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Nick’s head was bent down over a book – wait, a book?! Brian backtracked his steps to the doorway of Nick’s room again and looked closely. It *was* a book. A thick one at that. And it didn’t look as if it would have cartoons all over it. Weird.

Nick lifted his eyes for a moment, as if he was thinking about something. When he saw Brian, he sprang backwards on his bed – like a frog, Brian thought – and his back hit the headboard. Brian noticed that he managed to slide the book under the covers.

“Goddammit, Brian! You scared me.”

“Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain,” he replied severely. Then his face broke into a devilish smile.

“What were you reading?”

“Me? Reading?” Nick asked, making his eyes go wide. Brian thought that he should tell him that those eyes stopped working on the them about a year ago. Well, except for Howie. He was a sucker for Nick.

Brian slanted his eyes at Nick. Nick took ‘the slant’ as a danger sign – as he well should – and scrambled off the bed. Another interesting thing that Brian noticed was that he managed to ‘accidentally’ cover the book with pillows on his way. Brian’s interest was truly peaked now. Nick saw his eyes flitting to where the book was and had a moment of self-debate. Then he lunged for he book just as Brian did the same. They went head-to-head. Brian grappled for the book while trying to shove Nick off the bed at the same time.

Brian touched something that suspiciously felt like the spine of a paperback and grabbed it.

“Ha!” He held the book above his head triumphantly while landing on Nick’s stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him.

“The supremacy of Brian Littrell prevails! I am the ultimate ruler of Nicky-land! I am the Supreme King of Pizzas and Pizza Boxes – “

He was cut off in the middle of his monologue by Nick heaving up and throwing him off. But Brian still managed to keep hold on the book. Good thing he landed on Nick’s legs and not the hotel floor. Although the kid’s knees were a little sharp. He made himself comfortable there so he could look at the book properly.

Nick tried to lift his legs but Brian wasn’t exactly the lightest guy around. That would be Howie. Or maybe AJ. Definitely not Kevin. Brian ignored his struggle and looked at the book’s title. He squinted at Nick.

“This isn’t one of those books where a young, naïve prostitute who doesn’t have a choice but sell her body stumbles across a customer who’s filthy rich and they find true love in each other, is it?”

Nick stopped struggling and raised his eyebrows.

“Cause Leigh has one of those. I saw one in the library.”

Nick tried to hide his smirk when he saw a blush creep up Brian’s ears. He had probably dog-eared all the nasty parts, too.

“You’ve been reading too many chick books. And that’s a thriller.”

Suddenly, he sat up again and grabbed the book out of Brian’s hands.

“Who’s it from?”

“None of your business.”

“I’ll order pizza if you tell me.”

“What I would really like you to do right now is to get off my knees.”

“I think we can throw that into the deal.”

Nick rolled his eyes.

“Brian, I can order pizza on my own. This hotel has room service, like most five-star hotels do.”

“Smartass,” Brian said, flicking him on the forehead.

“Hey!” Nick protested, batting his hands away.

This inspired Brian to move his hands to Nick’s ribs. Nick squealed and squirmed, tickling Brian back. In a few moments, they had tumbled off bed and were in all-out tickle war.

“Guys!”

They paused for just enough time to see Kevin, Howie, and AJ standing above them.

“Say uncle,” Brian panted between bursts of laughter.

“No. You first,” Nick gasped.

Brian locked Nick’s head under his arm and proceeded to give him a good noogie.

Nick squealed again and cried out, “Uncle! I said uncle you little bastard!”

AJ shook his head at them. “Man, we thought you were going berserk in here.”

“Nah, we’re cool,” Brian said. He gave Nick one last good rub before letting him go.

When the others had left, Brian prodded Nick’s leg with his foot.

“So, really. Whose book is that?”

Nick glared. He knew that Brian wasn’t letting this go. And Brian could irritate the hell out of anyone better than Nick could. He had proven that numerous times.

He sighed in defeat.

Brian grinned in delight.

“It’s just something Kid sent me.”

“That’s it? Jeez, couldn’t you have told me earlier?”

“Maybe I didn’t want you to bother me for a week like that time after you found out Kid sent me that CD,” Nick said wryly.

“Aw, you know I just like seeing you all riled up,” Brian said, batting his eyelashes. Nick thought it made him look like he had some king of incurable eye twitch.

“Gross, man. Get *off* me. And people say you’re the pious one."