Chapter 5:

Royce’s P.O.V.

“You look beautiful tonight,” I whispered huskily to the girl in my arms. I couldn’t make out who it was, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I did know that I was familiar with the person though, not that it was of any help. We were in the middle of a dance floor, swaying to the soft sound of the music that was emanating from the speakers. It seemed like it was some type of fancy event that we were both at. As to what, I couldn’t say. I couldn’t see very well due to the colored disco light from a disc jockey stand in the corner.

Whoever mystery girl was, I wasn’t lying to her when I said she looked beautiful. Her gown was some shade of green that I didn’t know the name of, but whatever it was, it just enhanced her beauty even more. She was shorter, that much I knew, but it didn’t matter. I could rest my chin atop her head comfortably and that was enough for me. In fact, it was more than enough. There wasn’t really a word to describe the feeling I had with her in my arms. The closest word I could use to describe it was- perfection. It seemed as if that girl was a piece of a puzzle I didn’t know was missing. As cliché as it sounded, I knew for a fact that that girl was my soul mate.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “You don’t look too bad yourself, Royce,” she blushed just the slightest shade of pink when she said those words. And I couldn’t have found it more attractive. The way she said my name… sent shivers down my spine. But they were the good kind of shivers. The shivers that said that this girl was the girl for me.

“I only look so good because I have someone as breathtaking as you dancing with me,” I replied as I brought her closer to me. The, small, gap that was already between us was too big in my opinion. I hadn’t missed her sharp intake of breathe when her body was flush against mine. If I wasn’t mistaken, I could feel the increase of her pulse. I carefully wrapped my left hand around her small, right wrist and held it to my chest, right where she could feel my own heart beating. And my heart beat wasn’t anywhere near its normal pace.

The song ended, yet neither of us made a move to walk away. My eyes were still locked on hers. They started to become more in focus than they had been before. If I wasn’t mistaken, they resembled the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen. They were mesmerizing, and I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into their depths. I traced small circles on her lower back with my fingertips, while I was inching her closer and closer - the fact that she was already flush against me didn’t matter. I craved for the warmth she was radiating. My whole being depended on it.

When she couldn’t get any closer, I released her wrist and brought my hand up to cup her cheek, my fingers grazing her silky hair. Her silky blonde hair? I wasn’t sure, since I still had yet to break our eye contact. Maybe it was the spell her alluring eyes cast upon me, or maybe my mind was subconsciously making the decision. Whatever it was, I felt my head lean down to hers. She tilted her own up to mine, obviously to make the position less uncomfortable. In that moment, I knew she wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her. Our lips were mere centimeters apart by now, my minty breath mingling with her chocolaty breath. I went in to close the distance and finally -

“Royce!”

I froze, not knowing who was calling my name, or from where. Didn’t they know they just ruined something I was dying to do? I blinked and resumed what I intended to do before I was so rudely interrupted. I mean, anyone in their right mind could see that I was trying to kiss the girl of my dreams. My lips were just about to graze hers when, once again, I was being summoned. Groaning in frustration, I looked up, only to come face to face with my girlfriend, Veronica.

Wait just one God damn moment. What was Veronica doing there? Had I just been about to cheat on her? With someone I couldn’t even identify?

I looked back down at the girl in my arms. Her eyes were filled with sadness, though I could no longer make out an eye color. In fact, she was becoming more and more fuzzy as Veronica drew closer to us.

“I’m sorry,” she said. Her voice was so quiet, and I knew it was because she was trying to keep it from cracking. “I should probably go.”

With that, she disentangled herself from my arms and walked away. I was about to call out to her and ask her to stop, but I didn’t know her name. I could do nothing but watch as her figure faded until it appeared as if she had never been there. I stared at the spot where she seemed to disappear in a daze. I thought if I looked long enough and hard enough, she would miraculously reappear, all the while whispering, “Don’t go. Please, stay with me,” over and over again.

I stopped staring when I felt the repeated whacks on my arm from Ve. Knowing her, she wasn’t going to be happy that I was dancing with another girl, let alone try to kiss one.

“Royce…….Royce………Royce!” she yelled right before she slapped me across the face to get my attention once and for all.

“What the hell?” I bellowed, snapping back to reality. And reality just so happened to be me lying in my California king sized bed in my room, with my arms wrapped around Veronica’s waist. Damn, my face hurt like a son of a bitch. I figured Veronica must have slapped me in order to rouse me from sleep. And my dream.

Only one problem. I am never able to remember my dreams. It was somewhat of a pain at times. There are times when I wake up and have some intense emotions without knowing why I feel the way I do. The only thing I can relate them too were my dreams. Dreams where I had no recollection of what happened in them. For all I knew, I could have dreamt about Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, and I wouldn’t remember it. Thankfully, that was a good thing, seeing as I was a fucking scaredy cat with any thriller, suspense, or downright horrifyingly scary movies.

That’s right gorgeous babes and manly men, I, Royce Ethan Masters, was scared of scary movies. That was one genre I wouldn’t act in.

But not remembering what I just dreamt was a pain in my ass at times.

What happened just a minute prior was a great example of why it was such a pain. Literally and figuratively.

I looked over at her, my cheek still stinging, and saw she was pissed. Now what had I done? The only plausible explanation would have been if I had talked into my sleep. But, I’m not usually a sleep talker.

“Let. Go. Of. Me. Now,” she pronounced every word slowly and precisely. I furrowed my eyebrows wondering what in the world she was talking about. She nodded her head in the direction of her stomach, and looking down, I saw that my arms were like a vice grip around her waist.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as I quickly removed my arms from around her. This seemed to please her, and she jumped out of my bed the moment she was free. I watched her as she quickly picked up her discarded clothes from the floor and dressed herself.

“Thanks to your iron grip on me, I couldn’t get out of bed. I finally persuaded this new director to let me audition for the main role of his yet to be titled movie. And the fucking audition is in fifteen minutes. Oh, and did I mention the drive to my audition is almost a half hour drive? I didn’t? Well, now you know, and if I don’t get the part, it’s your head that’s going to get chewed out. Got it?”

“Okay,” I spoke slowly, not really understanding her pissy attitude. It was one fucking audition, I went to auditions all the time and didn’t come home getting every single one. But I did get a majority. I smirked on the inside at that thought. I was living the good life. I had my dream career, a fucking hot- albeit ball busting- girlfriend, and the best friends a guy could ask for. It was the life being one of Hollywood’s elite. “Good luck then, babe. I hope you get it.”

I had no idea if she heard me, and if she did, she didn’t acknowledge my words and never took a glance back at me. Instead, she proceeded to walk down the hallway and out of my penthouse.

Now what was I suppose to do? I really wasn’t that tired anymore, probably due to the hard smack I received as a wake up call. One thing was for sure, Ve definitely knew how to slap a person. I could only assume that there would be a red handprint on my face when I went into the bathroom. And sure enough, once I took a look in the mirror above the sink, I saw the outline of Veronica’s hand on my right cheek. Why did I have to date a girl that could slap so hard it would make me feel as if my neck snapped? I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. Instead, I took a steaming hot shower, brushed my teeth, and dressed myself in a pair of basketball shorts and an Eagle’s basketball t-shirt from my old high school in North Dakota.

Once I was fully dressed, I headed to the kitchen and made myself a bowl of cereal. I had to have my Lucky Charms. I loved the marshmallowy goodness. My favorite had to be the pot o’ gold. I ate that as if it were candy. I carried my bowl into the living room, shoving large spoonfuls of the sugary and marshmallow goodness into my mouth. Plopping down on my oh-so-comfortable couch, I turned on the television to watch the Twins game I taped the night before. Since North Dakota lacked a Major League Baseball team, the Minnesota Twins were the next best thing. A smile graced my face when I thought about the first Twins game I had gone to.

“Third base line seats! Right behind the Twins’ dugout! Can you believe it?!” I exclaimed. I was like a kid in a candy store, looking every which way as we made our way to our seats.

“Take a chill pill, Royce,” a newly fifteen year old Julianne said from behind me. “You’re acting crazy. Well, crazier than usual.”

“Well, you’d be acting crazy too if you were this close to the pros!” I turned around to look down at her. “I could reach out and touch them if I really tried.”

“You do, and you’ll most likely get us kicked out for harassment,” she scolded.

I made a face at her, like the mature sixteen year old I was.

“Whatever,” she shook her head in laughter, a small smile on her face. She plopped down in her designated seat. “Just know that if you do slap their butts, and you get in trouble, I have absolutely no idea who you are. I refuse to get you out of that mess.”

I mimicked her actions, taking my own seat next to her. I draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in to my side. I leaned my head atop of hers and told her, “Nah, you wouldn’t do that. You love me too much to let them take me away.”

“Try me and you’ll find out if I’m joking or not,” she said seriously. One look at her facial expression told me I better not try. If I did, I was sure to find out how wrong I would be.

After that, Julianne and I enjoyed our first Twins game together. From eating the original Dome Dogs, to trying to get on T.V. as the camera roamed over the area we were sitting in, the day was one of the best I ever experienced. And I couldn’t forget the way Juli would yell out her subdued version of obscenities at the umpires on calls she disagreed with. I kept my promise to her, I hadn’t tried to ‘man-slap’ the players butts. Although the thought had crossed my mind once or twice, even after her warning, just to get a reaction out of her. But with the amount of attention she was attracting by her small outbursts to the umpires, I figured it would be wise to not demand any more unnecessary attention, thus getting thrown out.

No matter what happened during the game, I knew it was going to be one afternoon I would never forget. And the best part of it all was that I got to share it with my best friend.

Julianne.

I was starting to feel like a complete douche bag. I hardly spent anytime with her in the two days she had been here. I wasn’t really acting like a friend. First I completely spaced on her trip and picking her up from the airport. Secondly, I forgot about the little task of booking a hotel room for her. At least the dinner I had with her and Logan was nice. Sans the whacks I received from her purse. Fuck that hurt. But the night had taken a wrong turn when Veronica and Adrianna Cartwright, my best friend Dash’s girlfriend, showed up as we were leaving. I was in too much shock to give out the introductions, and allowed Ve to steer me into the restaurant I just exited.

I had to do something to make it up to her. Something to show her the perks of being the best friend of a Hollywood star. The only problem was what. Sure, I could probably take her to Rodeo Drive and take her shopping, but I always seemed to end up carrying her bags. That idea was a no. She was worse than Veronica when she was on a big shopping spree. And Logan had already taken her to a recording studio, so that was also a bust. There was the club opening that I had to attend later.

The club opening. It was perfect. I mean, Julianne didn’t drink, but she was also one that didn’t give into the pressure of drinking just because everyone else around her was. Although it wasn’t really her scene, she was always up for new things, and we would be able to spend sometime together.

Deciding that was what I was going to do, I took out my phone from the pocket in my shorts and dialed her number. I just hoped she would agree to attend, seeing as Veronica would also be in attendance.

Flashes upon flashes from numerous paparazzi and magazine photographers’ cameras went off in front of me, as I made my way across the press line in front of club. Peligro, which meant dangerous in Spanish, was holding it’s grand opening. With Veronica at my side, we talked to a few entertainment news channels like E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and The Insider. All of them asked the same question; “Are you two official?” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer that question, since I made an agreement to go public with Ve, it just bugged me how they felt the need to ask. My hand was resting lowly on the side of her hip and her hand was practically mauling my ass through my back pocket. Could they have been any more oblivious?

Finishing up with small amount of mini interviews, Ve and I made our way into the already packed club. All of Hollywood’s elite had shown up. Everyone from Hilary Duff, and Lauren Conrad to Diddy and Ryan Reynolds. Julianne was definitely going to enjoy herself. She was a big Ryan Reynolds fan, and I could already see the look on her face when she got a glimpse of him. I knew he was the one celebrity she would flip over seeing, since she never went all fan crazed over me or when I told her I befriended Dash Parker.

Speaking of which, I had just spotted him, with Adrianna at his side, standing by the bar. Veronica and I made our way to their side, both of us striking up a conversation with our respective best friend. Ade and Ve went on some rant about the newest Gucci handbags they bought and how much they cost. I was used to their lame conversations every time the four of us were together, so I decided to tell Dash about Julianne.

Finally, my hometown best friend and my Hollywood best friend, would get to meet each other. I knew Dash would like her, everyone did. Julianne just oozed likeability. It wasn’t odd to see her befriend at least one person from every clique in high school, even if she was a cheerleader. She just defied the whole cliché of sticking to the ‘rich-popular’ crowd. Before Julianne, East Fargo High School had the typical social hierarchy. She didn’t care what her ‘friends’ would think if she went to spend time with the music geeks, seeing as she was part of our school’s choir program, instead of them. By the end of her junior year, she had started to change the way everyone saw the school’s social standings. The cliques started to dissolve. Of course not completely, there were still those who thought certain people were a waste of mass, but it was a ‘start in the right direction’ according to Juli. She hated the thought of cliques, and told me on her first day of high school, that she was going to change people’s misconceptions.

I must have been zoning out while thinking about Julianne, because Dash was looking at me strangely while waving his hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

“Are you okay, man?” he asked when my focus was back on him. “You were spacing there a second ago.”

I laughed sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about Julianne. I got to keep an eye out for her.”

“Julianne?” he asked. “Wait… Isn’t that the name of the girl that you’re best friends with back in farmland or something?”

“Yeah, it is,” I answered him, scanning the crowd once again for Jules. When I didn’t see her, I turned my attention back to Dash. “She’s amazing, Dash. I really think you two will get along great.”

I couldn’t help but notice Ve’s posture stiffen at the mention of Julianne. I honestly didn’t know what was with the two of them. Veronica was one-of-kind, and I was lucky to be able to call her my girlfriend, and she generally got along with my friends. Logan and Blaze were the only exceptions. Veronica and Blaze could tolerate each other’s presence, but having Logan and her in the same proximity was a recipe for disaster. Julianne, on the other hand, was probably the kindest, most sincere girl I’ve ever met. She had the natural ability to walk into a new place and make friends instantly. She could even play nice with many of my ex-girlfriends, even if she highly disapproved of the relationship. I couldn’t really understand why the two couldn’t get alone, and why Julianne said the things she did the previous night at Blaze’s barbeque.

“Babe, you okay?” I asked Veronica, gently rubbing her back.

“Yeah, fine,” she said stiffly. “I think I’m going to go to the ladies’ room. You going to come with me Ade?” Adrianna nodded in consent, and together they strutted through the crowd, which parted like the red sea, to the restrooms.

“Anyway,” Dash drawled out, since significant others were no longer in sight. “Tell me a little about this Julianne. I need to know at least something about her. I don’t want to look like a fool because you haven’t told me all that much about her.”

“Well, she’ll be nineteen September fifteenth. We’ve been next door neighbors, and best friends, since I was five….” I started explaining to Dash. I felt like I was reliving my childhood by telling him about Julianne.

She was pretty much the All-American-Girl-Next-Door type. I told him how she could usually be found in the gymnastics arena perfecting stunts for cheerleading, and how she would be the one person I, and the rest of my basketball team back home, could hear yelling plays and pointers over the noise of the crowd and our coaches. She was the one girl I could drag to sporting events with me, knowing she wouldn’t complain, but have as much fun as I did. She also had amazing cooking skills, rivaling those of my mom. I even gave Julianne her own nicknames. When I was younger, I used to call her ‘Juju-Bean‘, just because I knew it pissed her off. And of course I couldn’t pass up a vertically challenged name either. So I had dubbed her ‘Short Stack’, much to her chagrin. I rarely used that one though. After all, she was the perfect height to give me a swift kick to the family jewels. And she would do it too, I knew that from experience.

“Her eyes resemble pure sapphires. They stand out against her--”

“Long, light blonde hair?” Dash asked, interrupting me. “With a megawatt smile that lights up her entire face?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Did I tell you that before?”

“No,” he laughed. “I just figured she was Pierce’s arm candy is all,” he motioned towards the entrance of the club, where Logan and Julianne must have just entered.

I fought the urge to let my jaw drop in awe, but I did let my eyes widen upon the sight of her. She looked beautiful. Not that she didn’t any other time, especially when she was dressed up, but for less than a day’s notice, she looked pretty damn good. The bright yellow dress, which accentuated her curves in all the right places, made her look even more tan than she already was. She always did get tan easily when out in the sun. She straightened her hair pin-straight, and pulled the middle part and did that little poof-type thing with it. I had no idea what it was called, and I didn’t care. And her natural shade of makeup just enhanced the overall beauty she radiated.

As she and Logan neared us, I could tell the short, but still classy, hemline allowed her to proudly display her defined legs. The combination of cheer and gymnastics definitely made her legs strong and just muscular enough. Her tiny, size six feet were encased in a type of black shoe I had no idea how she could get into. There was so many straps and ties, I felt like her feet were wrapped as a Christmas gift instead of in shoes. But the heel on them gave her just enough height to make her not seem as short in comparison to us guys.

“Hey!” she greeted, wrapping her arms around me in a hug when she was finally in front of me. “Thanks for inviting me. I really appreciate you thinking of me.”

“Of course,” I returned her hug. “I’m sorry we haven’t had more time together. I still have some appearances and such to make, but I promise we will have more you and me time before you go, okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled brightly. “Hey, how about I make you one of my home cooked meals one of these days? I’m sure you haven’t had a meal like that in a while.”

“Definitely not. I’ve missed your cooking, Juju-Bean,” I laughed at her cringed face. I heard someone cough loudly from beside us, trying to get our attention. I turned towards the sound and realized Dash was standing there, watching our conversation with interest. I realized that I had yet to properly introduce Julianne to Dash, even though she could already tell it was him. “Oh, yeah. Dash Parker, I’d like you to meet my best friend, Julianne Sanders. Julianne, meet my partner in crime, Dash Parker.”

After the introductions were made between the two, they started sharing old, and embarrassing, stories about me. It was relieved to know that she could act normally around him, as if she was talking to me. Any other girl from back home would have been nothing but a crazed fan, making the situation much more uncomfortable. The Julianne in front of me and Dash was the Julianne I knew, not the one that would come out when Veronica was around. And that fact bothered me. Why was she like that with Ve? As far as I knew, Veronica didn’t have any vendetta against Juli, so there shouldn’t have been a reason for Juli’s hostile attitude to her. I must have been lost in my own thoughts, once again, because I overheard Julianne begin to relay one of my more ungraceful moments.

“So, as he’s going down the court, running as fast as he could since he was exhausted beyond belief,” she said, telling Dash and Logan my little basketball mishap. “He had two defense men on him because they didn’t want him to get the winning basket if he made the play, and just as he’s about to go up for the lay up, he--”

“Hey, Jules,” Logan timely interrupted. He, unfortunately, already knew the story, and also knew how embarrassed I was. It was my fault I tripped on my own shoelaces and fell flat on my face, missing the play entirely. What was worse than actually experiencing it, was having to relive it every time I was home. My parents just had to videotape that specific game. “Would you give me the honor of dancing with little ol’ me?”

“I would love to, Logan,” she replied, forgetting all about the story she was in the middle of telling. I let out a relieved sigh, silently thanking Logan for distracting her. Dash did not need to know about my moment of clumsiness. She took a hold of Logan’s outstretched hand and started to follow him out onto the crowded dance floor.

“I want to hear the rest of this fascinating story Julianne!” Dash called after her.

Turning her head back to him, she laughed before answering, “You got it!”

I turned around and ordered myself a drink from the closest bartender. Even though I had yet to reach my twenty-first birthday, the bartenders in Hollywood would give us all the booze we wanted. We, as in Hollywood’s finest, gave the club publicity by showing up. The least they could do was give us alcohol, no matter if we were legal or not. As I received my drink, I couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on me. Looking to my left, I saw Dash giving me an incredulous look.

“What?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he said, averting his gaze and taking a long sip of his own drink.

“It’s not ‘nothing’,” I stated. Dash had that look on his face that said he had something on his mind. Dash always spoke his mind with me. It was just this unspoken rule we had between us. “Spill.”

Dash sighed, obviously trying to find the right wording in what he was going to tell me. It must have been something important if he was acting the way he was. “It’s about Julianne.”

I stiffened at his words. “What about her? It seemed like the two of you got along pretty well, so what’s wrong?”

“We did. It’s nothing like that, man, so don’t worry. I just don’t understand how you can be just friends with that girl.”

What the hell? I had known Julianne since I was five years old, when my family and I first moved into the house next door to the Sanders family.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I just am. Why?”

“Because, Royce, you two just seem like you would fit together,” Dash said. “She’s got this innocence about her that you just can’t find in many girls, especially out here. All they look for are the dollar signs. I mean, sure, you and Veronica make this good-looking Hollywood couple but - and if you ever tell Ade I said this, I will deny it and hunt you down - something just doesn’t seem right. You’re whipped to the worst degree with her. With you’re very cute best friend, you’d actually have a chance to wear the pants.”

“What are you getting at?” I asked him skeptically.

“I’m just curious, that’s all. I mean, with a best friend that looks like that, you’ve never had any feelings for her beyond the platonic level? You never wanted to be anything more? That’s bullshit.”

I was stuck. Stuck in thought of how I should answer Dash. I’d be lying if I said I had never thought of the possibility of dating Julianne, because at one point, I did. I told myself it would never work out though. Right after I developed a slight crush on her, I made the decision to move out to L.A. Besides, she wasn’t exactly single at the time either.

“I did once,” I told him.

“You once did what?” he asked.

“I used to have a crush on Jules.”

“I knew it,” he chuckled. “So what happened?”

“I moved out here. And she wasn’t exactly single at the time. Her and her boyfriend spent all their time together, so I rarely got to see her. That’s probably all the crush was based off of, not having her around. Any other boyfriend she had, we would still hang out almost every other day, if not daily. So when that one took up all her free time, I felt a little jealous that I never saw her. And we lived next door to each other. Hell, our rooms faced each other! The one time we really got to hang out, was when she surprised me with a dog my parents bought for me. It was the brother of the one she got, so she conned me into going with her when she was able to bring it home. But, once I moved, everything just faded away. So yeah, we are just friends.”

“Well, you can tell me any story you want to, but I still won’t buy it. I think something is still there. She‘s hot, dude.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved his hand around. “So you wouldn’t be jealous if I said I would take a shot with her? If I wasn’t in a committed relationship with Adrianna, of course.”

“Not at all.” I’d just have to kick your ass.

“Okay…” he drawled, looking out onto the dance floor. Eyebrows raised, he turned back to me. “And it wouldn’t bother you that Julianne and Logan are currently leaving the club? Oh, and he has his arm wrapped around her.”

“What?!” I quickly scanned the crowd. I thought I heard Dash, mumble something along the lines of ‘just friends my ass’, but I wasn’t sure. I was just about to go after them when Veronica and Adrianna returned from their trip to the bathroom. A very long trip I noticed. She came up to my side, and gave me a long kiss on the lips. I was hesitant at first, but only because we recently acknowledged our relationship publicly. Before, we couldn’t kiss in public, so it was something I still needed adjusting to. “Hey, babe. I will be right back, I need to talk to Julianne.”

“She left,” she said, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to face her, asking her why. “She said she had a headache, and of course the lights and sound in here isn’t the best environment for one. She wanted to find you and tell you herself, but I told her I would do that for her and she could just go home and sleep it off. Logan left to make sure she would be okay. He didn’t want her taking a cab all by herself.”

“How do you know all this? I got the feeling that you two hated each other,” I asked her.

“She’s your best friend, Royce,” she sighed. “So although we seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot, I want to get to know her. If she’s a friend of yours, I want her to be a friend of mine too.”

I was shocked, yet relieved at the same time. It would have been hell if they didn’t get along. But Julianne rarely had headaches, and when she did, they were minor. So I found it odd that she would leave, especially when she sounded so enthusiastic about coming here earlier. But Veronica had no reason to lie to me, and I believed her when she said Julianne wasn’t feeling well.

“Thanks, babe. I think I’ll text her and make sure she’s okay,” I said, whipping out my Sidekick and sending Julianne a text, letting her know Ve relayed her message to me. A few seconds later, I received a text back from her.

She told you that?

Yeah.. I’m glad you two are becoming friends. Bummed you can’t be here though. : (

*Insert eye roll here* Yeah….‘friends’. I’m bummed too. But something’s you just can’t change. We still on for a home cooked dinner some night?

Of course. Why wouldn’t we be? I wouldn’t miss my favorite meal.

What was I thinking?. Ha-ha. When should we do it?

Well, I’m booked with appearances and shit for a while… How about next Friday? I’ve got a photo shoot earlier that day, but my night is open. That’s almost a week from now.

Don’t swear! But that sounds good. I can’t wait. I’ve missed you.

I’ve missed you too Juju-Bean. Next Friday, 7-ish. DON’T FORGET!

Me? Forget? I should be telling you that.

Ouch… But, I guess I deserve that.

I’d say.

Ha-ha. But, I better get to my ‘appearance duties’. I get paid for this you know. Logan has a key to my place, you can just go in if I’m not there and get started on your amazing pork chops!

That works. Gives me time to snoop through your place! ; )

Feel better soon, Jules. Headache’s can be a bitch. TTYL.

I wouldn’t know. Bye.

Knowing that Julianne would be taken care of in Logan’s presence, and setting a date for our dinner night, I returned to my girlfriend’s side and do what I was getting paid to do.

Party.

The next Friday:

I was on my way to Veronica’s place after my photo shoot had finished. It took longer than I anticipated, and all I wanted to do was relax. I had been staying with her at her place for the past couple days, instead of staying at my penthouse. It was one of the perks of being in a public relationship. We never stayed at each other’s places in the entire six months of dating because of the risk of the paparazzi finding out. But now, we didn’t care. It was somewhat expected we stayed over night, in fact.

I parked my Ferrari in her driveway, in front of the door, knowing no one else would be over again tonight. It was just me and her. The way I liked it. I heard the beep as I locked my car, while walking through the front door.

I couldn’t find her anywhere on the first floor, so I figured she’d be in her room. I crept silently up the stairs, wanting to surprise her. I heard the music coming from her room and knew that even if I had made some noise, I would still go undetected. Opening the bedroom door, I saw she was occupied with something on her computer, but I couldn’t see the screen. It was too tempting to scare her, and I couldn’t resist the temptation.

“Honey, I’m home!” I yelled at the top of my voice. Ve jumped about a foot off of her chair and spun around to look at me.

“You’re such a dick,” she said turning to her computer, minimizing the screen she was looking at when I entered the room, like she was trying to hide something.

“What were you looking at?” I asked curiously.

“Nothing,” she said, coming up to me and soundly kissing me. I knew she was trying to distract me from something, but when her tongue met mine, I didn’t care anymore. All I cared about was getting some action out of my girlfriend. I guess six months of not being able to stay at each other’s openly had its advantages. All the tension Veronica built up during that time was now being released. When she yanked my shirt off over my head, and pushed me down on her bed, I knew I would be in for a wild ride.

Literally.

A couple hours later, I woke up to Veronica trailing a finger along my abs. I went to wrap my arms around her, but she got up and headed for the door instead.

“No way mister. You know I don’t cuddle after that,” she said, wrapping herself in a kimono style robe. Damn, my girlfriend was sexy. “It’s eight-thirty, I’m getting myself dinner. If you’re hungry, you better follow me.”

“Yeah, I could use some din--” I cut myself off. “Eight -thirty?!”

“Yeah. Do you need your ears cleaned or are you just deaf?”

I double checked the clock on her wall, just to make sure. Sure enough, it was exactly the time Ve had stated.

“Shit!” I jumped off the bed and got dressed. It was the night of my dinner with Julianne, and I was a hour and a half late. It would be close to two hours by the time I got back home from Veronica’s. “I promised Julianne we’d have dinner tonight. She’s been at my house since seven. Probably before that if she was cooking there. If I break one more promise to her, I’ll have hell to pay.”

“What makes you so sure she isn’t with Logan tonight?”

“Because she promised. She wouldn’t bail on this for any reason,” I said, putting on my shirt, which was my last piece of clothing.

“Royce,” she started softly. The sudden change of tone in her voice was what caught my attention. Whatever she was going to tell me wasn’t going to be good. “I think there’s something you should see.”

I followed her to her laptop, where she had been when I had first entered her room. She maximized the screen she was looking at before, and I saw what she was trying to hide from me before.

There on the screen were dozens of pictures of Logan and Julianne. Some from the night of Peligro’s grand opening. Headlines along the lines of Logan Pierce’s New Gal Pal, and The Girl Who ‘Pierce’d His Heart covered the top of the screen. Pictures of the two of them entering the club, and then exiting - in which Julianne looked quite content with his arm wrapped around her. But there were also pictures of them at a McDonalds eating burgers and fries, followed by pictures of the two walking along the beach with ice cream cones in their hands. I knew those pictures were all the same night, because Julianne had the same yellow dress and hairstyle she had at the club.

Headache my ass.

“Apparently she didn’t have a headache at all,” Veronica voiced my thoughts. “I have no idea why she would lie to you, Royce, but she did. I’ve tried being nice to her and befriending her, but if she’s been lying to you, I can’t stand by and say nothing.”

“Maybe she just wasn’t having fun at the club,” I tried to reason. Julianne never lied to me before. I could read her so well, or I used to be able to.

“There’s pictures of many other outings her and Logan have had since that night. Horseback riding, shopping trips, hell there’s even a picture of him bringing her home and meeting his family! If that kiss they shared at Blaze’s is any indication, I think it would be safe to say something’s going on between the two of them. And neither friend had the decency to let you know. She claims to be your best friend, but that isn’t how one acts,” she debated. I had to admit, she had a point. Two of the closest people to me were going around and doing God knows what behind my back. “As your girlfriend, I think it’s my job to make sure these type of people aren’t surrounding themselves around you. I think you should cut your ties with Julianne, Royce. Maybe even Logan too.”

I stayed silent as I printed numerous pictures of my best friend with Logan. No wonder she had been so eager to take up Logan’s offer to stay with him. And Logan for offering. Man, those two were suppose to be my good friends. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I was livid.

I grabbed the pile of pictures once they were done printing, and left Veronica’s without saying anything. I figured she knew I was going to my place to have a little chat with my so called best friend. The one I thought I knew for almost fifteen years.

Maybe Ve was right.

It was time I cut my ties with Julianne.

Yes... And update! FINALLY! Sorry for the delay, I had some sporting distractions thanks to the MN Twins and Vikings. Also experienced a very bad case of writer's block. BUT...the writer's block did create a short story that I currently have in progress called Lessons Learned. Check it out! Yes, I'm pimpin' out my own creations! So sue me. Also check out WHEN THE ACTOR CAN'T ACT by jessnutsss for more of Dash Parker and Adrianna Cartwright.

Big thanks All Over You for becoming my beta! She's slowly, but surely, breaking me of my bad writing habits! Do check out her babies too! I can guarantee you will fall in love with the Masterson family like I did!

Thank you to all who alerted/favorited this story! And THANKS to the reviewers: AfterPartyFiasco, misatok123, FreekyDisaster18, kesah rose, jessnutss, u wouldjustbe AWESO without ME, readingandwritingfreak, Sapphyre Nymph, Emsy144, schoeppc, gothhoties4eva13, and heidipandabear!

Who do y'all think she should/or will end up with? Who do you like better? I still have some characters to introduce, but give me your predictions! I want to see what everyone's thinking, and if you'll hate me at the end! LOL