He expected JC to ask the inevitable 'Whatcha reading?' Then maybe they'd talk about 'The Godfather' trilogy or 'Bram Stoker's Dracula', because it was a Francis Ford Coppola biography he was reading. And then maybe they'd talk about Al Pacino, and Joey would say how he wanted to be as lucky as him to get a role in a movie like 'The Godfather' or even something like 'Dog Day Afternoon.' JC would then say something like 'if you want it bad enough, you'll make it happen' and then they would smile at each other and Joey would go back to reading and JC would curl up on the couch and nap or go to the front of the bus to see what the others were doing.

But he didn't. JC just continued to watch Joey eat and read as if he were the most fascinating thing since the invention of television. Joey tried to ignore him, but after re-reading the same sentence a dozen times, he realized he wasn't going to be able to. So he chucked a corn chip at him.

"What was that for?" JC asked as he threw the chip back.

"You're staring at me," Joey said. He picked up the chip and ate it, JC watching him intensely.

"So?" he said and pried his eyes from Joey's mastication just long enough to look him in the eye.

"So it's bothering me." Joey bookmarked his place, then smacked JC in the thigh with the book.

"Ow! Hey!" JC snatched the book from him and thumbed through it before giving it back.

Joey opened the book back up to continue reading, but JC was still looking at him. "Why don't you go find your own book to read?"

"I can't. I get sick if I read on the bus," he said. Joey scrunched his face in disbelief. "No, really. It's something about the motion of the bus and whatnot."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I'm serious, Joe. You wonder why I used to puke so much when we first started touring? It's because I thought I could pass the time reading."

"But I've seen you read on the bus since then. In fact, just yesterday."

"Dramamine," he said. "It's wonderful stuff. But I don't want to be on it all the time."

"Oh." Joey ate another chip. "Is that why you're staring at me? Do you want me to read to you?"

JC shook his head. He swallowed hard and shifted closer as Joey's tongue slid out to lick the salt off his lips.

Joey opened his mouth to say something as JC leaned into him, making it all the easier for JC to slide his tongue in when he kissed him. He knew JC wasn't just kissing him, he was tasting him. He pulled JC closer to him and ran his salty tongue along the inside of JC's cheek.

After a good, long kiss, JC pulled away, then held another corn chip up to Joey's lips.