 

"I can always buy new joints with the money right?" JC grinned.

 

Rachel stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and laughing slightly. "Oh! Joints as in knees. For a moment I thought you were talking joints as in marijuana."

 

JC laughed loudly. "Not hardly." He leaned on the opposite side of the island across from her, crossing his arms. "Though I bet you know exactly how to score some."

 

Rachel's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"

 

JC laughed again and straightened. "Perfect little Rachel Bass would never."

 

Rachel bristled. She hated it when she was called perfect. From the very beginning that had been one of her monikers with the NSYNC members. She was Lance's perfect little sister. The girl who always did the right thing. Never told a lie. Straight As. "If you want me to score you some weed, I know exactly where to go. If you want something else - pills, I can get those too."

 

JC's eyes widened. "Whoa..." he held his hands up. "I don't need you to get me any of that shit. How do you even know?"

 

"It's college JC. Everyone knows where to get anything they could possibly need. Marijuana to loosen up? Pills to stay up all night studying? Underage and want alcohol? Some ecstasy? People assume just because you're quiet you can't hear."

 

JC wondered what else Rachel knew. What had been said around her while she hung out with them? She was quiet. Sometimes he forgot she was even in the room with them. He could only imagine what she was enlightened with when Chris and Joey got going. "You don't...do any of that do you?"

 

"What? No!" Rachel gasped offended. "Well I may have taken a hit or two off a joint before..." she shrugged.

 

"Not so perfect then," JC chuckled.

 

"I'm not perfect," Rachel sighed tearing at the label on the water bottle. "I really hate how you guys call me that."

 

"We're just teasing." The smile JC wore slowly faded when Rachel failed to meet his eyes. "I didn't know it bothered you. I'll tell the guys to knock it off. Is that why you came over? If it was causing such a problem, I'm sorry."

 

"No that's not why I came over." The ball of nerves came back with a flourish. The conversation had caused them to wane slightly but now they were back. Fluttering and tossing. The little water she drank threatened to make a reappearance. ‘Do not throw up, Bass.'

 

"What's up?" JC asked frowning as he stared at her. He could feel the nerves radiating from her. He wondered why she'd be nervous to talk to him. That had never been the case before. She got along good with all of them. Him a little more than the others. He just tossed that up to them both being on the quiet side. While he could bounce off the walls and be manic just as well as Chris, he was able to tone it down and revert into himself. Especially when he was in a songwriting mood.

 

"Sorry, I'm a little nervous." Rachel gave a tiny laugh and resisted the urge to wipe her hands on her shorts again. "I wanted to ask you something. Lance mentioned you and Bobbie broke up..."

 

"We did..." Bobbie was a writer for J-14, a magazine whose sole demographic was teenyboppers. They had dated for two years before their relationship had finally run its course last month. It had been nice dating someone in the business. Who understand the nature. Who understood his schedule. Their relationship started off hot and heavy. Then it petered into friendship. Before finally giving way to indifference. He didn't love her. He didn't hate her. He didn't feel anything for her anymore.

 

Why would Rachel be inquiring about his relationship? JC eyes widened. ‘No...' he thought. Staring at the girl in front of him he realized it was very well a yes. Bobbie had told him Lance's sister had a crush on him. He had brushed it off with an eye roll. She didn't. He didn't see it. She had called him an idiot. Affectionately. He told her it didn't matter because he didn't feel the same way. She was Lance's sister for crying out loud. And he was 100% taken with her.

 

Except now he wasn't. Now he was single. He had thought it was weird for Rachel to spend spring break in Orlando with Lance and not with friends in Panama. But now it made sense. She heard about his break up and now she was taking the chance and going to ask him out. His eyes closed and he bit back a curse. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to watch her flounder through asking him out. He didn't want to hurt her by telling her no.

 

It was a no. JC wasn't interested in her. Sure she was pretty. But she was Lance's sister. A major no. She was also younger than him. Too young. He'd be 26 in a few months. She had just turned 20. Damnit. He didn't want to hurt her.

 

"Rachel..."

 

"JC..."

 

Rachel laughed softly as they both spoke at the same time.

 

"Listen," JC started. He needed to get this out. Maybe if he spoke first maybe he could soften the blow. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. He didn't want to affect the friendship he had with her or the friendship he had with Lance. What happened here could definitely ruin them both.

 

"No," Rachel cut him off. She raised her head to look at him, making eye contact again. "I need to get this out first. Please?"

 

JC nodded. He forced himself to stand there. To let her speak. He knew in a few short minutes he was gonna break her heart. Maybe he gave himself too much credit. Break her heart? Over a crush? He might think he'd break her heart, but she'd be fine. She'd go back to college. When she saw him again, she wouldn't be phased. It was just a silly little crush.

 

"You guys all make fun of me," Rachel started. "Calling me perfect."

 

"Rachel," JC interrupted. He truly didn't know their teasing affected her this much.

 

"Please," Rachel held up her hand to stop his words. "I'm not. Perfect. I guess I come off that way. Maybe. Prissy. Hoity toity. Goody two shoes. Prudish. I've heard them all. The good ones. The not so nice ones."

 

JC opened his mouth to refute Rachel's words. A look from Rachel stopped him. He wondered if their teasing had caused an issue with her? If it bothered her more than she let on. There had never been a malicious intent on his part. Any of them. They teased her like they teased each other. Well a toned down version. Sometimes their teasing with each other got vulgar and crass.

 

"My college experience hasn't been exactly what I thought it would be. I thought it would be different. A little more freeing. Maybe it would have helped if I didn't pick a college in my backyard. Anyway," Rachel gave herself a little shake. She wasn't here to dive into the ins and out of her time at Mississippi State. "That's not what I wanted to talk about. Not really."

 

JC wanted to talk about it. He found himself wanting to know was going on at Mississippi State. "What do you want to talk about?" He watched her take a breath and blow it out. He wasn't sure how he could help her.

 

"A few names stick with you. A reputation... earned or perceived... I tried to fix one... I just made it worse." Rachel could see JC was confused. It was her fault. No matter how many times she practiced what she wanted to say in her head on the plane ride to Florida it still wasn't coming out correctly.

 

"Rachel..." JC pushed himself off the counter where he had been leaning and took a step until he was back at the island counter where she still leaned. "What do you need?"

 

"I need you to teach me how to have sex."

 

*~*

 

Surely JC must have misunderstood. No way did Rachel ask him what he thought she did. He gave his head a little shake. "What?"

 

"I want you to teach me how to have sex."

 

Nope. He heard correctly. He floundered for a moment. His mouth opening and shutting as he tried think of something to say. What could he say? In this line of work, he thought he was passed the days of being shocked by questions. Apparently he was wrong. He could still be shocked.

 

"What...why..." JC still couldn't form a sentence. He rubbed a hand over his face. "Rachel..."

 

"It's a simple question, JC. Yes or no." It took everything Rachel had to keep looking at him. She felt the heat on her face as she blushed.

 

"No," JC's laugh was forced. He shook his head. "It's not a simple question."

 

"Either you'll help or you won't." The sick feeling was back. The nerves were working overtime. Her question was out there. The reason she was at JC's house. It was up to him now. What would he say? Would he do it?

 

"You make this sound so easy... it's not."

 

"JC..."

 

"Why?"

 

The question brought Rachel up short. "Why what?"

 

"Why do you need someone to teach you to...have sex?" JC felt his face heat. He had to drop his gaze. Staring at Rachel he could see the 14 year old girl he'd met for the first time in Orlando. Quiet. Shy. Polite. His eyes widened and he looked at her again. "Are you... have you..." he couldn't even get the word out. God he wished she had just asked him out. That conversation would have been 100 times less awkward than this one.

 

"I'm not a virgin JC." Rachel blushed again. She wasn't a virgin no. Corey Jacobs had taken that when she was 16. That wasn't their only time over the course of their relationship. Then there had been Jesse Morgan her senior year. That's when the comments had started. Thanks to Lance her popularity had spiked. Otherwise she would have never been on Jesse's radar. Then last month it had been Eric Jackson. Who drove her to come up with the plan. It was either this or transfer to another school where no one knew her.

 

JC wasn't sure if the information made her question better or worse. He prayed for his phone to ring with an important meeting or appearance. Something that his presence was required at immediately. He'd even go back for more rehearsals. He'd take Wade calling and informing he was changing the whole routine. Anything but have a conversation about sex with Lance's little sister.

 

"Why do you need someone to teach you?"

 

"Because apparently I suck and everyone knows." Rachel sighed. The label was completely peeled off the water bottle. Now she started peeling it in to tiny little strips. "And I don't mean suck in a good way.... I'll spare you the rumors and the nicknames."

 

JC frowned. Rumors in school were vicious. He assumed it stopped after high school. Kids were adults now. College opened them up to a brand new world with more freedom. Giving them the ability to leave the cliqueiness of high school behind. The immaturity. Guess he was wrong. Not that he'd know. Not about college anyway. Barely about high school since he was on The Mickey Mouse Club at the time.

 

"I tried to fix it on my own. It didn't work." ‘Just made it worse.' Rachel thought as she remembered hearing the laughter from beyond the bathroom stall. "I just want you to teach me... show me what I'm apparently doing wrong."

 

JC shook his head. "I can't..." there was absolutely no way he could teach Rachel, Lance's little sister, how to have sex. No way. He watched as her shoulders slumped in defeat. Her head bowed. He felt a stirring he quickly squashed. He would have helped her with anything. Anything. But not this.

 

Disappointment set in. Her insides were having a hell of a time. Disappointment bugs. Embarrassment bugs. Nervous bugs.

 

"Rachel I..."

 

Rachel held up her hand silencing his words. She forced a smile on her lips and looked at him. "Don't. I don't want to hear an apology or God forbid the reasons why. We'll just stick with no and I'll leave you be."

 

JC followed her to the front door. Everything screamed at him to stay behind in the kitchen. To let her show herself out. She reached the door first and opened it. He grabbed the door over her head and held it open.

 

"I'll see you later." Rachel was able to meet his eyes briefly. "Bye."

 

"Rachel..." Her name died on his lips as she quickly went down the steps outside his front door and down the sidewalk to his driveway. He sighed and shut the door. He did the right thing.

 

"You think if we tie Wade to a chair and forced him to watch bad choreography he'll eventually just combust?"

 

Lance laughed at Chris's words before he took a drink from his water. He guzzled the whole thing in one drink. Rehearsals had finished for the day. Thank God. He was beat.

 

Chris had collapsed to the ground when Wade called an end to the torture. It had been fifteen minutes and he still had yet to move. Lance walked over to him and nudged him with his foot. "You okay man?"

 

"Fuck." Chris groaned. "I'm too old for this shit."

 

"If you actually spend downtime staying in shape you wouldn't want to die now."

 

"I'd give you the finger but I'm too tired to lift my arm." Chris opened an eye and spied JC still going through the new portions they learned today. "Where the fuck do you get the energy?"

 

"Siphoning yours while you sleep at night." JC said as he went through the sequence for Pop, the opening song for their tour. It was also slated to be their first single from Celebrity. Crunch time was upon them. Celebrity was supposed to be released next month but it wasn't finished. The release date was pushed back until June. He hoped it would be finished by then. Unfortunately, they couldn't push their tour back. The tour needed to be completed before football season. One of the downsides of a stadium tour. JC couldn't fault the stadiums. After all, the stadiums belong to the teams. They were just borrowing it for a night.

 

"The fuck you say." Chris sat up and threw a water bottle at JC. "For fuck sake, sit down. You're making my hurts hurt."

 

"Your hurts hurt?" JC picked up Chris's water bottle and uncapped it. He took a long drink.

 

"I got fucking hurts on top of hurts."

 

"Want me to kiss and make it better?"

 

"How about you kissing my dick," Chris told Joey.

 

"Probably be the most action Joey's gotten in a long time," Justin grinned.

 

"Fuck. My dick and hand have become the best of friends. They're completely dependent on each other."

 

"How's Briahna?" Lance asked wiping his neck with a towel.

 

"Perfect as always." Joey grinned at the mention of his daughter, only a few weeks old. The reason his hand had been seeing a lot of action. Kelly, his girlfriend, was still on sex restriction from birth. Before Briahna was born, she hadn't been in the mood during the final month of pregnancy.

 

"Better brush up The Stranger, you're gonna need a back up," Chris pushed himself off the mat. "By the time Kelly's cleared you're gonna be on tour. Unless Lance wants to help you out."

 

"Fuck off," Lance snapped Chris with his towel. "He'll have to trade off anyway. Don't want one arm getting bigger than the other."

 

"It won't be that bad," Justin grinned gathering his bag. He stuffed a dirty, sweaty towel inside. "Isn't Rachel spending the summer with us? Maybe she'll help you out." He yelped when a hand caught the back of his head. "Fuck C," he glared at the older man rubbing the back of his head. "What the fuck?"

 

"She's Lance's sister. No way to talk about her." JC's glare rivaled the one Justin sent in his direction.

 

"You have to put it in terms he'd understand. He doesn't have a sister. Lynn's coming right?" Chris grinned. Lynn was Justin's mother. "I bet she'd help you out. She probably knows her way around a man."

 

"Stay away from my mom," Justin glared at Joey.

 

"I don't want your mom."

 

"What's wrong with my mom?" Justin asked offended.

 

"Yeah," Chris snorted. "She birthed a legend."

 

"Damn right," Justin smirked.

 

"What's everyone doing tonight?"

 

"You mean besides Justin's mom?"

 

"Mention my mom one more time..."

 

"Anyone wanna go out?" Lance asked trying to bring the conversation away from Lynn before Justin walloped Chris.

 

"Can't. Diaper duty." Joey said. "We'll be leaving soon and Kelly will be by herself. Well my parents will be there and hers. But I won't. Gotta make up all I can for when I can't."

 

"I can meet up later," Chris said as they spilled out into the parking lot. Thankful it was void of any fans who figured out where they were rehearsing. "I got something to do after this."

 

"Justin's Mom?" JC grinned slyly thankful the teasing had turned away from Rachel. Not that he wanted to think about Lynn in that manner. Lynn - as well as Diane Bass - had become a second mother to them. Since Justin and Lance had been underage at the beginning of the group, both women accompanied them to Germany. The difference with the teasing about Lynn, no one had the balls to actually do it where she could hear. Unlike Rachel.

 

"Fuck you."

 

"As fun as that sounds I am actually meeting Rachel after I get home and shower Wade's torture off."

 

"Rachel?" Lance asked surprised. "You're meeting my sister?"

 

"Yeah. She called me last night wanting to talk to me about something."

 

JC froze in his spot at Chris's words. The conversation carried on around him but the words were garbled. They sounded like he was underwater. Rachel wanted to meet with Chris to discuss something.

 

Chris.

 

"First she goes to JC now you," Lance looked at his band mates. "What's she doing?"

 

"She went to JC first?" Chris whined. "Here I thought I was special."

 

"You're special alright," Justin laughed.

 

Lance turned to look at JC. He hadn't thought anything of it when Rachel asked about his band mate yesterday. She was friends with them all. He assumed she wanted to go and see him. Catch up on his on goings since the last time she'd seen him over the holidays.

 

She had been gone awhile. When she had come home he'd asked about her visit with JC. She informed in the visit had been short. She had been out shopping at the mall. Not that she had any bags. She had told him nothing caught her eye. "JC?" He called JC's name but received no response.

 

"Dude?" Joey snapped his fingers in front of JC's face. "Snap out of it."

 

"What?" JC shook her his head. "What? Stop it." He knocked Joey's hands away when he continued snapping.

 

"Where the hell did you go man?" Justin asked.

 

"Nowhere." JC said trying to shove the new information aside. It was bad enough Rachel's request had stayed with him for the night not allowing him to sleep.

 

"What did my sister want?" Lance asked, staring at JC trying to get a read on him. He was good at reading the guys. Came with spending so much time with them in close quarters. JC refused to meet his eyes and he watched a red hue form on JC's face that had nothing to do with the Florida heat.

 

"Nothing."

 

"She went over to your house for nothing?" Lance arced and eyebrow in disbelief.

 

"We're friends. Can't she come over to talk?"

 

"You're hiding something." Lance concluded.

 

"Maybe she's gonna throw you a birthday party."

 

"Yeah she needed help for your birthday present."

 

"Didn't know what stripper to call."

 

"I can certainly help with that." Chris grinned. "Oh man. I can't wait until she comes. Man do I have ideas..." he rubbed his hands together. "Later guys."

 

"You're gonna let him be alone with her?" Justin asked Lance as Chris left.

 

"I'll pay for her therapy."

 

"She's gonna get educated." Justin chuckled. "Learn more than she's learning in college."

 

"Oh yeah," Joey laughed. "He's gonna scar her for life."

 

The words stuck with JC the whole way home. Rachel wanted to talk to Chris. He knew what she wanted to talk about. It had nothing to do with Lance's upcoming birthday. Not even close. Rachel was gonna ask Chris to teach her how to have sex. Chris would take her up on it. Chris never passed up the opportunity. Rachel might as well be the devil's playground.

 

‘She's gonna get educated.'

 

Justin had no idea what education Rachel was seeking. Had no idea that's exactly what she was after. An education. If Chris turned her down... Justin was next. JC knew. Joey was out because he was with Kelly. If he had been dating Bobbie, he'd be out too. Chris and Justin were single.

 

Pulling into his driveway, JC quickly backed out and turned around. If by some miracle Chris turned down Rachel's offer, Justin would be next. Justin would definitely take her up. He knew that for sure. He heard the comments made on the bus during the last tour. Lance didn't ride the same bus as he, Justin, and Chris. This allowed comments to be let loose and Justin had let some fly. Justin hadn't been single then. But he was now. Justin had definitely been able if Rachel had been willing. She wasn't. Not then. But now...

 

Twenty minutes later JC was pulling into Lance's drive. He had no idea what he was doing. Why did he care who Rachel had sex with? It didn't matter to him. But he couldn't let it go. Couldn't let go of the fact that Rachel was getting ready to ask Chris to teach her how to have sex. Chris. He heard plenty of Chris's exploits. Sometimes even the play by play. Justin was no better. He may have been one of his best friends but he was cocky. Arrogant.  He couldn't imagine Justin actually taking the time to teach anyone how to have sex. He'd be more apt to take what he wanted under the guise of teaching.

 

"JC!" Rachel's eyes widened seeing JC on the door step. His face was flushed. His t-shirt clung to him. His hair in disarray. From rehearsals. From running his hands through it. She wasn't sure.

 

JC hadn't remembered getting out of his car or ringing the doorbell. He stared at Rachel. Her hair in a messy bun. A flowy tank top. Short shorts. Long legs. Bare feet. He swallowed roughly.

 

"Lance is in the shower. You can come in and wait." Rachel was slightly embarrassed remembering the conversation she had with JC yesterday. She had to get over it. He turned her down. He wasn't someone she was never going to see again. He would be a part of her life for a long time being her brother's band mate.

 

"I didn't come here to see Lance."

 

"Oh!" Rachel's eyes widened. "Okay. What's up?"

 

"I'll do it." JC forced the words out.

 

"What?" Rachel whispered, freezing.

 

"I said I'll do it," JC repeated. "I'll teach you."

 

"You'll teach me?" Rachel repeated dumbly.

 

"Yes." JC nodded roughly. "Come over later after Lance leaves."

 

JC turned and walked away not sure what the hell he had just done.

 

*~*

 

Rachel had no idea what to wear. What did one wear to a sex lesson? Should she wear the sexiest thing she had? Sexy lingerie? She had neither of those. For the trip she had tossed outfits in a suit case. A couple maxi dresses. Shorts. A denim skirt. Tanks. T-shirts. Blouses. She didn't even own lingerie. When exactly would she wear it in a dorm room she shared? And why would she wear it? The whole purpose of this trip was to eventually be able to wear it for someone. A trip to the mall would solve the issue. She could find lingerie she could... what? Wear to JC's? Toss a trench coat on over and show up at his door? Bring it and change in to it?

 

Lingerie was out. This wasn't that type of visit. They weren't dating. What she wore had no bearing on JC's ability to teach her how to have sex. Lacy see through baby doll or a trash bag. Eventually both would end up on the floor.

 

But what would she wear? The white shorts and tank she had on when she answered the door? Should she dress it up? Do her hair? So far she had only showered because of course. Even though she had showered that morning. She showered again taking extra care on shaving her legs and bikini line. Had the nick on her knee to prove it. The tiny slice had only just now stopped burning.

 

This was like a date. The extra care getting ready. The spazzing on what to wear. How she should do her hair. The nerves sitting in her belly. But it wasn't a date. Not even close. This wasn't a knock at the door. Dinner. Movies. This was knock at the door. Bedroom. Naked. There were no guidelines. If there were, she didn't know where they were. Could she go to the library and check out a book? What would a book on this subject even be called? What section would it be located in?

 

Rachel needed to stop stalling. Lance had already left. JC told her to come over after he left. What was she gonna wear? She groaned and let the towel fall from her body. She pulled on clean underwear and a bra. Then grabbed a pair of cut off shorts and a worn threadbare t-shirt with a faded Pepsi logo on it. Casual. Blow drying her hair, she pulled it back into a messy bun. With a final look in the mirror she left.

 

Lance didn't live that far from JC. Maybe a 20 minute drive. Traffic was the usual Friday night mess. Rush hour was over and it was now people heading out to enjoy the night. She wasn't sure where her brother was off too. A club eventually she knew. Not this early in the night. He offered to bring her along, but turned him down even if she didn't already have plans. She wasn't in the mood for loud dancing and drunk people. Drunk people trying to get in her brother's pants. That wasn't her idea of a Friday night. That's even if Lance could get her into the club. A lot of the Orlando clubs were 21 and over. She still had a year before she didn't need her older brother to sweet talk a doorman. Sometimes it worked. Most times it didn't. When it didn't, it was highly embarrassing. Especially when Justin, who was the same age, got waved through. Of course she wasn't a popular pop singer. Just the sister of one. And not the main ones either.

 

It wasn't a secret that Lance wasn't as popular as Justin or JC. Living on a college campus told her as much. People constantly asked her about them, less about Lance, Joey, or Chris. Though she heard plenty of sexual confessions on all of them she wished she could erase from her mind. A lot wanted to know if she had sex with any of them. Of course once the rumors started, that question was curbed. Some wanted to know if they were single and handed their phone numbers to her to pass along. Others wanted their AOL messenger screen names. A few wanted to know if she'd seen them naked and how they compared.

 

Plenty of times she wished she was older. Like her sister Stacy. Stacy made it through college before Lance became a member of a wildly popular boyband. Stacy didn't have to deal with fake friends using her to get closer to the group. Stacy's friends from elementary through high school were still her friends. She on the other hand had lost some because they couldn't deal with Lance. Before he was her older dorky brother. Now he just graced Teen People, Teen Beat, and the likes and was on MTV a lot. Still dorky. At least in her opinion.

 

College hadn't gotten better in that area. The girls were more sex crazed. More experienced and voiced their sexual innuendoes without care. Personally she didn't want to hear about her brother's dick and what someone wanted to do with it or could do with it. The guys had gotten crasser with their jokes about five guys spending all their time on a tour bus. She had simply stopped responding especially when her football locker room retorts failed to resonate.

 

The nerves were worse sitting in JC's driveway today than they were yesterday. Yesterday it was just getting the nerve to ask. Now it was actually going to happen. JC was going to teach her how to have sex. Show her everything she needed to know to please a man so she could eliminate the rumors once and for all. She wanted to enjoy college. She wanted to go out. She wanted to date. Do exactly what she thought she'd do when she started school. The rumors curtailed her efforts. No one wanted to date a girl with a reputation for being awful in bed.

 

‘Kisses like a Saint Bernard.'

 

That rumor was a straight up lie. No way there was any possibility of an ounce of truth to it. She didn't know what it was like to kiss herself. It couldn't be like kissing a Saint Bernard. She'd seen Beethoven. Just no.  But it didn't matter. It fueled the ‘flops around like a dead fish' rumor. ‘Gives head like a beaver.' ‘Gives hand jobs like she's milking a cow.' Which then led to nicknames.

 

Fish. One might assume that had something to do with her last name. Nope. Bernie. Bernard. Those were usually accompanied by barking. Betsy. Milkmaid Bass. Drawings showed up on her door. Her milking a cow. A beaver chomping a tree log.

 

Those paired with a few others killed her socially. Not to mention her self-esteem. The whispers entering the room where more than likely about her. The giggles from the rows behind her in her classes where probably about her. Her looks didn't matter. She didn't think she was ugly. She wasn't a knockout either. She was tallish. Five seven. It was about normal for her family. Her legs were long. She was average weight. Slim. If she worked out, she'd probably tone up more. Fill out better. One day her metabolism would catch up she was sure. Her breasts fit her body. Genetics. No girl on her mother's side were blessed in that department. Her eyes were standard green - a gift from her father. Her hair was blonde - dyed a lighter complexion that what it normally would be. Naturally her hair was a shade of blonde that could almost be considered brown. Thanks to a fantastic salon in Jackson her hair was now ‘sunflower'. Thanks to a couple thousands dollars during junior high, her teeth were straight.

 

Rachel was sure she couldn't take another two years at school. An option would be to transfer. Her parents had already poured so much money into her tuition paired with her scholarships. In the back of her mind, she knew Lance would help if she asked. The only problem with asking Lance would be having to explain why she wanted to transfer from the only school she wanted to go to. That was a conversation she never wanted to have.

 

Her only other option was to learn how to have sex. If she learned how, she could go back to school and lay the rumors to rest. All she needed to do was talk someone into having sex with her. Giving her a chance. (She hoped her mother never found out.) Someone who could then spread the rumors of how great she was in bed. Cigarette worthy even.

 

Rachel sighed and leaned back against the seat. Maybe it was a lost cause. Maybe JC couldn't teach her. She prided herself in being smart. Being able to pick things up quickly. What if tonight was a bust? What if she went in there and proved all those rumors true? What if she couldn't even get him turned on? How embarrassing would that be? Maybe she should have gone with the sexy lingerie covered with a trench coat bit. That picture was sure to get a man excited and in the mood.

 

What would happen to her friendship with JC after tonight? Could they go back to their easy going friendship? She never became friends with any of the guys she had sex with. None of them. After the relationships ended they went their separate ways. No matter what the outcome was tonight - success or failure - could she still be JC's friend?

 

Would he look at her differently? Would his opinion of her change? Would he hate her? Would he be able to look her in the eye again after she kissed him? Gave him a hand job. Had sex with him? Was it worth it?

 

Opening the car door she climbed out. She had to do this. It was the only option. It was only sex. She could do it and still look JC in the eye tomorrow. She can separate what was about to happen. She was a girl who needed help. Just like going to a professor's office hours. She was the student. JC was the teacher.

 

The doorbell rang and for the hundredth time JC regretted the decision he made. Wondered what had caused him to change his mind in the first place. From the very beginning his stance had been a firm no. It was the best decision. The right decision. The only decision in his opinion.

 

What he needed to do was open the door tell Rachel he was sorry but he couldn't help her. Send her on her way. He could change and meet everyone before the night truly got started...

 

‘And leave her to call Chris... or Justin.'

 

Maybe he could talk her out of this silly plan. Learning sex was part of the fun in having sex. With the right person. It was about learning what your partner liked and wanted. He and Nikki, his first true girlfriend, had some pretty great times figuring each other out. He needed to explain this all to Rachel. She obviously needed help. Needed someone to talk to. He could do that. It would be uncomfortable and awkward as hell but he'd do it. He'd help her because she was a friend. His doorbell chimed again and he forced himself to move.

 

Rachel was standing on his doorstep when he opened the door. Apprehension written all over her face. Her smile looked forced. JC swallowed roughly. "Hey."

 

"Hi." The world got caught in her throat. She coughed. "Sorry I'm late."

 

"It's okay. Come in." JC stood to the side, letting her enter. He shut the door behind her and swept his arm motioning her forward. In the living room he motioned toward the couch. He wrestled with the decision before taking a seat next to her, leaving almost enough room for another person between them. The silence built making it even more awkward. He knew he needed to tell her he changed his mind.

 

"I want to thank you for doing this..." Rachel started. "I really appreciate it. I know it's probably weird. I'm sorry I put you in this position. I just..." She picked at her nails in her lap. "I just... trust you."

 

The words cleared JC's mind. Everything he had lined up to say had disappeared. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. His eyes widened when she jolted, surprised that a minor touch could elicit such a reaction.

 

"We're starting now?" Rachel looked at him, her eyes wide before she dropped them to her lap. "I'm sorry...I...I'm a little nervous." She sighed and blew out a breath before covering her face with her hands. "God, I jump when you touch my shoulder..."

 

"Wait until I touch your knee..." JC said with a teasing smile. He felt a sense of victory wash over him when she laughed.

 

"This all sounded so much easier in my head when I thought it out. Pretty straight forward."

 

"Nothing about this is straight forward."

 

"I'm beginning to see that."

 

"Hey, relax..." JC took one of her hands and removed it from her face. "I'm not gonna jump and start pawing at you."

 

"Probably would make me less nervous. Get my brain to shut off."

 

"I've been known to do that." JC smirked.

 

Rachel chuckled slightly. "Yeah I bet." She let him hold her hand and gave herself a mental talk. She needed to calm down. Needed to squash her nerves or tonight would never move forward.

 

"I can get us a drink?" ‘What are you doing?' His mind yelled at him. ‘You're supposed to be telling her you changed your mind not getting her drunk. Tell her and get her to leave.' "Might help calm your nerves."

 

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea."

 

"I'll be right back." JC squeeze her hand and stood.

 

Rachel blew out a breath when JC left the room. She stood and moved away from the couch to the large window. In the daylight she knew there was a view of his swimming pool, a cluster of trees providing some privacy and then the lake. Now it was all encased in darkness. Just shadows. Her reflection stared back at her. She looked pale. She felt sick with nerves. "If my mother could see me now..."

 

"Probably not a good idea to be thinking about moms." JC said as he walked back into the room carrying two high ball glasses filled halfway with an amber liquid. "You never want to think about moms during sex. Usually a sure fire way to kill the mood." He stood next to her at the window and handed off a glass.

 

"An image of my mom usually pops up when I'm about to do something she'd disapprove of." Rachel tipped her glass as an example before taking a drink. The liquor burned on the way down and her face pinched against the taste. She shook her head. "That's disgusting."

 

JC laughed. "I thought college kids could do this all day?"

 

"We're poor college kids. No way can we afford your refined taste. You actually have alcohol in it." She took another sip. She was able to school her features down to a slight grimace. "Definitely put hair on your chest. Not what I was going for, but what's another nickname." She shrugged.

 

"What nicknames?" JC asked taking another drink. "Why don't you tell me what happened to make you do this?"

 

"It's already embarrassing enough to be here for this. Now you want me to talk about what drove me here?" Rachel meet his eyes briefly before turning to look back out the window. His reflection was right in front of her. Standing right with her. The picture they made. Like their reflection was actually of a couple. She rolled her eyes at the thought. That would never happen. The girls JC dated definitely knew how to please a man. They didn't need to beg someone to teach them how to kiss. No their kisses probably brought men to their knees.

 

JC watched emotions cross Rachel's face in the reflection on the window. He felt his heart catch reading a sadness. ‘Damnit,' he thought. He was going to do this. He was gonna teach Lance's little sister how to have sex. Miss Diane was gonna kick his ass. He finished off his drink in one swoop and placed it on the glass table that sat beneath the window they looked out.

 

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked as JC took the glass from her hand. Most of the drink still remained.

 

"If you have to ask, I have my work cut out for me." With his hands holding hers, he ducked his head.

 

"You should know I'm not good at kissing," Rachel whispered softly, ducking her head before JC could kiss her. Butterflies came alive in her stomach. The little alcohol she had held no effect.

 

"Shhh." JC dropped her hands to cup her face making sure this time he could kiss her. "It's hard to kiss someone when they're talking."

 

"No talking," Rachel whispered, her eyes dropped to his lips as he moved closer. Her heart hammered in her chest then stopped completely when JC's lips touched hers.

 

The kiss was soft. Slow. Her lips moved hesitantly against his. He hadn't been kissed this unsurely since Gina in the eighth grade. He forced himself to keep the pace slow. The pressure light. There was enough space between them for another person. He wasn't sure where her hands where. She wasn't touching him. Anywhere. There was no stirring inside him. The kiss was nice but it wasn't doing anything. JC had to remind himself that he wasn't here to get his rocks off. Eventually. Sure. But his main priority was to teach her.

 

JC turned the kiss up a notch. He brought them closer together and pressed his lips more firmly to hers. He took control. His hand moved to cup the back of her head. The touch of her hands on his chest caused him to jump. Her fingers curled into his shirt as he deepened the kiss more. Their lips moved together. Opening and closing. He finally reigned it in, lessening the pressure until the kiss was soft again before ending it all together.

 

"Kissing is important." JC watched as Rachel's eyes slowly opened. "It can set the mood for the whole night."

 

"Maybe that was a problem. Can't set the mood if I kiss like a Saint Bernard."

 

"Kiss like a..." JC repeated and reached for her arm when she turned away. "What are you talking about?"

 

Rachel grabbed her glass from the table and took a drink. "Just one of the reasons no one wants to date me."

 

"No," JC shook his head. "You don't kiss like a Saint Bernard. What's that even mean?"

 

"I don't know. Lot of drool and slobber?"

 

"No. You kiss fine..."

 

"What every girl wants to hear. You kiss fine." Rachel finished her drink and wished for another. "You're not lighting any fires. It's fine. You're fine. Don't call me. I'll call you. You're a great friend."

 

JC reacted swiftly. He cupped her face and captured her lips. It was hard. It was consuming. He took. When he ended the kiss, Rachel was breathing heavy. "Do you want me to teach you?"

 

Rachel swallowed roughly. Her chest heaved as she drew in the oxygen to replace what he stole. "Yes but..."

 

He pressed his lips to hers silencing her words. "Then let me teach you. Let me show you how to kiss." He stared into her eyes and watched her nod. "Kissing came be fun. Laying together before sex kissing....and touching. It enhances emotions. Desires..."

 

"I've never really had that," Rachel confessed.

 

"Then you had terrible partners." JC said firmly. With his hands still cupping her face he took a step forward and forced her to walk backward until she came to the couch. "That's what we're gonna do right now. We're gonna lay here on the couch. You're gonna relax. Stop being nervous and embarrassed. You're gonna give me everything I ask for. I'm gonna give you everything you ask for..."

 

"I don't..." Rachel whispered. The stirring in her belly had nothing to do with nerves.

 

"I'm gonna teach you how..." JC moved forward again following her down on the couch. He loomed over her, his eyes roaming over her face. Her eyes were wide telling him she was slightly panicking. Still uneasy. He needed her to relax. "This doesn't go further than what you're comfortable with..."

 

"What?" Rachel asked. She willed herself to relax but she couldn't. She laid on the couch, her body tense. JC was above her, but he was keeping his body off her; held up with his arms on either side of her head. His knees pressed into the cushions on either side of her hips.

 

"Anytime you want to stop you tell me..."

 

"Why would I want to stop?" Stopping meant not learning. Stopping meant the teasing continued. No. She didn't want to stop. "I don't want to stop. I want this."

 

JC smiled reassuringly. "Your body language is telling me something completely different."

 

"I'm sorry..." Rachel whispered letting her eyes close against the embarrassment.

 

"Don't apologize..." JC knew asking her to relax wasn't going to work. With her eyes still closed he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. The movement caused her to gasp. He continued to kiss her softly. Keeping it light. Her lips moved against his and he applied more pressure. Lips opening and closing with hers. "Do what feels right..." he whispered against her lips. "Don't be afraid."

 

JC nearly jumped when he felt her hands on his stomach. His muscles quivered beneath her touch. His gasp of surprise caused her hands to disappear immediately.

 

"I'm sorry...I..."

 

"No." JC pressed his lips against hers to stop the apology. "Don't apologize. It's okay to touch me."

 

Rachel lifted her hands back to his stomach, running them over his shirt feeling the muscles. She titled her head and brushed her lips over his. When he moved with her to try to kiss her she smiled against his lips.

 

"Fast learner," JC murmured.

 

"I've always been a quick study..." Rachel kept her hands on the outside of his shirt, not ready to dip beneath the fabric to the skin. A small movement of her head, her nose trailed along his cheek.

 

JC captured her lips. The teasing was gone but he still held back on the hardness. She followed perfectly; taking what he was giving. Allowing him to take. He lowered his body to hers letting her feel most of weight. Letting her feel the hardness of his dick which had definitely taken interest in their activities. When she gasp at the feeling he entered her mouth with his tongue. A hand on the back of her head kept her from pulling away.

 

His tongue stroked hers with a short stroke. Their lips closed on each other's. Every time they parted, his tongue brushed against hers. He was in no rush. Her hands still moved over his shirt on his stomach and up his chest. Back down his stomach around his waist and on his back. He wanted to rip his shirt off to feel the touch unrestricted against his skin. With anyone else he'd do just that. Yank his shirt over his head. With anyone else, they'd yank his shirt up over his head. But this was Rachel. She was different. Frankly, he couldn't pull himself away from her lips to even get his shirt off.

 

JC lifted his knee from the couch, shifting his body. Rachel's hands gripped his shirt, clenching the cotton in her firsts. He drew away from her lips and saw how she chased his lips. He lowered his head kissing her again as he shifted his knee between her legs pressing back against her. Her tongue ran across his bottom lip and his lips parted at her request. He wasn't sure who she had been kissing but he assumed they were incompetent idiots. She wasn't a bad kisser. A little hesitant and innocent at the start. He copped that to the scenario.

 

He broke their kiss again and this time placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Kissing isn't just about lips... you running your hands over me? I love that. Your touch feels like fire. No-no..." he said when she broke eye contact. "Look at me..."

 

Rachel brought her eyes back to JC. His blue eyes had darkened. His lips were red and swollen. The bottom one plumper than normal. Fire ignited inside of her. She had done that. She had put that look on his face. Feeling brave she cupped his face with her hands. His stubble scratched at her palms. Desire pooled in her belly. Shifting on the couch caused her to brush against the hardness on her leg. She watched his eyes darken. Heard the swift intake of breath.

 

"Kissing isn't just about touching lips. Run your hands over his body just like you've been doing with me. You don't even have to touch his dick. You can... you will... he'll probably beg you to if you do it right."

 

"How do I do it right?" Rachel asked.

 

"Later," JC kissed her realizing he needed to tread carefully. "Kissing isn't just the lips. It's the cheek. Running your lips across the cheek to the ear. Nibbling on the lobe..." his actions followed his words. He trailed his parted lips over her cheek until her reached her ear. He drew her lobe into her mouth, sucking lightly. Gently he nibbled; his teeth grazing the skin.

 

One of Rachel's hands threaded into his hair on the back of his head as she moved her head to the side allowing him better access. He moved from her ear and pressed his lips behind it. This time when he sucked the skin lightly, she gasped and arched her body up in to him. Her fingers tightened in his hair.

 

"Oh..." Rachel gasped clenching her eyes close. Her body rolled up into JC's. Her muscles tensed as JC sucked at the skin right behind her ear. "What..."

 

JC lifted his head and nearly groaned at the look on Rachel's face. He didn't know, but he had hoped to find that sensitive spot. "That was an erogenous spot... you've never found one before?"

 

Rachel shook her head, her eyes wide. "No. No one's ever... are there more?"

 

JC felt sorry for her and the inept partners she had. "Could be more. Half the fun is finding them..."

 

"Do it again," Rachel commanded. Using the hand she had on the back of his head she pulled him down as she arched her neck giving him access again.

 

JC latched onto the spot behind her ear. He sucked lightly careful not to leave a mark.  Her arms dipped beneath his. Hands touched his hips over the cotton of his shirt. The denim of his jeans. Her body was no longer still beneath his. Her left ankle crossed his. She used the leverage it provided her to rock against him.

 

He moved back to her lips. Where she meet him with parted lips. Her tongue surely stroked his.

 

"I think it's time to move on..."

 

JC sat back on his hunches. Want spread through him as she stared down at Rachel. Laid back on his couch, her face flushed. Her lips red and swollen. He wanted to lean back down to take her lips again. Wanted to dive to the newly found spot behind her ear until she cried out in ecstasy. Wanted to pull her t-shirt over her head and kiss her stomach. Tease her breasts until she was quivering.

That wasn't what this was about. This wasn't about him and her having a good time on his couch. This wasn't about him taking what he wanted. What the hesitant kisses had awakened. This was about him teaching her how to have sex. Nothing more. He had to tapper down his urges.

 

He climbed off the couch. His arousal evident in front of his basketball shorts. It had taken him a lot longer than he'd like to admit getting dressed. He hadn't been sure what do wear. What did someone where to teach someone how to have sex? He had finally settled on a t-shirt and basketball shorts. Simple. He'd been glad when he opened his front door and saw Rachel dressed similarly.

 

"What's next?" Rachel asked confused, when JC pulled her up off the couch. "Are we going to your bedroom?"

JC shook his head. Moving to his bedroom he was afraid of taking over. While that would eventually satisfy them both. It wouldn't help her. Having sex with him wasn't what Rachel was here for. At least not in the fun way. He needed to remember that. He needed to remember that he was teaching her. So she could take what he taught her back to Mississippi State and show it to some undeserving undergraduate.

The thought didn't settle well with him. He didn't want to take the time to figure out why.

He sat back on the couch. This time his back was against the back of the couch. His feet on the floor. With a tug, she fell next to him on the couch. This time there was no room between them.

"What are..." Rachel's question was swallowed when he kissed her. Her eyes went wide before they closed and she relaxed in to him. While he sat on the couch, she was almost on her side. She was angled toward him, one leg across the other. Her shoulder pressed against the back of the couch. One arm was trapped beneath her. The other gripped his t-shirt as she let herself be kissed breathless.

"Touch me," JC whispered against her lips. He took her hand and moved it across his chest.

Rachel started moving her hand across his chest over the black t-shirt he wore. His chest was hard beneath her touch. She ran her hand across his chest down his stomach and back up. She kept repeating the movement. On one bypass she felt his nipples - hard. He moaned into the kiss and she ran her fingers back over the hard pebble.

Her mouth opened and her tongue moved with his. Her tongue surely stroked his. Her fingers moved down his chest over his stomach where she toyed with the hem of his t-shirt and slowly drew it up. When she touched skin she hesitated.

"Touch me." JC felt his stomach quiver beneath her touch. So light. So unsure.

"I don't..."

JC broke the kiss and stared into her green eyes. Darkened from their normal bright green. "Yes you do," he said firmly. He raised his hand to the side of her face. "Forget what you've heard. What you've been told." He took her hand in his and moved it beneath his shirt to his skin. "You don't need me to teach you how to touch. Run your hand over my chest... my stomach. Play with my nipples. Touch me like you want to be touched..."

His skin was warm beneath her touch. His stomach was flat. Less defined. She ran her hand up, her palm running over his skin. The movement raised his shirt revealing more and more. On the move back down, the shirt stayed up around his chest. This time she lifted her palm so just her fingers touched his skin.

"That's it," JC breathed. "Just like that." He let his head fall back and his eyes closed as he focused on her touches.

Rachel stared at his neck bared for her with his head tossed back. Her lips parted. She wanted to lean forward and press kisses against the skin. ‘Touch me like you want to be touched.' Those were the words he had just told her. She remembered what it felt like when he had kissed her neck earlier. Remembered that blatant desire that shot through her when he sucked lightly at the skin behind her ear. She wanted that touch again. She wanted to make him feel what she felt.

JC groaned when he felt lips touch his neck. "That's it," he breathed. His arm dropped to her waist and he tightened his fingers on her hip. "That's it." Another groaned escaped as she placed kisses up his neck and along his jaw line. While she planted kisses, her hand roamed his stomach and chest.

 

She ran a finger over his nipple. Spurned on by the sound of him sucking in his breath, she ran her finger back over it. This was foreign to her. The previous guys she'd been with didn't want their nipples played with. Didn't ask her to run her fingers over them. The movement was foreign to her. He told her to touch him how she wanted to be touched. No one had really ever played with her nipples. Not really. Corey had put them in his mouth. He tried. They both were each others practice. Finding out what felt good. What worked. Jesse was only ever interested in getting his cock sucked and fucking her to play with her nipples.

Her movements faltered. Her body started to begin sending warning signals out. Her brain was coming back online and thinking too much. Thinking about the foiled attempts. Thinking about the names and the laughs.

JC opened his eyes and tilted his head down. "Hey... no no..." He cupped her check and brought his lips to hers. He cursed silently when he felt them back to moving hesitantly against his. Like all his gains were lost.  He kept kissing her, moving her lips with hers. His tongue stroked hers in a teasing manner. His fingers ran across her cheek bone. She broke the kiss and all he could do was stare as she dropped her eyes. Her hand still moved lightly across his stomach. Laying his hand over hers, he stopped her movement. "If you want to stop, if you've changed your mind, it's okay. We'll stop."

Rachel didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything. She stared at their hands, clasped together laying on his bare stomach. His shirt still bunched up on his chest. How could she tell him that she didn't want to stop but she couldn't touch him how she wanted to be touched because she didn't know? That even though she's had sex before she didn't know how lacking it had been until she was faced to put what she knew in action.

"Hey. Talk to me. What's wrong? What happened? Everything was going fine."

"Was it?"

"Was it?" JC repeated and cocked an eyebrow. Using the hand that still held hers, he moved their joined hands further south on his body showing him just how fine everything was going. He shifted his hips beneath her touch, pressing his erection in to her hand. He ran his nose along her cheek. With his hand over hers he tightened her hold on his cock. He groaned softly.

"I don't know how I like to be touched." Rachel's confession was quiet. Her face flushed at her words and less at what her hand was doing.

"What?" JC froze stopping his hand from manipulating hers on his cock.

"You said..." Rachel swallowed roughly. "You said to touch you how I liked to be touched. I don't... I don't know..."

"Oh honey," JC breathed. He placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head up so he could meet her gaze. "Those idiots had no idea what they were doing." There was an urge to teach her. To be the one to touch her body to show her all the ways. To help her figure out how she liked to be touched. He wanted to so badly. He wanted to kiss her softly, lay her down on the couch. Pull her clothes off piece by piece revealing her body to him. Run his hands over every inch of skin. Kiss every inch. He never wanted nothing more.

"Teach me how to touch you."

JC's cock moved in his shorts at her breathy words. It was probably the sexiest line he had ever heard. He sat up, displacing her and pulled his t-shirt up and over his head. After tossing it to the floor he pulled her back to his side. "Turn your brain off honey..." He whispered, running his fingers across her cheek. He reached to take her hand again, placing it on his cock. "What you were doing was working. You feel that?" He tightened his fingers causing hers to tighten on him. "You did this. You got me this way."

"I wasn't doing anything..."

"You were..." He kissed her lightly. A barely there kiss that had lots of breath. "Running your hands on my body. Touching my cock. Kissing my neck. You were driving me crazy."

Rachel blushed at his words. "You're just saying that."

JC pressed against her hand. "Does it feel like I'm just saying that?" He groaned when her fingers moved without his help. "Oh yeah, keep doing that." He let his head fall back and his eyes closed.

"But I can't..."

JC eyes opened. He removed his hand from hers and cupped the side of her face. He drug her down to him and kissed her. "Keep touching me. Run your fingers over it. Up and down. Squeeze..." he broke off in a groan as she followed his words and clenched her fingers around him.

Spurred on by his noises, Rachel worked her hand over his erection through his basketball shorts. She moved her fingers along the hard shaft. The shorts posed as a barrier and she couldn't really grip JC's cock in her hand. As her fingers moved, she tilted her head to look at him. Desire pooled deep in her belly as she took in his face. His head tossed back, his eyes closed. His lips parted. Tiny gasps. Her eyes wandered over the rest of his body. His muscles weren't as well defined as she had seen on males in college who were more apt to take off their shirts and flex their muscles. JC had a dancer's body. Long and lithe. His biceps were well defined. There was a small hint of pecs. His stomach was flat. His shorts sat low on narrow hips.

Her mouth watered as her eyes roamed. She wondered if she could touch. If she should. She licked her lips, suddenly dry. She pulled her button lip between her teeth and nibbled gentled.

"Jesus," JC groaned watched the movement. His fingers gripped her shirt in a tight hold. "The way you look..."

"Am I doing something wrong?"

JC groaned. First at the doe-eyed look she sent him. Second because her hand stopped working his cock. "God no...the way you're staring at me...You're killing me."

"I want..." Rachel bit the rest of the words back and dropped her eyes.

"What?" JC asked lifting her head so he could look at her. Her darkened eyes. The red hue on her cheeks. "What do you want?"

"I want to touch you..." she said softly. "Can I touch you more?"

"God yes," JC breathed, his cock hardening.

"With...with my lips? Can I... Your neck... Your chest... Can I? I mean is that... Can I do that while I..." She dropped her eyes to his lap where her hand still rubbed against him.

"Fuck," JC clenched his eyes shut. He wasn't going to survive this. She was going to end up killing him. With her hesitant touches. With her innocent questions. With that doe-eyed look. "Yes. Giving a hand job is not just about your hand on my cock..." Her eyes flared at his words. "While your hand works me, kiss me. Take what you want. You're in control. You have all the power."

Rachel freed her trapped hand and moved herself further up on the couch. She wrapped her arm around his neck, her fingers carding through his hair. Leaning forward she pressed her lips to his neck. Right over his pulse. She felt the movement against her lip and without thought licked over the swatch of skin with her tongue.

"Yes..." JC hissed. "Use your tongue. That's so hot..."

Feeling brave she licked a line up his neck to his ear, dragging a ragged groan from JC. There she pulled a move she saw her roommate Nicole do with her boyfriend before Rachel decided anywhere but their room was a better place to be. She sucked on his ear lobe.

JC sucked in a breath and clenched his eyes closed. He fisted his empty hand so tight his fingernails dug into his skin. His cock jumped in his shorts. "Fuck," he breathed. He clenched the muscles in his ass, sending his hips harder in to her hand.

Wanting to draw more of the mewling coming from JC, she sucked harder on the lobe and bit down gently.

"Oh God," JC nearly shot up off the couch.

Rachel backed off and stared at him. She bit her lip worriedly; afraid she'd done something wrong. "I'm sorry I..."

"No!" JC cupped the back of her head and pulled her down. He kissed her aggressively. His lips taking control. His tongue wrestled with hers. He didn't let go until he had tasted every inch of her mouth. Breathing heavily he stared at her with heavy lidden eyes. "What you did... sucking on my ear like that. Fuck..." he breathed.

"So it was okay?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

"Okay? Jesus it was more than okay! It was hot. You remember how it felt when I kissed this spot..." he ran his thumb over skin behind her ear watching as she shivered. "That's how it felt..."

Rachel's features shifted. A teasing smile formed on her lips. "Yeah?"

"Yeah..." His breath caught at the look on her face. Like she was receiving the key to the entire kingdom. It made him want to unlock all the passion she had inside of her. It was just waiting for someone to set it free. He wanted to be that guy. He wanted to be that guy who tapped in to the untouched area.

"So can I do it again?"

"Oh yeah," JC grinned and brought her lips to his. As he plundered her mouth, he dropped his hand to hers and moved it to his stomach. His muscles quivered at his touch. Using his hand he led her hand over his stomach and chest until her hand moved on its own.

Rachel sighed in to his kiss. Her mouth opened welcoming his tongue. She ran her fingers lightly over his stomach and up his chest. Across and back down. Her fingers ran over one of his nipples and she hesitated before moving back up. It hardened to a tight pebble.

JC moaned and let his head fall away. "Keep touching...oh yeah...just like that." He shifted again. He needed relief and soon. "You gotta... You gotta," he breathed.

"Tell me what to do?"

"Touch my cock," JC urged.

Rachel let her hand trail down his stomach over the waist band of his shorts until she reached his crotch. His cock was hard beneath the nylon. "Like this?" She whispered, her fingers moving up and down the shaft. His cock lifted toward her hand.

"No," JC groaned and met her eyes. "Touch me."

Rachel stared at him. Her eyes widened slightly when she understood what he meant. With one hand she reached for his waist band and started pushing it down. His hand helped and his cock was bared. Long and hard. Red. Tearing her gaze from his cock, she looked back at him. "I don't know how."

JC took her hand in his. "I got you," he whispered as he placed her hand on his cock. He hissed and closed his eyes at her touch wrapped in his.

"I failed this class..."

"You said you failed kissing too." JC pointed out. He tightened his hand around hers causing her fingers to tighten on his cock. "But this proves otherwise."

"Teach me?" Rachel whispered squeezing his cock.

"You're gonna kill me." JC moaned, letting his head fall back.

"JC..." She whispered in his ear. "Teach me," she bit down on his ear lobe.

JC released another moan. His eyes clenched shut. He pressed his hips into her hand again. "Move your hand. Up and down... Yeah," he breathed. Her movements were disjointed. Filled with hesitation. He tightened his hold on hers, closing her fingers tighter around him. "Tighter... like this."

Rachel followed his movements. Holding his cock in her hand she stroked up and down. His hand held hers tightly. Holding her fingers firmly against his hard flesh. He glided beneath her touch. She watched her hand moving on his cock. "Just keep doing this?"

"No. Not just this." JC spoke. It was hard to keep his train of thought. "You stroke it exactly like you are. Play with the speed. Fast. Slow. Grip it hard. Loose. Run the tips of your fingers up and down. Fuck..." he moaned when she did just that. Her hand fell away and only the tips of her fingers traced his cock. Slowly up. Over the tip. Back down only to start the trek again.

"This good?" Rachel asked as her fingers trailed up his cock again. She gripped him and ran her thumb over the head, smearing through a dot of pre cum gathered at the opening.

"Yeah," JC groaned. "That's... Jesus... good..." This shouldn't be as hot as it was. He shouldn't be as turned on as he was. Hand jobs weren't really his forte. If he wanted a hand job, he'd do it himself. He knew exactly how hard to grip. How fast to move. He didn't mind the foreplay, but preferred to move along to better activities like a blow job.

As Rachel moved her hand up and down, she pressed her lips back to his neck. He arched his head back, giving her the room. Wetting her lips she placed kisses along his neck, slowly working her way to his ear. The sounds coming from him had her wound. She shifted her hips against him searching for something she didn't know. Her panties were wet. The skin beneath the hand he had on her hip felt like fire and she wished her clothes were gone so he'd be touching skin.

She didn't matter. What mattered was learning how to please a man. Bettering herself at sex so the teasing and the jokes would stop. If she could do that... she'd find her pleasure later.

Another groan tore from JC's mouth when Rachel latched on to his ear. His hips moved with the rhythm she set. Slower than he'd like. Right. He had to teach her. "Faster," he breathed. He moaned when her hand picked up the pace. "Yeah... like that." He placed his hand back over hers and tightened her hold. It was awkward being his non dominant hand. But even his left hand had more experience than Rachel.

He removed his hand from hers and pushed at his shorts trying to push them as far down his thighs as he could.

"Tell me." Rachel lifted her head at his movements and watched as he fought with the article of clothing.

"Take them off," JC said and lifted his hips in the air to remove the shorts from his butt. They had only been pulled down far enough to free his cock. With Rachel's hand helping, his shorts reached his knees and he was able to let them fall down his legs to pool at his feet. He slouched down on the couch and let his legs widen.

"Jesus you're beautiful..." Rachel stared at his body, completely free of clothing. His narrow hips gave way to muscular thighs. Much like what happened when he revealed his chest to her, she wanted to touch. She licked her lips.

JC felt himself blush at her words. He had been called many things: sexy, gorgeous, other r-rated words but never beautiful. The way it rolled off her tongue; a breathless whisper made him believe. Made him forget about the flaws he saw when he looked in the mirror. Skinny. Pale. No muscle definition.

"Run your hand on my legs," JC's voice was rough. "Light touches. Slowly trail them up and down. Come close to my dick but don't touch."

The hair on JC's thighs was coarse. The muscle was firm beneath her touch. A tremor worked through his thigh as she ran the tips of her fingers up. On her pass back up, she dipped to the inside of his thigh. The skin was softer. More sensitive. She watched as his hand fisted on the cushion next to his hip.

Her fingers trailed up and up - beyond his hard cock, which gave a tempting lift as she neared. She kept moving over the jut of his hip bone and up his chest. His nipple where she ran her fingers lightly over it, teasing it back in to a tight pebble. She had a strong urge to run her mouth over the same path her fingers had just made. Her fingers hit his collar bone and she lightly followed the path to his shoulder. Her touch soft and light, a teasing caress as she moved down his arm shifting to the soft skin on the inside of his lower arm.

Crossing his wrist she reached his fingers, clenched into a fist. Her fingers grazed lightly over the tense digits. One by one she was able to relax each of fingers until his palm was laying face up. Her fingers moved back across the palm to his wrist before they slowly began their descent back down. The light caresses over the palm and up his long fingers.

"Shit..." JC breathed. "Fuck..." His muscles trembled with desire. It was torturous. Pure torture. He was ready to explode. He wanted to throw Rachel down on his couch, tear her clothes off and sink deep inside of her with one hard thrust. His dick jumped at the thought, completely on board. He was on edge. He needed to come. He desperately wanted to come. Never had anyone played with his hand like Rachel was doing. And she was just running her fingers over the skin. Her touch so light it was barely there. But he felt it. He felt it in every part of his body. "Play with my balls..." he ground out.

The tortuous touch was back. Just in a different location. The same light touches moved from his fingers to his balls. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to curb the noises wanting to come out. "That's it..." he breathed. "Yeah," he groaned as her hand fondled his balls. "Fuck..." His dick was painfully hard. He wanted to grab it and bring himself to completion. A couple strokes from his hand and it would all be over.  "Rachel..."

"Yeah?" Rachel felt breathless. She wasn't sure why. She was working his body, but it felt like she had been receiving a workout. The little gasps and moans JC would give at her touch. The way his hips moved... his breathy words. Like he couldn't find the strength he needed to speak.

"I need..." JC's words fell off with a groan. His hand fisted again. Going in to this, he expected to teach her everything she needed in one fell swoop. How to kiss, how to give a hand job. Have that hand job turn in to a blow job before he finished off inside of her. She could take it all back to school and use her newfound knowledge on some undeserving jerk. That wasn't how it was going to end up. The kissing and the hand job had been way hotter than he thought it could be. His orgasm was fast approaching. He could hold it off but it would only approach quicker during their next step.

"What do you need?" Rachel brought her hand back to his cock where she gripped it in her hand. She remembered how tight he had squeezed her hand earlier and tried to mimic the same amount of pressure.

"I need," JC repeated. "To come."

Rachel's eyes widened. None of her hand jobs ever lasted this far. Her partners always stopped her and entered her before they ever got this close. "But I..." She shook her head. How was she supposed to make him come? "I don't..."

"Keep doing that. Just like that. A little faster..." JC panted. He gripped the cushion so tight his knuckles turned white. "God," he groaned. "Twist your hand a little...oh fuck," He thought his eyes rolled to the back of his head when her hand twisted on his cock. "That's it... oh God...oh God...Fuck..." His cock erupted shooting semen onto his stomach. Line after line. His face froze in sweet ecstasy. His hips convulsed as the last bit of come came out of his cock and trickled down over her hand.

The last of the orgasm worked itself way through him. His muscles quivered. Her hand still moved slowly on his cock causing more spasms until he finally hissed in a sweet pain that felt oh so good. He laid his hand on top of hers stopping the movement and let himself relax into the couch. His eyes closed. His breath coming out in gasps.

Rachel stared in wonder. The sweat dotting JC's forehead. His lips parted as he sucked in oxygen. His bottom lip red and swollen from where he'd bitten it in attempt to stifle his noises. Her eyes fell further. Could see his pulse beating on the side of his neck. Without thought she pressed her lips to that spot. His cock pulsed in her hand. He released a breathy moan. Her lips were displaced when he rolled his head toward her. Before she could speak his lips were on hers.

She was breathing just as hard as he when the kiss ended. Her eyes continued to roam his body, aware that he was looking at her. She stared at the white liquid on his stomach. There were strips of it. Her hand still grasped his cock, which was softening. Cum beaded on the tip of his cock. Her fingers had cum dribbling down to pool on his stomach. She drug her eyes back up until they met his.

Apprehension worked its way through JC as he stared at Rachel. She had yet to speak. He worried she was regretting what had just transpired. Now that the act was over, her brain was allowed to turn back on. He searched her eyes hoping for a clue to what she was feeling. He could feel his cum drying on his belly and pushed it aside. He feared one wrong move on his part would burst the fragile bubble he was currently floating in. Something released inside of him when he saw a smile start on her lips and move to her eyes.

"Did I ace that?" Rachel asked as a giggle burst through.

"Oh yeah," JC chuckled. "You aced that.

 

"What did you do last night?"

JC froze at Lance's words as he was in the process of sitting his bag down on the floor. An image flashed through his head of him on his couch, Rachel pressed against his side, her hand on his dick. His dick twitched at the picture in his head. He had to slam his thoughts closed before he could draw up more images and embarrass himself. "Oh, um... nothing."

"Nothing?" Lance raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You sat at home and did nothing?"

"Yeah," JC shrugged, trying to relax as much as possible to sell the lie. "Watched a couple reruns on TV. Played around on the piano for a little bit. Went to bed early."

"How fucking lame, C," Joey said as he came up to his friends.

"Your night probably wasn't any better than mine. Changing diapers and cleaning up spit up."

"Yeah," Joey grinned. He was certain Lance and JC could see the heart in his eyes as he thought about his daughter. "But she's a baby. Aside from that, all she does is eat and sleep. When she conked out it was mommy daddy time." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Thought Kelly was still on a no sex restriction."

"Oh she is. But I'm not." Joey grinned.

"She call up one of Chris's hookers to entertain you while she slept?" Lance grinned.

"Oh man! Who?" Chris asked. "Was it Lisa? No, I bet it was Tina. She has massive tits just like you like."

"Fuck off," Joey shoved Chris playfully. "Kelly gave me one of the best hand jobs I have ever received..." He groaned in memory. "Right there on the living room couch."

"Oh man!" Justin groaned. "Remind me never to sit on your couch again. Gross man."

"Don't worry," Joey grinned. "She didn't spill a drop." He wiggled his eyebrows. "That best hand job turned in to the world's best blow job. Jesus..."

That was JC's thought as well. Jesus. No offense to Kelly's talents, he was certain he received the better hand job the night before. Rachel's light touches. Tight strokes. He nearly stuck his knuckle in his mouth to bite around the groan that threatened to break free. If it had been any other kind of night, their activities would have moved from the couch and into his bedroom where he would have received a blow job and more.

But it hadn't been that kind of night. The night ended not long after the hand job. Rachel had been disappointed when he cleaned up with his shirt and pulled his shorts back on. He explained the need for recovery. That tonight he could teach her more. The way her eyes had brightened had made him want to drag her to his bedroom and continue. He resisted. He walked her to his door. She left with a soft kiss to his cheek and a small wave. When he closed the door, he banged his head against it a couple times wondering, not for the first time, what he was doing.

"Yo!" Joey slapped JC in the back of the head. "You're more spacy than usual."

"You zoned out yesterday and now today." Lance frowned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." JC had to pull himself together. The last thing he needed was for one of them to pick on what was going on between him and Rachel. Lance would kill him. The others would tease him mercilessly that would make him wish for death. With all his might, he took Rachel - her inquisitive eyes, the soft smiles, the even softer touches and tossed them in a box. Which he then slammed shut and slapped on a ‘do not open' sign.

"Did you hook Rachel up with the right stripper?" Joey asked Chris, sending JC a weird glance when the man coughed.

"Nah, Rachel cancelled. Said she figure it out." Chris shrugged. "I don't know what she wanted... Oh well, I ended up going out and meeting up with these two fuckers. Since C here is a lazy fuck who wanted to spend the night at home by himself."

"Just because I didn't want to go out one night?" JC rolled his eyes. "I don't go out every night. Sometimes it's okay to stay home and have a little self care."

"Self care," Justin snorted. "Yeah man," he slapped JC on the back before snaking an arm around the man's neck in a choke hold that barely held any pressure. "We all know what that means."

"Seems like Joey wasn't the only one with things in hand." Lance grinned.

"There was no self care in my house." Joey grinned. "Trust me. Kelly had it under control."

"What's everyone doing tonight?" Justin asked. "There's that new place that just opened on Pine Street."

"I'm down."

"Isn't your sister in town?" Chris asked.

"Yeah?" Lance shrugged. "So?"

"You went out last night. Now you're going out tonight. Didn't she come to spend time with you?"

JC stared at Lance waiting for his answer. Rachel didn't come to see Lance. She came to see him. Warmth rushed through his body at the thought. Rachel had planned her trip to Orlando with him in mind. She wanted him to teach her how to have sex. The point of her whole trip was him teaching her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I should probably do something with her tonight." Lance frowned as he thought. His sister did come all the way to Orlando on her spring break to see him. The least he could do was stay in one night with her. "Maybe she'll come with us."

Justin shook his head. "Place is 21 and over."

"Then where you going tonight?" Chris teased. Justin was only twenty. Same age as Rachel.

"Right," Justin laughed. "You know they'll let me right in. 21 or not. I'm Justin Timberlake."

"When did you get a big head?" Chris wrapped his arm around Justin's neck in a chokehold similar to the one Justin had placed on JC earlier. With his locked in place, he tightened the hold making Justin bend at the waist.

"That's not all that's big," Justin countered and with a quick move was able to twist from Chris's hold.

"Yeah his ego is pretty big too."

JC grinned at Lance's words and slapped his hand in a high-five. He watched as Justin swept his leg and knocked Chris off his feet to the floor.

"Careful," Joey warned. "You could break his hip."

"I'll break your dick." Chris grunted as he grappled with Justin.

JC watched Justin and Chris wrestle on the floor of the rehearsal studio, while Joey moved around them, holding a fist to his mouth giving a play by play. Though he was watching his friends, his mind was on Lance beside him. He damned Chris for bringing up how Lance should spend time with his sister. He smiled smartly when he heard Chris yelp. ‘Serves him right,' he thought.

"You gonna check out that new place with Justin?" JC asked as both Chris and Justin both turned and pulled Joey into the foray.

Lance shrugged. "I don't know. I'll see what Rachel wants to do first. I do feel kind of bad. I went out last night and left her on her own. I asked her what she did this morning and said she caught a movie by herself. I should probably hang out with her tonight. I think she's having a problem about something."

"Oh?" JC tried to keep his voice even. Wanted to Lance to think he was truly interested in hearing about Rachel and did not have an ulterior motive. Which he didn't. Not really. Maybe only slightly.

"Yeah," Lance looked at JC. "It's weird to spend her spring break in Orlando. I know there were probably a helluva lot better offers. Cancun. Panama. Miami."

 

"Maybe she wanted to come and see you?" JC had to look away from Lance's eyes. One, they were too similar to Rachel's. Second, he was afraid Lance would see right through him.

Lance snorted. "I doubt it. "

"Why not?"

"Come on JC. Would Heather pass up a trip to Cancun to spend a week at your house?"

JC knew that answer. It was no. Heather loved him. He loved her. They had a great relationship. But she definitely would not pass up an opportunity such as Mexico to spend time with his ass.

"Exactly. Should we save him?" Lance nodded toward the scene in front of them. Justin was laid out on the ground. Chris had his legs trapped in some move he had probably seen in the WWF. Joey had his arms locked around him. Justin's head buried in his armpit. He didn't envy Justin at all. He had found his head buried in Joey's armpit many times. Knew exactly how bad it smelled.

"Nope." JC grinned.

*~*

"If you don't want to be here, we can leave."

 

Rachel looked across the table at her brother's face. His lips pressed in a thin line. His eyes, so much like her own, danced with irritation. She sighed and looked down at the table in front of them. "No Lance. I'm sorry."

Disappointed wasn't the right word when Lance announced after coming home from rehearsal they were hanging out. She'd been banking on him going out again. Banking on going over to JC's to continue their lesson. Images from the night before were never far from her mind throughout the day. Sitting on the couch in Lance's living room was enough to bring back the previous night. When she had laid with JC, his body over hers. His mouth providing lessons she desperately wanted.

"What's going on?" Lance sighed and relaxed in his chair. The restaurant was high scale in Orlando. One he frequented often. One he'd always take his parents to when they were in town. They offered a variety of wine, but wine was more of JC's refined taste. JC was able to pick the right brand. The right smoothness. Lance usually went with something a little stronger. Though currently he had a class of the special house wine.

"Nothing." Rachel looked back up at him.

"You can't fool me with those eyes." Lance chuckled softly and reached for the wine glass. "That wide-eyed doe-eyed look."

"I can't come and spend a week with you? We never get to see each other. You barely come home."

"I'm kind of busy here. And it's not like you're at home either."

"I'm home on breaks and during the summer. Weekends..."

Lance rolled his eyes. "So lame Rach."

"Why is that lame?"

"You're in college now."

"And?"

"You're supposed to be going out and doing things! Going places. Right now you're supposed to be where? Cancun? Panama. Getting drunk on the beach. Getting something tattooed. Calling me to bail you out of jail."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Like I would call you."

"Who you gonna call? Mom and Dad? Stacy?" Lance lifted an eyebrow.

"Fine, I would call you," Rachel grumbled, crossing her arms.

"So why didn't you go?" Lance leaned across the table when he heard Rachel mumble but didn't understand. "What?"

"I said," Rachel lifted her eyes to meet Lance's. "I wasn't invited."

Lance's eyes widened. "You weren't invited? What? Why?"

Rachel shrugged and played with the corner of her napkin on her lap. "I just wasn't."

They were interrupted when the waiter came back with their food. Rachel used the time ask for a refill on her sweet tea and for some steak sauce.

"You totally just offended him," Lance laughed as he placed his napkin back on his lap.

"What? Why?" Rachel asked pausing from cutting up her steak.

"You don't ruin a chef's creation by dousing it in steak sauce."

"Oh..." Rachel stared down at her steak - medium rare. The inside still a little pinkish. It looked perfect. "I didn't know..."

"You ain't in Mississippi anymore." Lance laughed.

"I hope I didn't embarrass you," Rachel said after the waiter placed the bottle of steak sauce on the table.

Lance laughed again as he took a bit of his own steak. "I don't care."

The siblings settled in to eat. Their conversations steered toward lighter topics. Family gossip. Gossip from people back home in Clinton. Lance spoke about their upcoming tour. Issues with the new album and how the tour was starting without the album being out. He also spoke on what was coming up with his production company.

The conversation was nice. Full of laughs as they told stories from childhood and Clinton. Laughs when Lance told some of the more r-rated stories from touring. Rachel thought she was home free that Lance would forget about college and spring break.

He didn't.

"So why weren't you invited to spring break?" Lance asked as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car after it was returned from valet.

"Lance..." Rachel sighed pulling her seat belt on. It clicked and she stared out the passenger window. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Lance sighed. He pulled away from the restaurant and out into the night time traffic. It was late. Close to nine. Back home in Mississippi dinner was never eaten this late. Now, for him, the night was just getting started. It wasn't odd to eat dinner at nine or even ten. He was more of a late nights kind of guy instead of an early morning one. Good nights were getting in at two-three in the morning. Sometimes four.

"Are you in trouble?" Lance asked.

Rachel laughed in surprise. "In trouble? You mean like pregnant?" She laughed again.

Lance blushed. "No, but since you brought it up..."

"I didn't get invited to go anywhere on spring break and you assume that I'm pregnant? What the actual fuck Lance?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lance mumbled turning on his blinker and changing lanes.

"No Lance." Rachel sighed after the car had fallen silent. "I'm not pregnant. I'm not in trouble. I just didn't want to go home and be subjected to mom's million questions. So I came here."

"I knew you didn't come to hang out with me."

"I did!" Rachel straightened in her seat. ‘Liar!' Her brain shouted at her. "I don't need you to plan an entire week of activities to entertain me. I'm okay with sitting home alone or going out by myself. You don't have to entertain me. I know you probably had something better planed tonight."

 

"Nah," Lance shook his head. He pressed on the gas and sped up as the speed limit changed as they got out of Orlando's city limits. "Justin wanted to hit up a new club that just opened."

"Sounds like fun. Whose all going?"

"Not you," Lance spared her a glance out of the corner of his eye. "It's 21 and up."

"They check Justin's ID?" Rachel questioned and looked at her brother. She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

When they arrived back at Lance's, Rachel went to her room to change out of the outfit she had picked for dinner. A simple black dress. Long sleeve. Boat neck. To her knees. Highly conservative. A dress she'd wear to a funeral. She hadn't packed anything for a fancy restaurant. Had to go shopping when Lance told her the type of place they were eating. Had to fight through her disappointment all afternoon at the fact that she wouldn't be going to JC's.

Once she was changed into a pair of pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt and her face washed, she went back downstairs to the living room. Grabbing the remote she sunk down in the corner of the couch, tucking her feet beneath her. Flipping through the channels searching for something to watch but nothing caught her attention. She settled on Win Ben Stein's Money playing on the comedy channel.

This was not how she was picturing the night going. She didn't have many days left. Classes started on Monday. She was leaving Sunday morning to drive back to school. It was a ten hour road trip. Simple enough hitting 75 in Florida then catching the 10 over then 55 to Jackson. The drive was just long. Luckily she had a whole case full of CDs to keep her entertained and singing an entire concert to the steering wheel.

"It's still early if you want to go and do something," Lance said as he came into the living room. "Like this show." He stated as he sat down in the recliner. "I know of a few clubs we can go to. They are only 18 and older."

"Right. Like I wanna watch you get molested all night."

The siblings fell silent again as they settled in to watch the TV. Halfway through the next episode Lance's phone rang. Rachel turned the TV down while Lance answered his cell phone; a clunky silver Motorola with a green black light for the tiny screen. She didn't even pretend not to listen to his conversation. Justin she presumed, trying to get Lance to come out. Apparently the place was hoppin'.

"Go Lance," Rachel said as the credits rolled on the television. Her brother had become antsier after the phone call with Justin. "Seriously. Go out and meet the rest of the guys. I told you... you don't have to babysit me every night. We were together for most of the night. You took me to dinner. We chilled in front of the TV. You did your part."

"Are you sure?" Lance asked. He did feel bad about bailing on his sister but he was bored sitting at home. He wasn't tired yet. He didn't want a quiet night in. He wanted to go out and have a good time. In a few weeks it would be back in the grind on a new tour.

"I'm sure. Go."

It didn't take long before Lance was leaving with a laughing ‘don't wait up'. Rachel had to laugh. She grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels again searching for something to watch. Every channel seemed to be on commercial so she left it on the TVGuide channel hoping something would catch her eye to watch at the top of the hour. There was a longing inside her. A wish that she could have gotten changed and gone with Lance to whatever club that had just opened up. Her birthday was still a long ways away. Nine months before she turned twenty one and could frequent the clubs her brother did.

When nothing caught her eye on the TV, she turned it off, sending the screen into blackness. Pushing up from the couch she left the room and headed in to Lance's office. Sitting at his desk, she booted up his computer and waited. It was locked so she entered the password he had told her days before. Once she was on the internet she logged in to her AOL messenger and checked her e-mail. Forwards from some of her friends on campus. The ones that didn't make fun of her. Jokes. Spam. E-mail from her mother. Another from her cousin. Campus newsletter.

Rachel forwarded some of the funnier jokes on to her brother. A particularly dirty one to Chris. She knew he'd get a kick out of it. She responded to her mother and her cousin. She was in a chatroom mostly stalking conversation when a popup appeared in the lower right hand corner of the monitor. A notification that someone on her messenger list was now online. Rachel's eyes widened when she saw the name.

JC!

Minimizing the browser screen she stared at the messenger pop up. A lot of her friend's list was dark indicating they weren't currently online. A few were bold. JC's was one of them. She stared at his name wondering what he was doing online. Lance told her he was meeting everyone at the club. They were all there but him. It was one of the reasons she had told Lance to go. They had all been there. JC had been there. So it wasn't like she was missing anything happening. JC was out. Not waiting for her.

She wondered if she should send him a message. What would she say? Before she could even think of something to send, the computer ping and a window appeared. Her breath caught.

musiclvr76: Hey

 

He messaged her!

MissGurl81: Hey. Thought u were out w every1
musiclvr76: I was
musiclvr76: Lance sed u were home?

MissGurl81: Yeah. Went 2 dinner. He wanted 2 go out. I told him 2 go.
musiclvr76: R u busy?

Rachel's mouth parted in shock. It felt like electricity went through her body, zapping her nerve endings. Her heart beat faster doing double time.

MissGurl76: No.

musiclvr76: Wanna come over?

 

Warmth went through her gathering at her center just at the seemingly innocent question. She knew better. She knew the weight attached. What would happen.

 

MissGurl81: Yes.

She type the three letter response with trembling fingers. On a whim she typed out another response.

MissGurl81: I was looking fwd 2 2nite all day.

She held her breath waiting to see how he would respond.

musiclvr76: me 2.

Rachel squealed and clapped her hands together. "Oh my God!" She placed her elbows on the desk and covered her mouth with her hands. She stared at the conversation on the screen.

musiclvr76: see u in a few?
MissGurl81: brt

 

Rachel signed out of her messenger and powered the computer down. With a smile on her face she raced up the stairs to change.

 

JC tried not to think too much. When Lance had popped up in the club fire had shot through him. Awareness that Rachel was home alone. Knowledge that Lance would be out for hours. It had been hard to force himself to stay and not immediately leave. Another thing he didn't want to think about. In a club surrounded by beautiful women, all vying for his attention. He could have had any one of them. Spent time dancing with them. Their hips in his hands. Their asses pressed tight against his crotch.

It wasn't their faces he saw.

Another thing he didn't want to think about.

They all took a shot together when Lance arrived. JC waited until everyone was occupied and slipped out. It had been luck to find Rachel online. If she hadn't been, he would have called her. Another thing he didn't want to think about. How yesterday he had been ready to explain to Rachel how he couldn't teach her how to have sex. How he was supposed to just talk to her and explain how she didn't want someone to teach her. That she wanted to learn with someone she cared about. Even loved.

Then he'd seen her face as she talked about nicknames at school. The hurt, the sadness and he was sunk. He was going against everything he said he wouldn't do. Now he figured out a way to make it last more than one night. Last night was a hand job. Tonight would be a blow job. Tomorrow he'd finally be in her. The next night, they could do it again. After all, there were many positions he could teach her. He groaned at the thought.

His doorbell rang and he had to push down his excitement. He didn't want to appear too eager. He opened his door with a smile. "Hey."

"Hi," Rachel smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was dressed as she had been the night before. A pair of shorts and a t-shirt. A grey shirt with Mississippi State across the front in maroon writing.

"How was dinner?" JC asked as he invited her in, closing the door behind her. He followed her into the living room.

"Good. I apparently offended the staff by asking for steak sauce." Rachel looked at him when he laughed. "I guess you don't do that."

"I'm sure it wasn't too bad." JC took a seat on the couch. This time he sat closer to her.

"I don't know why he insists on taking me to places like that. I'd much rather pull my napkins from a dispenser than try and order off a menu of things I can't pronounce."

"He's just trying to show you different things. Introduce you to what you're not used to." Which is exactly what he was doing as well.

"Sometimes I think he's a snot."

"Well," JC laughed. He wondered if Heather and Tyler felt the same way when he took them out to a fancy restaurant. "I bet he says the same about you."

"Probably." Rachel looked down at her lap.  She picked at her nails. "I thought you were out with everyone else? That's what Lance said when Justin called."

"I was." JC shifted closer to her. Close enough to where his thigh pressed up against hers. "Then Lance showed up and I realized you were home alone."

"So what," Rachel lifted her head to look at him. "You rushed home?"

A smile appeared on JC's lips. He reached up and brushed her hair from her face tucking it behind her ear. "Something like that." He ducked his head and brushed his lips against hers. He heard her sigh and lean in to the kiss. He threaded his hand through her hair. A difference from the night before. Last night her hair had been pulled back. This time it was down. It was soft and slipped through his fingers.

Running his tongue along her bottom lip, she opened for him and he entered her mouth. Exploring everything he had last night. Reacquainting himself with what made her sigh. He felt her hand on his arm. A hesitant touch. As if she still wasn't sure it was okay to touch him even after last night. Pulling back, he broke the kiss. "Why are you afraid to touch me?"

Rachel shrugged and dropped her gaze.

 

"You were touching me last night just fine...more than fine," JC amended. "What you did with my hand... I didn't even know it could feel that way."

Rachel sent him a small smile before her gaze dropped again. She stared at his hand, resting in his lap. That same hand had, just seconds before, been in her hair as they kissed. His other arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

"Rachel..."

"I'm just nervous JC. I don't know what I'm doing."

"You do what you did yesterday." JC lifted his hand and cupped her chin raising her head so she'd meet his eyes. "There's no need to be nervous. You don't have to be scared. It's just me. I'm your friend. I'm not going to make fun of you or run and tell everyone what we've done. You came to me to help you. I will." The doe eyed look was back on her face and he felt a stirring. "Remember what I told you yesterday. Remember what you did. Do that again. Don't be afraid to touch me. To explore. If I don't like something, I'll tell you or nudge your hand to another location."

 

As she stared in to his eyes, she lifted her hands and cupped his face. He was clean shaven except for a strip down the middle of his chin. She wanted to ask what the point of the strip was, but felt she didn't have the permission. She ran her thumbs over his cheeks. JC let her explore his face. Thumbs over his prominent cheekbones. Over the full bottom lip. Through his hair. A medium long layered cut that curled against the collar of his shirt. His bangs fell over his forehead and she threaded the fingers of one hand through his hair, pushing it off his forehead.

She licked her lips and watched as his eyes dropped to her lips. She did the movement again and watched his eyes follow the movement. With her hands on his cheeks she leaned forward and paused before her lips touched his. Her lips parted and she breathed. Their breaths mixed and she was certain it was one of the hottest things she'd been a part of. Though it wasn't saying much. Her experience in the matter was extremely limited.

"You know what my favorite part about yesterday was?"

"What's that?" JC asked softly. His beat wildly. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to close what little distance was between them. Wanted to take her lips with his. Kiss her until she clung to him.

"Kissing you..." Rachel confessed. She watched with great interest as JC's blue eyes seemed to change color. Darkened even as she watched. "It's that wrong?"

"No." JC shook his head. "No. I told you. Kissing is important. Don't let anyone tell you other wise. You don't rush. Appreciate. Set the mood." He held his position as Rachel leaned closer. Once their lips touched, he watched her eye lids flutter close. He held his for a second long before allowing them to close. His lips moved gently with hers, allowing her to lead. He didn't want to rush. Wanted her to get used to him again. He needed her to get comfortable. He moved his hand to her waist and swallowed her gasp. He ran his hand from her waist down her hip and back up. He never strayed to any other regions though his head was begging him to touch her.

Rachel dropped her hands from his face and gripped his shirt over his chest. She shifted closer, applying more pressure to the kiss. This time, she licked his bottom lip mimicking a move he had done. His lips parted and his mouth welcomed her tongue. Her tongue stroked his as she pressed her open hands against his chest. "I did like another thing..." She said as she pulled away.

"Tell me?" JC brushed his fingers over her check, tucking her hair behind her ear. He kissed the corner of her mouth and trailed his lips along her cheek following the trail left behind by his fingers.

"Touching you..." Rachel tilted her head and gasped when JC bit gently on her earlobe. Her hands roamed over his chest down to his stomach and back up. Across his shoulders. She dipped beneath his arms to his back. Her hands caressed his shoulder blades and down his spine.

"I liked that too," he winked and caught her lips with his.

They settled back against the couch kissing. Her hands explored his body. She placed a hand on his neck, her thumb brushing his cheekbone. Using that hand she held him in place not that he had any urge to leave his position. She was following his movements with her tongue. He'd stroke her tongue, she'd return the favor. He'd invade her mouth in a deep kiss and she'd follow. She moved her hand back through his hair and gripped it lightly.

JC moaned. "Remember what I said about not just kissing lips?" When she nodded, he continued. "Pull my head back like you're baring my neck..."

Rachel stared at him for a moment. She loosened her grasp on his hair and moved her hand back to his cheek. She kissed him again. As their lips moved together her hand made the trek through his hair to the back of his head where she tightened her fingers in the strands again. This time she tugged causing his head to tilt baring his neck. She pressed her lips to his neck, right above his pulse.

"Just like that," JC breathed glad she understood what he was getting at. He groaned feeling her tongue on his skin. Imagined feeling it on other places on his body. It was going to happen. Tonight he was going to teach her how to love a man's body with her mouth. Before wrapping around his cock, her mouth would taste other areas. Starting at his neck and working her way down.

Rachel applied everything she learned the previous night. She kissed without abandon. Sometimes with tongue. Sometimes without. Her lips ran over his cheek. His neck. His ears. She licked his neck. Sucked his ear. Her hands never stopped moving. They ran over his body. Across his chest. His stomach. Played with his nipples over the cotton t-shirt. She dipped her hand beneath the shirt to caress his skin. Her hands ran over his denim clad thighs. Over his erection straining against his jeans. Every moan, groan, and sigh from JC she ate up. Used it to further her actions. Doubling down on her efforts.

"Come here," JC whispered and reached for her. With both hands on her hips he started pulling her to his lap. "Sit on my lap. Knees on either... that's it..." He wrapped his arms around her and pull her down into another kiss. "Unbutton my jeans," he murmured against her lips.

Rachel tried to unbutton his jeans without looking so she could continue kissing him but it proved futile. Breaking the kiss with a disappointed sigh she looked down.

"Don't," JC brushed his hand across her cheek again. He didn't know why loved doing that with her. Across her check into her hair. Tucking her hair behind her ear. He wished her hair had been down yesterday. "It takes practice. You'll get there..." ‘Lucky bastard,' he thought thinking of the guy she would practice on. He groaned when her hand brushed over his dick as she pulled the zipper down. He threaded his hand through her hair and pulled her back down to his lips. Before he kissed her he instructed, "touch me."

Rachel ran her fingers over his cock through the material. He was already hard. She squeezed her legs against his. His hips pressed up into her hand. Leaving his cock behind, she ran her hands up his stomach over his chest, bringing his shirt with her. When she could push it no more, she gave an incessant tug. JC shifted, straightening on the couch and lifted his arms above his head. She pulled the material over his head and tossed it down on the floor. Leaning forward she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Her body was pressed against his. She could feel his cock pressing against her center. She rocked slightly and the kiss broke as a moan left both their bodies.

JC grabbed her hips and held her tight against him and he pressed up against her. He threw his head back and groaned. Lips touched his neck and he felt a tremor course through his body. Her fingers circled his nipples. They tightened. Nerve endings firing down his body all connecting to one central location. "Fuck," he gasped when her hand dipped beneath his boxer briefs and wrapped around him.

"Okay?"

"Fuck," JC repeated and drug her back to his lips. He didn't wait. He didn't ask permission. He just took. His tongue entered her mouth. He drew tiny whimpers and he fought for control. Her hips moved in short rocking motions on his lap and he fuse was short. Much shorter than yesterday. "Rachel..." he whispered against her mouth. He pulled the hard kiss back; softening it.

"Is this where I suck your cock?"

 

JC clenched his hands on her hips. His eyes twisted shut. The tremor started at his dick and worked its way through his body before ending back where it started. He wanted to record her question. Exactly how she said it. Breathless. Throaty. Wanted to record it so he could listen to it any time. Every time he heard it, he would be rock hard in an instant.

"Yes," he moaned. "Fuck yes. God..."

Rachel blushed. She moved back off his lap and stared down at him. Shirtless. Pants undone. His cock pulled out. She hadn't remembered pulling it out, but she must have. Must have ran her fingers over it. It was hard. Pulsing. She bit her bottom lip.

JC groaned. "You drive me absolutely crazy when you do that."

"Do what?" Rachel asked wide eyed.

"Bit your bottom lip like that."

"Oh." Rachel immediately stopped. "Sorry."

"No! Driving me crazy is your number one goal in this. You're doing a fantastic job at that."

"Oh!" Rachel said surprised. Warmth ran through her at his words. "I don't think I drove anyone crazy before."

"They were idiots," JC said simply. He lifted his hips and pushed his jeans down his legs and off his body. Turning he laid down on the couch. "Come back here." He tugged on her hand until she was straddling his waist.

"I thought you wanted a blow job?" Rachel asked confused. Her hands on his chest as she stared down at him.

"I do." There he went threading his fingers through her hair again as he pulled her down to kiss her. "You've ran your hands all over me. I want to feel your tongue."

"My tongue..." She repeated and stared down at him.

"You really dated idiots. Seriously. What did you guys do?"

"We... made out a little." Nothing like what she and JC did the last two days. "They wanted me to...jack them off... Wanted me to suck them... Then we had sex..." Rachel felt herself blush and she pulled back in embarrassment. "I told you before we even started this JC. I wasn't very good at this. I have nicknames as long as my arms to prove it."

"Hey..." JC pushed himself up into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around her. "I wasn't blaming you. I was blaming the guys you were with. They should have taken the time to teach you..."

"They weren't interested in teaching me. Just interested in being done, so to speak."

"They were idiots Rachel. They had someone has beautiful as you in their beds and they didn't take advantage of it." JC spoke softly. He watched another blush grow on her face. Her cheeks darkening. "You ready to continue?"

JC felt like a heel as he laid back down on the couch after Rachel nodded. This shouldn't be how the teaching went. It shouldn't be all about him. About her pleasing him. It should be about her leaning how to please a man, but in turn, him showing her how to be loved. Helping her find those places that made her sigh. Made her moan. Made her cry out. Bring her to ecstasy with his tongue, with his fingers. Loving her nipples. Her clit. At this point he was certain she had never had an orgasm. Her lovers had been all about taking. He was just another of the same.

"You want me to use my tongue?" Rachel asked as she looked down at him. Her fingers moved lightly over his torso. Tracing patterns into the skin.

"Yes. Just like you did on my neck. There is no right or wrong. Well... don't slobber..." His chuckled halted quickly when he saw her shoulder slump and look away. "Damnit. I didn't mean..." He sighed. He lifted his arm and palmed her cheek. He tightened his fingers in an attempt to bring her down to him. She let herself be maneuvered down. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," Rachel said softly.

"Maybe we should stop." JC said slowly. His brain screamed that he was being an idiot. To take what she was offering. To remember to goodness of the night before. That the same waited around the corner.

"What? Why!" Rachel sat back up. Her movements caused her to rub against JC's cock. She watched as he closed his eyes in a hiss and moaned softly. His hands gripped her hips and once again she wondered what it would feel like if he were touching skin. "Please don't stop..."

"I think that's my line," he said with a wiry smile.

"I won't..." Rachel rotated her hips again drawing another moan from JC. Her hands moved back to his chest. She lightly ran her finger nails over his skin and watched a tremor built. She circling her thumbs around his nipples and gently brushed them over them. Leaning down, she caught her hair with her hand and held it against her shoulder as she licked over one of his nipples with a flat stroke.

JC hissed in pleasure. His eyes squeezed shut. "Jesus God... Yes. Just like that."

Rachel circled his nipple with her tongue. His moans penetrated deep inside her. She felt silly sucking on his nipple, but from the noises JC's was making she knew he liked what she was doing. Licking it again, she ran her finger over his other nipple. Switching nipples, she mirrored her movements. Licking and sucking. Instead of running her fingers over his nipple, she trailed her hand down his stomach to his cock. She lightly caressed her fingers over it. Starting at the base and up to the tip. JC's dick jumped at her touch. Continuing the teasing touches on his cock, she slowly started moving down his body. She kissed a straight line down his chest.

JC fisted his hands to keep from reaching out for her. He wanted to thread his fingers through her hair. Cup the back of her head and guide her to his cock. He was trembling from the teasing touches of her fingers. He held his breath when he felt her hot breath across his dick. Goosebumps broke out on his arms. "Suck me..."

Rachel stared at the head of his cock. The tip smooth. Her hand closed around him; a tight hold like he showed her. She slowly started working him. Sparing a glance at him, she saw his head tossed back, his eyes clenched shut. His neck was on display and she wanted to press her lips to it. Right there over his pulse point. Sucking lightly over the skin. He didn't want that. At least not right now. He wanted her to suck his cock. Something she had no idea how to do.

‘You didn't know how to give a hand job yesterday and you did it,' her brain reminded her. She could do this. It was like a hand job, but she was using her mouth instead. ‘Just put it in your mouth,' she told herself. She could this. She just had to remember some of the articles she'd read in Cosmo that talked about pressure, sucking, her tongue...

JC groaned loudly as the tip of his cock was enveloped in a hot mouth. "Oh God yes..."

Rachel closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Tried to block the other times she was in this exact position. She didn't need to think about those right now. She moved her hand up and down his shaft as she sucked on the tip. Her tongue teased his tip. Moved over it. Around it. Back and forth.

Remembering a move she read about, she let the tip fall from her mouth and moved down. Holding him lightly she placed her tongue at the base of the underside of his cock. With a flat tongue, she licked all the way to the tip enveloping it back in her mouth.

"Holy shit..." Thought fled from JC's mind at the move. Blood rushed to his dick.

"Was that okay?" Rachel asked staring up at him. Her hand worked his dick, stroking up and down.

JC stared down at her. Her face flushed. Her hair down around her face. Those big green eyes staring up at him... her hand holding his dick. He groaned at the sight and threaded his fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face. "Where did you learn that move?"

"I read it."

"You read it..."

"This morning... I was searching the Internet for help. I was embarrassed you'd find out how bad I really was..."

"Searching the Internet..." JC was having a hard to time stringing his words together. Her hand still worked him. Slowly. In an almost teasing manner as she focused more on talking to him than what she was doing to his cock.

"Yeah. Then I had to delete the browser history in case Lance happened to look..."

JC groaned. He did not want to think about his bandmate right now. Not in this position. Or any position. If Lance found out what he was doing... "Always do that move..."

"Felt good?" Rachel smiled slowly.

"Good doesn't even begin to describe it." JC wanted to lean down and kiss the smile off Rachel's lips. Before he could pull her up his body to do just that, she ducked her head and took him back in her mouth. His head fell back to the couch. "God yes. Just like that. Squeeze the base..." he moaned softly when her thumb and forefinger squeezed his base.

Rachel could feel his dick pulse in her mouth. She slowly took more and more in. She quickly backed off when she felt her gag reflex start to kick in.

"It's okay," JC murmured. His fingers moved through her hair, almost petting her. "You don't have to take it all. It's okay. Use both... your hand. Your mouth. That's right... suck me. God..." he hissed as her tongue stroked the underside of his dick. "Suck me harder... shit..."

Applying more pressure as she sucked, Rachel moved her hand faster on his dick.

JC hissed. This time not in pleasure. His hand covered hers stopping her movements. Her eyes met his. He could see the questions in them. Could see the clouds moving in. Again he cursed all of her partners for making this beautiful woman lack self-esteem. "Make it wetter... your hand will glide."

"I don't have anything..." Rachel glanced around his living room for what she didn't know. How was she supposed to make it wetter? She turned her attention back to JC when he touched her chin with his finger.

"Use your spit. Get it wet. Rub it with your hand."

"How-" Rachel bit off the question. Holding his cock in place with one hand, she placed the tip against her lips and slowly opened over it guiding it in to her mouth. With the help of her tongue she let her saliva coat him. Pulling back she gripped him with her hand, feeling the wetness she had just applied. She moved her hand feeling it move better. She tightened her hand around him as she moved faster.

Letting her hand work him, she released him from his mouth and dipped down, pressing a kiss in the crease of his thigh. She could smell a hint of the soap he used to shower. A masculine musk she breathed in. She clenched her thighs together in an attempt to... she wasn't sure what. She'd fever felt this way before. Her panties were damp. She kept clenching around an invisible object, unable to stop. Pressing her legs together brought no relief. Only heightened the tingling feeling. She moaned.

JC answered her moan with one of his own. Her moan went through him. Straight to his dick. It hardened in her hand. Pre-cum beaded on the tip. "Rachel..."

"Sorry..." Rachel apologized, hiding her face in his leg.

"No no," JC groaned. "Jesus, don't hide. Let me hear you. It's okay. It turns me on even more knowing that you're turned on." The noise further solidified the feeling of wanting to push her down on the couch and love her body. To hear more of the noises she'd been holding back.

"Do I... do I lick your balls?" Rachel ran a finger down the sack that sat below his dick. It was void of hair, like the entire area. The other men had pubic hair in a triangle showcasing their dick. Peppering their ball sacs. "Why do you shave?" She questioned thinking of those men and even herself. Her bikini line was shaved around the crease of her thigh. But she had that same triangle patch of coarse brown pubic hair blanketing her vagina.

"Adds to the sensitivity..." He jumped at her light touch on his balls. "Like that... Hygienic..." he hissed again at her touch. This time her lips were on the sensitive patch on the inside of his left thigh. "Plus I find it sexy when a woman's shaved so I can't be a forest..."

Rachel paused, her lips hesitating above his thigh. She'd been ready to lick a short strip to his balls. ‘Use your tongue.' That had been one of his instructions. She'd drawn groans from JC with her fingers and lips on his thigh, she thought her tongue could draw some too. "Oh... I'm not... I don't..." ‘Stupid,' she yelled at herself. It didn't matter if she was shaved or not. It didn't matter that JC found a hairless private area sexy. She wasn't here for him to find sexy. She was here for him to teach her how to please a man.

‘Idiot!' His brain screamed. Why did he have to say his final reasoning? He could have left it at hygienic and been done. No. He had to open his mouth and tell her how he found it sexy. How he loved to strip a woman down and have her bared for him. He felt his mouth water as he thought about burying his face in a woman's pussy. Licking her. Tasting her. He bit his lip in an attempt to stave off a moan that threatened. He moaned loudly when his dick was swallowed down. Her mouth wet and hot. Saliva coated his dick and her hand worked the based squeezing tightly. All thought flew from his mind as she sucked harder. Her tongue stroking underneath. The tip hit the roof of her mouth and his fingers tightened in her hair.

Rachel pooled everything she could in to sucking his cock in hopes to make him forget about her blunder. She was here tonight to suck his cock. To learn how to give a blow job. She needed to remember that. Releasing the head, she continued stroking him. Her hand, wet with her spit, glided smoothly up and down. She placed her lips on his balls and ran her tongue lightly over them.

"Ah," JC breathed. His breath came out heavily through his nose. His head tilted back. Need built deep. The whole night had been one big foreplay. The music at the club. The bodies rubbing up against him. With his eyes closed he had imagined them as Rachel. It was her ass grinding against his crotch. It had been her hand grabbing his dick over his jeans. Her hot breath against his neck as she whispered naughty words in his ear. He'd come home and it had been Rachel. Here right now. His dick in her hand. Her mouth licking at his balls. She sucked lightly and he nearly jumped from the couch with a shout.

Rachel grimaced as JC's fingers tightened in her hair. It was on the side of painful. Tears pricked in the corner of her eyes. She moaned and that caused his fingers to tighten instead of loosen like she hoped.

"Oh fuck," JC moaned. A tremor worked through his body. The stimulation she was providing with her mouth on his balls paired with the vibrations from her mouth caused his balls to tighten. He wrapped his hand over hers on his dick, increasing the pressure that had become lax. He worked her hand on his dick. Keeping her hold tight. Moving her hand faster. "Suck me..."

His fingers loosened and she pulled back. Using the back of her free hand she wiped at the tears that had fallen. His hand, with hers, held his dick pointed in her direction. All she had to do was part her lips. She flattened her tongue and licked over the head, tasting something slightly salty. The taste was gone before she could decipher more. She watched as JC shook, his body trembling. With just the tip in her mouth, she sucked lightly, teasingly. It drew another moan from his parted lips.

Cupping his balls from her free hand, she rolled them gently, just like he instructed her the night before. Pulling off the tip, she looked at his dick, their hands encased together on his shaft. The tip shiny with spit. She remembered the movement she had done with his hand and his reaction. This time, instead of using her fingers, she leaned down trailed her tongue the length of his thumb. When she got to the tip she drew it into her mouth. Mimicking her previous actions just seconds before, she sucked the tip of his thumb lightly, her tongue teasing the pad.

"Fuck," JC moaned, his hand loosening on his dick as Rachel sucked the tip of his thumb. His cock pulsed, hardening. The sucking mimicking what she had done on his cock. He needed that feeling again. But it felt too good to tell her to stop. Without his hand guiding her, she continued moving her hand up and down his cock. Her other hand pulled gently on his balls. "Shit Rachel..."

Rachel let his thumb fall from her mouth and took his cock back in her mouth. She sunk as far down as she could without triggering her gag reflex. JC moaned long and loudly. His fingers threaded back through her hair and she felt him pushing her head on his cock. His movements slight as he helped her set a rhythm. She squeezed his cock tight, causing it to plump in her hand. With the increased pressure on her hand, she swirled her tongue around the shaft. Each tremble she felt from him, caused her to double down on the spots they occurred.

"Fuck fuck fuck," JC chanted. His body was on fire. Nerve endings fired. Every touch from her body: her tongue, her fingers, her hair tickling his thighs caused sensory overload. He could feel his orgasm building. His balls pulling up tighter to his body. "Rachel..." With a groan, he stopped her movements and pulled her from his cock. He was unable to stop the moan as he stared at her face. Her lips red and swollen from being wrapped around his cock. "I'm gonna come... if you don't want me to do that in your mouth..."

"What do you want?" Rachel asked, she started moving her hand again. Slowly stroking. JC moaned and clenched his eyes shut.

"No," JC shook his head. He was breathing heavily. It was taking everything he had to stop from coming. His orgasm was right there. Stopping her had caused him to tape a step back from the ledge. But it had been a minor step. He was about ready to fall over the edge into the abyss. "It's what you want. It's never about what I...what the man wants. If you don't want me...them... to come in your mouth, then that's how it goes."

"I..." Rachel blushed. She hadn't prepared herself for this moment. Hadn't thought about how a blow job would end. Had been too worked up on actually being able to do it right. Hadn't thought of actually getting it to work and making JC come again. "I don't..." How could she say no? Didn't men expect that when they got a blow job?

JC made the decision for her. Could see the beginning of turmoil building in her eyes. He'd like to say he made the decision out of the goodness of his heart. Maybe he did. He was sure it had more to do with the fact that he needed to come. Very badly. As he pulled her up his body, he scooted toward the back of the couch to make room for her to lay beside him.

"JC," Rachel protested as she adjusted against him, trying to make herself comfortable.

"Shh," JC whispered and kissed her, his tongue marching in to her mouth. Demanding and taking. Once again he placed his hand over hers on his cock and started the movements again. The pressure was tight. The pace fast. The time for teasing was over. When she got the hint, his hand fell away, leaving just hers to work him.

It wasn't long before his lips fell away from hers and his head tipped back. His eyes closed. His breath came out fast. Tiny little gasps. "Shit..." he breathed. "Gonna... come..." Her hand twisted on his cock and he came with shout. Come shot from his cock. The first strip landing on his chest, while the others landed on his stomach. Her hand continued to stroke him through his orgasm until he put a hand over hers. His body trembled.

"Why do you stop me?" Rachel questioned.

"It's sensitive. There becomes a point where the pleasure becomes slightly painful."

"So once you start coming stop?"

JC shook his head. "No. You have to keep moving through the orgasm. Trust me. It makes it a thousand times better. Once I start coming, loosen your hold back to a light grip. Slow down."

"Without you stopping me, how do I know when?" Her hand had relaxed on his softening cock. Her fingers tangled with his on his hip bone. He didn't seem to mind the come that dripped over her fingers while he was coming.

JC turned his head to look at her. "Reading my body language. Watching facial expressions. You'll see when it becomes too much to bear. If not, stop once I'm done." With his hand at the back of her head, he brought her down to his lips. Their lips moved together softly, softly opening and closing on each other. Their tongues meet briefly before disappearing back into their respective mouths before meeting again. Their touches just as soft and gentle. He broke the kiss with a sigh and guided her head to rest on his shoulder. When she relaxed against him he realized he was in trouble.

 

 

"Where's your sister?"

 

"Why?" Lance asked as he filled a glass with ice from the fridge.

 

"He wants to ask her to prom." Joey grinned as he opened the containers of Chinese that filled Lance's kitchen table.

 

"Because he wants to hit that." Chris made the motion of holding a head and slapping an imaginary ass of a person bent over in front of him.

 

"Man fuck off," Justin shoved Chris.

 

"You were pretty disappointed when she didn't show up last night." Chris grinned. "You wanted to turn up that Timberlake charm. Have her eating out of the palm of your hand. Then move in for the kill."

 

"My sister's pretty strict with what she eats. Doubtful she'd eat anything out of the palm of your hand."

 

"She probably knows exactly where your palm has been." Joey made a jerking off motion with his hand.

 

"You got me confused with you. That's all that's been happening at your house."

 

"Not last night." Joey grinned. "Got home last night and Kelly couldn't keep her hands off me. Among other things."

 

"You think she'll get tired of snacks and want a full meal?"

 

Joey sent Chris the finger and grabbed the beef lo mein, dumping some on his plate. He sat the container back in the middle of the table and took the Kung Pao Chicken. "I am a seven course meal. Trust me. She's filled. Stuffed even."

 

Lance rolled his eyes as he chuckled at Joey's words. He was used to Joey's crass and vulgar language. His friend was never one to mince words when it came to sex. Always more than happy to describe it in great detail, getting a kick out either embarrassing them or grossing them out. The more they squirmed the happier he was.

 

"What about the chick you were dancing with last night?"

 

"Unlike Timberfuck here, I had her eating out of the palm of my hand." Chris dumped most of the General Tao's chicken on his plate. "Went back to her place for a little fun."

 

"You get her number?"

 

"Why would I want that?" Chris asked Lance.

 

"Thought you might like to see her again." Lance shrugged.

 

"When has Chris ever gotten someone's number?" Justin laughed, grabbing one of the containers of wonton soup.

 

"You know Chris is a love ‘em and leave ‘em type."

 

"Speaking of which. Who did you take home last night?"

 

JC could feel eyes on him. All of them. He kept his head down and concentrated on dumping the remaining beef lo mein onto his plate. When it was empty he tossed the empty container back onto the table with the rest.

 

"Yeah man. You snuck out pretty early. Didn't even see you leave."

 

"That's because you had your head buried in your latest conquest."

 

"Did you see the size of her tits!"

 

"It was hard not to. Her shirt was crying out for mercy barely able to contain them."

 

"Surprised you didn't suffocate."

 

"So who did you take home C?" Joey asked, staring at his band mate. "Was it the brunette in the miniskirt? Tell me, was she wearing panties? I had fifty bucks on no."

 

"Nah, it was the girl with the glasses. I bet they went home and played naughty librarian."

 

"It was the blonde with the t-shirt cut just below her boobs. I saw what she did with her mouth on that beer bottle. Jesus, nearly had me on the floor."

 

JC rolled his eyes. He barely remembered any of the women the guys pointed out. There was no brunette in a miniskirt or naughty librarian. Or the beer bottle blonde. No. There was only a blonde in a faded t-shirt with big green eyes with her hesitant touches.

 

"So which one was it?"

 

"None of them." JC answered honestly. He reached for General Tso's chicken and frowned seeing the empty container. He searched and found the second container, adding some of it to his plate.

 

"Struck out huh?" Joey nodded knowingly. "Tough luck."

 

"Probably has something to do with that caterpillar on your chin. That's not a sexy look man."

 

"Those pouty blue eyes won't do anything for them when they see that dumbass facial hair you got going on."

 

"Fuck off." JC was used to the teasing. Had been on the receiving end from the first time he stepped out with the new facial hair.

 

"It screams, ‘I'm a douche'."

 

"What was your excuse for not scoring last night?" JC asked Justin, his eyebrow cocked.

 

"We told you. Rachel wasn't there." Chris said. "Why do you think we're eating at Lance's house? He was hoping she'd be here."

 

"I was hoping she'd be here as well. Sit back and watch him fall all over himself trying to hit on her." Joey laughed. "She doesn't even know you're alive."

 

"The one woman in the entire world who doesn't fall for the Timberlake Charm and it's the one woman he wants."

 

"Fuck off."

 

Jealousy grew in JC's stomach. He wanted to tell Justin to leave her alone. There was no way he could without drawing unwanted attention on himself. As far as his friends were concerned, he went home alone last night. Nothing more. If they found out what he was up to this week... Lance would kill him. For that he was sure. Justin would ooze jealously over the fact that Rachel asked him instead. Joey and Chris would razz him hard. He didn't want to know what they would do to Rachel. The teasing she'd endure from them...

 

No he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't bring that upon her. Wouldn't open her up to that.

 

"He only wants Rachel because she reminds him of Britney."

 

JC's eyes widened as he stared across the table at Chris. He could feel the shift in the air and snuck a peek at Justin sitting next to him. Britney had become an off limit topic after their split a couple months ago. Justin had found out Britney was cheating on him with a backup dancer on her Oops!... I Did It Again tour. Justin had been in love with her since the Mickey Mouse Club.

Justin's face had gone blank Void of emotion. His jaw was clenched. His lips nearly disappeared into a thin line. His knuckles were nearly white around the chopsticks he held in his right hand.

 

"Both blonde. Both from Mississippi. Wholesome. Down home southern country girls. Both a little quiet and reserve."

 

JC could see Chris's point but he wouldn't speak it out loud. Not with Justin in the room and probably even if Justin wasn't in the room. He didn't think of Britney when he thought of Rachel. To him, they weren't similar. He still thought of Britney has the little girl on the Mickey Mouse Club. Rachel... little girl did not describe what he thought of her. Not even close. When he saw Britney there was no stirring inside him. He didn't picture her spread out on his bed.

 

"Do you have a death wish?" Joey muttered as Justin pushed his chair back and left the room.

 

"I didn't mean anything by it," Chris rolled his eyes as he put a helping of beef lo mein in his mouth. "I was just pointing out that he apparently has a type."

"You had to mention her by name?" Lance asked staring at the door Justin had disappeared through. A few minutes later he heard his front door open and shut.

 

"Well I could have said she reminds him of a previous popstar girlfriend."

 

"You're such a jerk. How would you feel if we brought up Dani?"

 

JC didn't think the air could get any colder. The arctic was officially warmer than Lance's kitchen. Chris and Dani had dated for four years. Their relationship came to a halt around Christmas of last year. To his knowledge, Chris never told any of them what had happened. They tried to pry and get information, but Chris shut them out. Turning bitter when it came to relationships. It was why, four months after the break up, he had perfected the love them and leave them.

 

"Fuck you."

 

It was Chris's turn to stand up from the table and leave the room.

 

"Boy," Lance drawled after his front door slammed shut again. "We should really do this more often."

 

*~*

 

"Did you rob a Chinese store while I was gone?" Rachel called as she stared at the takeout containers filling Lance's fridge. She nosed around and found a container that had a small helping of beef lo mein left.

 

"The guys came over for lunch." Lance answered from the living room.

 

"If this is what's left, I'd hate to see what you guys actually put away." Rachel warmed up the takeout and took it into the living room.

 

"We didn't order that much." Lance said as he checked his e-mail, filling out his planner with meetings and important dates. Making notes when scripts needed to be read by. He made other notes to speak to Wendy, who managed his Bacon and Eggs Productions, at their upcoming meeting. His schedule was filling up with not only NSYNC items but his own as well. On The Line was in post production. Soon it would be released for everyone to see. He couldn't wait.

 

"I find it hard to believe you guys didn't pack it away." Rachel stuck her chopsticks in the container lifting the noodles to her mouth.

 

"Nobody really ate." After Chris and Justin left, their appetites had disappeared. Soon after, Joey and JC had left as well. "Justin and Chris stormed out."

 

"What happened?"

 

"Britney and Dani were brought up."

 

Rachel whistled. She had met the women a few times when she visited Lance in Florida. They were both nice and fun to hang out with. Accepted her even though she was only Lance's little sister. Lance had filled her in the break ups. She had been heartbroken for Chris and Justin. "Ouch. How in the world were they brought up? I thought they were numero uno on the no talk list?"

 

"They are. But you know how Chris is..."

 

Rachel nodded. There wasn't a rule that Chris didn't break or skirt. "He brought up Dani on his own?"

 

Lance shook his head. "He brought up Britney. Which had Justin storming out. Joey brought up Dani as payback which caused Chris to storm out."

 

"Why in the world would Chris bring Britney up?"

 

"Justin has the hots for you." Lance looked up when his sister started coughing. He watched as she slapped her chest a couple times and waved a hand in front of her mouth. "Are you okay?"

 

Rachel shook her head as she continued to cough. Lance's words had caused her to suck in a breath. Unfortunately she'd just taken a bite of noodles.

 

"Jesus," Lance stood and went to his sister who sat in the recliner. He took the take out container from her and sat it down on the coffee table. He slapped her back. Hard. He grabbed his bottle of water from the table and uncapped it. "Drink."

 

Rachel drank. She felt her throat pinch and she swallowed roughly. When she was done her eyes were watery. "What did you say?"

 

"Justin has the hots for you."

 

Rachel stared at her brother certain she heard wrong. Then she busted out laughing. "Yeah right," she rolled her eyes, wiping the tears from them. "Come on Lance. Like I'd believe that."

 

"I'm serious." Lance insisted. "Justin likes you."

 

Rachel giggled not believing Lance for a minute. The biggest teen heartthrob like her? "Yeah right Lance. I know you like pulling pranks and playing jokes. Like I would believe this."

 

"I'm serious." Lance chuckled shaking his head. "He was asking about you. Wondering where you were."

 

The laughter stuttered to a halt. "You're serious." Rachel stared at her brother. "You're fucking serious."

 

"I told you." It was Lance's turn to laugh.

 

Rachel didn't know what to think. Justin had a crush on her? Her! A college kid from Mississippi. A girl far removed from being the popular on campus. The guy who dated Britney Spears wanted to date her! It still had to be some kind of joke. Why would someone like Justin Timberlake want to date her? "Why?"

 

"The hell if I know. So where were you today?"

 

"Touring the University of Central Florida."

"Why?" Lance asked confused. "You go to Mississippi State. Is there something wrong? Do you need money?"

 

Rachel shook her head. "Not wrong per say..." She shrugged.

 

"If nothing's wrong, then why are you looking in to other colleges? You've been wanting to go to State for a long time."

 

"You sure there isn't something wrong with your tuition?"

 

Rachel sighed. "My tuition is fine. You know that Lance. You paid what my scholarships didn't cover."

 

"Then what?"

 

"Nothing. I'm just having some problems with the other students."

 

"Because of who you are? Who I am?" Lance questioned frowning. He knew his family didn't have the easiest of times once the group blew up. His youngest sister especially since she was right in their demo.

 

"A little." A lot had to do with her. Being Lance's little sister just put her on a lot of radars.

 

"Switching schools isn't going to change that. You shouldn't switch schools because people are being mean."

 

"You have no idea what it's like Lance." Rachel stood up from the chair.

 

"You think I don't know what it's like to have people be mean to me?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "I'm in a boyband for Christ sake. You think I haven't heard it all before?"

 

"You always have a million people around you constantly stroking your ego. Of course the thousands of girls that scream your name and throw themselves at you doesn't hurt your ego any. You don't know what it's like to be surrounded by people who tease you constantly. Daily. It's never ending. The looks. The laughs. The snickers. The jokes. The nicknames. I can go on and on. You get a reprieve. You don't have to read what's written about you. You don't have people hurling insults or vulgar words at you. People are professing their love for you and offering to have your babies. You don't live with the critics. They aren't in a room down the hall. You don't go in to the studio or rehearsal and they are sitting right there beside you. Because they are with me. They sleep in the same room as I do. They are next door and across the hall. They are in every single one of my classes. I see them every day. The dorms, the library, classrooms, everywhere on campus. So please don't act like you have it worse than I do. Don't think you can tell me to just ignore it because it would be easier to ignore a marching band playing ‘Stars and Stripes Forever' around my bedroom at six in the morning than it is to ignore the student body."

 

Lance could do nothing but watch in stunned silence as his sister left the room.

 

*~*

 

"You think I should ask her out?"

"I don't know Man," JC rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. The last conversation he wanted to have with Justin was whether or not his bandmate should ask Rachel out. Not after the previous two days. How the rest of the week was planning on shaping up.

 

"Why not? Is there something wrong with her?"

 

"What? No!" JC shook his head even though Justin couldn't see him. He switched hands on the phone and held the receiver to the opposite ear. "There's nothing wrong with Rachel."

 

"You don't sound enthused that I want to ask her out. What happened to all that shit you guys said about going out with someone else to get over Britney?"

 

"Well yeah..." JC did remember that being part of the advice that had been given to Justin.

 

‘Best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.'

 

That had been Joey's advice.

 

"Then what? You want her?" Justin laughed.

 

JC bristled. How was him wanting Rachel funny? "Dude, no," he said hoping to come off indifferent. Didn't want to draw unnecessary questions. "But Rachel is basically Britney without the whole popstar thing."

 

"Maybe that's what I'm looking for? Someone who is normal. Who isn't in this business?"

 

"You looking to settle down J?" JC asked surprised.

 

"Hell naw man! Why would I want to go and do something stupid like that? Since when does wanting to date someone lead to marriage? I just wanna be with someone. Have some fun. Not worry if she's fucking around behind my back."

 

"You think Rachel's gonna be different?" The words tasted like sawdust in his mouth. "It will be the same relationship you had with Britney. Except instead of being on tour, Rachel will be in college in Mississippi."

"Yeah, but it's almost summer. She might tour with us. We can spend the whole summer together."

"Then what? In between recording the next album you get over to Mississippi?" JC gritted his teeth together. It turned his stomach thinking he was teaching Rachel how to have sex to get her ready for Justin. The green monster was rearing its ugly head. It shouldn't matter who Rachel turned her newfound talents on. It shouldn't. But it did. He wanted it to be him.

"It's possible." Justin said. "Maybe she'll transfer to a college in Florida to be closer."

 

The thought made JC bristle. Rachel had mentioned Mississippi State being her dream college. The thought of Justin talking her in to transferring....  JC raised his head when his doorbell sounded. Excitement shot through him. He tried to tamper it down. Just because someone was here, didn't mean it was Rachel. It could be any number of people.

 

Half listening to Justin in his ear talk about Rachel he moved through his house toward the front door. Opening the door revealed Rachel on the other side. He placed a finger over his smiling lips signaling her to be quiet. He moved out of the way and invited her in.

"... Dani, Bobbie, Danielle, Britney..."

 

JC shook his head trying to bring his attention back to his conversation with Justin. It was hard to do with Rachel standing in front of him. He felt a stirring already. "What?"

 

"None of us can keep a girl." Justin repeated. "This has been a helluva year. You and Bobbie. Chris and Dani. Lance and Danielle. Me and Britney."

 

"Come on Justin, you know damn well Bobbie and I were done long before we broke up." JC saw Rachel's eyes widen at the mention of Justin. Saw the blush on her cheeks. His stomach twisted. No way could she be interested in him. No. She averted her gaze and disappointment crept in. "Why you wanna settle for one anyway? You're living your best life. This tour is gonna be just as crazy as the last one."

 

"But she might be touring with us. The whole summer we'll be together."

 

"You think Lance would approve of you dating his sister?" He watched as Rachel snapped her head toward him. Her eyes wide in surprise.

 

"I don't care what Lance thinks."

 

JC rolled his eyes. "How mature Justin. Cause that won't cause issues. Listen, Heather's here. We're going out to dinner tonight."

 

"Yeah man," Justin sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

 

JC tapped the off button and put the receiver back on the base that sat on the end table in his living room. Turning, he faced Rachel who stood in the center of his living room. He wanted to go to her. Draw her in to his arms. Kiss her. Make her forget about Justin. Suddenly the excitement of the tour was waning. If Rachel was joining them... If Justin made his move... If they started dating... he would have a front row seat to watch it all. He would see the looks, see the touches... he swallowed roughly... hear the sounds of their lovemaking. Switching buses would end the torment for him. He could join Lance and Joey on the second bus. Maybe they would switch with him. Joey or Lance would take his place on the three man bus.

 

"I didn't believe Lance when he said Justin liked me." Her words were soft.

 

JC wasn't sure if he'd use the word like. He wasn't sure if Justin's interest stemmed from actually liking her, wanting to get to know her, form a relationship or if his interest was purely from her being hot and wanting to have sex with her. With Justin it could go either way. Knowing what he knew of his friend and the fact that he had just broken up with a long time girlfriend, JC was liable to believe the latter. That could be the jealous talking though.

 

"I don't know why. I'm just me. No one special." Rachel gave a small snort of self-decapitating laughter. "Bet he'd change his mind when he finds out I suck in bed and not in a good way. Definitely not what he's used to. Shit, not what you're used to..."

 

JC moved to her, stopping when he stood directly in front of her. "I told you. You don't suck. You had terrible partners."

 

"Wouldn't they like to know that it wasn't me who sucked but them? Doubt they'd believe me."

 

"Who cares what they think..."

 

"The majority of the campus apparently."

 

"Who cares what they think?"

 

Rachel huffed a breath and rolled her eyes. "You're just like Lance. Stuck in this bubble because everyone around you tells you have great you are."

 

"I get made fun of all the time. Being on the Mickey Mouse Club? Got teased a lot by kids back home in Maryland when I'd go home after filming. Now I'm in a boyband. I've heard all the jokes. All the time. People are constantly poking fun at what I wear. What my hair looks like. How I shave. They are constantly comparing me to Justin how he's the leader and I'm second fiddle..."

 

"Do any of them live with you?" Rachel asked softly.

 

"What?"

 

Rachel looked up meeting his eyes. "Do any of those people who mock you live with you?"

 

"You know they don't."

 

"Because they do me. I share a room with one of the ring leaders; who happens to be dating the guy who started the rumors. So I hear the play by play of their sexual exploits and how I failed to measure up. So maybe you are able to brush off the teasing and the mocking because you know it comes from a place where people try to take down those more successful than they are. That's not me JC. I'm not more successful. I'm just a normal twenty year old going to college. Teen People, J-14, Tiger Beat... those magazines don't care who I am or what I do."

 

"You think this is gonna help?" JC's felt the hurt in his heart. "You think me teaching you how to have sex is going to help?"

 

"It certainly can't get any worse."

 

"How are you gonna stop the teasing and nicknames? Go back and sleep with a bunch of guys?" JC questioned. Jealously reared up again. The thought of Rachel sleeping with anyone turned his stomach. "Is that what you want to do? Sleep with a bunch of guys in hopes they'll tell other guys how great you are? I can tell you one thing Rachel, the nicknames you hear now will probably stop, but new ones will take their place and you don't want those either."

 

Tears clouded her view. In the back of her mind she knew JC was right. In order to turn her reputation around, she'd have to have sex with guys. Plural. More than one. It was a thin line on whether the teasing would stop or whether they'd start calling her more derogatory names. "This is all I got JC. If you don't... if you've changed your mind tell me and I'll leave."

 

"Then what? You can go ask Chris to teach you?" The words came out harshly. He saw her flinch.

 

"Chris?"

 

"You were going to ask him when I said no. That's why you were going to meet him Monday."

 

Rachel stared at JC confused. She shook her head. "I wasn't going to ask Chris to teach me how to have sex."

 

"Then why were you meeting with him?" Try as he might, he couldn't keep the jealously out of his voice. His words dripped with it.

 

"Because he's been to college. I wanted to talk to him about his experience."

 

"Oh..." JC didn't know what to say. Hearing Chris was meeting with Rachel, JC assumed she was going to ask him for help after he had turned her down. Now to realize she wasn't, that he changed his mind on the thought of something that was never going to happen.

 

"I wasn't going to just move down the line. It wasn't asking you first. If you said no, move to Chris. If he said no, ask Justin... I'm not that desperate. I was only going to ask you."

 

JC felt himself swell. He straightened. He had been Rachel's only option. She wasn't going to ask his bandmates. Just him. "Why?" The word was rough.

 

"Because even if you didn't understand, I knew you wouldn't tease me. You wouldn't laugh. If you said no you wouldn't blab it to everyone and have a good laugh. If you said yes, you wouldn't run back to the guys and tell them. I've heard Chris's stories. Even some of Justin's.... how they talk about girls. How they share their exploits after... you never did and I know you probably could... have the exact same stories as they do. But you never gave the morning after play by play. At least not when I was around. Maybe you did that for me," she shrugged. "I don't know. You're just different. I relate to you more than I do Chris and Justin. Even Joey. I'm comfortable with you even if I doesn't seem like it this week. That has more to do with the circumstances. But with you I can relax. I can tell you things - embarrassing things. I know you won't make fun or tease. At least not mean spirited. You always seem to know when to tease and when to take it seriously. You always offer sound advice. Like I said on Monday. I trust you." She meet his eyes and felt her cheeks heat as a blush swept across her face. "And it helps I find you hot..."

 

JC crossed the room immediately. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. His tongue swept into her mouth. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly. When the kiss ended, he stared at her, watching as her eyes blinked opened. Her green eyes had darkened. "You ready for your next lesson?"

 

"Oh yes..." This time Rachel kissed him.

 

 

"Come on," JC whispered against her lips. He took her hand and led her up the stairs, down the hall to his bedroom. The door was open. Inside the room, he dropped her hand so he could move to the bed and snap on the lamp on the bedside table. The soft light provided the perfect ambiance with the fading sunset.

 

Going back to her, he reached up and pulled the hair tie from her hair. Her blonde hair cascaded down over her shoulders. Maneuvering his fingers, the black elastic hair tie slipped over his hand and onto his wrist. He carded his fingers through her hair. With his hands in her hair, cupping either side of her head, he was able to tilt her head up so he could kiss her lips again.

 

"I'm more nervous now than I ever was on Monday..." Rachel confessed against his lips. Her hands sat on his waist over the white Rolling Stones t-shirt and blue jeans.

 

"Why?" JC asked. His hands trailed down her arms before dipping blow them so he could place them on her lower back. "I told you. You don't have to be nervous with me." Using one hand he brought her closer to him and moved his other hand up her front to cup the side of her face. His fingers resting over her jaw line. His thumb able to brush over her cheek bone.

 

"Ever have friends call you by your last name?"

 

"Yeah," JC nodded.

 

"I always thought that was so cool in junior high and high school you know? In the hallways guys would call out to their friends by their last names. Some of the girls who played sports did it too. That was never me. Until college." Rachel kept her eyes averted from his, staring straight ahead, her eyes lined up with the tip of his nose. She stared at the dark stubble dotting his upper lip he'd shave off tomorrow. "Then one day it started happening. I'd enter a class room and it was ‘Bass!' Be walking across campus and it was ‘Yo! Bass!' It felt nice. Felt like I was someone important. Part of the crowd. Until I found out it was an inside joke. My last name... an inside joke."

 

"Rachel..." JC felt his heart twist hearing the pain in her words.

 

"They turned my name into a humiliating joke about how bad I was at sex. Flops around like a fish out of water. Fish. Bass."

 

"Fuck them." JC said firmly. His hand tensed on her face and he tilted her head up. He waited until her green eyes met his. "Seriously. Fuck them."

 

"I did. That's what started this whole thing..." Her lips quivered as a smile tried to break through. The joke had come out of nowhere. Over the last few months, jokes had been the last thing on her mind as she endured the malicious teasing.

 

A grin grew on JC's lips. He felt a flash of pride zip through him. Maybe he should have taught her how to have thicker skin to combat the jerks on campus. It wouldn't have been this fun... but with the help of Joey, Chris, and Justin. They could have sent her back to Mississippi armed with weapons she didn't have before. No one was better with words for critics than Chris. He was certain one instance of Rachel letting off a Chris-laced tirade would have them thinking twice about letting a crude remark slip past their lips in Rachel's presence again.

 

"We've already proven they have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to sex," JC said as his head ducked closer. His lips brushed against hers. Just a whisper of a touch. He smiled against her lips when he heard her quick intake of breath. "I've been waiting for this day..."

 

Rachel eyes widened as she looked at him. "You have?"

 

"Oh yeah." JC grinned. "I thought we'd do this on Monday. But you were a helluva lot better than you let on."

 

"I'm sorry..."

 

"Oh no," JC kissed her. Just a short peck. "Don't apologize. Never apologize for that. Own it. Swell with pride knowing that you have the power to bring me...any man to his knees. And the fact that many people do not know is even sexier." His hands roamed her back itching to pull the shirt over her head. He felt anxious; ready to get started; knowing that by the end of the night, Rachel would be naked and in his bed.

 

"So what happens first?" Rachel asked. She was pressed against him. From chest to thigh they touched.

 

"We kiss..." JC whispered, closing his lips lightly over hers. "Kiss some more. And touch."

 

"I can do that," Rachel whispered instigating the kiss this time. The kiss deepened past the teasing light ones they had been sharing. She trembled in his arms, clutching at his back. Her mouth opened beneath his. His tongue swept in stroking hers. She closed her lips around his tongue and sucked lightly, mimicking what she had done on his cock the night before.

 

The move drew a moan from JC. His hands clasped her hips and pressed her tightly against him, letting her feel his dick starting to harden. He hadn't shown her that move. Hadn't told her about it. There was a small stirring of pride that she was testing the waters on her own. Discovering for herself what to do.

 

Like she had the previous nights, Rachel took what she learned and combined it. She brought her hands up to his face, running her fingers over his cheeks. Feeling the stubble against the pads of her fingers. The sensation caused desire to move through her. Her fingers tightened on his face, the kiss deepened and she pressed harder against him at the feeling. His hands dipped beneath her shirt and she shivered at the touch. The first time his hands touched her without the barrier of clothing.

 

JC could feel himself slowly losing control. He wanted to break the kiss and move his lips over her neck to her ear. Where he'd suck on that spot behind her ear. Holding her, he was sure she'd melt in his arms. He wanted to run his fingers over her stomach. Feel the muscles quiver. Pull her shirt over her head. Kiss the swell of her breasts. Wanted to pull the cup down to reveal a nipple he'd suck into his mouth. He moaned at the thought.

 

Rachel broke the kiss. Her lips trailed across his cheek. The fingers of one hand carded through his hair. She tightened her hold but didn't pull his head back like he taught her. Instead she used her nose, motioning against his skin what she wanted him to do. When his head moved, she placed kisses on his neck, sucking lightly on the skin. There wasn't a spot on his neck her lips didn't touch.

 

JC was sure his fingers would leave bruises on Rachel's lower back with as hard as he was pressing them into her skin. She sucked lightly on his lobe. It sent a zing straight to his dick. He was hard and pressing against his zipper in seconds. Aching to be released. To be touch. He moaned. Her hands fell down his body. The finger light touches appeared on his stomach at the hem of his shirt. His body screamed to be touched.

 

Switching to the other side of his neck, Rachel moved beneath his shirt running her fingers over his stomach. She could feel the muscles quiver at her touch. Felt the tiny line of coarse hair that trailed from his belly button south. Last night she had followed that path with her fingers. Maybe tonight she'd do it with her mouth.

 

"Take my shirt off..." Her hands were up on his chest. Her fingers circling his nipples.

 

Rachel gripped the hem of his t-shirt and drew it up over his head. She let it fall to the floor beside them. Without the hindrance of the article of clothing she ran her hands over his chest. His stomach. His shoulders. She stared at him, her eyes taking everything in.

 

"Don't just use your hands." JC groaned when she licked over his nipple. Her tongue flat. His hands fisted in the t-shirt on her back. His cock strained against his zipper, desperate to be free. He let his head fall back and soaked in the feeling of her lips moving on his body. Using his hands he pulled her closer to his body, letting her feel his response. He slid his hands down her back and over her denim clad behind. Palming both cheeks he pressing her against him, drawing a moan from them both.

 

Rachel felt his cock pressing against her belly. Felt its hardness. She ran her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and in to his hair. She tilted his head down and kissing him hard. Her tongue swept across his bottom lip and in to his mouth when he opened for her. She stroked his tongue, short and teasingly. When she withdrew, he followed her into her mouth. Ducking her arms beneath his, she ran her hands over his back and down. Her fingers reached the denim waistband of his jeans. Running her fingers along the waistband, she reached the button at the front.

 

As she kissed him she worked the button free and lowered the zipper. Palming him through his underwear she elicited another groan from him. Squeezing gently, she felt him harden in her hand.

 

JC broke the kiss and moved his lips across her cheek to her ear. Pressing his lips to the skin just behind it, he drew a breathy moan from her that he felt deep inside. As her hand worked him, he peppered her neck with kisses.

 

"JC..." she whispered. Her panties were damp with excitement. She withdrew her hand from his cock and gripped the belt loops at his waist. Using those as leverage, she pulled him against her and tilted her head.

 

There was a slight hesitation on JC's part when he reached for the hem of her shirt. This was the first time he'd get to undress her. It wouldn't reveal anything he hadn't already seen because he'd seen her in a bathing suit. That was different. She wasn't poolside in a bikini. She was next to his bed, waiting for him to lay her down on it.

 

He lifted his head and pulled the shirt over her head. It dropped to the ground next to his. He moaned in appreciation of her standing in front of him in a bra. The black bra was simple with a small line of lace over each cup at the top hiding any cleavage. His mouth watered and he lowered his head kissing along her collar bone. His finger tips caressed lightly up her back to the band in her bra then back down to the waistband of her shorts.

 

"You can take it off...if you want..." Her words were laced with hesitancy. They didn't match what she was feeling inside. The unknown need to bare herself in front of him. Her nipples were hard beneath the padded cotton.

 

"God I want," JC groaned and quickly had her bra undone in seconds. With slight caresses of his fingers down her arms, he had her bra falling to the floor. He bit his bottom lip as need and desire filled him. Her breasts called out to him. Her nipples already tightened to taunt peaks telling him she was turned on. "Can I..." touch. Kiss. Lick. Suck. All of the above?

 

"JC..." Rachel frowned at his words. She pressed her thighs tighter together. A wave of something unexplained rushed through her. "If I was anyone else... If this was anything else... would you ask to do whatever it is you're trying to ask?"

 

JC raised his eyes to look at her. His hands remained on his waist. "No. I wouldn't ask..."

 

"What would you do?" Rachel whispered, her hand trailing up his arm and in to his hair.

 

"Just do..." Her fingers tightened in his arm and he felt the push of her hand bringing his head to her. He licked his lips and followed his words. He reached for her breast with his hand, holding it as he drew the nipple into his mouth.

 

Rachel gasped as the sensations her nipple in his mouth were making. Her hand tightened in his hair, holding him to her breast. Her back arched, her chest protruding, offering herself up to him. Her brain screamed out for more. Her body trembled. Words she remembered from trashy romance novels jumped through her head. Need. Want. Desire. "JC... I..." she closed her eyes with a moan.

 

He loved the nipple. Swirling his tongue around the peak. He sucked on it. Licked over it with a flat tongue, with a firm tongue. Grazed his teeth over it. His fingers worked the meaty flesh. Squeezing and releasing. He worked for the sighs and gasps he was drawing from Rachel. He raised his free hand to her other breast. He drew the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He rolled it between the digits.

 

"Oh God..." She moaned when he switched breasts giving the same attention. Her breasts had never been given attention like this before. "I need..."

 

"What?" JC whispered lifting his head. He groaned seeing her eyes blown wide with lust. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him. Her breasts pressed against his chest. "What do you need?"

 

"I don't... I don't know."

 

JC dipped his head and kissed her again. As their lips moved together, he lowered his hands to the fastening on the front of her shorts. When he lowered the zipper he tugged at the material pulling it over her hips. Once the shorts were over her hips, he let them fall down her legs to pool on the floor at her ankles.

 

Rachel felt a little self conscious standing in front of JC in nothing but a pair of cotton black bikini style panties. She remembered his words about shaving and grew more self conscious. She wasn't shaved down there. She had shaved her bikini line that morning like always but the rest...

 

JC pushed his jeans down his body. His underwear followed. Standing naked, his cock protruding, he stared at Rachel. He ran his eyes up her legs. The black panties that had no right being sexy but they were on her. Up over her stomach to her breasts. The dusty rose nipples calling back to him. He wanted to love on them some more. He wasn't done. He hadn't gotten his fill. Up to her face where her bottom lip was drawn between her teeth again.

 

He went to her and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, smoothing it from her teeth. "Are you okay?" He kept his hand on her face. His other wrapped around her waist, holding her to him.

 

"I'm worried..." Rachel said softly. Her hands on his back. "I'm not shaved. I thought about it but..."

 

"Forget what I said about that." JC told her firmly, cursing himself in the process. "If you want to shave, then you shave. Not because someone wants you to."

 

"But I don't want to turn them off..."

 

JC pressed against her, reminding her of his hardness. "Does it feel like I'm turned off? Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. And if someone makes it a big deal, dump the jerk because he's not worth your time."

 

Rachel smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks JC. Sorry to ruin the mood."

 

"Does it feel like the mood is ruined?" JC pressed against her again.

 

"What happens now?"

 

"Now I'm gonna slip these panties, which have no right to be as sexy as they do, off. I will probably kiss you again before I lay you down on my bed. Where I will definitely kiss you again."

 

In the end there was a lot more kissing before JC got her into his bed. Finally. Completely naked. He kissed her gently, holding himself above her with one arm while his other trailed over her body. He had to keep nudging her to touch him. He didn't hold it against her. In his mind it was because she wasn't used to the feelings inside her body. In a different life, in a different time, he'd take her arms in his and place them above her head telling her to keep them there. Then he would love her body like he so badly wanted to. Needed to. He would show her what it felt like when a man knew what they were doing. He would make her feel things she hadn't felt before. He would bring her crashing down; make her melt in to a puddle before he'd do it all over again until she begged for mercy.

"Can you..." Rachel whispered brokenly against his lips.

 

"What?" JC asked chasing her lips. Their tongues met, moving together as if they had been doing the same movements for years instead of three days.

 

"Maybe this should last longer, but I feel..."

 

"What do you feel?" JC whispered ghosting his lips over her cheek. He rolled one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger again. Her hips rolled up until his. He shivered feeling the sensation of her public hair on his cock.

 

"I don't... I need..." She moaned when JC ducked his head and drew a nipple into his mouth. Her fingers threaded back through his hair. Her other hand roamed down his body. She could just reach the swell of his ass. She pressed her fingers in to it in a kneading motion.

 

JC rolled to his side, bringing Rachel with him. He trapped one of her arms beneath his head. Her free hand roamed and he broke the hold on her nipple when she gripped his cock. "God yes," he hissed and rocked into her hand. "Keep doing that. Stroke me... that's it." He pressed his forehead into her chest and breathed heavily. He trailed a hand up her thigh. The skin soft and smooth.

 

Rachel lifted her leg, crossing her ankle over JC's. It brought her closer to him, but trapped her hand beneath their bodies. There was barely any room for her to get a good rhythm going.

 

JC pulled her leg higher opening her to him. He shifted his hips and moaned when he felt his cock rub against her moist center. "Hold it..." he groaned when she stopped and drew her head back. "Don't stop. Rub my cock against you. Against your pussy..."

 

"What does this..." Rachel groaned. Her eyes fell closed as the hot velvety smooth tip of his penis rubbed over her clit. Her body shivered. She tightened her fingers around his cock.

 

"It sets my nerves on fire that's what it does. So close to being where I want to be yet so far. Feeling how wet you are for me. How much I have you turned on... And it feels pretty good for you," JC pointed out when Rachel's breath caught as she ran his cock against her clit again.

 

He dropped the hold he had on her leg and pulled away from her. Rolling to the opposite side of the bed, he pulled open the drawer on the bedside table and withdrew a condom from the box. Sitting up on his knees he tore the package open and rolled the condom down his cock. Meeting her eyes, he groaned.

 

The picture she made. Laying on his bed. Her hair fanned over his pillow. Kiss swollen lips. Her chest has small red splotches as well as the swell of her breasts. He touched two fingers to his chin where the thin strip of facial hair sat. ‘Beard burn.' He ran his eyes down her stomach to the triangle patch of brown curls that hid her sex from him. Her legs were slightly parted, opening herself to him.

 

JC parted her legs further and settled on his knees between them. Her lower lips opened revealing the dark pinkish skin. It glistened with want. He remembered how it felt when she rubbed his cock along the folds. Reaching out he ran a finger over the folds from her clit to her entrance. Sparing her a glance, he saw her bottom lip back between her teeth. Her eyes closed. "Breath..." he whispered causing her eyes to open and meet his. "And relax..." he fell forward, catching himself on one of his elbows.

 

He kissed her as his finger stroked her most intimate part. Teasing. Not entering her like he wanted. Her hips moved with his touch as if chasing his finger. He broke the kiss so he could watch her face. Palming his dick he stroked it in his hand. Positioning himself against her entrance, he slowly pushed forward. Thoughts of watching her face flew out the window. His eyes shut and he released a long low moan as he sank in to her. She was hot. She was tight. Her insides clenched around him like they would never let go. He pushed forward until his hips met hers. "Jesus," he whispered resting his forehead against hers.

 

Rachel shifted her legs and moaned when he moved deeper inside of her. Her hands gripped his biceps.

 

"Jesus," JC repeated. He pressed his lips to hers, his tongue sweeping inside. Moving his hips slightly drew another hiss from him. A tremor worked through him.

 

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked softly.

 

"Okay?" JC raised his head to look down at her. "Jesus Rachel, okay doesn't even come close to what I'm feeling right now. It feels amazing. You feel amazing. Jesus... so tight around me. So hot." He hissed when he felt her muscles clench around him. "Can I move? Are you okay?"

 

Rachel nodded. "I don't..."

 

JC kissed her, cutting off her words. "Just do what I do. Follow my rhythm." He slowly pulled out, groaning as her muscles clenched around him on his retreat as if they were trying to keep him in. "Lift your hips to meet me..." he groaned as he slid back in. Her hips rising to meet his movements. "You can keep your legs like this. Feet flat on the mattress. It will help you leverage up. You can squeeze your thighs against my hips and wrap your calf around my thighs. You can wrap your legs around my waist...Do one... do all three."

 

JC continued moving in and out of her. His rhythm steady. Slower than he'd ever gone before. He kept the pace easy, wanting her to get the hang of it. She met him on every stroke. Her hips rising up to meet him when he pushed back in. Her legs were spread, keeping herself open for him.

 

Rachel's hands refused to stay still. She didn't know where to touch. Wanted to touch everywhere. They were on his back. On his side. She discovered if she dug her fingers into the swell of his ass, he'd snap his hips forward. Each time he did that, she'd moan as a zing of pleasure raced through her. Her hands moved beneath his arms to his chest. Her fingers running over his nipples.

 

JC ducked his head and kissed her. His lips moved with her as his hips moved faster. Her legs moved to wrap around his thighs. He moaned as the new position caused him to go deeper in her. From there she figured out how to guide his movements with her heels until she was helping him slide back in.

 

Rachel knew this was different than any of the previous partners. It had never felt like this before. Her body felt on fire. Every touch from him shot tiny zaps of desire straight to her core. Even the leg hair on his thigh rubbing against her thigh was pleasurable. His hips slapped against hers and she used to be embarrassed at the sound, but it made it hotter. His breath ghosted across her lips. His mouth was right there, millimeters away from hers. They didn't kiss. They just breathed the same air.

 

"God Rachel," JC groaned as he moved his hips faster. He kissed her neck, nudging her head up to give himself better access. His kisses had lost their finesse. Everything was pooled to his hips; to his dick moving in and out of her.

 

Her legs fell back to the bed. Wider apart, offering more of herself. Her lower lips clenched erratically around him in uncontrollable movements. She placed her feet flat on the bed and let her knees fall open and gasped as pleasure shot through her when his hips slapped against her clit. Her back arched. Her head tilted back. "I don't... what... please..." her worlds tumbled together. She was begging for something she had no idea what. Could it be the elusive orgasm? The one she had never achieved through sex? With just her fingers on her clit in hurried motions beneath the covers of her bed scared that her roommate would come back.

 

"It's okay..." JC whispered. He pressed his chest against hers, his hips still moving in and out of her. One of her arms wrapped around his back. Her other hooked beneath his armpit, her hand clasping his shoulder. He ducked his head intending to kiss her, but she moved her head to kiss his neck. He groaned and arched his neck. Her kisses moved feverishly across his neck. They were about as messy as his had been. He didn't care. He wanted her lips on him.

 

Turning his head he captured her lips again. There was no finesse. It was messy. There was too much tongue. There was no control.

 

"God JC," Rachel moaned and clutched his back. She titled her hips, changing the angle of his penetration and cried out as another jolt of pleasure raced through her. His movements were relentless. Her clit was assaulted with each thrust forward. Everything she had felt from Monday and last night to now, converged. Her mouth parted and she sucked at the air. "JC..."

 

"God yes," JC groaned. "Come Rachel. Let it go. Let me hear you. Don't hide anything..."

 

"Oh," Rachel closed her eyes tightly. She bit her lip as her orgasm swelled inside her. It finally burst forth in a loud moan.

 

"Oh fuck," JC hissed through gritted teeth. Her insides clamped around his cock as tight as he had ever felt. Her legs locked around his thighs. Her body convulsed as she orgasmed and he held her tight. It was all too much for him. He hips slammed in to her twice more before his own orgasm exploded. He came with a moan as his cum filled the condom separating them.

 

He collapsed down on her; his body trembling. His heart raced in his chest, he was afraid it would beat out of his chest. A light sheen of sweat coated their bodies. His breath came out hard as he fought to recover. When he felt he could hold himself, he placed his hands on the bed on either side of Rachel's shoulders and pushed up. He hissed when he felt her clench around him and closed his eyes against the painful pleasure.

 

He stared down at her with a smile on his face, watching as those beautiful green eyes stared back at him. A hint of blush on her cheeks. The smile was slow in growing but he watched her lips hinted at a bashful one. Leaning down he kissed that shy smile.

 

"Is it..." Rachel felt the blush deepen. Sure her cheeks where tomato red. "Is it always like that?"

 

"It should always be like that," JC said brushing hair off her forehead and tucking it behind her ear.

 

"It's never been like that before for me."

 

"Because your partners were idiots." His voice was firm. He wished all her previous partners had been in the room watching. Watching him bring her to a powerful orgasm. Watching as she brought him pleasure unlike no other. Then he could look at them and claim her as his.

 

But she wasn't.

 

His.

 

He had done his part. Done what she had asked him to do. He taught her how to kiss. Taught her how to touch and give a hand job. Taught her how to give a blow job. And with tonight, taught her how to have sex. Their coupling was over.

 

JC withdrew from Rachel, holding his hand at the base of the condom to keep from making a mess and went into the master bathroom. There he threw it in the trash and turned the faucet on to wash up. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. The red mark on his neck where Rachel had gotten a little too spirited. It would probably fade by morning light. He hadn't expected to be here on Monday. Hadn't expected to be tangled up in feelings and emotions. He thought he could teach her what she needed to know and send her on her way. Nothing more than a one night stand.

 

It was too late. He was in too deep. He wanted to go back to his bedroom and start round two. He wanted to pull her under the covers and wrap her in his arms. Hold her in his arms all night long. Wanted to show her what she'd been missing. What steps they had skipped over. But he couldn't. It wasn't what she wanted. He wasn't what she wanted.

 

Rachel felt the coldness immediately when JC pulled away. She could feel the shift in the room. Sitting up she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the chill. Trying to comfort herself. The joy she thought she'd feel after learning how to please a man wasn't there and she didn't now why.

 

She accomplished what she set out to do. She was able to make JC come each of the nights he taught her a different sexual act. It was the information she needed to take back to Mississippi. The information she needed to fix her reputation. It was what she wanted. So why did she feel like she was going through a break up? Why did she want to follow JC into the bathroom and pull him into the shower to clean up? Why did she want to dive under the covers and when he appeared, pull them back allowing him to slide in? Why did she want to snuggle up into his side with her head on his chest and fall asleep? Why did she want to ring his door bell tomorrow night and do everything all over again?

 

Why did she want to stay?

 

"I can't believe you're leaving already." Lance tried to hide a yawn as he loaded Rachel's suitcase in the backseat of his sister's red Pontiac Sunfire.

 

"You didn't have to see me off." Rachel put her toiletries bag in the back seat and pushed the driver's side seat back into position. "You could still be in bed and not see the sunrise."

 

The sky was turning a beautiful mesh of oranges, reds, and pinks as the sun was coming up in the early morning hour. She had at least a ten hour drive time that didn't include bathroom breaks, food stops, and gas. She figured with those stops, she wouldn't be pulling back onto campus until six that night. Twelve hours on the road. Just her and the radio. And when the radio went out, a binder full of CDs. The new Janet Jackson CD was still encased in cellophane just waiting to be opened.

 

"Right," Lance chuckled. "With all the racket you made carrying your crap down the stairs? Did you buy a new suitcase while you were here?"

 

"Couldn't fit all the new clothes I'm taking back." Rachel shrugged.

 

"That's not filled with my boxers for you to auction off is it?" Lance stared at the black suitcase in the backseat. "Maybe I should open it and make sure..." He made a move to fold the seat forward again.

 

"Please," Rachel rolled her eyes and grabbed his bicep. "All your drawers are in your dresser."

 

"If I find a pair on ebay..."

 

Rachel laughed. "I didn't steal your underwear. Nor did I swipe a towel you used to wipe your sweat or take a napkin you wiped your mouth on from the trash."

 

"Swear?" Lance narrowed his eyes at her.

 

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes before holding up her three fingers in the scout salute. "I promise the only thing in my car that remotely has some sort of your DNA is me. At least until Mom and Dad fess up that you were adopted."

 

Lance chuckled. "They won't fess up because it's really you who was adopted. They felt sorry for this ugly baby no one wanted."

 

"Shut up," Rachel laughed and shoved him playfully.

 

"Leave so you'll be out of my hair. Go and get that college education so you can pay me back for all the money I've forked out for you this week."

 

"Just consider it a loan."

 

"I am. I'm charging interest."

 

"Probably have a running tab," Rachel mumbled.

 

"I do." Lance grinned and hugged his sister. "Let me know when you get there okay?"

 

"Yes Dad," Rachel rolled her eyes as she broke the hug and climbed in to her car. Her car wasn't brand new, but it was new to her. Purchased at the beginning of the school year after her old car - a hand me down twice over with over hundred thousand miles - finally waved the white flag and died.

 

Once his sister was in the car, Lance pushed the driver's door closed and watched as she rolled the window down. "You planning on coming with us this summer?"

 

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know." She had planned on jumping on the tour bus with him for a week or two or the whole summer. She hadn't been sure. Now with everything... what happened with JC and her confusing feelings, finding out Justin liked her... she wasn't sure she wanted to tour with them. Felt it would be awkward.

 

"What about transferring to Central Florida?"

 

Again Rachel shrugged. "I don't know yet either. I'll see how the rest of this semester goes."

 

Lance leaned down, placing his hands on the window jam. "I know we didn't really talk about what's going on at school. I know I don't have the same experience, but please try not to let it get to you. The teasing and the jokes... It usually comes from jealously. I bet anyone would trade places with you in a heart beat."

 

"Thanks Lance," Rachel sent him a smile. She knew he meant well, but the teasing didn't come from jealously. Not this time.

 

"Let me know when you get home. Drive save." Lance stepped back from the car and watched as his sister backed from the driveway.

 

With a wave of her arm, Rachel put the car in drive and drove away from her brother's house. Her eyes flickered to the rearview mirror and she shook her head. He was still standing in his driveway watching her. She chuckled softly. She loved him. She'd never tell him and would deny it thoroughly if asked.

 

Stopping at a gas station before the turnpike, Rachel filled up her tank and grabbed snacks for the road. Back in her car she flipped through her binder full of CDs, searching for one she wanted to start off the drive with. There had to be at least 50 in the sleeves. Most were CDs she purchased but there were a lot of ones she had burnt; full of a mixture of songs she loved. Songs ranged from country to pop to hip hop. Faith Hill could give way to Ludacris who could introduce Britney Spears and roll in to Eminem.

 

Settling on the new CD she made last week for her trip to Florida, Rachel slid it into the CD player in the dash. Ford, her sister Stacy's husband, had a friend of his install. The old radio had been ripped out and the CD player installed in its place. It fit perfectly in the dash. She loved the red illuminations it gave in the dark.

 

With the music selected, a drink in the cup holder, and a full tank of gas, Rachel turned on to the turnpike that would lead her north through central Florida on her way to Interstate 75. Tucking her ticket into her sun visor she turned the radio up and relaxed in to the seat. Soon the music faded from her mind as her brain started working.

 

Six more weeks of classes. Six more weeks and her sophomore year of college would be history. Best of all, six more weeks and no more Spanish. The class had been the bane of her existence all year. Eight credit hours needed. Four credit hours each semester. She'd rather take math again. All she wanted to do was take her art classes. Play with her computer. Create designs for drummed up businesses or real businesses. Create web pages.

 

Over one and half semesters and she still couldn't roll her r's. She still mixed up her feminine and masculine words. Her Spanish mid-term had been the hardest one to date and she wasn't looking forward to the final. Could already see the hours she'd put in studying. The all-nighters she would pull.

 

On top of those classes, she had to have her portfolio put together to submit before the beginning of her junior year. That alone made her fraught with worry. The requirements in the application were staggering. Some she already checked off due to the classes she had taken over the last couple of years. Others it was going to take a brainstorming session to come up with creations. If she went on tour with Lance, she could pick the brains of their graphics department. It sort of felt like cheating, giving her a boost over her classmates, having professionals at her disposal.

 

St. Bernard.

 

The nicknames flashed the front of her mind and she thought ‘fuck her classmates.' They haven't given a damn about her both years she'd been in attendance, why would she worry about using what she had access to to her advantage? Two more years and she'd never have to see any of the people she went to college with again. Any of the people who ruined the first two years of her college experience. What was supposed to be a fun time. Full of friends, laughs, parties, vacations... it was supposed to be the time of her life.

 

Instead it was the worst.

 

Transferring colleges was something still on her mind. Touring Central Florida had been fun. She met a lot of different students from admissions to those in the graphics department. Everyone had been warm and welcoming. No one looked at her with malicious intent. There were no whispers behind her back. Smiles had greeted her. Enthusiasm had greeted her. A little shock and awe when some found out she was the sister to Lance Bass. But overall the afternoon spent on the Florida campus had been great.

 

It wasn't Mississippi State. Her dream college. The one she always wanted to go to for as long as she could remember. Her family cheered for the Bulldogs every Saturday. Went to at least one game each season. She dreamed of wearing the grey and maroon. Could she really transfer away from that? Could people really chase her away?

 

Merging on to I-75 North toward Ocala her thoughts shifted once more.

 

JC.

 

When she concocted her plan of asking JC to teach her how to have sex, she hadn't planned on emotions getting in the way. JC was a friend. While she found him attractive, he was still a friend. Sure when she was younger and had met the guys her brother formed a group with, she had a crush. It had only been a crush, nothing more. She had crushed on a lot of people during her elementary and junior high years. Joey MacIntyre. Johnathon Taylor Thomas. Zach Morris. Then there was Brandon Mackey, a boy who rode her bus. A year older than her. Jake Beachy who had been in her seventh grade homeroom and sat right behind her as they sat alphabetically. He would constantly talk about football. The quarterback of the seventh grade team. She thought he was dreamy.

 

From the first night Rachel had felt a stirring of emotions she couldn't pinpoint. Had chalked it up to her body's response of their actions. No guy she had kissed made her feel the way JC did. She felt like he owned her. Her knees had fallen weak. Her breaths stolen. She wanted to spend the night on his couch wrapped in his arms kissing his lips. Hadn't felt that since Corey when they were both learning and figuring out the art of kissing. That had been a learning expedition and while that's exactly what it was with JC, there was something different.

 

Something in the way he'd tuck her hair behind her ear. How he'd blame the guys she had been with instead of her. The way he'd call her honey. Call her beautiful. Say her name in that breathy way that hit her in her core. The way he'd stare at her. Emotions clouding his eyes that she couldn't read.

 

It was ridiculous for her to think what happened this week was anything more than what it was. JC teaching her how to please a man. Just like she asked. No more. No less. JC did not harbor any feelings toward her other than friendship. She hoped they were still friends.

 

Their ‘relationship' ended Wednesday night in his bedroom. When he'd returned from the bathroom, she had been re-dressed and standing nervously in the middle of his room unsure what to do. What to say. She had blushed heavily at his naked body on display. A few minutes later she had been driving back to Lance's. Thursday night she and Lance caught a movie. On Friday there was a small get together at Joey's house. Full of friends and family. She and JC had shared a conversation; albeit slightly stilted. She figured it would be embarrassing and awkward for them. She knew. Which is why she put her plan in to motion over spring break instead of waiting for the summer. A week in Florida and she was back in Mississippi for the next six weeks of classes. It was enough time for any lingering embarrassment to wane.

 

That thinking had been weeks ago. Before emotions had become involved. Before she knew how it felt to kiss JC, to be kissed by JC. How it felt to have his lips on hers, on her neck, on her breasts. She felt a quiver run a path inside her body to her center. She shifted in her seat hoping to alleviate the need.

 

That was a problem as well. Since Wednesday her dreams had been erotic. JC kissing her, sucking on her nipples. Laying her down and licking her center. She always woke up with a mouth full of pillow, wet panties, and unfulfilled desires.

 

Rachel signed and propped her elbow up on the door and rested her head against her fist. She didn't need this in her head on top of everything else. Hopefully the separation would help right her emotions back to how they were before. She'd go back to thinking about JC as just a friend and not someone she wanted to be with. Her emotions were out of whack. Thrown off by having sex. She was seeing things that weren't there. Attaching emotions to events that didn't need to be emotional.

 

When June rolled around everything would be fine.

 

*~*

 

The stage for the PopOdyssey tour had finally been completed. In New Orleans. That meant no more practicing in a rehearsal studio in Orlando. The group boarded a plane and flew to New Orleans where they'd spend the final month practicing at the Superdome. They could get used to dancing on the five story stage which spawned three mini stages. There were lifts that raised them high into the air, an elevator that brought them down. A long runway that went out into the crowd that connected with one of the mini stages. Mechanical bulls. Moving sidewalks. Trampolines. A lot of moving pieces and parts the group needed to practice on and become familiar with before the tour started.

 

The album was finally finished so they could focus on. Last week was spent more in the recording studio and less in rehearsals. Two months after the tour commenced, the album would be released. Their first single, ‘Pop' was debuting in a couple weeks. The music video would be shot in New Orleans and released at the end of the month.

 

Everything was coming together. The album. The single. The music video. The tour. Excitement was building. For the group. For the stage crew. The fans. For everyone.

 

JC could feel the excitement. The anticipation and the eagerness to get back out on the road and perform new songs in front of people. He was proud of the new album; couldn't wait for everyone to hear it. Lived for the demanding schedule that lead up to touring. No one believed them when they said they went on tour to take a break. When the tour started all they had to worry about was the concert that night. Sure they might have random radio interviews or photoshoots, but the number one thing in their lives was that concert that night. Not on tour, their days were filled with studio, writing, recording, rehearsing, wardrobe, interviews, photoshoots, radio spots, TV spots, shooting music videos, creating video sequences. It was exhausting.

 

Exhaustion meant his brain could turn off. Exhaustion meant the only thing on his mind was *NSYNC related. Unfortunately that wasn't the case this time. Right now his mind was split between *NSYNC and Rachel. It wasn't wasted on him by flying to New Orleans he'd be three hours away from her.

 

Three hours or three days, it didn't matter. It didn't mean anything.

 

JC sighed and leaned his head against the side of the airplane staring out the window. The view was a blanket of clouds. Wispy and full. The kind that looked soft enough to stretch out on and relax. There was no relaxing for him. A quick look around the first class section showed him Justin bopping his head to whatever music he had coming out his headphones. Next to Justin, Joey's head was much like his own - laying against the side of the window. His shade was pulled signaling he was more than likely sleeping. Lance and Chris sat in front of him. He had no idea what they were doing.

 

He had no idea why he couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. What they had was over. They didn't even have anything. Not really. They had a few hours for three nights. A few hours didn't make a relationship. Not even close. She wasn't after a relationship. Hell, he wasn't either. After his relationship with Bobbie ended, he wasn't on the market for someone else. Wanted to fly solo for awhile. Enjoy the single life. Heal from the deterioration.

 

Then Rachel showed up with her big green eyes. Her broken self-esteem. Her tears. He hadn't been ready. Hadn't been prepared. Didn't think he had to prepare himself for Lance's little sister. Thought he could get through teaching Rachel the ins and outs of having sex and move on with his day.

 

Boy had he been wrong.

 

If he wasn't dreaming about watching Rachel act out what he taught her with another guy, he was dreaming about her back in his bed. Where he showed her everything he wanted to but didn't. Where he loved her body in the way he wanted to those three nights. Kissing every inch of her skin as he bared it. Feeling the muscles of her stomach quiver beneath his lips as he pressed kisses to it. Feeling the smooth skin of her legs as he ran his lips from ankle to thigh. Smelling the sweet scent of her sex as he'd bare her to him. The tremble of her body when he tasted her the first time...

 

JC shifted in his seat, fighting back his own rising desires. It was bad enough he'd wake with a hand fisting his own dick like he was fourteen again. He pinched the denim of his jeans over his thighs and lifted his hips slightly to pull at the fabric. Staring down he looked at his wrist and the black elastic that still wrapped around it.

 

He'd taken the hair tie off to shower the morning after they had sex. For reasons unknown to him, he put it back on after. Had been putting it back on every day since.

 

Tilting his head back he closed his eyes. JC had been banking on Rachel fading from his mind with each passing day. There was no contact between them even though he'd seen her name lit up on his messenger when he signed in a few times. He hadn't sent her a message. She hadn't sent him one.

 

The easiest way to get her out of his mind, at least he thought so, was to find someone else. Someone else to replace her. Easier said than done. He frequented the clubs with Lance, Chris, Justin, and sometimes on his own. Danced with plenty of women. Each one would take him back to her place at the first indication from him. He hadn't given them one. Hadn't been able to follow through. Kept seeing Rachel in their faces. How the hell was he supposed to combat that?

 

If he wasn't fighting his sexual side, he was fighting with his worry. Rachel hadn't opened up to him fully about what was happening on campus. From the little she told him and connecting what dots he could, he understood the environment she was going back to. He was concerned with how she was daily. If she was ignoring her tormentors. If she was pushing through. If she was sinking further down under their bullying.

 

JC had no way of knowing. Lance hadn't mentioned anything to any of them about problems his sister may have been facing. JC couldn't even ask. He wasn't sure if Rachel even told him what was happening. The last thing he wanted to do was spill the beans. It's not like he or Lance could help. JC fancied sending Lonnie to the Mississippi campus to follow Rachel around. Nothing like a big guy the size of an NFL linebacker to scare anyone off. Enough money and Lonnie would do it. He was certain it wouldn't be appreciated though.

 

The worst was it sounded like she had no group of friends to combat the terrorizers. Someone she could confide in. Someone who could make her forget the mean people. Least when the teasing and ridicule was aimed at him, there were four other guys getting hammered just the same. They had each other. It was easy to laugh with friends. Much hard to laugh on your own.

 

He hoped her plan worked. Hoped she'd already put it in to effect and people were moving on to something else.

 

He hoped her plan hadn't work. Hoped she hadn't put it into motion yet.

 

He'd been nothing but yo-yoing on all of his emotions. Anything that had to do with her, there was what he wanted and an equally loud opposition of what he couldn't. It was maddening. It was confusing. It was tiresome.

 

"What's the schedule look like this week?" Joey asked after the van pulled away from the airport. When they landed, the group was quickly escorted from the airport and in to waiting vans. Two vans had been waiting to catch them, their luggage, and their bodyguards.

 

"Do you not have the print out?" Melinda Bell sighed.

 

"Refresh my memory," Joey grinned, sending a wink in JC's direction.

 

JC rolled his eyes and shook his head. Melinda didn't get paid enough to deal with their daily shenanigans.

 

"Monday and Tuesday you'll be at the Superdome the majority of the days rehearsing. On Wednesday you'll be at the Superdome as well as doing the read on the video shoot which you'll begin on Thursday," Melinda explained. "Which MTV will be on hand for because they're gonna film Making The Video which will launch the premiere."

 

"Awesome."

 

"Everything okay JC?" Melinda asked staring at the man next to her. Lonnie sat in the passenger seat while Joey sat in the back.

 

"Yeah," JC nodded. "Don't have anything scheduled today do we?"

 

Melinda shook her head. "No. You guys are clear today. Figured you guys could use the break. Hit it hard tomorrow." She watched as JC nodded again and turned his attention back out the window. She frowned and met Joey's eyes. She raised her eyebrows in question.

 

Joey shrugged. He didn't know what was bugging JC. He'd been a little despondent for the last couple of weeks. More turned in to himself than usual. Joey did find it weird that after ditching them at the clubs, JC rebounded with gusto. Going out every night. Throwing himself on to the dance floor. If he remembered correctly, he hadn't seen JC leave with anyone. At least not on the nights he was out with him.

 

Traffic to the hotel from the airport had been a nightmare. The vans ended up being separated. JC had been happy to be in the van that arrived first at the hotel. He wanted to get into his room out of prying eyes. The entire ride he could feel both Melinda's and Joey's eyes on him. He spent that time praying they wouldn't pepper him with questions. He'd been thankful Melinda didn't push after her initial one.

 

"Hey man..."

 

JC paused outside his hotel room door; the key card in his hand. He looked over at Joey who had the room next to his.

 

"Everything's good right?" Joey asked, staring at the man who was like a brother to him. They had been through a lot the past six years.

 

"I'm fine Joey."

 

"Cause you know you can talk to me right?" Joey continued. "If something's bothering you. If something's going on?"

 

"Yeah," JC gave him a small smile. Emotion swarmed through him at Joey's words. "Thanks man." Without giving Joey a chance to continue, he opened up his door and went inside. Thankful to be alone, he dropped his bags on the floor and fell face down on the bed. He needed to get himself together. Grabbing a pillow from beneath the comforter, he brought it to him. Circling his arms around it, he laid his head down and closed his eyes. Within minutes he was fast asleep.

 

"I thought you had big plans this summer?" Stacy carefully cut the circular chocolate cake in half. Her movements slow and steady. One cake became two and she set about doing the same to another chocolate cake in preparation for the icing to be applied. Then the cakes would be stacked back on top of each other so she could ice the outside. "Mom said you were gonna hang out with Lance. Something about a school project?"

 

"Yeah, I don't know," Rachel shrugged as she wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist. The kitchen was on the hot side with the ovens constantly running. She flipped the switch on the mixer and watched as the paddle sifted through the ingredients.

 

Classes ended two weeks ago. Summer had been completely welcomed. The last six weeks had been some of the hardest weeks she ever endured in school. Homework had become no joke. Papers had been ridiculous. She spent more time seeing the inside of the library as she studied and researched. Spent a lot of times in study groups preparing for finals.

 

"Something going on?" Stacy spared her sister a look. She was surprised when Rachel came back from college and stayed longer than to drop her things off. Something was going but Stacy couldn't figure out what. Conversations were weird with Rachel hardly talking about what was going on at school outside her classes. Stacy remembered the stories she'd tell when she came home on breaks. Not only the classes but the people. The events. The parties. Trips. She still talked to many of her college friends. A trip was already being planned for the following year with as many of her sorority sisters who could come. There hadn't been a mention of pledging for any sorority. At least none that Stacy could remember.

 

"No," Rachel said quickly. Too quickly judging by Stacy's look. She sighed. "I don't know."

 

Stacy sat the knife down and turned her attention to Rachel. "What's up?" She watched as Rachel fidgeted. "Come on spill, Rach."

 

"Okay..." She stayed silent for a few more minutes trying to work out what she wanted to tell her sister. If she could spill everything or just what she was going through now. "I think I messed up..."

 

"Okay," Stacy said slowly, frowning. There were so many directions she could take Rachel's words. Messed up could mean a multitude of things. "Messed up how?"

 

"I did something really stupid Stace."

 

"It's college Rachel. You're supposed to do stupid things," Stacy teased in an effort to lighten the mood. "I could write a book on the stupid things I did. Some Mom and Dad know about, but the majority they don't and never will. What did you do? Smoke weed? Get drunk? Cheat on a test? Pay someone to write a paper?"

 

"I had sex with JC."

 

Stacy's lips parted in shock. She stared at Rachel, her eyes unblinking. That had not been what she expected. Certainly explained why Rachel wasn't on tour with Lance. "Wow..." she breathed as she fought to pull her brain back on track. The last time she had seen the singer was a few weeks ago. Before embarking on tour Lance had invited everyone down for the weekend.

 

"I didn't expect ... I didn't know..." Rachel sighed and sat down on the stole Stacy used sometimes.

 

Stacy skirted the table and went to her sister. "What happened?" She hadn't be prepared for the story Rachel unleashed. The unrelenting teasing. Going to Lance's for spring break to ask JC to teach her how to have sex. Nope. Stacy hadn't been expecting it at all. "Wow Rachel... I don't even know what to say."

 

Rachel put her elbows on the table and buried her face in her palms. "I thought it would be easy..."

 

Stacy snorted. "Sex is anything but easy."

 

"I thought he'd just teach me and that would be that," Rachel explained. "He was only a friend."

 

"Having sex with friends makes everything complicated Rachel. Becomes messy. Most times you never get that friendship back." Stacy rubbed a comforting hand on Rachel's back. "Did your plan work? Did you take your newfound knowledge back to State and unleash it on some poor unsuspecting small town country boy?" She could only imagine what JC was able to teach her sister. Imagined that JC was well versed in the bedroom not that she had first hand knowledge on any of them. She was quite happy with Ford, her husband. She was smart enough to know the group, her brother included, didn't want for anything when it came to the bedroom.

 

Rachel shook her head.

 

"No?" Stacy asked confused. "What happened?"

 

"I tried. I did. I knew it had to be the right person. Someone who I knew would talk... so when he-he made a joke, instead of ignoring him, I pounced with my offer."

 

"And then?"

 

"I couldn't go through with it." She confessed. "We were in his room on the bed. I had my shirt off. He was kissing me and I... I don't know. I couldn't do it."

 

"Why not?"

 

"It wasn't him..." Rachel whispered, unable to meet Stacy's gaze.

 

"It wasn't... oh," Stacy nodded as the answer became clear. "You kept picturing JC?"

 

"He didn't kiss me the right way. He didn't touch me the same... He felt different. He smelled different..."

 

"Oh Rachel..." Stacy smiled softly.

 

"Oh Rachel what?" Rachel lifted her head to stare at Stacy. "What Stacy? What?"

 

"You like him."

 

"Of course I do. JC's a friend. I like them all."

 

"No," Stacy shook her head. "You like him like him."

 

"No..." Rachel groaned. She folded her arms on the table and put her head down. Stacy couldn't be right. She couldn't like JC in that way.

 

"Sorry Sister... It could only be a crush. A sexual attraction maybe. After spending the week with him he got under your skin. It's probably nothing..."

 

"It doesn't feel like nothing."

 

"What's it feel like?"

 

"Like I'm thirsty but can't get enough to drink." Rachel rubbed her face with her hands before meeting her sister's gaze. "Stacy, I don't know what to do. The teasing is worse because I didn't have sex with Dan. And now JC's on my mind. Constantly. It's driving me crazy. It's not like I can get away from him. Every one is always playing their music. Girls are always talking about them. Guys are always making fun of them. I see his name on my chat."

 

"Is that why you're not with them right now?"

 

"I can't stop thinking about it. I don't even know if I can face him. We haven't even spoken to each other since... since..."

 

"You knocked boots?" Stacy's grin broadened when Rachel groaned.

 

"It was so awkward afterward. I didn't know what to do. What do you do after?"

 

"Well... depends. If you have somewhere do be. Shower. Together preferably." She grinned remembering those moments with her husband when they tested the limits of the water heater. "Most times you cuddle together. I feel closest to Ford after we've made love. Laying together in each other's arms."

 

"We didn't have that kind of relationship to cuddle afterward..."

 

"Did you want to?"

 

Rachel nodded. "I wanted to stay..."

 

Stacy felt sorry for her sister. She looked wrecked. "Did JC want you to stay?" Rachel shrugged in answer. "I think you should find out. Stop hiding out here. Go."

 

*~*

 

"Rachel's on her way up."

 

"I didn't know she was here." Joey sent a weird look to JC when the older man coughed. "She just get here?"

 

Lance nodded. "Yeah. Flew out this morning." He shut his laptop down and stood. Most of the morning had been spent giving interviews. Tomorrow they were stopping by TRL to chat and perform. There was no rush. For the next three days they were in New York. They had three shows at the Giants stadium in New Jersey. "I'm gonna grab a pass from Melinda real quick."

 

"So..." Joey waited until the door latched behind Lance to speak. He turned his attention to JC who was laying diagonally across Lance's bed. His feet hanging off the edge near the top. A pillow clutched in his arms to rest his head on as he watched a movie on Lance's television. Joey leaned against the headboard, one legged crossed in front of him, the other hanging off the bed resting on the bed rail.

 

"So?" JC echoed purposefully not turning to look at Joey. Instead he kept his attention on the TV where Independence Day was playing. Will Smith was doing his best Top Gun imitation as he tried to fight off an alien space craft.

 

Joey rolled his eyes and kicked his leg out, knocking JC in the shoulder. "What was that little cough you did?"

 

"It was a cough Joey. Can't I cough now?" JC wrestled with himself. Rachel was on her way up. She would be coming in to Lance's room. He needed to quickly make the decision to leave or stay. He wanted to stay. He wanted to leave.

 

"Sure. But that wasn't a cough. That was a ‘I swallowed air too quickly because I was surprised at the mention of Rachel' cough."

 

"You're crazy." JC rolled off the bed and stood. He could just as easily watch the movie from his room. Where Joey wouldn't be. Where Rachel wouldn't be. He was only in Lance's room because he didn't want to be alone.

 

"Come on JC," Joey followed JC from Lance's room.

 

"Joey," JC groaned as he opened the door to his room and his bandmate followed him in. "Don't you have something to do? Someone else to annoy?"

 

"Nope." Joey grinned. "Chris and Justin are out. Lance is getting Rachel." He saw JC's steps falter when he mentioned her name. "You're it."

 

"Lucky me." JC muttered.

 

"Yup. Now come on, C." Joey took a seat at the edge of JC's bed. He stared at JC and dropped the teasing tone from his voice. "What's going on? Don't tell me nothing. There's been something going on for awhile now..." his eyes widened as his brain connected two very important pieces. The date when they all noticed a difference in JC and the man's reaction to hearing Rachel's name. "What happened between you and Rachel?"

 

"What? Nothing!" JC snatched the remote from the table next to the bed and turned the TV on. He quickly flipped through the channels.

 

"You can't lie for shit JC. You know that. Come on. Talk to me. What's going on?"

 

JC sighed. His shoulders slumped. He pressed the red button on the remote sending the TV into darkness. "Rachel was having a bad time at school. I helped her out when she was here on spring break..." ‘Helped her out? Is that what you're calling it?'

 

"What problems? Lance never mentioned anything."

 

"I don't think Lance knows."

 

Joey wasn't sure what alerted him, but he had a feeling JC wasn't talking about a regular school problem. "What did you do JC?"

 

"It doesn't matter." JC didn't want to break Rachel's confidence in him. He shouldn't even be telling Joey anything now. This was his issue to work out. He would deal with what he was feeling on his own.

 

"Yes it does. Whatever you did for her is obviously affecting you JC."

 

"I can't tell you Joey," JC turned around to look at his bandmate. "You already tease her enough."

 

"Hey," Joey tossed his hands up. "I just tease her. All in good fun. I don't mean anything by it. She knows that." He stared at JC. His confidence wavered the longer he stared. "She knows that right?"

 

JC sighed and rubbed his head. "I don't know. She was getting teased a lot. So much so that she was thinking about transferring schools."

 

"Whoa," Joey's eyed widened. "Okay. I didn't know that. Lance never said anything."

 

"I don't think Lance knows..."

 

"Okay... so what did you do for her?" Joey gave another sigh when JC didn't answer his question. He stood up from the bed and went to him. "JC, come on man, I'm worried. I know something is bothering you. I just want to help. I can't do that unless you talk to me. I can keep a secret..."

 

JC cocked an eyebrow at Joey.

 

"Important stuff," Joey amended. He did tend to blab when he was drunk. "I promise. I won't tell a soul."

 

JC stared at him a few moments longer before sighing. "Rachel wanted me to teach her how to have sex."

 

Joey's eyes widened. "No," he breathed. "No way. You're busting my balls." He started laughing. "Like I'd believe that." He slapped JC on the shoulder as he laughed. "Teach her how to have sex."

 

"Fine." JC brushed Joey's arm off. He clenched his teeth shut. His jaw ticked. "You can leave now Joey."

 

"JC..." Joey abruptly stopped laughing when JC walked away. His back rigid. His arms straight down at his sides. His hands clenched in to fists. He could feel the tension in the room. "JC wait..."

 

"You said you wanted to help. Obviously not. Just go." JC didn't turn around, just stared out the window over the New York City sky line. Below him, cars rushed by. The sidewalks filled with people.

 

"I do. I just..." Joey closed his eyes and took a breath. "Okay," he said when he opened them. "Tell me now JC. Please." He added when JC remained silent.

 

"The teasing was so bad she was thinking about changing schools. She thought if she learned how to have sex and then had sex with someone on campus, the rumors would stop."

 

"What rumors?" Joey asked.

 

JC didn't answer. He didn't want to embarrass Rachel any more. It was bad enough he told Joey what she asked of him. "I didn't want to... but..."

 

"You did." Joey added and watched as JC nodded. "Wow. Okay. This happen over spring break?" JC nodded again and Joey thought it made sense. JC had been scarce the week Rachel had been in town. He didn't think too much of it. Maybe he should have. "Then what happened?"

 

"Nothing. I taught her. Then she left."

 

"Okay. So basically a no strings affair. Sounds pretty good to me. I don't see the problem here." Joey continued to watch JC. He stood next to him at the window staring at his profile. His lips parted and a sense of knowing washed over him. "Ah," he nodded. "You wanted there to be strings."

 

"No. Yes. Maybe." JC sighed and shrugged before looking at Joey before back out the window. "I don't know."

 

"You definitely wanted something more. If not you wouldn't have let it get to you. It would be a one night stand and you'd move on."

 

"Well she doesn't. She was ready to leave after I flushed the condom."

 

"Ouch," Joey grimaced. "But maybe she didn't know."

 

"What?" JC turned to look at Joey.

 

"Maybe she didn't know what to do? She came to you to teach her... obviously that meant she wasn't experienced. Maybe she didn't know. She thought that's what happened afterward."

 

"Maybe..." JC looked back out the window.

 

"Maybe she didn't know she could have more..." He patted JC on the shoulder. "There's one piece of advice I can give you JC."

 

"What's that?"

 

"Talk to her. Find out if she's hot for teacher." Joey winked and grinned when JC rolled his eyes.

 

"Goodbye Joey."

 

Joey laughed and made his way to the door. "Another piece of advice. Do it before Justin asks her out because you know damn well he'd be all over teaching her everything he knows."

 

"Be a short class," JC quipped.

 

Joey's laughter followed him out into the hall. "What a dumbass..."

 

"Be ready in thirty man."

 

"Yeah." Lance swiped his card and pushed open the door to his room. He slipped off the button up, leaving himself dressed in a wife beater and a pair of jeans.

 

"Please don't take anything else off." Rachel slipped the lanyard holding her hard card over her neck and tossed it down on the table. She rubbed her eyes against the grit. The long day was catching up with her. Her flight left Jackson that morning at six which meant she was up at four. There had been a slight delay leaving Charlotte on her layover. Then there had been traffic from the airport to the hotel. Once she arrived at the hotel, there hadn't been much downtown before everyone had been rounded up to go to the stadium. The only upside - there was no time for her to be alone with JC.

 

Of course that also defeated the purpose of the trip. She needed to talk to JC. Needed to get what she was feeling out in to the open. Find out he didn't feel the same and move on. New York was the perfect opportunity to do so. She had two days. Could talk in the privacy of his room. Once they climbed on the buses to leave, there was no privacy. It was one thing the buses lacked. She couldn't have the conversation with him on the bus. Not where Justin and Chris could overhear. She definitely couldn't ask him on Lance's bus and risk her brother overhearing. It had to be done in New York.

 

Then once the talk was over - once she knew he didn't feel the same - she could put a smile on her face and get their friendship back on track. Where she could use the two man bus as the break she needed and not be near him until she made her heart stop acting like an idiot.

 

"Don't worry," Lance chuckled as he rifled through his bag pulling out a black pair of pants and a grey shirt.

 

"I can't believe you guys are going out. I'm worn out and all I did was sit on my butt in an airplane."

 

"Riding the adrenaline." Lance explained. They were always hyped up after shows. It took them awhile to wind down to be able to sleep. Usually it happened on the buses but since they were in the City for a few days, they were taking advantage of not being cooped up. "What to come?"

 

Rachel snorted. "Yeah right. You know damn well you won't be able to get me in to any of the clubs you're going to."

 

"Just let Justin put his arm around you and kiss your neck. Be his girlfriend for the night. They'll let you in then." Lance grinned as he teased his sister.

 

"That's not even funny." Rachel still wasn't sure what to think of Justin liking her. It weirded her out a little. Every time he talked to her tonight she over thought and tried to look for a hidden meaning. "Do me a favor and find him a girl tonight."

 

"Why do I need to make sure he gets laid?"

 

"Well you sure as hell aren't bringing anyone back here." Rachel smiled at him as she glanced around the room. Her brother's hotel room only held one queen bed. She was sleeping on the couch. She didn't mind. It was probably more comfortable than the bunk on the bus.

 

"If you would have told me you were coming, we could have gotten you your own room."

 

"You can go three days without getting laid. And why are we discussing you having sex?" Rachel gave an involuntary shiver. "Gross."

 

While Lance was in the shower, Rachel changed into maroon sweat pants with the Mississippi State logo on the left thigh and a grey t-shirt. When Lance was finished in the bathroom, she went in to wash her face and brush her teeth.

 

"Are you going to bed?" Lance asked as he pulled on his shoes and slipped in to a black leather jacket.

 

"Yeah."

 

"Lame," Lance teased. "Maybe you should just bunk with JC." He was too busy checking his wallet or else he would have seen Rachel's eyes widen. "He's staying in tonight too."

 

"Yeah," Rachel laughed weakly. "Just shove us lame-o's in the same room."

 

"Then I can get laid tonight." Lance grinned.

 

"Gross." Rachel shook her head. "Go away."

 

"You're kicking me out of my own room?"

 

"Yup," Rachel said as a knock sounded at the door. "There's your date now anyway."

 

Lance left with Joey leaving Rachel alone in the quiet room. Her stomach twisted in knots as she stared at the closed door. JC's room was right across the room. She watched him open the door out of the corner of her eye while Lance opened his door after they arrived back at the hotel.

 

A sigh left her lips and she sat down at the table and opened her brother's laptop. As the computer booted, she told herself she was killing time for everyone to leave. Giving herself a buffer in case someone forgot something and came back up to the floor. She wasn't a chicken. No way.

 

Browsing the internet had taken well over an hour. So maybe she was a chicken.

 

"Come on," she told herself as she closed out of a fan made *NSYNC site. "This isn't any worse than asking him to teach you how to give a blow job."

 

Faced with the conversation before her, Rachel knew spring break had been the easy part. There she just had to ask a guy to have sex. Now she had to ask a guy about his feelings. Even with her limited knowledge of relationships, she knew guys hated talking about their feelings. Avoided it as much as possible.

 

Rachel stared at the messenger window. JC's name was greyed out. Either he wasn't online or he was hiding. Drumming her fingers on the desk she wrestled with the decision to send a message. If she caught him hiding, she could ask to come over or ask him to come over. If he wasn't online, she could get everything off her chest using the screen as a shield. Say what she needed to say and then shut it down. Then she would just have to wait for him to respond. Who knows when that would be?

 

She groaned and turned the computer off. She was getting nowhere. Stacy told her she was an idiot in the first place for coming up with the plan. Rachel knew that now. There was no going back and fixing it. What's done was done. The only thing left for her to do was find out if JC was interested in anything more.

 

Slipping her feet into a pair of flip flops, she swiped the remaining key card from the table and went to the door. Determined she opened the door and marched across the hall and without hesitation knocked on the door in front of her. It was only then did her stomach start rolling. A part of her prayed he had changed his mind and went out with everyone else. Another part prayed he was already sleeping and didn't hear the knock.

 

Neither was correct.

 

"Rachel." JC had been in the middle of beating himself up. On the computer he jolted seeing Rachel's name pop up in the lower right hand corner signaling she was online. He wrestled with showing himself online in hopes she would message him. Hoped she would send him a message asking if he was there. It wouldn't be uncommon. They all hid themselves online often. When he finally talked himself to sending her a message, she had logged off.

 

"Hi," Rachel gave him a small smile. It was all she could muster. It probably looked more like a grimace than anything. She tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. He was dressed much like she was. Sweatpants and a t-shirt. The ever present Leo necklace hung around his neck. A black bracelet around his wrist. Her eyes dropped from his face to the floor. His feet were bare.

 

It was like that day in April all over again. JC could see the nervousness from Lance's sister. Unlike April, he had them too. What did Rachel want? Did she want more lessons? Did she come to tell him how his lessons hadn't worked? Or worse. How much they had? He swallowed roughly. "Come in." He took a step back and opened the door wider. Even though no one else was on the floor, they didn't need to have a conversation in his doorway.

 

"You guys were great tonight," Rachel started. The show was an easy topic. Safe. "It's almost like No Strings on steroids. Whose idea were the mechanical bulls?"

 

JC laughed as he shut the door and followed Rachel into his room. "I don't remember, but once the idea was out there we all jumped on it."

 

"Of course. Mechanical bulls, toys, trampolines, water guns... you guys are like overgrown kids."

 

JC grinned. "If we don't make it fun it starts to feel like work."

 

"We wouldn't want that."

 

"Exactly." JC found himself smiling along with her. Warmth flowed through him at her smile. He wanted to reach out and pull her to him. Wanted to run his fingers through her hair. Kiss her lips. He craved her. His cock stirred in his sweat pants. She was beautiful standing before him in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her hair down. Make up free. Cute. The college co-ed. He wondered if she looked like this often in her dorm room. If she ever went to class dressed exactly like she was because of oversleeping. He found himself wanting to ask. Wanting to learn more about her. "Do you want a drink?"

 

Rachel shook her head. JC's room was a carbon copy of Lance's. His laptop was sitting on the table. The lid still open. She wondered if she was right. If he was signed in to chat but hidden. The chair was pushed away like he'd be sitting there before she knocked. A black soft case binder, unzipped, sat next to a grey Discman. A pile of dirty clothes sat next to the opened suitcase on the rack. The clothes in the suitcase no longer neatly folded, but had the rifled through look. The bed was still made. Only the pillows were displaced. She imagined he had taken a nap at some point since arriving at the hotel.

 

She didn't know if she should sit or stay standing. The only places to sit were the vacant chair at the table and the bed. She stared at the bed. Images popped up in her head from the last time she and JC were near a bed. How they kissed. How they undressed each other.

 

JC stifled a groan as he watched emotions flash across Rachel's face as she stared at the bed. The open want nearly buckled his knees. If sex was what Rachel wanted he didn't think he was strong enough to say no. Not when he wanted her as much as he did. Maybe three days wasn't enough. Maybe she needed more practice. He would gladly volunteer.

 

"I went back to school and put my plan into action."

 

JC started at Rachel's words. They brought him out of his own images in his head of him and Rachel together all summer. A lot of time for him to teach her everything. Her words penetrated and dread filled him. She had sex with a classmate. An undeserving jerk who went back to his frat and blabbed. His jaw ticked as he ground his teeth together. A wave of hurt ran through him which he had no business - no right - to feel. Rachel didn't lie to him. She didn't cheat on him. She had been up front with her plans. "Did it... did it work?"

 

Rachel shook her head and finally met his eyes. She was taken back by the emotions on his face. "No... but it was my fault."

 

"Bullshit," JC said vehemently feeling his anger rise. "Bullshit. It's not your fault. No. I taught you what you're supposed to do. You knew how... you did great. You were... Jesus Rachel..." The words came to his mind too quickly to spit them out in a reasonable order. "You were amazing. I don't even like getting hand jobs from women, but I want you to do it again."

 

Rachel eyes widened. Her face grew red. "JC..."

 

"Whatever happened with that dipshit was not your fault. He didn't know how lucky he was... My God Rachel... each night it took everything I had to not fall to my knees and beg. You lit me on fire. I haven't felt that way in a long time. Turned on by just a touch. There was so much I wanted to do..."

 

Rachel stared in shock as JC's words trailed off. She was taken back by his quick jump to her defense. Shocked to find out how much she affected him. "JC--"

 

"What happened?" JC cut her off. His mind was running a mile a minute. He could teach her more. They could go back over everything. This time he'd do better. He obviously messed up somewhere. He would try not to get caught up in the feelings and emotions. He'd try to turn that side of his brain off. He had the whole summer to work with. There would be other hotels in the future with rooms to offer privacy. More time and more opportunities to teach would get her more confident. She could go back to school and knock it out of the park."

 

"I changed my mind. I stopped him."

"What?" JC shook his head, sure he heard wrong.

"I stopped him." Rachel repeated.

 

"What did he do?" JC's emotions quickly flipped again; fast enough to get whiplash. Why would Rachel stop something she clearly wanted? A flash of anger shot through him when he thought of reasons she would stop. If some creep hurt her...

 

"I think..." Rachel started before faltering. "He wasn't you."

 

"What?" JC stilled.

 

"Everything was... okay I guess. We were in his room on the bed."

 

Jealousy built.

 

"My shirt was off. We were kissing and I just..." Rachel gave a soft sigh. Her eyes dropped to the carpet. Another set of feet came in to view as JC moved closer. Raising her head she met his blue eyes. They were filled with questions. "I don't know. I just... I wasn't in to it. Every time he kissed me I would think of how it felt when you did. When you did I couldn't think at all. When he did I-I was arranging a homework assignment in my head." She raised a hand and cupped the side of her neck. Her fingers caressing the spot behind her ear.

 

JC eyes followed her movements. Her fingers hidden beneath her hair. Knew she was touching the skin behind her ear. Awareness zinged through him. His cock stirred once again.

 

"He wouldn't kiss me here. Not like you did. I wanted him too. I wanted to feel it again..." She closed her eyes when JC's hand covered hers on her neck. "I didn't want him..." she whispered and opened her eyes. JC was only inches away. Their breaths mingled. "I wanted you," she confessed.

 

No words were necessary. JC tightened his hand over hers and lowered his head. Their lips met and he felt it in every part of his body. He closed the distance between them pulling her against his body. Nerve endings fired and a shiver made its way through his body when her hands touched his waist.

 

Rachel surprised herself by making the first move. Her hands curled into his shirt as she opened her mouth. Her tongue ran along his bottom lip. His fingers tightened on her neck. His mouth opened and when their tongues touched, she emitted a moan. This was what was missing with Dan. The fire building inside her. Words flew from her mind. Her tongue stroked his. Her hands tightened in his shirt as she explored his mouth; searching, stroking, tasting.

 

When the kiss ended, Rachel breathed heavily. She raised her eyes to meet his before dropping them again. His lips millimeters away. "I wanted to stay..." she whispered. She dropped her hands from his waist and stepped away. "I messed up. Was so stupid. I thought it would be easy." She turned from JC and started pacing. "Go to Florida, ask you to teach me. It would be mutually beneficial for both of us. I'd learn and you'd get off. What man doesn't like that? It would be wham bam thank you and I'd be back on campus. Put those damn rumors...the teasing... put it all behind me and actually be able to enjoy college for once."

 

JC opened his mouth to interrupt but Rachel barreled ahead. He sat down on the foot of the bed. Waiting. Listening. He kept his emotions tapered down, didn't want to let them go too early. It all sounded like the road he was traveling on when it came to Rachel was the same one she was traveling on. He just had to wait. Had to be sure. Didn't want there to be a detour that would leave him crashing and burning.

 

But that kiss though...

 

"Why would it go like it was supposed to go?" Rachel continued, oblivious to JC having a seat. "It was sort of a one night stand. Between friends. But I can't get you off my mind. Do you know how annoying that is?"

 

JC wouldn't call it annoying. Maybe only slightly. But he got where Rachel was going. She was constantly on his mind. He ran his thumb over his wrist where the black hair tie still sat. Close to two months later, he still hadn't taken it off. He was certain Rachel hadn't noticed. If she hadn't didn't make the connection.

 

"It's not like I can get away from you. I basically live in the middle of your demographic. If that's not the worst, you're there when I close my eyes. God..." Rachel groaned and rubbed her face. "You're there and I'm there and we're.... I don't even know what this all means. Is my heart being stupid? Is it making something about of nothing? Maybe I'm stupid and latching on because you're probably the one guy who doesn't make fun of me. I don't know..." She sighed and finally stopped pacing. "I just know one thing."

 

"What's that?" JC asked softly.

 

"I wanted to stay." Rachel turned around and forced herself to meet his gaze. "After... I wanted to stay."

 

JC heart jumped in his chest at her words. How many times had he wished she had stayed? That he had crawled back into his bed and pulled her into his arms. How many times did the scenario play out in his dreams where he woke her up in the middle of the night to make love to her again? "I wanted that too."

 

"What?"

 

Rachel looked so shocked at his words, he couldn't help but smile. Leaning forward he was able to grab her hand and pull her to him. He tilted his head up to look at her from his seated position. Her pupils were blown wide in a bewildered shock. He imagined his were no better. "I wanted you to stay that night too."

 

"So you..."

 

"I don't know what's happening either," JC told her truthfully. He held both her hands in his. She stood between his legs. He lightly pressed his knees against her legs. "I didn't expect any of this." He raised one of their joined hands. "I can't even take this off."

 

Rachel's eyes dropped to their hands. The black bracelet she had noticed earlier was not a bracelet like she assumed. Maneuvering her hand until her hand held his, she lifted them closer. JC had a hair tie around his wrist. She frowned, confused. "I don't understand."

 

"It's yours. I took your hair down that night..."

 

Rachel's eyes widened in understanding. She hadn't even remembered her hair had been pulled back. She adjusted her grip again until her thumb caressed over the hair tie. "So what do we do?"

 

JC smiled. "We see where this takes us."

 

"This won't cause an issue with anyone will it?"

 

"No," JC shook his head. If it did, they'd have to get over it.

 

"What about Justin? He apparently likes me..."

 

"Guess he should have made a move sooner."

 

Rachel laughed. "Like you?"

 

"Fairly certain you made a move on me." JC grinned. "A very direct approach asking me to have sex with you."

 

Rachel moved further between his legs. After dropping his hands, she cupped his face. She felt his hands immediately on her hips. Leaning down she kissed him. Her lips brushed against his once...twice... before settling upon them. Their lips moved together, opening and closing.

 

JC ran his hands down Rachel's legs. At the backs of her knees he applied a little pressure, pulling her forward until she was kneeling on the bed. Once she was situated in his lap, he ran his hands up over her back as he deepened the kiss. His mouth opened beneath hers. This time his tongue moved to her mouth to explore and familiarize himself. He laid back on the bed, bringing her with him as he plundered her mouth. His hands dipped below her t-shirt to warm skin. Her body trembled in his hold. He wanted.

 

In a quick move, he reversed their positions. She laying on the bed, he over her. He kissed her lips once more before moving to her ear. Before he could even press his lips against the sweet soft skin behind her ear, he felt her shiver in anticipation. He smiled against her skin and ran his nose over the spot in a tease.

 

"JC," Rachel whispered, her voice low. Needy. She lay on her back on his bed. Her knees bent on either side of his hips. She clenched her thighs to his hips, her hands drawing up his shirt until she could touch skin. His cock was hard against her center and she rolled her hips up. Pleasure shot through her when JC stopped teasing and sucked. Her hips pressed hard against him. Heat pooled deep in her core.

 

JC raised his head and stared down at her. Her lips reddened from his kisses. Her breathing hitched. Her pupils blown wide with lust and need. While he enjoyed those three days during spring break, he was going to enjoy tonight so much more. "I was remiss in my teaching..."

 

"Oh?" Rachel tried to pay attention to his words but his lips where moving on her neck. One of his hands dipped beneath her shirt and left teasing touches on her quivering belly.

 

"I didn't teach you how a man was supposed to love your body."

 

"Oh..." Rachel moaned when JC's fingers found her nipple through the bra. Her hips arched into his again. She turned her head, baring her neck.

 

"I'm going to love every inch of your body," JC whispered. His breath tickled her skin. Goosebumps broke out on her arms. "Discovering more of those hot spots that make you clench around me." He pressed a kiss back to that spot behind her ear and was rewarded with her thighs squeezing his hips. "It was so hard holding back. I wanted to touch you. Show you what it's truly like..."

 

"It can't be better than what we did."

 

"Oh honey, what I'm going to show you won't compare..."

 

"Show me.

 

JC's grin was almost predator like and he captured her lips with his.

 

Class in session.