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By: Calliope
“Oh my God.” “What?” “I think the world is ending. Have you looked out the window today? Are pigs flying?” Brent turned his gaze to Nick. “Quick, call your mom and see if hell has frozen over.” “Why would my mom know if…” Nick frowned. “Not funny, Brent.” “I thought it was.” Brent chuckled to himself. “Damn, Lana. I never thought I’d live to see the day that you actually walked out of the house wearing something decent.” Oh, if you only knew… I rolled my eyes. “Fuck you, too.” Brent continued laughing as he clapped Nick on the back. “I don’t know what you did, man, but thanks a ton. Y’all better be safe driving to Orlando.” Nick nodded. I rolled my eyes again. “Yeah, right. Have you seen Nick drive?” He glared at me. “Hey! My driving isn’t that bad!” “Keep telling yourself that, buddy. Just be glad they don’t make you take a new drivers’ test every time you get your license renewed. You’d be a professional bus rider.” “Ha ha ha,” Nick grumbled. “Man, someone’s always got to be a smartass…” “Yeah. Funny how it never seems to be you.” Brent grinned amiably. “Have fun driving with her, man.” Nick groaned again, and Brent let out another laugh. “Oh, no…you’d better not complain. Remember, I’ve got to live with her.” “Yeah, but she has to live with you,” Nick fired with a matching grin. “I think y’all are even.” “Whatever. Get out of here. I’ve only got one night of peace, and I intend to use it wisely.” Two seconds later, we were buckling seatbelts in Nick’s Escalade. I peeked over my shoulder and grinned at the sight of a dress lying across Nick’s backseat. Not just any dress, either. It was the dress. The mannequin’s dress. The dress that had caused Nick’s jaw to graze the tile of the dress shop floor for just a little too long before he realized what he was doing and told me that it was a bad, bad idea for me to buy that dress if I was going to wear it anywhere in the vicinity of my brother. Well, I kinda took his advice, right? I hadn’t worn the dress around Brent. I would, however, take great pleasure in wearing said dress around Nick. I was beginning to think that I’d enjoy wearing the dress around AJ, too. I turned back around in the passenger seat and shot Nick what I hoped was a winning smile. “Thank you SO much for agreeing to sneak this out for me.” He rolled his eyes. “Lana, you threatened to break into my house with Brent’s key, take revealing photographs of Stephanie and I, and send them to Jake. I didn’t have much of a choice.” I stifled the giggle that threatened to spill out. “Yeah, sorry about that. I just really wanted to look pretty for AJ tonight.” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Nick’s scowl. Lying about AJ came to me so easily now that it was positively frightening. Even more frightening was the knowledge that, half of the time, I wasn’t really lying. Damn the Backstreet Boys. Damn them straight to hell. I mean, they might even enjoy it there, right? They could make friends with Elvis. I bet AJ and Elvis would have a fabulous time together. Those two seem like they would’ve gotten on quite well. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking?” I snickered at Nick’s apprehensive look. “Probably not.” “Look, just be nice when Stephanie gets in the car, okay? I don’t mind you torturing me…well, not that much. But Steph doesn’t really understand sarcasm so well. She might take offense.” Oh, so it’s Steph now? I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Hanging out with Nick and helping him pick out stuff for the event tonight had been fun. Hearing about Stephanie had even been tolerable. Spending time with Stephanie, however, was not getting any easier. Hopefully, I’d be too drunk by the end of the evening to notice that she was there. “Nick, no offense, but Stephanie doesn’t understand a lot of things too well.” He sighed heavily and braked for the upcoming red light. “She’s just a little bit naïve. I think it’s kind of cute.” “Kind of is a good term for it,” I muttered. He groaned. “I know she gets tedious sometimes, okay? She’s really sweet, though. She cares so much about everyone around her…” “She’s anti-fire and forest-friendly…” At long last, he glared at me. “Are you ever going to quit teasing me about that?” I chuckled. “Not as long as you keep reacting like that, I’m not.” He groaned again. “You know, you and AJ really are a good match.” I tried to fight it, but I grinned nonetheless. I’d been having way too much fun with AJ. He and I meshed well together, especially when we were plotting new ways to torment Nick. I was actually looking forward to going to that evening’s soirée with him. “Yeah, Age is a pretty amusing character.” It was Nick’s turn to roll his eyes. “That’s one way of putting it, I suppose.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “All right, Carter, I’m willing to make a deal.” “Oh?” “Yeah. You leave my man alone tonight, and I won’t tease you about your girlfriend.” He looked up at me in surprise. “Really?” “Really.” His eyebrows rose in appreciation. “Wow. You’re really concerned with preserving AJ’s dignity, huh?” I expelled a breath. “Actually, I was trying to call a truce. While we’re on the subject, though, I’m more concerned about your girl’s frail little ego.” He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like profanity before heaving another sigh. “Fine, truce.” I smiled. Just by the perturbed look on his face, I knew this was going to be worth it. -------------------------------------------- “Baby? You’ve got to hurry. We’ve got to go.” I grinned at the sound of AJ’s voice through the bathroom door. Truth to tell, changing wouldn’t normally have taken me so long, but I’d spent about five minutes exploring the contents of his bathroom. I didn’t tell him that. I was on a mission to seduce him, and something warned me that my bathroom investigation might ruin the mood. “I’m done, babe. Just step away from the door, and we’re ready to go.” I heard the click of his shoes against the hardwood floor and allowed myself one more glance in the mirror. I was showing more skin than should be legal-enough to send Brent to the emergency room three times over-but the dress looked fabulous. I smiled at my reflection and exited the bathroom. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…” “Would not look half as good in this dress?” I offered with a sheepish smile. AJ laughed. “Definitely not. Wow. Just…wow. That’s amazing.” I twirled a small circle, and he hugged me. Then he turned a surprised gaze on Nick. “Man, did you really help her pick this out?” Nick didn’t reply. Nick’s jaw was still stuck to the floor. In fact, Nick’s jaw was starting to make a dent in the floor. Not to mention the fact that his tongue was starting to look like a makeshift red carpet… AJ laughed. “I take it she didn’t model it for you, huh?” Nick’s eyebrows rose, and he finally closed his mouth. “Umm…” He paused to swallow. Visibly. “Wow.” AJ grinned. “That’s what I say.” “No. No, no.” Nick rubbed his palms against the fabric of his suit pants. “Lana, that shows a surprising amount of skin…” Stephanie frowned. “Silly Nicky. No it doesn’t!” She smiled kindly at us. “He’s seen me naked before.” AJ’s eyebrows threatened to touch the ceiling. Nick blushed about ten different shades of crimson. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing. “What? He has! He shouldn’t be embarrassed. He said he liked naked girls.” AJ chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll bet he did.” Nick blanched and cleared his throat. “We need to go. We’re going to be late.” AJ bit back a smile. “You want me to drive, Kaos?” “N-no. I’ve got it.” AJ snickered. “Oh, I see. You just want to look at Lana through the rearview mirror, huh? Isn’t she beautiful, Nick?” Nick tossed AJ the keys and, without another word, turned on his heel and began walking towards the car. AJ grinned at me and arched an expectant eyebrow. “Mission accomplished?” I indulged the high-five he offered and giggled. “You’re horrible.” “But you love it.” I did. I honestly did.
19.
Smile Like You Mean It
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