Persistence



Months passed by. And with every day, Nick forgave Michelle a little more. And with every day, they got a little closer as friends. Soon, things were just as they started. Nick and Michelle would just joke around like they used to do. And as far as they were concerned, there was no tension between them.

Nick even went so far as to invite her to come with him. They only had eight more tour dates. And he wanted her to join him so that he could have her to pal around with in person. Michelle accepted and she climbed aboard the Backstreet Bus the minute they rode through Tallahassee, where she now lived and attended FSU.

All of the guys knew who she was, having met her before when she dated Nick. The first person she encountered on the bus was Kevin. He was putting a snow boarding game into the Playstation when her saw her.

“Shell! I didn’t think you’d be here so soon. What’s up, girl?” He said, hugging her and smiling.

“Nothing much. Looking forward to chilling with you guys, that’s all.” He took her bags and sat them on the seat next to him. It was then that Brian entered the conversation.

“Who do we have here? Pretty girl on the bus! All hell is gonna break loose now.” Brian said, giving her a hug as well. Then he sat down to join Kevin in a game. Michelle excused herself to go find Nick. But on the way she came across AJ and Howie playing cards. Howie saw her and smiled. He was going to get up, but she signaled for him not to. She also put her fingers to her lips, not wanting him to mention her presence behind AJ.

AJ was just going to throw out a card when she put her hands over his eyes. He blinked a couple times, his long eyelashes tickling Michelle’s palms. He reached up and felt her wrists, then her forearms.

“Shelly... right?” He guessed, eyes still covered. She removed her hands and he turned to see her.

“How did you know?” She questioned, quite amazed that he figured her out.

“You’re wearing Candies perfume. My guess is you put a light spray on your left wrist, then you rubbed your right wrist onto that. Also, you’re bracelets. You always wear so many. Five on the left, six on the right. Lastly, your fingers smell like clay... you’ve been sculpting lately. It wasn’t hard to guess you, I never forget a woman’s trademarks. You know that.” She was in awe. He deciphered her, easy, like he knew her all too well.

“You are too good.” She said, still shocked. Then she bent down and hugged him. Giving him a peck on the forehead. She did the same to Howie. Then she started to look around for Nick. Not seeing him anywhere.

“Where is he?” She asked. AJ and Howie knew immediately who she was referring to. AJ pointed to a bunk towards the back, then continued to play cards. Michelle went to it and pulled back the curtain. Nick was sleeping soundly. She knew just how to wake him up and make him mad at the same time. She licked her finger, then stuck it in his ear.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, jerking up out of his sleep. He looked around, trying to gather his thoughts, then he realized he was still on the bus in his bunk. Once he had his mind straight, he focused on Michelle.

“Why did you do that?” He said, trying to rub the wetness out of his ear. He swung his legs out of the bunk and stood up. She gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. Nick still held on to her, his arms around her waist, not wanting to let go.

“I missed you so much.” He said, resting his forehead on hers. When Michelle felt they had been standing too close for too long, she backed away.

“I made you something.” She said, justifying why she shied away. She went and got her bag which was still sitting next to Kev. From inside she pulled out a gift-wrapped box. Nick accepted it and started to open it.

AJ and Howie stopped in the middle of their game to watch. Wanting to know also what the box contains. Nick got passed the wrap and the stuffing paper. Inside was a sculpture of his Prowler. Accurate in shape, style, color, and proportions. She actually sculpted it herself, painted it, burned it too. Nick was speechless.

“This is unbelievable!” He said, looking at it from all different kinds of dimensions.

“Thanks. I was just kind of thinking about you, found a picture of you in your Prowler, and worked from that.” He gave AJ and Howie a closer look. They too were quite impressed.

“Come here, I got something for you too.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the kitchenette of the bus. Once they were out of site, AJ started talking to Howie.

“Now Michelle... she’s the kind of girl I could get with. She’s smart, sexy, and she’s got a body to die for!” With his last word, he slapped down his winning hand. Howie through down his losing hand and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, the girl is fine. But she’s Nick’s. You can look at him and tell he still feels something for her.” Howie said, looking back into the kitchenette at the two, examining the happiness in Nick’s expression.

“Nah, man. They were over a long time ago. It’s almost been a year now. I don’t see nothing wrong with talking to her.” Howie crossed his arms over his chest, not buying AJ’s excuses.

“You have never been known to just ‘talk’ to a girl. I’m serious dude, Michelle is off limits. Whether it’s been a year of ten years... Nick will be seriously pissed with you if you get too close to her.” AJ shrugged.

“I’m not even tryin’ to hear that. Good game, good bye.” Was AJ’s swift reply. Then he got up and went to his bunk.

They reached the hotel around 2 in the morning. Everyone lumbered to their rooms to get some sleep. It had been a long day and they were looking forward to sleeping late, knowing they had nothing to do later during the day.

AJ was sitting on his bed when he felt the urge to get a snack, and maybe a soda. He reached into his pocket and checked how much loose change he had. Then he made his way down the long hallway to the soda and ice machine. He looked up and saw someone bending over, probably getting something out of the machine. Whoever it was cause his eye, well, her backside did.

He finally reached the vending machines, discovering that it was Michelle who had the midnight munchies too.

“I guess I’m not alone.” AJ said, leaning against the wall. She stoop upright with a bag of Cheetos in her hand.

“Guess not.” She replied, grinning. He looked at the bag and smiled.

“Remember what you used to call me?” Michelle realized he was referring to the cheetah on the bag. She would always joke with Nick about how AJ looked like Chester the cheetah when he wore his glasses. Even though he hated being compared to a bright orange Cheetos mascot, he liked the name.

“Ches... I remember. And I don’t care what you say, when you wear dark shades, blonde hair, and the right goat-t... you look just like him.” She put a few more coins into the soda machine and an ice-cold Sierra Mist fell. She went to pick it up, but AJ got it for her.

“Thanks.” She took the bottled soda from him and turned to leave.

“Night...” She said, walking back to her room. AJ just watched her go, biting his lip.

Michelle hadn’t long been in her room when the phone rang. She sat on the bed and put her snacks down. Then she answered it.

“Hello?”

“What are you doing sexy?” A deep voice asked. She recognized it right then and there.

“Minding my business. And you?”

Thinking about you naked. Masturbating to the thought. The usual.” He joked.

“You are so gross!” They both laughed.

“So, did you sleep on the bus at all?” He asked, with a motive.

“Yeah, it was uncomfortable.” She replied with a sigh.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe I should come over and give you a massage. That ought to relax you. What do you think?”

Michelle rolled her eyes and laid back on the bed. “I think that maybe you should stay in your own room for tonight.”

“How can I? There is an extremely sexy woman in the room next door to mine. And you expect me to keep my hormones at bay?” AJ toyed with her.

“You can be really lame, you know that?”

“Well, I try. But seriously... tell me more about yourself, Shell. I’m interested.”

“Like what?”

“I dunno... like what are your goals for the future? What are your dreams? And more importantly, what’s you deepest sexual fantasy?” AJ’s voice deepened a little more.

“Um, my goal for the future is to continue selling my artwork. Graduate college. And maybe get a job in some posh art gallery. Who knows? As for my biggest sexual fantasy... that would be to just to have sex in a place where there’s a high risk of getting caught. Especially by people you know and see often. That would be kind of cool. And oh my God, I cannot believe I just told you that!” She was shocked with herself for telling him something so personal and not thinking twice about telling.

“Well, you just got me hot, bothered, and hard as a brick. Thanks.” He said sarcastically. Michelle’s face felt tight.

“I feel awful now.” She whispered.

“No, don’t. People should reveal their sexual fantasies more often. Their more likely to come true that way. My biggest fantasy is to just make love to a girl that I really care about and do it slowly. I’m always so rough and quick with it. Just once I want to slow down, and enjoy every second of it.” His voice was a major turn-on and Michelle was afraid that she was getting lost in the moment.

“We should not be talking about this.” She interrupted.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, it’s just not right.” She was beginning to sweat.

“Oh, afraid you might enjoy talking to me too much?” And he was absolutely right. “Shell, all I wanna do is come over and talk to you. That’s all. You know I’m interested in you, and I just want to get a chance to know you. Now’s the best time because Nick will be all selfish with you tomorrow.” She thought about it.

“Ok, hurry up.” She hung up the phone and opened the door. She pulled him in quickly and they both sat on her bed. She scoped him out. He had taken his t-shirt off from earlier. Now he was sitting next to her, shirtless, wearing baggy gray sweat pants and a black stocking cap on his head. He just looked right back at her, except only at her eyes.

“Ok, we’re not talking.” She pointed out.

“Well, since I don’t know what to say to start a conversation. I’ll think aloud. For example, right now my mind is saying that you’d look really hot in see-through lingerie.” Michelle rolled her eyes and pushed him off of the bed.

“And what about Amanda? Nick said you two were pretty serious.”

“Not anymore. We’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t love each other enough to try to get along. So, we gave up and let go.” He explained, getting back on the bed with a smile. He got farther on the bed so that he was on his knees behind her. Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them.

“How’s that feel?” He whispered.

“Really good.” She whispered back.

“Lie down on your stomach.” She did as he told her. Then he lifted her shirt up, unfastening her bra so that he could rub her back with no limitations. There was lotion in the bathroom so he got it and poured some on her back, rubbing it in slowly.

“You’ve got skill.” She said. AJ went a little lower, massaging the small of her back. Then he bent over and kissed her shoulder, going far out onto a limb.

When he finished, he fastened her bra and pulled her shirt back down. Never sneaking a peak at her front. Once she was fully covered, she scooted up to the pillows and they laid next to each other.

Both were sleeping before 4 a.m. arrived.




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