Ladies and gentlemen, chapter fourteen!

Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush. I'm still crying over it.

Guest: Aww, thank you so much! You're so sweet, and I'm so happy you liked it! Oh, there should be some Shane/Kyle scenes. And agreed, they're adorable :) And thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it :)

btrluvr8: Your private messaging system is disabled, so I'm just gonna reply to you here :) Thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! And thank you for reviewing :)

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED, FAVORITED, FOLLOWED, OR READ THIS STORY! I love you guys sooo much!

So, for the first time, I'm going to put a warning for Break the Ice: Besides the usual language, there's mild smut, and something that could possibly, in another world, pass as dirty talk or sexting. So, there you go :)

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Fourteen: Not Together, Together

James' POV

To be entirely honest, I wasn't sure awesome was the right word. I was a little nervous about broaching the subject of going on a trip with my kinda-sorta-not-really-but-potential-girlfriend-but-at-the-moment-make-out-buddy to my mother. I wasn't sure I really wanted to know just what she would say to that, but something told me I wasn't going to get out of it completely unscathed.

Katie sent out a group text to everyone, complete with details and the link to the hotel's website. Within about thirty seconds, people began to respond with Yes! Definitely yes! along with a few I need to ask my parents, but I'm sure they'll say yes. I shook my head, listening to her read the texts aloud. I could definitely understand why everyone was so enthusiastic about this trip, I really could. I would love to be alone in a hotel room with Katie. A whole new batch of fantasies were already beginning to run rampant in my mind, and I hadn't even finished my dark hot chocolate yet.

At last, Katie set her phone down on the table. "So, it looks like Stephanie will definitely be going, as will Carlos and Kyle. Jo's hemming and hawing about it, but she really does want to go, so I think she'll cave."

"She doesn't want to spend a week stuck in a hotel with a bunch of hockey players?" Logan said to her.

"Nope. And believe me, it's not my favorite thing either, but due to recent events, I'd be a complete hypocrite if I said I didn't want to go with you guys."

"Yeah, making out with a hockey player and then saying you don't want to spend time with him would definitely make you look bad," Camille agreed.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm always here for you, babe."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Good to know."

Camille just shrugged, before turning to Logan. "So…follow me home, and then take me to a movie?" She batted her lashes at him.

"Sounds good." They both got to their feet. "See you guys later." They headed out of the coffee shop, leaving me with Katie.

"Gee, wanna do the same with me?" she cracked.

I paused, before looking at her. "Why not? We don't have school tomorrow. We could go to the drive-in, or something."

"I was joking…"

"And I'm serious."

She blinked at me. "It's not a date."

"Then I won't kiss you goodnight," I replied coolly.

"I mean, I don't date hockey players."

"So you keep saying." I slumped back in the chair. "If you don't want to go – "

"No, I do. I just want to make sure you know where I stand."

"Katie, I don't think you even know where you stand. Don't you think last night changes things a little bit?"

"M-maybe a little…"

I sighed and finished off my hot chocolate. "Whatever. I'll see you later, Katie."

"Wait!" she leapt to her feet. "Come on, you knew when you kissed me that I don't date hockey players."

"So, what? You just want to be friends?"

She shook her head.

"Then what do you want?"

"Popcorn. And you." She walked over to me and placed her hands on my chest, looking up at me and giving me a sad pout.

"I – I don't know…"

"Please?" she slid one of her hands down to my abs, before playing with my belt buckle.

I was like putty in her very soft hands.

"Fine," I relented. "But since it's not a date, you're paying your own way in."

"Sounds good to me."

We headed out to her cars, and I followed her home. I waited for her while she ran in to let her dad know about her plans. About two minutes after she disappeared into the house, she dashed back outside to my car, and slid into the front passenger's seat. "Let's go."

I drove us to the drive-in. We headed in to pay for the movie and get popcorn and drinks, before making our way back to my car. We got in and set the car up for the movie. It began a few minutes later.

We had chosen an action comedy, since it was one we both wanted to see, but hadn't gotten the chance to do so. From what I saw of the movie, it was fantastic. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of it.

Turns out I can't be trusted at a movie with Katie. Somehow, we ended up in the backseat of my car, and she showed me just how much this was not a date by kissing me senseless and leaving hickeys all over my upper body. She even managed to get off my shirt. There was a lot of moaning involved after that, though I'm still not sure which one of us it was coming from. But I think it was coming from both of us, so at least I wasn't the only one who was enjoying themselves.

"Right," I said to Katie as I reached around her body for a handful of popcorn. "This wasn't a date."

"Just shut up," she told me, running her hands over my ab muscles.

I shrugged and tossed the popcorn into my mouth, before eyeing her shirt. It really needed to come off. Like, say, now. I mean, it really wasn't fair that I was the only one who was half-naked here.

She smirked at me knowingly. "Now, do you really think I would let you take my shirt off on a non-date, when we just kissed for the first time last night?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, that's where you're wrong." She set the popcorn bucket aside, before pulling her shirt up and over her head.

I'm not sure, but I think I might have whimpered a little…At the very least, my tongue had become temporarily glued to the roof of my mouth, so I wasn't going to be able to speak anytime soon.

Oh, and did I mention Mini-James? Yeah, he was making a guest appearance. Just popping up out of nowhere. Thank you so very much.

Katie's smirk widened and she grinded her hips into mine. "Now, what is that?" she gave me a mockingly scandalized look, before grinning at me. "Either your phone just had one hell of a growth spurt, or you're really happy to see me."

I opened my mouth, trying furiously to regain the use of my mouth and vocal chords, but she chose that moment to move against me. Yeah, okay. I was pretty sure I could go through life as a mute.

To be entirely fair (to me), this was pretty much something out of my wet dreams. But it still would have been nice if I could have said something more intelligent than "Nnnggghhh…"

"This is what you wanted to do on my birthday, right?" she asked me, rocking her hips into mine. "We were thisclose to dry humping."

"Ummm…"

She grinned. "Kat got your tongue?" (Note: Credit to Jatieluv)

"Pretty much."

Hey! It speaks! Two entire words!

Let's just say that the rest of the movie went something like that – a lot of dry humping, a lot of kissing, a lot of fooling around. But, this wasn't a date. Of course not. After all, everyone dry humps with their friends on a regular basis. Gimme a freaking break.

"And just think," Katie said to me as we clambered into the front seat, fully dressed once again, "if you convince your mom to let you go on the trip, there'll be a lot more of that." She grinned at me.

I knew I should have put my foot down right then and there. I should have said "Look, as great as that was, I'm not going to do it with you until you agree to go out with me".

But instead, all I said was, "I'll talk to her tonight."

"Good," she said in satisfaction.

I dropped Katie off at her house, before driving home. Once I had parked, I hurried into my house, thinking that I really should take my mom up on her offer of buying me condoms. At the very least, I could wear one the next time Katie and I fooled around or something. I dashed upstairs to change clothes before talking to my mom about letting Shane and me go on the trip with the others.

Mom was in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables for beef stew. "Hi, sweetie," she greeted me. "How was your day?"

"It was good…" Really good…

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah. So, um…Katie's dad is a part of the All Access club to the Holly hotel…"

"Oh, is he? I'm so jealous! That's such a nice place. I used to go there with your grandparents all the time."

"You did?"

She nodded. "I was hoping we could go up there before Christmas, but I have to work."

"Well…um…her dad got five rooms for the price of two, for the weeks before and through Christmas, and he has to go on a business trip to New York, so he thought maybe we'd all like them."

"You all? As in, you and Shane and your friends?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Would it be okay if Shane and I go?"

"Is there going to be a parent along?"

I shook my head. "No…"

Mom sighed. "Well, I don't know…Fifteen and sixteen is still pretty young for a trip that isn't supervised by adults."

"But Logan will probably be there, and he's twice as responsible and dependable as most adults," I pointed out. "You know what he's like. He's the reason I'm getting straight A's in math and science."

"I'm aware that Logan's very mature for his age, but he's still only seventeen. Most people don't make very good judgment calls as teenagers."

"And you do as adults?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "Remember that time Grandpa drunk dialed us?"

"Well…"

"Please? We won't do anything stupid. We're just going up there to hang out and relax. And we'll have our phones on us at all times," I added.

"That's nice, but that's not the problem."

"We won't drink or do drugs, and we won't get hurt."

Mom bit her lip. "You'll be up there with Katie, and Shane will be up there with Kyle."

"Mom, there's nothing up there that we can't do here in La Castillo," I informed her.

"I'm aware of that. But at least, here if you get out of control, I can put my foot down and tell you enough."

"And has that ever happened?"

"No. No, it hasn't."

"Exactly."

"Although you did come in way too late last night."

"It was one time."

"All right." She sighed. "I'll trust you to act like a mature and responsible adult while you're on this trip."

"And Shane? Can he come too?" I asked hopefully. "I'll watch him and make sure he stays out of trouble, although I don't think he'd get into any."

"I don't think he would either," Mom agreed. "Fine, but he's your responsibility for the duration of the week."

I beamed. "Thank you so, so much, Mom! You won't regret this!" I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"Oof!" she gasped. "Okay, okay, can't breathe here."

"Oops, sorry." I released her.

"You are way too strong for a sixteen year old boy," she grumbled.

"Thanks, I try. Anyway, need any help with dinner?"

"Nope, but it'd be great if you could set the table in a little while. Oh, and I'm going to have to go over some basic rules with you and your brother. And…since you will be up there with Katie…I'm getting you condoms. And don't try to argue with me. I know how insane teen hormones can get, and while I don't want you having sex at sixteen, I do know it's a distinct possibility, and I would rather you be safe and prepared, then scared and pregnant."

"Um…Could you get me the ribbed ones? You know, ribbed for her pleasure?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Oh, and you'll need to give me your measurements, so that I know what size I need to buy."

I dry choked. "Excuse me?"

"You need to measure yourself," she repeated to me. "Unless you already know your condom size."

"Um…You want me to…?"

"Yes, James. I want you to measure your dick."

I dry choked again.

"Who's measuring their dick?" Shane asked as he walked into the kitchen. "Ooh, carrots!" he grabbed a carrot stick from the chopping board and stuck it in his mouth, before looking at Mom and me expectantly.

"James, since I'm getting him condoms incase he and Katie wind up having sex," Mom explained to him.

Shane grinned around his carrot. It hung out of his mouth like a very stiff, very orange cigar. "This is better than Pay-Per-View."

"Glad you think so," I grumbled.

"So," Mom continued on, "if you follow your father's size, and I think you do, then I'll need to get you an average, minimum. But it'll most likely be a large. Even as a baby, you were decent sized."

Shane started laughing. "I'm so glad I stayed home for dinner."

"Ummm…" was all I managed to get out. I might as well have been in the backseat of my car again, with Katie in my lap and straddling me.

"I mean, your father has a lot of horrible qualities, but his body was one of his better ones."

I managed to get out, "Gross."

She shrugged. "Depends on your point of view."

"Yeah, I'm out. I really don't need to hear about yours and Dad's sex life."

"Like I would go into any more detail about it." She scraped the vegetables into the bubbling pot on the stove.

"Seriously, please don't."

"So, make sure you get those measurements to me by tomorrow, so that I can stop by the store."

"Or you could just have James go," Shane suggested. "Hey, James, you should bring Katie with you! Then you two can go shopping for other stuff. You know, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, cherries, fuzzy handcuffs, that kind of thing."

I glared at him. "You're not riding to school with me anymore."

"That's fine. I can just hitch a ride with Kyle."

"Don't be late because you're too busy making out with him."

"Funny, I could say the same thing about you and Katie."

"You're not riding in my car with me anywhere, anymore."

"Fine. I'll stop making jokes about you and Katie."

"Thank you."

"Although, it is pretty tempting."

"I'm ignoring you now." I headed for the stairs.

"Oh, make sure you wash the tape measure you end up using," Mom called after me. "And that one will be your personal one from now on."

I groaned and mounted the stairs. Talk about embarrassment to the tenth power.

Once I got to my room, I threw myself onto my bed and checked my phone. I had a new text from Katie: You better be asking your mom about the trip…

I rolled my eyes and texted her back: I did, and she said yes, to both Shane and me.

She replied a couple minutes later. Sweet! So, we're going to try to leave Wednesday morning, and we'll stay until next Monday.

Sounds good, I'll let my mom know.

Awesome. Oh, and today was really fun ;) There'll definitely be more of that when we're on the trip.

Can't wait.

Mmm…me neither.

I shook my head. How was she so comfortable with grinding into me, but she couldn't handle dating a hockey player? None of this made any sense, whatsoever.

A moment later, my phone's screen lit up with a new text from her. I hesitantly opened it:

So, I dreamt about you last night ;)

I responded at once. Did I die?

Nope. It was a good dream. A really good one.

Glad to hear I survived.

A moment later, my phone started ringing, with Katie's name lighting up on my Caller ID. I answered it.

"Hey."

"Hey. So, what's up with you? You sound really out of it. I mean, I'm trying to get you all hot and bothered, and you sound like you don't really care."

"Why?"

"That's why I called you."

"No, I mean, why were you trying to get me hot and bothered? Wasn't doing it earlier today enough?"

"I don't know," she replied off-handedly. "I'm bored."

"Good to know. I'm hanging up now."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Why do you sound so out of it?" her voice took on a slightly softer tone.

"Oh, I just had a really weird conversation with my mom and brother."

"What about?" I heard a creaking sound in the background, and then a slight sigh. It sounded like she had just laid down on her bed.

"My mom…um…wants to get me condoms for the trip…"

"So, Logan wasn't exaggerating about her?"

"Nope."

"Oh man…That's awesome." She started laughing. "That's really awesome."

"That I'll need them?"

"No, that she actually told you that she's getting you them."

"Yeah, well, she wants me to measure myself."

She let out a snort. "Wash the tape measure."

"Yeah, I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Sorry, sorry. I guess it's probably like a girl having to measure herself for a bra."

"Um, yeah, I guess. Except, you know, different equipment…"

"I know, but still. Anyway, where does Shane come into it?"

"Oh, he just made a whole bunch of comments. He thinks the whole thing's funny."

"It is funny," she informed me. "But once your mom starts talking to him about condoms and such, he'll stop laughing. It's the way it always works."

"Very true," I agreed. "So, what're you up to tonight?"

"Eh, I'll probably order takeout or something. My dad had an emergency meeting at his office, so I'm all alone."

"Oh, that sucks. Hey, my mom's making beef stew for dinner…You could always come over and join us," I suggested.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," she said quickly.

"You wouldn't. Come on, you're alone too much as it is. Come over for dinner."

"Shouldn't you check with your mom first?"

"Good point." I got up and headed down the stairs to the kitchen, still clutching my phone. "Hey, Mom? Is it okay if Katie comes over for dinner? Her dad's at a meeting and she's all by herself."

Mom shrugged. "Fine by me. Oh, and tell her I have a chocolate crème pie for dessert."

"Will do." I turned away and said into the phone, "My mom's cool with it, and she said to tell you that she got a chocolate crème pie for dessert."

"Your mom's officially my favorite person ever. I'll be over in twenty minutes."

I chuckled. "Sounds good."

We hung up, and I turned to Mom. "She said you're officially her favorite person ever."

"I have a feeling I'm going to like that girl."

"Katie's interesting," Shane agreed. "There definitely isn't anyone else like her out there."

"Sounds like a good thing," Mom said brightly.

"It can be," I said. "But she's also really unpredictable, and it can be really hard to read her. I can't figure her out for the life of me."

"Why would you want to?" Mom asked me. "You should enjoy yourself with her, have fun, don't try to make things more complicated then they need to be. Just let her be herself, and be yours in turn. Things will work out eventually." And with that, she turned back to the stew.

True to her word, Katie arrived about twenty minutes later. She had changed into jeans and a long sleeved shirt, her hair swinging around her shoulders as she clutched a tote bag. I let her into the house.

"So you do know how to dress like a normal person," I commented, thinking of her miniskirt and thigh high socks she had been wearing earlier that day.

"Says Mr. Fashion Model," she shot back. "Besides," she added with a smirk, "you loved my skirt."

I zipped my lips, and her smirk widened. She bumped my hip with hers as she passed by me, looking around. "Nice house," she commented.

"Thanks. My mom considers herself to be an amateur interior decorator, so she did it all herself."

"Your mom's got good taste."

"Well, thank you very much!" Mom bustled out of the kitchen, beaming at Katie.

Katie smiled back at her. "You're welcome. And thank you so much for having me over for dinner. I hope you're not going to any trouble."

"None at all. It's nice to have someone over besides your brother and the rest of the hockey team. I love those boys, but they never stop eating."

Katie laughed. "Believe me, I know how that goes. My mom has to go shopping twice a week just to keep the fridge stocked with food. And when I come back to my dad's after Kendall's stayed with him for the weekend, the pantry is usually completely empty."

"Gotta love teenage boys," Mom groaned.

"Hey!" Shane called from the kitchen, his voice slightly muffled like he was in the process of chewing. "I resemble that remark!"

Mom and Katie grinned at each other, while I shook my head.

"Yeah, he's the poster boy for teenage boys, all right," I grumbled as we all headed into the kitchen.

Shane was in the process of setting the table. "Oh, hey, Katie," he greeted her.

"Hey, Shane," she replied.

"Heard from Kyle?"

"Yeah, this morning, actually. He had some interesting things to say about you."

Shane eyed her coolly. "That's funny. He called me up this afternoon, and had some pretty interesting things to say about you, as well."

"I'm sure he did."

"Yeah. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Well," Katie smiled sweetly, "I'm sure there won't be any problems."

"I'm sure there won't be."

Mom and I looked back and forth between Shane and Katie, like we were watching a very intense ping-pong game. By the look on her face, she was every bit as confused as I was. What the hell had that been about?

After a long stare down, Katie and Shane finally looked away from each other.

"So, food," Shane said quickly, moving to his spot at the table.

"Katie, you can take the seat beside James," Mom told her, before letting out a squeal. "It's so nice to have James' girlfriend over!"

"She's not my girlfriend," I said quickly, at the same time Katie corrected,

"Oh, we're not dating."

Mom blinked at us, before giving us a knowing smile. "Riiiight, of course. Whatever was I thinking?" She bustled around the kitchen, placing stew on the table, and encouraging us to sit down and eat up.

Katie and I sat down next to each other, and Shane plopped down in his usual place, opposite me. Mom sat down at the head of the table, and we began to dish stew into our bowls.

"So, Katie," Mom spoke up, "how long have you been ice skating?"

"Since I could walk," she replied. "My family's a huge ice family, so there was no way I was getting away with not learning how to skate."

"Do your parents skate?"

"Yep. My dad used to play professional hockey, but he got badly injured and couldn't play anymore. And my mom did some figure skating like me, though she did it for fun, not for competition."

"I imagine there must be a lot of pressure with the competition."

"There can be. But as long as you keep calm and stay in the zone, you'll be okay. A lot of it is just basically psyching out the comp. Mind tricks and stuff."

"Sounds really cutthroat," I commented. "Although, I imagine you'd be good with the mind tricks. Doesn't sound very ethical, though."

Katie shrugged. "People do it to you, so you learn to do it back. You have to have a certain mentality for the competition, and if you don't, then you'll be eaten alive."

"Makes sense."

"It's not pretty, but it's what it takes sometimes." She took a bite of her stew.

"You'd be wonderful in the cosmetics business," my mom told Katie. "You wouldn't think it'd be cutthroat, but it can be."

"You work with cosmetics?"

"I'm trying to. After my husband left, I went back to school and got my degree in business, and now I'm trying to start my own company."

"That's awesome!" Katie smiled at her.

"Isn't it? My ex husband didn't want me going to school, so I couldn't do that while we were together. But he's a huge dick, pardon my language."

Shane smirked. "And we all know huge dicks run in our family," he muttered.

I slapped my hand over my mouth as Katie grinned, before leaning over to whisper to me, "I noticed that earlier today," before swiping her hand over my zipper and straightening back up.

Neither Mom or Shane noticed, or if they did, they didn't draw attention to what had just happened, which was a huge relief.

The rest of dinner passed pretty quietly. As promised, Mom brought out a chocolate crème pie. She cut us all huge slices and we dug in eagerly.

Once we were finished, we helped her clean up, and then she excused herself to go watch a movie in her room, pointedly suggesting to Shane that he go catch up on his favorite TV show. He rolled his eyes, but flashed me a smirk and followed Mom up the stairs.

I turned to Katie. "So…"

"So…Why don't you show me your room?"

I blinked at her. "Why?"

"Why not?"

"Um…"

"Come on, big, strong hockey player, lead the way."

I took her hand and pulled her up the stairs to my room. I flipped on the light, and stood back, a little nervously, as she took in my hockey and rock band posters that covered the walls.

"It's definitely you," she commented as she turned to face me.

"Thanks…I think…"

She laughed. "It's a good thing. At least you didn't practically paper your walls with hockey posters, like Kendall."

"Hockey isn't my life," I pointed out.

"Very true." She walked around my room, looking up at the music posters, and admiring my guitar, which was leaning up against my dresser. "I didn't know you played."

"Oh, yeah, I've played since I was ten. My dad actually taught me."

"What kind is it?"

"A Gibson Les Paul," I replied. I pulled out the ten watt amp to show her. "My mom won't let me get a bigger one than this."

"Nice," she said appreciatively. "Do you have any other guitars?"

I nodded and reached under my bed, extracting my acoustic one.

Katie plopped down on my bed and crossed her legs. "Play something for me," she suggested.

"Okay." I pulled out the guitar and sat down beside her. I cradled the guitar, snatched the pick from between the strings, and slowly began to strum out a soft melody.

After a couple of minutes, I rested my arm over the guitar's neck, and Katie looked at me. "You're really good," she told me.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." She leaned over, softly pressing her lips to mine.

I paused in surprise for a moment, before kissing her back. After a few seconds, she pulled back. She took the guitar out of my arms, and laid it in its case, before climbing into my lap. I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, she began kissing down my jaw and sucking on my neck.

Oh…well…okay…

I might have reminded her that my brother and mother were just down the hall, but my brain had frozen up.

She seemed to take that as a sign to keep on going. Her hands slid down my chest to my stomach, her fingers resting in the waistband of my jeans. She continued sucking on my neck, and I felt myself moan, my head tilting to the side. I pulled her closer, my fingers slipping into the belt loops of her jeans, and I wasn't sure, but I had the distinct impression that she was grinning.

The next thing I knew, she was pushing me onto my back, and she was shimmying up, hips against mine. I looked up at her, my breath catching in my throat. She tossed her hair out of her face, eyes locking with me.

"Um…" wow, a whole syllable! "My mom and Shane…"

"So, be quiet," she smirked.

"We're not – we're not dating – "

"Sexual tension, Jamie-Bear. Too much sexual tension."

"Yeah, but – "

She cut me off, pressing her lips forcefully to mine, and my train of thought went straight off the tracks. She pushed her hips into mine, and I gasped, my hips jerking up in response. She smirked and did it again.

Before I could gather my thoughts, my shirt was coming off, and then hers was following. Her fingers were fumbling with the button and zipper of my jeans. She got the button undone and the zipper down. She glanced at me, eyes hazy with lust, cheeks flushed and lips swollen. I looked back at her, my brain still a jumbled mess. I knew it would probably be a good idea to stop her before she got my jeans down, but the words weren't coming out of my mouth. And Mini-James was no help whatsoever. He was begging, pleading, for attention, any kind.

Attention whore.

Katie managed to get my jeans down, and her eyes fastened on my boxers. Her cheeks flushed even more, and for a moment, I saw uncertainty and fear in her eyes. But before I could open my mouth to tell her that whatever she was planning, she didn't need to do, she smirked at me. "Looks like I was right about what I felt earlier."

"Katie…You don't…I mean…it's not…" Well, that was a huge help.

She looked at me, giving me her best tough-girl stare. "I'm not scared or embarrassed or anything, if that's what you're thinking."

As it so happened, that was exactly what I had been thinking.

"I was fine earlier, and I'm fine now. Besides, it's not like I've never been this far with a guy."

My stomach dropped and my mouth suddenly went dry. "You – you have been?"

"Well…okay, no. That was a lie. But I'm fine."

"You're not." I grabbed my jeans and pulled them up. I sat up, and wound one of my arms around her waist. She looked away, avoiding my eyes.

"Katie." I slipped my fingers under her chin and turned her face towards mine. Her cheeks were still red, and her eyes shone with fear and what I had a feeling were tears. "What're you trying to prove?"

"Nothing! God! I'm not trying to prove anything. Is it so bad to want to get rid of this fucking sexual tension?!"

"No," I replied gently. "But you're pushing yourself. You're acting like you're trying to…I don't know…like you're trying to show how hot you are."

"I'm not." She crossed her arms, before her shoulders slumped and she glanced down, realizing that she still hadn't put her shirt back on. She looked so sad and helpless and scared and pathetic that I literally felt my heart begin to break. I reached for her shirt and passed it to her. She pulled it on, still refusing to look at me.

I grabbed my shirt and slid it on, buttoning it up.

"I don't get it," Katie said quietly.

"What don't you get?" I asked curiously.

"Why – why this is so easy for Camille and Logan, and I just completely freaked out."

"May I remind you that we're not Camille and Logan? They're two completely different people then we are. And they've been…doing stuff…longer than we have. We only kissed for the first time twenty-four hours ago," I pointed out.

"I guess…"

"Why are you so determined to get into sex?"

She blinked at me. "I was just going to give you a hand job or something…"

"Same difference."

"Well…" she licked her lips nervously. "It's just…I mean, with our sexual tension…we really need to get rid of it. Work through it."

"Sexual tension or none at all, we can't go faster than what we're comfortable with," I said softly. "It'll work itself out. Until then…we just live with it."

"I'm not good with just living with stuff."

I chuckled. "So I've noticed."

She looked down at the ground, her hair falling into her face. "You probably think I'm a really bad slut."

"No. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think, but it's not that."

"Oh. You know, I should probably go – "

"You should stay," I told her, pulling her against me.

"Why?"

"Because I like you, and I don't want you to leave."

She sighed. "You do know you're completely ruining my badass rep, right?"

I grinned. "I'm doing my damndest to."

"Well, damn you, James Diamond. Damn you." And then she kissed me, relaxing against me.

Okay, so, not the best chapter in the world, and for that I'm sorry. But hopefully you guys liked it okay. So, I know James' and Katie's relationship is probably really confusing, and I'm sorry about that too. But it's necessary for the plot, so I hope you guys will forgive me for that.

Anyway, feel free to review and let me know if you liked it :) And the review button could use some attention, so maybe that'll add to the incentive? ;)

Oh, and one last thing: I posted Haunted Revenge, the sequel to the DLS-S Cruise a few days ago, so if you read that story, it'd be awesome if you could check it out :)