Part 11 (2/2)

Jack made room for Kevin on the dance floor. ”I'll see you in a few minutes then.” He bent to kiss her on the cheek. Then he stood and looked Kevin in the eye. ”Keep her warm for me.”

Kevin didn't respond. Instead, he stepped up to Candi and gently took her in his arms. Jack walked off the dance floor to the bar where he could keep an eye on them while he drank.

Candi was immediately overwhelmed by the totally male scent of Kevin, filling her nostrils. Oh my G.o.d, he smells so amazing. She inhaled deeply. It was kind of woodsy and spicy and, well, manly. She'd never smelled anything quite like that in her whole life. Her dad used Aqua Velva aftershave, which had its own distinct smell that was totally unlike what she was experiencing right now.

Her heart started racing, and she felt herself starting to sweat; but her hands were ice cold. Her body was in full freak-out mode. She felt Kevin lean down and put his nose in her hair. She hoped he didn't notice how full of sticky stuff it was.

”You smell so good,” said Kevin, softly by her ear. It sent tickles down her spine.

”I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

He pulled away just a bit to look in her eyes. ”You were?” He smiled at her.

She smiled back. ”Yes. Like the woods or like something spicy ... like a man.”

He put his head back and laughed. ”Well I guess that's a good thing.”

Her faced turned pink with embarra.s.sment. She was glad it was too dark for him to see it. ”Sorry, I know that sounded stupid.”

He took his hand off her back and gently took her chin between his thumb and first finger. ”Don't apologize. It wasn't stupid, it was nice.” Then he put his hand back around her and pulled her to him a little closer.

Candi could feel her ears ringing. She didn't really hear the music anymore. She was completely enveloped in the smell and feeling of Kevin Peterson. Kevin Peterson! I'm actually slow dancing with Kevin Peterson right now. Holy c.r.a.p!

Why wasn't he dancing with one of the ten supermodels who were here right now? And why didn't she feel this overwhelmed when she was dancing with Jack? Certainly he'd tried to hold her like this, a few times at least, even in just the short time he'd been in the bar; but each time she had pulled away. He didn't smell like Kevin, he wasn't as solid as Kevin; he just wasn't Kevin, period.

Sooner than she wanted, the song ended, and Jack came back immediately to claim the next dance. It was a fast one, so Candi didn't think she'd have to worry about not getting too close to Jack and feeling uncomfortable, but Jack had different ideas. As soon as Kevin started walking away, he grabbed her and pulled her in close.

”What are you doing? Stop that.” Candi put her hands up on his chest and pushed a little bit, but he wasn't letting her go.

”I want to dance closer with you, come here.” He kept pulling her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her, imprisoning her there.

Candi struggled to get free. ”But it's a fast song, I don't want to slow dance. Let me go!”

Still he didn't listen. ”SShhhh, just calm down. I know you like to dance like this, I just saw you do it with that guy, Kevin. We were having fun before he got here, let's just keep doing that.”

”I told you, I don't want to. Now let me go!” She stomped on his foot and his sharp intake of breath told her that she'd hit her mark but still he refused to give in.

He gritted his teeth in determination. ”Just relax, I'm not going to hurt you. You just need to ... ”

He wasn't able to finish his sentence because Kevin showed up at his elbow and started talking.

”She said to let her go, Jack. I suggest you do it.”

Jack stood up straighter, and without releasing Candi, said, ”This is none of your business, dude; why don't you just get the h.e.l.l out of here?”

”No can do, buddy. Candi says let her go, so you need to let her go. Or I'm going to have to help you.”

Jack immediately dropped her, except that he kept a grip on one of her wrists. He was squeezing pretty hard.

Candi tried to pry his fingers off, but he was obviously determined to keep a hold of her.

”You got a problem with me, Kevin?”

”Only if you continue to man-handle Candi. Let go of her wrist.”

”Fine. Let's you and me take this outside, then.”

Jack let Candi go, and Sarah wrapped her arm around Candi's shoulder, leading her away from the dance floor. Once Kevin saw that she was several feet away, he said, ”No thanks,” and turned to walk away. Candi held out her hand hoping he would come and take it, but Jack had other plans for Kevin.

Jack grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled back hard, causing Kevin to spin around halfway back towards Jack. Candi watched in horror as Jack let loose a punch that caught Kevin right on the side of his face, near his left eye, snapping his head back about eight inches with the force of its blow, causing him to stumble.

Kevin jumped back up into fighting position so fast, Candi didn't have time to think about it, before he executed a quick jab right into Jack's nose. Candi heard a sickening crunch. Jack's nose had broken and blood started pouring out.

”You bwoke by dose! You fuggin bwoke by dose you azz-ole!” Jack grabbed the bottom of his s.h.i.+rt, trying to use it to staunch the flow of blood.

Everyone on the dance floor who saw what had happened started yelling. Some tried to run away, while others jumped in, ready to either join the fight or keep the two guys apart.

Candi ran back to Kevin, followed closely by Sarah and Jonathan. She was wild-eyed and frightened. ”Oh, my G.o.d, what happened?! Kevin!! Your face! Oh, my G.o.d, and your hand!”

Kevin looked down to see that he had a large bleeding gash on his knuckles.

Mason grabbed Jack by the shoulders and guided him off the dance floor towards the bathrooms. The manager of the bar came over and told Kevin to leave.

Jonathan looked over at the statuesque blond who had been standing off to the side, watching the scene anxiously. ”LeeAnn, I have to go. See you tomorrow?”

”Sure. No problem. How about at the pool for breakfast? On the B-deck?”

”Yeah, that would be great. See you then.”

Candi watched in shock as this gorgeous girl leaned in and gave her brother a pretty deep kiss on the mouth. She released him and walked away. Jonathan waved at her retreating form, absent-mindedly reaching up and touching his lips. She had left her lip prints in pale pink lipstick smudged on the edge of his mouth.

”Who the h.e.l.l was that?” Sarah asked, gesturing over to the place where LeeAnn had been standing.

Candi was equally shocked. ”Yeah. Who was that? And what was she doing performing CPR on you, Jonathan?”

Kevin laughed. ”Welcome to my world, ladies where Jonathan bags the one of the hottest babes on the s.h.i.+p, and I get my a.s.s kicked by a womanizer with a sweet tooth.”

Candi frowned at him, looking at him through slitted eyes. Yes, Jack had turned out to be quite the a-hole, but what was this about the sweet tooth?

Kevin winked at her, or at least tried to wink at her, before he grimaced in pain. He had obviously forgotten that he had an injury to his winking eye.

Oh, she thought, the Gumdrop thing again. She sighed and took Kevin by the arm.

”Come on, let's go get you cleaned up, Galahad.” She looked over at Jonathan. ”Come on, Romeo; we have to get Kevin back to the room. Party's over.”

Sarah just stood by silently, watching Jonathan very closely. She seemed to be wrestling with something in her mind.

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