Authors: Andria Large
"Yeah...just,
ew
," I say with a fake gag tacked on the end,
making Dean laugh even harder.
"I
love this girl!" Dean exclaims, slapping his thigh.
Ace
groans again.
After
the laughter dies down and Ace sits back up, I ask, "So was there a reason
you came by?"
"We
were going to see if you wanted to go out to a club and hang with us for a bit,
but you’re obviously not planning on going anywhere," Ace says, making a
show of looking over my outfit.
"Aren't
you exhausted after dancing all day?" I gawk. Shit, I know I am.
Ace
shrugs. "Meh, I still have enough energy to party a little bit."
I
narrow my eyes at him. "Are you on drugs?"
His
mouth drops open as Dean snickers. "What? No!" Ace says, actually
sounding offended. "
It’s
just part of my
lifestyle - work hard, party harder. We're not staying out too late; just wanna
go get a couple of drinks to relax."
I
glance at the clock on the cable box. "It's already nine o'clock. What’s
considered not too late? Three in the morning?" I ask dryly.
"More
like two." Dean shrugs, a teasing smile on his handsome face.
"Come
on, it'll be fun," Ace says.
I
shake my head. "Not tonight. Ask me again on Friday when I don't have to
get up early the next day."
Dean's
eyebrows shoot up to his hairline and he looks absolutely stunned. Ace shakes
his head as if he hadn't heard me right.
"Really?
No?" he asks in confusion.
I
frown at him. "Not tonight."
"Wow,
that's a first," Dean mumbles and scratches his chin.
I
look at him like he's crazy. "What? That I don't want to go out tonight?
That I don't want to feel like shit tomorrow because I didn't get enough sleep?
Sounds responsible to me. I'm no pop star; I have to actually present myself
well to keep my job."
Ace
flinches. "Well, shit."
"We
better head out then, man, come on," Dean says, giving Ace's shoulder a
clap.
I
stand to walk them out. Dean holds out his fist to me. I give him a pound.
"I like you, Nicole. You’re a smart and respectable woman," he says
softly and sends me a wink.
I
blush fifty shades of red at the compliment. "Thanks," I breathe.
He
opens the door and waits for Ace. Ace stands and comes over to me. He stops in
front of me, his blue eyes piercing mine. "Women usually don't say no to
me," he starts, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I kinda like it,"
he growls.
Then
without another word, he turns and leaves with Dean. I stare at the door for a minute
before shaking my head and hopping back into bed. Ace might be sexy as all hell,
and it was very tempting to go out with them, but I know myself, and I know
that I would feel like dog doo-doo in the morning. So no fun until the weekend
when we get a break.
~Ace~
"I
should not have had that last drink last night," I groan from behind my
aviator sunglasses as I follow the guys into the dance studio.
I
feel like shit. I ended up getting totally wasted last night and now I'm dying
of a hangover. My stomach has been rolling since I got up and I've already
puked a couple of times. My head is pounding and I have no idea how I'm going
to make it through the day.
"Yeah,
or the five before that." Dean grunts.
"Fuck
you," I sneer. I pop my sunglasses on top of my head and glare at him.
Dean
chuckles. "Dude, put those back on, you look like elephant shit," he
says as we all pile into the elevator to go up to the studio reserved for us.
As the elevator takes off, my stomach pitches and I swallow back the bile that
rises in my throat.
"Oh
god..." I groan and place a hand on my stomach.
"I
swear to god, don't you dare throw up on me," Beau snaps fiercely.
"Yeah
man, same here," Roland mutters as he backs into the corner of the
elevator with Everett.
"If
you puke, I'm next, I can't handle that," Everett says anxiously.
"You
really shouldn't go out on nights we're working the next day," Roland says
with a sigh because it's not the first time that he's said it.
I
close my eyes and focus on breathing through my nose. "Can you all just
shut the fuck up?" I pant.
As
soon as the elevator opens, I sprint to the bathroom. I throw up the last of
whatever is in my stomach and continue to dry heave for a few minutes. Fuck! I
need to lie down. I am in no position to dance. Once I'm convinced that the
heaving is done, I head to the sink to splash some water on my face and rinse
out my mouth. I shove a piece of gum in my mouth and put my aviators back on.
Dean wasn't joking when he said that I looked like elephant shit.
I
drag myself into the studio. As soon as I enter, all eyes are on me. I glance
at Kara, our choreographer; she is standing in front of the mirrors with her
hands on her hips, a disapproving frown on her pretty face.
"Nice
of you to join us.
Can you please
take your place?" she asks, her tone hard and clipped. Kara doesn't play
games; she's serious when it comes to her art.
I
shake my head. "You're gonna have to start without me. I need to lie down
for a little bit," I rasp, heading over to the back wall to lie down.
"Unbelievable,"
Kara bites out in exasperation. "It's only the second day, Ace. This is
unacceptable."
I
groan as I lower myself to the floor. "Yeah, I know, sorry," I
mumble.
I
stretch out along the floor on my stomach, resting my head on my arm. After a
tense moment of silence, Kara barks out orders and starts the practice. I
almost immediately fall back to sleep.
I'm
woken up a short while later by a hand stroking my hair. I drag open my eyes as
I reach up to pull off my sunglasses. When I look up to see who is touching me,
it is not who I want it to be. Hillary is kneeling next to me with a bottle of
water in one hand while the other is stroking my hair. I look around and see
that everyone is taking a break. Nicole is over by the windows talking and
smiling with Dean.
Dammit!
"Here,
this will help your hangover," Hillary says, bringing my attention back to
her.
I
shove myself up to a sitting position. Thankfully, my stomach is feeling
better. She holds out the bottle of water. I am really thirsty, but I really
don't want to take anything that she's offering. I shake my head and wave a
dismissive hand at her.
"I'm
good," I croak, sounding anything but.
Hillary
frowns and narrows her eyes at me. I ignore her and glance toward Nicole again.
I scowl when I notice that Dean is touching her arm. He's trying to sweet talk
her. Fucker. I saw her first and I will not let him weasel his way in. I shove
up to my feet and walk over to them. They both look over at me when I stop next
to them.
"So
you
are
alive," Nicole teases
with an amused glint in her eye.
I
give her a dry look that makes her snicker. Then I turn to Dean. "Can I
talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure,
what's up?" Dean asks.
"Alone?"
Dean
nods and follows me out of the studio. We head out onto the terrace. Dean goes
over to the little bistro set and plops down into one of the chairs and props
his feet up on the railing.
"What's
up?" he asks.
"What
do you think you're doing with Nicole?" I ask straight up.
Dean's
eyebrows shoot up. "What are you talking about?" he asks, honestly
confused.
"You're
flirting with her."
"So?
Am I not allowed to flirt? She's single, I'm single, it's what single people
do," he replies.
"Man,
you know I like her," I huff.
"I
do? I thought you just wanted to fuck her." He counters.
I
go to reply but snap my mouth shut. Is that all I want from her? Sure, I do
want that from her. But there's more to it than that. I really do like her, so
far. I actually want to get to know her better. I haven't felt the urge to do
that with a woman since Hannah, my ex. I rub the back of my neck and pace away
from Dean for a moment. When I turn back to him, he is looking at me with a
curious yet knowing expression on his face.
"No,
I don't just want to fuck her," I say, shaking my head.
Dean
purses his lips and nods. "Okay, I'll back off."
I
return the nod. "Thanks."
"If
you fuck up, though, I'm gonna be all over that. Nicole is pretty awesome and I
like her, too," Dean says seriously.
I
nod again. We head back inside and I grab a bottle of water out of the mini
fridge that's in there. I chug the whole bottle. As I go to throw it out,
Hillary meets me at the trashcan.
"You
know, I offered you a water earlier, you could have taken it," she huffs.
"And
give you the wrong idea? No thanks," I mutter.
I
turn away from her before she can reply and head over to Nicole, who is now
chatting with Kara. As I come up to them, Kara gives me an expectant look. I
sigh.
"I'm
sorry, Kara. I swear, it will never happen again," I say sincerely.
Kara
stares at me for a moment before nodding slowly. "It better not or I will
have words with Lizette."
"No,
no, you won't need to do that," I rush to say. I do not need to get chewed
out by Lizette. Because if she chews me out then so will Beau. I really don't
want that.
She
smirks. "I hope not."
Then
Kara calls for break time to be over as she walks away. I glance at Nicole. She
shakes her head at me. I roll my eyes.
"Shut
up." I sigh.
"I
didn't say anything." She smiles.
"You
don't have to." I grunt.
She
chuckles as we head out to the middle of the dance floor. Kara starts to teach
us a new dance routine for one of our new songs. During one move, Nicole has to
hook her leg over my hip while I hold her thigh and dip her. Well, we do the
move and when I pull her back up, her nose stops a breath away from mine. We're
staring into each other's eyes. Hers are like the color of dark espresso. All
I’d have to do to kiss her would be to lean slightly forward, but then I
remember that we are not alone. Her hand is gripping the back of my neck and
for a moment, it tightens before she extracts herself from my embrace. I don't
want her to go, but it would be awkward just standing
there
holding onto each other.
"You
stink," Nicole whispers to me.
I
gape at her, eyes widening. "What?"
"You
smell like stale alcohol," she replies, scrunching her cute little nose
up.
I
lift my arm and take a whiff. "Do I really?"
She
grimaces and nods.
"Damn,"
I grumble.
That
is so not sexy. I get her in my arms and she tells me I stink. What the fuck,
Ace? Why did you not take a shower this morning? Because you were too hung over
to care, that's why. What an ass. I can't help but be in awe of her, though,
for telling me. What chick would tell a famous singer that he smells? Most
would just ignore it and pretend like it didn't matter. Not Nicole, nope, she
will obviously tell you straight up that you reek, not caring if you're famous
or not. Just makes me like her that much more now.
~Nicole~
T.G.I.F.
This has been one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. I am gathering up my
things off the floor when a pair of white sneakers comes into view. I glance up
to see Ace standing over me. He's looking much better than he did the other day
when he was hung over. He has a mischievous grin on his face and I can't help
but wonder what he's up to. I straighten up and sling my bag over my shoulder.
"Hey,
Ace. What’s up?" I ask.
"We're
off tomorrow," he says.
I
nod slowly. "Yes, we are," I agree, not sure where he's going with
this.
"Some
of us are going out tonight, are you in?" he asks excitedly.
"Ugh,
really? Aren't you exhausted after working all week?" I groan.
"Come
on! You told me to ask you again when we aren't working the next day. Don't be
a Debby Downer!" Ace complains.
I
hear a chuff off to my right and glance over to see Hillary and her buddy, Bozo
the Clown, watching us out of the corners of their eyes. I really hate them.
"Who
all is going?" I ask, focusing back on Ace.
"Me,
Dean, Beau, Lizette, and some of the other dancers," he answers with a
shrug. "Come on, we're going to this really swanky club that has great
music and top notch drinks," he says then drops his voice lower and
reaches out to take my hand. "Plus, I'd like to get to hang out with you
outside of this place."
I'm
momentarily stunned as I stare down at my hand in his. My heart kicks up a
notch and my brain short circuits because my mouth answered with an,
"Okay." Oh god, what am I doing? Why did I just agree to this?
A
sexy smile curls Ace's lips. "Great. I'll come by your hotel room around
nine," he murmurs as his thumb runs back and forth over my knuckles.
I
nod like the dumbass that I am. He gives me a wink before he turns and walks
out the door. I stand there for a second running over that little conversation
in my head, but it leads nowhere good. It'd be in my best interest to not get
drunk tonight. I know if I do, I'll be a goner when it comes to Ace.
"I
told you to stay away from him," Hillary hisses.
I
blink, not even realizing that she's crept up next to me. I give her a dirty
look.
"I
will associate with whomever I damn well please," I say coolly before
heading for the door before she can reply.
That
bitch is getting on my last nerve. I hope she is there tonight because I will
be hanging all over Ace just to piss her off. Let her come at me, she doesn't
know me or what I'm capable of. I grew up in Philly and I don't take shit from
the likes of people like her. She doesn't know who she's fucking with.
When
I get back to my hotel room, I am still annoyed by pig face, so I take an
extra-long shower and then blow-dry my hair. By the time I am done, I am much
more relaxed. My hair is around shoulder length so I can use a curling iron to
curl the bottom of it, which is what I do for tonight. I put on makeup then go
to get dressed. I put on the sexiest dress I have. One, I want to look hot and
have Ace drool all over me. And two, if those two bitches show up, I need to
look better than them. Yeah, it's immature and spiteful - whatever, sue me.