Somewhere between the time the strippers got there and now, Nick lost all sense of right and wrong, good and bad and resorted to stereotypical behavior of a man at a bachelor party.
If one were to point a finger at what the cause of it was, alcohol and poor judgment would be too blame. By the time it turned midnight, surprisingly enough, the groom was possibly the only one who could claim he did not have sex that night…
“Aw, you guys, I had a great time. Rinda, go get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.” Carly said to as Rinda and Sienna as they exited the limo and teetered up the steps. Carly and Lauren watched them, giggling.
“Oh, God, they are wasted.” Lauren said.
“Yeah. Well, I’m not in the best shape, but better than them.” Carly said, feeling so much better after her throwing up episode earlier in the evening. Fortunately, she was smart enough to stop drinking after that, but she still felt a little lightheaded.
“So, where to, girls?” The limo driver interrupted them.
“Oh! Right. 22 Sycamore Lane in Santa Monica.” Lauren told him and he took off in that direction.
“So, will you be able to get home alright?” Lauren asked Carly.
“Oh, I’m not going home.” Carly said.
Lauren looked at her curiously. “You aren’t?”
Carly shook her head. “I’m going to my boyfriend’s house.”
“Nick’s? But isn’t that where the bachelor party is?”
“Yep. They have had a few hours of fun, now it’s time for me to steal the host away. He’ll probably be so horny from the strippers, that he’ll attack me.” Carly giggled.
Lauren eyed her. Wow, Carly had changed and she suspected that Nick Carter was the reason for it. She sighed. Her fellow “good girl” was being corrupted right in front of her very eyes.
“Oh.”
“Oh?” Carly looked at Lauren suspiciously.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that—oh, never mind.”
“No, what? Tell me.” Carly insisted, curious.
“Well, I just, well, it just seemed like you have changed, that’s all. You and I used to be a lot alike and I somehow can’t help thinking you’re different now that…”
“Now that I’m with Nick?” Carly finished her sentence for her.
Lauren looked down and nodded.
“Well, yeah, I am different I guess. But I like who I have become with him. Yes, I’ve become a little more bold, I may cuss a little more, I am more… well, never mind, but you don’t know Nick. He’s a wonderful guy. He has treated me better than anyone I’ve been with.” Carly said, thinking of what a tower of support he was during her miscarriage.
“Even Derek?” Lauren asked. She was surprised when she had heard they had broken up. She had thought for sure they would get married and be together forever. It was interesting how he ended up with her sister.
“Yes, even Derek. Derek had his good moments and his bad, but it’s clear to me that Nick is the right man for me, Derek isn’t. I really would like for you to get to know Nick. He’s not at all like the media and press portray him to be. He’s really a great guy. Funny, happy, caring and I’m madly in love with him.”
Lauren sat there for a minute taking it all in. She was a firm believer in not judging a book by its cover, so maybe it would be good to meet the man behind the celebrity image.
After Carly and Lauren hugged goodbye, the taxi driver made his way to Nick’s mansion in the Hollywood Hills.
Meanwhile at Nick’s house, the food was pretty much demolished, the beer was gone, loud music was playing Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and the scent of animal lust was in the air…
Carly didn’t bother knocking since she knew no one would hear her anyway. She had the extra key Nick had made for her but she soon discovered she didn’t need it. Walking through the entryway of Nick’s lavish “bachelor pad”, the impending sense of doom overtook her and shook her to her core.
Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the sound of laughter and voices in the downstairs bedroom. She peeked inside to see Connor and one of the strippers rolling around on the bed naked. Connor just happened to catch a glimpse of Carly’s face and yelled out, “Hi, sis!”
Carly winced and ducked back out of there, cringing. Ugh. He was obviously very drunk and she had no desire to see her brother naked, let alone having sex with anyone.
Trying to shake the horrible image from her mind, she continued down the hallway and heard some voices outside, so she hesitantly walked towards the backyard and sliding glass door. She peered around the glass to see Nick’s friend, Gary in the pool, naked with what must be another stripper. They were alternately kissing and splashing one another, obviously in state of inebriation as well. Her eyes swept over the mess of the picked over tables and she rolled her eyes. God, Nick, how could you let things get so out of hand!
Nick! Where the hell was he? Now she was filled with both dread and impatience to see him. Walking through the living room, she saw Chris passed out on the couch so she kept walking. Just then, AJ walked inside the house from the side door after having a cigarette. He was the only sober one at the party and apparently also practically the only one not having sex.
“Hey, Carly, what are you doing here?” He looked shocked to see her.
“Hey, AJ. Uh, where’s Nick?” Carly chose to ignore him, anxious to find Nick now.
“I dunno.” He shrugged, but without meaning to, his eyes strayed to the staircase.
“Who is he up there with, AJ?” She asked suddenly.
“Carly, wait!” AJ tried to stop her, but she was already taking the stairs two at a time to arrive at Nick’s bedroom door. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, not just from the exertion, but from her anticipation of what she knew she would see.
Since the door was ajar, she pushed it open and as if in slow motion, she saw the two of them lying on his bed making out. The woman was on top of him, but his arms were wrapped tightly around her and they were writhing in the blissful pleasure of the moment. It was as if she were frozen to the spot as she watched them locked in a passionate embrace, an embrace that was supposed to be reserved only for her.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she must have audibly gasped because all a sudden Nick pulled away and sat up. It was as if time had stopped as they locked eyes. A look of horror on his face, a look of devastation on hers.
Nooo! Carly wanted to yell, scream. This was not supposed to happen. He loved her, he would never hurt her like this, he was different than Derek or even Jamie... her life as she knew it flashed before her eyes as if in a dream she watched as the woman sat up and turned to look at the cause of Nick's shock. Carly gasped when she saw that it was Willa Ford. Not Willa! Not her! She would have been happier if it had been a stripper than a former lover, a former girlfriend. This was too much to take as she stumbled back down the hallway towards the stairs.
“Carly!” Nick was yelling, still obviously drunk out of his mind. “Wait!”
“Leave me the hell alone, Carter! I don’t EVER want to see you again!” She yelled, attempting to run down the stairs, but her tears were blinding her and she was having a hard time with it. She grabbed the banister rail and guided herself downward. Once there, she ran towards the door and outside, not looking at anyone or anything. She was out of there! She and Nick were over. It didn’t matter what his excuse was, she knew she would not be able to forgive him, at least not for a long time.
Knowing what she must do, Carly drove to a house she had not been too in at least a couple of years. It took her 30 minutes to reach her destination, constantly wiping her tears away so she could see where she was going. Walking up the steps to the Pasadena house, she tentatively knocked on the door. Was this really the best idea? It was 1:00 in the morning after all. Shit! Considering turning and leaving, she heard footsteps padding down the hall and a couple of locks turned. The door opened slightly, straining against the ball and chain lock. The resident peered out at Carly.
“Yes?”
“Hey, Dan, it’s me, Carly. I’m sorry it’s so late.” She looked at him sheepishly.
“Carly Benjamin? What are you doing here?” Dan asked, unlocking and opening the door.
“Hi. Did I wake you?’
“No, you know me, I’m a night owl. What’s up?”
She ran into his arms and crumpled into tears.
“Oh, Dan, I just caught my boyfriend making out with another woman. I really thought he loved me…”
“I’m so sorry. Do you want to come in?” Carly nodded and he led her into the hallway as he closed the door.
Carly curled up on the couch, clasping her folded knees close to her body and rocking back and forth. Dan sat next to her and put his arm around her. If nothing else, they had remained good friends after their break-up almost six years ago. They sent the occasional “how it’s going?” e-mails to each other and had seen each other a handful of times when their mutual friends got together.
Carly welcomed the hug and cried on his shoulder for a little while. She finally pulled away and said, “Hey, do you remember what you said to me when we broke up all those years ago?”
“I don’t know, Car, that was a long time ago.” He chuckled.
“You told me that if I ever found myself without a partner and was horny, to come see you.”
“Aw, Carly, I was young and foolish. I don’t think that’s a good idea, especially when you’re so vulnerable right now.”
“Dan, are you seeing anyone right now?”
He shook his head. “No, but…”
“Well, then it’s a good idea. You’re a man, I’m a woman and we both like sex, right?”
Dan laughed. “Well, yes.”
“Well, then what’s the problem? Aren’t I attractive to you anymore?”
Dan looked at her. She had even become more beautiful than he remembered her.
“You’re gorgeous, but that’s not the problem.”
“Then tell me what the problem is, Dan.” She was getting a little frustrated with him. Maybe she should have just jumped his bones instead of reasoning with him.
“Car, you’re on the rebound. He hurt you, so you obviously want to hurt him. I don’t want to be that guy.”
“What guy?”
“That guy, the rebound guy. I’ve been that guy before and it sucks. Sure, it’s great at first, but then it always gets messy.”
“Goddamn it, Dan. I don’t want to hear that. Either you want me or you don’t. It’s that simple.” She gave him an ultimatum.
Dan was in a quandary. Of course, he wanted her. He had always wanted her – now more than ever, but he wanted her happiness more.
Since he hesitated, she decided to take the bull by the horns so to speak and just kiss him. She laid one on him, taking him by surprise. He kissed her back just as voraciously, his member springing to life and senses going out the window.
Dan pushed her down on the couch, kissing her deeply, lowering the weight of his body on top of hers. Was this really what she wanted? He hoped so because now it was what he wanted more than anything.
Carly reeled from Dan’s kiss, remembering the feel of his lips and body on hers. Sure, he was no Jamie or Derek or of course, god forbid, Nick, but the sex had been decent enough. What she needed was another man screwing her senseless to the point that it drove Nick Carter out of her mind.
When Dan’s lips traveled the length of her neck and then down to her cleavage, he pulled away the flimsy material of her blouse and then her bra to reveal a taut nipple. His mouth closed over it and Carly sucked in her breath. Oh God, Oh God, that felt so fucking good, but it also felt so very, very wrong. She had thought that Nick’s mouth would be the only one on her nipples, on her mouth, on her body – the last lips to grace those areas and now Dan was the one on top of her, claiming her as his own. When she felt his hard cock rubbing against her thigh, she sat up suddenly.
“Oh, God, Dan, I can’t do this. I’m sorry, I thought I could, but I can’t.” She put her head in her hands and started sobbing like a child. Dan held her and comforted her. He had half expected that the happen. Sighing at the prospect of sex with her fading off in the distance, he resolved to still be a friend to her above all else.
Carly didn’t get home that night until well after 2:00 am. She stumbled in her door, exhausted from crying and being put through the wringer emotionally, hoping to just fall onto her bed in a coma until the next day.
But that was not to be because when Carly walked into her living room and flipped the light switch, it was Nick Carter’s face that was illuminated and her heart lurched in her chest.
Chapter 21
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