Chapter Five

The remainder of the week passed fairly uneventfully for Amanda.  She finished unpacking, got her apartment arranged just exactly the way she wanted it, and she managed to find her way around Tampa without getting lost. As she struggled in the door Saturday afternoon, her phone rang.  She ran for the receiver and picked it up with an out of breath "Hello?"
"Hey Amanda," said a sexy male voice with a slight southern accent.
"Hey Kevin how's Orlando treating you?" said Amanda, hoping her excitement wasn't evident in her voice.
"Oh it's pretty good," he replied. "I was calling to see what day I could come up for dinner next week."
"Hang on a sec let me get my planner, "Amanda said.  Flipping through the pages she said, "How about Friday night?" she suggested.
"Sounds good," Kevin said. "You sounded all breathless when you answered the phone-did I interrupt something?"
"Ha ha Kevin get your mind out of the gutter.  I was just bringing in some shopping from the car," Amanda laughed.
"Oh okay just wanted to make sure you weren't corrupting Nick or something," he laughed.
"Kevin Richardson behave!" she laughed in return.  "But as a matter of fact I am having dinner at their place tonight."
"Hmm- new friends huh?" hoping his jealousy wasn't apparent in his voice.
"Yeah the Carters have been so nice to me," she said.  "I don't know what I would have done without Jane showing me around."
"And Nick?" Kevin asked.
"Good Lord I've hardly seen him this week-he's been visiting with Mandy all week."
"Gotta watch out for him he's a big flirt," Kevin laughed.
Amanda said with a smile, "No more than you are Kevin."
"Who me?" he said innocently. "Never."
"Okay whatever you say, "Amanda said.  "So what time will you be here Friday?"
"How about eight o clock?"
"Sounds good  Kevin-I'll see you then." Amanda said.
"Okay- talk to ya then. Bye!"
"Bye!"
As they both hung up, Amanda wondered what Kevin's sudden fixation with Nick was. "Jeez you'd think Nick and I were having some sort of fling," she said to herself.  Quite the contrary, Nick was like her little brother-and in fact his mother never
missed an opportunity to bring up Kevin whenever Amanda was around.  If she didn't know better, Amanda thought, she would think Jane was playing matchmaker for her.   "Nah I wouldn't get that lucky-and besides I don't want another relationship."  Guys are only more trouble that they are worth, she thought, and after getting dumped for her maid of honor only three days before her wedding, she wanted no part of a romantic relationship ever again, only friendship.
Kevin was feeling something he had never felt before-jealousy of Nick.  And for no reason too-after all they were only friends.  Kevin knew if he was rational about it that there was no way Nick and Amanda would be involved, because Nick was very
committed to Mandy.  Nick had even bought Mandy an engagement ring on the last tour as a surprise and had planned to give it to her at Christmas.  "So why am I spazzing?" he thought.  "Is it because he gets to see her a little and I don't get to see
her at all?"  Kevin was terribly confused.  Maybe it was just a case of infatuation with a new face and when he saw her Friday, it would all clear up and he would realize they would only be friends and he wouldn't be so worried about losing his heart.

Chapter 6