“So he’s staying here all summer?”

     I nodded my head in affirmation, as I twirled the olive around in my martini glass.  “Yup.  All summer.”

     “At your house?”

     I sighed heavily.  “No, but he might as well be.  You know how tight he and Brent are.  They’ve been hanging out every day.  It’s hard to avoid him.”

     “Not that you want to avoid him…”

     I shot Hannah a dirty look, but she waved her hand in dismissal.  “Oh, don’t give me that.  You know you’re eating it up.  I’m sure you’d rather have him hanging out with you every day, but having him around can’t be all that bad.”

     I threw my hands up in frustration, abandoning the martini for a moment so that I could really make my point.  “It is when I can’t make decent conversation with the man!”  And was he ever a man.  My thoughts trailed off and I licked my lips subtly, thinking of what I might do if I could ever make more than decent conversation with that man.

     Unfortunately, Hannah smacked me out of my daydreams.  “G-rated thoughts, please.  You want to explain why it is that you can’t make decent conversation with him?”

     Groan.  “I don’t know.  Because he’s hot?  Because he never looks at me for more than a minute?  Because Brent’s always in the room?  Oh, no, wait.  I know.  Maybe it’s because I’m ridiculously crushed out and he makes me freaking nervous!  Yeah, that must be it.”

     I knew when Hannah rolled her eyes that the sarcasm was getting me nowhere that evening.  That’s the thing about Hannah, see.  Out of everyone in the world—Nick freaking Carter included—she’s the least likely to take my shit.

     “Sweetie, I know you, and I know that after three years in college, you’re a decently intelligent girl.  Learn to overlook the fact that he overlooks you and say something that commands attention.”

     “’Cause that’s a really easy thing to do,” I scoffed.  As if.

     “It is!  Have you seen Clueless?” 

     At the mention of Alicia Silverstone’s monstrosity of a cinematic effort, I rolled my eyes and began scanning the dance floor.  I’d put up a hell of a fight for my dress, and I fully intended to make good use of it that night.  Maybe Nick wasn’t impressed enough to stare at me for longer than a few seconds, but some other guy would be.  Never mind that he wouldn’t be near as gorgeous, or as funny as my brother’s best friend.

     Never mind that my stupid brother had chosen that exact moment to begin walking towards me with a speed he hadn’t had since his existence as a four-year-old.

     “Lana?  What the hell are you doing here?”

     I rolled my eyes.  “I could ask you the same question.  I left before you did.”

     He shrugged loosely, taking a slow sip of his beer.  Naughty boy, my brother is.  “Nick and I decided to get the other guys from the band and hit the clubs tonight.  It’s been a long day for everyone and we needed some way to unwind.”

     Hannah, forever on my side, arched an eyebrow.  “And you couldn’t have done it somewhere else?”

     Brent sighed again.  “Hey, Hannah.  It’s not like we knew you girls were going to be here.”

     Shit.  And it’s not like I knew Nick fucking Carter was going to be here.  I subconsciously tugged on the hem of my dress, sucked my stomach in, and tried to appear sexy and nonchalant.

     “It’s cool.  Whatever.  Just…don’t go all possessive and Tarzan when I find a cute guy to dance with, okay?”

     Brent snorted.  “Like I’m going to be watching you dance?  Contrary to popular belief, I’m not here to baby-sit you, Lana.  I’m here to have a good time.”

     I nodded, my gaze firmly on the dance floor.  “Good.  So are we.”  And, with that, I strutted around my brother and into the throng of people on the dance floor.

     A handful of grinding bodies immediately accosted me, Hannah’s included, but I was a woman on a mission.  Nick was there, and I was determined to find him.  I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say if I did find him, but that didn’t matter.  Point was, Nick and I were in the same place at the same time and I looked damn good.  I had to play it up somehow, right?

     Wrong.

     It didn’t take me long to find him.  He was happily situated to the right of the bar, grinding against some sensual little blonde thing that I could’ve broken over one knee.  The second I saw him, I began tugging nervously on a lock of my own chestnut-brown hair.  I was about to be cordial when he bent down and ran his tongue along the side of blonde chick’s ear.

     Man, some girls have ALL the luck.

     “You know he’s not going to remember her name in the morning, right?”

     Normally, I’d thank God for Hannah’s infinite wisdom and careful foresight, but I was too disturbed by the sight of my brother’s best friend grinding against someone else.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I knew I didn’t exactly have claims on him or anything, but…there’s something about seeing your crush with someone else that renders you completely motionless and a tad bit hopeless too.

     Somehow, I found the energy to reply.  “Yeah, I know.”

     “At least he knows your name, right?”

     I sighed heavily.  “Maybe so, but he’ll never say my name like he’ll be screaming hers later.”

     “Don’t be so sure.”

     I turned to her with two arched eyebrows and a doubtful countenance.  “Of what?  That he’ll be screaming her name later?  If he’s anything like my brother, they won’t make it through the next song before he decides it’s time to go some place ‘quieter’ so they can ‘get to know each other better’.”

     Hannah wrapped a reassuring arm around my shoulders and sighed with me.  “Just keep telling yourself that you’ll be the one feeding him Advil tomorrow morning.”

     All it took was one glance in his direction to know that that wouldn’t be enough.  When he traced a line from blonde girl’s shoulder to her butt, I couldn’t help but wish that I was the one with his hands on me.  And when he tipped her head back and kissed her?  Well, let’s just not go there.

     Some girls have ALL the luck.  I’m just not one of them.

4. Introductions are Everything
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