Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or anything recognizable in this chapter.

bubblegum pop: Yep, they did :) Thank you for taking the time to read and review! I really appreciate it.

Nessy: Happy belated birthday! And I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry it took a couple of weeks to get this up, but I hope it's worth it :) Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated :)

Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts! You guys rock! :)

A/N: Hey, I'm cutting the length between updates down to two weeks rather than a month or a couple of months. I'm proud of myself haha. Anyway, this is a really important chapter and one that I've been planning since I first started figuring out the story. I think it's my favorite one so far, and it's twice as long as the usual ones so I hope that's okay. :)

Enjoy the chapter! :)

Chapter Ten

Katie's POV

After James' and my unceremonious kiss, I didn't expect to hear from him until a couple of days before the party. However, on Sunday afternoon I was in the middle of doing nothing – and by nothing, I mean relaxing in the bathtub with a romance novel I had "borrowed" from my mom when I was a teenager – when the bathroom door suddenly flew open.

I yelped and thrashed around, reaching for a bar of soap to chuck at the intruder. I hurtled it across the room, and the trespasser yelped and ducked. "Fucking hell, Knight! Do you know how dangerous it is to throw soap at people?!"

I groaned, sinking low so that my body was completely covered by sweet pea scented bubbles, and demanded, "What the hell are you doing here, James? And how did you get into my apartment? I'm pretty sure I didn't leave the door unlocked."

James grinned, picking up the bar of soap and walking over to the tub. "I borrowed a key from your crazy landlady."

"Mrs. Fields?"

"Yeah, her. She hit on me again, by the way. Suggested I take off my shoes, pants, and shirt, and make myself comfortable in her bed. Ah, the curse of being ridiculously hot and good looking."

I snorted.

"Anyway…" He reached over the tub and plunked the bar of soap on the shampoo rack, out of my reach for the time being. "Can't have you attacking me with that again, now can we?" James smirked and reached down, swishing his hand through the water before pulling back.

"Planning on telling me why you went through the trouble of getting a spare key to my apartment?" I demanded, setting my book aside. Surprisingly, I had managed to hang onto it when I had been defending myself from James. Clearly book preservation was number one on the list of my priorities.

James' smirk widened as he picked my book up, examining it. "A bodice ripper? Why, Katie, I'm shocked. I had no idea you were into such illicit types of literature. And to think, you were an English major. What would your mother think if she knew you were reading such trash?"

"Actually, I stole the book from her when I was sixteen," I retorted. "And it's not a bodice ripper."

"Oh, really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

I smirked. "An erotic romance."

He put his hand to his chest. "I can't believe I'm hearing those words coming from your mouth. The scandal. The absolute scandal!"

"This coming from the guy who modeled naked," I responded, snatching the book from his hands. "Anyway, what are you doing here, in my bathroom, while I'm trying to take a bath?!"

"Touchy, touchy." He swirled his hand through the water again, his fingers sliding across my thigh. I slapped his hand away.

"No touchy."

"Like it was intentional." He rolled his eyes.

I growled under my breath and pointed at the door. "Get out."

"But – "

"Go wait in the living room. I'm going to get out of here and dry off."

"Say please."

"GO!"

"Touchy, touchy," he said again, before scurrying out of the room and ducking when I chucked a spare hand towel at him. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that violence is never the answer?" he called over his shoulder.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to interrupt girls when they're in the fucking bath?"

"Someone's in a bad mood," he commented, before slipping out the door and closing it behind him.

I growled again before washing up and pulling the plug so that the water drained out. I dried off and padded out to my room where I pulled on sweats and a t-shirt, and tossed my hair up in a ponytail. I headed out to the living room, praying fervently that he hadn't managed to set the TV on fire or something.

James was sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when I walked into the room, and for a split second a sad look flitted across his face, as if he was thinking about something he had lost. But it disappeared so quickly that I was half convinced that I had imagined it.

"So," I said as I plopped down next to him. "What the fuck is so important that you decided to borrow a key from my landlady, barge into my apartment, and interrupt my bath?"

"You make it sound like I did you a personal insult."

"You did. Now. What. Is. Going. On?"

"Okay...I have an idea for how to convince Camille to get back together with Logan. I mean, she's the one who needs to be convinced, right? Logan seems to be catching on."

I nodded. "Yeah, she's the only one who still seems clueless."

"Exactly. So, I was thinking about ways to convince her, and I think I came up with one. Maple Leaf Creek is hosting a psychic fair in a couple of weeks, and we should take Camille."

I stared at him blankly. "A psychic fair. You want us to go to a psychic fair. I thought the point was to convince Camille to take Logan back, not to make her run for the hills."

He rolled his eyes. "This isn't going to make her run for the hills. Look, Camille believes in all that stuff. Logan doesn't, but Camille does. She's really into palm reading and fortune telling and astrology. She believes in it."

"Which is great and everything, but that stuff's a load of crock. It's all fake."

James looked hurt. "Hey, I believe in that stuff."

"That's because you're an actor."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I just figured it should be said."

"Anyway," he continued on, "if we're right that Logan and Camille belong together, then one of the fortune tellers or palm readers or whoever will tell Camille that she needs to go back to Logan. I'm pretty sure she's already wondering if she's making a mistake with Steve. This will just send her over the edge."

"You want us to take Camille to a psychic fair."

"Will you get past that? Look, I know you're all educated and you don't believe in that stuff, but Camille and I both do. And we can't do this your way, Katie. You and Camille are two very different people. We're going to have to think like Camille for this one, and the best thing to do is to take her to the psychic fair. You can make all the sarcastic comments you want afterwards, but please just give this a shot." He looked at me so hopefully, his gorgeous hazel eyes big and pleading, that I felt a tug at my heartstrings.

Fuck.

"Fine," I relented. "We'll do this. But be prepared for a torrent of smartass and sarcastic comments afterwards, because this is going to be a load of crap."

He beamed. "We're going to get Camille and Logan back together for sure."

"Or Camille is going to call us crazy and run for her life."

"You're so pessimistic. Anyway, any plans for the celebratory party next week?" he wanted to know.

"You mean besides making an appearance?"

"Yeah. I mean, Logan and Camille are going to be in the same room again. We can use that to our advantage."

"Steve's going to be there," I pointed out. "We can't do much about that. I say we take the night off and just let the chips fall where they may. It's really the only thing we can do at this point in time, anyway. Besides, we don't want to push them together. At least, we don't want to make it look obvious. We don't want them getting suspicious."

"True," he conceded. "Do you know what the party's going to be like? I mean, is it going to be all formal, or is it going to be more casual?"

"No idea."

"Call Cami," he urged. "I want to know if I'm going to have to bring my own beer to the party or not."

"You're a classy one, Diamond." Nevertheless, I dialed Camille's number and put the phone up to my ear. She answered almost right away.

"Hey, Katie," she said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"James wants to know what kind of party you and Steve are having." I switched the speakerphone option on and placed the phone in my lap.

"Uhhh…what do you mean?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Like, is this going to be a formal affair, or can we just wear jeans?" James asked.

"You can wear jeans," Camille laughed. "No, this is going to be really casual, nothing fancy about it. Originally we were planning on making it really formal, but I convinced Steve to change it to casual because no one I know actually likes all the formal crap. So we'll have beer – "

James fist pumped.

" – and we'll having food like pizza and hot wings. And we'll be playing games."

"Like charades?" I asked.

"And Never Have I Ever. And Truth or Dare."

The color drained out of James' face. "Truth or Dare?"

"What's the matter?" I smirked at him. "Afraid of one of your deep, dark secrets coming out?"

"Of course not," he huffed out. "I'm just not really a huge fan of that game. It's stupid."

"But fun. Anyway, sounds like the party's going to be a blast," I added to Camille. "So…did you and Logan have fun ditching James and me last night?"

"Sorry about that," she giggled. "We kind of got caught up in our own world."

James and I raised our eyebrows and smirked at each other.

"Really?" I ventured. "So, you two talked?"

"Yeah. I mean, we talked a lot when we went to the movie awhile back. We really reconnected."

James and I fist bumped.

"What sort of reconnection?" he asked casually.

"I think we were both pretty forcefully reminded of how nice it was to have each other and to be able to depend on each other."

We exchanged triumphant grins.

"I hadn't realized how much I missed him as a friend until we started talking again."

Our grins dropped straight off our faces. "Say what?" James said blankly.

"Yeah. We work really as friends, it turns out."

"But you two never managed to just be friends!" I cried. "You always had way too much chemistry."

"I know, but without the possibility of sex getting in the way, we can hang out and be platonic."

James grabbed my iPad off the coffee table and began banging his head against it. Normally I would have stopped him because those things were freaking expensive, but at that moment I was kind of wishing for a second iPad to bang my head against. You had to be kidding me. You had to be freaking kidding me.

"You can hang out and be platonic," I said unenthusiastically, trying to get her to realize how ridiculous that statement was. "You two had the most intense relationship I've ever seen."

"Have you and James looked at your relationship lately?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked in confusion, cocking my head to the side. James lowered my iPad and set it back on the coffee table, looking as curious as I felt.

"Katie, there's a reason why everyone keeps asking if you two are sleeping together. It's because you two have insane sexual tension. You have major chemistry. I'm shocked you two have gone this long without ripping your clothes off and going at it on the nearest flat surface. Or up against the wall. Logan and I once did it up against the wall – "

I clapped my hands over my ears. "TMI! TMI! EWEWEWEWEW!"

"Are you really sure you and Logan can be platonic?" I heard James asked Camille. "I mean, if you're still reminiscing about fucking him?"

"Look, I'm not saying that there isn't still a slight attraction there, because there is. But some people just have that kind of chemistry. We can't do anything about it, but it doesn't really matter. I'm getting married and Logan understands that. We had a really intense relationship and it was amazing, but when it was bad, it was awful."

"And when it was good, it was fantastic," I replied, lowering my hands.

"But I don't want to spend my life going back and forth between awful and fantastic. I want something comfortable, and Steve can provide that. Logan can't."

"I need a drink," James mumbled, getting to his feet and heading into my kitchen.

"Grab me one too!" I called after him. "Camille, I know comfort is really important, but do you really want to spend the rest of your life in a boring relationship? What kind of fun is that?"

"You know, I'm not that surprised that you're asking me that," she said mildly. "Considering how intense your relationship with James is."

"We're not dating! We're not fucking! We don't even like each other!"

"Sure. That's how it always starts. You can't stand each other, and then one day you push each other a little too far and the clothes start flying."

"Is that how it started with you and Logan?" I asked moodily.

"No. We actually liked each other. And it's nice having him back in my life, Katie. I really hope you and James will support that and accept that it's only platonic. I mean, if you can't support my relationship and marriage to Steve, then I don't think there's much point in us being friends."

James came back into the room just in time to hear the last part. He passed me a beer and sat down. "It's just hard. I mean, you and Logan are some of our best friends, and you guys were great together. But if Steve really makes you happy, then we'll support you unconditionally."

I watched as he crossed his fingers before taking a sip of beer.

"Of course we will," I added. "We just want you to be happy."

"And I am," she insisted. "Now. Let's talk about why you two are hanging out together. I thought you guys hated each other?"

"Oh, there was just something I needed to talk to Katie about," James said quickly.

"Ah. Hey, how are things going with you and Keira?"

I scowled at the mention of his – whatever she was to him. His ex girlfriend? His current girlfriend?

"Oh, you know, it's going," he replied.

"Is she still staying with you?"

"Yeah. We're not back together, but we're…reconnecting."

Why did I get the feeling that by reconnecting he meant having lots and lots of hot, wild, passionate sex? And why did my stomach churn violently at the thought of him having sex with that ho bitch? And since when did I call girls ho bitches when I hadn't even met them? That wasn't like me at all.

"Mmmm…" Camille make a noncommittal noise. "That's nice."

"Yeah, it is. By the way, she wants to come to the party. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'd love to meet her." She said love like she was planning on pushing Keira into an active volcano. Sounded like a good idea to me. And seriously, what the hell was wrong with me?

James apparently didn't speak girl, because he smiled and said, "Cool." He clearly had no idea what he was getting himself into. But I knew. Camille was determined that James and I were going to happen, and she wanted Keira out of the way so that we could get together. Great. Just great.

We hung up soon after, and James left after finishing his beer.

On Friday evening I met up with Camille after work to go shopping. She had spent the past week planning the party and she was desperate for a refrain from it. Her solution: Go to the mall, hit up as many stores as she possibly could, and drag me along with her. I had never been one for shopping, and shopping with Camille had given me recurring nightmares. The only reason why I ever tagged along with her was because I loved her and she was one of my best friends.

Maple Leaf Creek had its own mall, two sprawling levels of boutiques, hair salons, lingerie stores, and restaurants. A few years ago it looked like it hadn't been updated since the 1970s, but within the last couple of years it had been remodeled, so now the ceiling was made up entirely of skylights, the floor was pure white, and the stores' borders were patterns of silvery platinum and glass. Pop music blasted through the mall, and Camille sang along we walked down the corridors.

I worked on pushing back the dull throbbing that seemed to be pounding in my temples. We had been there for fifteen minutes, and I was already ready to bolt for my car. I must have been insane to agree to this. It was the only explanation.

"So," she said as she dragged me into a lingerie store, "have you seen James lately?"

"I've talked to him a couple of times since Sunday," I said vaguely, not mentioning that those conversations had mostly revolved around us plotting to get her and Logan back together.

"Yeah? Have you met Keira yet?"

"Nope. Haven't really wanted to," I added under my breath as I raked through a rack of lacey bras. I must not have said it quietly enough, though, because Camille quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Are you jealous?"

"What? No! Of course not. I'm not interested in James. I mean, sure, he's hot, but that's as deep as the attraction goes, assuming there's even one."

"Uh huh. Sure. Here, try this on." She tossed a pushup bra at me.

"Is this even my size?" I asked, eyeing it.

"Yep. You should wear it tomorrow with that pink top."

"Which pink top?"

"You know, the low cut v-neck one that you're always saying is inappropriate for work. It's not inappropriate for a party and it's cute, not to mention kind of sexy."

"I'm not trying to look sexy."

"Don't you want James to notice you?"

"What part of I don't like James are you not getting?"

"All of it. Try it on. Oh, try these on too," she added, chucking a bra and thong combo at me. "And this." A strapless bra followed.

"I'm not planning on sleeping with anyone," I snapped. "There's no reason for me to buy these."

"Just try them on. You're only twenty-two and you act like you're forty."

"I do not."

"Yes you do. You're boring. You're always so damn professional."

"I have to be. Do you know how hard it is for me to keep my job with my jackass ex boyfriend as my boss? It's all I can do to hang onto it. He's not exactly making things easy for me."

"Maybe you should quit," she suggested as she marched me to the fitting rooms. "Find another job."

"But I don't want to find another job."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you didn't get your English degree so that you could write about middle school bake sales and whether or not the local Chinese restaurant is going to pass its health inspection. Wouldn't you rather write for a literary magazine or a music one?"

"Of course I would. But – "

"But what? Come on, Katie. You always go for the safe option. You dated Preston because you thought it'd be safe, and look how that turned out. This job isn't safe, not now. He's eventually going to fire you, so you might as well quit while you're ahead. It'll be best for you in the long run."

I sighed, but before I could make a retort she pushed me into a fitting room and closed the door. "Try on the bras and thong!" she hollered, holding the door closed so that I couldn't get out.

"Fuck you!" I hollered back, but resigned myself to trying on lingerie. I was in the middle of hooking up the pushup bra when my phone went off. I groaned and snatched it up, not checking the Caller ID. "What?"

"Hello to you too, sunshine," James said on the other end. "What's up?"

"My breasts."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm at this one lingerie place and Camille is making me try on a pushup bra. Anyway, what do you want?"

"A picture of you in that bra. And to ask if you've mentioned the psychic fair to her yet."

"You're not getting a picture, and no, I haven't. I'll do that once my chest doesn't look like it's been injected with silicone."

"Why can't I get a picture?"

"Don't you have a girl waiting for you in bed?"

"Yeah, but she's not wearing a pushup bra."

"I'm hanging up now."

Just as I was about to push the button to end the call, Camille shouted through the door, "How do the bras look?"

I fumbled and a moment later the video chatting function came on, and James appeared on my screen. He grinned, taking in my upper half. "So, you won't take a picture, but you're cool with video chatting, huh?"

"I hate my life," I groaned.

"I like that one. And I don't think it makes you look like you've had breast augmentation surgery. It looks good. You should get it."

"I didn't hit the video call button to get your opinion. I was going to end the phone call, Camille yelled through the door and startled me, and I hit the wrong button."

"Amazing how these things work," he said cheerfully. "What else you got?"

"A middle finger with a boner for you."

He batted his lashes at me. "I knew you wanted to fuck me."

"You're the one ogling my chest," I retorted. "If anyone wants to fuck anyone around here, it's you wanting to fuck me."

"Well, as you like to remind me, I'm a man whore. Try on another bra, I want to see what else you've got."

"This is about it. I wasn't exactly blessed with double Ds."

"First of all, I wasn't talking about your chest – I was talking about the bras. And second…Eh, I've fucked girls with double Ds. They aren't that great. And your body and frame is so tiny you'd like ridiculous with them. Your size is perfect for your body type."

I blinked. Did James just compliment my chest? And did it almost sound nice, rather than crude? This was just getting weird.

"Katie!" Camille called again. "What's going on in there? Who are you talking to?"

"I'm talking to James," I sighed. "I'll be out in a few. Okay," I turned back to James. "So, this one's a keeper?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear what I thought about your bras."

"I don't, but I want to get out of here as quickly as I can. So tell me what you think."

"I can do that. You should definitely get that one."

"Okay. Hang on." I set my phone on the bench with the screen and webcam facing down, and tried on the strapless bra. I grabbed the phone and held it up. "What do you think?"

"I like it. And I don't think it'll show if you wear a strapless dress."

"Good. I'll get this one too. One more. It's a bra and thong combo. And no, you don't get to see the thong. Not the backside, anyway."

"Right. That's saved for Preston." A hint of bitterness crept into his voice.

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"No, what?"

"It's nothing, Katie! Just try on the fucking combo!"

"Fine! And guys say our mood swings are bad," I grumbled as I laid the phone down again – making sure James couldn't see anything – and slid into the thong and hooked the bra up. I snatched the phone up once more and changed the camera's focus so that he could see my entire body. "What do you think?"

His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed. "I – um – wow – whoa – holy fuck," he breathed out, suddenly sounding like a teenage boy, rather than a twenty-four year old man. "Yeah – um – that one – that one works." He looked like he was about to have a heart attack and he sounded like he was trying not to start hyperventilating. I had never seen him freak out so badly.

I looked down at the combo. "Does it look that bad? You look really weirded out."

He shook his head fervently. "It looks fine. Really good. You should get it. I need to get going. I'll see you tomorrow." The next thing I knew, the video call had ended and I was left staring at the dark screen.

"The hell?" I said out loud, before setting my phone down and looking at myself in the mirror. The combo actually did look pretty good. The rosy pink accentuated my brown eyes, and it looked amazing with my skin tone. Yeah, I was going to get it.

I changed back into my clothes and gathered the bras and thong together, heading out of the fitting room. Camille was waiting for me in the hall outside the fitting rooms. "Well?" she asked when she saw me. "Did you make up your mind?"

"Yeah. I'm getting all of them."

She grinned. "Say it. I'm good."

"You're good. What about you? Are you trying anything on?"

"Nah. I'm waiting to see what I get for the bridal shower before I buy something. I'm expecting at least a couple of my friends to get me racy and scandalous lingerie." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively at me and I couldn't help but crack up. But even as I laughed, a sadness crept in. She would be wearing the lingerie for Steve, not Logan. And somehow, that didn't seem right or fair. She needed to get back together with Logan.

"Hey, how do you feel about psychic fairs?" I asked once I had paid for my lingerie and we were walking back into the mall.

She shrugged. "They're okay. I've been to a couple. Why?"

"Oh, James wants to drag me to this psychic fair in a couple of weeks, and he mentioned you're into them. So…would you want to go with us? I promise not to bring Logan along."

For a moment her face fell, like she was disappointed, and then she perked back up. "Sure," she said, sounding almost overly cheerful. "Sounds like fun. We'll talk more about it tomorrow night. Come on, let's go look at jeans. I hear this place up ahead is having a sale."

I spent the rest of the evening shopping with Camille, and by the time I got home I was carrying four different shopping bags. That was another problem with hitting the mall with Camille – she always convinced me to buy more clothes than I needed. But I had gotten an awesome deal on a couple pairs of jeans that actually weren't too long for my legs. As far as I was concerned, that was a miracle.

I slept in the next morning, and spent the rest of the day relaxing, before getting ready for Camille and Steve's party. I slipped into my new jeans and the pink top Camille had mentioned the night before. I slid my feet into peep toe wedge pumps. I added eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, and lip gloss, grabbed my coat, purse, and keys, and headed out.

Cars were already lined up outside Steve's house, winding down the driveway and around the curb. I parked at the end of the line and climbed out, making my way up to the front door. I let myself in and blinked. I had never been inside Steve and Camille's house, and I was a little surprised by it. The entry hall was spacious, with a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the domed ceiling, and flower vases placed on low tables. It was nice, but it was also the kind of place that would make you afraid to touch anything for fear of messing something up.

I followed the sounds of talking and laughter into the living room, a huge room with white carpeting, another chandelier, and a grand piano. Party guests sat on white couches that I was pretty sure had been imported from Italy, and music blasted from a huge sound system set up along the wall.

I spotted Camille chatting with a few people, and Steve was showing a couple of guys a painting that hung on the wall. Bor-ring.

I managed to locate Kendall, Logan, Carlos, Jo, Stephanie, and Lucy, all standing together at the refreshment table. I joined them, snatching up a California Roll and popping it into my mouth. "Am I the only one who feels like I'm too underdressed to stand in the living room?" I asked.

"No," Kendall replied, tugging self-consciously at his flannel shirt. "This house is like freaking Buckingham Palace. You would feel underdressed in a tux and a ball gown."

"No kidding," Jo added, straightening out her dress. "Why couldn't we have gone bowling? You don't have to dress up to go bowling."

"You just have to wear those hideous shoes," Lucy commented.

"Still better than feeling like a total slob at what's supposed to be a casual party," Stephanie grumbled. She straightened out her black heavy metal t-shirt. "If it wasn't for Cam, I'd completely ditch this party. We could be making out somewhere," she added to Carlos. "Rather than standing around, bored out of our fucking minds."

"I opt for the choice that involves making out," he said.

"I say we wait until nine, and if this party doesn't pick up by then, we'll head off," she suggested.

"Deal."

I shook my head but froze when James walked into the living room. He looked amazing, in dark washed jeans and his black leather jacket over a black t-shirt. It was the accessory that was hanging off his arm that was the problem. The girl was maybe two inches taller than me with long, dark hair, and dark brown eyes. She was wearing skin tight jeans and a black halter top. She was gorgeous and she looked perfect next to him. My stomach burned with jealousy as I realized who she was. Keira. His ex girlfriend.

Now that I had seen her, I felt perfectly okay with calling her a ho bitch slut. The way she was clinging onto James' arm…the way she radiated sex appeal…like James, she was walking sex, and it was no wonder he had fallen for her. She was exactly his type. Completely perfect. And I hated her.

It was beginning to occur to me that there was a slight possibility that my feelings for James might be getting a little deeper than mere physical attraction and I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. And I liked the fact that he was here with Keira even less. I wanted to scream as he draped his arm around her waist and led her over to where we were standing at the refreshment table.

"Hey, guys," he smiled at us. "This is Keira. Keira, this is Kendall, Logan, Carlos, Jo, Stephanie, and Katie."

We all waved at her, and the guys not-so-subtly gave James the double thumbs up to show that they definitely approved. I rolled my eyes discreetly. Of course they approved. She was sex on legs. She was everything I wasn't. And it really pissed me off.

"It's really nice to meet you guys," Keira said with a bright smile. "James has told me so much about you all. Should I be worried?" she added to me with a laugh. "I mean, you're the one James has been hanging out with lately, right?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. And then I added, "We even video chatted a little yesterday when I was trying on pushup bras."

Everyone turned to stare at James and me. Kendall began sputtering and the others smirked, while Keira just narrowed her eyes at me. James' eyes widened and he said quickly, "She hit the video call button on her phone by accident. We didn't do the whole video chat thing intentionally."

"He still helped me decide which ones to get. He likes my chest," I put in.

Kendall sputtered some more, and the girls looked like Christmas had come early. Keira was looking more and more pissed by the second.

"I didn't say that," James insisted. "I just told her that her chest is in proportion to the rest of her body."

"Have you been staring at my sister's chest?" Kendall demanded.

"No! Maybe…Not intentionally! She told me to!"

"I did not!" I cried. "You were already staring at my chest. I can't help it if my chest is amazing."

"Why do I have a feeling it's going to be a long night?" Kendall mumbled.

"This party just gone ten times more entertaining," Carlos said enthusiastically as he reached for a pig-in-a-blanket and popped it in his mouth.

"Quality entertainment," Stephanie added with a nod.

Kendall growled and stalked off, probably to go bang his head against a wall or something. I shrugged and helped myself to a pizza roll. Good stuff.

I had been there for about an hour when Camille broke out the party games. We got through Charades – James won – Never Have I Ever – I won, because apparently I was the most boring person in the room, even more so than Steve (which was an even worst insult) – and it was after ten by the time she announced it was time for Truth or Dare.

Just like when she had mentioned the game when James and I had been talking on the phone with her, his face went stark white and he looked slightly panicked. It made me wonder just what exactly he was hiding that he clearly didn't want anyone else to know. Was it the nude pictures? The fact that his ex girlfriend had nude pictures of him up on her website? Or was it something else?

"There's no way in hell I'm playing that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He had finally taken off his jacket and his biceps bulged out. I swallowed hard. "It's a fucking stupid game."

"Aww, come on, James," Camille pouted at him sadly. "It'll be fun. And we want you to play, don't we?" she added to the room. Kendall, Logan, Carlos, Jo, Stephanie, Lucy, and Keira all assured him that it wouldn't be the same if he didn't play. Steve's guests didn't really look like they cared very much and kept quiet, and I pursed my lips. I didn't want James thinking that I cared if he left or stayed, even though a huge part of me wanted him to remain at the party.

After about five minutes worth of pleading he let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll play," he relented. "But I won't be happy about it."

The room exploded with cheering and I let out a deep breath. This ought to be interesting.

It was even more interesting than I originally thought. Camille had bought a boxed version of Truth or Dare at the party store, which included a cheap polygraph machine. When asked a question, we had to place our hand on the machine so that it could conclude if we were telling the truth or not. I was just hoping I wasn't going to get asked whether or not I had imagined James naked or if we had kissed, because then we would be screwed.

The game began, with the usual questions: "Who do you like? What's the worst thing you've ever done?" and a few lame dares. The drinks were broken out before long, though, and the game picked up speed.

"I hate this game," James grumbled after Jo was dared to give Kendall a lap dance. "The last time I played, I had to kiss Carlos."

I spat out a mouthful of beer.

The room went deadly quiet.

After a long moment of awkward silence, Kendall spoke up. "That was a fluke. It was graduation night and we were all drunk off our asses."

"But I was still his best kiss," Carlos grinned, and Stephanie whacked him around the back of the head.

"Yeah, you wish," James snorted.

"Oh yeah? Then who was your best kiss?"

Everyone stared at James like we were at a circus and he was walking across a tightrope five hundred feet off the ground.

James paused, looking a little unsure before regaining his composure. "Like I'm going to tell you."

"You'd have to if I dared you."

"So don't."

"Can we just continue on with the game?" Keira wanted to know.

"Definitely," Lucy nodded. "And maybe we should lay off the alcohol."

No one seemed to agree with that idea.

The game continued on, and the questions and dares got stupider and stupider by the minute. At one point, Stephanie asked if I had ever regretted having sex with someone. Since I didn't feel like being called out as a liar, I told the truth. "Yeah, I have. I know I made a huge mistake with my ex boyfriend."

Silence followed my statement, and then Kendall hollered, "I can't believe you slept with Preston fucking Gates! I thought you had better judgment than that."

"So did I," I sighed. "It was a huge mistake, and I've regretted it ever since. The sex never got any better. It's why it only happened a few times."

"You know, I really don't want to hear about you fucking Preston," James suddenly said harshly. "I always knew he was a prick."

"What the hell is your problem?" I demanded.

"None of your fucking business."

"I think you've had too much to drink," Keira spoke up, tugging the beer bottle out of his hand. "You're getting really moody."

Lucy leaned forward, smirking at James. "Have you ever had a wet dream about someone in this room? Besides your lovely ex girlfriend, I mean."

He placed his hand on the machine and said stoically, "Yes."

Everyone exchanged surprised looks, and I knew what we were wondering: Who was the girl he had dreamt about?

Another round followed, and Steve's friends began to bow out. Before long, it was just James, Keira, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, Camille, Jo, Stephanie, Lucy, and me.

Camille fixed her gaze on James when it was her turn. "Have you ever had a crush on anyone in this room? Besides Keira, I mean."

James' face went pale.

Logan gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I mean, he obviously had a crush on you, right? You two kissed in junior year."

"Right," James said as he placed his hand on the polygraph machine. "I had a crush on Camille."

There was a loud beeping sound as the machine went off, and James yanked his hand back as if it had been burned. We all gaped at him as realization set in. He had just lied.

"James?" Jo furrowed her brow. "Who did you have a crush on?"

"Hand back on the polygraph machine," Lucy ordered, and James growled, gritting his teeth before putting his hand on the machine.

"Fine," he said, licking his lips nervously. "It was Katie. I had a crush on Katie."

The machine stayed silent.

My jaw dropped as the room went deadly quiet. And then Keira stared at him. "Katie? You liked Katie?!"

James pushed himself to his feet. "See? I told you guys it was a stupid game." And then he stormed out of the room. Keira chased after him, but no one else got up.

I didn't know about the others, but I was in shock. James had had a crush on me? What?

So...that was chapter ten. What did you guys think? I know a couple of you figured out that James liked Katie, so kudos to those who knew :) Anyway, let me know if you guys liked it! I always love hearing from you guys and I get so excited when I read your reviews :) And of course, thank you for reading!