Hours later, they woke up to pounding on the door. It was Kevin. "AJ! Get your drunk ass out of that bed and answer this door. NOW!"

Alex groaned. He was still calling him AJ. That was not good. He buried his head against Nick’s bare chest and put his hands over his ears. "Nicky, make it stop. Make him stop. He’s killing me."

Nick opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings, recalling the night before. He looked down at the top of Alex’s head. His face was buried in his chest, their legs tangled together and damn if it wasn’t turning him on all over again. He had to get out of that bed. Disengaging himself from Alex, he stood, pulling his jeans back on over his boxers and heading for the door.

Just as Kevin was about to beat on the door yet again, it was thrown open and he was rendered momentarily speechless by the fact that Nick was standing there, glowering at him. "Could you be a little louder Kev, I don’t think they heard you down in the lobby."

Kevin just stood there, trying to figure out what was going on. "Where’s AJ? This is his room, right?"

"Yeah, it’s his room. He’s in bed. Don’t worry. I’ll get him up. I know we’ve got shit to do today."

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem." Nick said, starting to shut the door.

Kevin put his hand out to stop it. "One question. Why are you here? Did you sleep here?"

"Yes, I did." Nick said, unwilling to elaborate.

"Oh." Kevin didn’t know what to say to that.

Nick could see the wheels turning in Kevin’s brain. Kevin knew he was bi, had found out the hard way one night, walking in on him and some nameless guy as they were in the middle of screwing. Kevin never had told anyone, respecting Nick’s wishes to keep it quiet.

"Kev, we didn’t fuck, if that’s what your thinking. He just, he didn’t want to be alone. He was really worked up last night, or rather, this morning. He just needed someone to be there for him. Nothing more. Ok?"

Kevin felt his body relax slightly. He didn’t know why the thought of Nick and Alex together bothered him so much. They were both grown men. If they wanted each other it wasn’t any of his business. Still, deep down he was glad that they hadn’t.

"Sorry. I guess I just, well, you’re half undressed and I know that you, you know, and I…damn…I’ll butt out now. Just make sure he’s ready to go in an hour, ok?" Kevin clamped his mouth shut as he turned and walked away, totally embarrassed by how flustered he was.

Nick shook his head in exasperation. When was Kevin going to realize his feelings for Alex? He didn’t know, but he hoped he’d be there for the epiphany. Kevin’s head was sure to explode with the force of it all.

Walking back to the bedroom, he was surprised to find Alex out of bed and rummaging through the dresser drawers in his boxers.

"You’re up."

Alex straightened and turned back toward Nick. He studied the younger man in a way he hadn’t before. He was the polar opposite of Kevin, but gorgeous just the same. He felt awkward, standing there in his boxers, knowing what they’d done, and what they’d almost done, the night before. He didn’t know quite what to say.

"She’s gone."

"What?"

"Sara. All her shit’s gone. I fucked up good this time, Nick. After I hurt you, I turned on her. I think my exact words were, ‘Go find yourself some other pop star to fuck.’ " He winced as he said it.

Nick winced too. "Uh yeah, I’d say you fucked up, Bone. Shit. You’ll be lucky if she hasn’t cleared out of your house by the time you get back."

"Gee thanks." Alex retorted sarcastically.

Nick’s lips curved into his classic Carter smirk. "No problem. It’s too damn early to sugar coat it."

Alex laughed, the tension in the room breaking a little. "Nick, about last night. I was drunk off my ass, but I meant every word. I’m sorry for the way I treated you after the concert. I was upset and I was just lashing out at anyone who got in my way."

"I know. I forgave you last night. Really, we don’t need to keep rehashing it."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"No, I mean thanks for stopping."

"Oh, that."

They stood there in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Alex blurted, "How long?"

"How long what?" Nick asked in a strangled voice.

Alex laughed. "Not that, Nick, I can pretty well guess how long that is after last night. No, I meant how long have you been bi?"

"How do you know I am? Maybe last night was an experiment." Nick challenged.

Alex shook his head. "No, you were too comfortable with it all. Too confident. And besides, you figured out my feelings for Kevin pretty easily. I’ve been careful. That would take someone who knew what to look for and you did admit to having feelings for Brian."

Nick decided not to deny it. "A while now. A few years maybe. It’s nothing I do on a regular basis, just every now and then when the urge takes me."

"Like last night?"

Nick shook his head. "No, not like last night, Alex. Last night was more than just an urge. That’s why I stopped."

Alex relaxed. He’d been hoping Nick would say that and damn if he didn’t like it when he called him Alex. He walked over to stand in front of him. Reaching up a hand, he ran his fingers over Nick’s lips. "It was the same for me. More than just wanting to get laid."

Nick brought his hand up and grabbed Alex’s, turning it to kiss his palm. "What do we do about this then?"

"I don’t know Nicky. I don’t know. I’m so fucked up right now and I’m still hung up on Kevin. You know that. I don’t want to hurt you. Maybe we should just let last night be last night and go on being friends."

Nick nodded, having already resigned himself to that. He didn’t want to get hurt either and at the moment Alex was headed on a path of self-destruction, and whether he wanted to or not, he was going to take everyone in his path with him.

"I agree." Then his lips turned up in a sexy smile. "One last kiss?"

Alex stared at his mouth. "Hell yeah."

Three kisses and several feel-ups and ass grabs later, they parted. "Damn, that wasn’t such a good idea."

Alex shook his head staring at Nick’s mouth. "Nope, can’t say that it was."

Nick took a deep breath, trying to get control of himself. "Well, uh, yeah. I’m going to go back to my room now and get ready. We have less than an hour until Kevin’s head explodes. I think it’s on an extra strict timer today so don’t be late, ok?"

Alex chuckled. "Ok. Now get out of here before I do something we’ll both regret."

Nick didn’t have to be told twice.

Back in Kevin’s room, he paced the sitting room area, a scowl permanently embedded on his face. Kristin watched from the couch, her own scowl firmly in place. She’d thought that after last night, after the argument Kevin and Alex had that Kevin would stop fixating on him and concentrate on her. She’d thought Kevin would see him for the drunk looser he was and write him off. No such luck. If anything, Kevin was more fixated on him than ever. Kristin was about ready to pull out her hair. They hadn’t even had sex last night because Kevin wouldn’t shut up about the little tattooed freak.

"Kevin, come over here and sit. You’re going to wear a whole in that carpet." Kristin patted the seat next to her.

Kevin stopped pacing and stared at the couch. Finally he walked over and sat, ram-rod straight. Kristin ordered him to turn away slightly so she could rub his back. "God Kevin, it’s a wonder you haven’t exploded yet. You’re muscles are so tight."

"I’m sorry. I know you didn’t come out here to have this shit dumped on you and to give me back rubs."

Kris smiled. Finally he was seeing the light. "It’s ok, baby. Can we just not talk about it any more today?"

Kevin nodded, turning and pulling her into his arms. "Sure. No Alex talk. I can do that."

Kris sighed and leaned against him, her cheek on his chest. She traced the veins in his arms with her finger. "You know, we never did give each other a proper hello last night."

Kevin smiled, catching her drift. That was what he needed. Some mind-blowing sex to get his mind off of Alex, and Alex and Nick…if there even was an Alex and Nick.

"No, we didn’t did we. I suppose we should do something about that, huh?"

"You suppose?" Kristin squeaked.

Kevin laughed. "Well, you know, I don’t want to seem overly anxious or anything."

Kristin decided that was enough talk. They only had forty-five minutes left and she intended to put them to good use. This was one area Alex couldn’t compete with her in. She was the one that could and would satisfy Kevin’s sexual needs. No matter how infatuated Kevin might be with Alex, she didn’t think for a minute that he’d cheat on her, so she felt secure in the knowledge that she was the only one getting him off.

Forty minutes later, Kevin was pulling his cloths back on. He was semi-sated. He’d acted the part of course, assuring her that it had been mind-blowing, but in reality, it had only fulfilled the physical side of it for him. Emotionally, he was left wanting more. He didn’t know what that more was, only that he was sure Kris couldn’t give it to him. So who then? Who could give it to him? And what did this mean to his marriage? Kris was supposed to be his end all and be all. He was slowly coming to the realization that she wasn’t. That scared him to death.

"Oh honey, I wish you didn’t have to go." Kris said, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He fought the urge to jerk free of her embrace. "I know baby, but I’ve got all this shit to do and after the way I got on the guys cases this morning about being there and being on time, I can’t exactly blow it off."

"I know. I’ll miss you."

Kevin turned in her arms, reaching up and threading his fingers through her hair. He’d always loved long, natural looking hair, so why was he thinking about short dark, color-tinged hair? Alex’s hair?

He shook off the unwanted thoughts. "I’ll miss you too. Will you be here when I get back? Or are you going out with Leighanne and Sara again?"

"Leighanne told me last night when we got back here that Sara packed up and left. Guess Alex said something awful to her after we left the venue." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wished she could shove them back. She couldn’t believe it. She’d actually gotten him to agree not to talk about Alex and here she was, bringing him up.

Kevin tensed. "What did Alex say?"

"Something along the lines of, ‘Find another pop star to fuck,’ "

Kevin cringed. He didn’t like Sara, but that was just cruel. Still, part of him was silently high-fiving Alex for saying what he’d wanted to say to her ever since she’d entered the picture. "He didn’t."

"He did. She was a mess. It took Leighanne almost an hour to get her to calm down. Then she decided she was leaving and packed. She left late last night."

"So that was why Nick was there." Kevin said more to himself than to her.

Kris picked up on it though. "What? Nick was where?"

"In Alex’s room. He stayed there with him last night. Answered the door half dressed. I got the wrong idea."

"Why would you get that idea? Are one or both of them gay or something?"

"Nick’s bi. I have no idea about Alex, always assumed he was straight, I guess."

"Huh." Kristin’s mind was in overdrive. Alex and Nick were close. Very close since Brian had gotten married. Nick was bi, Alex was at the least bi since he was in love with Kevin. Maybe she could get the two of them together and get them out of her and Kevin’s hair. She’d have to think this one over and she needed to be alone to do it.

"Well, unless you want to be ribbed about it until the day you die, you should get going. Otherwise, you’re going to be late."

"Shit. You’re right." With one last kiss good-bye, he turned and left.

Kristin smiled. She had plans to make.


Chapter Nine
BROKEN LOVE Contents