Chapter 6 – Getting to Know You

“Oh my God, I haven’t done this in like 10 years.” I proclaimed as Aaron dragged me closer to the beach that stood right in front of Nick’s large deck. The older brother sat on the wooden railing, drinking a beer and watching the two of us make our way to the front of it. “I don’t know if I can.” I whined a bit, but Aaron did not listen.

He knelt down on hands and knees and began to turn himself upside down, onto his head. He threw his feet up and they hit the side of the porch, steadying his lanky body. His face was already turning red and it was scrunched up as he began to talk. “OK, Green. Now you.” He took a breath. Nick grabbed his feet and pushed him forward, but Aaron regained and remained in his head stand. “Don’t you fuck.” Aaron told his brother and I laughed at his obscenity. He rolled his eyes with difficulty and gulped. “Come on, Green.”

I looked at Nick. “You knew you wouldn’t be able to get out of it.” He said, raising his eyebrows sarcastically.

“I was looking to you for help.” I said, trying to tuck my tank top in with some trouble, looking at the smoldering blond. He stood there so comfortably in the soft glow of evening, looking completely in his element. I rolled my eyes myself and got down on hands and knees on the soft sand, put my head into it, and threw my legs up toward the wooden porch. I attempted twice to no avail, but on the third, I felt a large pair of calloused hands grab one of my ankles and one of my calves and press them together, bringing them close to the rail.

“There ya go.” He said softly. Nick gently let go and looked down between myself and his brother. “You guys could be a circus act.” Aaron kicked him with one foot before he fell. “You’re getting violent there, little brother.” Nick walked away for a moment, taking a call on his cell and I fell back down onto the sand.

Aaron looked at me, out of breath. “Hey, I can show you my dirt bikes if you want. Right here on the beach.” Before I could even answer, he was disappearing toward the family house. I giggled and stood up, dusting myself off, and walked back up the deck, leaning in almost the same spot Nick had been leaning.

There was no denying that where they lived was beyond beautiful. The beach was sandy white and soft, with very few sticks or drift wood. It actually felt nice on the feet when we walked on it, warming them as the soft sand crept in between all ten toes. The wind blew just slightly, enough to keep up a small cooling evening breeze that was peaceful and calm. The air smelt of salt and barbecue and newly cut wood. The dock that the speed boats were parked on was modest, contrasting the three new large speed boats that were parked against it. It seemed as if Nick was collecting them, each a bit better than the last.

I rubbed the wooden deck railing gently with my hands. Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed into the center of my palm. At the same moment, Nick was approaching behind me, his feet softly swooshing on the sandy deck. “Dammit.” I said aloud, turning to him, holding my own hand. I hated splinters. He stood directly in front of me and the breeze gently blew his hair in different directions. I looked from his blue eyes to my hand, which bled only slightly, the small shard of wood sticking out at an odd angle. My eyes were watering. I was such a wimp.

Nick’s voice was soft and child-like. “S’OK, girl. Just a tiny splinter.” He took my hand in his own with a gentleness that made me want to collapse. He dusted some sand off with his index finger, then lifted it closer to his face so as to see it better. I watched him in awe, the way he concentrated and bit his lip, the way his eyes assessed the situation and then looked determined in the removal of the wood. His large index finger and thumb closed around the piece of wood that was dwarfed by them. “Take a deep breath and I’ll pull it out.” I blushed as my thoughts wandered to him “pulling it out.”

He made a quick movement with his hands and I pulled back with a yelp. “Ow.” I said, and he grabbed my hand back and raised it to his face.

“See, all gone.” He still held onto my limb, turning the palm to face me so as I could see that the removal had been successful. And then he looked at my face, from my chin to the tip of my forehead, seemingly assessing me, or perhaps my reaction to what he was about to do. He turned my hand back toward his face and then kissed the area where the splinter had been, very softly, quite seductively, rubbing his nose against my spread fingers. I gasped and blushed and felt not even a tinge of the sting that had previously been there when I first got the splinter. “All better.” He added, still with the same gentle baby voice that I had always loved.

His lips had been so soft on my hand, my fingertips wanted to probe his face, run through his soft blonde hair. I wondered what his lips would feel like on my own, which were sensitive and wanting at that moment.

“Thanks.” I responded shyly.

We heard the dirt bike motor approaching quickly and he dropped my hand. Aaron rode by, sand spattering all around him, yelling, “Green…hey Green look!” He did a trick and I giggled, yelling for him to be careful.

Nick was watching me. “He’s a cute kid.” I told his older brother.

“A little annoying, huh?” He asked. He leaned his elbows once again onto the railing and I hoped he wouldn’t get a splinter as well, although the skin on his arms had a few scratches on it, signs that he used them, probably from casting out on the boat or from playing hard on the beach.

“Not very much, no. I like him.” I responded, perhaps a little defensively.

“He likes you, too.” Nick looked at me and raised his eyebrows, unknowingly scratching his own muscular arms, his large fingers rubbing into his flesh.

“I noticed.” I said, blushing once more.

Nick elbowed me gently. “Don’t sweat it. He tends to get crushes a lot. Just like his older brother.”

“He seems a lot like his older brother.” I said, thoughtfully.

“Mmm Hmm.” Nick responded, looking out onto the dark ocean. “Hey…”

“What’s up?” I asked nervously.

He looked down at me. I felt so small compared to him. I liked that. “We’ll definitely have to do this again, right?” My face somehow turned yet another shade of red.

“Yeah…” I answered very quietly. “I’d like that.” Then I giggled. “I’ll have to brag to all my friends at home that I’m dating two famous brothers.”

Nick’s smile broadened. “Uh huh. Only, uh, next time? Let’s just make it you and me, OK?” I just nodded. That’s all I could do besides look at him. “Oh, and uh Green, one more thing.” I raised my eyebrows at him. “It took me a little while. But I totally remember you.”

I gulped in disbelief. How could he possibly remember me?

*****

I yawned on the ride home. I was lounged back into the comfy seat of Nick’s white Expedition, the truck that I had seen him driving in so many times. I turned my face toward him and watched him drive, leaning my cheek against the velvety fabric of the seat. Nick Carter. His own seat was tilted back quite far to make room for his large physique and his legs and arms. He had an air of driving like he was laying down, one hand on the wheel, the other fidgeting with the dial of the CD player.

I sat and wondered what God could have been thinking when he created him. How horribly flawless he was. And I began thinking back to perhaps only a year ago, when I had been so in love with this person who I knew so very little about, crazy mad love, in fact. And I remembered how I had promised myself that I would let go and how I had. And now here we were.

He remembered me as a fan. As we had walked to the car he explained how. “You were one of the Brent groupies.” He stated simply.

“Well…” Brent was his best friend who I had befriended while Brent was touring around with the Backstreet Boys. He looked at me with a cocky grin. “Not exactly groupie. Not in the strictest sense of the word, at least. I mean, I never slept with Brent.”

“I didn’t mean that by groupie.” Nick answered quickly. “I know you didn’t sleep with him.” I went to add something, but he didn’t allow me enough time. “And you were around the group a lot, too. Always at a hotel, hanging out, whatever. I mean, its not bad. You were always cool, sweet…actually, kinda shy. It’s cool, Green, really.”

I must have been blushing again. Nick looked at me, opening the door to his Expedition and motioning for me to get in. What was it about this girl, this fan that he had only just met, that attracted him so much? Was it the simple way she smiled or the way she joked or seemed so innocent? He wasn’t sure. He just liked her.

Nick caught the way I was gazing at him, through heavy eyelids on our ride home. “You’re looking at me as if you know a secret about me.” He said in a type of half-whisper. I laughed a little, but couldn’t bring myself to look away. He was food to my eyes.

“We all like looking at beautiful things.” I told him. I half-expected him to humbly blush or tell me to stop. But he didn’t. He simply reached out his hand and touched my upturned cheek with the back of it, brushing it quickly and gently.

“Thank-you, Green. That’s really nice.” Nick’s smile was sincere. He turned back to watch the road.

It looked as if this Christmas might be a good one afterall. And it was strange, but Nick was totally ready for it.