Part Six  Swimming Hijinks 

The next morning I was very groggy and did not relish the third degree.

“Hey you came in pretty late last night.” Renee said. “Who were you with?”  she asked.

I rolled my eyes, “The guys.  Josh brought me home.”

“You have been hanging out with him a lot Amy.”  She observed, letting her concern leak into her voice and expressions.

“No more than the rest of them.”  I defended myself.  I wasn’t going to admit to anything.  We were just friends, that was all.  He had a girlfriend, and had made it known with his actions that he was far too old for me.  

“It is the way you say his name and how you look at him that bothers me.   If I didn’t see him looking the same way at you I wouldn’t be worried.  He is and you need to be careful.”  She warned.  

Why the hell was everybody warning me about this man? Yeah he was a shameless flirt and a little inappropriate, but he wasn’t the one trying to hurt me.  He was being a gentleman.  

Thankfully, Renee left fairly early.  She had to style the guys.  They had gone off to a radio interview so I was left alone in my hotel room.  I wasn’t about to look at the same four walls for the day.  So, I rifled through my suitcase and found my bikini.  Putting it on I smiled.  Grabbing a towel I headed to the swimming pool area.  Because I was in need of a tan I went to the outside area and laid out reading the latest edition of Cosmo.  I ordered a smoothie and sipped on it as I got hot.  I was totally oblivious to the attention I was attracting until a waiter came up to me with a mixed drink.

“It is from that guy over there.”  The waiter said, laying it  down on the table next to me.

I sipped it and found that it was loaded with alcohol.  Knowing I shouldn’t have it, I put it aside and went on reading my magazine.  Quite a collection of drinks came my way.  I would question the waiter what it was and set it aside if any  alcohol was involved.  But I never provided any of my benefactors any attention.  That was until one of them thought it would be okay to come up to me.  

“Hey sweet thing.  What do you say you and I get out of here?” He asked.

I almost couldn’t help myself from laughing.  The guy was balding and had to be at least forty.  I shrugged and said “I am fine here thank you.’

It was then that he made a grab for my arms.  “Get your hands off me.”  I seethed.

“I would do as the lady says.”  Josh said in a low menacing voice.

I stopped cold for a second wondering how he got here so fast and right when I needed him too.  However my wits quickly came to me.  I pulled away.  And went to Josh, kissing him on his cheek.  “Thank you honey.”

He smirked.  “No problem baby.  Why didn’t you tell me you were coming down here?”

“I don’t have to run everything by you.” I told him, as if we had this fight everyday.  

He nodded.  “You are getting red.  You should go in.”

“No, I want to stay here.”  I complained.  He was getting very controlling.  I did not like it.  He was going to find out, I was going to do what the hell I pleased.  He didn’t have anything to say about it.

Josh looked at me pensively before he picked up the bottle of sunscreen.  “At least let me put this on you baby.”

I nodded, worried that the guy was still watching us.  He creeped me out and something stopped me cold when I spotted a black ring.  It was like it meant something, but my mind was hazy as to what it was.  All I knew was I had to act the part of a girlfriend, even though I did not want Josh telling me what to do.  At this point the guy had walked away and somehow without me realizing it Josh’s hands were all over me.  I moaned because it felt especially good.  “Thank you for saving me.”

“This is three times now.  I think you owe me.”  He purred seductively in my ear.

“Owe you.”  I sat up and glared at him.

“Hey it ain't my fault that your sexiness gets you in trouble.  You could tone it down, and maybe you would not have these problems.  You are just lucky it was me who found you here instead of Chris. He would have had a coronary.  I, on the other hand, appreciate a little skin.”

I was so mad at him for a reason I couldn’t put my finger on.  I had to get away from the bumbling buffoon.  So I got up and hopped in the pool.  He watched me from the edge for a while before jumping in after me.  I splashed him and swam away but he caught my foot under water.  Pulling me under and dunking me.  I fought hard against him but it was no use. I was held tight against his body.  I rubbed slightly against him and could feel his bulge hard despite the coolness of the water.  He looked me in the eyes for a couple earth shaking seconds.  It was if he was trying to find the courage deep within him to kiss me but then he thought better of it. Then he groaned and let me go.  

I looked at him shocked.  “What did I do?”  I questioned his abrupt departure. 

“Nothing baby.  You are just too young to be playing adult games.  You really don’t want what I have to give you right now.”  He warned.

With that I jumped out of the pool with tears in my eyes and ran for the elevator.  Josh was right on my heels.

“Get away from me.”  I yelled at him.

He pushed on, “Nope, not going to happen.”

“You called me a baby.”  I declared.

“Maybe because that’s what you are. Come here.  Let me dry you off. You're going to catch your death.”  The distress was evident in his voice

I had to resist though, “No thank you.”  I grabbed the towel out of his hand and I wrapped myself  in it.  Soon the elevator deposited us on our floor. 

I headed off to my room without looking back.  

I slammed the door shut. It was unnerving every time I ran into Josh, this time was no exception. I didn't know what to think. For some reason I thought that he might be attracted to me, however thanks to Chris, he thought of me as a child and that irked me to no end. But regardless I had to remember that Josh was just getting out of a relationship and that I was not going to attract his attention any further than wanting to explore idle curiosity. 

I laid on my bed deciding what to wear to lunch.  I didn’t want to be too revealing, but I still wanted to be cute just in case I ran into Josh.  It was such a pain, now that I had to actually think about what to wear.  It didn’t used to be that way.    I was getting hungry so I finally decided on some daisy dukes and a light blue polo.  I decided to go to the dining room.  I didn’t much like the idea of getting room service and staying cooped up in my room.  I knew Mike wasn't going to let me leave the hotel before the guys had to go off to the venue, so downstairs was really the better option.  It was better to get things from the dining hall than to rely on room service, it was cheaper and fresher and hotter.  I took the elevator downstairs and found a deserted place for my meal, so I could observe my surroundings without being seen by others.  Mike of course was tailing me but he stayed far enough away that people really wouldn’t notice.

I wanted a greasy cheeseburger badly, and a chocolate milkshake had my name written all over it, but I saw Chris; he was making a beeline to me.  So much for a quiet lunch.  He had been in my business more than usual of late so I quickly called the waitress back to change my order to a grilled chicken sandwich without a bun, a side salad with non-fat dressing on the side and a glass of skim milk.  I could swear I almost heard Mike laugh at the switch-a-roo.  But hey maybe with the sensible meal he would be nicer to me at our training session in the morning.  Who was I kidding?  I was running 5 miles and doing upper body weights whether I liked it or not.  But maybe he would be nice about it and not try to make me go faster or up my weights.   Damn I was getting distracted.  I really needed to think about my game plan with Chris.  I had to play the innocent.  Really nothing happened.  A whole lot could have happened, but when it came down to it nothing did.  That was my story and damn straight I was sticking to it.  I made eye contact with Chris as he came over. He had a look of determination on his face that I couldn't describe. I gulped. I just knew he had heard some rumors about last night and with the look in his eye it must have been greatly blown out of proportion.  Shit I was in so much trouble. None of it was my fault though, it wasn’t fair.  All I could do was smile weakly at him.

  "Good afternoon Chris."  I squeaked out.

"Amy" He nodded and straddled the chair across from me. "How was your evening?" He asked casually, but I could hear the suspicion laced in his voice.

   I decided it would be best just to throw it all out there and let the shit hit the fan how it may.  "It was alright, except for a guy that couldn't take no for an answer. It was okay though, Mike and Josh both took care of it before it became a big deal, and then Josh took me back to my room." 

There was no reason to lie. Chris would never trust me if I started doing that. Though it probably was a big deal in his eyes I was just hoping the fact that I was indeed protected wasn't lost on him.

Chris was grinding his teeth and was eerily silent.  I knew a thousand thoughts were rushing through his brain.  I hadn’t mentioned Justin and how we were playing the game of “Whose hot” before all the bru ha ha.  The way my side of the story sounded was that Justin had abandoned me that night, but really he didn’t.  I pushed him away so that he could have his fun.  I knew that there was a blonde that caught his eye and I didn’t want to stand in his way.  I didn’t want Justin to think that he had to baby sit me all night.  I was doing fine for myself too, until that drunk guy came along.   

Luckily for me Chris’s ADHD set in and he noticed my sunburn.  Really it was one of the lesser evils in the grand scheme of things. I didn't really mind the interrogation shift when he asked "Did we forget the sunscreen again?" 

"I put some on, but I guess I was out too long." I smiled to myself this was going to be easier than I thought. There was no reason that Chris needed to know about my run in with Josh or how some older men were treating me. I would keep that to myself thank you very much. Chris just couldn't be mad at me. 

That was when I saw Josh out of the corner of my eye and groaned.  He was coming over toward us.  My ship was sunk.  Chris wouldn’t think twice about grilling Josh.  He already looked like a tea kettle about to explode.  I really didn’t know what would come out of Josh’s mouth.  He was a loose cannon around Chris and depending on what he thought of me earlier I could really be in trouble. Josh resumed his strut and slid in right beside me, with audacity I was having a hard time believing. 

"Sit down, Josh and order something to eat. I believe we are going to have a long conversation." Chris’s eyes were blazing in controlled fury. "So, I have been hearing some interesting things, Josh. Care to explain what happened last night?"

Josh peered towards me as if he was asking me what the hell should I say to this.  I didn’t know.  I hoped to God it would be something to appease Chris, but I sort of knew he was not at the point in which he would sacrifice himself for me either.  So I just gave him a shrug and hoped it would tell him what to say without Chris noticing that on this issue we were in cahoots.  

  Josh turned his best poker face back to his bandmate. "Last night?"

“Yeah, I heard that you um helped her out with some dude on the dance floor. I want to know your version of the story." Chris was giving him the look that he had better damned well spill everything he knew or he was going to get another pounding. 

  Josh watched the vein in Chris' neck distend and throb as Chris got more worked up. That kind of thing may have worked on Justin or Lance but it didn't have much effect on Josh. I could tell that he had learned as I had that if you remained calm you would infuriate Chris more but it was all part of the game. He wasn't going to spill anything he didn't have to especially if it was going to get him in hot water. Looking calmly at me and then back to Chris.

  Josh began. "Some dude at the club got a bit too friendly with Amy and since I was the only one in view I took care of it. Not much more to say. I handled it, ALL of it." Josh put more force into those last words as he stretched and rubbed his still bruised jaw.

"You left with her, did you not? What happened then?" He asked a little skeptical that Josh could just look out for me without putting his paws on me himself. He wanted to hear from Josh's mouth that nothing happened.

"What are you insinuating, fucker?" Josh asked for a pointedly raised eyebrow. "Did you not say that we should watch out for her? Did you expect me to free her from one leech just to have her run into another bastard? Naturally, I bought her fries and ice cream then I escorted her home and dropped her at her door." Josh did his best to look honest and above board about the whole affair. 

Josh looked over at me and smiled evilly. "Amy, I thought you would be burnt to a crisp after all the sunning you did today. It is good to see that you aren't suffering any." He had the audacity to wink at me, "but you really should finish up that sandwich before it gets cold."

Chris digested what Josh had just said and swiveled his head back around to face me. “'She does look a little pink. We were talking about that before you came over? Were you out at the pool? Who was with you?"

I took a bite before answering him to stall for time. After chewing and swallowing it completely I responded. "I went on my own, but Mike was my shadow the whole time. I was completely safe Chris." I said with a little roll of my eyes.

Chris was not to be diverted from his goal. He was going to yell at someone and I seemed to be a likely target. "Well where was your sunscreen? You want to get skin cancer or something." The words just tumbled out and his anger just let them roll.

I tried to stay as calm as I could, considering the ridiculousness of the present topic of conversation "I put some on when before I went out. I didn't realize how long I was out. It must have worn off. But it isn't hurting Chris, I will be fine." Why did Josh have to come over and stir up the pot? Well at least the drinks and dirty old men weren't mentioned, if they were Chris would never let me out again.

Chris leaned over and poked at my shoulder as if he didn't believe me.  I don’t know why, I didn't even flinch from his touch. Chris felt a bit shamed by his reaction and looked away.  I glared at him with the "I told you so" look.  

We both saw the creep at the same time.  Just outside the glass of the dining room were middle-aged gentlemen in casual dress. He was staring at me, Chris picked up on that fact immediately, and it made me incredibly nervous.  I was never going to be let out of my hotel room again at this rate.   Luckily the creep’s gaze shifted and landed on Josh.  That scared the bejesus out of him, and he looked away and moved on as if I wasn’t really there.   Chris was doing the double take trying to piece together the mysterious looks.  I hoped he thought that  he was seeing things at this point.  Maybe the mushrooms from last night had in reality cooked his brain.  His head ping ponged between the both of us and in resignation he got up and left the table.

“Thanks a lot, you were really helpful back there.” I said with a sigh to Josh.

“Think nothing of it, kitten, twice in one day.  I didn’t think I would be so lucky.”

My eyes trailed where Chris was off to.  It was directly to Mike.  I didn’t have to be there to know what the conversation consisted of.  “Mike is going to rat me out.”

“Someone has to.  You were playing a very dangerous game earlier.  More than just my cock was standing at full attention to you in that lovely string bikini.” He lustfully explained.

“Will you xnay on the inikib kay?”  I begged for him to keep it down.

Josh chuckled.   “So you even admit it.”

“Admit what?” I gave him my innocent angel face.  Knowing what happened he wasn’t buying it.

“That you were dressed like a slut.”

I just turned my back on Josh watching Chris and Mike.  Mike was enjoying his steak pretty much alone, though his senses were trained. He smiled when Chris came to him and made a cheeky comment. "You think it is wise to leave the love birds alone together?"

“Love birds?” Chris wanted details but wasn't sure how forthcoming Mike would be. He was Josh's man and protected him well. 

Chris snorted in answer and shifted back to his original goal. "Who's that guy?" pointed to the gentleman at the elevators. "Do you know him?"

‘That man is a bastard. He was down by the pool. He tried to buy Amy a drink. Amy is a good little girl, she didn't drink it. However he did approach. When the guy didn't take no for an answer she went over to Josh to play lovey dovey. She thinks on her feet I can give you that. I thought I was going to have to step in and open a can of whoop ass on him. If he doesn't stop staring at her now I might just do that. Though Josh is playing his part as a jealous lusty boyfriend well.``

That was all Chris needed. He knew what Josh was like and lust wasn't something he faked. Chris rose from the table and returned to where I was sitting.  

Chris stopped in front of us "We need to talk. Upstairs." Looking pointedly at me"Now!"

I whined. "But Chris I am still eating." 

Really I was finished. This impending conversation had made me lose what little I had of my appetite.  I saw the throbbing artery and knew none of my back pedaling was going to work. “Damn, he knows it all '' I thought to myself.  The only way of getting out of this now was to play the victim.  He couldn’t begrudge me that at all.  If I gave innocent eyes and cried a little bit I would be back to where I wanted him.  I made a show of the distaste of following Chris.  I threw my napkin down.  Stomped my feet as I trudged after him and honestly I pouted the entire way.  It was unbecoming I knew it, but I was not going to get into trouble for the lack of control of others.  Not this time.   Josh’s head was spinning a little at Chris’s action, and the middle aged man saw Chris literally drag me into the elevator.  I bet I was blowing his mind at the moment.  But who cared, the dude was insignificant except for the fact that he was the person that got me into this fix in the first place.

After I was on the elevator and the door closed Chris leaned back against the wall and glared at me.

I looked up at him nervously. I knew he was mad about something at the time I thought it was an old guy.  I was going to play the dumb and injured card though.  "So what are you so mad about that you had to take me away from my lunch. It was rude, you know."

"You looked like you were done." He shrugged his shoulders.  He huffed and I could tell the guilt was working on him a little bit if not a lot.  But his response was callous. "Could have taken it with you."

Alright I admit it I was pissed and I took it out on him.  "You didn't answer my question. What are you so fucking pissed about." I yelled just as he yanked me into his room.

Chris spun on his heels and stared me down once the door was closed and privacy was guaranteed for this domestic disturbance.  The color in his face was rising.  It was then I knew I hit his nerve and the lava was going to flow unencumbered.  "Why didn't you tell me about the old guy at the pool? Trying to hide something. Huh, figured I wouldn't find out."

Acting independently didn’t work.  I would have to try the wounded angel technique again to calm him.  Soothe him, make him believe others were as careful with me as he was. It was the only way.  "I didn't think it was important. Josh and Mike helped me to take care of it and I thought it was over with. Plus I didn't want to have this conversation with you. You were already on the verge of having a heart attack and I didn't think you could handle any more bad news."  Real tears were beginning to flow.  Fuck I wanted to avoid this.  I wanted to be strong and in less than three minutes he already had me reduced to tears. All thought of strategy and damage control ceased.  He was just going to have to torch me for it, despite my whimpers.

Chris stood there lost in thought.  Perhaps my tears did give him pause.  No doubt he had some dooms day thoughts in his head about one of my attackers taking me off in the night.  I should have realized how scary it was for him, but at the time I didn’t have the slightest conception of how real the danger in my life was, and how quickly that danger was to snowball.  As he controlled his breathing, trying to calm down his eyes turned from a pitchy black to a smoldering brown.  His human side was rearing up again and he was beginning to see my side.  Finally he sighed loudly and slumped his shoulders. He softened his gaze and attempted to keep his tone gentle. 

“Show me what you were wearing.”  He seethed as if he was going to explode at anything.  

However I was stupid and decided to poke the bear.  “You want me to model it for you?”

“No, just bring it out here where I can see.”  He grunted, fed up with my dramatics for the day.

I dug through my laundry bag and pulled it out.  “Here you go.”  I handed the two pieces to him.

He took them.  “Where’s the rest of it?”

“This is all of it.”  I blushed, as I admitted the truth and realized finally how this looked from his eyes.

“You will burn this and anything like it.  Go lay face down on the bed.”  He ordered as if he was done with all plea bargaining.

“Chris, I am not two.”  I protested, knowing how unfair this was.

“Amy, we have spoken over and over about modesty.  You continue to defy me and each time you do it gets you into scrapes.  I shudder to think what would happen if Mike and Josh were not there.  The man Josh saved you from had a black platinum signet ring, like the ones the guys and I wear.  Do you know what that means?”  He asked.

I shook my head, I didn’t want to know the truth I knew he was going to reveal to me.

“It means he was a club member.  You were uncollared with no clear markings of ownership. It was open season out there.  Had the guy been more suave you might be a club slave by now.”  He explained.  I could tell that he was hoping his dire warning would stick.

“I am not that stupid, Chris.”  I said, very naive about what could have happened.

“I didn’t say you were.  I just know you were unprotected.  You need to understand that you follow security protocols all the time.  In your case part of your security is to be properly clothed.  I can’t have you causing unwanted attention.”  He explained as if it made perfect sense.   It really didn’t though.  If these men wanted me that bad they would go after me no matter what I was wearing.

I still hadn’t done as he asked.  Chris had his arms crossed and simply waited for me to do what he asked.  We had a stared down before I finally gave in and sat on the bed.

“Now roll over on your tummy.”  He said gently, the anger gone from his voice.

“I don’t want to.”  I whined.

“We can do this the hard way or the easy way.  Either way you are getting a spanking.”  He told me as a mask of calm covered his features.

“How many?”  I asked in a small voice.

“Ten if you are good and take it.  Though if you disobey me again it will be more.”  He said simply.

I sighed overdramatically and rolled over.  The first thump stung.  As did the second and the third.  By the time he got to the third it was biting into me.  On the fourth and fifth one I was cursing him silently.  On the sixth I bit my cheek to hold in my scream.  Tears were threatening to roll on the seventh and eighth.  The ninth and tenth ones were worse, but after that they were over.

“Little One, I worry about you in these hotels. There are a lot of strange people, stranger than me. We all have to learn to watch ourselves. Even me and Josh" Chris reached out as he ended his speech and touched my hair gently.

I nodded and sighed, the battle was over. I was just thankful that this was only about the situation at the pool and not Josh. If Chris would have nixed me being able to be with him it would have crushed me.

”I will be more careful. But honestly Chris, Mike was there the whole time. I wouldn't go anywhere without him. I know better."  I tried to reassure him.

Chris melted and pulled me into a loving embrace. He then leaned back and smoothed my  hair back. "Sorry I interrupted your lunch. Did you get enough? Can I order you some else?"

"No, Chris I am fine. But if you don't mind I think I will be heading back to my room. I have some writing to do." I  wasn't planning on going out the rest of the day until Mike brought me to the venue. 

That next morning Chris knocked on my door. “I’ve had a lot of conversations lately, Amy, and I am not liking where most of them are heading.”

He sat in the chair, I looked up and sulked a bit.  I thought this conversation was over.  

“Conversations about what?”  I looked at him as innocently as I could.

“I don’t know there seems to be a common denominator in all the little scrapes that you have gotten into lately.”  He paced back and forth.  

“Really what is that?” I played dumb because I really didn’t want to hear what he was going to say next.

”Josh.  Now don’t try to deny it.  I think you might be interested in him.”

Crap he was seeing behind the smoke and mirrors.  It wasn’t helping my cause any “Don’t be ridiculous Chris. Now granted he has been helpful and friendly towards me, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for other things.”

“Then you wouldn’t be opposed to me saying I don’t want you dating him.”  He declared laying down the law.

“Now Chris how can that even be a possibility for you to worry your head about?  He is dating Bobbee isn’t he?”  I said using it as a diversion.  I knew they broke up, but that knowledge was not helping my case in this situation.

“Well, yes, but that relationship is constantly evolving to meet Josh’s needs.  I see it more in the press because the stylists have been gaying him up as of late.”  Chris mansplained me like I was two.

I laughed because it was true.  Some of his outfits were downright hideous.  “You have nothing to worry about.”  

“Just keep your distance.  I am serious.” He warned.

“Okay.”  I shrugged.  Fighting him would do me no good.  Besides, I knew Josh was just playing games.  It wasn’t like we had anything real that he was breaking up.  

“Good.  See you at breakfast in 15 minutes.”  He said as he walked out the door.  

When Chris left I curled up and cried.  I was completely bummed that Chris just said no.  It wasn’t like anything was going to happen anyway, but still to know I was forbidden to even think it was heartbreaking.   It was even more heartbreaking than the spanking he gave me the other day.  At least he wasn’t going to beat my feelings out of me.