Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 28

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 31
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

Clockwatching
Lately we're running out of time, aren't we?

"Hi," I said, looking down at him as he winked at a cocktail waitress and took his drink from her.

"Hey, baby!" At least he looked happy to see me. "Where were you?"

I had spent the last twenty minutes running all over this ship trying to find him. Was it so difficult for him to wait five minutes at the dining room while I went back to the room to get my sweater?

"I thought we were meeting outside the dining room."

"No, we were coming here to get seats. Aaron, shove over."

There were ninety options for entertainment on this ridiculous floating city. I couldn't remember if we'd decided on the comedy club, or the Vegas-style dancers or… fuck it.

"Forget it. Stay where you are, Aaron. I'm going back to the room."

Nick shoved Aaron out of his chair. "No, it's okay. Sit down, buttercup. This is supposed to be fun."

Everything was supposed to be fun. I'd had it up to here with "fun." I hated enforced fun. I hated limbo parties on the Lido deck. I hated sitting at the captain's table at dinner. I hated how everyone kept staring at us because the Carter clan was part of the entertainment on this stupid cruise. It hadn't even been a day and I was sick of this place. I just wanted to be with my boyfriend. I would even be fine being with his family if we weren't on this stupid cruise.

"I don't want to," I told him, sounding like a whiney brat. Damnit. "I'm beat."

"You had a nap this afternoon," Aaron reminded me, and I forced myself to smile at him.

"No, you interrupted us. Remember?"

He laughed. "Right. Sorry."

Nick pulled me into his lap, and I let him. "Are you okay?" he asked softly as I leaned my head against his shoulder, and my heart softened. I felt like he hadn't even looked at me all day. I didn't fit with his family yet. I didn't get their jokes or their references to other vacations and I was tired of asking Nick to explain everything to me.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm just tired. And I didn't know where you were."

"Sorry," he said sincerely, and I gave him a quick kiss. "Stay. This will be fun. We'll make fun of all the costumes."

I considered it, but shook my head. "No. You stay and have fun with Aaron. Come back and tell me all about it. I think I need an hour or so to myself."

He smiled. "I hear these costumes are very skimpy. Sure you don't want to be here?"

I leaned down, whispering to him. "I'll be wearing something very skimpy when you get back. Make sure you don't bring Aaron, and I'll make sure the balcony door's locked."

Even that promise didn't bring him back to me. The show had been over for an hour when I went looking for him. I knew, because I'd heard people talking about it as they went back to their rooms.

I needed a fucking beeper for the boy. This ship was gigantic, and he could be anywhere. I was sure by the time I'd figured it all out we'd be docking back in Florida. He was probably with Aaron, so that meant he wasn't in the casino or the bars. Even Aaron the golden boy couldn't get away with being underage. They were pretty strict about that. But there was an all-ages club, and the pools were open, and the video arcade…

Rachel! Shouldn't she be waiting for me in the room? She's promised me she'd be wearing something skimpy!

"Hey, baby!" I called, and she came over to us at the ping-pong table.

"There you are," she said, kissing me lightly before glaring at the girl standing next to me. The girl went to talk to one of her friends, and I smiled at Rachel.

"I wasn't even talking to her."

"Whatever. I got you a present, bunny. Let's go back to the room."

Aaron was getting ready to serve, and I held up my hand to stop him. It was just supposed to be a quick game after the show, but then I lost, so I wanted a rematch. And the girls liked to watch. He'd bet them that if anyone could win he'd give them a private tour of his stateroom. But I'd promised Rachel I'd be back, hadn't I?

"Hey, A, I'm going to bed," I said, putting handing my paddle to a girl standing nearby. "Good luck winning the tour, baby."

Aaron looked up at us and shrugged. "I was just going to beat you anyway. I thought you were sleeping, Rachel."

"Couldn't get used to the rocking, so I decided to see where you guys were."

"I'll keep you in bed, baby," I promised, wrapping my arms around her and making her smile.

We said good-bye to the girls we'd been hanging out with and headed back towards the room, laughing when we got lost or the motion of the boat made us stumble into one another. Although I liked that part. We really hadn't had a moment to ourselves since this morning when Aaron had almost caught us.

Rachel locked the door behind us, and then checked the lock on the balcony door and pulled the curtains shut while I laid down on the bed. It felt good to be quiet for a moment. My family was really demanding. If it wasn't Aaron, Dad wanted to talk to me, or Mom, or one of the girls… It was nice to be needed, I guess.

Something landed on my chest, and I opened my eyes, looking down at it. "What's this?"

"A walkie-talkie. It's supposed to work anywhere on the ship. I'm sick of looking for you all the time."

Taking it off my chest, I sat up, looking at her. "I wasn't doing anything with those girls!"

"I got them before I even saw you with those girls. I got them when I was wandering all over this fucking ship because I didn't know where you were!" She sat in the chair on the other side of the room, taking off her shoes.

"I was at the show. You saw me there!"

"And it was over like two hours ago now, and you told me you'd be right back."

"Checking up on me?"

That was the wrong thing to say. She tossed a shoe at me. "You promised you'd be back! I'm willing to say we misunderstood each other after dinner, but I was sitting on your fucking lap and you promised!"

"It was one game of ping-pong, Rache. I knew you wanted to be alone."

That sounded lame even to my ears. I'd felt a little guilty when I didn't come straight back to the room, but I knew this was going to happen. Rachel had been in a mood all day.

"Are you getting your period?"

She tossed the other shoe at me. "I don't need hormones to allow me to be angry with you! You've been ignoring me since I got here!"

"I have not! You were the one who left the race!"

"I had a show!"

Okay, she had a point about that. But… she should have come back!

"When was the last time we talked, Nick?"

I could only give her a blank look. We'd spent the entire day together!

"Before yesterday. Not trading voicemails, or making travel arrangements. The last time we got on the phone and talked. Really talked."

I started to answer her, but I couldn't. "It's not like you've had a lot of free time lately, Rache. Justin takes up a lot of it."

She was out of shoes, so she stalked over to the bed and tossed a pillow at me. "Fuck you. Don't make this about him. You know Justin fucking Timberlake has nothing to do with our problems."

"Easier to blame him than you, Rache."

"Or maybe it's you who can't make the time for me."

"Maybe it's you who can't stand to share me with anyone! Fuck, Rachel, it's my family. I haven't seen any of them in months. Do I have to be alone with you in this room every second?"

"No! But you could want that. Just a little. I do." She sank onto the bed and her words made me stop.

Did she think I didn't want to be with her? I did! I brought her on the cruise, didn't I? I didn't have to do that. Hell, everyone would probably be happy if I were here alone. Definitely the fans. Those girls would do anything if I let them.

I considered Rachel as she sat next to me, her jaw clenched as she stared at a spot on the wall. Fuck. I didn't want any of those other girls. And I definitely didn't want to be fighting with Rachel.

I reached out for her tentatively, my fingers lightly touching her cheek. "I do want that, Rachel. I just don't… everyone wants a piece of me and I don't want to fight with you, okay? I should have come back to the room."

He pulled me into his arms and I responded reluctantly. I didn't want to be fighting, either. I didn't want him to feel guilted into coming back to the room. I wanted him to want to. I wanted him to want to be with me, and I didn't feel that way at all.

"I'm sorry, baby. I really am. Tomorrow will be all about you. How's that? Screw the family. Whatever you want to do."

"I just want to be with you, Nick," I managed to say as his hands eased under the waistband of my pants. I held my breath as I felt his fingers on my bare skin. This was better than fighting.

"Then I'll ditch Aaron and we'll go into port, just the two of us." He whispered, his warm breath making my heart beat faster. "Find a secluded spot on the beach where we can be alone. Where are we tomorrow?"

He expected me to think when his hands were doing that? Damn. I took a breath to clear my head, but it was useless. I was putty in his hands and he knew it, didn't he? Leaning back against the mattress, he looked down at me and I saw that look in his eyes. Bastard. Yeah, he knew.

"I don't know, baby. The private island, I think. God, don't stop that, Nick."

His lips found mine for a brief moment as he eased my shorts and panties down over my hips.

"I thought you promised me skimpy things, buttercup," he teased and I pulled off my t-shirt.

"I'm nearly naked here, baby."

"Oh no, none of this 'nearly,'" he growled as he pulled my bra off with one motion.

I should have insisted that we stay in Miami. I was allowed to be selfish sometimes, right? Nick seemed to get that all the time. Running off to Sweden or London to record, taking Vinnie and doing all his guy things with his dad and the stupid boat. What did I get to do? Work and be the good girlfriend.

"Baby, tell me what you want," he whispered against my skin.

But I couldn't bring myself to be honest with him.

"Just don't stop, Nick. Please."

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