Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 01:17:28 EDT
From: Raven <98degrees@fantasyhoops.com>
Subject: Love at 98Degrees

This story has been in the works for quite a while and while it may be
pretentious I have to dedicate it to five authors that have helped me a
great deal and whose work has had an impact on me personally.  Hey guys I'm
finally an author too...LOL. In alphabetical order they are

Allen: You are my desert island writer.  I could live off your stories and
poetry forever.  Yours was the first Nifty Story I read and it is still the
standard by which I measure all others.  If not for you, I never would have
written a word.  Your love and support mean everything to me.  I love you
very much.

Chuck: First of all thank you for letting me "borrow" Kevin and Jordan for
this first section.  The interaction between Josh and Jordan is much like
what we have.  I will always treasure our friendship.  You know I love you
a great deal but I will hurt you if you don't get another section of your
story out...LOL

Dennis: I think you have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met.  You
care so deeply for your friends and are always there when someone needs a
kind word or some encouragement.  You probably don't even realize how much
your friendship means to me.  I love you very much and admire you a great
deal.

Jason: Well, I have more fun online with you than anyone else I know.  More
importantly you have always been there whenever I needed someone.  Even
when others were not there, you were.  I can't even tell you how much that
means to me.  You have turned out to be such a good friend and I love you
for that.

Last but certainly not least is Shawn: What can I say?  You are my boy.
Nothing in my life happens without you being there.  It would take pages
too properly thank you for what you have brought to my life so I will just
say * kiss * and I love you.

Any comments on this story can be sent to 98degrees@fantasyhoops.com

This is only a fictional story and is not meant to imply anything about the
sexual preferences of any member of 98 Degrees or Kevin Richardson of the
Backstreet Boys.  If you're not supposed to be reading this because of some
stupid law, or if you are under age, or if same sex love is not your thing
then why are you even in the Gay story section of Nifty and reading my
story anyway?  You should leave now.


Love at 98 Degrees
By Raven

"Mr. Palmer wake up.  Mr. Palmer wake up.  Josh!  Wake up you're home."

"What?  Oh, thank you Jack."

I can't believe that I had fallen asleep in the back of the limo on the way
home from the airport.  Well I guess I can.  It was 2am and I had just come
home from New York where we wrapped up the latest movie I was shooting.

"Here Mr. Palmer, I will get your bags." Jack reached for some of the many
bags that I was trying to juggle.

"No, Jack.  You need to go home.  It's late, go to bed.  Don't want the
tabloids running an article that says that Joshua Palmer can't carry his
own luggage."  I joked with him.

I stumbled up to my door and tried to put the key in, but I had been having
some difficulty with the lock lately.  "Damn, lock." I mumbled to myself.
"How many millions did I just make off this latest picture and I can't even
get a lock that works."

"Two and a half million is what you just made."  A voice behind me said.

"Jesus Mark!"  I said jumping out of my skin, "You scared the shit out of
me!  What the hell are you doing here at this hour?  If you have come to
talk about a new script or something it is just going to have to wait.  I
am exhausted and just going to bed."

Mark was my agent and a very zealous one at that.  He always had something
for me.  I knew I would have never gotten as far as I have in such a short
period of time if not for his tireless efforts. It was only by chance that
I had the great Mark Dawson as an agent any way so I thanked my lucky stars
for everything he did for me. But damn I was just so tired tonight.

When I first came to LA I worked several odd jobs before landing a job in
the mailroom of Mark's company.  See I had a great plan.  I knew I wanted
to act, but of course who doesn't in LA.  I decided to get myself
established and start off slow with some acting classes and such and then
burst on to the scene when I was 22.  I had 2 years to go in my plan and
everything was working out well.  Anyway, one day I was delivering the mail
and Mark stopped me in his office.  He needed someone to run lines with one
of the clients he had.  They were late and needed lines run in the limo on
the way to the studio.  He told me all I had to do was to read the part of
Ashley while Jake read the part of Simon.  He'd even slip an extra twenty
into my pay envelope for helping him out.

At first I was very nervous and stumbled a lot in the reading.  I could
tell Jake was getting annoyed at me, but soon my reading evened out and I
did just fine.  We arrived at the studio and Jake had his audition with the
director.  Just as we were leaving the director asked me how tall I was and
how much I weighed.  I replied that I was 6 foot and weighed 165 pounds.
He threw me a script and had me read the part of Will.  When I finished he
told me that I would have to dye my brown hair blonde, and asked if Mark
was my agent.  Before I had a chance to reply Mark said that he was and to
send the papers over to his office and we would discuss it.

With that, my movie career was on its way.  It was a smaller part, but won
me an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor none the less.  I didn't
win, but I did get a flood of offers.  That was two years ago and now I had
just finished my first film as a lead actor.  In that time Mark and I had
become friends.  He always felt like he had to look out for me. I was from
a small town in Ohio and Mark was never convinced that I could hold my own
in LA.

"Well, mainly I wanted to see if you made it home safe, but I also have one
work related item to discuss with you" Mark replied.

"Why aren't you in bed with your wife?"

"Oh, Linda and the kids are out of town right now"

"Well don't just stand there then, make yourself useful."  I said throwing
some of my luggage at him after finally getting the door unlocked.  "Now
what is this work related item?"

"Well, you know you are presenting an award at the Blockbuster Movie Awards
tomorrow night, right?"

"I think I heard that in their commercial.  Why am I doing this?"

"Because it is good exposure for you with the new movie coming out.  I just
wanted to let you know who you are presenting with."

"Umm, ok Mark, who am I presenting with?"  I asked knowing it must be good
as he had a smile on his face.

"You are presenting with 98 Degrees!"  He laughed, knowing what I crush I
had on Jeff Timmons.

"Why isn't some hot looking actress presenting with them?"

"They requested to present with you.  Now we are at a very critical
junction in your career, I know how you feel about Jeff.  Don't let
anything get out of hand.  There will be lots of press there."  Mark
admonished me.

"Oh, right, because it would be so in character with me to drop on my knees
right there on stage, rip out Jeff's huge cock and just go down on him in
front of God and everyone."  I replied to him a little annoyed that he
would suggest such there might be a problem.

"You know that is not what I meant."

"No, it would be great.  Then with my free hands I could jack off Nick and
Drew while I was at it."

"First of all ewwww, thanks for the mental picture.  Secondly I only meant
no long looks or anything that could be construed as flirting.  We don't
need a repeat of the New York story in the tabloids.  Speaking of which, I
have set up a date for you with my niece next week.  She is a very
attractive girl and it will help squash those rumors."

"Ya know, I am a 22 year old virgin, how can those fucking tabloids say who
I am attracted to?  And, that was not my fault in New York.  I didn't know
he was gay or that he thought it was a date."

"Well, that is not quite the image we want for you either, so keep that to
yourself.  Shall I make an appointment for you to get you gaydar adjusted?
Everyone knows he is gay Josh" Mark replied laughing.

"Oh, just go home and let me get to sleep."

I was never so happy to see company leave and for me to get into bed.  I
had to admit that the mental picture I had gotten thinking of going down on
Jeff and jacking off Nick and Drew had me a little excited even if Mark was
grossed out by it.  However, as turned on as I was I was just too tired to
do anything about it and I drifted off into a nice peaceful sleep.

I let myself sleep late that morning as a treat for working so hard lately.
Being on the set every morning at 6AM had taken its toll on me so I slept
till noon.  A phone call woke me from my sound sleep.

"Hello" I answered still half a sleep.

"Don't tell me you are still in bed at noon!"

"Oh, hey Jordan.  Well, I got in at 2AM last night and have been getting up
so early I thought I'd rest today."

Jordan Taylor was one of the best friends I had made since coming to LA.
Now, I wouldn't let him know this, but I was a die-hard fan of his show "On
Our Own".  Jordan and I met at a SAG luncheon and had originally planned on
dating, but found out we made much better friends.

"Well, you did sound pretty tired before you left so I am glad you've
gotten some rest.  I want to share a limo tonight on the way to the awards,
ok?"

"You're stuck going to those too?  Why do you want to share a limo?  I am
way out of the way for you to come and pick me up."

"I have someone I want you to meet.  A new boyfriend" Jordan said
hesitantly knowing that I would grill him until I got all the information
out of him.

"What! You have met someone and are serious enough to call him your
boyfriend and I don't know about it yet?"  Jordan and I tell each other
everything, so I couldn't believe that he had kept this secret while I was
in New York.

"Well, only a handful of people know right now and you were gone.  Besides
I am introducing you to him on the first day you are back so that is good."

"I want a name and description and I want it now." I demanded.

"Oh, Josh they need me on the set.  I will pick you up at 5PM and we will
eat first.  Gotta go, bye." Jordan said slamming down the phone.  I knew
from my caller ID that he had called from home and was just trying to get
out of telling me this guy's name.

I got up and began to unpack.  I couldn't believe how long I had been gone
and so much needed to be done.  I worked all afternoon getting resettled
into my house, before I knew it the time was 4:45PM and I hadn't even
started to get ready.  I hurried and jumped into the shower knowing that
Jordan would be late as usual.  As I was drying off I heard a door shut out
in the house.  I put my towel around my waist and went to investigate who
had come in.  As I opened my bedroom door I yelled for Jordan, only to run
smack into someone coming out of the bathroom across the hall.  I grabbed a
hold of their arm to steady myself and looked up to see who had just come
out of my bathroom.  I couldn't believe it, it was Kevin Richardson of the
Backstreet Boys.

I stood there with one hand on his arm just stunned and looking into his
deep green eyes.  I only came out of my trance when I turned to see Jordan
standing at the end of my hallway laughing his ass off and pointing at me.
At that moment I realized that in bumping into Kevin I had dropped my towel
and was standing there in front of everyone naked.  I must have turned
three shades of red as I bent down and picked up my towel.

"I see you've met my boyfriend" Jordan said, continuing to laugh at the
situation.

"This is your boyfriend?"  I said pointing at Kevin in amazement.  "You
dog, I can't believe you didn't tell me."

Kevin stood there silently listening to us talk until he said "Um...I will
go and wait in the living room while you get dressed and we can be
introduced formally."

Once again I felt like such a fool standing there in front of someone I
didn't even know with only a towel wrapped around me.

"Oh, of course, please excuse me" was all I could come up with as I went in
my room and shut the door.

I emerged from my room totally dressed and looking great.  Jordan made the
formal introductions and then we headed into the limo to be taken to the
dinner being provided by Blockbuster for all the participants in the award
show.  On the way Jordan filled me in on all the details of their
relationship.  After a 45-minute ride we arrived and were shown to the
dining room and informed that the rest of our party was already here.  I
turned to Jordan who just shrugged his shoulders at me.

As we were being led to our table, I caught my first site of Jeff and the
other members of 98 Degrees.  I wasn't sure, but I could swear that he
pointed at me and then Drew and Nick both turned in my direction and
smiled.  The hostess stopped in front of their table and motioned for us to
take the three empty chairs that were there.

"We thought since we were presenting together, that we should sit together
at dinner," Nick said reaching his hand out for mine.  "It is very nice to
meet you Josh.  Let me introduce you to everyone else."

"Ok, and it is very nice to meet you too" I stumbled in reply, not
believing I was standing this close to my crush.

He proceeded to introduce me to the other members saving Jeff for last.  As
I shook his hand all I could do was stare at him.  It seemed to be
happening in slow motion and I may have never let go if Jordan hadn't
cleared his throat and again brought me out from my trance.

"Oh, of course.  Forgive me 98 Degrees, this is Jordan Taylor and..."

"Oh we already know Kevin" Jeff jumped in, "but it is very nice to meet you
Jordan and to see you again Kevin."

Although I wanted to sit across from Jeff, Nick directed me to the seat
across from him.  As dinner was being served everyone began to break off
into their own conversations.  Nick told me what a fan of my acting he was
and how he just loved the first movie I had made and how I was robbed of
the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.  I listened to him go on and on, he was
obviously very excited.  The whole time he was talking I was trying to
steal glances at Jeff, who was in a conversation with Justin and Kevin.  A
couple of times I could swear that Jeff was doing the same thing with
me. It amazed me how Jordan could either kick me under the table, or bump
my elbow when he thought I had been staring at Jeff too long and not even
break off his conversation with Drew.

Just as desert was served, Jeff spoke up and said "Josh, I read where you
just completed a movie in New York this week, could you tell us what your
part was and what the movie is about?"

Nick shot Jeff a disapproving look, obviously annoyed that he would
interrupt our conversation.

"Well," I answered "The movie is called "Going Home" and I play an inner
city school teacher who finds out that he is dying of cancer and has to
come to terms with that and patch up family relationships before he dies.
It is a very emotional movie and one to bring your girlfriend to and give
her your shoulder to cry on" I joked.  I turned to Nick and said, "Oh, it
would be a good one to bring Jessica to"

Jeff laughed at that and got another disapproving glance from both Drew and
Nick, which he ignored, and kept talking to me.

"So, did you enjoy being in New York?"

"I loved it, being from Ohio too I'm sure that you know we have nothing
close to New York and while I had been there before I had not lived there
for that long."

"How long did you have to stay there?"

"I was there for four months."

"It takes that long to shoot a movie?" he asked

"Ya, and we are still not finished.  We have some clean up work and
voice-overs to do in the studio next week.  We should pretty much wrap
things up then."

"Well, I think we better get to the auditorium." Nick jumped in taking
control of the conversation again "We don't want to be late."

"Good idea" Kevin chimed in as we all got up from our seats.

Nick practically took me by the arm and began leading the way when I
realized I was going to need some help if I was going to get rid of him.

"Oh damn, I forgot my cell phone at the table" I exclaimed.

Turning back to get it I grabbed Jordan's arm and told him to walk with me.

"Help" I whispered to him.

"What now" Jordan replied laughing.

"I don't care how you do it, but get rid of Nick so I can talk with Jeff."
I told him in desperation.

"Ok, leave it to me and I will take care of it.  I swear you would be lost
without me."  Jordan replied laughing.

We walked quickly to catch up with the others when I noticed Jordan
whispering something to Kevin and then Kevin nodding in agreement.  I knew
it must be his plan to separate me from Nick and I was very relieved.  As
we walked into the auditorium and were shown to our seats, I felt a pull on
my elbow from behind me.  It was Kevin pulling me back in order to get
closer to Nick himself.

"Nick, I hear that this new album is going to be much different from your
last ones.  Tell me about it." Kevin herded Nick down the row of seats as
he was talking to him and turned and winked to me.

I looked around for Jeff and found him right beside me.

"I have to sit on the end" Jeff smiled, "It's a claustrophobia thing"

"Oh, well I have to sit in the second chair" I replied joking "It's a fear
of earthquake thing.  Don't want to be trapped in middle of the row when
that chandelier comes crashing down."  I laughed at myself more than
anything realizing how shamelessly I was flirting with him.

"Well we make a good pair then" Jeff replied while flashing a smile that
made my knees weak.

We had a few minutes before the program started and we were not scheduled
to present for about an hour so everyone began talking to the person next
to them.  I thought it best to find out if this relationship could go
anywhere or if he was just a nice guy.  I would hate to waste all my best
lines on Jeff and end up going home with Nick who obviously thought there
was something between us, I laughed to myself.

"Jeff, how is your daughter?  I think I read that she was 14 months now?"

"Oh she is doing great."  His eyes lit up and his whole face just glowed as
he talked about her and filled me in on everything from her delivery to the
dress he bought her yesterday.  I could really tell he liked talking about
her.

"That is so sweet." I replied "And your wife, how is she?"  I new fully
well they were not married but wanted his reaction to the question.

"Oh, we are NOT married." He replied with a heavy emphasis on the word not.

"Just a boyfriend/girlfriend thing?"  I pressed him harder for the actual
definition of their relationship.

"Well not that either.  It's more like, umm." I could tell he was
struggling to come up with the right words.  "See, we have been friends for
a long time and both of us really wanted to have a child.  We truly love
each other as friends and knew that we would both be very good parents, so
we decided to have one together.  If in the future each of us have a
partner in our life then we will share custody of her, but until then we
are living in the same house to both be near our daughter."  Jeff was very
relieved to get the words out and now just looked at me for a reaction.

My heart began to do flip-flops.  I'm sure it was just me but what stood
out in my mind were the words "friend" and "partner".  Now he could have
chosen any words to describe their relationship and he chose the word
"friend".  That was very encouraging to me.  Also encouraging was the word
"partner".  He could have said "married" or even "relationship", but he
used such a generic word "partner".  I felt my chances with him improving.

"I think that is so cool, that both of you feel the same way about just
being friends.  And and raising the child together as friends.
Friends...that is, that is so cool."  For being such an accomplished actor
I was having a hard time playing the part of a cool, calm, and collected
guy.  I was however playing the part of a fool very well.

Jeff just kind of looked at me and laughed "Well, I'm glad you think that
is so neat."

I must have turned very red because Jeff looked like he felt sorry for even
teasing me about it.

"Ok, Mr. Palmer.  Now you have grilled me on my relationship status, now it
is my turn."  Jeff smiled as he asked "any special girl in your life?"

"Nope no partner at this time, regardless of what you read in the tabloids"
I was very careful to drop the same hint that I felt he had dropped me, and
it must have worked because he only smiled back at me and said "Oh."

We continued with small chitchat until we were called back stage to
present.  It was the same scene back stage here as it is at all of these
type of events.  The press was everywhere and every hip young actor had
been roped in by his or her agent to be there as well.  We all just smiled
at each other knowing we were all in the same boat.

After we presented I noticed that Jeff and Nick had disappeared and were no
where to be found.  I asked Justin where they were and he just shrugged his
shoulders and mumbled that they were probably off fighting somewhere.  Just
then I noticed Jeff coming straight towards me looking very angry.

"Is something wrong?" I asked when he reached me.

"Just Nick being an asshole as usual" Jeff shot a look over in Nick's
direction as he talked to me.  "Hey would you like to go out, maybe hit a
club or something?"

"Sure, I think we are supposed to stay to be interviewed first"

"Fuck that.  I would really like it if we could go now" Jeff asked in a
very soft voice and giving me puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, lets round up everyone and we can head out."

"Well, I'm not in the mood to out with a bunch of people.  Could we just go
out alone?"

My heart jumped into my throat and I couldn't even answer him.  All I did
was nod in agreement and smile.  I realized that I had to tell Jordan
goodbye and held up a finger to Jeff to pause him and then went to the
curtain and looked for Jordan and Kevin.  I finally caught Kevin's
attention who, in turn, got Jordan to look up at me.  I just waved good bye
and smiled at him and then left out the door with Jeff.

To be continued.......

Once again any comments can be sent to 98degrees@fantasyhoops.com

Thanks again to Chuck for loaning my Kevin and Jordan to help out in this
first section.  If you are not familiar with his story you should check out
the web site at http://members.xoom.com/KevinJordan and read the story.