Chapter Thirteen

Kevin couldn’t sleep....again.

He tossed and turned, rearranging the sheets and punching his pillow. Finally, he pushed everything aside and sat up. A look at the clock told him it was almost four in the morning, nearly six hours since he’d left Megan’s house. And she was still on his mind.

He couldn’t think straight. Megan filled his thoughts and kept him from sleeping. As much as he’d hated her at first, he liked her that much now. It was incredibly frustrating and annoying the crumbs out of him. He had heard so much about Megan from Dana that he thought for sure they’d get along. Then when they’d finally met, they had clashed terribly. And now, it seemed as though she was all he could think about.

He felt guilty and tired. Maybe he would go and see her tomorrow and they could have a long talk, and finally he could understand what he was feeling.

At around five-thirty the next evening, Megan heard the doorbell ring and groaned loudly. “Go away!” she managed to yell from her place on the couch. It was that time of the month and she was desperately trying to keep her abdomen from cramping in on itself.

“Megan? Are you okay?” a male voice called out.

She looked up to see the front door swing open and AJ step into the house. He saw the pained expression on her face and raced to her side.

“Megs! What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m just...having woman problems.”

AJ frowned, thinking about this. Then the light switched on in his head. “Ahhhh.”

“Yeah, ahhh.”

“So you’re not up for going out tonight?”

“Oh, AJ, I’m sorry. I meant to call you before I left work, but I was preoccupied.”

“That’s all right. We’ll stay in. It’s more cozy here than a restaurant anyway. Do you need anything?”

“Yes. My uterus removed please.”

“Sorry, can’t do that. Anything else?”

Megan ducked her head and blushed.

“What? What is it? I’ll get whatever you need,” AJ offered, taking hold of her hand.

She mumbled something under her breath.

“I’m sorry. I could have sworn I heard you say ‘tampons.’”

“Uh huh.” AJ became very still beside her. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I can go later.”

“No, no, I’ll go. You just lay here and rest.” He fluffed her pillow, tucked the blanket around her and handed her the tv remote. “I’ll be back in half an hour,” he told her. Then he kissed her and headed for the door.

Megan giggled. He was really going to buy her tampons?! AJ McLean, world famous entertainer, the tattooed, hair dying bad boy of the Backstreet Boys, was actually going to buy her tampons?

Oh, how she wished she could follow him with a camera.

Kevin entered the grocery store and grabbed a cart by the door. Keeping his head low, he began making his way through the store. He had just passed the feminine necessities aisle when a familiar figure caught his eye. Was that AJ?

Kevin backed up and looked again. Sure enough, his eyes weren’t fooling him. There was AJ, standing in the middle of the aisle with a very confused look on his face. In each hand was a box of tampons, and he was studying them carefully. Leaving his cart, Kevin walked up quietly behind his friend. When he was just inches away, he yelled, “Whatcha doin’?”

“AHHHH!” AJ screamed, dropping the boxes.

Kevin laughed. “What are you doing, man?”

AJ picked up the boxes and put them back on the shelf. “Megan needs ‘em.”

“You’re buying these for Megan?”

“No dude, I’m buying them for me.” AJ rolled his eyes. “I didn’t ask her what kind she wanted though. Damn! I didn’t realize this was gonna be so difficult.”

Kevin reached out and grabbed a box. “Here, these look okay.”

“How do you know?”

He didn’t want to say he’d seen an empty box like that sitting in the garbage can in her bathroom. If Megan hadn’t mentioned him being at her place last night, he wasn’t going to say anything about it either. “Um, I think Dana uses these,” he said.

“So Megan might too?”

“Maybe. I don’t know! Just take it and let’s go. People are starting to stare at us.”

AJ tucked the box under his arm and looked around. “Are you embarrassed, Kev?” he teased.

“No.” But his ears were turning pink.

AJ cupped his hands around his mouth. “Attention, shoppers! Please come to aisle 10, where you can see Kevin Richardson looking for tampons!”

Kevin glared and stalked away. AJ ran after him, laughing hysterically. He followed Kevin while he tried to finish his shopping, waving the box wildly in the air, declaring to all that he was man enough to buy tampons.

As Kevin tossed soap, laundry detergent and other general household items into his cart, AJ asked him what he was doing at that particular grocery store.

“You’re kinda out of your neighborhood, don’tcha think?”

“I felt like a change. Everyone seems to know where I shop, so I thought I’d try a different one,” he said. Actually, he’d been on his way to Megan’s house when he realized he was low on certain stuff. He hoped AJ couldn’t tell he was lying through his teeth.

“Hey, smart idea.” They passed the frozen foods section. “Do you think Megan would like some ice cream?”

“Couldn’t hurt.”

AJ grabbed two pints of ice cream, one strawberry and one chocolate swirl, and dropped them into Kevin’s cart. They kept going through the store.

“What about asprin or that Midol stuff?” he said as they passed the medicine aisle.

“What about it?”

“Do you think she’s out of that too?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

AJ pursed his lips and pushed his sunglasses up as he looked at all the different types of period medication. “Midol...Pamprin...Jesus! How the hell do women know what to use?” Finally, he closed his eyes and reached out, grabbing the first box he came in contact with. He then tossed it in the cart.

“Why don’t you put the tampons in the cart too?” Kevin suggested casually as they neared the checkout lanes.

AJ grinned and looked down at the box. “Nah, I kind of like holding it.”

“Megan’s weirdness has really rubbed off on you,” Kevin said, unloading his stuff on the conveyer belt.

AJ sighed. “I can’t help it. There’s just something about her, you know?”

“I think so. Mind if I stop by for a visit?”

“Sure, you can come. But only for a little while. We kind of have plans tonight. I’ll warn you though, she’s kind of in a mood. She may kill you on sight.”

Kevin shook his head. “We’re not like that anymore. We actually get along.”

“Ya know, man, I’m glad. Especially since I think she’s gonna be around a long time.”

Kevin imperceptibly flinched. “Oh yeah?”

AJ nodded emphatically, throwing the box on the belt, along with the ice cream and a pack of gum. “I think she could be the one.”

Kevin’s heart lurched. He suddenly wanted to hurl himself off a bridge. How could he be falling for his girlfriend’s best friend? His friend’s girlfriend? He wanted to scream in frustration.

The girl at the cash register finished ringing up his stuff and he paid her with trembling hands. He was loading his bags into the cart when AJ suddenly cried out, “Oh my Lord!”

“What?”