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Chapter One

Adonica put her hand behind Rich’s head and pulled him down. She kissed him warmly on the lips, as sweat glistened off of his entire body.

“Great show,” she said, grinning, “As always.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said, breathing heavily from exhaustion, kissing her back, as he reached for his bottle of iced water and a clean, dry towel. He wiped his forehead off, and took a big gulp from the bottle before poring it all over his overheated body, to try and cool off, “You too.”

Adonica made a face, scrunching up her nose. Rich laughed, thinking how cute she looked when she did that.

“I’m just a dancer,” she protested, feeling slightly self-conscious over his compliment. She knew that she shouldn’t, because they’d been dating since shortly before the tour had started back in April. It was now July, and the tour was a little over half over. They still had a few more cities in the US, before they started overseas. She knew that she couldn’t be happier. She was, after all, hooked up with Rich Cronin, from LFO. He was caring, funny, attractive, nice and best and most of all, sweet.

“You pull it off well though,” he said, “All the guys out there go to the show to check you out.”

Adonica threw her head back and laughed, grabbing the water bottle out of Rich’s hands and taking a quick drink herself.

“Hey girl,”

Adonica turned her head and saw her two best friends, Dulcina and Alaura coming toward her.

“As always, great job.” Alaura complimented, “We so rock.”

She started in on some of their dance moves, swaying her hips jokingly, with Dulcina joining in. She smiled, and rolled her eyes at how crazy they were.

“You too,” Adonica told her.

“Have you seen Devin?” she asked, “I haven’t seen him since after we went out on stage.”

“Yeah, and Brad too,” Dulcina said, “How do you rate. You’re man stuck around and waited for you. He always does” She stuck her tongue out, and smiled, to let her know that she really wasn’t mad.

Adonica shook her head, as Rich wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closely to him, nuzzling her neck with his nose. She squirmed, for his actions tickled, yet felt so good to her.

Both girls’ shoulders slumped slightly, as they wondered where their boyfriends had run off to.

“Hello, ladies,” Kevin said, walking past them, with the other four members of the Backstreet Boys right behind him.

“Hey!” Dulcina said, enthusiastically.

The other two smiled, and waved, and he nodded a hello in their direction, his eyes lingering on Adonica a little too long. He shook his head, to clear it, and quickly walked away.

“Goodnight,” he said, to nobody in particular, “Don’t forget we’ve got to get up early to get to Detroit by noon.”

Everyone groaned, including Kevin’s band mates. They were in Dallas, and that meant getting up soon in order to make their flight at five in the morning. Dulcina saw Brad in the shadows, and perked up immediately.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, eyeing him to make sure that he didn’t move out of her line of vision, “You remind us all the time. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

She slipped in between Alaura and Nick, making her way over to Brad. It was a matter of seconds before they were out of view, and everyone knew that they were long gone for the night. It was minutes later that Howie, Nick, A.J. and Brian were gone too, saying that they were going back to the hotel to get some sleep.

“Yeah, well…anyways,” Kevin finished, “See you in the morning. And don’t forget, or else I’ll be pounding on your doors.”

Kevin left, leaving Rich with Adonica, and Alaura standing alone, still looking around for Devin, her posture uncomfortable.

“Oh well,” she sighed, “Maybe he’s waiting for me back at the hotel.”

She picked up her gym bag, which contained an extra change in clothes, and her water bottle, heading out to the dressing room to put on something dry.

“Wow, its crazy after shows,” Rich smiled, “Maybe one day, someone will be opening for us.”

“You know that it will happen,” Adonica told him, punching him playfully, “After all, you’re just starting out. Gotta start somewhere. Might as well be with someone extremely well known.”

Rich nodded, knowing that she was right. He, Brad and Devin were very lucky to get the position as opening act for the Backstreet Boys. To be honest, he never thought that they’d ever be on a real stage. Coffee shop gigs were the farthest he’d ever thought they’d make it. But Devin had sent in a demo tape to a record label, and they’d liked them enough to offer them a record contract. Ever since then, their career just kept building and building.

“We really should get back too,” Adonica told him, “Kevin’s right. We need some sleep. How cute would it be if I slept-danced my way off stage.”

“I would catch you before you fell,” he said, kissing her on the lips, “Maybe one day, we’ll have our own hotel room, instead of having to share with Devin and Alaura.”

“Maybe,” Adonica said, staying positive for his sake. She admired how much he dreamed, and knew that they would go far in the music industry if only he kept his dreams alive and didn’t give up in rough times. She believed in him and the other two men. They had a lot going for them.

Walking hand in hand, they walked to the limo awaiting them, and crawled into the back seat. Another night was gone. They still had another five months of the same routine ahead of them, and they looked forward to every moment of it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Adonica, Alaura and Dulcina were helping the Backstreet Boys with their stage setting plans when three males walked into the room. Adonica recognized them right away as being LFO. The Boys introduced them as the opening act, and got right back to business. They had a busy schedule to follow by. But none of the girls were paying much attention to the plans. Their minds and eyes were on the three fine new men that sat before them. They’d been dancers for the Boys for three year now. This would be the beginning of their fourth. But another boy band was never the warm up band before. It was considered competition, to a certain extent. This was new. Adonica continued to stare, mainly at Rich, looking him up in down in approval. Their eyes locked for a moment and he smiled warmly at her. It was then that she noticed how soft his features were. From then on out, their relationship progressed slowly and smoothly. The tour would be starting in a month, and the members of LFO would be around a lot to help with the pre-tour planning and setting up. That meant that he would be hanging around a lot, and she could get to know him…very well.

At first, they casually talked, as Alaura and Dulcina started to notice and take interest in Devin and Brad. But before long, Adonica had committed herself to Rich and Rich to her before the tour even started. Meanwhile, there were two new relationships taking off.

It wasn’t long before all three couples were serious, and the tour was starting. Every night, they went through the same routines, but this year, all three girls were more into what they were doing, knowing what was waiting for them on the other side of the stage. They’d never been more willing to cooperate and do everything that they knew that they had to, when it was needed to be done.

A few months later, and now each girl was with one guy from LFO still. They all had strong, healthy relationships, which were nowhere near about to end any time soon. For the first time in years, Adonica was truly happy…

“Adonica,”

Adonica continued to stare off into space, with a silly grin on her face. Rich couldn’t help but laugh.

“Adonica, baby,”

He gently reached over and shook her a little. It did nothing, so he waved his hand in front of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, looking over beside her at Rich.

“Huh?” she asked, confused, and then looked around her, realizing where she was “Oh…”

“You all right?” he asked, concerned. He’d obviously broken her trance. He was used to losing her to those every once in a while.

“Yeah, just thinking,” Adonica told him, “Guess more like daydreaming, but it’s all the same.”

She smiled at him, and stretched, looking out of the small window at the land that stretched out thousands of feet below her. She tried to stifle a yawn, wanting to kill Kevin for making her get up so early. Sometimes, she felt she couldn’t do this anymore. Deal with the stress of being a dancer, being awake at strange hours. But if it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t be with Rich. That was one of the things that kept her going and not giving up and getting a normal job.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked, not knowing why he bothered. He loved his woman, but it was hell trying to get her to talk about what she daydreamt about. He’d yet to succeed.

“Nothing much,” she told him, “Same as every other time.”

She really didn’t want to get into it. If she did, he might think that she was overly obsessive over him and didn’t have a life. She didn’t want Rich to think that about her. They hadn’t been together THAT long. She wasn’t about to take a chance on losing him over her falling hard too fast.

“Which is?” he pushed, tickling her in the side. She squealed a little, squirming out of his grasp, giggling, “You’ve yet to tell me what you were thinking about every other time.”

“Us, of course,” she told him, and he drew back, giving her a look. Did she just tell him what was on her mind? “What else would I be thinking about, silly boy.”

“What about us?” Rich asked

He didn’t know if this was good or bad. He’d always been slightly worried that she’d change her mind about him, and decide that he wasn’t worth the time and effort. There were, after all, thousands of millions of guys that she could choose from. Why him? He was slightly well known now. She, as a dancer, most of the time, was just looked past. He’d always thought since he met her that the dancers didn’t get the credit that they deserved. They worked almost just as hard as the actual performer to make sure that they put on a good show.

“How happy I’ve been since I met you,” she sighed dreamily, and then leaned over to kiss him on the cheek quickly, “I wouldn’t change these past five months for anything in the entire world.”

“Good,” he replied, “Cuz I wouldn’t either.

Meanwhile, Dulcia and Brad were two rows behind them. Brad’s eyes kept drooping, as he struggled to stay awake. Every now and then, his head would jerk upward for a few seconds, before falling again. Dulcia had her headset on, bopping to her Osbourns CD, mouthing the lyrics. She soon broke out into “Papa Don’t Preach”, singing it loud and clear. Brad sleepily looked over at her, and her energy made him all the more tired and exhausted.

“How can you be like that with so little sleep?” he muttered, getting no response from her. She was completely oblivious to him and her surroundings. Tapping her on the shoulder, Dulcia looked over at him blankly, slipping the headphones off, letting them drape around her neck. He could hear the music blaring easily now. He wondered how she hadn’t gone deaf.

“Yeah?” she asked

“How do you have so much spunk so early?” he managed to get out, his speech slightly mumbled.

“I am an insomniac, Brad,” she explained to him, “You know that. I couldn’t sleep right now if I tried.”

Shaking his head, he leaned back, resting it against the back of the seat. He willingly closed his eyes this time. Giving him a kiss on the corner of his mouth, Dulcia put the headphones back on, firmly pressing them in place. She didn’t know what it would be like to be tired enough to sleep that easily. Sure, she slept, but she lived off of a mere two or three hours of it every night. It was what she was used to, so it didn’t bother her.

Across the isle, Devin and Alaura sat side by side, holding hands. Devin was fast asleep, with Alaura thinking about the night before. She’d gotten back to the hotel room, and flipped on the lights, expecting to be alone until her roommates got in. She was startled to see Devin, already fast asleep, with a pillow over his head to block out the light from the parking lot light poles which was coming through the small window. Her heart accelerated a little bit at the sight of him. She hadn’t expected to find him there already in bed, but rather out partying. She was happy to know that he’d stayed in. Now, she sat, gazing at him, looking so peaceful. She personally couldn’t wait for the plane to land, so that she could talk to her boyfriend, if he even woke up for that. Half the time, the guys had to drag Devin off of the plane and carry him to wherever they had planned to go.

“Hey, Alaura,”

Alaura looked over and saw Dulcia leaning over Brad, and looking at her. She got up, and struggled to step over his lap, and into the empty seat on the other side of him. Alaura laughed at the sight of Brad, with a small string of drool emerging from his mouth as he slept.

“Aren’t men such babies?” Dulcia asked, then looked ahead at Rich and Adonica laughing and having a good time, “Well, ours are. Hers is like, nocturnal or something, I swear.”

“Or maybe he’s an insomniac too,” Alaura suggested, with a shrug of her shoulders, “You never know.”

“If he is, then maybe I belong with him,” she said thoughtfully, they shook her head roughly at the thought, “Nah. I enjoy mah Brad and his sexy body. Oh baby, he looks good.”

She looked behind her at her own sleeping prince. He sighed and tried to turn over in his seat, but his seat belt restricted him, not letting him get anywhere. Dulcia laughed at him, wishing that their schedules weren’t so wacky. She really didn’t think that it was necessary for them to leave so early, but Kevin always liked to get everything done in advance. She’d become accustomed to his ways and her, Adonica and Alaura had easily befriended the guys, even though then did get on each others nerves sometimes and argued to the point of not speaking to one another for days. But they always made up and things were back to normal again. Looking out the small window, she sighed, hoping that they would be to Detroit soon. One thing was for sure, she would never get used to the long plane rides.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kevin eyed Adonica longingly, watching her limber body stretch to touch her toes, and then jog in place to warm up for the show. When she turned around, he quickly whipped around the corner, his heart accelerating a bit, his breath coming out heavily. Did she see him? He sure hoped not. Peeking back around the corner, he spied on her, watching her every flexible move. He’d forgotten all about the sound check that he’d disappeared from and four other guys waiting for him. Kevin didn’t even hear them come up behind him until one of them spoke.

“Whatcha doing?” Howie asked, “You stranded us.”

Kevin spun around, startled, “Oh, um, nothing,” he replied, giving a nervous, self-conscious laugh.

“Uh huh, sure,” Brian replied, rolling his eyes, “Come on, what were you starting at?”

Kevin could feel his face starting to turn red from humiliation. They had caught him. There was no denying it. But he could try, and he planned on trying as hard as he was capable of.

“Nothing,” he lied again, “I thought I saw something.”

“Was it A-don-I-caaa,” Nick sang out playfully, knowing his shameful attraction to the girl.

Kevin mocked horror, then got angry, “I said that it was nothing,” he shouted, “What are you? In the fucking CIA or something. Stay out of my business.”

The guys smirked, knowing that Kevin wasn’t being honest with them. They knew that he only got mad when something went wrong or when he was confronted with something he was embarrassed of. They were going to get to the bottom of it this time though. A.J pushed past Kevin and he started to stop him before realizing that if he did, it would prove him guilty. So he stood back and waited for the Latino to figure him out. It was only a matter of time now. A.J rounded the corner and stopped dead, a confused look on his face. Kevin cringed, waiting for him to announce it, but he didn’t. He came back, shaking his head, looking dumbfounded.

“Nobody there,” he informed them all, “He was telling the truth.”

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief and composed himself to hide the guilt upon his handsome face. He silently thanked Adonica and her friends for deciding to leave before he was caught. It was no use trying to deny something that wasn’t even true, if the guys would tease and harass him for it and not believe him. OR was it true? He shook his head, startled at the thought. He did not just think that, did he? He couldn’t like one of his dancers like that. It was ridiculous. So he decided to deny it to himself.

“I told you that it was nothing,” he told him, still acting mad, “But ya’ll wouldn’t listen to me.”

A.J still looked greatly confused, as if he thought that his eyes had deceived him of some vital information. Kevin couldn’t help but chuckle, and quickly started to walk away so that they would not see him. It would only cause more suspicion. That was the last thing that he needed and wanted.

“Anyways, you kind of left us at sound check. So we took a break to see where your ass ran off to.” Brian told him.

If it had been anyone else talking like that to him, Kevin might have gotten mad, but since Brian was his cousin, he knew that at least part of him was joking around.

“Yeah.” He said lamely, “ How is everything?”

“So far, so good,” Brian informed, giving a thumbs up, “Although, there was a slight problem, but we got it figured out and fixed.”

Kevin nodded, yawning, not really caring at the moment what the problem was as long as it lo longer persisted. He trusted the technicians had it all taken care of. Yawning again, Kevin wanted nothing more than to get back to the hotel to catch a couple of hours of sleep. Maybe everyone was right and they should start leaving a little later into the morning. He looked at his watch. They had for hours before they went on. What could an hour hurt?

“Hey, guys, I’m going back to the hotel. Think you can manage without me for a little while?”

“Sure man. Go ahead,” Nick permitted him, “We’ll be fine.”

Kevin nodded, and patted Nick on the back before leaving. An hour was all that he needed. Before he knew it, he was at the hotel and the last thing that he remembered was his head hitting the pillow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I think I’ve got a problem,” Rich said to Brad and Devin, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing.”

His two band mates looked at each other before pushing their friend for details. They could tell that something had been on his mind lately and he was finally coming to them for help over it.

“What is it?” Brad asked, anxious and willing to help Rich out. He knew that Devin was too.

“It kind of has to do with Adonica,” he told them, looking down, refusing to make eye contact of any kind.

Again, his friends gave each other a quick, worried look, not knowing and wondering what this could be about.

“Would you quit doing that?” Rich asked.

“You aren’t thinking of breaking up with her, are you?” Devin asked incredulously.

“No, not at all. It’s nothing like that,” Rich replied, keeping his gaze locked on the ground, “The thing is...I…I…”

“C’mon, spit it out,” Brad pushed

“I…I think that I love her,” Rich finally finished.

His friends laughed, not believing him at first. Rich looked up for the first time, and his eyes told hem that he was completely serious. His friends straightened up, and their expressions turned into ones of support.

“Wow,” Devin managed to get out, “Have you told her?”

Rich looked at Devin as if he’d lost his mind, “No,” he told him, “Of course not. I don’t want to scare her away or make her feel tied down.”

Now it was Rich’s turn to get looks as if he were crazy, “Chicks love that kind of thing. They wait forever to hear their man say those three words. Believe me, you tell her, I guarantee that she’ll feel the same way back.”

Rich offered a thankful smile, glad that he’d talked to them about his problem. He felt much better. Next time he saw her, he was going to tell Adonica just how he felt about her. He just hoped that it would turn out all right.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kevin woke up to the phone blaring in his ear. Not even bothering to open his eyes, he reached over and grabbed the phone, lazily and clumbsly bringing it to his ear.

“Hello?” he muttered

“Where the fuck are you?”

It was Nick’s voice yelling into the phone at him. He groaned, and rolled over onto his back.

“You knew I was coming back here to sleep for an hour. Now let me sleep.”

He started to hang the phone up when he heard Nick yelling something about looking at the damn time. Kevin opened one eye and peered over at the clock beside him, and thought nothing of it.

“Nine thirty-eight, big deal,” he said sleepily, then sat up straight with a jerk, fully awake now, “Please tell me that is not the real time. Please”

“It is,” Nick informed him, “You should have been here hours ago. The show should have started ten minutes ago. Get your ass here now. The fans are getting impatient and restless.”

Kevin quickly dressed into his stage clothes and ran to the car, speeding the whole way to the venue. He felt much more relaxed, but because of his need of sleep, he had set the show back, and for the first time in his life, he was going to be the cause of it. He knew what was in for him as soon as he got there. He just hoped that the guys weren’t too mad about it, but by the sound of Nick’s voice, they would be.