Lance looked up from his place on his bed. He was holding the TV remote loosely in his hand and was randomly hitting the channel button. "What am I going to love?" he asked tiredly.
"You know that girl you presented with in that awards show last winter in San Francisco?" Justin said as he walked over to the window. "On that trip where you picked up that chick Kelly?"
"Yeah, you mean Kelly White?" Lance swallowed hard and tried not to let his normally pasty skin turn even whiter.
"Yeah," Justin said enthusiastically. "Kelly White! Well, we’re going to do a guest spot on her show."
Lance paled for real. "We are?"
"Yeah, they’re trying to expand their viewing audience and after you and Kelly seemed to have such good, what’s the word, charisma on stage they decided to build in a little mini story line for you and us."
"For me?"
"Yeah, you meet her at a club or something and have a little innocent fling or some such crap. It should be fun though. It’s Kelly White Lance, talk about a chick I wouldn’t mind bagging."
"She’s not like that Justin." Lance tried to keep the edge out of his voice but was not successful.
"Down Scoop," Justin laughed. "I think you have a crush! You like her don’t you?" Justin moved over to the bed where Lance was. "You’re wishing you’d bagged her rather than that other Kelly chick. It’s funny how the two women in your life that trip were both named Kelly."
"Yeah funny," Lance said dryly. "And no, I don’t like her. She just seemed like a really sweet girl. That’s all."
"Lance, it’s always the sweet one’s who have the naughty streaks. Isn’t that true Lance? ‘Ride me harder?’ Wasn’t that your famous quote from your thirty seconds of pornographic phone calls?"
Lance turned bright red. "Shut up! It’s not like I knew I’d kicked the phone off its base. You guys never should have even been listening."
"Oh Kelly," Justin said imitating Lance. "Kelly, I’m cum—" He cracked up laughing. "That was just a TMI (AN: Too much information) moment."
"Justin, shut up!" Lance said.
"Just don’t tell Kelly White about that. You’d lose all chance of making it with her then."
"I’m not going to try to make it with Kelly White Justin. What sort of person do you think I am? She’s going to be our co-worker."
"Fine," Justin said. "Don’t act on your true feelings of love and lust for her. It’s your crush."
"I don’t have a crush on her Justin."
"Whatever," Justin said standing up. He went to the door and opened it up. "See you later Scoop." He almost had the door closed before he began singing, "Scoop has a crush, Scoop has a crush."
Lance lay back on the
bed as soon as the door was closed. "Oh my god," he said. "Oh my god."
"You always were the favorite sister," Megan Stephens said as she came into Kelly’s dressing room.
Kelly looked up from the magazine she was looking at with a small smile on her face. "What did I do now?" she asked.
"You get to have a date with a celebrity in the next episode." Megan sat down on the comfortable couch Kelly had in the dressing room.
Kelly perked up her ears. "Really? Who? Matt Damon? Nick Carter? Ben Affleck? All three?"
"Sorry, none of the above." Megan had a huge grin. "Who was the co-presenter you wouldn’t shut up about from that awards show last winter?"
Kelly paled. "Not, Lance Bass." She paused. "Please tell me it’s not Lance Bass."
"I thought you liked Lance, Kelly. And the producers went to so much trouble to get him on the show."
"Oh my god." Kelly brought her hands to her face. "I can’t believe I’m going to be seeing Lance again…"
"You sound like a girl who embarrassed herself in front of her crush." Megan scrutinized Kelly’s face. "Oh my god… You like Lance."
"I do not." Kelly looked stonily at the magazine. Much to her chagrin Lance’s face stared back at her.
"What happened between you two? Did you kiss or something?" Megan leaned forward. She watched as Kelly turned bright red. "You did. You kissed Lance Bass."
"Something like that," Kelly mumbled.
"I can’t believe you didn’t tell me." Megan said. "You went and kissed that man and you didn’t tell me."
"That’s all it was Megan, a kiss. It’s not like he likes me or anything. It’s not like I like him. It was just a kiss in the heat of the moment and that’s all it will ever turn into. That was all it was supposed to be."
"But now he’s coming back and suddenly that logic doesn’t seem so simple anymore."
Kelly looked at the
magazine and grimaced. "Something like that."
Lance was looking in the mirror. His hair was it’s normal spiky self, his jeans and shirt were the same old ones, but somehow, today, it didn’t seem like enough. He ran his hand over the spikes again. He was only messing them up now. He took a deep breath. Someone should be coming to get him for his tour of the studio soon. He was here a day early since the rest of the guys only had a minor part and he had a bigger role. This could only be awkward. There was a knock on his door.
"Come in," he called. "Doors open."
The door opened slowly. "Hi Lance."
Lance was looking in the mirror and he saw Kelly standing shyly at the door. "Kelly."
"I thought maybe if I were to give you a tour we might be able to get over the inevitable awkwardness."
"Yeah," Lance said. "That’s probably a good idea." He paused for a moment. "You know if I’d known we were going to keep running into each other, I never would have suggested doing a one night stand."
"I know," Kelly said quietly. She came into the room and shut the door. "I don’t regret doing it though, even if it does seem awkward every time we get thrown together."
Lance moved closer to Kelly. "I don’t regret doing it either, and I should. I mean I’m Lance, the shy innocent one. I should feel guilty because I know the only reason we did any of this is because we were too drunk to think clearly. I don’t feel guilty though; There’s just something about you."
"There’s something about you too Lance," Kelly said as she took the final step between them. "I don’t know why I just want to kiss you every time I see you, cause that’s all I want to do."
"That’s all I want to do too Kelly." Lance leaned down and pressed his lips to Kelly’s.
They became more involved in the kiss and Kelly put her hands on Lance’s chest. He moaned lightly into the kiss. Suddenly Lance pulled away.
"We can’t do this anymore Kelly. We’re co-workers now. This would just increase the awkwardness." Lance took a step backwards.
"Do you really want that Lance?" Kelly asked stepping towards him again. "I can’t believe I’m doing this," she said quietly.
Lance looked at Kelly. She licked her lips softly. Her eyes took on a pleading quality. He looked away and then back at her. "No. I want you."
"Good." Kelly put her lips against Lance’s but before they touched she murmured "So, are you going to fuck me here or are we going to make it back to your hotel room."
"Think we can make it back to the hotel room?" Lance asked quietly.
"Probably not," Kelly laughed and pressed her lips to Lance’s.
"I think you’re right," Lance said as he pulled away slightly. He pulled her back towards the couch.
"I know I am," Kelly
said.
JC stormed through the halls of the studio. "I can’t believe Lance isn’t answering his phone. We’re supposed to be at that meeting with management in ten minutes. Where is he?"
Justin was running along behind him. "JC, calm down. Did you at least ask directions to Lance’s dressing room?"
"Of course I did," JC said as he stopped and turned around. "Are you going to help me find it or am I just going to have to yell down the hall."
Justin stopped two doors behind JC. "This is it JC."
"Finally," JC huffed. He started banging on the door. "Lance, are you in there? Come on, we’ve got to go."
There was no answer.
Justin lightly shoved JC out of the way and turned the doorknob. "Start with the most obvious ways of seeing if he’s there." The door swung open and JC and Justin stopped laughing and stared with their mouths hanging wide open. JC immediately covered Justin’s eyes but Justin pushed his hand away.
"Lance!" JC yelled.
Lance and Kelly looked over from their place on the couch where they were in various stages of undress. Their hair was mussed and their clothes rumpled. Kelly’s shirt was by the door and Lance’s pants were on the dressing table.
"Hi JC," Lance said flushing bright red. "Justin, you remember Kelly."
"Lance," Justin said, shocked. "When I said that I thought you should bag Kelly White, I didn’t mean literally." He paused registering what Lance had just said. "Wait, you’re Kelly?"
Kelly turned even redder. "Hi Justin, I was just taking advantage of your friend the sex machine."
Justin turned pale. "Lance, you’ve been fucking Kelly White and you didn’t fucking tell me?"
Lance and Kelly both blushed harshly.
"Oh my god," Justin laughed. "You must have been dying when I was talking about you and your crush on Kelly."
Kelly looked at Lance. "You have a crush on me?"
"No," Lance growled. "Just in Justin’s delusional mind."
Kelly suddenly realized that she was half-naked. "If you guys could excuse us, we do need to get dressed."
JC and Justin blushed. "Yeah, we’ll be out in the hall," JC said. "And Lance, you’d better be ready for a lecture."
Lance groaned and watched as the door shut. "Next time Kelly? We lock the door."
"Who’s saying there’s going to be a next time?" Kelly asked. "I was planning on making this a one night stand."
Lance leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. "Sorry babe, its already progressed way past that."
"So you think I can sneak into your hotel tonight, because from the look on JC’s face you aren’t going to be sneaking out."
Lance laughed loudly. "What did I do before I met you Kelly?"
"You must have been one horny bastard," Kelly laughed.
"That just describes
me in two words," Lance said.
The door to the limousine was open as Lance stepped out of the television studio. He could hear the rest of the guys’ voices through the open door. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and willed the flush away from his cheeks.
"Hey guys," he said cheerily.
JC and Justin both had smirks on their faces and Chris and Joey were looking at Lance like he had a second head.
"Did I miss something?" Lance asked innocently. He was laughing inwardly. It wasn’t every day he made the rest of the guys speechless. "Cause you know if we’re just going to sit here in the parking lot silently I have better things I could be doing, like learning my lines for that fabulous show."
"Or fucking Kelly White," Justin coughed.
"Yes Justin, or fucking Kelly."
Chris and Joey had looked like they were almost ready to break out of their stupor but at the mention of the f-word from Lance’s mouth their mouths redropped. The limousine started moving.
"I didn’t even know you knew that word scoop," Joey said in an awed tone.
"He can use it in a sentence too," Justin said. "Or no, sorry, that was ‘ride me,’ wasn’t it scoop? Oh well, they mean the same thing."
"Why are you guys so shocked?" Lance asked in mock exasperation. "I picked up a girl, we went back to my hotel, we met the next day, we went back to my hotel again. I see her three months later and…"
"And you’re getting ready to fuck her on the couch in your dressing room," Chris interrupted. "What happened to our shy little virgin boy?"
"Um, guys," Lance said with a smile on his face. This was just too much fun. "I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but there hasn’t been a shy little virgin boy since I was 14. Just because I don’t pick up all the fans doesn’t mean that I don’t have fun occasionally. I mean Danielle and I…"
"I don’t want to know," JC said covering his ears. "It’s bad enough that I had to hear you on the phone and then almost walk in on you. I don’t want to know what you and your ex did." He paused for a moment as the rest of the guys laughed. "Can I ask you something Lance?"
"Shoot," Lance said.
"Aren’t you going to get hurt Lance?" JC looked at his friend concerned.
"Why would I get hurt?" Lance looked confused.
"You’re sleeping with this girl whom you obviously have feelings for. What happens when she decides it’s just a fling. Or what happens to her when you decide it’s just a fling?"
"It is just a fling JC," Lance said. "It’s never been anything more. Let’s just call it an extended one-night stand. I don’t love her. She doesn’t love me. We just have this little mutual attraction thing going which makes it impossible to keep our hands off each other."
"I just don’t want to see you hurt," JC said. The rest of the guys nodded in agreement.
"You realize you’re playing with fire, don’t you Lance?" Joey asked.
"Guys, don’t worry
about me," Lance said shaking his head. "We know what we’re doing.
JC and Justin were sitting in the living room of the suite they’d gotten. The TV was turned up loudly. It wasn’t enough to drown out the moans from Lance’s room.
"You know," Justin said. "This is something I never thought I’d hear."
JC nodded. "It’s something I never wanted to hear."
"It’s something I still don’t want to hear," Chris said coming out of his room. "Do you think they could be any louder?"
Joey came out of his room. His pajamas were rumpled. "What’s wrong with this picture?" he asked the rest of the guys as he and Chris sat down. "We’re the ones out here listening to Lance in the bedroom. I never thought that I’d be on the receiving end of this little arrangement."
"Don’t they ever stop?" Justin groaned. "I mean they go at it while I’m on the phone with Lance, they do it the entire night before and I’m guessing the night after. They’ve been in there for the last five hours. What happened to our Lance?"
Chris shook his head. "I don’t know. It’s like we’ve entered the twilight zone."
The rest of the guys looked at Chris and began humming the twilight zone theme.
Suddenly the door opened. Lance came out wearing boxers. The other guys looked at him in shock.
"Hey guys," Lance said. "It’s after midnight. What are you all still doing up?"
"Well," Joey said. "One of our roommates is having a little party in his room and the noises woke some of us up."
"Oh," Lance said. His face fell slightly. "I’m sorry."
Justin felt bad for Lance all of a sudden. He’d certainly had to listen to all of them before. "Don’t worry scoop, just have fun."
Lance grinned at Justin. "Don’t worry, I am, as I’m sure you can hear." He paused. "You guys weren’t planning on finishing that ice cream or chocolate syrup were you?"
"No, why?" JC asked. "Need to refuel?"
Lance blushed. "Something like that."
"Go ahead," JC said.
Lance grabbed the ice cream and the syrup. "See you guys in the morning."
"Lance?" JC asked. "Don’t you need spoons or bowls?"
"Nope," Lance said happily. "Goodnight guys."
Justin just closed his eyes. "He’s not doing what I think he’s doing is he?"
"You were the one who told him to have fun curly," Chris groaned.
"But it’s Lance in there. He can’t be. He’s not." Justin shook his head adamantly.
Justin was almost interrupted by a shriek. "Lance, that’s cold." Kelly could be heard laughing. The laugh quickly turned to a moan.
"Oh god," Justin said. "This is going to be one long night."
"Do you have any ear
plugs?" JC asked. "Anyone?"
Lance woke up with a warm body pressed against his. He smiled recalling last night. His mouth still tasted like chocolate. His face still felt sticky. He reached out one hand and lightly stroked Kelly’s hair. The hand stuck to the hair and when he pulled Kelly opened her eyes.
"Hey," she smiled. "I almost thought you were a dream. I’ve been dreaming almost the same one for three months."
"So have I," Lance said. He kissed the top of her head lightly. "Can I ask you something?"
Kelly pulled herself up so she was even with Lance. "Yeah, go ahead."
"What are we? The guys were going on about one of us getting hurt and I just decided that maybe we should specify what we are. Are we just a prolonged one-night stand? Are we more? Are we just people who like to sleep together?"
Kelly was silent. "I don’t know Lance. I like you a lot, but I don’t love you. I don’t think I ever will. It’s just this incredible attraction. You make me feel good about me. I don’t want to be in a relationship with you. We are more than a one-night stand however."
"I don’t like you in the love sort of way either Kelly. As perverted as it sounds I’d just like to be, well to put it crudely, fuck buddies."
"That’s what we’ll be then Lance," Kelly said. "No commitment, no responsibilities to the other person. Just fun."
"That’s what this is for right?" Lance asked. "Fun?"
"Yep, fun," Kelly said. She pulled Lance on top of her. "I know I’m ready for some fun and I think I can feel that you are."
"Fun has never sounded
more fun," Lance said.
Chris bit down on his sausage. "It’s eight in the morning. What are they doing?"
"What they were doing all night?" Justin asked dryly. "Or did you guys fall asleep before they did at six. I know I sure didn’t."
"You obviously slept through the seven o’clock round curly," JC said as he scrubbed at his eyes. "We’re all supposed to look good for today’s show right?"
"Yep," Lance said coming out of the room. "God you guys look like crap."
Joey glared at Lance. "I wonder whose fault that is?" he asked.
Lance looked around the room behind him. He grinned as he saw all the guys glaring at him. "You don’t mean me?"
"Not just you." Justin said. "I’d be very afraid if it was just you."
Kelly came out of the bedroom. Her hair was wet. "Hey guys. You all look like crap! Did you not sleep very well?"
The guys glared at her.
"Now would probably be a good time to ask him Lance," Kelly whispered loudly.
Lance laughed and the rest of the guys looked confused.
"JC," Lance started in a whiny tone. "Can I please spend the night at Kelly’s tonight? Please, please, please JC, please?"
The rest of the guys looked at Lance and nodded vigorously.
JC groaned and glared at Lance. "Please do."
"Thanks dad!" Lance said happily. "See Kelly, I told you if we kept them up all night he’d have to say yes."
Chris glared at Lance. "That was the only reason you kept us up all night?"
Lance just started
laughing. "No, that was not the only reason." He pulled Kelly to him and
kissed her deeply. "This was the reason."
Lance lay down on the light blue comforter covered bed. The room just yelled Kelly. He heard the shower turn off and he rolled over to see Kelly come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
"You realize you’re the first man that I’ve ever brought back to my apartment," she said quietly.
"I am?" Lance asked.
"Yeah, I’ve always gone to the guys house. Or hotel room." She paused and looked at Lance. "I wanted to bring you here though. Why is that?"
Lance looked at her and Kelly shrugged. "I don't know Kelly. I have no clue what's happening between us, except I really like it." He paused. "And I know I don't want to lose touch with you this time around."
"Yeah," Kelly said. "I know what you mean." She lay down on the bed and curled up next to Lance. "I’m really glad you came to do the show. I was sort of worried when I first heard, but now I’m happy."
"I think it’s good that we got to see each other outside that one weekend setting." Lance stroked Kelly’s hair lightly. "Do you want to do anything tonight, or just lie here?"
"I know I want to kiss you and I think we'll see where it leads from there." Kelly shivered as Lance kissed her neck. She turned her head to meet his lips.
When Lance pulled away he was laughing "It was too much fun to see the guys faces when I went to get the ice cream and chocolate syrup."
"I wish I could have seen them," Kelly laughed. She rolled over on her back and pressed her lips to Lance's again. He rolled on top of her. "You know?" Lance said. "You still taste like chocolate."
TO BE CONTINUED...