JC stepped inside his home, having just gotten back from his get together at Starbucks with Mel. He walked into the kitchen and found Tyler grabbing some juice out of the fridge.

“I didn’t realize you’d be home at this time.” JC said, surprised to see him.

Tyler poured some orange juice for himself and turned around to see his big brother. “Ohhh…yeah..my class for today got canceled.”

“Ahh..okay.”

“Wasn’t today the day you were seeing Mel?” Tyler inquired.

JC nodded his head.

“Did you tell her?”

“What do you think, Ty?”

He chuckled. “I take it as you didn’t.”

“That’s correct. I just still couldn’t say it. It’s hard for those words to slip off of my lips.”

Tyler reached his hand out and patted JC’s back. “I know….but you can do it. I mean..not many girls have said ‘no’ to my brother. I don’t think Mel will turn you down or disown you for loving her.”

JC tossed him a small smile and nodded. “Thanks.”

Tyler nodded and smiled. “So how did it go? What did you two chat about?”

“It went okay. She got upset because her niece was born and she wasn’t there for the birth. So I gave her a hug.”

“I bet you enjoyed that.” Tyler smirked.

“Ummm…yeah. More than I should’ve. I actually hugged her far too long and she asked me to let go.”

Tyler laughed. “Ohhh..Josh. You think she suspected anything?”

JC shook his head. “Nah, bro. I think Mel would be clueless. I played it off well.”

“Ahhh..well. You better tell her how you feel soon. I don’t know how you’ll be able to play off a kiss, if you give in to your urge and kiss her.”

He sighed. “That’s a good point, but I don’t even want to think about it.”

“You’re a wuss.”

“Am not.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Just freaking tell her then!” Tyler screamed and then he laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Maybe later. She’s kind of busy right now. I don’t want my confession screwing up her work.”

“Ohh..did she get some new project or something?”

JC nodded. “Yup.”

“What?”

“She is working with Justin on the website for his clothing line. I just found out right before she had to leave for a meeting with him.”

“That’s cool. I’m sure she’ll do a great job on it.” JC nodded and sighed.

“What is it?” Tyler asked.

“Nothing….really. Well..I guess I just wish I knew Justin was giving her the job before she had accepted it. It’s like she’s my best friend and Justin was my best friend too. I’m the link that brought them together.”

“Josh…they are friends too. It’s not like Justin has to go through you to get to Mel. I know they met through you, but seriously…you’re acting like you already own her or something. She’s not your girl yet. You have to tell her how you feel first.”

JC sighed and then he grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. “Yeah…I know…it’s just hard.”

“Well no one ever said love was easy.”

JC then mustered up a smile. “Don’t start being wise on me, Ty.”

“Okay. I’ll stop. Just let me know when you finally do something about it and aren’t a freaking pansy.”

JC then flipped his brother off and shook his head as he walked out of the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Mel was at her meeting with Justin and the two of them were currently working on the William Rast website.

The business aspect of the hiring had been taken care of and Mel had crossed her Ts and dotted her Is on a formal contract. Now they were just brainstorming and fooling around on the computer together like friends.

Even for being a professional guy when it came to his clothing line, Justin couldn’t be like that with Mel. She was too good of a friend and her personality was just bubbly. Working with her was just informal. Plain and simple.

“Justin, thanks again for asking me to help you out and do this.” Mel said messing around with the background of the site. She was deciding what color would work best.

“It’s not a problem, Mel. I’m glad to have you as part of the team.” He grinned at her.

“I told Jace this morning how much I’m looking forward to saving up for my loft now. This job with you will totally help.”

Justin’s ears perked up even more at the mention of his friend. “Ohh..you saw, C? How did that go?”

She nodded her head as she clicked away at the computer. “Yeah, we met at Starbucks. It was pretty much the usual. Us throwing witty banter back at each other.”

Justin laughed. “Of course.”

“But he gave me a really long hug today. I was upset about missing my niece’s birth, which in fact I’m going to fly out there tomorrow. I was able to book a flight just before I got to your office.”

Justin listened and nodded. “Well congrats, Mel. I’m sorry you weren’t there, but I’m sure you’ll have fun going back East and seeing the new niece.”

“Yup, indeed. Aunt Mellie loves her nieces.”

Justin smiled and then he narrowed his eyes at her. “Now..what was it you were saying about this long hug?”

“Jace gave me a very long hug. It was kinda funny.”

“Ohhh….well you know, C. He likes having all the ladies close to him.”

Mel then busted out laughing at Justin’s remark.

“Or he’s getting old and forgetting to let go of the person he’s hugging.” It was then Justin’s turn to laugh.

He quickly sobered up then and he sighed. He knew exactly how JC felt about Mel and he had to try and push Mel in the right direction.

“Mel, when was the last time you saw C with a girl?” She shrugged her shoulders as she fixed the layout of the website, having finalized the background.

“Exactly. He probably needed that hug more than you know.”

“Mmm..maybe. Though he hasn’t complained to me about not having anyone. I think he rather likes the bachelor life. He’s good at brief hook-ups and kissing girls when he needs a kiss, but otherwise his commitment phobia is still strong as whiskey.”

Justin knew she was right. JC did have a phobia about relationships. Yet, Justin also knew it was the fact that he was in love with his best friend, that scared JC the most.

“I don’t know…he might just be waiting for the right girl to come along. Which you never know. She could be right under his nose.”

Mel didn’t take Justin’s words too seriously. It was evident in her response. “Eh…who knows.”

Justin looked at the computer screen then and saw the improvements Mel was making already.

“You’re good, girl. This site is already looking more professional and accessible.”

Mel grinned. She turned and then looked at Justin carefully. She loved the sleek suit he had on and his hair was nice shaven. His beard was well-groomed and his scent was just to die for. They were friends and well now boss and employee as well, but Mel couldn’t deny that Justin was a good looking guy.

Justin could feel her staring at him and he swallowed hard. “…What?”

“Mmm..nothing.”

Justin chuckled. “Come on..I know you had something to say.”

Mel licked her lips and bit down on her bottom lip. “Well…what if I wanted to kiss you?”

“Excuse me? What was that?”

She nudged him in the shoulder. “You heard me. What if I wanted to kiss you?”

Justin started laughing like it was the most ridiculous thing ever. He was shocked by her question indeed, but he also had to play it off. He didn’t want her thinking that he would actually allow her to kiss him.

“Come on, Mel. You don’t want to kiss me. Plus, I’m sort of your boss now. You can’t mack on me.”

Mel rolled her eyes. “Oh please. We’re not that professional, J.”

“Yeah, I know, but…you just can’t kiss me.”

Mel really didn’t care what he was telling her. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t like the way he looked today and that she didn’t want to lay a big old kiss on him. Truth was, he was Justin Timberlake, and even if they had been friends for awhile, she was still entitled to feel fan girly for him.

Mel stopped playing around with the mouse and the incessant clicking sound stopped. She then turned her chair and she tugged on the nice silk tie Justin had on.

“Just..let me kiss you. Then I can live knowing whether it was good or not.”

Justin couldn’t deny the fact that he thought Mel was attractive too. Yet, she wasn’t his and never would be. He knew she was perfect for JC and he honestly wanted the two to get together. Justin was just waiting on JC to confess his love for Mel.

“Melissa.” He said.

She let go of his tie, knowing he was serious when he called her by her real first name.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t let you kiss me. You just really need to talk to JC.”

She tossed him a puzzled look. “What does he have to do with this?”

“He has something to tell you and if you kissed me, I’d feel like shit.”

Mel gasped. “Oh no…don’t tell me he’s going to come out of the closet and that he’d be mad that I kissed you because you’re secret gay lovers!”

Justin rolled his eyes, even if he did find it amusing.

“No, it’s not that. I can promise you that much.”

“Okay..well, whatever. Your loss that you don’t get to taste my cherry chap stick.” Mel smirked.