Chapter Seventeen
He had hoped that a good night’s sleep would help to ease the guilt he felt. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t that he wanted to hurt her. He cared about her. She was his girlfriend—for real this time—and the very last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But at the same time, she had gotten what she deserved.
It took a lot to provoke JC, and she had overstepped her boundaries the previous morning in the gym. Calling him names hadn’t really affected him too deeply. She had definitely struck a nerve when she brought up some things he’d felt when she first started, but he could look past that.
What had really bugged him was the opinion that she had of herself, as far as her training went. She was damned good at what she did; there was no question about it. But she wasn’t perfect. He’d showed her that. She thought she was going to teach him a lesson, but in the end, he’d taught her something. Of course, he hadn’t meant for his lesson to be quite so painful.
She had intended to provoke him physically by jumping onto his back, catching him unaware, but she had underestimated him. The moment he felt her hand on his shoulder, he dropped himself and used his shoulder to pretty much counteract her attack. She had essentially jumped right over him. She was unable to catch herself, unfortunately, and she landed hard on her back on the gym floor, rather than the protective mat that had been laid down.
It wasn’t his fault, of course. But that didn’t matter. The fact that she had gotten hurt while in his presence, and as a result of something that had transpired between the two of them made him feel like 100%, Grade A crap! Throw in the fact that he had called her an ass, and he was feeling pretty bad.
It sucked being a nice guy.
After taking a nice hot shower to rid himself of the sleepy feeling, he dressed and shaved before heading over to Alana’s room. He hadn’t talked to her since early the previous evening and he needed to make sure that she was alright.
He pushed the connecting door open and stepped inside, the sound of a blow dryer reaching his ears. He saw the light from the bathroom filter out through the crack she’d left in the door and he walked over to it before raising his hand to knock quietly
“Al?”
The blow dryer stopped and he stepped back slightly when she opened the door all the way. He took notice of the way she bit her lower lip worriedly, and the way she gazed at him sadly.
“Are you still mad at me?”
He didn’t bother to answer her. He stepped forward and dropped his hands to her tiny waist before drawing her in for a hug. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he squeezed her gently.
“How’s your head? Still got a big old bump?”
“It went down some,” she said, pulling away so that she could look up at him. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you still mad at me?”
“I don’t know. Are you going to kick my ass for hurting you if I say no?”
She snorted. “You don’t have to worry about that. All this time you let me think I could kick your ass, and come to find out, it was YOU who did the ass kicking.”
He couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I didn’t kick anything. It’s not my fault that you’re about as graceful as a hippo in a China cabinet. All I did was duck.”
“I’m sorry for how I acted.”
“You don’t have to apologize, baby.”
“Yes I do,” she said, lowering her head sadly. “You’re right. I was being an ass. I can’t explain why I act like that but it’s like… when I’m thinking about work, that’s who I am. You know? I’m just a shrimpy little girl. I feel like if I don’t think I’m a bad ass, no one else will.”
He could understand that. She was just a little thing, and for the most part, she was right. She did have to have an air of confidence about herself; otherwise no one would take her seriously.
“Well, apology accepted then. But you know what? I think it’ll be a good idea to just put the whole thing behind us. What do you say?”
“I agree with you… under one condition.”
“What’s that baby?”
“Next time I act like that, just tell me I’m being an ass. You don’t have to fling me across the room to get your point across.”
A deep laugh rumbled from his chest as he pulled her back against him, dropping a kiss to her lips.
“You’re a brat, you know that?”
“That’s what they tell me.”
~*~
“You know what I was thinking?”
“Hm?”
“We don’t need the connected rooms anymore.”
Alana raised her eyes to meet his, one eyebrow cocked higher than the other. She had been laying on the bed, finishing up an email to Tony. However, his statement had broken her concentration.
“Why is that?”
“Well… I’m in your room ninety-nine percent of the time anyway,” he said with a shrug. “And we’ve slept in the same bed before. It’s not really a big deal, is it?”
“Well… no, I guess it’s not really a big deal…”
“But here comes the ‘but’ right?”
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. “There is no ‘but’. The only thing is that I work at night. Are you going to be able to deal with that?”
“I’m dealing with it now, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, but you aren’t trying to sleep either.”
He shrugged. “I’ll deal with it,” he told her, leaning over to kiss her shoulder. “So you think it’s a definite possibility?”
“Well, if you really want to, I’d say it’s more than just a possibility.”
“Are you serious?”
“No, I’m lying,” she said dryly. “What’s Johnny going to say about it?”
“He won’t care,” he said. “Besides, it’ll save him more money. Melanie and Crystal can move down onto our floor since there will be an extra room and he won’t have to pay to get a whole floor for just those two.”
A small smile tugged on the corner of Alana’s lips. Things were moving a little quicker than she was used to… but she liked it.
~*~
Due to the fact that the couple had talked about rooming together officially while they were still in Texas, they waited until they reached their next destination before actually getting a room together. Of course, that didn’t stop JC from sleeping in Alana’s room while they were still in Texas.
While Alana had been a little worried about Johnny’s reaction of them actually sharing a room, JC had been correct in assuming he would be okay with it. More than okay, actually. Like JC had said, it was going to save him quite a bit of money, and allow the two dancers to take the extra room that would have been Alana’s. It made life a whole lot easier.
JC stepped into the hotel room and dropped their bag beside the door. He turned to his girlfriend and offered her a smile. He reached for her hand and pulled her in as well as he dropped his hands to her waist.
“This feels a little weird, doesn’t it?” He asked with a laugh. He looked down as she rested her chin against his chest to look up at him, her smile mirroring his.
“Just a little,” she agreed as she stood on her toes to kiss him. “I’m sure we’ll get used to it though.”
“Of course,” he said as he kissed her forehead. “I’m going to go take a shower… you’re looking pretty grimy yourself, so…”
“Don’t even think about it, Chasez. Or I WILL kick your ass, for real this time,” she told him, pulling away before she pushed him playfully in the direction of the bathroom. She heard his laugh as he headed into the bathroom and closed the door.
She closed her eyes and let out a small groan. This was going to test the hell out of her will power! “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” she mumbled. “Until he walks out in just a towel.”
She sighed and walked over to her bag that he’d brought up and pulled it over to the bed before pulling it open. She pulled her laptop out and after she set it up, she laid down on the bed before booting it up. She had just typed in her password when a knock on the door interrupted her.
She cursed under her breath before getting up and walking over to the hotel door. She pulled it open, forcing a smile when she spotted Melanie standing there.
She and Melanie weren’t exactly on the best of terms, considering the way Alana had acted on their first meeting. They were civil, but there was definitely a little bit of tension between them.
“Hey there, Melanie,” she greeted. “What can I do for you?”
“Is Josh here?” She asked, peering into the room over Alana’s shoulder.
“Yeah, he’s in the shower though,” she said.
“Oh… well, someone had slipped this letter under my door, but it’s addressed to him. I guess they got our rooms mixed up,” she said, thrusting the letter out towards Alana.
“Well I can take it and give it to him,” she offered, reaching for the letter. Melanie offered a small smile and nodded as she released the envelope.
“Thanks Alana.”
“No problem,” she said as she waited until Melanie turned and then she closed the door. It was hard to keep from rolling her eyes, but she was successful. She walked over to the dresser and placed the letter there and then walked back onto the bed before falling onto it.
She had just opened her email when the bathroom door opened once more. She glanced up and offered JC a smile, glad that he was merciful enough to at least come out with pajama bottoms and a t-shirt on!
“Who was at the door?” He asked, still towel drying his hair.
“Melanie. There’s a letter for you on the dresser. She said someone had slipped it under their door, but it’s for you,” she said with a shrug as she allowed her eyes to return to the computer screen.
“Put your glasses on,” he chided as he walked over to the dresser. “You’re going to go blind squinting like that.”
“Yes dad,” she said, rolling her eyes. She reached into the front compartment of her laptop bag and pulled out her eyeglass case. She put her glasses on and then returned her eyes to the screen.
She could hear the sound of the envelope being torn open and the sound of paper unfolding as he pulled the letter out. She was trying to appear disinterested, but she was nosey and her curiosity got the better of her.
“Who’s it from?”
There was silence. She wrinkled her nose slightly as she raised her head. “Josh?”
His jaw was clenched as his eyes were fixed on the paper in front of him. He heard Alana calling his name, but it seemed like her voice was in the distance. It was several moments before he found his own voice to answer her.
“Who’s it from?”
“I’ll give you three guesses… and the first two don’t count.”
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