Nick felt like his shoes were filled with lead. He stood on the black and white checkered dance floor and continued to study Annie and Kevin. They looked like they belonged together-- Kevin in his classy black tux and Annie in her elegant purple evening gown. Nick looked down at his own ensemble and let out an exasperated sigh. While Annie had been a good sport about it, he wondered whether she really just thought he looked ridiculous. Who was he kidding? He did look ridiculous, but that was the point, right? Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but notice how not ridiculous she and Kevin looked dancing together. They looked....well, hell, they looked good together. Really good. His large right hand rested comfortably on the small of her back and his left gripped her right gently, while her left arm rested atop his right, her fingers grazing his broad shoulder, leaving them in a perfect ballroom stance. Their feet floated gracefully across the black and white checkerboard dance floor as Kevin led her in some effortless ballroom dance Nick couldn’t identify. They continued talking and laughing, their eyes never leaving each other.

“Well, isn’t that interesting.” Brian’s dumbfounded voice echoed in Nick’s ear, sounding much further away than it actually was. He turned to find Brian standing beside him, watching the pair with equal intensity.

“Should I be worried?” Nick asked him quietly, forgetting for a moment that Brian wasn’t his biggest supporter when it came to Annie. Frankly, he wasn’t his supporter at all when it came to Annie.

Brian looked at Nick, then back to the couple on the other side of the dance floor. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it back. The little devil on his shoulder told him that this was quite the opportunity to perhaps scare Nick away from Annie. The younger man’s intimidation when it came to Kevin Richardson was intense and far-reaching, spanning over 18 years. He imagined that if Nick thought Kevin was truly interested in Annie, he’d probably back off immediately. In the end, though, Brian’s good conscience won out. “I doubt it, Nick,” he said simply, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder before turning and walking away.

Seconds later, Kevin whispered something in Annie’s ear and planted a soft kiss on her cheek as he pulled himself away from her. He gave Nick a little wave and a nod as he walked towards Brian and Leighanne. Annie, on the other hand, started walking toward Nick with big smile on her face. He looked behind him, not quite believing that she was approaching him after the dance he’d just witnessed between her and Kevin. “So, how was your first and only prom?” she asked as she closed the distance between them.

Nick laughed. “It was a lot of fun, actually, though....” He paused for a beat and leaned toward her. “I wish I’d gotten to spend more time with my date.”

Annie placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it gently. “You know, despite the fact that it’s late, I’m pretty wired. You want to buy me a drink? One of those fruity things all the girls are drinking?”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you think your stomach can handle it tonight...” he replied, half teasing, but also concerned.

“I’m good, Nick. Let’s go.” She yanked him by the wrist and pulled him off the dance floor, then led him into a small bar below the deck. “I’ll have a pina colada,” she told the bartender as she sank onto a bar stool in the corner by the wall.

The bartender, a short man with no hair and large biceps, looked at Nick expectantly, obviously amused by his get-up. “Um...Sam Adams...and a water,” he said as he eased onto the bar stool beside Annie.

They sat in uncomfortable silence until the bartender slid a frothy white beverage in front of Annie, complete with a little umbrella, followed by Nick’s glass of beer and a bottle of water. Annie leaned forward and took a long sip of her drink through the hot pink straw. “Mmm....” she moaned appreciatively. “I hardly ever drink these. Too much of a triple threat.”

“Triple threat?” Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah. Fat, sugar, and alcohol.”

“Ah. I see. Well, you’re on vacation,” he reasoned before taking a gulp of his beer.

“Exactly.....” She studied her drink, bending the straw back and forth with her fingertips “So, you had a good time tonight?”

Nick sighed and placed his glass back on the shiny lacquer bar top. “Yeah..... for the most part.” He eyed her warily. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it Nick?”

Here we go, he thought as he braced himself. “Do you have a thing for Kevin? And by a thing for Kevin, I don’t mean a he’s your favorite Backstreet Boy kind of thing, I mean, are you interested in him...romantically? Because he and his wife are separated, and he is your favorite Backstreet Boy, and the two of you were looking pretty comfortable with each other out there on the dance floor. I mean, I know he’s your type and all,” he rambled on, pausing only to take a breath as Annie looked at him with wide eyes, taking a long drag on her straw. “But I haven’t tried to hide the fact that I like you, Annie, and I know I’m probably not your type, but it kind of seems that maybe you like me, too. But like I said, you were looking pretty cozy with Kevin, and if you’d rather go for him instead of me, I’d understand. I just want to know whether I need to go ahead and give up or not.” He gasped, having only taken one other breath during his entire spiel, then grabbed his beer and downed the rest of it, more than half the glass, in two large gulps. He slammed it on the bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his orange tuxedo jacket.

“Are you finished?” Annie asked with a bemused smirk on her face.

“Drinking? No. I think I’ll have another.” He motioned to the bartender, who shook his head and chuckled as he filled another glass with amber liquid from the tap.

“I meant with your little spiel about me and Kevin,” she clarified.

“Um...yes. I think.” He picked up the new glass of beer that the bartender had just delivered and tossed back about half the glass.

“You want to know what Kevin and I were talking about while we danced?”

“No. Not really.”

Annie took another sip of her drink to cover up her knowing smile. “Too bad, because I’m going to tell you, anyway.”

“I figured as much.” Nick finished his second glass of beer in as many minutes and his hand shook violently as he set the empty glass down gingerly on the cocktail napkin in front of him. He watched as beads of sweat rolled down the highball and onto the wet paper beneath it.

“Nick, look at me.” Annie placed a finger under his chin and directed his face up so that he was looking at her, scared blue eyes meeting brilliant kelly green. “We were talking about you.”