Brian wiggled uncomfortably in his sleep. Someone was in his bed, touching him in places that had, until recently, been reserved for those whom he loved very much. With his eyes still closed, Brian grabbed the woman’s hand and threw it off of him. “What are you still doing here?”

He opened his eyes and rolled his head over to where a blonde-haired woman was staring down at him. She was propped up on one elbow, fully unclothed. The smile that she wore on her face evaporated when she saw the less-than-playful look in Brian’s eyes. Brian didn’t even know this woman’s name, though that wasn’t completely unusual for him in the weeks that had passed since he had returned back to Georgia. He had started going out regularly to local bars and clubs and bringing home the first woman that showed a sign of interest by the time that he was drunk enough to have the courage to follow through.

The flavor of the night last night? Blonde, big-chested, blue eyes, tacky 80s hair. The thought that he had actually been inside of this woman caused his stomach to churn.

“What do you mean what am I still doing here?” The woman replied in her southern Georgia twang. She narrowed her eyes and sat up quickly. “We shared something special last night.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “No, what we had last night was sex. Period.” He tossed the blanket off of his naked body and slung his legs to the ground. He picked up a pair of sweatpants that were lying on the floor next to the bed and pulled them quickly up over his legs. He picked up his cell phone and dialed an all-too-familiar number.

“Thanks for calling ABC Taxi. How may I help you?” The uninterested receptionist answered the phone.

“This is Brian Littrell of 7654 Swann Lane. I need a driver please.” Brian replied. The line was starting to come to him naturally.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Littrell. Someone will be to your house in fifteen minutes.” The receptionist responded. He could hear the smile in her voice. She knew that the company was picking up yet another woman being thrown from Brian’s home.

Brian thanked the receptionist and snapped his cell phone shut. He stood up from his seated position on the bed and walked around the room, picking up items of the blonde-woman’s clothes and throwing them to her on the bed. “Get dressed. Your cab will be waiting outside in fifteen minutes.” He then pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and threw it down next to her. “That should get you back to where you came from.”

The woman stared at Brian with her mouth hanging open. She looked around the room slowly. “You’re married, aren’t you? Need to get me out of here before the wife gets back?”

Brian slapped his hand to his forehead. He had never let himself get into this position. He let himself fall asleep with a clingy woman. She was supposed to have left before he had fallen asleep. “No, I’m not married. It’s just sex. That’s it. Now leave my house.”

The blonde dressed quickly and walked around the room slowly. She assumed that there had to be something wrong with him. She had never been kicked out of anyone’s bed before, married or not. The woman peeked into the closet. It was full of a woman’s clothes. She pulled out a sexy red dress and held it up to herself, checking for size. She walked out of the closet and stood in front of the full-length mirror that was in the corner of Brian’s room. “Hmm, nice dress. You’re not married, huh? Are you a cross dresser or something?” She remarked, smirking sarcastically.

Brian walked over to her angrily and snatched the dress out of her hands. He clenched his jaw. That was the dress that Alexa had worn for Christmas. Now, this whore’s hands had tarnished it. “I’m not married. I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m not a cross-dresser. Keep your filthy hands off of my things.”

“That’s not what you said last night.” The woman said while wiggling her eyebrows.

Brian shook his head and grabbed the woman by the wrist. He hastily pulled her out of his room, down the stairs and through the living room. He slapped the twenty dollar bill into her hand and opened the front door. “I used you to fulfill my sexual desires for one night. That’s it. You don’t mean anything to me. I don’t know your name and I don’t care to. Leave my house and NEVER come back again.”

A shocked expression tainted the woman’s face. She didn’t look hurt, only surprised. Brian turned her around and pushed her out of the front door. Luckily, the taxi was just pulling up in front of his house. He slammed the door in the woman’s face before she was able to say another word. Brian turned around and leaned his back against the door. He banged his head against the wooden door slowly, over and over.

How, out of all of the women in Atlanta last night, did I happen to pick the one that was nuts? Brian thought to himself with a sigh. He then shrugged. I always have tonight to redeem myself.

-------

Within the last month, Brooke and Lance had finally followed through with their plans to leave Washington, DC and buy a new, larger house in the town of Chevy Chase, Maryland. In their new neighborhood, they were surrounded by other politicians and influential people who worked in the DC area. Now, Brooke was left with the difficult task of putting together a formal housewarming party for all of their neighbors and for Lance's co-workers and supporters. That was the challenge of trying to juggle being a mother, pregnant woman and the wife of a State Representative.

Alexa awoke much earlier than usual the morning of the party, thinking that she was doing a good thing. As she walked down the stairs however, she realized that even waking up at the hour that she had wasn't early enough. Brooke was already making phone calls, directing the florist and getting the caterer's set up in the kitchen, all the while, holding her two-year-old son on her hip.

Alexa stood at the edge of the stairs and crossed her arms. She couldn't help but to smile to herself at the scene. It was only a party, but Brooke was about ready to pull her hair out. They had barely moved into the new house when this party was starting to be planned. Lance had said that the intended guests would understand why they hadn't thrown a party, considering Brooke's present condition, but Brooke wasn't going to let anything as small as not throwing a party when moving into a prominent political neighborhood cause Lance any more trouble than it was worth. She was a good wife, but it was times like these when Alexa re-thought her aspirations to have what Brooke did.

Alexa watched as Brooke whizzed past without so much as looking at her as she made her way from the kitchen to the foyer area where the florists were beginning to unpack their flowers. Brooke then backed up a few steps, realizing that she'd just walked past Alexa.

“Finally, you're up!” Brooke exclaimed, practically out of breath. She handed Wesley to Alexa.

“I thought that I was doing good. I came down here to help, but apparently I'm late.” Alexa replied as she made a face at Wesley which caused him to smile.

“You have no idea. There is so much to do. I have no idea why I got myself into this.” Brooke ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

“You did it because you're a good wife who cares about her husband, but you really need to take it easy.” Alexa replied. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

“Thank you for looking out for me, but I'll be fine if you can just take Wes upstairs and entertain him for a while.” Brooke responded. She put her hands on her hips and tried to smile at Alexa. “It's too much trouble to carry him around and I can't have him tottering around the house with the door constantly being opened and people coming in and out and all of the strangers in the house.”

“I completely understand.” Alexa bounced Wes on her hip and kissed the side of his head. “I'll take him upstairs to play for a little while. Are you sure that there's nothing down here that you want me to do?”

“I'm sure.” Brooke replied, nodding slowly. “By lunch time, everything should be running smoothly, so we'll go out somewhere if you want? Are you doing okay today?”

Alexa laughed and switched the wiggling baby from her left hip to her right. “You don't have to worry about me so much, you know. I'm okay. I miss him everyday, but I'm not going to die.”

Brooke laughed softly. “I know, but I know that it's hard sometimes, especially considering the tabloid news that's been coming out about him lately.”

Alexa shook her head. “I don't listen to that mess. He's not like that. I was the first woman that he was with after his wife died. It wouldn't make sense.”

“That's what he told you, but Alexa-”

“No.” Alexa interrupted. Brooke didn't know Brian like she did. She didn't see the pain that was written across Brian's face every day. Besides, Brian hadn't told her that to try to get her into bed. It came out in a casual conversation and even then, he had been embarrassed by the information. Alexa thought that it was sweet. “He never lied to me about anything. He never had any reason to.”

Brooke nodded her head slowly. “Okay. I can't argue with you. I don't know him.”

Alexa sighed. “I don't want to talk about Brian.”

Alexa then turned to go back upstairs to entertain Brooke's infant son. She walked up the stairs into Wesley's room, shut the door and put him on the floor amidst his toys. She sat down on the floor next to Wesley and sighed. She wasn't supposed to have Brian on her mind today. She was supposed to be kept busy, helping Brooke.

Brian's face had been splashed over all the news rags in the supermarket. He was the Backstreet playboy. Alexa couldn't believe that the rumors were true. It wasn't like Brian to go out at night, let alone to bring women home with him. Alexa knew him as a friend for long enough to know his dating habits, although that was before, when he was depressed about his wife. By the time that he wasn't mourning Hayden's death anymore, he was with Alexa.

The one thing that Alexa couldn't wrap her mind around was that if it weren't true, why would the tabloids pick now to run rumors about Brian Littrell's love life? Nick had always had an active dating life as had AJ.

Alexa shook her head. No. Brian wasn't like that. He was fine.

--------

In a swanky hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland, Colin Michaels was straightening his tie in the vanity mirror that was attached to a small makeup table. He brushed his blonde, wavy hair back and sprayed it into place. His cell phone vibrated on the table next to him. He smirked at the phone number that flashed at the screen.

“Hello?” He answered, smiling.

“Have you left yet?”

“I'm on my way out the door now.” Colin replied, slipping his coat jacket over his shoulders.

“Do you remember your instructions?”

Colin rolled his eyes. “Your big plan isn't that hard to remember. I've got it. Let me do my job.”

“Outside by midnight?”

“Absolutely.” Colin slapped his cell phone shut. This was going to be the easiest ten-thousand dollars that he'd ever made.

-------

Later that night, Alexa walked out of her bedroom and down the hardwood floored hallway. She stood on the second story, holding onto the banister nervously. The party had been in full swing for almost an hour now. For some reason, Alexa was reluctant to leave the safety of her bedroom. Brian had been on her mind all night. Earlier that afternoon, Alexa had been flipping through the television channels and had stopped on the E! Network. There was a blonde woman talking about her recent night with Brian and the rude way that he had treated her afterwards. If the stories were true, Brian's taste in woman sure had gone downhill recently.

Alexa sighed and decided that she needed to join the party. She did, after all, live in the house. She needed to show her face at some point.

Alexa descended the staircase slowly, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She caught Brooke's eye and smiled. Brooke waved her over, but she pointed  to the bar. If she was going to survive these people, she needed a drink.

She walked directly over to the bar and ordered a vodka martini with an olive. The bartender turned away from her with a smile and poured the martini mix and vodka into a tumbler. Alexa turned around and leaned her back against the bar so that she could scan the crowd. There were so many people that she recognized, but couldn't name, which in all honesty was a shame. These were the people that were making all of the decisions for the country and she couldn't even tell you who they were. Brooke had tried to go through a mental checklist and inform her of the people that she may need to know, but Alexa had been uninterested. She wanted to show her face, say hello and then retreat back to her bedroom upstairs. There was a lot of work put into her hair and makeup for an hour-long appearance, but Alexa wasn't much in the mood for a party.

Alexa turned back around as the bartender set her glass on the makeshift bar top. Alexa thanked him and turned back around as she took a sip of her drink. Across the room, she noticed an attractive dark-blonde haired man staring at her. She averted her eyes, not wanting to make small talk with one of Lance’s friends. Not that Lance’s friends were excessively boring, but Alexa had enough trouble with men in her life as it was. As she pushed away from the bar in attempts to find her sister, the blonde man excused himself from the conversation that he was having with another woman and walked over to her. Apparently, her willingness of avoidance wasn’t in the cards.

Alexa gave the man a small smile as he approached. She could have just walked away, but that would have been rude, right?

“You’ll have to excuse me for staring, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. You’re absolutely breathtaking.” The stranger remarked once he was close enough for their conversation to be intimate.

There was something strange about him. His tanned skin was completely out of place for Maryland in late-April and his eyes were so intense that it made Alexa a little bit nervous. Still, she couldn’t help but to roll her eyes at his comment. “Is that the same thing that you said to the red head that you were just talking to over there?” Alexa replied, looking around him to nod toward the woman to whom he had just been speaking.

The man looked down and laughed softly. “So, you obviously noticed me as well, then?”

“Only because you were staring holes into the back on my head.” Alexa raised her eyebrows and took a sip of her drink.

The stranger laughed again and then extended his hand. “Maybe we should try this again. I’m Colin.”

Alexa set her drink down and extended her hand as well. “Alexa.”

“Well, Alexa. I understand that you live here?” Colin asked, taking a small sip out of the champagne glass that he was holding.

“You understand correctly.” Alexa replied, racking her brain for a way to get out of having this conversation.

“How did you end up here in Little DC?” Colin asked, trying to make small talk. Alexa really is beautiful. He thought to himself. How could I have asked for a better gig?

Alexa sighed, finally deciding to talk to the man. What was the worst that could happen? “My brother-in-law and sister own the house. She’s the pregnant one with the hot brunette on her arm?” Alexa pointed them out across the room.

Colin looked back and nodded. “Oh, right. I spoke to them earlier in the evening. They’re a beautiful family. Baby number two, right?”

Alexa nodded. “Baby number two. So, if you don’t know Lance and Brooke, what are you doing here?”

“Apparently, God sent me to meet you.” Colin replied with a smirk.

Alexa laughed out loud. “Is this seriously how you pick up women?”

Colin laughed and shook his head. “No. Not usually, not at all. I’m trying something new tonight. Is it working?”

“Not even close.” Alexa replied, shaking her head.

“How about I try a different approach and wow you with my dancing abilities?” Colin extended his hand to her palm up.

Alexa contemplated the idea. Would it be wrong of her to dance with him simply because she wanted nothing more than to be in someone’s arms for a dance while he was obviously interested in her? Alexa sighed and gave him her hand. “Okay. One dance. It you don’t wow me, then this love affair is over.”

Colin laughed and nodded. “You got it.”

Across the room, Brooke was visually scanning the bar for Alexa. She was just supposed to be getting a drink. What was taking her so long? Brooke’s eyes finally fell to the dance floor where Alexa was in the arms of a tall, tanned man. They were posing for a picture for the photographer from the Washington Post society pages. Brooke smiled to herself, glad that Alexa was taking the step of finally allowing herself to talk to other men after her break-up with Brian. Brooke tried to get a good look at the man to see if she knew him, but when he turned around, she realized that she didn’t recognize him at all. Brooke pulled on her husband’s hand to get his attention.

Lance turned and excused himself from the conversation that he was having and turned to Brooke. “Are you okay? Do you need to sit down for a while?”

Brooke shook her head and waved him off. “I’m fine.” She then nodded toward Alexa on the small dance floor across from them. “Do you know the guy that Alexa is dancing with?”

Lance shook his head. “No. He must just be someone who lives in the neighborhood. At least she’s making the best of this party instead of moping over some guy that can’t see the big picture.”

“Lance,” Brooke responded with a sigh. “Alexa messed up. You can’t blame it all on Brian.”

Lance shrugged. “Yeah, but anyone that knows Alexa knows that she cares about people. It’s just a shame that the man that she fell in love with couldn’t see that.”

Brooke nodded and tore her gaze away from Alexa and the man with whom she was dancing. She smiled at her husband. “I love that you love my sister so much.”

“I love you and Alexa’s your family, which makes her my family.” Lance smiled and kissed Brooke softly. “I’m protective over my own sisters, too. It’s comes with the territory of being a brother.”

Brooke smiled and intertwined Lance’s fingers with her own. “Well, Mr. Over-protective, how about you come protect me during a dance?”

Lance smiled and pulled his wife behind him onto the dance floor. Brooke gazed at Alexa again. She had a sinking feeling that something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe it was her mother’s instinct to watch over Alexa that was causing the nerves. She shook her head. Alexa’s a big girl and besides, it was only a dance.

-------

Across the country in Georgia, Brian was at home doing what he seemed to do best these days. There was a half-empty bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table and an empty bottle lying on the floor. Brian was on the couch on top of a brunette that was in her early twenties. On top of the woman’s head was a tiara that read, “Buy me a drink, I’m 21 today!”

Tonight, Brian had gone to a college hotspot in Atlanta near the University of Georgia. As he usually did, he sat at the bar drinking beer after beer until he was drunk enough not to care. Of course there were some woman at the bar who knew exactly who he was, but at that moment, it didn’t matter to him. College students were used to the type of activity that Brian wanted. Have a little fun for the night and say goodbye in the morning. Being a Backstreet Boy, didn’t exactly hurt his chances either, especially in this crowd.

In Brian’s living room, the woman moaned as Brian kissed her neck softly. She pulled Brian’s collared shirt off in one fatal swoop and traced the muscles on his chest with a finger. Brian moved his mouth back up to meet the woman’s and slipped his hand under her shirt, not stopping until he found her bra-less chest. The woman’s back arched as Brian gently rolled her nipple around between his thumb and forefinger. She reached down to unbutton his pants, not wanting to wait any longer.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Brian looked back toward the door, not having any idea who could be behind it, though he knew who he wanted it to be—even though he knew that if it was her, he’d only tell her to leave.

The woman on lying on Brian’s couch reached into Brian’s pants and moaned. “Ignore it.”

Agreeing, Brian turned back to the woman and pulled the lace camisole that she was wearing over her head. Just as he was bringing his mouth down to her breasts, the doorbell rang again. Brian groaned. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” He punctuated his statement by kissing one of the woman’s hardened nipples softly.

“Hurry back.” She purred as Brian ran through the living room to the foyer. He zipped and buttoned his pants along the way. When he opened the door, he was taken aback to see AJ standing on his doorstep. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, hello to you, too.” AJ replied, “I was in the neighborhood and thought that I’d stop by. Are you going to let me in?”

“Now is really not a good time.” Brian remarked, stepping out onto the front porch and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t know that you were going to be in town.”

AJ shrugged. “I was on a flight from New York to Orlando and had a layover in Atlanta when my flight got delayed. I won’t be leaving until the morning. I didn’t figure that you’d mind if I crashed here.”

Brian sighed. “Yeah. Of course you can stay. It’s just that,” Brian paused, trying to get his words right. “It’s just that I kind of had a lay-over, too, if you get what I’m saying.”

AJ shook his head and walked around Brian through the front door. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying and I think it’s sick. I was kind of hoping that the rumors weren’t true.”

Brian grabbed AJ’s arm and pulled him back. “First of all, that’s rather hypocritical don’t you think? Secondly, just wait a minute.”

Brian walked past AJ into the living room and over to the half-naked girl that was lying on the couch. AJ followed behind, though Brian had asked him to wait. AJ was no prude by any definition of the word, but seeing a barely legal girl lying on Brian’s couch was enough to even throw him back a couple of steps. Not that he was against dating younger women, but it wasn’t like Brian to date a different one every night and it certainly wasn’t like him to bring one home that was a good TEN YEARS younger than he was.

“Oh,” the very-drunk woman said when she saw both Brian and AJ walk into the room. “Are we going to have a Backstreet threesome? Because, really, that’s hot.”

AJ’s face scrunched at the idea. Though he knew that women had fantasies, too, he didn’t even want to imagine going there with any of his brothers… ever.

“No, Baby,” Brian replied, softly as he picked her shirt up off of the floor. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be up in a minute. It’s the second door on the right.”

The woman smiled seductively and leaned up to kiss Brian softly. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.” She got up off of the couch and waved to AJ.

AJ was severely creeped out by the display that he had just witnessed. Once the woman disappeared up the stairs, he turned to Brian. “Have you lost your God-forsaken mind?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Brian spat back. He wasn’t really appreciating AJ coming into his house and telling him how to live his life.

“Do you even know that girl’s name?” AJ asked, pointing up the stairs as if Brian had no idea to whom he was referring.

“Do you want to be the pot or the kettle today, Alex?” Brian exclaimed angrily. “Why do you have to hold me up to so much of a higher standard? If I was Nick, you’d be patting me on the back!”

“Well, for one, it’s not quite as weird for Nick to be sleeping with someone like that, but she might as well call you GRANDPA!” AJ argued. “I know that you’re hurting, Brian, but sleeping with random women isn’t the way to get over your pain. I would know.”

“That just proves that you don’t know anything, because I’m not hurting. I have nothing to be hurting over.” Brian clenched his jaw and stared back at AJ coldly. His fight with AJ was sobering Brian too quickly, which was only putting him in a worse mood. “I’m sick of you thinking that I can’t handle myself. I’m sick of your worry. I’m sick of your pity. People break-up every day, AJ. She’s just a girl. That’s it. Now, I’ve got a smoking hot woman waiting for me upstairs. You know where the guest rooms are. Sleep there. Sleep here in the living room. Find a hotel. I don’t care. Just don’t try to live my life for me!”

Brian left AJ standing there shaking his head with worry. He didn’t need AJ to tell him what to do. He didn’t need some woman telling him what to do. Maybe he didn’t enjoy the life that he was living now, but at least it was bearable compared to what it’s like when he’s alone. Whether Brian wanted to admit it to AJ or not, he missed Alexa every second of every day. Seeing other woman kept him occupied and kept his mind off of the deceitful things that Alexa had done. More so, it simply kept his mind off of Alexa. Brian was going to sleep with as many women as it would take until he stopped thinking about Alexa altogether.

-------

Throughout the night, Colin had not left Alexa’s side. It was nice to have the complete attention of another man, but as nice of a guy as Colin was, Alexa just couldn’t see herself trying to date someone right now, which was seemingly exactly what Colin wanted. He had been so attentive all night. He’d asked her questions about her life and her family, though she refused to get too personal with him.

It was nearing midnight. Colin was talking about his political aspirations. Alexa yawned, which caused him to smirk. “Am I boring you that much?”

Alexa laughed and shook her head. “No, not at all. It’s just been a long day.”

Colin looked down and his watch at nodded. His conscience was starting to get the best of him. He didn’t know what the man that hired him to lure her outside wanted her for or why he couldn’t do it himself, but he assumed that neither of those answers could possibly have good intentions. Now that he’d gotten to know Alexa, he could see where it would be easy to want to be around her more. Colin sighed. “I actually need to go soon. Can I see you again?”

Alexa smiled and looked down shyly. “You can see me again, sure, but as friends. I just kind of got out of this pretty serious relationship.”

Colin smiled and nodded. “Okay. I can take being friends. Hopefully, you won’t he hung up over this guy forever.”

Alexa laughed softly. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“We can talk about him next time.” Colin replied. “Will you at least walk me to my car, hostess?”

Alexa nodded. “That, I can do.”

Colin stood up and extended his hand to Alexa, helping her up from where she was seated. Alexa lead him to the front door. He opened the door and allowed her to exit first. They walked down the sidewalk together slowly. “I had a really great time with you tonight.”

Alexa smiled. “Now, you’re really making it sound like we were on a date or something.”

Colin smiled and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You’re all right, Alexa.” He pulled Alexa into a hug and kissed her forehead softly. Just as he looked up, a man dressed in black from head to toe emerged from behind a row of cars in front of him. Colin really hadn’t imagined what he was getting himself into.

Alexa noticed the look on Colin’s face and turned around. She was met by a man holding a golf club as if it were a bat. Before she had the chance to react, the golf club met the side of Alexa’s head and everything went black.