Stronger Together (bxb) ✔

Chapter 62 - Chase

Silence fills the room.

Then there is chaos. Shawn releases a loud squeal and I groan and pout, since my head is really close to his mouth. That is shortly followed by Jesse gasping and repeating oh my god over and over. However, despite his excitement, Shawn manages to remember my instructions and doesn't try to hug me back.

Jesse soon joins in on the hug and I am sandwiched between two excited squealing guys. We're giggling and bouncing up and down like children who just found an endless supply of sugary treats.

Once all of us have calmed down, I tell them about babysitting Amy, Mason meeting Diego and how I hugged Mason. They surprisingly don't ask any more questions about my sex life and I'm happy about that, though I still gush about how much I love Diego.

We finish getting dressed and head out to the living room where Diego, Bryan and Dean are waiting for us. The party doesn't start for another ten minutes but some of Shawn's other friends have already started arriving and are gathered by the pool area.

Shawn looks amazing, adorned in a gold speedo and a black fishnet shirt which comes down to his mid thighs. His hair is styled up off his face and he is wearing a gold crown and black boots.

Jesse is wearing short dark green beach shorts that barely cover any of his thighs and a black, sheer, long sleeve shirt. While I am dressed in a black and white striped beach pants that come to my mid thighs and a tight fitting, long sleeve black top. Although Diego has seen me shirtless, I would prefer not to have a room full of people seeing my chest.

When we enter the room, Bryan and Dean are engaged in conversation while Diego is tapping away at his phone, probably trying to respond to the emails I distracted him from replying to earlier. They all stop what they're doing and their faces light up when they see us.

Jesse hurries over to Bryan and sits on his lap while Shawn practically jumps on Dean, immediately gluing his lips to his and thanking him for hosting the party. I, on the other hand, glue myself to Diego's side and he immediately wraps his arms around me and greets me with a deep kiss that leaves me breathless.

"I'll go greet my worshippers," Shawn says after a few minutes, referring to his friends. He gets up and pulls Dean to his feet. "Is everyone coming?"

I tense slightly at his question and Diego kisses my temple before saying. "Chase and I will come out soon. I need to finish this first," he replies, waving his phone.

I press a kiss to Diego's cheek and he gently rubs his nose against mine. We've both gotten a lot touchier, and I'm definitely not complaining, quite the opposite.

Shawn nods in response, and Jesse and Bryan follow him and Dean out of the room. For the next few minutes, I listen to the distant music and snuggle with Diego while he replies to his emails.

"That was the last one." He pinches my cheek and I giggle. "Are you ready to join the party?"

"Do I have to? Can't I just stay here and snuggle with you?" I ask with a pout.

Diego chuckles and shakes his head. "Nope, you told me that you wanted to try interacting with more people and that you wanted to shake your booty on the dance floor."

He licks my lips and I giggle. "DiDi!" I say in a scolding manner, though I giggle again when his tongue flicks up my lips a second time.

"Do you really want to miss the chocolate fountain?" I perk up and subconsciously lick my lips at his mention of chocolate. I forgot Dean was getting Shawn a chocolate fountain! "Think of all the chocolate out there that's just waiting for you!"

Unable to resist the pull of chocolate, I grin and nod. "Okay! Let's go eat some chocolate!"

Diego releases a soft laugh before kissing my forehead and tugging me towards the door. Right before he opens the door to the pool area, he turns towards me. "Ready?" He asks and I take a deep breath and nod.

The music is blasting on the other side of the door and when Diego opens it, I gasp at the beauty of the decorations. Shawn explained his vision to Jesse and I, but since I wasn't able to help set up, this is the first time I'm seeing his idea come to life.

White paper lanterns are hung up above the pool, reflecting their yellowish gold light in the cool blue water of the pool and the people playing there. Groups of people are seated on gold cushions scattered on the lush green grass. Short tables with gold and white flowers and candles are being used by different groups of people seated on the cushions. I recognize some of the people from Shawn's dance videos or dance competitions where I met them.

To the left are the bar and the food tables, filled with any food and dessert you could imagine. There is a large white chocolate fountain and a similar one with milk chocolate. Fruits, vegetables and vegetable dip are near the fountains. The smell of barbecue sauce wafts into my nose and I spot one of the workers that Dean hired grilling meat.

To the right, there are three free standing, wooden hammocks with canopies and two of them are occupied by couples. A few beach balls are gathered behind them as well as a lone table with six cushions around it.

Straight ahead are people dancing and grinding against each other near the DJ. Both Shawn and Jesse are on the dance floor, but when Shawn spots me he drags Jesse over to us, and Bryan and Dean follow them.

"Chaaaaase!" Shawn exclaims. He stops in front of me and blows me kisses and I giggle and blow him kisses as well. "Do you want to say hi to some of my friends? If you don't want to, we can go get some food?"

I know that Shawn wants me to interact with his friends and I said that I would try, so I nod, even though my hands are suddenly clammy. Diego kisses my temple and when I turn towards him he plants a kiss on my lips. "When you come back, I'll have food waiting for you." I giggle and nod in response before following Jesse and Shawn to one of the tables where a group of Shawn's friends from his dance studio are seated.

We are greeted by loud cheers and whistles and Shawn soaks up the attention, twirling so that his worshippers, as he called them, can get a good look at him. I've already met most of them so Shawn introduces me to the ones I haven't met.

One of the guys sticks out his hand for me to shake and I smile but shake my head. "It's really nice to meet you! But I don't really like shaking hands. I'm sorry and I hope I'm not being rude!"

He grins. "Don't sweat it. Nice to meet you too!" I smile in return and we have a short conversation about how we know Shawn.

The next table is filled with some of Shawn's previous students and each of them honours Shawn by performing a dance move that he taught them. This soon garners some attention and more of Shawn's dance friends join in the dance battle to win Shawn's affection.

Shawn tells all of them that he loves them and he and Jesse have a few more jello shots. The birthday boy confesses that he had nine jello shots earlier because they were so good, while Jesse had about three.

Although beads of sweat gather around my forehead from all the interaction and the fact that I'm wearing a long sleeved top, I have fun watching his friends dance and I even build up the courage to join in on their conversations.

Any time anyone gets close to touching me, I shift or try to distract them by pointing out some random thing that is happening. Sometimes my eyes drift in search of Diego and I would find him watching me with a soft smile. Whenever our eyes meet, he would blow me a kiss or smile and give me a thumbs up, and that always encourages me to be brave. 

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