Part 11 (1/2)

”What do you mean she has a hard time having fun?” Kevin's mind didn't compute something that strange.

LeeAnn shrugged. ”Seriously. I've known her all my life. She hates going out and having fun; she's morose and gloomy, all the time. It's a pain in the a.s.s, but she's family. What am I going to do?”

”Boy, that sucks,” said Jonathan. He looked over at Kevin who just lifted his shoulders indifferently.

Kevin picked up another shot and quickly drank it.

Jonathan leaned over and took another one of the shots and got ready to chug it down.

”Are you sure you want to do that?” asked Kevin.

”Of course. If you can do it, so can I.” He quickly threw back the shot and immediately began choking as the burning fire raced down his esophagus.

Kevin laughed. ”Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll be right back, I'm going to get you some water.”

LeeAnn reached over and patted Jonathan's back, trying to help him stop choking.

Kevin came back as Jonathan was pulling out his cell phone and saying, ”Give me your number, and I'll text you the details. It's not that far away, you know.”

”What's not that far?” asked Kevin.

”Comic-Con. A convention we both go to.”

After Jonathan put her number in his phone, he sat there looking awkward. It seemed like they'd run out of things to talk about.

”Oh, no!” LeeAnn said with dismay, looking alarmingly at the door to the bar.

Jonathan started to turn towards the door to see what was bothering her so suddenly.

”No! Don't look! I don't want him to notice me!”

Kevin caught sight of two guys walking into the bar, one with blondish hair and one with really dark hair.

”Why, what's wrong with them?”

”Well, one of them, Jack, is a real jerk. He was hara.s.sing me earlier, and he kind of creeps me out. One of the waitresses told me he's bad news. Oh, c.r.a.p, they're coming over here.” She was wringing her hands in her lap. ”I hate confrontation like this. Quick! Kiss me!”

”Wha ... ?” was all Jonathan could get out before he found himself crushed into a major lip lock.

”Mmm ... fmmm ... dmmm,” he tried to speak, but she wasn't letting him go.

While LeeAnn was kissing him, she kept one eye out for the duo that had walked in. Once she saw that they had turned and left the bar, she let Jonathan go.

Kevin sat there speechless, watching the whole thing unfold as if in slow motion. It was like a bad movie.

”Phew, that was close. Um, thanks for the rescue.”

Jonathan sat staring at her, stunned into silence. His mouth hung partway open, as if he was still in the middle of the kiss.

Kevin laughed. I've been shown up by Jonathan Buckley. Awesome. He wasn't mad. In fact, he was proud of the kid. He didn't think Jonathan had it in him, but obviously he was wrong. Wait until Sarah heard about this. She was gonna be more surprised than he was.

Thinking of Sarah, he wondered what the girls were doing right then. This bar was getting boring. There was hardly anyone there. There had to be another place where people their age were hanging out. ”I'll be right back,” he said.

He went over to talk to the bartender. ”So where's the happening place to be tonight, anyway?”

”That would be Club Neptune.”

”Thanks, man.”

”Yeah, no problem.”

Kevin went back over to the lovebirds. ”Hey, are you guys up for some dancing at Club Neptune?”

They nodded their heads yes, so the three of them finished off the shots on the table and left. They followed Jonathan's perfect directions, finding themselves standing in front of Club Neptune within minutes.

”Well, here goes nothin',” said Kevin, pulling open the heavy wooden door.

The room was dark except for the flas.h.i.+ng disco lights that lit up the ceiling and walls with flas.h.i.+ng colors in pink, green, and blue. The ba.s.s was really pumping, and the crowd on the dance floor seemed to be moving as one big ma.s.s of arms, legs, and a.s.ses. They could feel the beat coming up through the floor and filling up the air all around them.

”I'm going to get a drink!” yelled Kevin, trying to be heard above the noise.

”We're going to go find a place to sit down!” yelled Jonathan, moving away, holding LeeAnn's hand.

Kevin worked his way slowly through the crowd standing at the bar and ordered another shot. All this alcohol was going to mess up his training regimen. He was going to have to work out extra hard and long tomorrow. The thought cheered him up; surely there would be some hot girls at the s.h.i.+p's gym.

He scanned the crowd while he waited for his drink. As his eyes reached the dance floor, he caught a glimpse of leopard print and flashes of green. Is that ... ?

He watched as his sister did some sort of dirty dancing hip gyration thing with some big blond-headed guy. Then just to the right of her was Candi, dancing with a tall, dark-haired guy who was making sure everyone knew she was there with him. He couldn't seem to keep his hands off her. She didn't seem to mind too much; she had a big smile on her face.

Kevin muttered to himself in annoyance. s.h.i.+t. Even little Gumdrop was getting action on this cruise.

He couldn't stop looking at her. She wasn't dancing like his sister, but her more reserved moves were s.e.xy anyway. It's like she was holding back, like she had some sort of inside secret she wasn't sharing; and that tight black skirt she had on was really doing a good job of emphasizing her curvaceous hips. He'd never paid much attention to a girl's hips before, but he found hers to be mesmerizing for some reason.

He'd never noticed her body before because she always wore big s.h.i.+rts or baggie pants. Why would a girl who looked like this go to such lengths to hide herself? It's stupid.

He got his drink and finished it in one gulp. Enough of this c.r.a.p, he was going to ask her to dance. He walked over to the dance floor, just as the song ended and a new song started a slow one. It was too late to turn back since Candi had already seen him approaching. s.h.i.+t again. Tonight is just not my night.

”Um, hey there, Gumdrop, got a dance for me?” He looked at the dark-haired guy standing opposite her and realized for the first time that it was the guy who had scared LeeAnn. Kevin watched as he put his hand on Candi's back, up near her neck, his eyes never leaving Kevin's. This guy was being unapologetically possessive, and Kevin didn't like it one bit.

Kevin lifted his head in a subdued gesture of greeting. ”What's up, man? I'm Kevin.”

”Jack.” He nodded back, but his body language made it clear he wasn't interested in releasing Candi into Kevin's hands.

Candi smiled, a little fl.u.s.tered. ”Sure, Kevin. You don't mind, do you, Jack?”

”Well, actually I do, but if it's what you want ... ”

Candi lost her smile for a second. ”Yes, it's what I want. I'll see you after the dance is over, if you want.”