The Boys' Bet

I shoved myself away from the couch, stumbling over my shoes that were heaped in a pile on the floor with my jacket and purse.

"Bathroom," I mumbled, blushing profusely as all of the boys turned to look at me. I hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I put my hand on the vanity, leaning my head forward to rest it on the cool glass. What the hell was I thinking. Johnny? Worst move I could have made tonight. What if Bryan had seen? Forget killing any chance I had with him- not that I had one anyways. But what about the rest of the guys. They were like brothers to me. They had been there for me through the roughest time of my life. How could I even think about screwing up the team like that? After all, that was part of the reason I was trying to get over Bryan.

I finally gathered up the courage to walk back out to the living room. Much to my amusement, and with more then a little relief, I saw Johnny was asleep on the couch where I had left him. I plopped down on the other couch, leaning forward to poke Kevin's shoulder.

"Dude. Do you guys not know how to share? Your mothers must be ashamed."

"Oh shove it Aimee. You never play and you know it!" he shot back at me, laughing.

I laughed along with him, finally conceding that he was right, I never played, even when they asked me to. I stayed up with them, watching them play, until I fell asleep about an hour later.

I woke up suddenly to someone cursing. My eyes shot open, and I yanked the blanket down from where it was, covering my face.

"What the fuck," I groaned, burrowing my face back into the pillow to avoid the bright sun streaming through the windows.

"Sorry dude" Johnny laughed, "Don't leave your shit on the floor and I wont wake you up when I trip over it." My eyes widened, and I groaned despite myself. Hearing his voice brought back last night, and what I had almost done.

"Oh. Um, sorry about that" I said, chuckling weakly, hoping he wouldn't notice.

He did.

"Whats wrong," I heard him call, as he walked around the house, cleaning up all the bottles and trash from the night before. "Drink a little too much last night?"

"Um. Nothing. Just a little tired this morning." I dragged myself of the couch and hurried into the bathroom, avoiding Johnny. I looked into the mirror, shaking my head at my reflection. My hair was still in decent shape, but the same couldn't be said for my makeup. I quickly washed my face, then rooted around in the top drawer until I found the toothbrush I kept there.

I finished freshening up and took a good look at myself in the mirror. I didn't look bad, though I was thanking god I hadn't slept in my dress. It was BCBG, not cheap at all, but it looked damn good on me, and was worth every penny that I had spent on it. I'd stolen a pair of boxers and a t shirt out of the (I hoped) clean laundry pile. I figured they were Bryan's, not ,of course, that it made a difference.

"Time to face the music Aimee," I whispered to myself, taking a deep breath and walking out of the bathroom. I wandered into the kitchen, knowing that somebody, most likely Johnny, had made coffee. I was right. I made my way over to the pot, grabbing the creamer off the counter.

"Well thats a little different from the dress last night. You sure its clean?"

I froze, plastered what I hoped was a normal smile on my face, and turned around. Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table in front of a bowl of cereal, his usual smirk absent, and an unusually hesitant smile in its place.

"Yea pretty sure. Kevin said it was the clean pile, but I guess you never know with guys." I shot back at him, pleased that our usual banter didn't seem to be any different. I finished making my coffee, using the time to come to a firm decision to just not bring up the previous morning. He and I had both been drunk, and I was sure he wouldn't want to bring it up first. I took a long sip of my coffee as I walked to the table and sighed in pleasure as I sat down in the seat across from Johnny. He glanced up at me, barely meeting my eyes. "Why so quiet this morning," I teased. Usually he couldn't be quiet or five seconds, forget five minutes. "Did you not sleep well?"

He finally looked up and met my eyes, startling me with the unexpected heat that was there.

"No actually I didn't. I kept thinking about what happened. Or what almost happened at least."

I tore my gaze away from his, and took a deep breath.

"Nothing happened last night Johnny. We were both wasted. Thats it. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"You know, Aimee, it's really not that simple." he snapped.

"Yes it is Johnny. Nothing happened last night besides two friends being next to each other on the couch." I sighed, rubbing my forehead, "Thats all that went on, ok? Just a momentary lapse in judgment."

"Fine." Johnny replied, sighing in defeat. "If thats how its gonna go, then fine."

"It is." I replied firmly. "You need a ride home this morning? I didn't see your car when I got here last night."

"Nah, I'm helping Kevin set up the spare bedroom today. I guess they decided we're all here so much, they might as well have somewhere for us to sleep besides the couch."

It was true. We always ended up at Bryan's house, as it was pretty much in the middle of where we all lived. And two or three nights a week, at least one of us would crash there. I did it the most, although I claimed it was because I lived the furthest away. Which I did really- but seeing Bryan walking around in nothing but boxer briefs in the morning was worth sleeping on the couch. Though I wouldn't mind having a bed or even a futon instead.

We chatted about that weeks track event for a while, before I finally looked up at the clock.

"Crap!"

"What happened now?" Johny said calmly, though I could hear him fighting back a smile.

"I'm supposed to meet Cami and Samantha in an hour and I still look like this! They're gonna kill me if I cancel again."

Cami and Sam were my two best friends outside of the car world. Sam and Zack had been best friends since they were kids, and after he passed away, the two of us latched onto each other. Sam was everything that I wasn't -- Tall where I was short, slender where I was curvy with long straight golden hair, and legs that I had told her on more then one occasion I would be more then happy to kill her for.

Cami and I had been best friends since middle school, when I gave a black eye to the girl who was teasing her. Cami was, well, breathtaking, there was just no other word for her. Smooth caramel skin, ringlets of mahogany hair and green eyes that always seemed to sparkle with some kind of mischief. She was only an inch taller then me, but standing next to her made me feel like a heifer in a straw sack. Neither of them were good for my ego, but they were such amazing friends that I couldn't have cared less.

Johnny grinned, his eyes lighting up. "Do I smell trouble?"

He wasn't wrong. Together Cami and I had come up with the nick name The Duo of Destruction - where ever we went, you knew mayhem wasn't far behind. Adding in Sam, we were the self proclaimed Trio of Terror. And rightfully so.

"Shut up Johnny. Your just pissed cause I won't let you bone either of them." His face darkened, and I cut him off as he was about to speak, no doubt in reference to The Event.

"But I should get going, so-OOF. What the...Oh. Hey Bryan." I had jumped up from the table, only to run right into Bryan's bare chest. His very attractive chest, complete with nice pecs, chiseled abs, interrupted only by the sprinkle of dark blond hair, leading down to...NO.

I shook my head, and squeezed my way put between Bryan and the table, being extra careful not to do as I wanted to, and graze my ass along the front of his boxers.

"Nice to see you finally woke up," I chattered, "Just in time to say good morning and goodbye to me. I'm heading off to meet the girls for brunch, but I'm sure I'll see you guys for drinks later. We are still all going out right?" I bustled around the kitchen and living room as I said this, dumping my now empty coffee cup into the sink, and grabbing my stuff from the end of the couch.

Bryan crossed his arms across his chest and gazed at me, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"She's late again isn't she?" He directed to Johnny, his eyes never leaving my body. I could feel the blush from my cheeks spreading.

"Of course she's late. Is she ever not?"

"Oh shut up. I always get to the events way before you guys," I finally snapped back, pulling my keys out of my purse. "I'll get the clothes back to you later ok? Have fun doing...whatever." I slammed the door behind me, and bolted to my car, sighing in relief as I slipped into the drivers seat of the love of my life. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and dialed Sam. I knew she and Cami had gone out clubbing the night before and had probably ended up at the same apartment.

"Your late, Slut." Came her voice, although she sounded more amused then pissed. "You lose track of time staring at wonder-boy's chest again this morning?"

"No...not exactly," I muttered, thinking that even though I was being honest for once, she still wouldn't believe me.

"Mhm. One of these day I may believe you. Not today. Go home and shower, since I'm sure you smell like a fucking ashtray. You have an hour or I'm dragging your ass to the restaurant dressed or not."

"Fine." I gave in. There was no arguing with Sam once she grabbed onto an idea. Calling her bullheaded was an extreme understatement. "I'll be there."