It was his neck that drew her in initially.
At Nelson's birthday, she finally heard his voice louder than just the under his breath singing he'd do in practice and yeah, that was amazing in itself, but then she noticed his neck. The tendons and veins were always prominent, but the highest, loudest, most passionate notes would really instigate a truly eye catching view. So she decided there, he had a sexy neck. So what?
But tracing those veins, finding the little places that would concave and cast shadows led her to his jaw. His jaw was sexy too. It was strong, sharp angled, and with any vowels during the song would cause those tiny, elfish ears to shift a few millimeters-just enough to be noticeable-and flash another concavity right under his earlobe: and this time it made her a little hot. To calm down she focused on her bass, risking another look only when she was certain she wouldn't react like that again.
Trailing her eyes lengthwise, she watched his eyebrows bobbing up and down, matching the words coming out of his mouth before moving on to his eyes. Soulful brown has never looked so absolutely breathtaking to her. Those chocolate orbs almost leaked emotion; everything this song originally meant and more being displayed for her to see. And he must be a psychic or something because he chooses that moment to turn and wink slyly at her, flirting as always but never meaning it.
Dropping her gaze to his nose, she spent the least time on this aspect. She paused only momentarily as it wrinkled slightly at a particular phrase and reminding her of a small child.
Flustered, she again dropped her head to check on her fingering, realizing with a start she had almost stopped playing several times in the past minute. The flawless, caramel skin had threatened to kill her, and her self control was spread entirely too thin trying to prevent herself from jumping his bones. Only a dozen or so seconds remained in this song, and she still had one more place she wanted-no, needed-to scrutinize.
Taking a breath, she glanced up again, almost thankful he had moved closer to her-and Nelson of course-as the details were clearer this way. Those lips, rust red in color and not too big, were spread widely at the moment for his part. White teeth in perfectly straight lines greeted her during those few seconds, snapping close suddenly and leaving her slightly dejected. His tongue stealing out and wetting the soft looking skin briefly was teasing her self restraint.
As the last few notes sounded she shook herself out of her stupor with enough time to join the group hug around Nelson next to him, hiding her blush as best she could when his hand brushed her neck.
Oh, that neck.
/
The practice room was a mess and they were the only two left; it made sense to stay behind and clean it up together. After all, if it wasn't cleaned now it never would be, and no one wanted a repeat of last time. The silence was awkward, at least on Stevie's part, and she didn't know what to do. They'd never been awkward before, always fitting together perfectly. She was having a hard time finding something to talk about, especially when that red v-neck accentuated the way the depressions deepened and shrunk, the way the golden brown skin so nicely complimented the muscles that rolled with every movement of his.
It took her longer than it should have to realize he had seen her looking, and even longer after that to stutter out her lame attempt of a conversation. "Y-you, um, did really w-well tonight Zander."
His smirk, already present at finding her out grew even wider at this. "You seem nervous Stevie. Is something wrong?" he took several slow steps closer to her, invading her personal space just enough to cause her to fumble the trash bag and everything she was about to throw in it. Cursing lightly under her breath, she bent down and hastily picked it up, stalling only slightly obviously for time.
Zander smirked again, affection for the small girl evident if only she'd look at him. "Stevie? Are you sure there isn't something you'd like to tell me?"
He was standing now, trying to look him in the eyes when she focused in on the largest impression, right at the spot where his collar bones were closest, and out it came. "You have a really, really sexy neck."
Her eyelids shut when what she said hit her, eyebrows furrowing agitatedly while his rose slightly, mostly in amusement. Leaning forward slightly, he made certain his breath fanned her neck as he whispered, "You have sexy ears."
Cheeks turning red her head snapped upwards, locking onto his dark irises as she smiled shyly and moved closer. "Really?"
"Yeah." He nodded, consciously bringing their lips closer as he once again whispered. "Really sexy, baby."(1) And with that, she pushed up on her tiptoes, pressing their lips together in a moment that they both knew should've happened long ago. Moans escaped simultaneously as they dropped their cleaning supplies and clung to each other, neither planning to release the other anytime soon.
And all Stevie could think as Zander's tongue gently edged into her mouth was of the way that smooth, muscular neck felt as she traced it fervently, committing every dip and crevasse to memory over and over again.
Thank god for Zander's sexy neck.
/
Oh my gosh, I hate that ending beyond belief. It was so stupid. Anyway, I finished this at 1:33 AM and I'll probably still post this so my apologies. Review if you want a companion one shot of what Zander was thinking with the whole sexy ears thing okay? Okay.
(1) Have any of you noticed how in his videos and behind the scenes stuff he says baby all the time? Yeah, that's what that's from. I normally don't like the word baby as it's too generic, but it's adorable when he does it.
Disclaimer—I don't own How To Rock or any recognizable characters from the show. That all belongs to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot.
Review!