AJ crept down the stairs eyeing his shot as he went to ensure that it wouldn’t spill. He faltered a bit and felt the tequila ooze onto his fingers. “Shit!” he muttered to himself before downing the remainder. When he finished, he realized he had an audience at the bottom of the stairs – a short, blonde with shoulder length hair. She smiled, entertained by his woes, as she leaned casually on her pool cue. “You know, she quipped, “There IS a bar down here.”
AJ laughed, embarrassed that he’d ruined his planned grand entrance. “Now I do,” he quipped back.
“My name’s Lexi,” she said with a smile. She couldn’t believe her luck that the Backstreet Boy she most wanted to meet was standing before her.
“Well hello, Lexi,” AJ replied. “My name’s – “
“I KNOW who you are,” she interrupted, winking at him. “Gary told me ALL about you guys being here this morning.”
“That why you stayed?” asked AJ, curious if she was a fan.
Lexi pondered the question before answering, not wanting to come across as one of many. “Part of it, I guess. I wanted to see what all the hype was about.”
“And?” asked AJ.
Lexi giggled a little. “I’m still waiting.”
AJ expressed mock dismay as he searched for a place to throw the plastic shot container. He decided against throwing it on the floor and looked back down at Lexi. “You need some company down here?”
Lexi suppressed her desire to shout “Yes!” and instead replied, “Need? Or want?” flirtatiously. She held out her hand for the empty container and AJ continued down the stairs. As he handed it to her he looked into her eyes. He loved to look into a woman’s eyes to see if there was a story in them. Lexi’s were a bright blue and he was instantly mesmerized as they held his gaze.
“Want,” he corrected, still holding eye contact.
Lexi blinked slowly, calculatedly, and looked away. “Sure,” she replied. She motioned her cue at him. “You play?” She all ready knew he did, but she didn’t want him to know that.
“Oh yeah,” AJ answered enthusiastically. “All the time.”
“Cool,” she said casually. “I was getting’ bored down here and nothin’ beats good conversation when you’re shootin’ a game of pool.”
“I hear ya,” he agreed, heading for the cue stand to make his selection. “I usually have my own,” he commented as he shuffled through them. “But I didn’t think I’d be playin’ while I was here.” He selected one and fiddled with it to see if it suited him.
“Same here,” Lexi lied, frowning slightly at her cue. She was a pool player, but she wasn’t THAT into it. “Gary’s definitely NOT a pool player, but…” she shrugged. “It works.”
AJ chalked his cue, surprised at how relaxed he was in Lexi’s company in such a short amount of time. He still couldn’t get over her beautiful blue eyes. “Well at least we’re even,” he observed. “Yours sucks and mine sucks.” He laughed at his own joke and Lexi laughed with him.
“True,” she stated as she moved to the table to start racking the balls. AJ smiled at her and she returned the smile. “I’ll let you break,” she said, winking again. “See what ya got.”
As he watched her, AJ fished through his pockets to find his cigarettes. When Lexi heard the flick of the lighter, she looked up, surprised. “You smoke?”
“Yeah,” AJ replied, a little unsettled by her obvious disappointment. “It’s a nasty habit,” he added to show her that he was well aware of his unpopular addiction.
“Those’ll ruin your voice, young man,” she blurted out before thinking. “Damn!” she thought to herself. “Way to go, Lexi.”
AJ grimaced, not happy with the unnecessary lecture, and Lexi apologized profusely. “I’m sorry, AJ. I didn’t mean to nag you.”
AJ accepted her apology, due in part that she’d finally said his name. “You’re not the first,” he said, “and you definitely won’t be the last. He took a puff and blew the smoke out the side of his mouth to gauge her reaction. “My mom’s on me all the time about it.”
Lexi showed no negative response and decided to play up AJ’s mom comment, knowing he was very close to his mother. “Well, then,” she answered. “Your mother loves you.”
“Yes, she does,” AJ agreed, smiling at the thought of his mother, Denise. “THAT she does,” he repeated. He sat his cigarette down into a nearby ashtray and leaned down to break. He could feel Lexi’s eyes on him as he took his shot and was relieved that it was a good, clean break.
Lexi smiled at him and nodded to show her approval. Thank God she hadn’t botched everything over the smoking issue. As she leaned down to take her first shot, AJ took in a welcome cleavage shot. “Love a lady with cleavage,” he thought.
Lexi eyed him teasingly when her shot went in. “Guess I’m solid,” she noted coyly, well aware of his fascination with her boobs.
AJ grinned. “That you are, my dear.” He couldn’t believe how cool she was and was ecstatic to have a companion of his own for the night.
Lexi laughed and shook her head at his crass comment before continuing with her game. AJ waited patiently – smoking, drinking, and enjoying the eye candy. “An exhibitionist,” he thought as Lexi looked up at him and smiled before taking one of her shots. “My kind of lady.”
“Shit,” Lexi pouted after missing an easy shot. She raised her eyebrows at AJ expectantly. “Guess you’re up.”
AJ chalked his cue and studied the table to decide his course of action. He took a final swig of his beer and pointed with the bottleneck. “Corner pocket.”
“Oooh,” flirted Lexi. “You’re turning me on.”
AJ said, “Be-HAVE” in his best Austin Powers’ impression before taking aim. His shot went in and he glanced at Lexi before his next one to ensure that she was watching. Her eyes were glued to him. “So,” he said, hoping to spark some conversation, “Gary says you’re picky about your men.”
Instantly, Lexi was pissed at Gary for talking about her to AJ, but she didn’t let it show. “Is that a BAD thing?” she asked, hoping to undo the damage.
“Well,” AJ replied, considering the question as he took his next shot. “That depends on HOW picky you are.” His ball went in again and he stood up to look at her. “There’s GOOD picky and there’s BAD picky.”
Lexi cocked her head, unsure of how to respond positively. “Define, please.”
“Well,” AJ continued as he shot again. “GOOD picky is that you’re selective based on character, style, and….” His shot went in and he shook his butt at her. “Natural good looks.”
Lexi rolled her eyes, but still smiled at his antics. “Gawd, the shit is gettin’ deep in THIS room!” she exclaimed, but followed immediately with, “…and BAD picky?” She would base her true answer to the question on his perception of bad.
AJ frowned slightly, mulling over what it would be to him if a girl were bad picky. His mind settled on Nick’s recently failed relationship. “BAD picky,” he said, shooting again, “would be that you expect ass kissing 24/7 from a guy and then you’re STILL not happy.” He lost his concentration momentarily and missed his shot.
Lexi eyed AJ and adjusted her shirt before leaning down for her turn. She didn’t want to impair his viewing pleasure. “Ass kissing IS nice,” she said as her ball ricocheted away from the intended pocket. “But it gets annoying after the first 10 minutes.” She nodded at AJ to shoot again, pleased with her answer.
“And then what?” asked AJ, curious. His shot went in again and he knew he would end up winning the game.
“Well, then, the guy is pussy-whipped, and what fun is THAT?” she answered, matter of factly, sure that he would like her reply.
AJ laughed at her comment and thought of Nick again. “That AIN’T me. That would be NICK.” He hadn’t intended to mention Nick, but he couldn’t help it. Quickly, he commented on the game he was about to finish. “Eight ball, baby.”
Lexi flipped her hair as the ball went in, feigning that she was unhappy about losing, when actually she could care less. She couldn’t believe he’d brought up Nick and saved her the hassle. “Nick?” she asked, unassumingly, before commenting on the win. “Good game, AJ.”
AJ sat his cue down without answering her about Nick. He was hoping she’d let it go. “Sit at the bar?” he asked as he walked towards it. “I need another beer. I’m on empty.”
“Sure,” Lexi answered, following him. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she would drink one for him.
AJ slipped behind the bar, searching for another beer, as Lexi sat down on one of the stools. He found one and popped the lid. Realizing she was without one, he asked, “Beer, milady?”
“Bud Light,” she replied, before prodding him subtly again about Nick. “What were you saying about Nick again?”
“Oh, sorry,” AJ said as he handed her the beer. He guessed it wouldn’t hurt too much to elaborate a little bit on Nick’s personality flaw.
“Nick’s an ass kisser,” he answered, smooching for emphasis as he ducked down behind the bar. AJ popped back up with four empty shot glasses and sat them on the counter and smiled wickedly as he broke open an unused bottle of tequila. Sweeping the bottle under his nose, he sniffed and said, “Ahhhhhhh….fresh tequila.”
Lexi wanted to puke at the thought of doing a shot of tequila, but she started coaching herself for the unavoidable. “Just one shot, Lexi. Just one shot,” she thought to herself. “You know,” she noted to AJ, hoping to deter him from the four shots he was pouring, “Gary’s pretty meticulous about his liquor inventory.”
AJ made an ‘I don’t care’ face and shrugged. “Somebody’s gotta make up for the lightweights.”
“And who would THAT be?” Lexi asked, fishing. “Nick?”
AJ laughed. “Yup, thas Nicky. He’s a pussy-whipped, light weight mo fo.”
Lexi was a little concerned now that AJ and Nick didn’t get along, so she prodded. “You don’t like Nick very much, do you?”
“What?” AJ asked, surprised by her observation. “I love Nicky. He’s mah bro.”
“Oh,” Lexi replied, relieved at his answer. Hesitantly, she asked, “So…um, is Nick seeing anybody?”
AJ wasn’t happy about the onslaught of Nick questions and his answer was short and sweet. “He’s with Angela.” He downed a shot and set the empty glass into the sink.
“Well, I’M not interested in Nick!” Lexi exclaimed, acting shocked. “I have this friend who is coming home tomorrow for the week and she thinks he’s cute. I just thought maybe we could all hook up tomorrow night or something.”
AJ HATED it when women put this kind of pressure on him. Why did they always have to hook one of their friends up with one of the others? His agitation showed a little when he replied, bluntly. “I think he’s pretty much with Angela for the week.” That should do it.
“Angela Wildeman?” Lexi asked, disbelieving. There was no way that Nick Carter could remotely be interested in Angela “the freak” Wildeman.
AJ picked up his second shot and motioned for Lexi to do one with him. “I’m getting’ lonely here.” He thought for a second that he noticed her suppress a slight grimace, but discounted it when she eagerly picked up the shot.
When the shots were finished, Lexi asked again. “Angela Wildeman?”
AJ looked at her intently before answering, wondering what her fixation with Angela was. “I don’t know Angie’s last name,” he replied. “She hangs with Sandra. That’s all I know.”
“Sandra?!?” Lexi blurted out. “Then it IS Angela Wildeman.” She tried to hide her feelings on the subject, noticing that AJ had not said anything negative about the two.
“You know ‘em?” AJ asked, oblivious to Lexi’s expressed shock. “They’re upstairs if you want to talk to ‘em.”
Lexi played her knowledge of Sandra and Angela down. “No, no,” she said hurriedly. “I actually have to get going soon here.” She looked at her watch and frowned for emphasis. There was no way in hell she wanted to see Sandra. It would totally blow her intentions for tomorrow night, especially if Nick was “into Angela.” “I’m picking my friend Jess up at the airport early tomorrow. She’s the one I was telling you about earlier.”
AJ couldn’t hide his disappointment that Lexi would be leaving soon. He wasn’t enjoying his odd-man-out status as of late. “Damn!” he exclaimed, hoping to persuade her to stay by verbalizing his letdown.
“But,” Lexi added, encouraged by his expressed regret. “We could meet up again tomorrow, around five, if you’d like, AJ.”
AJ thought it over as he finished the third and final shot. He didn’t think they had any plans for the following evening, and nobody would really care if he slipped out anyway. “Sure,” he replied, nodding slowly. “Thas cool.”
“Um,” Lexi started, faltering a bit for fear of upsetting him. “Do you think Nick would come with you? Jess is a real knockout,” she added quickly. “He wouldn’t be disappointed.” She licked her lips nervously, awaiting his answer.
AJ sighed. There was no way he was going to make such a ridiculous promise because he didn’t think Nick would leave Angela at this point; he was at the pre-whipped stage. Besides, AJ liked Angela and he would feel terrible if Nick DID leave her for Lexi’s friend. “Nick’s pretty loyal,” he responded, hoping to end the topic once and for all. “And he’s all into Angela, Lexi.”
Lexi knew that Jess would be extremely pissed if she didn’t at least get her a chance with Nick, so against her better judgment, she pressed AJ further. “Okay, but how about if I bring Jess with me to pick you up?” she suggested. “That way Nick can at least MEET Jess and decide for himself if he’s interested or not.”
AJ did not like being pushed into such things, but considered himself off the hook that Nick would be the one to piss her friend off. “I ain’t guaranteein’ anything,” he said reluctantly, “but I guess there’s no harm in bringing her along.” He was surprised at the guilty feeling that settled in his stomach after giving in to Lexi’s persuasion.
“Great!” Lexi exclaimed, jumping off the barstool. “So I’ll see you tomorrow night about five?” she asked as she slipped her jacket on. She jingled her keys at him, waiting for verification.
“Sure,” AJ replied softly. “Five.” He gave her a half-hearted peace sign as she headed towards the exit stairs. “No promises!” he yelled out after her, hoping it would make him feel better, but it didn’t.
“I know!” Lexi shouted back down to him before the door closed behind her. She ran to her car and dialed Jess immediately on the cell phone. As soon as Jess answered, she yelled, “Tomorrow night, YOU’VE got a date with NICK CARTER!”
“You’re shitting me!” Jess shouted back. “You got him?”
“Well,” Lexi added, remembering AJ’s ‘no promises’ statement. “He’s kind of interested in Angela Wildeman right now, but…”
“Angie Wildeman?!?” Jess asked, incredulous. “Freak-o from high school?”
“Yeah, can you believe that?” Lexi agreed. “He’s in the Alley right now bowling with her and stuff.”
“Well, how did you get him to agree to meet ME?” Jess asked, a little disappointed that it obviously wasn’t a sure thing.
“AJ’s going to introduce you tomorrow when I stop to pick him up,” Lexi replied. “So WEAR SOMETHING HOT!”
“Yeah,” Jess said, thinking out loud. “I would HOPE that Nick would pick me over HER.”
“He will,” Lexi replied. “Don’t worry about it.” They continued discussing their plans for the following evening as Lexi drove home.
Downstairs, AJ decided to shoot a loner game of pool. He didn’t feel
like facing Angela right away. She would be so hurt if she ever knew
that he’d agreed to introduce Nick to someone else. He finished his
beer and walked over to the pool table to rack the balls for his game.
As the clicks of the pool balls hitting each other echoed through the
basement, he assured himself that he’d done no harm. After all, Nick
WOULD undoubtedly choose Angela.
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