Chapter Thirty

Megan did her best to keep a safe distance between herself and Kevin. She kept her eyes away from his, knowing she would crack if she gazed into those green gems for even a second. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest, she believed it hurt. Making sure to grab a seat in the very back of the van, she focused all of her attention on the buildings whizzing by outside.

But gosh it was hard not to glance at the back of his head every once in awhile. It seemed she always seemed to look up at the worst possible moments, too. Seeing him nuzzle Dana’s neck made her hands clench into tight fists and her face grew warm with jealousy.

Nick was sitting beside her and noticed her reaction. He nudged her with his shoulder and gave her a soft grin.

“You okay? Still recovering from the elevator?” he asked.

You have no idea, she thought. She plastered a smile on her face and nudged Nick back.

“The elevator wasn’t that bad, except that I got stuck with Kevin,” she said loudly.

Almost instantly, she saw Kevin’s shoulders stiffen, but he didn’t turn around. Instead, he made a big production of throwing his arm around Dana’s shoulders and pulling her closer to him, practically pulling her into his lap.

Megan huffed silently and went back to watching the scenery.

What the hell is wrong with me?! her mind screamed out in frustration. This is not supposed to be happening!

She began to go over everything that had happened between her and Kevin. From their very first meeting, they had clashed severely. Gradually, they had become sort-of friends, seeming only to tolerate each other because of who they hung out with. She had started to feel something towards him after seeing him handle the situation with Casey. But it was the damn frosting incident that had made her see she how Kevin truly affected her. She had been able to squash those feelings down, telling herself that it was really AJ that made her feel special. And yes, AJ did make her feel special, but Kevin made her feel something else.

The fact that he made her feel loved somehow, scared the shit out of her. Now Kevin had confessed he had feelings for her, which only complicated matters.

She risked another glance in Kevin’s direction and found he had shifted sideways in his seat to talk to Nick. He locked eyes with her and quickly raised a brow, lowered it and turned back to Nick.

“Hey, Nick, gotta question for ya,” he said, a slight smile on his face.

“Uh oh, is this a joke I won’t get?” Nick wondered.

“No, not really. Do you think a triangle and a square can fit together?”

Megan jerked so hard, her elbow smacked into the window and she bit her tongue at the pain.

Nick frowned and said, “What kind of question is that?”

Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know, just a question. What do you think though?”

“Well, I suppose they could. I mean, look at the shape of a house. The house itself is a square, and the roof is a triangle, and they go together. And in some forms of art, sure, triangles and squares go together. They end up making great sculptures and pictures,” Nick said, still wondering where Kevin had come up with this question.

Kevin smirked in Megan’s direction and nodded. “Thanks, Nick.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nick said. He whispered to Megan, “What’s up with him?”

Megan rubbed her elbow and scowled. “He’s just weird. Ignore him, like I do.”

Nick watched Megan’s face carefully. There was something there, something that made him curious. What it was, he couldn’t say just yet.

Megan browsed through a rack of dresses, trying to ignore Kevin and Dana just a few yards away from her. She wished she had gone off with Nick and the others, but Dana had wanted to shop with her, and that meant Kevin tagged along.

Dana giggled loudly and ran off in the direction of the dressing rooms, carrying a short, skimpy dress with her. Kevin tucked his hands in his pockets and did a quick scan of the store for Megan. Spotting her, he quietly crept up behind her.

“I told you so,” he breathed into her ear.

She jumped a foot in the air, almost ramming her head into Kevin’s nose. She spun around and he was pleased to see she was angry.

“You’re such a bastard,” she hissed, pushing past him to get to a display of shirts.

Much to her dismay, he followed, ever so casually. To the bodyguard standing at the front of the store, it appeared they were simply shopping.

“Will you get the hell away from me?” Megan said, being careful not to raise her voice.

“What if I can’t? And don’t want to?”

“You promised me!”

“What if I lied?”

Megan bit back a cry of annoyance and scooted over to a rack of shoes. Like a shadow, Kevin was beside her in an instant.

“Dana will be coming back soon,” she pointed out, gesturing towards the dressing rooms. “You should really go check on her.”

“I will.”

“Kevin, she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like. . . like. . . the other woman,” Megan stuttered.

“If she were the other woman, that would mean I was with you. Am I with you?”

Megan counted to ten before dashing to another part of the store. This time, Kevin didn’t follow. He went back to check on Dana, a huge smile on his face.

He knew that he annoyed her, and he believed that eventually she would give in to him and admit what she was feeling.

Dana skipped out of a dressing room wearing the dress. Kevin looked at her, really seeing her for the first time. When they had met at a posh party in New York, it was Leighanne that had introduced them. Although she and Leighanne weren’t close, Leighanne had thought she would be a good match for Kevin.

At first they were. Kevin found her extremely attractive and smart. She had a passion for her job, like he had for his. She laughed at his jokes, and was excellent in bed. But there was something missing in their relationship. Perhaps it was the fact that she never argued with him. Not that he was fond of arguing, but he had always found it to be stimulating. It brought to the surface everything that troubled him, or his partner. It gave them a better understanding of what they wanted out of the relationship.

With Dana, there was never any disagreement. She always went along with what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go. He would be the first to admit that he thought that made for a boring time.

Megan on the other hand, fought him at every turn. Everything was a major issue with her, something that just had to be dealt with. He liked it.

Hell, he loved it.

She played off his stubbornness, countering with her own. He didn’t believe that AJ really knew how to handle her personality.

“Well, what do you think?” Dana asked, eagerly awaiting his approval.

He briefly wondered what she would do if he told her he didn’t like it.

“Beautiful,” he said, nodding.

She beamed at him. “I think I’ll buy it. Do you think I’ll get a chance to wear it sometime during the tour?”

“I’m sure you could find someplace.”

Dana went back to change into her streetclothes, leaving Kevin once again alone with his thoughts. He decided to go find Megan again.

She was leaning against a wall, talking on her cellphone when he strode up to her.

“Yeah, Casey, I’m having a great time,” she said. “The concert is amazing, I can’t wait for you to see it!”

Kevin motioned for her to let him talk. She waved him off, sticking her tongue out at him and blowing.

“What? Oh no, Case, no one else is here.”

Kevin leaned in close to the phone and said, “She’s such a liar!”

Megan swatted his shoulder and sighed. “Yeah, that was Kevin. I suppose you want to talk to him? All right, just a sec.”

She handed him the phone without a word. He took it and greeted Casey, asking her how she was.

They chatted for a few minutes until Dana came out from the dressing rooms. Megan walked with her to the cashier.

“Who’s he talking to?” Dana asked.

“Casey. I called her to say hi, and then he butted into the conversation,” Megan explained.

Dana set the dress on the counter and pulled out a credit card. “I really wish you guys got along better. I know he says he’s trying, but are you?”

“What?! Of course I am! I haven’t killed him yet, have I?”

Dana rolled her eyes.

Kevin joined them, holding out Megan’s cellphone.

“She had to go, Myra was taking her out for lunch,” he said.

Megan snatched the phone from his hand, miffed that Casey hadn’t said goodbye to her.

“Ooh, lunch sounds good, I’m starving,” Dana said. She signed the charge slip and then took the bag that contained her new dress.

“We can go find the others and head out for some food,” Kevin suggested, taking the bag from her and grabbing her hand.

They left the store, Megan walking behind them. She stared at their entwined hands, unable to look away. Dana suddenly squeezed Kevin’s hand, an action that made jealousy flare up inside Megan once more that day.

It angered her greatly that she could even feel jealousy towards her best friend. She had never envied Dana for anything before, not her job, her money, her lavish lifestyle, nothing. She had found all of Dana’s past boyfriends snobbish and boring, products of a business that Megan had no desire to be a part of, even though Dana had encouraged her on numerous occasions to give modeling a try.

“Hey look, isn’t that AJ?” Dana asked, breaking into Megan’s thoughts. “He must have decided to join us.”

Megan looked in the direction Dana was pointing and felt her heart flutter. Sure enough, there stood AJ with Howie in front of a store window.

“Yeah, that’s him. What’s he doing here?” she asked, not waiting for an answer. She broke into a sprint to get to AJ, to get to safety.

She threw herself into his arms and locked lips with him, for Kevin’s benefit or her own, she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Wow! What a greeting!” AJ exclaimed when they broke apart.

“I thought you were too sick to come with us,” Kevin said stonily, as he and Dana joined them.

AJ shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was. So I found out where you guys would be and headed on over.”

“Well it’s a good thing you did,” Dana said. “I think Megan missed you.”

“Awww, really?” AJ cooed, stroking Megan’s cheek. “You missed me?”

She nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah. I’m really glad you’re here.”

Kevin forced himself not to roll his eyes. “We were gonna go for lunch,” he said. “Do you know where Nick and Brian are?”

“Off in some video game store,” Howie said. “Back thattaway.”

“Let’s go get them then, I’m craving a big steak right now,” Megan said, leading the way.

Kevin and Dana lagged behind the others as they walked.

“I’m so glad I set them up,” Dana whispered. “They make the cutest couple!”

“Yeah, cute,” Kevin muttered.