Eternal Flame (Eternal Flame #1) (3 page)

“10,000?” Joy was flabbergasted. “Wow. I guess we really are lucky.”

“I’ll say. A lot of fans were pissed off because they felt Idol magazine ran the contest sort of last minute and didn’t give some fans enough time to enter and get their letters in.”

“Sore losers.”

“Are you the one who won the date with Roman?”

“No. Kristen is. I won the date with Damian.”

“Well, a heartfelt congratulations to the both of you. You really are in for a fun-filled, memorable weekend.”

Everyone was ignoring the pink elephant in the field. Everyone; that is, except Hazel. “Umm…” she carefully began. “Is everything okay? Not that we heard anything. You know, we aren’t spies. We mind our own business.”

Joy and Kristen gave one another a look and chuckled to themselves.

“But we saw your brother stalk off shortly before we started… praying.”

Cameron looked dubious for a moment; then dismissively waved her hand. “Oh sure! Yeah. Everything is fine. Just fine. Everything’s fine.”

Ms. Austin gave her a thin, beguiling smile. “Right. Well, that’s good.”

Cameron grinned again, showing off her perfect teeth. “So, you guys get a chance to tour the city before you came? How do you like Boston so far?”

“Oh, I love it, absolutely love it,” Hazel Austin exclaimed clapping her hands excitedly. “What a beautiful city. So many historical monuments and so much to do!”

Joy rolled her eyes at her mother’s fake proper etiquette and leaned against the SUV, biting her nails and suppressing the urge to call her mother out for being a phony. She behaved though and engaged in the conversation as her mother and Cameron talked about Boston, Charlotte, the flight from Charlotte, the weather… Everything but that dramatic tirade that had occurred minutes before between Cameron and her hot-headed but hot brother.

While Cameron, Hazel, and Joy talked animatedly amongst themselves, Kristen tuned out, lost in her own thoughts. All she could think about in that moment was Roman and the weird altercation she and the ladies had been witness to. More than that, all she could concentrate on was the wild emotions stirring inside of her since she’d first seen him behind the car. She felt like screaming out loud; shedding her skin. He had that effect on her. Always had, probably always would.

She felt torn about how she was feeling. Less than fifteen minutes before, she was forlorn and crying over her ex-boyfriend; then she saw Roman and it was like Carlos who? What the hell was going on with her? She and Carlos had been together for the better part of a year and now it was like it had never happened. All because of him. It always came back to him. The man with the melodic voice so sweet and so pure that when she heard it, it almost brought her to her knees and awakened every womanly part in her body.

She felt like bursting out in tears. All she’d gotten was a glance. She hadn’t had a chance to meet him yet. Didn’t get to talk to him. Look into his eyes. Hear his voice speak to her. Where had he gone? Was he coming back? Would she get to have her night with him?

Kristen longingly sighed and turned her attention back to Cameron, who was still heading the conversation. “I didn’t get a chance to look at the letters you guys sent in but obviously you ladies are big Next Level fans. Which one of you is the biggest fan?”

Joy didn’t hesitant to point to Kristen. “She is.”

Kristen bit her lip and shook her head, her eyes wide. The last thing she wanted was to give Cameron the impression that she was some stalker fan. It might get back to Roman. She wanted to be normal in his eyes. “That’s not true.”

“Sure it is,” Joy teased her. “Even if you didn’t want to come here at first.”

Cameron tilted her head and curiously assessed Kristen. “Why’s that?”

Kristen glared at Joy but Joy just coyly smiled back at her and feigned innocence. Kristen looked back at Cameron and quietly sighed. “It’s a long story,” she noncommittally explained.

Cameron expectantly looked at her, waiting on an explanation.

“My boyfriend and I broke up a couple of months ago,” Kristen hesitantly began. “Well, not really broke up. But he moved back to his home country, Colombia.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Kristen shrugged and shook her head.

“Breakups are tough,” Cameron said with sympathetic eyes. “I just went through a bad one myself. It was rough for a while but I got through it. Hopefully you will too.”

Not wanting to say more, Kristen simply nodded and looked away. Her eyes widened as she glanced towards the winding road that led to the Dean’s long driveway.

“What’s the matter?” Cameron asked looking in the direction Kristen’s eyes were focused. Her lips lifted in an excited smile as she realized what had gotten Kristen’s attention.

Joy and Hazel looked that way also; trying to gauge what had distracted the ladies. Joy let out an excited squeal as the subjects they were staring at made their way up the driveway on five motorcycles, stopped directly in front of them, took off their helmets and fixed all the ladies with irresistible smiles.

“Holy shit,” Joy murmured again, prompting another firm pinch from her mother. She barely even noticed.

Kristen absently reached for Joy’s hand and Joy immediately grabbed hers and squeezed hard.

“Fuck,” she heard Kristen whisper.

Standing in front of them was none other than Damian Foster, Nick Collins, Alex Collins, Diego Braxton, and…

Damian’s brother.
“Beau Foster,” Joy quietly murmured aloud.

There was a God. And He was more than generous.

Nick couldn’t stop staring at Kristen. He was having a hard time swallowing. This woman was honestly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was wearing a short strapless sundress that stopped at her knees, and it hugged her body in ways that were downright sinful. He tried not to be obvious about it but he couldn’t stop staring at her. Her breasts were sitting up nice and high and were practically spilling out of the top of the dress but not in a way that was slutty or scandalous. Her legs were long and shapely, her hair was a light shade of brown, thick, long and fell down her back and over her shoulders in cascading waves, her skin was honey-colored, and her feet were closed in a pair of high-heeled sandals. Her toes were pretty as fuck and he felt a sudden urge to suck them.

He and the guys had just parked their bikes and walked up to Cameron, the young ladies, and the old woman and after greeting  Cameron and giving her a warm hug, they were now all just standing around looking at one another before anyone said anything. Damian, the lady charmer, panty dropper, was the first one to break the ice.

“Cameronnnnnnn,” he teasingly began. “Who are these beautiful ladies?”

Kristen and Joy blushed and giggled.

“Guys,” Cameron started, “this is Joy and Kristen. The winners of the contest.”

“Well hello.”

“Hi,” the young ladies said shyly.

“And the stunning young lady who is standing with them?”

Ms. Austin patted the neat bun on the top of her head and coquettishly cut her eyes at Damian. “Who me?”

Joy wanted to crawl under the SUV and retch.

Cameron giggled and continued the introductions. “This is Ms. Austin their chaperone and Joy’s mother.”

The guys all nodded their hellos to Ms. Austin and Damian took her hand and gently kissed it, staring into her eyes. “Her mother? I thought she was your older sister.”

Now Joy really wanted to vomit. Especially with the silly way her mother kept giggling and batting her fake eyelashes at him.

“Fresh,” she said to Damian as she playfully shooed him away. “Stop.”

Damian winked at her and turned back to Joy and Kristen. “Which one of you won the contest with me?”

Joy tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him a delicious smile. “I did.”

Damian fixed her with his signature “Foster stare”, sending waves of tingles through every crevice of Joy’s body. Beau stifled a sigh and turned his eyes skyward. Beau was superstar on the rise in his own right, having recently been discovered by Hollywood and featured in a few action movies. Like his brother, he had disarming hazel eyes and sandy-brown hair but the similarities ended there. He was equally as charming and handsome as Damian but he tired easily at his brother’s over the top antics with females.

“Well, well,” Damian teased.

Joy’s giggle became as obnoxious as her mother’s. Kristen wanted to punch her in the arm for that fake shit.

“Sooo,” Diego began, his eyes locking on Kristen’s. The two of them had been sharing eye contact since he and the guys had driven up. “You won the contest with Roman.”

Diego’s eyes were so intense. So probing. It shook her to her core. He looked at her like he’d known her for ages. Like he could see inside her. She was almost afraid to answer him. It should’ve been easy.
I won the contest with Roman.
It was as simple as that. Why couldn’t she form the words to admit it was her?

Kristen rubbed the back of her neck and pulled at her dress with her free hand. The combination was a nervous tic she’d had since she was a small child. She’d better hurry up and answer him or she was sure Joy or her mother would beat her to it.

“Yes,” she murmured in a small voice.

Kristen thought she saw Diego’s eye twitch slightly at her admission then figured she was probably imagining it.

“Good luck with that,” was Damian’s response. He didn’t say it in a mean way but Kristen wondered what he meant and why he’d said it.

She looked at Joy with raised eyebrows and Joy shrugged, her eyes also curious.

“That bastard has always been lucky,” Alex dead-panned with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

“Lucky isn’t what I’d call it,” Diego threw in.

“So are you excited about your date Kristen?” Cameron asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Of course,” Kristen said with a sweet smile.

Nick thought her smile was fuckin’ intoxicating.

“Why? Is he your favorite group member?” Diego bluntly asked.

“Huh?”

“I said is he your favorite?’

“Um… Uh…”

“I’d say he is,” Beau said, fixing her with a teasing smile. “Look at the way she’s smiling. She can’t even stand still.”

“Maybe she’s got to pee,” Alex joked.

“You guys stop,” Cameron replied, shooing at them. “You’re making her nervous.”

“No need to be nervous,” Nick said, giving her a beautiful, toothy smile. “We’re all friends here.”

“For now,” was Diego’s sullen reply.

Nick looked him square in the eye, reading his challenge and deciding to take him on with everything he had. May the best man win.

“What about you Joy?” Damian slickly asked her, with a sinister glint in his eye. “Who’s your favorite Level?”

“Maybe she’s not a Next Level fan at all,” Beau snidely remarked.

“Why else would she enter the contest?”

“Maybe because she thought I would be here.”

Damian squared his jaw and glared at his younger brother, his right hand forming a tightly clenched fist. “Right now is not the right time bro. I suggest whatever problem you have with me, you wait until we’re alone to discuss it. Otherwise, you might get embarrassed.”

“Is that a threat?”

Ms. Austin stood back with her hands on her wide hips and wisely smiled, enjoying the show. Her daughter never ceased to get herself involved in the most complicated of situations. Especially when it came to handsome men.

“Heh, heh, heh,” Joy interjected, feeling nervous. “No need to fight fellas. There’s enough of me to go around.”

Everyone stopped and looked over at Joy with strange expressions, taken aback by her blunt willingness to share herself with two brothers- two famous ones at that.

“That’s my Joy,” her mother snipped with an unpleasant frown. “Always spreading herself good and wide for whatever’s available.”

“Holy shit,” Alex said. “Did she really just say that out loud?”

Joy raised chin to her mother and poked out her chest, ready to battle. “Mother, was that really necessary? What’s the matter? You jealous no one here is interested in you?”

Kristen quickly jumped between mother and daughter, rubbing their shoulders and soothing them as she tried to smooth the situation over. “Okay, that’s enough of the joking you two.” She looked over at the bewildered strangers around them and jokingly shook her head. “They’re just playing. They’re not serious. Weren’t you ladies?”

Joy rolled her eyes at her mother and went to stand between the two Foster brothers, while her mother twisted her neck at her and gave her the finger. Cameron looked on in horror at the crazy scene playing out before her, while the guys just uncomfortably laughed and looked everywhere but at Ms. Austin. What kind of shit…?

“Where is Roman anyway?” Beau inquired, deciding for now to drop his macho rumble with his brother.  “Wasn’t he supposed to be here to greet the winners of the contest?”

Cameron nervously wet her lips and glanced at the women, silently hoping and praying they wouldn’t say anything. “Uh… He uh…”

“Is he coming back anytime soon?” Nick asked with feigned concern. “I’d hate for him to miss the opportunity to spend as much time as he can with this beautiful, sexy young lady.”

“Sure you would,” Diego smirked. Kristen blushed and tried to avoid looking into Diego’s penetrating brown eyes.

“I think he had to run to the store or something,” Cameron said. “He should be back soon.”

“Has he been gone long?” Damian asked. “Maybe you should call him.”

“Maybe she should give him time to come back on his own,” Nick told him, trying to throw a hint that went unnoticed.

“You know,” Cameron began, taking her phone out of her bra, “I was just getting ready to call him to make sure he didn’t forget they were coming.”

“Why would he forget?” Alex inquired. “You guys have been planning activities with Idol all week.”

“Maybe he wanted to forget,” Damian reasoned. “You know, with everything going on-“

“Damian,” Cameron protested, shaking her head.

“Man, some people are just stuck on stupid,” he continued, ignoring Cameron and digging dirt out of his nails. “Stuck on stupid and drama. Lucky for me, I’ve gotten past that point.”

“Accept when it comes to pursuing women who obviously don’t want you,” Beau nitpicked.

Damian stepped to him and Joy moved forward to block him while at the same time Ms. Austin said, “He probably still would be here but him and his sister got into it and he left.”

Everyone ceased moving and talking and looked at her.

Ms. Austin blanched and covered her mouth, closing her eyes. “Oh shit. I’m so sorry. Subtlety has never been my strong point.”

“I think they’ve picked up on that by now Ma,” Joy dryly replied.

“I’m so sorry Cameron,” Ms. Austin said with as much sincerity as she could muster.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cameron said, cutting her eyes at her. She turned her back and shook her head, walking towards the house as she dialed Roman’s number.

“Yo Cameron, I told you to let that go,” Damian called after her. “Just leave him be. He doesn’t need all that shit in his head right now. He’s got enough to deal with.”

Cameron stopped suddenly and turned to Damian. She walked towards him with her finger pointed. “You worry about your family Damian, and I’ll worry about mine.”

“He is my family,” Damian softly replied, taking her hand. “And I’m just as worried about him as you are. I didn’t mean any harm or fowl. I just hate to see what this is doing to you guys. To us. To everyone. But especially to him.”

Her face softened and she silently looked at him for a few seconds. “I know. Me too. I’m sorry.”

“Everyone just needs to calm down,” Alex soothingly replied with his hands up. “We’re not making ourselves look very sane in front of these beautiful ladies.”

Everyone lightly laughed at Alex’s attempt at a joke, Damian and Cameron hugged, and all was momentarily fine again.

“I am going to try to call him though,” Cameron said. “I’ll be back. Will you ladies be okay? Do you need anything?”

“No, we’re fine,” Joy and Kristen unanimously replied.

“Oh, you ladies are more than fine,” Damian said, joking again.

Cameron laughed and waved her hand at him as she turned to walk away again. “I swear, you never stop.”

“You wouldn’t love me if I did baby.”

“Can I use your bathroom?” Ms. Austin asked her. “I need to pee really bad.”

Joy and Kristen frowned and cringed at Ms. Austin’s bad use of words. The woman could be as classy as she wanted to be and five minutes later be as hood as Lil Wayne.

Cameron looked at her strangely then turned to walk towards the house again. “Sure. Follow me.”

“Hold up,” Ms. Austin said, putting up her finger. She turned back to Joy and Kristen. “You girls going to be okay while I go inside for a minute?”

“Of course,” Kristen assured her.

“More than alright with you out of my face,” Joy said.

Ms. Austin squared her shoulders as if she was going to respond; then, having figured she’d embarrassed herself and her daughter enough, waved her hand at Joy dismissively and followed Cameron up the long pathway to the house.

Joy sighed with relief and turned her attention back to the Foster boys. “Now, where were we?” They grinned and leaned in to her like wolves closing in on their prey.

“Are things always like that between you and your mom?” Alex uneasily asked.

“Of course not,” Joy playfully said, tossing her hair. “We love each-other dearly. Don’t we Kristen?”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure.”

“Tell you what,” Nick began as he walked over to Kristen. “Why don’t you guys hang out with us for a while until we see what’s going on with Roman. I mean, Joy, you go with the bros, and Kristen can come with me.”

“What about us?” Diego asked, going and standing on the other side of Kristen.

“Yeah, what about us?” Alex stood in front of Kristen.

She felt trapped but in a good way. At least, she thought it was good. She was probably walking eyes wide open into the pits of hell and didn’t even know it. Where the hell was Roman?

“Personally I’m not thinking about neither one of you guys,” was Nick’s snide response. He looked over at Kristen and smiled, blushing slightly.

Kristen tried not to be swept away by his magnetic blue eyes but it was hard. She nearly jumped out of her skin as Diego took her hand and held it tight. Tingles shot through her from all angles at the alluring but innocent touch. She looked up at him with heavy eyes and was shell-shocked by the expression in his. Hunger. Pure hunger. But not in a way that was dangerous or threatening. She felt herself being pulled in spite of herself. Their eyes held one another for longer than was polite.