The next morning Nicky woke up feeling soft little kisses in her neck from Brian. “Good morning princess” he whispered. Nicky smiled “Good morning my prince” and kissed him. “Did you sleep well?” he asked while laying against her. “I did actually. But I’m a bit sore down there” she giggled. “You are? Really?” he grinned. “Take that grin of your face mister Littrell” Nicky slapped his arm. “I take it as a compliment” he smiled. “What time is it?” Nicky yawned. Brian got his watch from the nightstand “It’s 9:30”. “I’m hungry” Nicky stretched herself out. “Me too. I’m going to order room service” Brian yawned too “what do you want to eat?”. Nicky stepped out the bed “Ehm I want pancakes and fruit. And coffee. I really could use some coffee”. Brian smiled “Me too”. He picked up the phone and dialled the number of the reception.
Nicky made her way into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Her body was sore from last night and she hoped the hot shower would help her feel better. She then heard the shower door and seconds later felt Brian’s hands sliding softly over her body. She leaned at him and he wrapped his arms around her and they both stood there for a couple of minutes. He then kissed her neck and her shoulders “room service will be here any second now” he made her face him and brought his face to hers to kiss her one last time before he got out of the shower. Nicky smiled when Brian stepped out of the shower. She washed her hair and then turned the shower off. She felt happy. Although she didn’t knew how the relationship would develop she was happy with everything happening in her life right now.
She got out of the shower and put on her clothes. She then walked back in the room and Brian had already took a bite of his toast. She took a pancake and the mixed fruit on her plate ate. “So what are your plans today?” Brian asked while chewing on his toast. Nicky swallowed her bite of pancake “I need to help the others at the venue. And you?” she then took a sip from her coffee and looked at him. “We are going to two radio stations for promo and eh… of course the soundcheck. We’re not going to see each other much today” he looked sad. “I know” Nicky sighed. “Do you have my phone number?” Brian asked. “No, I don’t “. They exchanged their numbers.
After a little while Nicky took off to her own room to get herself ready to go to work. Brian quickly went to the gym in the hotel to do his work out. He had to rush a little because they had to leave in an hour to go to the radio station. He grabbed his towel and went to the gym. He entered the gym and started his work out with a ten minute run on the treadmill. He then began lifting weights doing several kinds of exercises. After half an hour of intense weightlifting sweat dripped of his body. His muscles were pumped up and Brian felt the high he always got from these exercises. He loved working out. Too bad he couldn’t do it a little longer. He went back to his room, showered and made himself ready to go for the promo events.
The guys had agreed they’d wait outside of the hotel to leave to the stations. Brian walked through the lobby and saw Nicky with her colleagues. He immediately saw Jason standing next to her. Brian was not amused. He was jealous. Nicky looked in his direction and a big smile appeared on her face. Brian smiled back and blinked at her. He made a “I’m gonna text you” gesture and Nicky nodded that she’d understood him.
Nicky took off to the venue with the others. Her task was to make sure the boys clothes were stalled out ‘ready to go’. Each of the racks had one of the boys name on it and Nicky had to make sure the outfits, in the right size for each man, were hanging in the right order The same was with the shoes. They had to change quite a lot and do it quickly during the concert. All of the outfits where numbered. Brian, Howie and Kevin were clean and basic when it came down to the outfits. Although Brian wanted to stand out with his sneakers. Nick and AJ liked to create their own personality on stage by adding accessories and little twists to their outfits.
Nicky arrived at the venue and began unloading the boxes with clothes. Jason helped her carrying everything inside. “So where were you last night? I was hoping to see you in the bar” he smiled and his eyes pierced hers. Nicky’s cheeks were red “I eh wanted to have a little quiet time so I stayed at my room” she answered while walking to the room where the clothes had to be sorted. “Too bad” he sighed “it would’ve been fun”. They chit chatted about how drunk and goofy Nick and AJ had been and how they both enjoyed working with them. They had to go back to the truck a couple of times to unload it all and when that was finally done they sat down to have a little break. Jason was a good looking guy, thirty one years old. He looked a lot like the soccer player Christiano Ronaldo. Nicky had liked Jason since day one. He was always very nice to her and helped her in every way he could. He was a genuine friend. She never had felt romantic feelings for him although she had to admit he was really handsome. She always felt he was out her league, even though he was single for quite some time now. And now the situation had completely changed since Brian came into the picture.
“How is your brother doing?” Jason asked. Nicky shamefully had to admit to herself the she’d forgotten about her brother “Ehm.. that’s a good question” she mumbled “I haven’t called my mom yet. I’m gonna do that tomorrow”. Jason looked at her with sympathy “You let me know ok” and smiled. Nicky sighed and returned the smile “I will”. He’d loved having her around. She was down to earth and above all sincere. He secretly began to develop feelings for her. He didn’t know if it was mutual but he didn’t had the guts to tell her. Well of course having the Backstreetboys running around all the time didn’t help either.
“Jason, can you give us a hand with the stage?” Ethan’s low voice came from behind. Jason first looked at him and then at Nicky “Are you sure you’ll manage?”. Nicky smiled “Sure I will, thank you though”. Jason got up and hugged her. He then took off with Ethan. Before Nicky continued with her work she quickly checked her phone if their where any messages. There were none. She felt a bit disappointed. She knew he’d probably be busy right now giving interviews or singing at the radio station. Just when she put her phone back in her pocket she felt the phone buzzing with an incoming text. She grabbed the phone in a hurry to see who it was.
Brian: Hi babe, can’t get you out of my mind. We’re up next in five minutes and I wanted to let you know that you were amazing last night J. You have a permanent stain in my heart!
Nicky had the biggest smile on her face ever. Her heart jumped and she read the text again. Butterflies flew up and down her body.
Nicky: Me too. I miss you. I secretly hope I can steal a kiss from you later today. Can’t wait to feel your soft lips on mine.
She pressed send.
Within twenty seconds her phone buzzed again.
Brian: Stop it !!!! You’re turning me on. Not good (well usually it’s a great thing) I still need to function “normal”.
Nicky: LOL Ok, ok I’ll stop. But I wanted you to know when I close my eyes I still feel you inside me. Like last night, remember? Sigh, wish you were here.
A minute later her cell phone blurted. She picked up “What are you doing?” she heard Brian. “Sorry” she answered shy and felt guilty for distracting him “I shouldn’t be distracting you like this”. It stayed silent for a couple of seconds “seriously Nicky, you don’t know how much I long for you. If I was there with you right now, I seriously would lock the door and take you so hard you’d beg me to stop” he whispered. Lust ran through Nicky’s body hearing him say things like that to her. “I’d like that” she blushed. In the background she heard a men’s voice. “Listen, I have to go. I don’t think I’ll be able to call. You know, the others are going to be around from now ‘til we get back. I’ll see you in the venue ok”. “Sure”. “Bye gorgeous”. “Bye handsome”. And the connection went down. Nicky needed to speed things up a little to get everything ready in time. She had to be ready by 2 o’clock to help Kylie organise the merchandise stand.
Meanwhile:
The guys were live in the radiobroadcast answering fan questions. Most of these question were asked many times before but Brian never mind answering them just as spontaneous as he always did. It was part of the job and this job paid pretty darn good. Besides he loved the fans. They were the ones that kept the Backstreetboys going for twenty years.
Ok, it wasn’t as crowded outside the station as it used to be in the nineties but still there were always these
Die Hard fans that waited for them in the pouring rain, storms and even blizzards to get picture or an autograph. It made sense of course. Most of the girls back then were grownups now. Most of them had jobs and families to take care of. But still, some of them even travelled the world to see them. The lack of privacy wasn’t always something Brian could handle but he learned to deal with it. After answering some more questions they performed “In A World Like This” live and “Madeleine”.
Because of the tight schedule they didn’t had enough time to get a proper lunch. After the broadcast Jen rushed to the nearest McDonalds that luckily was a crossed the road to get some food for the guys. Brian wasn’t that hungry. In fact he didn’t feel well at all. The feeling came up to him during the performance. It was a feeling he, unfortunately, became familiar with. Most of the times it lasted for fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour tops. He made a mental note to call the doctor as soon as he got home. Another six days had to be doable. Kevin stared at him “Are you ok?”. Brian looked up to him “Who me?”. “No Santa. Yes you, you idiot” Kevin grinned. “Oh I’m fine. Just a bit tired, that’s all” Brian brushed his eyes. “Tired? Again?” Kevin frowned “That doesn’t sound healthy bro”. Brian sighed annoyed “Come on Kev, I’m fine really. Just haven’t slept to well last night. That’s all”. “Ok, fine. Whatever. I just wished Jen would hurry up with the food. I’m starving” Kevin stretched out and brushed his hands through his hair. AJ and Nick where outside the bus waiting while AJ smoked a cigarette. Howie went for a little walk to call Leigh. Howie didn’t look too happy today. Brian made another mental note to talk to him as soon as he could. Luckily the sick feeling faded away. Jen returned and they quickly ate their lunch while driving to the next station.
Meanwhile:
Nicky was ready preparing the clothes and the shoes and walked to the other side, to the entrance of the venue. She crossed the main area where most of the other colleagues were building up the stage and installed all the equipment and lights. She loved the excited atmosphere on the day of the show. It got her pumped up and full of energy. Suddenly out of nowhere Jason surprised her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up. A scream escaped from her mouth. She knew Jason was just goofing around but deep down she knew Brian probably would be jealous. She pushed that thought away and giggled “You are such a tease” and slapped him on his arm. He gave her a hug “I’m sorry, did I startle you?” he smiled and looked her deep in her eyes while holding her. Nicky got shy “I don’t know, maybe a little” she blushed. She blushed a lot lately. She hated it because it made her feel like a little girl. Jason’s smile got even bigger “Ah, I’m sorry” and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. Now this freaked Nicky out. Like what the f. was this all about? She was confused. “Are you ok?” Jason looked worried. “Yeah, sure” she faked a smile “I need to go see kylie to help her build op the merchandise stand”. “Sure, go” Jason smiled “see you later babe”. “Bye” Nicky walked further. That really was awkward not to mention lousy timing. She used to have a crush on Jason until about six months ago. She’d accepted the fact that they were just friends and a guy like him would never, ever, be interested in a girl like her. She told herself like a million times that it was just impossible. She was glad the friendship between them was close and that she could trust him. But the way he had been acting today was strange. She didn’t know Jason like this.
Jason continued his work building up the stage. They had to rush things because within two hours the Sound check party started and everything had to be ready. He felt guilty about what he did to Nicky. Last night he’d been drinking with AJ, Kevin and Nick and the conversation somehow got to love and relationships. Jason had been a little drunk when they’d ask him if he had a girlfriend. He answered that he didn’t. The guys were shocked. They compared him looking like Christiano Ronaldo, the famous soccer player from Portugal. He knew he looked a lot like him and getting girlfriends never was an issue. But Nicky was something else. She never tried to get his attention that way. She was beautiful, cute, sweet, honest and always fun to hang around with. Being drunk he told them a little more than he’d usually would do and told them about his feelings for Nicky. They advised him to take things to the next level. Nick told him to be playful and gave him a couple of tips of how to do that.
