„What did you do, hm?“ Justin blamed Eve half seriously. 

„Mateo made me drunk.“

Justin looked at Mateo, realizing he was not able to speak.

„Are you okay?“ He asked him. 

Mateo shook his head. 

„Matty, come on. Say hi to JT.“ Eve teased. 

„Hi…“ Mateo whispered.

Justin smiled again. 

„It’s nice to meet you, Mat.“ 

Mat just nodded, still not being able to speak. Justin looked at Eve now.

„Ready to go home?“

„Nope.“ She replied. 

„Why not?“

„I’m not going home tonight.“

„M… come on… no drama, okay?“ 

„You can bring me to Lucy instead.“ She negotiated. 

„Why?“ 

„Because I say so.“ 

Justin smiled again. 

„Fine. I bring you to Lucy. Can we go now?“ 

Eve nodded and turned into Mateo’s direction. 

„Are you really okay?“

„Mhm…“

„Good night, Matty. It was fun.“ 

Eve hugged him tight and he responded. 

„Good night, Mat.“ Justin said. 

Mateo nodded, still processing the whole situation. 

Justin took Eve’s hand and pulled her to the exit. Mateo waved them goodbye. Josh hid his face behind the magazine again, trying hard to understand why Justin showed up to pick her up. 

„Troublemaker.“ Justin teased her, while passing Josh.

Then he put his arm around her shoulder as she was lurching. 

„007?“ Eve slurred. 

„Yes?“

„Why the hell you smell so good?“ 

Justin smiled all over his face. 

„It’s my sweat.“ He boasted. 

„Then you should sell your sweat in perfume bottles.“ 

Justin laughed. Both left the lobby in the next second. Josh put the magazine aside and left as well with distance.

Justin’s car was parking in front of the entrance. He opened the passenger door for Eve and helped her sitting inside. Then he entered the car as well and started the engine. 

Josh saw a taxi standing at the street and jumped inside.

„Follow the white jeep.“ He said to the driver. 

„M… tell me what happened with C…“ Justin asked carefully on their way to the Hills. 

„I think you should explain to me what’s his fucking problem with the reunion.“ Eve replied. 

Justin looked at her, thinking about what to say, without saying too much. 

„Look… we’ve been pushing him hard to say yes to this. And now he completely locked himself up concerning that topic.“ 

„But why he doesn’t want it? It makes no sense to me, T.“ 

„He has his reasons.“ 

„Which reasons?“

Justin sighed. 

„You should talk to him about this.“

„But he’s not giving me any answers.“

„Eve, I know it’s frustrating. But if you push him, you’ll make things worse.“

Eve was drunk but she just noticed that they weren’t on their way to Santa Monica. 

„T… you missed the exit!“

„Did I?“ He replied, smiling innocently. 

She gave him an angry look. 

„You said you bring me to Lucy!“

„I lied.“

„Why?“

„To avoid a discussion with you.“ 

Eve rolled her eyes. 

„You’re not trustable.“ She pouted. 

„Come on. Don’t be mad at me. He’s my bestie… I just want you to be good again…“ 

Eve didn’t respond.

Justin had a bad conscience and thought about how to cheer her up again. He took his phone and scrolled through his playlists. Then he started I want you back at full volume. 

„You’re all I ever wanted, you’re all I ever needed…“ 

Eve tried hard to stop herself from smiling. But it was completely hopeless. She looked at Justin and grinned all over her face. 

„It’s hard to say I’m sorry. It’s hard to make the things I did undone, a lesson I’ve learned for sure…“ Justin sang along.

Eve laughed hard and then started singing as well. 

„So don’t hang on the phone now, I’m trying to figure out just to what to do, I’m going crazy without you…“ 

Both completely freaked out singing the song together and continued with further *NSYNC classics. 

In the meanwhile they arrived at Josh’s house. Justin stopped in front of the gate, entered the code and drove at the property. Then he parked his jeep. 

„You know what. We don’t need C. You can easily replace him in the band.“ Justin joked, while turning the music down. 

„Right? I knew I was gifted. Let’s go for it!“ Eve replied, still smiling all over her face. 

She opened her door in the same moment, but completely forgot that she was sitting in a Jeep, which was much higher than a regular car. She didn’t watch her step and fell out of the car. 

„SHIIIIIIT…!“ She screamed. 

„Oh fuck!!!“ Justin replied. 

Hastily he exited the car and saw Eve lying at the ground. 

„Are you okay?“ He asked concerned and knelt down in front of her. 

„I hurt my left foot.“ Eve complained. 

„Come on, I help you getting up.“ Justin said and grabbed her waist carefully.

„Can you walk?“ 

„I guess.“ Eve said and tried to tread. 

But her foot hurt badly and she lost balance. Justin still held her and kept her from falling. 

„Jeeeeez! Why always something stupid happen to one of us when we’re together?“ She complained. 

Justin chuckled. 

„I have no idea. But that’s a very good question.“

They walked to the front door slowly. Justin took her key to open up. Then he continued helping her to walk into the kitchen. He switched on the light and then grabbed her waist to make her sit at the kitchen counter. 

Both looked at her foot. Carefully Justin removed her heel. Eve was watching him. 

„Can you move it?“ He asked.

Eve moved her foot in circles slowly. 

„I can.“ 

„Looks like you just sprained it.“ He said and went to the freezer. 

He found a cooling pack and returned to the kitchen island. Then he took her foot and placed the cooling pack on it.

„Better?“ He asked, looking at her now. 

Eve nodded and smiled. 

„Thank you, T.“

„My pleasure.“

„You’re sweet.“

He raised an eyebrow, smiling back at her.

„What exactly are you trying to say?“

Eve bit her lower lip, still grinning. 

„Nothing.“

„Nothing?“

Innocently she shrugged her shoulders.

„You’re sweet as well.“ He replied, giving her a wink. 

„Are you flirting with me, 007?“

„Wow… finally you noticed…“ He teased.

„What that supposed to mean?“

„Usually you don’t get it when I flirt with you. Very obviously you need to be drunk to realize that.“ He continued teasing. 

„You did before? When?“ She asked surprised. 

„Always.“

„Always?“ 

„Ya, always… but you’re a hopeless case, so… never mind.“ He joked. 

She smiled even brighter now. 

„Did you ever think about it, that you might be really shitty in flirting if I didn’t notice?“ She teased him back.

He gave her an outraged look. 

„My flirting skills are fine.“

„Says who?“

Justin suddenly gave her a deep look and came closer. Eve immediately turned nervous.

„Oh shit. What now…?“ She thought. 

Then he grabbed her knees and pushed his body between her thighs slowly. She let it happen while her heart beat out of control. He raised one hand to remove some hair out of her face. His touch immediately gave her a deep shiver. Then he moved his face close to her left ear.

„I like you a little more than I should. So you better stop provoking me.“ He whispered temptingly.

Eve felt like passing out any second. Her breath was suddenly deep and her palms turned sweaty. Justin was still dangerously close. He looked into her eyes now and smiled very dirty. Then he put the cooling pack into her hand. 

„I guess you need more of those now, hm?“ He said naughty and gave her another wink. 

Eve stared at him, not being able to respond. 

„So, what now, Eve? You want me to bring you into bed?“ 

„What the fuck is happening here???“ She was thinking, still feeling his warm breath on her skin. 

„Justin…“ She stammered, not knowing how to react.“

Once again he smiled dirty.

„You still think I can’t flirt?“

Eve shook her head very slowly. 

Justin smiled again. Then his sexy mood suddenly changed.

„Okay. I’m happy we clarified that.“

He turned around, standing with his back into her direction now. 

„Come on, M. I’ll give you a piggyback ride upstairs.“ He encouraged her to climb onto his back. 

Eve was still sorting her mind while putting her arms around his neck. He grabbed her thighs in the next moment and went with her out of the kitchen. 

Suddenly they noticed Josh. He was standing in the hallway and watching them from distance. Justin immediately stopped and stared at him. Eve did the same. Both asked themselves how much Josh has seen.