Kinsey woke up early the next morning and found herself in Taylor’s bed. It was the first time that they had spent the night together in the condo when the guys were home and it honestly felt fantastic. Sleeping with him was wonderful and she was so happy that she could do it whenever she wanted now. As she sat up and rubbed her eyes, willing them to stop being so droopy, Taylor stirred and stretched.
“Morning,” he groaned through his stretch, his voice contorting to a strange pitch that made Kinsey turn on the bedside light so he could see that she was laughing at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” she smiled, unable to make fun of him once she saw how adorably disheveled he was, lying there naked beneath the sheets.
“I’m hungry,” he whined as he sat up.
“Then put on some pants so we can go get some food.”
“I’m working on it,” he grumbled as he dug through one of his drawers until he found something he was content with. Once he had pulled on the Nike tear-aways that Kinsey was positive had never seen the sweat of a workout and she had redressed in the pajamas scattered around the bed, they made their way downstairs.
“What’s that smell?” Kinsey asked as they walked down, a sweet and thoroughly enticing smell growing stronger the further they descended. They found the kitchen uninhabited, but there was a large object resting on the counter beside the oven. Taylor led the way over and shook his head. When Kinsey reached his side, she found herself looking at a rectangular cake decorated with white icing, the words For Kinsey written incredibly awkwardly with bright blue gel icing. Kinsey sighed heavily and stalked over to the knife block on the other side of the oven. She peered at the selection before snagging the biggest and pulling it slowly from its wooden confines.
“What are you doing?” Taylor asked as Kinsey returned to his side.
“Serving breakfast,” she said simply before cutting the cake carefully with the biggest knife their kitchen held. When her work was done, the cake had been cut into five pieces: one holding the badly written words, and the other four comprised of the rest of the cake cut into large quarters. She placed two of the quarters on plates for herself and Taylor before stabbing the knife into the small worded section. “Shall we?”
“Cake for breakfast? I never pegged you the type,” he laughed as she grabbed two forks from the silverware drawer and led the way into the living room.
“Oh, we’re going to be working this off later,” she informed him, a bite of the chocolate cake already in her mouth as they walked. Taylor laughed.
“No complaints here,” he said. They settled in on the couch and Kinsey immediately flipped the TV on to HGTV. “We are not watching this.”
“I think we are,” Kinsey informed him, sticking the remote under her thigh to keep it safe.
“You think that’s going to stop me?” he asked with a smile, setting his plate down on the coffee table before attacking her, digging his fingers into the sides of her thighs and therefore tickling her until she lifted her legs enough for him to nab the remote. Kinsey found herself glaring at him with her plate of cake held high above her head so she didn’t drop it on the couch.
“You’re such an ass,” she rolled her eyes, putting her own cake safely on the table beside his.
“Oh yeah?” She gave him a serious look before planting her hand in the middle of his chest and shoving him back onto the couch. Before he could react, she climbed on top of him, sitting herself on his thighs before leaning forward to kiss him.
“You taste like cake,” she whispered before kissing him again, this time deeper. His hands slid over her lower back, pulling her body down closer to his. Kinsey reveled in the feeling of her full body pressed against his as they continued to make out on the couch. Inching slowly, Taylor’s fingers crept inside the back of Kinsey’s tank top, working their way further up until a loud cough at the door broke them apart.
“My god,” Isaac sighed, shaking his head. He came into the room and sat down in a chair next to the couch while Taylor and Kinsey righted themselves, Taylor immediately grabbing a throw pillow from beside him to put over his lap. Kinsey tried not to laugh when he put his plate of cake on the pillow as if he was fooling either of them that that was its intention—to serve as a resting place for his breakfast.
“What do you have there, Ike?” Kinsey asked, wanting desperately for him to get to the point he obviously needed to make. He had a clipboard in hand and looked mildly stressed out and Kinsey knew his demeanor had very little to do with catching them sucking face like horny teenagers.
“Well, we’ve been asked to do a show. Remember when we moved here and we contacted some small venues asking if they’d call us if anything opened on a weekend? Well, they did and I think we should do some of our new stuff,” Isaac explained.
“Maybe make it a members only event?” Taylor suggested. Isaac nodded and held out the clipboard in Taylor’s direction, which he took and immediately started looking over. Kinsey leaned over to see what was written there and found a suggested set list written out in Isaac’s handwriting.
“So, it’s this Saturday,” Isaac said hesitantly.
“Like, in a few days?” Taylor asked.
“Yes, this upcoming Saturday, that’s what ‘this Saturday’ typically refers to.”
“Yikes,” Taylor said, settling back into the cushions with a slightly sick look on his face.
“Sounds like you guys need to play in the studio all week,” Kinsey said before taking a big bite of her cake.
“Sounds like it,” Taylor sighed.
“Well boys,” Kinsey started, “I need to go shower so I’m not late for work. Good luck today.” She took her plate to the kitchen before heading up to shower, knowing that she might wind up late for work, but then remembering those few blissful seconds on the couch and not caring in the slightest.
When she returned home that evening, she found the condo dark and silent. She made her way to the basement door after depositing her shoes and coat by the front door and found that the studio lights were on. Stepping lightly, as she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself if they were working diligently, she climbed down and peeked in the small window in the door to find them all looking really annoyed and arguing from behind their instruments. Deciding not to bother them, she went up to the kitchen and started to make a big dinner. She didn’t know when they’d eaten last, but did know that they tended to argue more when they were hungry. Stupid boys and their stupid stomachs.
After staring into the recess of the open refrigerator and freezer for over a minute, she decided to go all out and make up some chicken Parmesan to surprise them. As she was prepping the chicken for the oven, her cell phone started to ring. She snatched it from the countertop before it went to voicemail. It was Tif.
“What up, slut?” Kinsey asked as she maneuvered the chicken into a casserole dish.
“Nice to talk to you, too!” Tif said with exaggerated enthusiasm before laughing, “Did my fiancé tell you I’m coming this weekend?” Kinsey wanted desperately to make fun of Tif for using the “fiancé” word, but decided to be nice and let it be.
“Nah, we tend to leave out the sex talk.”
“You’re disgusting,” Tif sighed.
“Sad but true! And no, he hadn’t yet mentioned that, but they’re down in the studio so I’m being the nice den mother and am making them dinner.”
“How thoughtful,” Tif responded, “So, I’m getting there on Friday afternoon. Any chance you want to go dress shopping with me on Saturday before the show?”
“Of course. But only if I get to pick out a truly horrendous one for you to try on.”
“Deal. So, I’ll see you on Friday?”
“I’ll be here! See you then,” Kinsey said before they said their goodbyes while she slid the chicken into the now preheated oven. So, Tif was coming to visit for the show. Kinsey had to admit that she was incredibly grateful for that. As much as she loved going to the guys’ shows, it was always a little strange and she got really lonely when she had to go by herself. And, there was the little fact that it was her first time going to one of their shows after she and Taylor had been plastered all over the internet as being a couple. She was not a moron and knew that at least some of the fans were likely to give her a hard time or some heinously dirty looks, not that she wasn’t used to that. Many of the hardcore fans recognized her from being around since the guys’ fame began, but not many of them paid her much mind. There were some who tried to be incredibly nice to her in hopes of getting closer to the guys, but most just ignored her, which was just the way she wanted it.
“It smells good in here,” Taylor said when he entered the room a few minutes later.
“Well, it’s going to be a few minutes before it’s ready so don’t get too excited yet,” Kinsey informed him when he came up next to her in front of the stove.
“I can wait,” he said with a smile, giving her temple a kiss just before his brothers came in the room. Zac made himself as scarce as possible, just grabbing a beer and going to reluctantly sit at the table. He looked like the kid whose mom forces him to sit with the kids he didn’t really want to invite to his birthday party—awkward and wholly uncomfortable.
“So, what’s for dinner?” Isaac asked.
“Chicken parmesan and spaghetti. Sound good?” Kinsey asked, giving the extra sauce a stir.
“Sounds perfect,” Isaac said, giving her shoulder a squeeze as Taylor jumped up to sit on the counter beside the stove.
“Tif called. Said she’s coming to visit for the weekend,” Kinsey said and immediately Isaac started grinning, “We’re going dress shopping on Saturday.”
“For what?” Taylor asked as he stuck his finger directly into the pot that was heating up spaghetti sauce.
“For the wedding, doofus,” she said, smacking his hand with the wooden spoon in her hand, “And keep your grubby hands out of our dinner!” He shrugged and leaned back against the cabinets.
“Yes, I’m picking her up at the airport Friday afternoon and we’re going out to dinner,” he started and when Taylor perked up, poised to make a dinner suggestion, Isaac continued, “Alone.”
“Fine. We’ll just fend for ourselves,” Taylor told him dramatically.
“I think we’ll fend just fine,” Kinsey said, gesturing to their still-cooking dinner, “So, what’s the plan for Saturday? What time to we need to get there?”
“Not too early. We’ll get you some seats saved so you’ll be able to see the stage well without being in the mosh pit,” Isaac told her.
“I prefer to call it the Shriek Pit, but that’s just me. Much more screaming and panty throwing than moshing,” Kinsey said as she stirred the pasta.
“There is no panty throwing,” Isaac rolled his eyes.
“Maybe not at you,” Taylor teased, earning another smack from the spoon from Kinsey, “What?” She just gave him a judging look and shook her head before taking out one of the noodles for taste test. Ten minutes later, dinner was plated and they were all seated at the table to eat together for the first time since the now infamous reveal. As they ate, she, Taylor, and Isaac chatted freely while Zac just stared down at this dinner as if incredibly interested in the rate at which the food was disappearing from his plate.
“Did you guys get a lot done today?” Kinsey dared to ask, wonderful why they all seemed reasonably chipper despite the spat she’d seen them having less than an hour prior.
“We did,” Isaac told her, “Surprisingly.”
“Well that’s good. I was a little worried because when I peeked in the door when I got home, it looked like you were all fighting,” she said.
“No fighting,” Isaac told her with a fake smile, obviously lying. Kinsey looked over at Taylor and found him mirroring Zac’s position by staring at the remainder of his food and decided to let it go. She knew she could get the truth out of him later, no matter what means she had to go to in order to do so. And that set off a series of highly inappropriate daydreams that occupied her thoughts while Taylor and Isaac awkwardly changed the subject back to the show and Zac remained a selective mute.
By the time Saturday morning rolled around, she and Zac still hadn’t talked, Isaac and Tif had been holed up in his room since the minute they’d returned to the condo after dinner, and Kinsey and Taylor were lounging in the living room arguing about what to watch as her efforts to get the nature of their brotherly fight out of him had been futile.
“Please, Taylor! I haven’t watched it in forever!” she whined, knowing that it was driving him insane.
“I am not watching Project Runway,” he told her definitively before turning it back to Law & Order: SVU.
“And I am not in the mood to watch something about a teacher banging her student, so give it to me!” she said, attempting to pry the remote from his fingers. He just sat there watching the TV with a little smile on his face while she tried in vain to regain control of the television. “Stupid strong musician fingers!”
“First time I’ve ever heard you complain,” he smirked. She huffed and smacked him hard in the arm before getting up. “Where are you going?”
“To take a shower… alone!” she told him before going upstairs.
“There you are!” Tif said once Kinsey reached top of the stairs.
“There I am? So says the girl who probably won’t be able to walk right for a week,” Kinsey sassed. Tif rolled her eyes.
“We were sleeping,” Tif said, “Most of the time.”
“Sick,” Kinsey laughed, “Now will you let me shower so we can go dress shopping?”
“Get your ass in gear. I’m already ready and I’m ready to go try on beautiful dresses!” Tif practically squealed. Kinsey got ready as fast as possible and within forty-five minutes, they were on their way to Pricilla of Boston for the appointment Tif had apparently made earlier in the week.
“I can’t believe they fit me in for an appointment. These kinds of things usually take a lot longer,” Tif said.
“You totally told them you were Isaac Hanson’s fiancé,” Kinsey laughed as they sat in the back of the cab that had picked them up. Tif gave Kinsey a fake innocent look.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she lied.
“You and Isaac are going to have a very truthful marriage.”
“Of course we are, but why do you say that?”
“Because you’re the two worst liars I’ve ever seen,” Kinsey told her, “The other night, I saw the guys fighting down in the studio but they denied it when I asked them about it. Taylor wouldn’t budge on it all night, and I really thought I’d be able to get him to tell me.” Tif got a strange look on her face.
“Just leave that alone, okay?” Tif asked, “Isaac wouldn’t tell me what it was about, but told me that they didn’t want to talk about what had gone down.” Kinsey sighed heavily and was thankful that they were pulling up in front of the shop so she could distract herself from thinking about it any further.
“So, I know I said that I wanted to pick you out a hideous dress to try on, but I don’t think there’s a single ugly dress in this entire place!” Kinsey gushed as she looked through the racks while Tif was pointing out dresses to the salesgirl that she wanted to try on.
“Why do you think I picked this place? Their dresses are fantastic and I thought it was a great place to start my dress hunt,” Tif explained, “And plus, they have great bridesmaid dresses, too.”
“I get to try on dresses today?” Kinsey asked.
“Is that a problem?” Tif asked as she worked her way through the last rack.
“Problem? I wore my strapless bra just in case!” Kinsey said excitedly before hurrying over to that side of the store.
“Black dresses, Kinsey!” Tif laughed, “If I see pink on your body I’m going to lose it.”
“Aye aye!” Kinsey saluted before digging in.
An hour later, Tif had tried on ten dresses, none of which suited her. She was getting more and more frustrated, especially since the first dress Kinsey had tried on was absolutely perfect and they had decided on the spot that it would be the bridesmaid dress for sure. Tif’s row of dresses was down to two and she slumped her way back into the dressing room to try the second to last one on. She stayed in the dressing room much longer than she had with the previous ten while Kinsey turned and twirled repeatedly in front of the mirror, still in the chosen dress.
“Did you fall down and hit your head in there?” Kinsey asked loudly, and then the door opened.
“I think this is the dress,” Tif grinned, looking down at herself. Kinsey turned to look at Tif and her hands flew up to her face.
“Oh my god! You look gorgeous!” Tif carefully gathered up the dress so she wouldn’t walk on the bottom and made her way beside Kinsey on the platform before the mirror.
“It’s perfect,” Tif said softly, running her hands lightly over the beautiful white silk satin, “I’m going to marry Isaac in this dress.”
“You are and it’s going to be perfect,” Kinsey told her, reaching over to give her a careful hug. Tif took in a shaky breath and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye before it could escape down her cheek.
“Oh wow,” she laughed lightly, “When Isaac sees the price tag he’s going to kill me.”
“I sincerely doubt that. He loves you and trusts you to get the right dress.” Tif nodded and grinned, unable to take her eyes off of the gorgeous dress adorning her body. But then she snapped back to reality and gave Kinsey a wicked grin.
“Want to take some pictures of you trying on wedding dresses to give Taylor a heart attack?” she asked. Kinsey looked down at her watch, finding that they had many hours left until they had to be at the show.
“There was one I wanted to try on…” Kinsey shrugged, attempting to be casual. Tif laughed.
“Miss! We need to try on one more dress,” she called out.