Nick smiled at Leah, who sat across the table from him in the small ice cream parlor. The two had decided to meet there after Nick’s rehearsal that afternoon.
“Good, good,” Nick replied. There was now only a week left until the start of the tour, and he was both excited and nervous. He only hoped everything would go well... and that the fans would enjoy themselves.
“That’s great,” said Leah.
“Yeah...” Nick paused a moment, planning out his next words. Then he said, “Hey, um... speaking of the tour... there’s something I was wanting to ask you.”
Leah tipped her head sideways. “Sure, what?”
“Well... my brother, Aaron, was going to come with me on tour... just to hang out and stuff, ya know. But he’s not coming now, so I was wondering... how would you like to come on the road with me?”
Leah gasped. “Oh, Nick! I’d.... I’d love to! The only problem is work... I don’t know if I’ll be able to get off.”
“I know... I’m sorry this is such short notice... it’s just... we haven’t... I don’t... well...”
“We don’t know each other very well yet, I know,” said Leah. “But I’m honored you asked me, and I really would love to go with you. It would give us a good opportunity to get to know each other even better, since we’d be hanging out together all the time. I’ll ask my boss about it tonight.”
“Okay. Let me know what he says.”
“I will.” Leah smiled and took a bite of her ice cream sundae. The sunlight from outside spilled across her face, bathing her in gold. Absolutely taken with her, Nick couldn’t help but smile.
“What are you grinning about over there?” Leah asked teasingly.
Nick felt himself blush. “You,” he answered truthfully. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”
Now Leah blushed. “You’re just saying that.” She looked away, her voice soft.
“Trust me, I’m not. You’re beautiful, and I... I really like you. A lot.”
Leah looked back at him, her coffee-colored eyes meeting his. “I like you a lot too, Nick.” She reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. He smiled and took hold of it, his fingers caressing the back of her hand. Her skin was soft and silky and feminine.
Weeks ago, Nick had been telling people he was not interested in having a relationship. He was tired of women; he had been hurt by them too many times. And now here he was, falling head over heels for the first girl who had ever broken his heart. Was he making the same mistake all over again? His mind told him to be wary, but his heart was light and carefree and begged him to plunge ahead with the relationship.
And so he did.
***
That night, Nick lay sprawled across his sofa, his cordless phone pressed to his ear, listening to the endless ringing on the other end of the line. Then, finally, there was a click and a harried “Hello?”
“B-Rok! Hey, it’s Nick! Did I catch you at a bad time?” Nick asked. Brian sounded awfully stressed out.
“Oh, hey, Nick! No, it’s all good... I’m just trying to get Baylee to go to sleep.”
Nick could hear the baby now, screaming shrilly on the other end. He grimaced. “Aw, sorry, man. Maybe I should call back later?”
“Um... no... just... just hang on a minute...” Nick waited, listening to the muffled sounds coming from Brian’s end with an expression of amusement. Finally, Brian came back. “Okay, I got him quieted down. We’re rocking.”
“Rocking?” Nick smiled, picturing Brian sitting in a rocking chair with little Baylee in his arms. “Cute. Where’s Leigh?”
“In bed. She’s got a cold, so she doesn’t want to be handling the baby much. I offered to put him down, and he was almost asleep, but then the phone rang.”
“Oh... I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, it’s okay. Not your fault. He’s going back to sleep now.”
“That’s good.”
‘Yup. So... what’s up, man? I haven’t talked to you in forever.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Nick.
“I’m sorry, I should have called you before. I’ve just been real busy... you know, with the-“
“Baby,” finished Nick. “I know.” Actually, that was not the case. Brian had been “real busy” for years, ever since he had gotten engaged to Leighanne. He had changed. Not in a bad way, just in a way Nick did not like. The truth was, Brian had grown up. He was an adult, mature and responsible, with a family to take care of. And Nick... physically, Nick was an adult too... but he was still a kid at heart and figured he always would be. He was all about having a good time, playing and partying hard, always the fun-loving practical joker. Brian had been that way once too. But he was different now. Nick never wanted that to happen to him. He vowed never to change, never to let some woman do that to him.
“Yeah... are you okay, Nick?” Brian’s voice interrupted Nick’s thoughts.
“Sure, I’m fine,” he said quickly. “What’s been up with you?”
“Oh, same old, same old,” said Brian. “You’ve gotta see Baylee – he’s getting so big now!”
“Really? Is he crawling yet?” Nick asked innocently.
“Crawling? Nick, he’s not even three months old. He can’t even sit up yet.”
“Oh.” Nick felt stupid now.
Brian laughed. “So you never answered my question before – what have you been up to? Getting ready for your tour?”
“Yeah,” said Nick. “I’ve been having rehearsals every day... you know how that goes.”
“Yeah. Anything else?”
“Well...” Nick smiled on his end and pressed the phone closer to his ear. “There’s this girl...”
“Oooh, a girl?” Brian’s voice was teasing and playful, much more like the old Brian. “So… what’s she like? Details!” he added in a girly lisp.
Nick laughed. “She’s wonderful,” he said truthfully. “Totally hot.”
“Blonde?”
Nick had to laugh; Brian had always gone for blondes. “Yup,” he said. “And she’s got the most gorgeous eyes.”
“Blue?”
“Brown.”
“Oh.”
“And you know what the weird thing is?”
“What?”
“She’s the first girl that ever broke my heart... and now I’m in love with her all over again.”
“What? How long have you known this girl? Who is she?”
“Her name’s Leah Gaylers, and I went to school with her,” answered Nick. “I had the biggest crush on her in middle school... she was like the epitome of the perfect girl... popular, pretty, cheerleader... you know the type.”
“Uh-huh. So what happened?”
“Well, I asked her to this dance once, in seventh grade. And she laughed at me. I felt like such a loser... I hated her after that. Hated her guts, even though deep down, I probably still liked her.”
“Aww,” Brian said, laughing. “I feel for ya, dude.”
“So anyway, I met up with her again a few weeks ago...” Nick paused, deciding not to tell Brian exactly where he had met Leah and what she was doing there. Good, wholesome Brian would probably not approve of that. “... and we went out one night and started talking, and... well, I’m falling for her all over again.”
“Really?” Brian sounded intrigued. “That’s totally weird. And you, of all people. I thought you were anti-romance right now.”
“Well, I was... but... well, things change, ya know?”
“Yeah. So... Valentine’s Day is on Friday... what are you gonna do for her?”
“I’m workin’ on it, I’m workin’ on it!” Nick insisted.
Brian laughed, and suddenly, it felt like old times again. Nick grinned, thinking of the many times he had come to Brian for advice on women back when he was an awkward teenager, girl-crazy and confused. Brian really was not the best person to ask for help in that area; Kevin and Howie were older and more experienced in the romance department. Heck, even AJ had more experience than Brian ever did.
But Brian was Nick’s best friend, the older brother he never had, and the only person to whom he felt truly comfortable revealing his inner feelings. Brian never laughed at him and teased him to the point of utter humiliation the way the others often did; Brian was caring and understanding. And he had to have known something about the opposite sex, because here he was, the second of the Backstreet Boys to get married. And he and Leighanne were the perfect couple, happily in love with one another.
Someday, far down the road, Nick wanted that for himself. But not yet. He was not ready for that commitment. Dating Leah was one thing, but marriage? The thought of that both intimidated and frightened Nick.
If Nick only knew what he would be facing in a matter of months, he would have realized that marriage was a lot less scary than what was lying ahead.
***
