Chapter Two

“Thanks, but I didn’t need rescuing,” Megan said, as Kevin danced with her.

“If you’re not in the middle, then AJ and Nick can’t get in a fight over you,” Kevin explained. He glanced over his shoulder. “They’re still standing there.”

Megan looked too and giggled. “Silly boys. They’re too young for me anyway.”

They continued dancing in silence until Kevin asked her a question.

“So you’ve never heard of us before?”

“What? Oh, you mean the Backstreet Boys. I’m sure I have, I just don’t listen to it religiously. What do you sing?”

“Have you ever heard ‘I Want It That Way’?”

Megan’s eyes widened. “You mean, you sing that?”

Kevin smiled. “Yeah. That’s us.”

“I hate that song!”

His mouth dropped. “What?”

“The ‘tell me why-ee’ is annoying as hell.”

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“I told you, it’s annoying as hell. It’s repetitive and just plain blah.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding? No, I’m not. Maybe if it had meaning behind it or something, but it’s just words.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed and they stopped dancing, even though the music was still going.

“What kind of music do you listen too?” he asked, challenging her.

Megan pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “Anything by Chris Potter, Savage Garden, you know, stuff that has meaning.”

“Who the hell is Chris Potter? And have you ever really listened to our stuff? Our music has meaning,” he told her.

“Chris Potter is a Canadian actor who also sings, he’s awesome! And boy bands don’t make meaningful music. But that’s just my opinion.”

“Well, you’re opinion sucks.”

Megan looked up at him and took a deep breath. “Boy, Dana sure picked a winner,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“But that’s just my opinion.”

“As I said before, your opinion sucks,” Kevin said through clenched teeth.

“If you didn’t have such a pretty face, I’d smack it.”

“Go right ahead, I dare you.”

“Oh no, you did not just dare me.”

“I sure as hell did. Hit me.”

Just as Megan pulled her hand back to slap Kevin’s face, AJ pulled her away.

“Whoa there! Looks like I came just in time,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“She doesn’t like our stuff,” Kevin said, almost pouting.

“Aww, don’t cry about it. I’m sure millions of teenyboppers will still love you in the morning.”

AJ bit back a laugh. “Kev, man, you take criticism way to seriously. Megan, let’s go get us a drink, shall we?”

Megan nodded and linked arms with AJ. “We shall.”

They left Kevin seething with anger. He hated it when people called the Backstreet Boys a “boy band.”

Dana came up behind him and touched his arm lightly. He whirled around and she could see that Megan had really riled him.

“Nice friend you have,” he said.

Dana winced. “I’m sorry. Sometimes she doesn’t think.”

“I’ll say.”

“Look, why don’t we go inside and find a place to talk, in private? I’m sure AJ has rooms to spare, right?”

Kevin finally tore his gaze away from Megan and looked at his girlfriend. “Yeah, sure he does.”

He put his arm around her waist and they walked towards the door. But he glanced at Megan one last time before going inside.

Megan paid no attention to his icy stare. She was too busy urging AJ to go for a swim...naked. And AJ was warming up to it.

“I will, but later, after everyone’s gone, okay?”

“I thought people spent the night at these parties.”

“Only the guys. And maybe you and Dana.”

“Oooh, sounds like fun.”

Nick decided to join in the conversation. “Did I hear you say you’ll be swimming naked later?” he asked innocently.

“Kid, go away,” AJ said. “This is for drinking age people only.”

“Hey, only a year to go.”

Megan patted his head, not believing him for a second. “Such a law abiding citizen.”

Nick’s ears turned pink. “Um...do you wanna dance?”

“Okay!”

“Hey! She’s my date tonight!” AJ protested.

“I’m just borrowing her for a few minutes.”

“Well, be sure to bring her back.”

“I’ll try.”

AJ opened another beer and went off in search of Howie or Brian. He found both, sitting near the shallow end of the pool on deck chairs.

“Who’s the new girl?” Brian asked.

“Megan. She’s Dana’s friend.”

“Dana’s friend?” Howie asked. “How come she seems like the complete opposite of Dana?”

AJ shrugged and slowly sat down on the cool cement. “Beats me. But Megan’s awesome. She really got under Kevin’s skin a few minutes ago, criticizing the music.”

Brian groaned. “Awww man, she’s made an enemy for sure now.”

AJ laughed. “I know. It was great.”

“Nick seems smitten,” Howie said, nodding his head towards where the couple were dancing.

“No kidding. The kid thinks he can win against me. Me! Of all people!”

Howie shook his head. “He’s the cute one, remember.”

“Yeah, but I think she goes for the bad boy.”

The song ended and Nick and Megan came over to them, holding hands.

“Megan,” Nick introduced. “This is Howie, and that’s Brian.”

“Hi!” she said cheerfully, shaking each of their hands.

She sat down next to Howie, snatched his beer bottle, took a swig and passed it back.

“Uh...” Howie said.

“Sorry, I was really thirsty, and yours was closest.” She smiled sweetly at him.

Howie gave her a silly grin. “Yeah, sure. Hey, do you want it? I’ll go get another one.”

“Really? Thanks!”

“Sure thing.”

AJ cocked a brow as Howie dashed off. “Are you a witch or something?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Cuz, you’ve got all of us under your spell.”

She laughed loudly, throwing her head back. “If what Dana has told me is correct, I’d say that Brian better stay away from me then. Otherwise your girlfriend might come after me.”

“Dana said that?” Brian asked, surprised. “Leighanne’s not that bad.”

“Hey, I’m just going by what I’ve heard. I really don’t know anything about you guys.”

“We can change that. Are you gonna be around long?” Brian asked casually.

“If you mean, am I gonna start dating AJ...” She let her voice trail off and she dipped her head.

“Well?” AJ pressed. “Are you gonna start dating me?”

Megan gave him a seductive look. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?!”

“Yeah, maybe.”

AJ sighed. “I guess that’s good enough for now.”

Howie returned with another drink and found that his seat had been taken by Nick. He threw the younger man a dirty look and settled on the ground instead.

Brian looked around. “Hey, where’d Kevin and Dana go?”

“Probably plotting my death even as we speak. Dana gets nervous when she’s with me. She thinks I’m embarrassing or something.”

“I think you’re great,” Nick said softly, not realizing he’d spoken out loud.

Megan smiled and kissed his cheek. “You’re so sweet. But you don’t know anything about me.”

“So tell us,” Howie suggested. “What do you do? We know Dana’s a model, but that’s about it. She doesn’t really talk to us much.”

“Really? I thought she would, considering she’s dating Kevin.”

“That’s just it. She makes it clear she’s dating Kevin, and that’s all. She doesn’t seem to want to hang with us,” Nick said. “I mean, she’s nice and all, but do you see her around?” He waved his arms in a wide circle.

Megan chewed on her lower lip. She knew Dana wasn’t much of a social butterfly, but considering her occupation, she could have learned by now. And these guys were easy to talk to.

“So,” pressed AJ. “What do you do?”

“I’m a vetrinarian.”

“Really? You take care of sick animals?” Brian asked.

Megan started laughing. “I love animals. Does that surprise you?”

They all shook their heads yes.

“Why?”

Nick shrugged. “I just can’t see you doing surgery or something on a cat.”

“Speaking of surgery, when is Kevin scheduled for his?”

Everyone frowned, confused. “What surgery?” Howie asked.

“The surgery to have that telephone pole removed from his butt.”