After dinner that night, instead of dressing up in our finery again, Harry suggested we continue the pool party by moonlight. Either he really liked to swim or he really liked to see us all in our swimsuits. That was only fair, I guess, since I quite liked seeing him in his swimsuit, too.

Once again, cameras and booze were plenty. I was fairly certain that Jamie had remained in varied states of intoxication for the entire day. 

"What do you do, Jamie?" I asked as we headed out towards the pool. 

"I'm a student," she answered. "Cal Poly, baby, woo!" All eyes looked in her direction at her loud shout. "I'm actually taking a break right now. I mean, of course, I'm taking a break right now because we're on this TV show. Isn't that cool, that we're gonna be on TV? But anyway, I'm not studying now because I have to save up some more money, so for now I'm a student of life." She laughed pretty hard, thinking that was a lot more funny than it was. 

I suggested that she have a bottle of water before her next drink. The last thing Harry needed was someone yakking on him again.

Someone had set up a volleyball net in the pool, so Harry and a number of women started a game. I watched vigilantly while he played. I found his body to be intensely hot, even in spite of the tattoos. Maybe even because of the tattoos, but I wasn't going to admit that just yet. It was clear that he worked out often to keep in shape for his career, flaunting his six-pack whenever he jumped out of the water to spike the ball. And that man bun? Seriously growing on me.

I watched how he interacted with everyone. He seemed genuinely nice and friendly, trying to include everyone in the game. And he was patient with the roughly two-thirds of the women who had no idea what they were doing. He didn't fit my stereotype of a celebrity - I would have thought he'd be a schmoozer, dropping thinly veiled sleazy pick up lines. Or maybe I expected him to be reclining in one of the cabanas while we all fanned him and fed him grapes and he regaled us with tales from his adventures. It had even crossed my mind that, with Harry Styles in the house, this whole scenario might turn into a full-fledged orgy.

My wonderment at Harry's presence here was fading and I was becoming more guarded. How could a world-famous sex symbol, especially someone with Harry's reputation, become a decent husband? He seemed sincere enough when he gave his speech, but they were only words. Even with all the good qualities he seemed to possess, how would he make a lasting relationship work? I didn't really care for the idea of traveling the world, or having my entire life in the public eye, for that matter. This show demonstrated that lifestyle to some extent, with cameras in our faces almost round the clock. I could already see where things we had said and done on camera could be manipulated to be used against us.

For all of his glamour, fame, and drop-dead gorgeous looks, I knew I couldn't possibly consider Harry in a serious way. I wasn't in this to become arm candy, not that I even fit the bill for that anyway. It would be fun to hang around for a while and see how things played out, if Harry even took an interest in me and chose to have me stay. But I had made up my mind that I couldn't allow myself to become romantically interested in him. Maybe that was cheating a little because the show was designed for romantic relationships. I would just stay a few rounds, if possible, and then get out of the way.

I dozed off for a bit until I felt cool drips of water landing on my toes. I opened my eyes and there was Harry, purposely letting droplets fall onto my feet.

"May I help you?" I grinned.

"Care to join me in the hot tub?" He asked. This was the second time he had sought me out today. I shouldn't have been too surprised because he was doing the same with many of the other women, trying to get a moment or two with each before the others crowded in. I just wasn't sure how I managed to get a second invitation. But I wasn't going to turn it down.

"Sure," I said, thinking that hot water sounded perfect right now as the cool breeze of the mountains was picking up. 

The alcohol was flowing freely, so the other girls who joined us in the hot tub were pretty tipsy. Harry invited Demi to join us as well, scanning her body up and down, clearly pleased with the view.

He sat next to me, so close in fact that our thighs were touching, and Demi sat on his other side. I guess he really didn't want to exclude anyone because we were all packed in like sardines.

I smiled at a girl a few seats away. "Hi, I'm Harper."

"Keke," she replied and smiled dutifully.

I looked around the hot tub getting to know everyone that I hadn't met yet. I really felt like it would be nice to know the other women and not just slobber over the token hottie in our midst.

In addition to Harry, Demi, Keke, and me, there were four other women in the giant tub: Bianca, Elena, Allison and Sara, all of whom I hadn't spoken to very much yet. I'd met Sara briefly when she told Salma off, and I'd heard Allison's bubble-headed questions earlier. Bianca was from Brazil, as I'd learned the first night. She had gorgeous thick black hair and I could just see in her wide brown eyes that she was a spitfire. I discovered that she was a digital strategist. Elena told us that she was a software developer and Sara told us she was a nurse. 

I found myself pleasantly surprised that many of the women here had successful careers. I guess I didn't know what I'd been expecting - maybe gold diggers and lonely spinsters, maybe. Most of the women I had met met were fun, smart, and outgoing. We kept the conversation going about careers, mainly, and then I realized that I was monopolizing the conversation, big time.

"I'm sorry, Harry," I finally laughed a little. "This is your shindig and I'm totally taking over."

He smiled and said, "Not at all. I don't mind hearing about all of you. That's why we're here, right? To get to know each other?"

His voice washed over me like a warm bath. Every. Single. Time. He wasn't going to make this easy, was he? I reminded myself that I wasn't going to fall for his British accent or his gorgeous eyes, or his super hot physique, or his charming personality. Did I mention his smile? Damn! Did I even have a list of cons for this guy?

He took over the conversation, asking about everyone's trip to Northern California and where they came from. Siblings and family. Awkward years and high school memories. Harry tried convincing us that he was a nerd in high school but no one bought it for a second, except me.

"Seriously," he laughed. "Haven't you seen the millions of photos of my awkward years floating around the internet? Even when I first started in the band, I was a complete numpty." 

"I can totally see the nerd in you," I said bluntly.

"Really?" He asked with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah. You have nerd written all over you, and obviously you over-compensated with the whole hot, sexy rocker thing so that you could leave your old self behind."

The other women started at me in shock while Harry smirked, "Interesting theory."

Shit. I was doing it again. Flirting. Ugh, I couldn't help myself because hello, British pop star! 

After chatting a bit more, Harry excused himself and went to spend some time with other women. I saw him approach Sadia, Oluchi and Hanan, who had been sticking together pretty closely. How could he miss Oluchi? She was so beautiful.  

"You know," Dove's voice appeared in the hot tub as she slithered in. "I think it's rather inappropriate for you to be recruiting Harry for your ad agency." 

I looked up at her in disbelief. "You know," I said, mocking her, "I think you'd be very pretty if you could wipe that sneer off your face. And for the record, we were just talking. You know, when people want to get to know each other, they talk about what interests them, unlike some people who simply feel the need to point out how everyone else is beneath them."

"Still," she grumbled. "If you're not here for the right reasons, then you should just just leave. It's not fair to Harry." 

"So you think I have a chance with him then," I remarked dryly.

"Oh, please," she said, forcing artificial laughter from her too-pouty lips.

"Well, if you don't think he would choose me, then I'm not really being unfair to Harry, now am I? Maybe I'm just along for the ride." 

"Ugh, will you just stop talking?" She spat. 

Bianca took over, saying, "You know, we all have the same chance, so why don't you stop acting like you're better than us, Daddy's little rich girl. I'm surprised he didn't just pay Harry off to make him marry you." 

"How dare you," Dove gasped, her eyes wide with anger. 

"Oh, I dared," Bianca snapped. "Now, why don't you go find your other little rich friends and leave us in peace.

Dove furiously got out of the hot tub and stomped away. I could practically see the steam coming from her ears. The rest of us laughed loudly when Bianca said, in her thick accent, "I hate bitches like that." 

My skin was starting to prune and I wanted to get out, but I had a question for Demi. "What happened to your blue hair?"

"Oh," she said, acting much more shy than when she had taken off her cover-up to let everyone gawk at her amazing body. "It was temporary. I washed it out."

"No offense, but why did you go with blue in the first place?" 

She shrugged. "It matched my dress." Logical explanation, I guess. Something was just kind of off about Demi and I couldn't put my finger on it. I chalked it up to eccentricity. Maybe her swimsuit was her one success in life and tomorrow she would show up in a mini skirt rainbow leg warmers. 

* * *

That night, I sat talking with my room-mates for a long time. Joy was in a daze, smiling stupidly about having spent the day with Harry Styles. Well, to be honest, we all were. She looked pretty tired, though, so she just laid down and listened to our conversation. 

"Oh my gosh," Ariana said in her high-pitched voice, "I was sure I was going to die when I first saw that it was Harry Styles. I love his music." 

Brittany chimed in. "I know! Oh, my gosh, have you seen him in concert?" 

"Oh yes," Ariana said, letting her eyes flutter. "Oh when he does this thing." She jumped up and slid her hand down the front of her belly to her crotch. "He makes me feel things," she giggled.

"Yes!" Brittany practically shouted. "And when he does the water spout thing. Oh my god, he's so fucking hot! Seriously, I'm so horny right now." 

"Good to know," I replied. "I'd love to see some footage from his concerts. He told us to watch some of the old stuff, to learn a little about his history and the band. But we don't have any electronics."

"There's a TV right there," Joy said, pointing to an armoire. Of course it was a TV cabinet, I just had never noticed. "I checked it out earlier. There's YouTube and tons of other channels."

"I know," Brittany said excitedly. "Let's watch this one concert from the OTRA tour, she said, clicking on the video.

"What does OTRA mean?" I asked. "Harry asked me the night we met him in the video chat room, if I knew what it meant." 

"On The Road Again. That was the name of their last tour before they went on hiatus," Ariana explained. 

"Ahh, interesting. So he was probably trying to figure out if I was a fan or knew anything about One Direction." 

"Yep," Brittany said. She hit play and I watched, mesmerized as Harry ran across the stage and up and down the catwalk, trying to involve as many fans as possible, laughing and joking with the crowd. Wow, he had so much energy and charisma. When he sang, he put everything into it, belting out the songs with so much passion it almost made me blush. And when he did that sliding his hand down his crotch thing, damn! I felt it in my loins. Do women even have loins? Whatever the case, Harry's sexy shenanigans on stage left me very hot under the collar. And elsewhere. I wanted to put my hand over Joy's eyes, but no doubt she'd seen all of this online, if not in concert. No wonder women across the world lusted after him. 

Just meeting him today, seeing all of him in person, was enough to make me physically attracted to him. But this charismatic display, this untamed enthusiasm - I could see why it made women want him. Every woman wants a man who's passionate about something. And it was clear that Harry's passion was music.

Brittany, Ariana and I stayed up far too late watching videos. They showed me Harry's audition for The X Factor - oh, my heavens was he adorable - and then the heartbreaking footage of him and the other guys when they didn't make it through to the next round, and finally the moment that Simon Cowell gave them the opportunity to form a band together. It was history in the making. I was surprisingly moved by that little introduction to Harry's fame. After that, we watched some of the goofy video diaries and some of the more serious interviews. Oh, and I can't forget the interview with Ellen DeGeneres where Harry admitted that he had hooked up with a fan, that he had made out with a woman twice his age, and on another talk show, playing the same game, he admitted that he had been in the mile-high club. I guess none of that surprised me, considering his world-famous-rocker status, but it did make me wonder whether he was really a playboy at heart.

I watched clip after clip after clip, learning big and small things about him, getting to know his sense of humor, watching how he interacted with his band mates. Long after Brittany and Ariana fell asleep, I kept watching. I was an addict. I sensed a growing danger for my heart because it was plain to see how any woman could fall in love with him. 

_____

Whew - I had insomnia last night so I cranked out 3 chapters - yahoo! <3