After their talk, Lance and Joshua had sat in quiet for a while with Lance holding Joshua. They had then gradually moved onto kissing. Before long clothing had been removed with Lance sprawled on top of Joshua’s naked body as they made love together. They then fell asleep, curled together, in the soft grass.
Glancing around, Lance soon realized what had woken him up from his peaceful slumber. It was Freelance and he was acting very agitated.
“Josh, wake up,” whispered Lance quickly dressing, while shaking the prince awake who stared up at him in confusion with his crystal-clear blue eyes. “Riders on horseback draw near.”
Not saying a word, Joshua followed Lance’s lead and dressed rapidly. The pair then quickly hid behind some tall trees waiting in case they needed to attack. Lance with his bow and arrow ready and pointed, while Joshua had his sword prepared to fight.
“See this is the waterfall I was telling you about,” cried a voice from one of the new comers and Lance let a warning arrow fly out near the head of the person who was speaking.
“Chris, are you alright?” came a familiar voice.
“Joey?” called Joshua, emerging from his hiding place followed closely by Lance with another arrow strung.
“What is with you and trying to kill me?!?” cried Chris at Lance upon seeing he was the one with the bow.
“You’re just lucky,” replied Lance with a smirk on his face. “Besides if I really wanted to kill you I could do it very easily. That was a warning shot.”
“Knock it off you two!” interrupted Justin to the surprise of everyone. “The BackAlly Boys are at this moment on their way to La!”
“Fine,” sighed Lance climbing up on Freelance, before helping Joshua up behind him.
Lance waited until Joshua had wrapped his arms his waist before kicking his heels, directing Freelance back towards La with the others following close behind.
*~*~*
“Joey!” cried Britney as the group entered the inn upon returning to La. Her attention however quickly turned to Justin.
“Hi Justin,” she giggled and smiled at him.
“Wow Brit you really look great!” replied Justin staring at her with hungry eyes.
“Stop drooling!” commanded Lance. “We have work to do! How long do you think it’ll be until the BackAlly Boys get here?”
“An hour or two maybe,” shrugged Joey, as an arrow fly through the open window and missed everyone by a mile. “Or maybe not.”
“Why me?” groaned Chris. “How do I get into these messes?”
“Get some aim, Kevin!” yelled Lance out the window, while everyone ignoring Chris’ complaints.
“My aim is fine!” protested a voice from outside the inn. “I’m just tired!”
“Great Kev, you just pulled a Nick!” grumbled AJ. “Just go ahead and tell them that we’ve only had about two hours of rest!”
“Britney, is there another exit to this place?” sighed Lance as the BackAlly Boys continued to bicker outside.
“In the back,” nodded Britney, leading them through her small office in the rear of the inn, which conveniently exited right in front of the stables. “Good luck!”
“Thanks Brit,” replied Joey pausing quickly as he followed Chris, Joshua and Lance out the door.
“Bye Justin,” whispered Britney flashing him another smile.
“Bye Britney,” replied Justin returning the smile. “I’ll see you soon!”
Swiftly kissing Britney’s cheek, Justin soon joined the others in the stable as they mounted their horses.
“Just great Justin,” grumbled Chris. “We’re about to get killed and you’re flirting with Britney!”
“Hey we’re fine!” protested Justin. “Right Lance?”
“Both of you shut up!” ordered Lance as the led the other three out of the village while the BackAlly Boys were still busy fighting among themselves.
“Hey,” whispered Joshua in his ear while tightening his grip on Lance. “They did help us.”
“I know,” sighed Lance gently. “It’s just that I don’t trust people easily.”
“You trust me,” pointed out Joshua.
“You’re different,” whispered Lance.
*~*~*
Back in La, Britney was growing tired of the fighting outside. They were scaring off her customers.
“Do you mind?” she asked opening the door to the inn and glaring at them. “I’m trying to run a business here and either come in and rent a room or get lost!”
“Do you know who we are?” growled Nick while Britney looked on unafraid. “We’re the BackAlly Boys and nobody tells us what to do!”
“He’s only referring to himself, my dear,” interrupted AJ, stepping forward to kiss Britney’s hand. “You can tell me what to do any day.”
“They’re not here,” informed Britney yanking her hand away from AJ. “They left two hours ago because they were bored waiting around until you guys were ready to fight them and not yourselves.”
“Did they say where they were headed?” asked Brian politely.
“Nope,” smiled Britney sweetly. “It’s bad for business if I interfere in my customers business, so I keep to myself when strange guests are around.”
“All right, we’ll head out then,” replied Brian.
“Wait!” protested AJ. “We got into this mess because you wanted to ride all night. We’ll stay here for the night and follow them tomorrow.”
“AJ’s right, Brian,” agreed Howie. “Someone in the town must have seen them ride off. Once we know what direction they’re going in, they’ll be easy to follow cause there are only so many places they can head.”
“Fine!” sighed Brian dramatically. “We need five beds.”
“I’m sorry,” smiled Britney sweetly. “But we’re full.”
Before any of the boys could react, Britney quickly stepped back inside the inn and slammed the door shut.
“Yeah . . . well . . . we’ll take our business elsewhere!” Nick finally yelled at the closed door.
“Isn’t this the only inn in town though?” asked Kevin in wonderment.