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Author's Chapter Notes:
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“I have an idea!” AJ announced a few days later.

“That’s a first!” Nick replied, trying to avoid the elbow to the stomach.

“Funny Carter.”

“I’m just saying.”

“What’s your idea J?” asked Howie.

“I think we should go bowling!”

“Bowling?” Kevin came through the door of the suite. “You want to go bowling?”

“Yeah, it’s our last night in Boston so let’s go out and explore.”

“We must be getting older.” Brian chuckled. “It used to be “let’s go to a club” or “let’s go to a party”. Now we’re going bowling.”

“Fine, if you guys don’t want to go….”

“Can we go Cosmic Bowling?” Nick asked.

“What the hell is Cosmic Bowling?”

“It’s like a disco bowling thing. They turn on a black light and disco balls. The lights flash all over the lanes and they play different kinds of music.”

“Why not?” Kevin answered, shocking the group. “Could be fun and we’re off for a few days. Where do we go?”

“I saw some places south of Boston. It wouldn’t take us long to get there and it could be kinda fun.”

The guys called in Marcus and a couple of the other bodyguards. They all agreed to give it a try but if the fans got wind of it, they’d pull the plug and the guys would have to leave. Climbing into a couple of the SUVs that they were renting, they headed south to Brockton.

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“This is going to be so much fun!” Addie said linking her arm with Emma’s. “I’ve never tried Cosmic Bowling.”

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. I can barely bowl with the lights on. Now you’re gonna turn them off and turn on disco balls? I’ll be lucky if I don’t hit myself in the head with the ball!”

“Oh you’re gonna be fine!”

“Famous last words Addie!”

The two girls made it up to the door and were surprised to find it locked. They were open when they called earlier and now it seemed kind of deserted.

“This stinks.” Addie frowned. “I wanted to have some fun.”

“I know what we could do.” Emma replied turning around. “Let’s go hang out and play video games at my house!”

“I seriously hope you’re joking.”

“Ya think? I hate those things. Sometimes I wanna pack up all of Jessie’s and run them over with my truck.”

“Now that would be fun!”

Addie was just stepping off the curb when she heard the door open behind her. She turned to look and found Howie Dorough standing in front of her. Her jaw dropped open and she made a squeak causing Emma to turn around.

“Hey, you guys came to our show the other night right?” he asked.

Addie just nodded her head.

“We were coming to check out the Cosmic Bowling.” Emma told him. “But I guess we got the hours wrong.”

Howie blushed. “That’s actually our fault. We wanted to try it out to and the owner said the only way we could do it was to rent all the lanes. He didn’t want all of our fans to show up and flood the place.”

“I can’t say that I blame him.” Emma replied. “Have fun!”

The two girls turned around to leave but Howie called out to them.

“Hey, we have plenty of room. Let me check with the guys and see if they mind two more.”

He darted back into the bowling alley and returned a moment later to invite them in. Addie lowered her voice and leaned into Emma’s ear as they made their way inside.

“I cannot believe we’re going to bowl with the Backstreet Boys!”

Emma chuckled. “Maybe they can make that into one of their cruise themes. Bowling with the Backstreet Boys.”

“Wise ass!”

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“Hey!” AJ called out. “It’s Ms. Feisty!”

Emma turned beet red and Addie burst out laughing.

“Ignore him.” Nick said giving her a hug. “He’s being AJ.”

“Just kidding sweetheart.” AJ hugged her and grinned. “I like to tease people.”

“I can tell.”

The girls said hello to Kevin and Brian and thanked everyone for letting them join the group.

“No problem.” Howie responded. “It’s nice to have company outside of these knuckleheads.”

“We were just divvying up the teams.” Kevin said ignoring him. “How about Howie, Addie and me on one team and then Nick, AJ and Emma on the other.”

“You’re not playing Brian?” Emma asked.

“Nah. I bumped my wrist on part of the staging and I don’t want to do anything else to it. We still have a lot of shows to do and I can’t afford to not be able to wave to all my fans.”

“I can wave to them for you.” AJ’s eyes lit up. “You know they really want to see me anyway.”

“Ok, ok. Let’s break it up boys. We still have to sleep tonight.”

The two teams broke up to figure out who would go first for each one.

“I’m going to warn you guys in advance.” Emma said to Nick and AJ. “I’m not athletically inclined and I don’t bowl very well with the lights on, forget in the dark.”

Nick laughed. “No problem. Kevin and Howie aren’t great either so I think we’re ok.”

Emma drew the short straw and had to go first. She threw the ball down the gutter and had just swung her arm back to let go of the second one when she dropped the ball and fell down, hitting the floor butt first.

“Oh no.” Brian said quietly.

The guys had seen how girls reacted to being embarrassed and most of them cried or threw a fit. Everyone waited to see how Emma reacted.