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By: Calliope
We were having a blast on the dance floor. Partially because the DJ rocked and partially because I was in the mood to sweat off the moping session, but mainly because AJ is an incredible dancer. The man knows everything from tango to pop lock, and he has no qualms about dragging the less talented out on the floor with him. I had never in my life been so thankful to be considered the less talented. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t exactly hopeless. After years in college, I’d learned to dance to the top 40 stations without any problems. I didn’t step on toes anymore. I knew jack shit about ballroom dancing, though. Thankfully, AJ was a good—and phenomenally motivating—teacher. Every time I got a step right, he’d reward me with a searing kiss. It was amazing how quickly I was inspired to do well. At long last, though, one of the slower songs began to play, and AJ wrapped his arms around me for the traditional swaying side-to-side. I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes to relish in the respite when I heard a tenor voice behind me. “Hey, Bone, wanna trade for this number?” My eyes snapped open. No way. No freaking way. I’m finally starting to have fun. He wouldn’t choose now to finally acknowledge me. The vibrations of AJ’s raspy laugh washed through me. “Why, Nick? You jealous?” “A little. You’ve been hogging Lana all night. I want a chance to chat with her.” Okay, so maybe he WOULD choose now to acknowledge me. AJ wasn’t so quick to give in, though. “Where’s Stephanie?” Nick shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. She went to take a phone call.” AJ sighed heavily. “Well, it’s up to Lana.” Sensing my cue, I lifted my head long enough to meet AJ’s concerned gaze. “Beautiful, do you want to dance with Nick?” I glanced from the concerned AJ to a pouting Nick and groaned. “Sure.” Why not? We’ll just go ahead and nail the coffin shut now. Save time and all. He squeezed me for a moment, bringing his lips to my ear. “Good luck.” Then he passed me off to Nick, who placed two warm hands on my waist and gave me a tentative smile. “Hey.” I cracked a small but tired smile in return. “Hi. What’s up?” “Actually, I was just coming over to ask you the same question. You and AJ seem really close.” THAT’S what he wanted to talk to me about? I put on my game face, allowing myself a smile at the thought of my earlier conversation with AJ. “Yeah, we are. He’s an amazing man. A really good friend, too.” Nick furrowed his brow, allowing the longer pieces of his gelled hair to fall into his eyes. “Do you love him?” I sighed. Might as well play along. “I don’t know, Nick. If I don’t love him now, I’m pretty damn close.” He removed a hand from my waist to rake his fingers through his hair. “Shit.” “What?” “That’s what I was afraid of. Listen, Lana, you’re my best friend’s little sister. I’ve known you practically all your life, and as Brent’s friend, I feel obligated to look out for you.” I rolled my eyes. Oh, God, not the he-man thing again… “Nick, that’s nice, but I don’t need you to protect me.” He shook his head. “Lana, that’s not what I meant. I’d protect you from anything, yes, but right now, I’m here because there’s something you should know about AJ.” I frowned deeply. I had no idea where this discussion was headed. Had I known, I probably would’ve bolted, but those stupid blue eyes kept my feet planted in place. “What?” “He’s a ladies’ man, Lana.” Umm, duh? “I noticed.” “No, AJ’s a player. I know he’s charming and I know he treats you like a queen, but I’d bet good money that you’re not the only girl in his life right now. He likes to…well, he likes to keep his options open. He’s not known for his ability to remain faithful. Dating him, as fun as it may seem, could be a really bad idea in the long run.” I blinked once. Twice. I know my mouth was hanging open.
What the hell?
Nick closed his eyes for a moment before looking directly at me. “You need to stop dating AJ. If you keep dating him, you’re going to get burned.” “Is that a threat?” He looked remorseful. “No, hon. It’s more of an observation. He’s cheated on every girlfriend he’s ever had.” “So he’s going to cheat on me.” He nodded slowly. “Evidence would suggest so.” “Fuck evidence, Carter. I’m talking about AJ and I, not AJ and some hypothetical girlfriend. You know him. Do you think he would cheat on me?” He looked at me solemnly. “I don’t know, but I’m not willing to take the chance that he would.” I could feel my face getting hot. On Nick’s shoulders, my knuckles were turning white. The worst part was that I didn’t know why I was getting so angry about this. For all I knew, it was just Nick mouthing off. I didn’t know what would upset me more, though: Nick mouthing off, or AJ actually playing me for a fool. I blinked again. Had I really become that emotionally attached to AJ? But this was supposed to be a game! Just a way to get Nick to notice me so I could finally satisfy this stupid crush! Disregarding for a moment, of course, that said crush was rapidly deteriorating as the conversation continued. I had to hand it to AJ. Whether or not Nick was bluffing, AJ’s plan had worked. The blonde idiot had finally noticed me. “Why wait until now to tell me this?” Nick frowned. “I didn’t think you two would get so close so fast. I didn’t think he was your type.” “So why introduce me to him?” “I figured he’d charm you enough that you’d have fun on the date and stop crushing on me. I figured that you guys would be buddies or something. I figured that…” Wait. Whoa. Back-up. He figured that I’d stop crushing on him? “Wait, crushing on you? What?” The jerk actually had the nerve to chuckle at me. “Oh, come on, Lana. It was obvious that you liked me.” Yeah, that’s right. Liked. PAST TENSE. Who knew it would take one conversation with Nick Carter to cure me of my prepubescent infatuation? “So you dragged me on a double date KNOWING that I liked you?” He had the decency to look sheepish. “Well…yeah.” “And you invited someone who you knew would charm the pants off me, someone who you KNEW was bad news to women everywhere, just so that you could divert my attention from your sorry ass?” He blushed. “Well, when you put it like that…” “You did!” “Lana, look…” I shook my head. I’d had enough of this discussion. “No, Nick, YOU look. Your girlfriend’s an idiot. For a while, I felt sorry for you because I thought you were so much smarter than she is. Now, I know you’re just as stupid. The difference is that she still manages to treat people with respect.” He sighed and bit his lip. I didn’t care. I went on anyway. I was pissed. “I don’t know what your deal is. I don’t know if you’re really concerned about my well being or if you’re just upset that I’m no longer crushing on you, but I DO know that AJ’s been nicer to me in the past month than you have in the past four years.” He frowned. “Hey! I’ve been nice to you! I’ve never been mean to you. Not once, Lana.” “No, you just ignored me. Now, you might think that AJ doesn’t know how to treat a woman right. You might think that you’re in a place where you can pass judgment. You’re wrong, though. Take a look in the mirror, Carter. And don’t fucking judge my boyfriend until you’ve judged yourself by the same standards.” I took a deep breath and began walking towards the exit. “Lana, come back. Where are you going? Look, I know you’re mad at me, but you don’t have a ride home…” I whirled around long enough to glare at him. “I’ll take a cab.” Nick’s eyes widened. “Shit, Lana, Brent would kill me.” He was right. For once, I was grateful that my brother was so overprotective. “Good. I’ll help.” I reached the door of the benefit in a huff, but not soon enough to escape another confrontation. “Lana? Beautiful, what’s wrong?” I looked up into AJ’s eyes and was extremely surprised to find myself blinking back tears at the sight of him. “Nothing. Everything. Look, I’m going home.” AJ shook his head firmly. “Not alone, you’re not. I’ll go with you, and you can tell me what the hell Carter did this time.” I frowned. I was really, really angry to know that Nick had blown me off with full knowledge as to what he was doing. However, I was angrier with him because he’d made me doubt AJ’s sincerity. Through this whole stupid mess, AJ had been the one thing I could count on. After talking with Nick, I wasn’t sure if I could count on AJ anymore. Surprisingly, that doubt upset me more than anything. 21.
Ignoring The Problem Won't Make It Disappear
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