“Justin!”

A quiet voice disrupted his sleep the next morning and he grunted, moving his head to the side.

“Justin, you have to get up. You slept through your alarm and we have to go in half an hour.”

“What time is it?” he mumbled.

“Seven.”

He groaned. “Shit.” He squinted his eyes open and saw Brenna standing there. “Where’s Trace?”

“He had early classes today. He’s gone already.”

Justin rubbed his eyes as he rolled over and threw back the blankets over him. He sat up and dropped his head into his hands, yawning. “What do I have to do today?”

“Meeting and then you have an appointment with your lawyer.”

“I wanted to get the oil changed in my Escalade. Dan you see if they can do that today?”

“Where?”

“Mike’s Repairs. I have the number somewhere in my wallet.”

“Just an oil change?”

“Oil and a check over.”

“Okay.”

He got up and stretched as he went over to his closet to find something to wear. He and Brenna were out of the door by seven thirty and he spent the next three hours in meetings with Johnny Wright and his lawyer. After leaving the law office, he dropped off his car at Mike’s Repairs and then he and Brenna walked across the street to a restaurant to get lunch.

“Did you say you were going to a part tonight?” he asked as they sat at a table, waiting for their food.

“Yeah. One of Drew’s friends is having it.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. He never said.”

“Is Kate going?”

“Yeah. She called last night and said she was going to come over to the house this afternoon and we could just go together.”

“Be careful, okay? Some parties out here can get a little out of hand.”

She smiled a bit. “I will be.”

He smiled himself, knowing he sounded like a concerned parent. He couldn’t help it though. Brenna didn’t understand LA life yet and he didn’t want her to do anything that she’d later regret.

Their food arrived before he could say anything else and after eating and talking for the next hour, they went back to the autoshop and he picked up his car.

It was close to one in the afternoon by time they arrived back at his house and Trace’s car, along with Kate’s, were in the driveway. Brenna went upstairs to change clothes and he went to the kitchen where he found his friends.

“What took you guys so long?” Trace asked as Justin came into the room.

“Took my car in to get an oil change and then we went for lunch. When did you get done classes?”

“Twelve.”

“Where’s Brenna?” Kate asked, pulling her head form the fridge.

“Upstairs changing. Kate, wanna make me a sandwich”

She snorted. “No. Didn’t you just say you went out for lunch?”

‘Yeah, but I’m still kind of hungry.”

“Make it yourself. I’m not your mother.”

He looked over at Brenna as she came into the kitchen. “Bren, can you make me a sandwich?”

“We just ate.”

“I’m still hungry.”

“Don’t do it, Bren,” Kate said. “He can make his own sandwich.”

Brenna looked from him to Kate. “What kind do you want?” she finally asked, causing Kate to sigh. He shot Kate a triumphant look and then turned back to Brenna.

“Turkey. Thanks, Bren.”

“Uh huh. Do you want anything?” she asked Trace and Kate. Kate shook her head but Trace nodded.

“Turkey too.”

Justin leaned against the counter and watched Brenna make his sandwich. Kate began to talk about the party and he noticed Brenna blanch a bit at the mention of dancing.

“Kate, I can’t dance,” she said, putting the lid on the jar of mayonnaise.

Kate’s eyes lit up. “I can teach you! Finish that and then I’ll teach you.”

Brenna seemed unsure but after a bit more convincing from Kate, she finally relented. She put the two sandwiches on plates and then Kate dragged her out to the backyard. Justin locked eyes with Trace.

“This I gotta see,” he said, picking up his plate. Trace laughed and grabbed his own sandwich and they went outside. Kate had Brenna out in the middle of the yard and Justin sat down at the patio table, facing them. Kate left Brenna standing there and ran back into the house, returning a minute later with a small portable stereo.

“Man, she’s gonna corrupt Brenna,” Trace said as they watched Kate join Brenna again. “You’ve seen how she dances.”

“Yeah, I know.” He and Trace sat and ate silently, watching the girls. After about fifteen minutes, Kate had Brenna more coordinated to the music coming from the stereo.

“Is it wrong that I’m totally aroused by watching them?” Justin asked as he stared at Kate dancing with Brenna.

“Hell no,” Trace replied. “This is hot.”

Justin leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs as he watched the girls, finding it hard to believe that the same shy girl he had brought from Shelby Forest was now dirty dancing with his stylist. Kate was definitely having her influence on Brenna.

The music stopped abruptly and he focused his eyes on Kate.

“One of you guys has to come help me!” she called over to them.

Trace looked over and grinned at Justin. Justin laughed and they both got and began walking across the yard.

“Bren, here’s life tip,” Kate said as they joined the girls. “Dance with a girl and you can get any guy to do anything.” She grabbed Justin’s hand and pulled him over to her. With her toe, she hit the play button and the music started again. “Show us your moves, J,” she said.

He laughed and put his hand son her waist, pulling her close to him. He danced with her pretty innocently for the rest of the song. After it had ended she pulled away.

“Now you dance with him, Bren. I’ll go with Trace. He looks lonely.”

Brenna’s cheeks were red as she came over to him. He smiled at her.

“Relax. I won’t molest you.”

She smiled a bit and seemed to relax as he rested his hands on her waist. She was a bit stiff at first but eventually she loosened up and he realized she wasn’t that bad of a dancer. She had some rhythm deep inside of her, just didn’t know how to use it.

“Hey, you can dance,” he said as he moved one hand from her waist to her lower back.

“Not like Kate.”

He looked over Brenna’s shoulder to see Kate grinding on Trace. “That’s not entirely a bad thing.”

She looked behind her at Trace and Kate and blushed. “Oh my gosh,” she mumbled, turning her head back to face him.

He laughed. “She’s a free spirit.”

“She has a boyfriend,” Brenna replied.

“They’re just dancing.”

She glanced over her should again quickly. “But-”

He began to laugh. “Damn, Bren. You’re so innocent.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s not a bad thing. It’s refreshing.” He grabbed her hand and spun her in a circle. “See, Bren, this is classy dancing. Now, you can dance like that,” he said, gesturing over to Kate and Trace who were laughing as their dancing was getting more and more trashy, “or you can take some lessons from me.”

“You think highly of yourself,” she smiled.

“I’m allowed to cause I’m good at dancing,” he retorted. Before she could reply, he put his one arm behind her back and dipped her down, close to the ground. She gasped in surprised, her eyes wide.

“Don’t drop me!”

He laughed and pulled her back up to a standing position. “I’d never drop you, Bren.”

“Aww, look at Justin trying to seduce Brenna.”

He turned to see Kate standing beside Trace, smirking at him. “Just trying to teach her some nice dancing instead of how to hump Trace’s leg like you were.”

“Hun, don’t get me started on your dancing. I’ve seen you at clubs and you’ve never had any issues with a girl humping your leg. Remember Samantha? You sure seemed to enjoy her dancing. Enjoyed it enough to get mono from it.”

He made a face at her and flipped her off. She began to laugh.

“Ooooh, we’ve got the king of comebacks over here!”

Brenna groaned and ran her hands through her hair. “Are you two really going to start going at it again?”

“Nope, we don’t have time for that,” Kate said. “Let’s go get ready for tonight. I wanna curl your hair.”

Justin shook his head as Kate pulled Brenna toward the house. “What do you wanna do tonight?” he asked, turning to Trace.

“Man, I’m so tired from getting up at six this morning. I just wanna hang out here.”

“Yeah, good idea. I’m tired too. Wanna order in some food later?”

“Yeah. You don’t’ think we can convince Brenna to cook for us?”

“Doubtful for tonight. I’ll butter her up for tomorrow night. Maybe she’ll make barbeque or something.” Justin began to walk towards the small basketball court in the side of the yard. He picked up the basketball and bounced it a few times and then shot it at the basket. Trace joined him a moment later and they spent the next hour playing.

* * *

Justin yawned and scratched the back of his neck as he went towards the front door. Fro his bedroom he had seen Kate’s car pull into the driveway and decided to go meet her downstairs. He could hear noise coming from outside and unlocked the door. His eyebrows went up when he opened the door and saw Kate standing there and Brenna leaning against her.

“Thanks, Justin. I wasn’t sure how I was gonna get the code in with Brenna hanging off me.”

His eyes moved to Brenna. “Is she…?”

“Drunk? Oh yeah. Off her ass. Damn, Justin. I thought I was a lightweight but she was tipsy after a beer.”

“I can hear you perfectly, Kate,” Brenna spoke up and Justin smiled at how slurred her speech was. “I’m not a lightweight.”

Kate smirked. “Oh, okay, Bren. You’re not a lightweight.”

“Where’s Drew?” he asked.

“He was drunk too so Tyler took him back to his apartment. Him and Brenna are equal lightweights.”

“Did you just call me a lightweight again?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “No, Bren. Here, Justin. I need to go home. Take her.”

He quickly grabbed Brenna and Kate thrust her forward and steadied her by putting an arm around her waist.

“See you later, Justin,” Kate said.

“Yeah, bye.” He shifted a bit, shutting the door and trying to balance Brenna at the same time.

“Justin…” she whined.

“Yeah, Bren?” he asked, looking down at her.

“The room’s spinning, right?”

He smiled. “No, that’s just you, Bren.”

“I think I might be drunk.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” He started to guide her to the kitchen, figuring it would benefit her in the morning if she got some water in her system.

“Drew said I was a very very good dancer and I told him you taught me.”

He let go of her and went to a cupboard and pulled out a glass. He filled it with water and then went back over to her. “Oh yeah?” he asked, handing her the glass.

“Yeah. I danced with Drew and then I danced with Kate and then I danced with Drew.” She raised the glass to her mouth. She began to sway a little when she took her hand off the counter and he put both his hands on her shoulders to stead her. He wasn’t surprised when she spilt some water down her chin and he handed her a towel to wipe it off with.

“Think maybe you should go to bed?” he asked.

“What time is it?”

“Two.”

“So late.”

He smiled again and began to walk out of the kitchen. “Come on.”

She followed behind him and he went to the staircase. He went up slowly so he wouldn’t leave her behind. He had only gone up about ten stairs when he heard the sound of a thump on the wall. He stopped and turned around and saw that Brenna had lost her balance and was not sliding down the wall until she was slumped on the carpeted step, giggling. He couldn’t hold back a small laugh as he went down the stairs to where she was. This was definitely a new side of her.

“Lost your balance?”

“I think so.”

Smiling and shaking her head, he slipped his hands under her arms and pulled her up to her feet. He began up the stairs again, this time with his arm around her waist. Most of her weight was on him and he struggled to get her upstairs.

“Do you want me to get you a bucket or something in case you have to throw up?”

“I feel good, not sick. I’m tired.”

He led her to her bedroom. “I’m sure you are.”

Once they were in her room, he guided her to her bed and she sat down on it. He went over to her dresser.

“Where are your pajamas?”

She laid down on her bed. “I don’t want any pajamas.”

He turned around to look at her. “You’re just going to sleep in your clothes?”

She closed her eyes. “Okay.”

He went over to her and reached down to pull off her shoes. “Okay, well at least get under the covers.”

She moaned and made a halfhearted attempt to lift herself up. He pulled the blankets out form under her and then placed them on top of her.

“Thanks, Justin,” she mumbled, turning onto her side.

He went to the door and flipped of the lights. “Have a good sleep, Bren,” he said into the dark before leaving her room and shutting the door behind him.