| DON'T THINK I'M NOT 4 |
| Joey's eyes tried to focus on the veiw before him, and he stumbled to his feet, sending the stripper from his lap to the floor. Lance blinked hard, not believing that Joey was there. What were the chances? He hung his head, cursing under his breath. His mind was spinning, trying to come up with some way out of this one. He stole a glance over at her, and saw the fear in her face. "Christ," he hissed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. This was bad, very bad. Joey was over to them within seconds, stepping carelessly over the fallen girl. His eyes were clouded over with uncertainty, and hurt. "Why are you two here?" he gasped. She stared back at him, her eyes challenging his. "I might ask you the same thing," she retorted, looking past him at the stripper, who was pulling herself up, and the other girl, who had been sitting next to Joey. "Who are they?" she asked, ice lacing her shaking voice. Lance looked on with interest. Maybe he wouldn't have to say anything. Maybe they would be so wrapped up in why Joey was there, they'd forget about him. He stepped back a bit, and watched carefully. "Just friends," Joey replied evenly, staring down at her. "So why are you here? What's your deal? Why is Lance with you?" Lance pressed his lips together, waiting for her reply. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. This should be good, trying to think of a logical reason he was with Joey's fiance in a strip club. There really wasn't much he could say. Joey grabbed her shoulders roughly and pulled her close. "Well?" he demanded. He looked at her, then at Lance, then back at her. "I was upset when you didn't come back to the hotel. I wanted to go out. I didn't know this was a strip club." She tried to keep her tone convincing. "And so what if it is?" she questioned, shrugging Joey's hands off her. "I can do what I want. It's not like I had a stripper rubbing against me." Lance bit back a laugh. She actually said that? . As Joey looked to him for confirmation, he nodded. "Yeah, we didn't realize it was a strip club." He'd called on his innocent nature more than once to get him out of a sticky spot, and hoped he had one more life in him. "Truly, Joe," he said. "She was just upset. I wanted to cheer her up." Oh, he was getting good at this. Joey stood back, staring at the two of them, crossing his arms over his chest. "You honestly didn't know?" he asked. She shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. "Okay, now who the fuck are they? And why was she on your lap?" Joey's face fell with guilt, and Lance cocked an eyebrow, wondering how his buddy was going to talk his way out of this one. A laugh threatened to escape at the insanity of the situation. The cheater catches the cheater, but which one was worse? Joey and his fiance continued to argue as Lance headed toward the bathroom. They were nuts, that was for sure. Pondering the night's events, he wondered if they would finally break up. He hoped not, he would sure miss her if she wasn't around. He rinsed his hands under the warm water and stared at himself in the mirror. There was no way anyone could look at him and not know he'd just had sex. It was all over his face. Luckily, Joey was so involved in covering his own ass, he hadn't questioned it. He rubbed a paper towel over his face and made his way back into the club. He scanned the room, catching the two arguing still in the corner. Shaking his head, he walked to the exit, hailed a cab, and headed back to the hotel room. The last thing he needed was to get in the middle of that shit. Once back in his hotel room, he collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes. This was too funny, maybe he could write a book about it. How stupid could two people be? He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. Maybe it was time to call it quits with her. Although, she was great, coming up with all these crazy ideas. Frowning, he decided he would miss it too much. So, as long as Joey would keep her, so would he. The knock on his door caused him to groan. He was tired, and just wanted to sleep. "Go away!" he called. The knock persisted, however, and he pulled himself up. "This better be good." He flung open the door and stared. Justin was standing there, a girl on either arm, drunken eyes drooping. "One for each of us," he slurred, barging in. Lance shook his head in wonder. This was out of Justin's league. Way out. "J, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, glancing at the two girls, who seemed equally as drunk, and not exactly of age. "Where did you get them?" "Oh, they're okay," he said, wrapping his arms around one of them. "At the club. They're older than me," he laughed. "Gimme a break!" Lance hissed as Justin fell back onto his bed, struggling to keep his eyes open. The two girls were eagerly peering around his room, making him very uncomfortable. "Look, girls, I'm sorry he dragged you here. I don't know what got into him. Can I get you a cab back home?" Justin attepted to stand up in protest. "No, no no!" he pouted, standing toe to toe with his friend. "I know you think I'm just a kid, but I know what you do. I know all about it." Lance glared at him, wondering what he was talking about. Then, he remembered the girls. Grinning with uneasiness, he ushered the girls to his door. "I really am sorry," he explained to their protests. "There will be a cab waiting. On me. I'll pay for it." Their frowns were intense, and it made him curious as to just what Justin had promised them. "Can we at least get your autograph?" one of them asked. Lance shoved the teetering Justin back onto the bed and nodded through gritted teeth. "Sure," he reached over to his nightstand and tore a peice of paper from his notepad, scribbling his name on it. "There you go," he said, thrusting it into her hand. "Thanks for understanding." He ignored their words, and shut the door firmly, calling down to the lobby to order a cab for them. Returning his attentions to Justin, he shoke him roughly. "Get up!" he seethed. Justin, however, was truly hammered, and a small pool of drool ran from his mouth onto Lance's bed. "Oh, for fuck's sake," he growled, pushing his younger friend hard. There was no use in trying to talk to him tonight. Sighing, he pulled him up higher onto the bed, and threw a comforter over him. "Just what do you know?" Lance murmered, chewing on his lip. Justin couldn't possibly know about his trysts with Joey's fiance, could he? Looking down at him, he grimaced as Justin laughed in his sleep. |