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Chapter Sixteen
Kevin walked across the grass, taking in the scene of Colleen swinging on a wooden swing, head thrown back, hair blowing in the slight breeze. She's gorgeous, he thought, his heart growing warm looking at her. He stopped and stood still, drinking in the sight of her. He loved just watching her and this scared him. I'm not sure if I want to feel this way, he thought. Do I want a relationship? He started walking towards her again, shaking off his thoughts for the moment.
"Hey," he called softly as he approached her. Colleen looked over and smiled, slowing her swinging to a stop.
"Hey sexy," she said with a smirk. How true that is she thought as she looked at him in his wifebeater and phat jeans, his black hair spiky and styled. Kevin rolled his eyes.
"How would you like it if I called you sexy?" he asked, looking at her with a look.
"Um, I would like it," she replied, giving him a weird look. "But of course I don't look sexy in my current outfit of a t-shirt and boxers."
Kevin shook his head. "I think you look beautiful," he told her.
Colleen smiled. "Thanks." They were silent for a few moments.
"Kevin, are you happy here?" Colleen asked suddenly. Kevin looked at her sharply.
Is she picking up on my thoughts? He thought. He looked at her expression of uncertainty and saw the doubt and hurt in her eyes because of the way he acted on the way to Illinois. He crouched down in front of her.
"Colleen," he started. She continued talking quickly.
"I mean, you could always stay at the hotel if you don't like it here. I wouldn't mind," she told him. Like hell I wouldn't mind she thought. Now I'm just flat out lying.
Kevin looked down at his feet and took a deep breath.
"Colleen, I love it here. I love being here," he paused. "With you."
Colleen looked up and stared into his eyes, looking for signs that he was lying. She found none. She leaned forward and her lips softly touched Kevin's in a kiss of such sweet tenderness that Kevin's breath caught as he quickly responded. They were soon lost in their own world.
They were completely oblivious to the pair of eyes watching them.
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"Yes, yes, yes!" Ryan yelled as she beat the crap out of Brian's character as they played Mortal Kombat.
"Awww man!" Brian moaned, disgusted with himself over the fact that he lost to a girl. "I can't believe you beat me," he pouted, crossing his arms and slumping down on the couch, his lower lip stuck out.
Ryan stopped her victory dance as she noticed Brian pouting.
"Awww, poor baby. You lost to a girl," she murmured. He looked so cute that she had to kiss him. She walked over to him and sat on his lap, facing him.
"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" she asked as she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed his lips softly with hers. Brian nodded, trying not to smile at the turn of events. He pulled her closer as their mouths met, the kiss quickly growing deeper and hotter.
After a couple of minutes, they broke apart, both breathing heavily. Brian leaned his forehead against Ryans and whispered "I think I like being a loser." Ryan smiled She slid off his lap and snuggled next to him as Brian wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"So what do you want to do now?" she asked. Brian laughed.
"Well, I have a few ideas," he said slyly. Ryan elbowed him in the side.
"Shut up," she said as she got up and walked over to the shelves of movies.
"Want to watch a movie?" she asked as she perused the titles.
"Sure," Brian replied as he got up to join her. He sat down on the piano bench that was right next to the movies and plinked a couple of keys.
"Who plays?" he asked as he picked out the first couple notes to All I have to Give.
"Huh?" Ryan asked as she turned around to face him. He pointed to the piano.
"Oh who plays? Shannon and Colleen," she informed him.
"Are they any good?"
Ryan smiled. "Yeah they're good. They both play great but Colleen could have and at one time wanted to be a concert pianist. She plays like an angel," Ryan said quietly.
"Wow, Colleen's really talented," Brian observed.
Ryan shrugged. "She's got her talents and her faults just like everyone. But for all her talents, she doesn't really have any faith in herself," Ryan told him. "She definitely never thought she was better than anyone else."
Brian looked at her. "So what are your talents?" he asked.
Ryan rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to brag about myself," she told him.
Brian shrugged.
"Colleen told me that you are an awesome painter," he said. Ryan smiled.
"She did?" Brian nodded.
"Well I do paint a bit," she said modestly.
Brian snorted. "Colleen said that you paint unbelievably real portraits and still lives," he added. "So do you have anything here that I can see?" he asked.
Ryan thought for a second. "I know Colleen has one in her bedroom but I think she also has one in the dining room," she said as she got up and opened the doors that led into the dining room. The dining room held a formal dining table that sat ten. An antique china closet stood in one corner, holding antique family silver. In another corner was a fireplace and as Ryan turned on the lights, a spotlight over the fireplace revealed a vibrant oil painting of a mother and child at twilight in a Chinese garden filled with fireflies. The child's face was filled with wonder, the mother's with love. It was amazing.
"Wow," Brian said in awe. "It's unbelievable." Ryan blushed.
"Thanks." He turned to her.
"You're unbelievable," he whispered as he kissed her gently.
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"He fakes left, he goes right, spins, he shoots, he scores! And the crowd goes wild at the unbelievable shot Carter has just made." Kendall sat there and shook her head at Nick's egotistical commentary.
"There has never been a player like Carter," Nick continued.
"Please stop, your ego is suffocating me," Kendall cried as she pretended to choke. Nick stopped his victory lap and gave her a superior look.
"Don't you understand that I am better than mere mortals?" he asked, his nose in the air. Kendall stared at him with an unbelieving look as Nick burst out laughing. He sat down on the grass beside her and they were silent for a while.
"So Kendall, do you have a boyfriend?" Nick asked.
Kendall shrugged. "No, I don't want one right now. I just got out of this stupid relationship that has made me lose all faith in the opposite sex," she informed him with bitterness. Nick frowned.
Damn, I wanted to ask her out, he thought. He sat there, wondering what had happened that had made Kendall so mad. He looked over and saw that she still had a bitter expression on her face, so to lighten the mood, he picked up some grass and threw it at her.
Kendall laughed as she picked the grass out of her hair. "You are so immature," she told him. Nick glowered at her.
"Hey, I'm a year older than you," he retorted.
"Yeah but it is a proven fact that women mature faster than boys," she told him, pointing at him. Nick thought about it for a second.
"Yeah, I can see it. Look at Brian , he's a goofball." He was silent for a second.
"So what's your favorite color?" he asked her.
She thought about it. "Um, blue."
"How about music? Who's your favorite band?"
Kendall didn't even have to think about that. "Creed. They're awesome. How about you?" she said, turning towards him.
"Journey," he replied. Kendall looked confused.
"I don't think I have heard of them," she confessed.
Nick sat up and stared at her.
"What? You've never heard of Journey?" Kendall shrugged. Nick stood up and grabbed her hands, pulling her up.
Kendall tried to keep up as he dragged her to the house.
"Where are we going?" she asked breathlessly.
Nick stopped and looked at her. "We are going to introduce you to the wonderful music of Journey."
And with that he turned and dragged her away.
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"Thanks for helping me," Shannon said as she handed another dish to Howie to put in the dishwasher.
"No problem mon," he replied in a Jamaican accent. Shannon laughed.
"So Howie, Kevin said that day after tomorrow, you guys have to start planning your concert."
Howie nodded. "Yeah but we will still have time to hang out with you guys."
"Good," Shannon replied. She looked at him and remarked suddenly, "Did I tell you that I liked your new haircut?"
Howie shook his head.
"Well I do. It's looks really sexy," she told him, wagging her eyebrows up and down.
Howie grinned. "Good, it will contribute to my image as a Latin lover."
Shannon quirked an eyebrow. "Oh I see. You're not really Howie but," she paused dramatically. "Don Juan." She clapped her hands together like a Spanish dancer as she said that.
Howie gave her a sultry look. He grabbed a rose from one of the vases filled with them and put it between his teeth. He grabbed her hand and spun her into his arms, dipping her.
"Yes, I am really Don Juan," he told her in a thick accent. Shannon pretended to faint.
He spun her up and they both laughed at how silly they were acting. Shannon turned to the dishwasher and closed it.
"So what do you like to do in your spare time?" she asked, leaning against the counter.
Howie shrugged. "Other than dance and make love to beautiful women?"
Shannon grinned. "Um, yeah. Other than that."
"Shopping, clubbing, hanging out with friends," he said.
"Well, there are a lot of great clubs around here," Shannon told him. "We can go later this week."
Howie smiled. "Sounds cool. Will you save a dance for me?"
Shannon looked at him sidewise and replied.
"But of course."
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"Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty,"
Morgan grunted out as she did reps on the weight machines. She dropped the ninety pounds and shook out her arms. She stood up and walked over to the radio, switching the station to Q101, smiling when Fuel came on. She looked around the gym, thinking what she wanted to do next, deciding on the treadmill when the doors opened and A.J. stepped in. Morgan sighed. "What do you want?" she asked as she walked by him to the treadmill. A.J. just rolled his eyes.
"I want to workout. Is that okay with you, your Royal Highness?" he asked sarcastically.
"Whatever. Just don't talk to me," she shot back.
"I'm sure that won't be a problem," he said as he went over to the weight machines and started doing reps. Morgan set the treadmill and started running, letting her mind shut off and just feel the burn of muscles working out. After about twenty minutes of silence, Morgan turned off the treadmill and went to sit down on the mats to stretch. A.J. watched her out of the corner of his eye, thinking what a good body she had until he caught himself and stopped the direction of his thoughts. A really noisy song came on the radio and A.J. just wasn't in the mood for hard rock right then, so he got up and walked over to change the channel to 102.3 which played a mix of music.
"Um, excuse me, who gave you the right to change the station?" Morgan asked, annoyed.
A.J. turned towards her. "Look, Morgan I have a slight headache and I just wasn't in the mood for that type of music, okay?"
Morgan went back to stretching, silence being her way of saying okay. Then suddenly All I have to Give came on. Morgan sang softly along with the song, not loud enough for A.J. to hear but she forgot about the mirrors on the walls.
"So you know our song," A.J. stated with a smirk as he saw her singing along in the mirrors. Morgan immediately stopped singing along. "I find it a bit ironic that you, who are so willing to insult my music to my face, knows my song," A.J. said.
"Listen, your music isn't that bad. I like Brian's and Nick's voices," Morgan defended herself.
A.J. noticed that she didn't say anything about his singing but of course, he didn't expect her too. "So are you going to come see the concert, because that would just complete your hypocrisy," he told her with a raised eyebrow.
The expression on Morgan's face turned dark. "Sure," she replied calmly.
"But I was wondering A.J., what do you do for your finale?" she asked suddenly, turning towards him and looking him in the eye. "Do you take off those pirate earrings from your ears, set them on fire and jump through them to complete your role as the circus freak of the group?" she asked with a cat like smile as she gestured to the silver earrings in his ears.
A.J. just glared at her, trying not to let it show that she was actually hurting him. "Morgan, it's amazing that I seem to have met the world's only living heart donor," he stated as he turned around and walked out.
Morgan just stood there with a shocked expression on her face as the uneasy feeling of guilt started to settle over her as she thought that she might have gone a little to far.
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