“Fuck, Robbie…don’t you think I’m gonna get recognized?” Nick Carter mumbled as he pulled his Tampa Bay Buccaneers hat down over his bright blue eyes a bit more. “Couldn’t we have gone to a bar or something instead?”
“And you don’t think you’re going to get recognized there? Come on, Nick. Chill out,” Robbie Peterson laughed and tipped back his beer, taking a long swig. “Besides, when’s the last time you went tailgating? You used to love football.”
“And I still love football,” he sighed. “I just hate going out to see the games when all the fans see me. I know you and I know you probably posted this shit on Myspace saying how I was going to be back in town or whatever.” He mumbled and took a swig of his own beer. He would need it for sure.
“Oh take the stick out of your ass, Nick,” Robbie rolled his eyes. “We have fucking amazing seats and I’m sure there are gonna be some hot ass waitresses serving us beer all day. What more could you ask for?” Robbie was already a bit tipsy and Nick could tell. Not like he minded, he just hated being the only sober one in his group of friends. Lately he just didn’t enjoy getting completely trashed, though, either. It was a lose-lose situation, or so it seemed.
“Whatever,” he mumbled and looked down at his almost empty beer. “When do we go into the stadium?” He asked his friends. They were right. It had been forever since he had been to a game, let alone a Bucs game at Raymond James.
“Probably in about an hour since the game starts at six,” Robbie explained. Nick let out another hefty sigh and downed the rest of his beer. “What’s your deal, Nick? Ever since you’ve been back in Tampa you’ve been such a dick about everything we do. You don’t go out as much, and when you do, you don’t get shit faced like the rest of us.”
“I don’t know, man,” Nick muttered. “I guess I’m just not used to being in this scene every night. I haven’t been around you guys in forever.” He shrugged. “I’m gonna go get another beer.” He muttered. Robbie nodded as he headed towards a tent where beer was being sold. It had been forever since he’d been in Tampa. Now that the Backstreet Boys were about to release another album, he had literally been flying around the world trying to promote it. The only reason he had gotten a break to come home for a week was because Brian had gotten sick with a cold and needed to rest. As of next Monday, they were back on a plane headed to Germany.
“Hey, what can I get ya?” The guy at the table where the beer was being supplied asked.
“A Bud Light, if you’ve got it,” Nick fished out his wallet from his back pocket and handed the guy a few dollars. “Thanks.” He smiled as the guy took off the top and handed it over. “Keep the change.” He sighed as he took a swig.
“This game is fucking stupid,” he heard someone mutter as they walked by. “Ben can’t even be here. And hell, we’re supposed to be at Howl-O-Scream tonight anyway. Why the hell did we decide to come here?”
He had to chuckle. He kind of felt the same way. The girl complaining was much shorter than him with stringy blonde hair and glasses. She looked more pissed off than he did.
“Allie, could you chill out? I haven’t been back to Tampa in so long and I wanted to check it out. We don’t have to stay the whole time. My dad gave me the tickets, so we might as well just go for a while…it’s free,” the girl she was with laughed and shook her head. Nick was much more attracted to her. She was short, too, but much more naturally beautiful. Her brown hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, falling only a few inches below. Her dark brown eyes were intoxicating but so subtle at the same time. She bit her bottom lip as she looked at the sign hanging below the beer table. “You want something?” She asked her friend, he assumed, was named Allie.
“Do they have that flavored Smirnoff?” She asked. The other girl laughed and shook her head ‘no’.
“Probably not,” she turned back towards her friend, then back to the man selling the beer. “Um, I’ll just have a Bud Light.” She smiled and pulled a few dollars out of her jean shorts pocket.
“Kate!” Robbie yelled out from behind Nick. Nick turned around, completely confused as to why his friend was catching this girl’s attention. A smile formed over the other girl’s lips and she walked towards Robbie after taking the beer from the vender and giving him a few dollars.
“Hey Robbie,” she smiled and gave him a friendly hug. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be at the game tonight or not. Bean said he wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”
“Yeah, we made it,” he smiled. “Bean couldn’t come, though. I, actually, brought my man Nick.” He smiled and patted Nick on the back. “Nick, this is Kate Martin and Allie Steel. Kate’s dad owns the season tickets right next to Bean’s.” He explained. Nick nodded and took another sip from his beer before he said anything to this girl.
“Nice to meet you,” he finally managed to mumble and shook her hand.
“You too,” her smile…wow, her smile made him melt, or so it seemed. “So, are you from around here?”
“You could say that. I’m from Ruskin,” Nick nodded and tilted back his beer to get another gulp. “But I live kinda all over the place…”
“He’s in the Backstreet Boys,” Robbie chuckled and took another gulp from his own beer. Nick rolled his eyes, wanting to punch Robbie in the face.
“Oh!” Kate smirked. “That’s cool, I used to be a fan…kind of. My sister was always a big fan growing up so I heard a bunch of the songs. And I went to a few concerts.” She giggled and shrugged. “I guess I remember you now that I think about it.” She tipped back her beer as well.
“Hey, Robbie! You going out tonight after the game?” Someone yelled from a different angle.
“Most definitely,” Robbie smiled back. “I’ll be back. I’ll see you girls inside the stadium.” He winked at them and then went to talk to the person that interrupted their conversation.
“So, what about you?” Nick finally asked back. “Are you from around here?”
“I’ll be right back…” Allie interrupted and walked towards the bathroom. She, obviously, wasn’t interested in the conversation any.
“Um, kind of,” Kate smirked. Again, there she went with that smile. “I grew up in Tampa but my freshman year of college my family moved to Boston. My older brother got accepted to Boston College and they decided to pick up and follow him. So, I live in Orlando…I went there for school and just kinda stayed.”
Nick nodded and smiled. She seemed interesting enough. “Orlando’s a nice area.”
“Yeah, it is,” Kate grinned just thinking about it. “Granted, some of the aspects aren’t too lovely. But I love the nightlife and my friends there. And Tampa’s not too far away to come back and visit, like today.” She explained.
“Very true,” Nick nodded in agreement. “Tampa’s a beautiful place, too.” He felt like an idiot for not being able to contribute more to the conversation but he wasn’t really sure what to say. That, and the fact that for some reason she was really having this strange affect on him where he wasn’t sure he could say anything at all. Usually he was the one to play hard to get, not the other way around. He was melting in the palm of her hand.
“It must be beautiful enough for a celebrity like you to return to,” she grinned, giving him a golden opportunity to jump into the conversation.
“It is,” he swallowed hard and licked his lips. Come on, Carter. Say something intelligent, for Christ’s sake! “It’s somewhere I guess I’ll always call home, ya know? I have a place in California, too, but there’s something about Tampa. I even love Miami and I’m not even from there.”
“Now that’s one place I’m not too fond of,” Kate nearly shuddered.
“What?” Nick chuckled, starting to feel a bit more comfortable in the conversation. “A girl like you who admitted to liking nightlife not enjoying Miami? You must be joking.” He sounded playful and that made her laugh.
“I guess it’s kinda not fair for me to judge…my roommate my freshman year was from Miami and she was the biggest bitch I had ever met. Ever since then, I’ve had it in for the place,” Kate shrugged innocently and Nick laughed.
“Oh man, you have to go back and try out the Brass Monkey,” he licked his lips again, only this time it wasn’t out of being nervous, it was out of excitement. He loved meeting people he could dive into conversations with – people that didn’t judge him because of his career or his fame. People who liked talking to him because they found him interesting.
“I’ll have to try that,” she giggled and took another swig from her beer.
“Kate,” someone sounded a bit agitated. The pair turned to see Allie with her arms crossed over her chest. “Can we please go in now? It’s so fucking hot out here.” She complained and headed towards the stadium whether or not her friend was behind her.
“I guess I should probably go with her…even though we’re going to be sitting out there in the sun for like, another hour and a half or whatever,” she mumbled and started walking. Nick followed.
“I might as well go in with you,” Nick shrugged. “Robbie ran off with those people and I’m having fun talking to you. Our seats are next to each other?”
“Yeah,” Kate smiled as they both threw out their beers and walked to the line to get in.
“Fun for you; you have to put up with me for another five hours at least,” Nick joked. Kate looked back and smiled.
“I can’t imagine it’d be that horrible,” she winked. Nick smirked and followed her in. This girl was impressive.
Story Notes:
I'm still working hardcore on My Girl. This just kinda came to me and I went with it. Let me know what you think =]
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the first chapter! Reviews are immensely helpful just because I need to know if you, as the reader, are enjoying it. That way I know if I should continue writing it or not =]
Thanks!
Thanks!
