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I glanced back up at the guys, who were now running through “I Want it That Way” again. As a Kevin fan from the beginning, I liked the way he looked in that denim shirt, in a purely platonic way at this point, of course. Well, mostly.  A girl can appreciate a good-looking man without any intentions, right? It was the same shirt he’d been wearing the day I met him while on the BSB cruise a year and  a half ago.  Come  to think about it, he did wear that shirt a lot.

 

“What are we talking about?” Rochelle asked.  She pulled up a chair behind us and spread out a blanket on the floor for Ava to crawl around on, then leaned forward and stuck her head in between mine and Kristin’s.  I wondered it she’d been a Happy Days fan, because at the moment, she totally reminded me of

“Potsie.”

 

“Kevin’s denim shirt/ Nick’s red sweatpants,” Kristin and I answered with simultaneous eye rolls.

 

Rochelle laughed and placed her hand on Kristin’s shoulder, then started talking to her pointedly.  “Does it have sleeves?”

 

Kristin furrowed her brows.  “Yes.”

 

“Is it acid-washed?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then it can’t be that bad.”  I looked up at AJ.  He was wearing a light denim vest that looked like an old jean jacket with the arms cut off, frayed edges and all.  I shrugged.  It was very AJ.  “I know!  I’m such a hypocrite!” Rochelle lamented.  “I mean, Skullee and I are all about supporting each other’s personal style, but that one just bugs me.  I jokingly asked him once if he stole it from the set of the “I Just Want You to Know” video.

 

Kristin snorted.  “What was his answer?”

 

“Yes,” Rochelle said seriously.  “He liked it so much he asked the wardrobe girl if he could take it.  I think he even paid money for it.  I’m all about shopping vintage, but apparently he does his shopping on the sets of videos poking fun at 80’s hair bands. ”

 

“Well at least he’s gotten a lot of use out of it,” I said with a laugh.

 “It even  reprised its role on the last cruise.”

 

“And today, and last Friday, and on the Tuesday before that,” Rochelle added with a frown.

 

“Oh, the cruise,” Leighanne muttered from a few feet away.  “Tickle Me Elmo.”  She sighed and shook her head in disdain.

 

“What’s that, Leighanne?”  I asked from afar.

 

Leighanne gave me a weak smile and got up to drag her chair over to where we were seated.  She took in a deep breath and let it out.

 

 “You remember those Elmo pajamas he wore on the cruise?”  We all nodded.  “He still wears them,”  she said, shaking her head with a dramatic eye roll.  Yet, along with it came an amused smirk.  “He wears  them to bed about three times a week, and every single time, he asks me to tickle him.”

 

“Well do you?”  Leigh walked up behind us and placed baby John in Kristin’s arms.  “He just ate, so here you go,” she said, handing her a white cloth diaper to use as a burp rag.  Kristin started cooing at John and lifted him over her shoulder, rubbing circles on his tiny back.  Then she turned to Leighanne with expectant eyes.

 

“Well, do you?”

 

Leighanne blushed and brought her fist up to her mouth as she coughed to clear her throat.  “Usually.”

 

“I knew it!” Leigh pumped her fist into the air triumphantly.  “But why are we talking about Brian’s pajamas?”

 

“Is there something Howie wears that makes you cringe every time you see it?”  I asked her.  “I mean, even Ro has something of AJ’s she doesn’t like....”

 

“The vest,” Leigh said with a knowing nod.  I raised my eyebrows in surprise.  “We’ve talked about it before.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Howie has this baseball cap that he won’t let go of.”

 

“Been there,” Leighanne chimed in.  

 

“He wears it whenever he’s having a bad hair day, and that thing is do disgusting.  I mean, I washed it once thinking maybe it would fall apart, but no such luck.  He thinks that because it’s army green you can’t see the stains on it.  Well, maybe he can’t, and maybe the fans can’t, but I sure can.”  She crinkled her nose in disgust and groaned.

 

“At least it’s not white turned cruddy yellow with sweat stains,”

 Leighanne said.  “Brian had this awful UK cap that I finally just tossed.”

 

“Well, Annie got caught,” Kristin said with a giggle.

 

“Is this about the pants?”  Leigh pointed to Nick, who was “popping and locking “ between Howie and Brian.  He stopped momentarily to hike them up and re-tie the dingy drawstring.  “We’ve been trying to get rid of them for years.”

 

“You have?”

 

“Yep. But you know, we didn’t have much of an ally in the mission until now,”  Leigh rubbed her hands together excitedly and plopped down in the floor in front of us cross-legged.  “What are we planning?”

______________________________________

Kevin wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel, tossed it on the floor and put his hands on his hips.  “What do you think they’re talking about?” he asked, eyeing the wives suspiciously.

 

“How hot we look doing the ‘Everybody’ dance?”  AJ guessed with a smirk.

 

“Ha!”  Howie scoffed.  “Looks like mine’s the ringleader.  You know it’s dirtier than that.”

 

“How they can’t wait to ravage our sexy bodies when we get home?”  Brian surmised with a Jim Carrey-esque grin and chuckle.

 

Kevin groaned.  “Doubtful.”

 

“What makes you so sure?”  AJ asked with a pout.  “I was kind of hopeful.”

 

“Two words, gentlemen.”  Kevin said seriously.  “Pelvic. Rest.” He held up his fist, bringing his fingers up one at a time as he said the words.

 

“Ouch!”  Howie winced as Brian and AJ moaned their “Aww”s of agreement.

 

Nick’s wide eyes darted back and forth between his bandmates.

“What’s that?” he asked apprehensively.  “Or do I even want to know?”

 

Howie laughed and have him a hearty slap on the shoulder.  “Let’s just say that per doctor’s orders, Kev’s not gettin’ any.”  Kevin coughed, his cheeks turning just slightly pink as he turned away from his bandmates and took a swig from his bottle of water.

 

“Heh,” Nick gave them a nervous chuckle.  “Well, neither am I,” he murmured.

 

“Doctor’s orders?”  Brian asked with an amused glint in his eye.

 

“Something like that,” the younger man grunted in return.  Annie had been a doctor before taking a leap of faith and pursuing her own musical career.  She had also convinced her fiancee that they should wait until marriage to consummate the relationship, and since the one and only time they’d slept together ended with bad results he’d rather not think about at the moment, he reluctantly agreed.  Of course, he didn’t expect that an unforeseen turn of events would have them pushing the wedding back until a break after their summer tour.  Still, this woman was worth the wait.  He watched Annie’s face light up with laughter as Leigh whispered something in her ear, and he couldn’t help smiling when he suddenly realized what the women were most likely talking about.  “This is about the sweatpants, isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s about the sweatpants.”