Sixteen:
As first kisses went, this was a nice one. His lips were so soft, Stacy thought as Chris kissed her into silence. His hands came up, gently cupping her face, but he didn’t try to deepen the kiss. Very gentlemanly. Of course, she was going to have none of that. She leaned forward, adding pressure. Apparently, Chris had been waiting for some sign of acquiescence from her because he immediately took control once again, and Stacy stopped thinking. Thought was impossible as she fell into the essence of Chris.
Eventually they had to break apart. “I’ve wanted to do that all day,” Chris whispered, stroking his thumb over her face. He didn’t seem to expect an answer and that was fortunate because Stacy could not have formed words if her life depended on it. When his eyes flicked away for an instant the spell was broken and it suddenly seemed very awkward. After all, the door was standing wide open and Stacy was practically in his lap. Thank goodness no one seemed to be in the hallway.
She pulled away and sat back, just staring at him in a way she had been afraid to until now. “I should probably go home,” she said, not meaning a word of it.
“Yeah,” he said, desperately hoping she wouldn’t.
“I don’t always do what I should,” she said.
“Oh?”
“No.” This time Stacy kissed Chris. Kissing Chris was definitely something she enjoyed. Actually, she enjoyed it so much that she had forgotten the door was open. Then the whistling and wolf calls started. Lance and Joey stood in the doorway, applauding. It was hard to tell who was redder: Chris or Stacy. They sprang apart so quickly that Stacy fell. “Great,” she mumbled. “Just the impression I wanted to make.” Chris glared at the door and helped her up as his friends scrambled away. Lance actually had the decency to pull the door shut this time.
“Are you hurt?”
“Just my pride . . . and my butt,” she said.
“Can I kiss it all better?”
“What?”
Chris blushed again and stuttered, making her laugh. “I didn’t mean your butt,” he finally managed to say.
“Well, if you really want to kiss that you can, but why don’t you focus on my lips for now?” He beamed, relieved he hadn’t made a complete fool of himself. He had desperately wanted to come across as a sophisticated and mature man. Even though he hadn’t, it was nice to know Stacy didn’t mind too much. He kissed her again, much more relaxed than he had been since meeting her.
Eventually, they moved from the floor to the bed, just because there wasn’t a couch and the chairs weren’t very comfortable. They talked about anything and everything, voicing the random thoughts in their heads. Of course, they still spent a good deal of the time making out as well, eventually falling asleep.
Joey stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He didn’t understand it, but he felt like Gina had been avoiding him lately. She used to always stay in his room and they would talk all night. She was his outlet, the way Kelly used to be before the baby. It wasn’t that Kelly wasn’t still there for him. It was just that they seemed to be growing apart since she couldn’t come visit him as much now and when she did, she was always so tired. In the middle of all that, Gina had been hired. He knew she would always listen and she never judged him or made fun of him. Yes, she teased him, but it was never mean-spirited and she never told anyone else what they talked about. They hadn’t talked like that in a very long time. Anymore, it was like she was scared of him. He had to wonder if it had something to do with Lance. After all, she had much more in common with Lance, and Lance was single . . . and interested.
The track his thoughts were taking startled Joey. Since when had he cared if Lance and Gina had something going on? He didn’t really . . . did he? No, he couldn’t. But there it was, a twinge of jealousy. It was all very confusing.
The only thing he knew for sure was that he missed her. In this business, it was hard to find people who accepted him for the man he was, allowing for his faults and not throwing his mistakes up in his face every time he turned around. True friends were few and far between, and he was afraid he was losing one of the few he had found. He rolled over and finally fell into a fitful sleep just before dawn.
Joey wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. Justin stared at the wall, still bothered by what he’d seen earlier. He had started to notice it about a month before. There was a new tension there between Lance, Gina, and Joey. He couldn’t quite explain it. Lance seemed to study her more carefully when he thought no one would notice. She started spending more time with Lance and avoiding Joey. And Joey . . . he hadn’t acted like this in a long time. Justin was afraid someone was going to get hurt, and he knew Gina would never intentionally hurt his friends. The problem was, it wasn’t the guys he was worried about.
He had been talking to Britney about it earlier, and she had some interesting things to say. She was going to visit him soon and he couldn’t wait. He needed her with him. Her presence alone was an assurance that everything would be all right. He fell asleep dreaming about the woman he loved, the worry in his mind replaced by love and happiness and the frown on his face becoming a soft smile.
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