Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 26

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 26
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

I sighed, stretching my arms over my head. The sun was almost too warm on my back. Did I need more sunblock? Maybe I could coax Nick out of the water to help me reach the spots I couldn't get to. He liked that job.

A breeze blew by, cooling my skin, and I settled back into my chair. No, I was fine. This was perfect. I could hear Nick and Aaron's voices floating up from the water, happy, teasing one another. Could it get better than this? Sun, sand, a pina colada within arm's reach. In November.

Okay, Nick's big hands smoothing lotion on my back. That might make this even better. But just this was lovely. I liked hearing their voices, knowing they were close, but not currently torturing me.

Bringing Aaron along with us was good. Aaron liked me now. We'd bonded last night, picking silly songs for Nick to sing, and I thought maybe I'd handled his little girlfriend just right. When we'd gotten back last night, Nick and I had gone up to the room but Aaron stayed down by the pool with the some of the girls who'd been at the restaurant. Turns out one of the girls' parents were there, too, just giving the girls some space while they tried not to goon over Nick and Aaron too much. So when we got back, he sort of had a chaperone.

Vacation girlfriends when you were 13 were innocent, right? Then again, wasn't Aaron always on vacation? Touring meant he was never anywhere for more than a day or two.

When I couldn't sleep, I went to find Aaron because when I was his age, 2 in the morning was way too late to be out with anyone, let alone a boy I didn't know very well. Seems like one of the girls' mother had the same idea I did, but I beat her to it. Good thing because Aaron was making out with this girl in the hot tub. I didn't even want to imagine the scene that would have caused. But luckily I got to be the "bad" parent and when the real mom showed up, Aaron was glad I was around.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a sudden shower. A shower of two stupid boys shaking themselves dry on top of me, that is. They laughed when I rolled over, squinting up at them in the sun. "Bastards," I grumbled.

Aaron whined that he was hungry, while I just looked at Rachel for a second. He wanted lunch, and I wanted to be close to Rachel again. It had been maybe half an hour since she'd left us in the water. I could see her as we splashed around. She was on her stomach on the lounge chair, so I could just see her feet and the rise of her gorgeous ass. Now she rolled over, smiling at Aaron, her curls springing around her face as they dried. She'd be annoyed by that later, complaining about her hair, but I thought it was cute.

She was such a New York girl, I hadn't been sure if she'd like Florida or not. I loved being out on the water, or on the beach, wearing a swimsuit most of the day, never knowing when I'd jump in the ocean or the pool. I worked so much that whenever I was home, I automatically went into vacation mode. Rachel was right there with me, relaxed and happy and tan. I hadn't seen her look at her Palm Pilot to check her email in a few days, and she didn't even seem to be checking her voicemail. Hell, even I still had my phone with me… well, up in the room somewhere. Or had I left it on the boat?

"My drink is melting, so lunch is a good thing," she said to Aaron, swinging her legs over the side of her chair and standing up. She grabbed her sarong and tied it around her hips. Ignoring my frown of disapproval, she reached out for my hand and led us up to the beachside bar.

"God, this feels good," she sighed as the overhead fan cooled her skin. She was a little pink, and I leaned over, pulling the strap on her swimsuit aside so that I could check her tan line.

"You should probably go inside for a bit, Rache. You're getting pink."

Looking down at her chest and stomach, she fretted for a moment, but then she shrugged, "I don't feel burned. Hey! What time is it?"

Aaron and I both laughed as our waitress appeared, chastising her playfully, "There is no time in Key West. Can I get you a cocktail?"

"Margarita, straight up with salt," Aaron smiled at her, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"ID?"

"I'm with my guardian!" he protested, pointing to me. "Tell her I can drink, Nick!"

Catching Rachel's eye to gauge her reaction, I shook my head, "Nope. Next thing I know you'll be drowning and Mom will have my head!"

"You can bring him a virgin Margarita," Rachel answered for him, "and I'll take a real one." Aaron pouted over at her, but she just continued smiling, "You can have a few sips, how's that?"

"Corona?" he tried and all of us laughed.

"I'll have a Corona with lime… and I'm not sharing!"

I could tell Aaron was about to hit petulant, but Rachel saved us, ordering some nachos for everyone. When our waitress appeared a few minutes later with the nachos, Rachel asked her again what time it was.

"If you must know, it's 12:30."

"12:30 Key West time or real time?"

She smiled down at Rachel. "Real time. Enjoy. I'll be back with another round of drinks."

I caught Aaron winking at her and leaned over, grabbing his drink before he could protest. Taking a sip, I rolled my eyes, "You are such a con artist, bro!"

"Hey! You heard her say no!"

"She give him a real Margarita?" Rachel asked, and I nodded.

Well, maybe half a shot. Wouldn't kill the kid. He could probably have a drink and not be drunk.

Come to think of it, I don't think I'd ever seen my brother drunk. Besides which, Rachel was right, Mom and Pops let him drink all the time when they were at the compound.

Rachel reached into her bag, handing Aaron and me each an envelope, "You'll need these. Your boat leaves at 2 from the dock at the end of the road."

I could tell Nick hadn't figured it out yet, but Aaron opened his envelope and immediately smiled. "This is so cool, Rache! I've always wanted to do this!"

"It's just a few hours, but I thought you'd enjoy the manly fishing tour more than the wimpy choo-choo train we did last night."

He smiled at me, and I couldn't help but feel pleased with myself. They'd been talking about fishing on the way down here yesterday, and then last night when we'd walked by the Hemingway House, I remembered how Darien and Jeremy had wanted to do a fishing tour when we were here for that MTV show a few months ago. I hadn't really thought about that in a while… it seemed like so long ago. It was before 9/11 and before the world changed.

Next thing I knew, Nick was leaning over, kissing my cheek. "Thanks, buttercup. But we don't have to go fishing just because…"

I could tell from the look in his eyes that he thought I was going, and I laughed, "I'm not going with you. You can have your stinky fish! I'm going to get a massage and continuing laying right over there." I said, pointing back to my lounge chair. "Maybe I'll get a smutty romance novel and dream about my prince charming while you're away."

"Only if he looks like me!" Nick protested, and Aaron laughed at us as the waitress came by with our food and another round of drinks.

A few hours later, I smiled up at a cute waiter as he sat another drink next to my beach chair. Bliss. This was the life. As if I wasn't relaxed before, the hour long massage in our room had done the trick. In fact, I might have just been sleeping.

I looked up at the waiter questioningly, I didn't remember ordering a drink. But I didn't even have to speak. "From a gentleman over at the bar," he smiled, carefully avoiding looking at my breasts.

I was still a little self-conscious about this whole topless sunbathing thing, but after my massage and another drink, I'd convinced myself to go for it. Besides, I now had two different sets of tan lines from the suits I'd worn in Miami and then coming down here yesterday. This would even everything out… right? It took me a while to do more than lie on my stomach, though. But there had been just girls out here all afternoon, and eventually I turned over, letting my breasts get some sun.

Shielding my eyes from the sun, I looked up and thanked him, reaching into my beach bag and finding some money. A $10? Oh hell, he was cute. He smiled and left quickly, telling me to enjoy my afternoon.

Or was it evening?

There were fewer people out here on the beach, so it must be getting later. I didn't have my watch on, but Nick and Aaron weren't back yet, were they?

I watched the waiter go back towards the bar and tried to scan the crowd that was gathering for the pre-sunset happy hour. No Nick that I could see, but it was hard to tell. Flowering shrubs and palm trees bordered our area of the beach, an attempt at giving the topless sunbathers some privacy.

Hell, he'd come over eventually. I only had an hour of so of good light left. I took a drink and smiled, settling back down in my chair. Maybe I should take a quick swim and cool off? Nah, then I'd have to put my top back on and that seemed like entirely too much trouble right now.

This was the life. The hectic schedule of the last few months had seemed to completely dissipate as soon as my feet touched the ground here in Florida. I understood why Nick loved it here. Even if he was only here a few times a year, it was still worth it. Staring out at the ocean, I realized I could be happy here, too.

Maybe I'd just take a quick nap. Flipping over, I settled back on the chair, bunching my extra towel up to use as a pillow and shutting my eyes.

"Can I get you another drink?"

What? I must have fallen asleep again. I yawned and looked over at the man standing next to my chair. He smiled down at me, apologetically, "Sorry, I thought you were just resting…"

"That's okay… yeah, another would be lovely."

Man, he was cute. His light brown hair framed his face and he had big chocolate brown eyes. His butt looked great in a pair of white shorts, too, I realized as he walked away towards the bar. The wait staff here was exceedingly good looking, weren't they?

Wonder if Nick would be suspicious if I dragged him up to our room as soon as he and Aaron got back from their fishing trip and had my way with him. I was getting a little worked up between my smutty romance novel, the warm sun and a few drinks. After all, we'd really been too drunk last night to have proper sex. Although, it was nice…

"Thought you looked like you needed to cool off some." My knight in shining armor was back with a tall drink full of ice cubes. "Midori Iced Tea," he informed me as he set the drink down, and then he joined me, taking the chair next to mine.

I sat up a little to see him better, but then I remembered my top was undone and grabbed the towel under me to cover up. He laughed, "Don't cover up on my account, gorgeous."

"Yeah… my luck there'd be photographers nearby…"

"No, this hotel is good about keeping prying eyes away. You have to be a guest to get back here." He held up his key, and my eyes went immediately to find his name badge. Fuck. He wasn't a waiter? "It'd make some men over at the bar really happy if you'd turn over, though."

"Were you sent as their ambassador?" I quipped. Had it been that long since someone had tried to pick me up that I was that oblivious to it? I was getting rusty.

He blushed a bit at that and glanced up at what I could only suspect was his buddy in the bar. "Nah… I mean. We think you're pretty and…"

He was stammering now. Damn, I did have a thing for flustering the boys, didn't I? I just attracted them! I turned over more and took a sip of my drink carefully, showing him a little bit more skin just to tease him. "Thank you for the drink."

"Can I buy you another over dinner tonight? My treat."

"Your friend over there coming along?"

"God, no! You're all mine!"

I had to laugh at that. Okay, he was cute, but not very good at the pick up thing. "Actually…"

He leaned forward a bit, "The name's Richard."

"Richard… I'm here with my boyfriend."

"Don't see him now…"

Oh brother, he was going to be persistent? Shit!

I left Aaron up in the room and went to find Rachel, but I didn't see her anywhere near the pool or on the beach where we'd been earlier. There were girls still sunbathing out there… but maybe she was getting her massage now? The sun would be setting soon, so I wanted to find her so she had time to shower before we went over to the Square for the Sunset Celebration.

She'd really liked watching the sunset last night and browsing all the artist stands. She'd seen some beaded necklaces that she'd liked, and I thought I'd get her one tonight. Then it could always remind her of our vacation here. I'd just loved being there with her last night. Just holding her hand and watching her face as the sunlight reflected off of it…

Okay, I'd been with Aaron too much today. All that time on the boat being quiet while we fished just gave me too much time to daydream! I needed to find my girl and steal a kiss at least. I needed to shower, too. I probably smelled like fish guts. Maybe we could take a shower together and fool around a little.

"Mr. Carter?" One of the hotel staff smiled at me. "Looking for Ms. Connor?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Does it show? She said she'd be down here…"

He pointed to the little secluded section of beach across the way, and my jaw about dropped to the ground. No way. Rachel wasn't over there. Not at the topless beach.

But as I got closer to that section I saw her. She was lying on her stomach, thank God. But her bikini top was nowhere to be seen. She was turned over slightly and laughing at something a guy was saying to her. A guy? I go away for a few hours, and she's picking up someone else? Great!

Okay, maybe he was picking her up. Well, trying to.

I stood by the fence and watched them for a moment, just taking in the scene. He was sitting across from her and leaning back like he was all cool. She finished her drink, handing it over to him. There were a few empty glasses on her table, actually. And her book was on the ground next to her, obviously forgotten now that she had company.

I tried to calm myself down. It was okay. She was a pretty girl, and guys wanted to talk to her… that was… not okay when she was nearly naked!

I felt my ears turning red as she sat up, showing her breasts to the guy briefly. He laughed and handed her a towel, pretending to shield his eyes. But he was definitely looking! And she was just a little tipsy….

"Bunny!" she called over, holding her towel up to her chest and smiling over at me. Guess she didn't forget about me entirely.

Setting my jaw, I glared at the guy she was with as I joined them. Did she have to call me bunny out loud so that the putz she was with could hear, too? He held out his hand and smirked at me. "So, you're the lucky guy."

I shook his hand, unable to stop glaring, "Dunno. Perhaps I need an update. I was the boyfriend when I left this morning."

Rachel laughed, reaching down for her bikini top that had fallen by her bag and tying it on quickly before jumping up to hug me. "Don't be silly, Nick. This is Richard. He bought me a couple of drinks. That's all."

I glanced down at the table. "So I see. You're a little giddy, baby."

She held up her fingers. "Just a little. Richard here was keeping me company while you and Aaron were out doing your Hemingway male bonding thing. Did you have fun fishing? You smell like fish!"

She let me go and wrinkled her nose up as her new best friend laughed with her. That just pissed me off more, but she was oblivious. "I wanted to find you and see what was up for tonight. Do you have a date?"

My tone must have sobered her up. It definitely sobered her friend up. He stood up and touched her shoulder. "I should get going. Nice to meet you Rachel. Nick?"

He nodded at me, and I smiled slightly. He could leave now. I was about to be really angry, and he didn't need to be here for that. He left us, and Rachel sat down on her chair, gathering her things and not looking at me. After a minute, she stood back up. "I need to shower."

Her tone was curt, but I didn't care. She was out here topless, letting another guy buy her drinks and flirting with him? This wasn't allowed to make me a little mad?

She was quiet in the elevator and when we got into the room, she talked to Aaron for a minute before joining me in the bedroom.

I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. Why the fuck was he being all jealous and macho all of a sudden? Had that Hemingway male bonding shit gone to his head? Did they teach them to be jealous pricks while they were fishing?

"You aren't allowed to be a shit about this, Nick," I hissed at him as he made some lame attempt at a joke as I pulled off my bikini top.

"Why not? Did you send me out with Aaron because you needed to find someone else to fool around with? Being with me for more than a couple of days too boring for you, Rock Star Rachel?"

"Fuck you!" was my lame attempt at a comeback. "We are not really fighting about the guy down there, are we?"

"You tell me. What happened?"

"Nothing! He bought me a drink, and I talked to him for a few minutes. He tried to pick me up, but I told him I had a boyfriend. That's it. End of story. Why the hell are you being so jealous?"

How many times did I have to reassure him that I loved him? Wasn't our stupid fight in Tampa enough for one vacation? Why was he picking another one?

All he could do was shrug, not quite meeting my eyes. "You were out there topless."

"So? Pick up any magazine and you see nearly as much!" He started to say something, but I didn't want to hear it. "It's no big deal. We've got a photo shoot next week in New York, and I wanted to even out my tan lines."

"Photo shoot? Since when?"

"I was feeling guilty about being so cut off, so I called James before my massage. He informed me that we now have a whole bunch of things planned for when we're in New York in a couple of days. Including a photo shoot."

"But you're on vacation!" he muttered, glaring over at me.

"Apparently vacation doesn't mean the same thing it used to. Now 'vacation' means time for Saffron to schedule photo shoots and press and anything that's not a live show…"

He was really grumpy now. And I couldn't say I blamed him. I'd been pissed off after talking to James, too. I didn't want to think about going back to my real life and having to work again. I just wanted to stay here and play with Nick and get to know his family better.

Although at this precise moment, I wasn't really sure why I wanted to do that.

Suddenly Nick's arms were around me, and I laid my head on his smelly t-shirt, "Ewww… You smell like fish, baby."

He laughed at that, and I could feel the tension leaving his body a little. He didn't want our vacation to end either. And I knew he didn't want to be fighting with me. He was just so possessive sometimes.

Nick pulled off his t-shirt, and then smiled down at me, "Better?"

I wrinkled my nose, "You still smell like fish."

He growled at that, picking me up and carrying me into the bathroom. Sitting me down on the counter, he stole a quick kiss, "Then we shower together!"

He turned on the shower with a flourish and stripped out of his clothes quickly. He was all tan from being out in the sun so much. I just gazed at him for a moment. His hair was lighter, too, making his eyes seem bluer, if that was possible. Stepping between my legs, he looked down at my breasts, which were turning pink now that I was out of the sun.

"Oh baby, you're all red," he fretted as he touched one carefully and I winced a little. "Does it hurt?"

I bit my bottom lip as he moved his thumb across my nipple. Oh, that was nice. "A little. You can keep doing that, though."

Smiling, he leaned down and licked my nipple lightly. Moving away, he blew gently on my skin and the sensation made me shiver. "Good?"

I looked down into his eyes and nodded, "But you still smell like fish."

That cracked both of us up. The next thing I knew, we were in the water, soaping our bodies up and washing off the remnants of our stupid fight and the smelly fish.

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