****

“Chris, I swear if you don’t stop jumping on this bed I’m going to kick you in that demonic little head of yours,” Jen warned, her forearm slung over her closed eyes.

“What’s the matter Jen, got a hangover?” he teased, plopping down beside her on the plush mattress.

“No, I do not have a hangover. I’m just tired,” she insisted to muffled snickers from the other occupants in the room.

“Whatever,” Chris scoffed. “If you wanna sleep go to your own room,” he stated, standing on the bed once again.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Jen said reaching up and grabbing him by the hood of his sweatshirt, pulling him down to the bed with a force. “If you wanna jump, YOU go to your own room.”

“Are you just gonna sit there and let her abuse me like this?” Chris asked his girlfriend as she sat in the nearby chair flipping through a magazine.

“Yeah, I think I will,” Danielle quipped, not bothering to look up from her reading. She had flown in earlier that morning from Los Angeles to attend the awards with her longtime beau.

“Fine, I see how you damn females are… always gotta stick together,” Chris mumbled bitterly.

“So Lance, where’d you say Sami was?” Justin questioned as he and JC sat at opposite ends of the comfortable sofa in Lance and Sam’s hotel suite.

“I didn’t,” the blonde man replied simply as he sat in the adjacent armchair reading through a large manuscript.

“I know, that’s why I’m asking again,” Justin smirked.

“She went to talk to Britney.”

“What!? Why?” the younger man demanded quickly.

“Calm down,” Lance chuckled. “She said she just wanted to make sure there weren’t any hard feelings between the two of them. Why are you all upset anyway? I thought you said you told Brit everything.”

“That’s right, I did,” Justin reminded himself.

“But now that you mentioned it, she has been gone for almost two hours,” Lance realized glancing at the clock near the bed.

“Two hours?” Justin gasped. “Aren’t you worried?”

“No,” Lance said looking at his friend oddly. “Why should I be worried?”

“Really Justin, you need to chill out,” JC laughed. “They’re girls, they probably just got lost in conversation or went to eat or something. I mean come on now, it’s Britney and Sam… do you think they’re up there cat-fighting over you or something?” he joked.

“No. If I thought that, I’d be up there watching,” Justin cracked.

“Me too!” Joey piped in as he sat at the dinette table with Mel.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Sami kick the shit out of that little twit either,” Mel said so only Joey could hear as she tinkered on Lance’s laptop. He laughed loudly before giving her a teasing nudge with his arm.

“What’s so funny?” Justin asked with a questioningly raised brow.

“Nothing,” Joey smiled as Mel attempted to mask her giggles just as the entry door to the suite opened.

Sam bustled in, her cell phone trapped between her ear and her shoulder, deep in conversation. She slipped the card key back into her pocket as she pushed the door shut with her foot and went back to typing away on the two-way pager in her hands.

“Look! It’s Lance’s double. Only with boobs and longer hair,” Joey snickered as Sam approached the table where he sat.

“Really long hair,” Chris added. “What is she, a chia pet or something? Add water and it grows overnight,” he kidded as everyone stared at Sam’s newly lengthened locks.

“No that’s Justin,” Jen quipped, sitting up and opening her weary hazel eyes to see what all the fuss was about.

“Hey my hair has never grown that fast,” he protested as Sam sat at the table still engulfed in her conversation.

“That date works perfectly with Lance’s schedule,” Sam spoke into the phone as she flipped through the pages of her daily appointment book. “Great. We’ll see you then,” she said hanging up the phone before writing the new date on the page before her and then entering it into Lance’s schedule book as well as the hand-held computerized organizer they shared.

Grabbing a manila folder and an ink pen off of the tabletop, she made her way over to Lance. She still hadn’t said a word about her hair. Her light brown tresses, which normally rested just below her shoulder, had been elongated down the majority of her back with the aide of extensions which were completely straight, sleek, and perfectly matching her natural color. The fabricated tufts blended seamlessly with her actual hair and there were minuscule braids scattered throughout with small ribbons of silver twisted amongst the brown hues.

“I need you to sign this please,” Sam requested, leaning over him from behind the chair.

“What exactly am I signing, this braid or this piece of hair here?” he teased tugging at the hair that had spilled over his shoulder and onto the document that she had placed in front of him.

“Sorry, I’m not used to dealing with all this yet,” she smiled, flipping her hair out of the way. Lance signed the paper and closed the folder before handing it back to her. “Thank you,” she replied. As she went to take it from his hand again, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her around to the front of the chair and into his lap.

“You’re welcome,” he grinned. “It looks great by the way,” Lance complimented, running his hand down the length of the long locks.

“Yeah?” Sam prodded. “You seemed kinda… I don’t know… quiet about it when I first came in.”

“I think you caught him off-guard,” JC interjected. “It is a pretty drastic change.”

“What he said,” Lance giggled. “But I really do like it. It’s very sexy.”

“And it’s useful too,” Joey chimed in with a mischievous spark dancing in his brown eyes. “Ya know, more to grab onto when you’re…”

“I think we get the picture Joey,” Mel interrupted, clapping her hand over his mouth. “So Sami, was this Britney-fying something that you planned? Or…” the dark-haired woman trailed off waiting for her friend’s response.

“It wasn’t planned. I just went to clear the air or whatever and then we got talking about what we were wearing, stuff like that. I mentioned that I hadn’t really decided what I was gonna do with my hair yet and she offered to have her people do something with it. I just figured why not,” Sam shrugged. “I thought it’d be fun to try on a new look. My hair hasn’t been this long since I was fifteen. And even then it didn’t look this good.”

“No fair!” Jen pouted. “You should’ve called me. I want to look like a pop diva too!” she laughed.

“Ugh, what am I sitting on?” Sam frowned grabbing at the hard object beneath her.

“Well if you don’t know by now…” Lance smirked, a devilish gleam in his green eyes.

Sam shook her head amused as she retrieved the bound paper from the top of his lap, reading the title on the cover. “Why are you still reading this script? I thought you said it was horrible. Did it start to get better?” she questioned before tossing it onto the coffee table.

“No it still sucks. I just thought I should be fair and read the whole thing before adding it to the reject pile,” he explained.

“You’re so cute,” Sam cooed.

“Why?” Lance asked, a curious expression on his face.

“You just are,” she answered, pinching his cheek just before she kissed him. Pulling back from their embrace she suddenly realized that all of their friends were focused on them. “By the way, why are y’all in our room?” Sam asked. “Not that I particularly mind. I was just wondering why.”

“I was bored so I came down to borrow a computer to check my e-mail,” Mel replied.

“I got dragged along,” Jen added.

“And our stylist needed to make sure our wardrobes didn’t need any last minute adjustments and it’s easier for him if we’re all in one place,” JC explained. “We just haven’t bothered to leave yet.”

“Speaking of clothes,” Jen spoke up. “Wait until you see what these fools are wearing.”

“What’s wrong with what we’re wearing?” Justin quizzed, a scowl present on his handsome features.

“Please,” Jen scoffed rolling her eyes. “When Chris and Joey are dressed the most normal out of the five of you, that should be an instant alarm. JC is apparently trying to make road kill fashionable with that God-awful coat he’s wearing, Lance is a flamer, big surprise there,” the brunette cracked before finishing with Justin. “And you Fro, evidently enjoy the feeling of having sex with yourself by the looks of those pants you choose.”

“Aww man, you think I look normal?” Joey whined.

“A flamer, no surprise there? What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance snapped.

“My pants are not that tight,” Justin argued.

“Road kill huh? How would you like to stay at the hotel tonight?” JC proposed, his brow raised arrogantly as he folded his arms over his chest.

Jen laughed as Sam began speaking. “What happened to ‘We make fun of ourselves just as much as everybody else does’”? She reminded teasingly.

“Really, I’m funny,” Jen proclaimed. “You should be laughing.”

“Who died and made you the queen of fashion?” Chris cracked. “Look at what you’re wearing right now. Speaking of which, since when did a hoodie, a tank top, and pajama bottoms represent appropriate working attire?” he chided.

“For your information, Johnny gave me the day off,” she snipped. “And obviously I don’t know much about fashion considering I let your company design my outfit for tonight.”

“Christopher why are you picking on the girl?” Dani asked. “She was nice to you… up until that last comment anyway,” the pretty blonde added with a laugh.

“It’s fun,” the dark-haired man shrugged turning back to his target. “So who do you think you are… some kinda Jenny Hilfiger, or maybe Jen Versace or something? Perhaps Jenny Bean? HA! Get it? LL Bean, or even jelly bean… Jenny Bean! Oh, I crack myself up,” Chris sighed. “Hey, nobody ever calls you Jenny do they?”

“No.”

“Why not?” he wondered.

“One, because I don’t like it,” Jen returned sternly. “And two, because it’s not my name.”

“YES!” Mel squealed loudly as she stared at the computer screen. “He’s talking about me!”

“Who’s talking about you?” Sam asked confused as she glanced back at her friend.

“That gossip columnist on the E! website… Ted whatever. He’s covering all the big VMA artists this week,” Mel explained. “Here I’ll read it to you guys. This is so cool!” she giggled as she began reading. “First he talks about Justin and Britney, blah, blah, blah. Then he moves on to Chris and his long-time beautiful blonde girlfriend, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he mentions how Lance is all cozy with the busty hired help, moving on,” Mel summarized while jokingly rolling her dark eyes.

“Why I always gotta be the busty ‘fill-in-the-blank’?” Sam yelled slightly with a small frown.

“Well if the shoe fits… or in this case, the bra,” Joey cracked.

“Okay, here’s the good stuff,” Mel stated as she began reading the column verbatim.

“Even the previously thought to be untamable ladies man of the group seems to be sticking to one beautiful babe these days. Joey’s has been spotted out and about lately with a tall raven-haired gem of a gal. In fact kids, just as I sat here scratching out these tantalizing tidbits, I got word of another spotting of this two-some. According to my source, the Italian Stallion himself was caught going apeshit at the airport in NYC just last night awaiting the arrival of his new ladylove.”

“And then there’s more stuff about Sam and Lance at the airport too. But isn’t that great?” Mel exclaimed gleefully. “He called me beautiful,” she sighed.

“You are beautiful,” Joey stated casually before continuing. “Wow, he’s got some fast working spies too,” he said shaking his head as he scanned through the article over Mel’s shoulder. “Hey, you skipped a part about JC,” he pointed out.

“I did? I didn’t even see it,” she fibbed, glancing quickly at Jen.

“Yep, it says that he was spotted around the Chicago hot-spots last month with a statuesque brunette. OH!” he shouted, his brown eyes wide as he looked up at JC. “Is this the same…” Joey stopped short as the blue-eyed man shot him daggers across the room. “Er… uh… I mean…” he fumbled.

“What I think Joey is trying to say,” Justin started, rescuing his friend. “Is who’s your new ladylove?” he teased using the phrase from the article.

Jen waited nervously for JC’s response. “Jen and I went to dinner,” he shrugged. “No big deal. You guys were in New York and Chris and Dani were being all coupled. We were hungry,” he explained. “You know how those columnists always embellish the truth.”

The young woman breathed a sigh of relief until she caught the thoughtful look on Sam’s face. ‘Damn it Sami, you’re just not gonna leave it alone are ya?’ Jen lamented to herself.

“Are you sure it was just dinner?” Sam pried in a teasing manner. “You two sure did look awful cozy last night when she crawled up in your arms and gave her little apology speech.”

Jen’s mind sprang into action as she swiftly replied for JC. “I apologized to you?” she asked with surprise heavy in her tone. “For what?”

“For kissing Justin, although you actually meant to apologize to Justin, or so you said,” Sam reminded, a look of confusion gracing her pretty features.

“I kissed Justin!?” she gasped shocked. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember?” Sam asked furrowing her brow.

“No. Now I know why I don’t normally drink like that,” Jen said shaking her head. “No offense or anything,” she said to Justin, who along with JC had turned sideways on the couch enabling them to see her reactions.

“None taken,” Justin smiled.

JC chuckled to himself. If his girlfriend wasn’t telling the truth about her memories of the previous night, she was doing a damn good job at fooling everyone. “That article reminds me of something,” he spoke up, segueing smoothly into a new topic. “Are you ladies prepared for all the rumors and gossip that are going to be popping up as a result of accompanying Joey and myself to the show tonight?” JC directed at Jen and Mel. “Even though we’re not actually dating,” he almost choked on those last words, as did Chris, before continuing. “Most people will just assume that we are. Sam’s familiar with it now since her and Lance have been pretty public, but you two haven’t had to deal with all that backlash much.”

“Don’t worry about me, I strong like bull,” Jen quipped with a comical accent.

“And I love gossip. I think it’s fun. Bring it on!” Mel added with a laugh.

“Actually, this will be the first major, high-profile outing for us. Are you sure you’re ready to handle it all?” Lance asked his girlfriend, concern heavy in his green eyes.

“I’ll be fine. Honestly,” Sam assured grabbing his stubbled chin between her thumb and forefinger and kissing him lightly. “I’m going to go downstairs to fax this,” she informed, playfully bopping him on the head with the folder as she stood from his lap.

“You’re such a good little worker bee,” Lance praised teasingly as she walked to the door, her cell phone sounding just as she was about to exit.

Sam glanced at the caller ID on the small device, recognizing her parents’ number. Sighing loudly, she answered. “Hello Spencer.”

“How’s my favorite sister?” the 12-year-old boy asked cheerfully.

“For the last time Spencer, I AM NOT going to ask Britney to thank you if she wins tonight,” she replied annoyed as the rest of the room laughed.

“Come on Sam!” he whined. “Why not?”

“For starters, she doesn’t even know you.”

“Yes she does. We met at her concert remember? We’re tight. She gave me her number actually,” Spencer elaborated. “But I uh… lost it.”

“Right,” Sam rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile at her brother’s antics though. He certainly was persistent. “I’ll tell you what Spence, I barely know the girl myself. So I’m gonna let you talk to Justin and maybe you can convince him to put in a good word for you,” Sam said walking over to the couch and handing her phone to Justin before turning back to the door and leaving.

Unaware that he was no longer talking to his sister, Spencer continued to speak freely. “Justin? I don’t want to talk to Justin. I still don’t get what she sees in that pretty boy wimp in the first place,” he scoffed. “Anybody can sing and dance. He’s not anything special.”

“Man, that’s cold Spencer,” Justin finally said attempting to keep a straight face. “I thought you were my boy.”

“Justin,” Spencer said shocked. “I… uh… I knew you were there all along, I was just pulling your chain.”

“Sure you were,” Justin chuckled, unable to hide his amusement any longer.

“Well ya know what they say dude, all is fair in love and war,” the adolescent quipped causing Justin to bust up laughing.

****

“Do you need any help with zippers, snaps, buttons? Anything?” Lance offered leaning on the frame of the bathroom door.

“No thanks. I’ve got it under control,” Sam replied through the closed door giggling slightly.

Lance plopped down on the bed trying to think of another excuse to gain him access to his girlfriend. “I need to finish getting ready,” he hollered.

“I believe your hair and makeup artist took care of all that already,” she returned as she continued to put the finishing touches on her wardrobe.

“Yeah but I need to make sure I didn’t get all messed up since then,” the blonde-haired man insisted weakly.

“There’s a mirror out there,” Sam reminded. “Nice try though,” she laughed teasingly.

“Damn,” Lance muttered lying back against the bed.

“I heard that,” Sam taunted. “What happened to that patient guy I thought I was dating?”

“He’s disappeared thanks to all the teasing you’ve been doing with this whole outfit thing,” Lance retorted. “Which reminds me, not that I would have any complaints, but I hope this surprise of yours isn’t too incredibly scandalous. I mean my parents are here after all, not to mention the millions of people watching on TV including your family.”

“I never said it was scandalous,” the petite brunette corrected. “The only reason I didn’t want you to see it was because I wanted you to get the full effect, with the hair, makeup, jewelry all that stuff,” Sam explained. “And I described it to my mother in detail and she said it sounded ‘cute’ and your mom saw it earlier today and I believe the exact word she used was ‘funky’.”

“My mom used the word funky?” he chuckled.

“Yep,” she answered opening the door and stepping out into the main room of the suite. “So would you agree with her assessment?” Sam questioned, her dark eyes taking in his reaction as he sat up straight on the edge of the bed in front of her.

The black leather ensemble she had helped create turned out exactly as she had envisioned it. The strapless top wrapped around her chest tightly before splitting apart in a wide slit just below her bust line resembling an inverted V-shape exposing her navel. The skirt, which rested just below her knees, had a similar design, the slit extending all the way up to her mid-thigh area as it rested lowly on her shapely hips. The chunky heel on her knee-length, black, leather boots added a couple of inches to her small stature.

“Lance?” Sam questioned anxiously as he remained silent.

“Hang on a minute, I’m not done yet,” he replied as he continued to eye her over.

To compliment the outfit, Sam wore the diamond bracelet Lance had given her as a birthday gift along with a coordinating silver earring and necklace set. The necklace wrapped around her neck in a group of shimmering, smooth, silky strands before melding into a single slinky strand that slid down into her cleavage and reappeared through the slit over her stomach before splitting again and wrapping around her hips, laying just below the waistband of her skirt in a belt-like fashion. Her earrings were made of the same liquid silver, the long, flowing strands stopping just above her shoulders.

“I have to say that ‘funky’ is definitely not the first word that comes to mind looking at you right now,” Lance finally said with a smirk.

“Well what is?” Sam prodded with a smile as she brushed a piece of hair away from her face.

Sam had lined her brown eyes with a dramatic black, dusting her lids with shimmering hues of gray metallics. She applied a small amount of blush to her cheeks and finished with a shade of lipstick almost identical to the natural color of her lips and went over it with a sparkling gloss.

“Come here,” he directed as he stood and crooked his finger at her. She walked over to him and as soon as she was within his reach he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closely against his body before crushing his lips against hers with a hungry kiss. “I think that about says it all,” he said with ragged breath as they pulled away minutes later.

Playfully shoving him back down onto the bed, Sam responded. “So I guess that means you like it?” she asked with arched brow.

“Like it? Hell, I love it. And I can’t wait to see it in a ball on the floor later,” Lance stated flirtatiously.

“UH!” Sam exclaimed resting her hands on her hips feigning disgust.

“I’m only kidding. I’ll lay it on the chair neatly,” he quipped, his green eyes sparkling with mischief as he slid his hands around her backside over the snug leather fabric.

“What is with you today?” Sam questioned as she moved his hands up around her waist. “You’re awful hormonal.”

“I guess it’s just all this nervous energy,” he shrugged. “I really appreciate all this easy access by the way,” the blonde man mentioned slipping his hand through the slit in her top, caressing his fingers over the smooth skin of her back.

“It’s some kind of energy,” Sam retorted shaking her head amused as she grabbed his other hand from the split in her skirt.

“So can I see the hidden part of this necklace later?” Lance requested trailing his thumb and forefinger up the smooth metal, eventually reaching the fabric covering her ample chest.

“You two ready?” Mike, one of the bodyguards, asked knocking on the door of their suite.

“Time to go Tiger,” Sam cracked, slipping out of his grasp and grabbing her small purse off the table on her way to the door.

“You didn’t answer me,” Lance reminded following behind her.

“I know,” she smirked. “I thought it’d be more fun to leave you guessing.”

****

“Chris, what are you doing?” Dani asked as he squirmed about on the leather seat of the limo beside her.

“I got a wedgie,” he complained scrunching his nose as he wiggled about.

“You wouldn’t have that problem if you’d nixed the underwear all together like I did,” the blonde beauty replied casually. She was wearing a black leather bustier and coordinating pants with a pair of sling-back heels.

“Man,” Chris groaned loudly. “Why didn’t you think to share that tantalizing fact with me while we were still in the privacy of our room?” he whined. “Ya know, some place where I could actually take advantage of that information.”

“Now where would be the fun in that?” she teased as the other passengers laughed.

“Speaking of which,” Lance whispered discretely in Sam’s ear. “Exactly what are you wearing underneath that?”

“Me?” Sam blurted out. “You want to know what I’m wearing under my clothes do ya?” she taunted with a hearty laugh. “Well I have this really great black satiny push up bra on, ya know, to support the twins,” she revealed sticking her chest out slightly in Lance’s direction as he shifted in his seat. A pleased smile slid over Sam’s rosy lips as she continued to fluster him. “Oh, and a black leather-like thong. I imagine real leather would be rather uncomfortable.”

“You’re not serious about the thong are you?” Lance asked a bit skeptical.

“Yes I am,” she replied nodding her head. “If you haven’t noticed, this skirt’s a little drafty and I just figured that if someone were to accidentally get a glimpse of something they shouldn’t, the underwear would just appear to be part of the dress,” Sam rationalized.

“I guess that makes sense,” Lance agreed.

“Yes, but what fun is this little game for me?” she complained. “I already know what you’re wearing. Hmm,” Sam weighed her options as she looked to Justin who sat beside her and Lance in the back, front-facing seat near the doors. “Jen was right,” she giggled. “By the looks of those pants, I doubt you were able to fit anything extra in there,” Sam teased.

“Whatever,” Justin huffed. “I’m wearing underwear, the pants are leather for Pete’s sake and I’m telling you people that they’re not that tight.”

“Ouch, you’re on my hair Brat,” Sam scolded, carefully pulling her long locks from behind Justin’s back. “So JC let me guess, you’re wearing boxer-briefs too right?” she inquired. He nodded a yes. “You guys are so boring,” Sam sighed.

“Fine then, what are you wearing under your clothes this evening,” JC asked Jen, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“I’m wondering about that too,” Justin added. “Cuz from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look like much,” he commented eyeing the open back of her shirt as she sat at a slight angle in the side seat in front of him.

“Well in case some of you haven’t already noticed, my shirt is backless,” Jen began, turning her back tauntingly towards JC.

Her top was black leather, in keeping with the concurrent theme among the girls’ wardrobe. The front was a simple scoop neckline and the shirt eventually slimmed down to a point stopping just above her exposed navel. There were a handful of criss-crossing elastic straps over her back pulling the fabric taut against her chest. She wore a pair of black polyester hip-huggers that sparkled when the light hit them at the right angle. Her light brown hair was pulled up with a set of trendy chopsticks, with chunky pieces framing her pretty face. She had applied a light coating of natural hues of eyeshadow and blush and a deep red lipstick on her mouth. A pair of strappy red heels adorned her feet to finish off the look.

“So of course, I couldn’t wear a bra under here,” Jen continued turning back to see the reaction on JC’s chiseled features. “And then I decided on these nice red lace panties,” she smirked pulling the waistband of her undergarment above the edge of her pants.

“So that’s the reasoning behind the red shoes,” Mel realized. “Now I get it.”

“Yes, I’m all about coordination,” Jen returned, tucking the garment back into her pants.

“What’s the matter, pants getting a little tight there Cracknuts?” Mel taunted as JC crossed his legs, an uncomfortable look on his face.

“What’s up with the Cracknuts?” Joey laughed.

“It’s a long story,” Sam mused.

“So Joey, what are you wearing?” Mel asked keeping the conversation active.

She herself was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, per Joey’s request. The tank top she was wearing, also black, was emblazoned with the phrase ‘ITALIANS DO IT BETTER’ across her chest in tiny silver nailheads. Her dark brown hair was twisted into two classic braids behind either of her ears. Her makeup was very simplistic and natural, so much so that you had to look very closely to tell she had any on at all. On her feet were a pair of black Doc Martens which completed her casual, yet sexy look.

“I don’t remember. Why don’t you tell me?” he quipped reaching for the zipper of his pants.

“OH MY GOD! NO!” Mel screeched, covering her hand over her blushing face. “Don’t you dare Joseph,” she warned.

“I was only kidding,” the dark-haired man laughed. “I just like to make you blush. You’re so cute when you do,” Joey cooed pinching her reddened cheeks.

“I hate you,” Mel pouted slapping away his hand.

“Yeah right, you can’t hate me and you know it,” Joey teased. “So what are you wearing under these tight pants of yours?” he inquired squeezing her knee.

“White cotton underwear. Only whores wear colored underwear,” she stated bluntly.

“HEY!” Sam and Jen protested in unison.

“And that right there proves my point,” the raven-haired beauty giggled as the car stopped at the red-carpeted entrance to Radio City Music Hall.

Chapter 57