Kristi woke up at 7, tired and a bit discombobulated. She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when she remembered she had a job�”quite a good job in fact�”and had to leave for work in half an hour. Hopping out of bed, she changed quickly and headed down the hall to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.
One of the best things about being a dancer is that no one cares about what you look like during rehearsals. Kristi didn’t bother to shower, wash her hair, put make up on, or anything. Thinking about it more, she realized that everything about this tour was going to be relaxed. Not performance standards, but she had never met more down-to-earth and fun stars. Last night was an event, definitely, but not because the guys were high-maintenance.
People kept coming over for autographs and pictures, which the guys graciously did quickly at first, but then started to decline because more and more people just kept coming. Yes, it was somewhat annoying, but it was great to see how the guys dealt with their fans. Kristi wasn’t disappointed. The whole night was just laid-back and had the air of high school friends hanging out. They laughed and made fun of each other, ate, and then laughed some more. She had a feeling that these five guys, and three other dancers, would become close friends. And even if they weren’t as close after the tour, the tour itself would still be exciting and fun.
There was a buzz; Michelle was downstairs, waiting outside the apartment building. Grabbing her keys and bag, turning off the lights, and finishing off her bagel, Kristi ran out the door and down the stairs. As tired as she was, she was even more excited.
“How was dinner last night?” Michelle asked as Kristi hopped into the car.
“Fun…” Kristi told Michelle about the night on the way to rehearsal.
“So once you move from this formation after the leg thing, the girls fall back while you guys come up and just work the crowd. Let’s see it!” Wade was good at his job; they had already worked through two songs, and the day was still two hours from being over. He pushed the play button, and the group began dancing.
Once they reached the place Wade had stopped at, Chris raised his hand. “Justin’s working my crowd!”
Wade shook his head, choosing to ignore Chris, a wise choice. Johnny and Ron walked into the room, expecting to wait to talk to Wade.
“Wade, we need to borrow you for a little bit.” Johnny began.
“Kristi, run through that dance again.” She gave him a puzzled look, as did everyone else. “You’re dance captain. Congratulations, good luck, and get started!” With that, Wade, Johnny, and Ron left the room.
“Are you really going to make us dance?” Joey asked, looking exhausted.
“Yes. You guys ready?”
“You’re not dancing with us?” JC asked. “My dance partner has left me after only one day! That must be a record!” JC was coming out of his shell, and Kristi liked that.
“I was going to watch you guys…but I guess I can do that while dancing.”
JC flashed her his trademark smile, and Kristi felt her insides melt. She shook her head, turned the music on, and jumped into the routine.
Two hours later, Wade poked his head back in. “Sorry about that. Did you just go over the two numbers?” Wade asked Kristi, who nodded. “Great, see you tomorrow!”
“We’re free!” Lance started jogging towards the door.
“Announcement: Pool party, my house, Saturday, noon. Be there!” Justin screamed.
Michelle, Kristi, JC, and Chris were walking towards the parking lot when Kristi thought of something. “Do you guys ever get sick of each other?”
“Well,” Chris had a mischievous look in his eyes, “they make me sick, yes, but I don’t get sick of them.”
“Now that we have that settled…” Michelle trailed off, sarcasm dripping from her statement.
The next three days of rehearsal were brutal, but they passed quickly. They had finished the two songs and were moving onto a third by the end of Friday. “Great job this week, guys.” Wade began. “Don’t party too hard this weekend, and I’ll see you Monday!”
“You’re not coming tomorrow?” Justin asked.
“I can’t…Johnny and Ron need to see the choreography for the remaining dances and then we have to work out stage specifications…”
“Be a party pooper then.” Justin was halfway out the door. “Tomorrow, noon, you best be there everyone!”
Everyone was leaving, as Wade called Kristi back. Making sure everyone was out of earshot, he began. “Listen, I have to take a rain-date on tonight. I’ve got so much work to do, and Sunday, my mother is coming up…”
“No problem! I understand. Do you want any company while you work?”
“No…I can’t really afford to have any…distractions.”
“Ok. Call me if you get a chance. If not, I’ll see you Monday.”
Michelle, like every other day that week, picked Kristi up at her apartment. The only difference was that it wasn’t 7:30, it was 11:30.
“Excited?” Kristi asked Michelle.
“Sure…” Kristi hoped that spending a day with everyone would cheer Michelle up. She was still pinning over Mike, and it wasn’t healthy.
“How did your date with Wade go?” Michelle asked, snapping Kristi out of her thoughts.
“It didn’t. He had to work.”
Justin greeted them from the Barbeque with a devilish smile. “Hey girls! Nice of you to join us!” He laughed as Kristi and Michelle took in his backyard. “Great, huh? I still can’t believe myself either.”
JC, Chris, Lance, Meghan, Lauren, and Beth were already there. They were all lounging around on the chairs, talking and laughing. But no one was in the pool. Kristi threw her stuff down onto a chair, took of her sarong and shirt, and then dove into the water.
When she came up for air, she saw JC taking his shirt off to join her in the water. He turned to jump in, and Kristi saw his muscles. Before, she had thought JC was hot, but she had no idea that he was ripped.
All of a sudden, something from behind her grabbed her sides and began tickling her. She turned around and saw JC. He must have jumped in while she was day dreaming. “Oh man, are you in trouble.”
“Dogs and burgers are ready!” Justin yelled.
“No steak?” Beth asked, mocking them.
“Too early.” Justin chuckled at his own answer.
The sun was perfect for tanning. Kristi isn’t vain, but she was tired, and she could doze off without anyone noticing if she was tanning. She had just gotten comfortable, when a shadow appeared. “Whoever you are, you better get out of my sun…”
“So it’s your sun now?” She smiled at the sound of JC’s voice. “You better learn how to share.”
Kristi opened her eyes. “Are we in kindergarten again?”
He gave Kristi a look, and she knew she was in trouble. JC scooped her up, getting ready to toss her into the water, ignoring the tingling sensation touching her skin gave him.
“JC…you know I can make your life a living hell…being the dance captain and all…” Kristi warned. Michelle giggled, and although she wasn’t the only one, she knew how true that statement was.
“I like hot weather.” He winked, and with that JC pushed her in. Kristi, desperately trying to regain some dignity, grabbed onto JC’s wrist pulling him into the water with her.
They both came up, gasping for air. “Young hoodlums…” Chris muttered as he walked by them on the deck.
“You are so in for it!” JC screamed. Thankfully, Justin decided this would be a great time to jump into the pool.
The group was horsing around, just having fun. JC was giving Kristi a piggy-back ride; Justin was wearing a shower cap (he couldn’t dream of getting chlorine in his hair); Chris was ‘sun-bathing’ on a raft; Lance and Lauren were sitting on the steps in the shallow end, laughing; Beth, Michelle, Meghan, and Joey were squirting each other with water guns.
“I love this game!” Joey shouted. “Water, bikinis, hot girls…” Everyone just stared at him. “Did I say that last part out loud?”
“YES!” Everyone screamed.
The day was winding down. The sun was setting and people were losing interest in the pool; the hot tub was the place to be. Not too long after, though, the hot tub was losing its appeal too. Soon, JC and Kristi were the only ones in the ‘tub.
Kristi was laughing at something JC had said when he interrupted her. “Kristi…what do you think about co-workers dating?” JC spit out the words, finally having found the courage to say them. Why is this so hard? JC asked himself. You used to be great around girls…now you’re a baboon.
Kristi, totally oblivious to what JC was hinting at, thought about her hidden relationship (ok, the beginning of whatever it was) with Wade. “I think it’s fine.”
The two just sat next to each other in the hot tub, enjoying each others’ company. JC kept sneaking looks at Kristi. He thought she look gorgeous; her brown hair was piled on top of her head but was starting to fall out (she didn’t try to make it look like that, it just did), her collar bones were just above the water, and her blue eyes reflected the rising moon. It didn’t hurt that she was wearing a bikini. He searched for her hand under the water, and whispered, “Kristi…”
“Yeah?”
“I…I’m�”“ He interrupted his own sentence by kissing her, surprising Kristi as well as himself. She was so shocked that she didn’t respond. JC pulled away.
“I’m sorry…it’s just�”that�”“
This time, Kristi kissed him. JC was nervous; he had kissed thousands of times before, but this time was different. Kristi was the first girl he really cared about since Rachel. He cared if she thought he sucked at kissing. Thankfully, she didn’t think this. She thought he was quite good. Things were heating up, and soon Kristi found herself swinging one leg over JC’s lap, stratteling his lap. His hands roamed her back and she couldn’t take her hands out of his hair. She was grinding into his groin, deepening the kiss.
Wade. The thought popped into her head before she could stop it. So? He blew you off to work. He didn’t need to do that. And even if he was busy, he did need to eat last night. Forget about him.
Justin, always with impeccable timing, threw a whiffle ball at JC and Kristi, breaking up their make-out session. “Get a room, you two!” He taunted before turning back towards the grill.
JC got out of the hot tub, and being the gentleman he is, helped Kristi out. To her surprise, he didn’t let go of her hand as they headed to the grill to roast marshmallows with the others.
“JC I hope you like your marshmallows burned!” Kristi said. She had a skewer that held her and JC’s marshmallows.
“Not really.”
“Too bad.” Kristi grinned at him.
Michelle’s cell phone began to ring. She glanced at the caller ID, and then shot a look at Kristi. “It’s Mike!”
“You gave him your cell number!” Kristi was impressed by Michelle’s aggressiveness; she’s normally never like this.
“Who’s Mike?” Justin asked. “As your dancing partner, I have the right to know about all relationships!”
Michelle opened and closed her mouth, no sounds coming out. Justin, not satisfied with this response, grabbed her cell phone, turned the speaker phone on, and answered it.
“Michelle’s phone, Justin speaking, how may I help you?” Everyone started snickering, trying to control their noise level.
“Uh…It’s Mike, is Michelle there?”
“She is…but you have to tell me why you’re calling.”
“Umm…ok. I wanted to ask her out?” Mike was no longer sure of himself.
Justin smiled, turned the speaker phone off, and tossed Michelle’s cell phone back to her.
A few minutes later, Michelle was smiling and gathering her things. “I’m heading out guys!” She looked really excited. “Oh! Kristi, do you think you can get a ride home?”
“No problem, girl!” Kristi answered. “Go have fun!”
It was 10 o’clock by the time everyone started getting ready to leave. “Get out everyone!” Justin cried.
“Why, J?” Lance asked. “Is Kate coming over or something?”
Justin blushed, answering his question. “She had a late flight.”
“Kristi, want a ride home?” JC asked.
“That’d be great. Thanks!” He followed her, walking around the side of the house. He turned around to take one last look at the guys; Chris had his hands wrapped around him, his back facing JC, pretending to make out. Justin winked, and Joey gave him the thumbs-up. He shook his head and caught up to Kristi, who was nearly at his car.
JC had turned his car off and was opening his door, when Kristi asked, “What are you doing?”
“Walking you to your door?” JC answered, trying to figure out if he had done something wrong.
“Oh, that’s sweet!”
“Honey, if a guy doesn’t walk a lady to her door, he’s not worth it.” JC grabbed her bag, slung it over his shoulder, and then took her hand.
While they waited for the elevator, Kristi couldn’t help but think, Wade didn’t walk me to my door.
“Thanks for the ride home, JC.” Kristi said when they reached her door. She unlocked it, and then turned back to JC.
JC took this as a sign to kiss her. He pressed his lips against hers, backing her up until her back was against her door. Kristi moaned, and felt something inside of her ignite. She had never felt anything like this before.
Breathless, she asked, “Do you want to come in?”
They managed to get through the doorway and make it to her bedroom.
“Michelle, what happened with Mike?” Kristi asked the next day.
“Well,” Michelle sighed over the phone. “He took me to Thai food,” Michelle loves Thai food, “and then we went to a late movie.”
“Sounds great.”
“Yeah…but I told him about the tour…”
“What did he say?”
“He wants to keep dating, and when tour time comes, we’ll figure it out.”
“He’s smart.”
“How was the rest of the barbeque? Did you get a ride home?”
“Fun, and yes…JC…umm, drove me home.”
“Kristi, there’s more, isn’t there?” Michelle knew Kristi too well.
“He left his watch here…”
“You didn’t!”
“I did.” Kristi cringed, hoping there wouldn’t be another lecture coming.
“Well, JC’s a good choice.” Michelle surprised Kristi with that answer.
“What? No, ‘how irresponsible’?”
“I trust you. And besides, I think JC’s the best of the lot…”
Kristi wanted to confide in Michelle about how confused she was; in the span of a week, she’d slept with two guys, and she didn’t know where either one was leading. One was her boss, and the other was not only her boss, but she would be spending the next 8 months with him. What had she gotten herself into?
“Hello?” Kristi picked up her phone.
“Hi” Wade said tensely.
“Hey Wade! How are you?”
“I’m gonna cut to the reason I’m calling, my mother will be here soon.” He took a deep breath. “Please tell me you didn’t go home with JC last night.”
Kristi closed her eyes, wondering how to put this. “Technically, JC came home with me…but Wade, we haven’t even been on a date, let alone have we decided to be exclusive.”
Wade opened his mouth to argue, but realized he couldn’t. “But I want to. I want to be exclusive. Kristi, I really like you.”
“I don’t like hiding this at work.”
“I know…but think about JC…he’d be crushed if he knew you were dating me, just not some other bozo.”
“Right…” The wheels were turning in Kristi’s head. She knew she wasn’t being fair to either man, and she had decided to date Wade first… “I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.”
Kristi had her car back and arrived at the studio earlier than normal, hoping to catch JC before rehearsal started.
She spotted him lounging on the couch, his eyes closed.
“JC,” Kristi began, “We need to talk.”
His eyes flung open, immediately not liking the sound of that. Wanting to avoid whatever it was that Kristi had planned on saying, he started talking. “Do you have my watch; I think I left it at your place.”
Kristi reached into her bag and handed it to him. She then braced herself, because this was definitely not going to be easy. “JC…first, I don’t regret what happened…but I can’t do it.”
“What?” JC was confused.
“The thing is…I’m kinda seeing someone�”“
“How do you kind of see someone?”
“We haven’t technically dated, but he�”we’ve decided we wanted to. It was before Saturday…I swear.” Kristi could see the hurt in JC’s eyes. Why does he have to be so sweet? It’d be easier if he was a jerk.
“Oh.” Was all JC could manage.
“I really am sorry, JC, I am.”
“Me too.”
“Can we still be friends?” Kristi asked. Urging more, “It’d suck if you didn’t like me, because not only can I make your life a living hell, I’m your dance partner!”
JC smiled at that, and Kristi left to get ready for rehearsal. JC was mentally beating himself up. He’d jumped in too soon. Neither of them was ready for that, and they didn’t know each other that well. Hell, JC was still an emotional wreck. Yes, JC could be friends with Kristi.
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