Chapter 2
NOAH
This is never going to work,” I muttered with heavy cynicism as our destination drew closer. “No one is going to buy this shit. It’s begging for a scandal.”
Jared leveled me with a look that said everything words couldn’t, and I grimaced.
A scandal like this was the least of my problems right now.
We’d just spent the last month in the slimiest, traumatizing legal nightmare with my piece-of-shit ex-boyfriend, fighting to keep his betrayal under wraps and out of the media.
If anything, this Team Olympus ruse would be a good distraction away from what the story would have been had he not signed the ironclad NDA my team had forced on him.
“You’ll be amazed what people will believe if you lie to their faces,” Jared said in response, looking as tired as I felt. “Besides, this is for your protection as much as theirs. You know how fucking unhinged the Acolytes are.”
I wrinkled my nose with distaste. The Acolytes were what the fans of Mount Olympus had dubbed themselves, and they took their name way too seriously. Hardcore obsession level. As much as I hated to admit it, the female fans were the worst.
“You look good,” he assured me when I said nothing. “It’s just on you to sell it. Be confident in the act. Besides, the fans will be too feral over NoFear’s ‘unmasking’ to be suspicious over small white lies.”
Small white lies was an understatement.
The car began to slow, and the nervous butterflies multiplied inside me.
I should have moved into Mount Olympus weeks ago.
Should have had plenty of time to get to know my new team and smooth out any personality friction that would undoubtedly arise.
But no, I’d been trapped in legal hell with Rich, the dickless wonder, attempting to get the hundreds of covert sex tapes removed from the internet.
Bastard.
“The team knows Noah is joining them,” Jared said, reading my anxiety correctly. “They just don’t know Noah is…you know…a girl. And they won’t, unless you tell them. Nor do they need to know. So long as you contribute to the best of your abilities as NoFear, then that’s all that matters. Right?”
“Right,” I muttered with a total lack of confidence, even as I shot a look at the privacy window which had been firmly closed since we got in the car.
Not that it mattered—we were already out of time.
Team Olympus’s car service just slowed to a stop in front of a production stage where a handful of crew stood around looking frustrated and stressed.
I didn’t blame them. The decision by Clik Games to live stream the team announcements had been extremely last-minute and not something anyone had really prepared for. The fact that I’d be meeting my team for the first time directly before the cameras turned on? Not ideal.
One of the crew waiting for us opened my door before I could voice any more pointless concerns to Jared, and he shot me a sympathetic glance before I stepped out.
“Noah, it’s nice to meet you,” the guy who’d opened my door said with a quick smile, offering his hand. “I’m Sammy, one of the producers handling your team. They’re all waiting in the green room, if you’ll follow me?”
“Sure,” I murmured, running a hand over my freshly cut hair as Jared got out of the car to join us. I should have gone shorter, maybe, but my stylist assured me shoulder length was fine. I was second-guessing freaking everything now.
Jared gave me a small shoulder bump, lowering his head to speak quietly. “Remember, be confident. You’ve got this.”
I puffed out my cheeks, shaking my head as we followed the producer inside the building. Confidence, huh? After spending the last two years masked and anonymous, it was going to take more than a few words of affirmation to get me through.
Sammy hurried us down the long corridor, glancing at his watch as we passed by other green rooms with team names stuck to the doors. Some I recognized, most I didn’t, until we approached the one reading TEAM OLYMPUS.
Before Sammy could knock, the door swung open and the three of us were very nearly mowed down by a stunningly handsome guy with white-blond hair a shade or two lighter than my own—wearing an expression so frosty it could cool the sun.
Ace Hart. Twenty-five. Six foot three. Attended Riverstone Academy for Boys with Miles and Xavier. Team Olympus’s leader, multitalented, and one hell of an intimidating man.
“Sammy!” he barked, flicking a dismissive glance my way before locking the terrified producer in his ice-blue glare. “Who the fuck is this, and where the hell is Noah? They’re already starting the announcements, which means we have less than five minutes until our team is called.”
Sammy drew a shaky breath and shifted his posture to gesture my way. “This is Noah,” he said with a slight grimace. “Uh, Noah, this is Ace. He’s your team captain.”
The angry dude snapped his gaze my way, brow pinched with disbelief as he looked me over from head to toe. All the while, I held my breath. This was the real test, right here.
“You’re kidding,” Ace scoffed. “You’re NoFear? This is a joke, right?” He turned his attention back to Sammy with an edge of exasperation in his tone and a pinched expression. “What is he, like fifteen?”
I released my breath as discreetly as I could. He wasn’t confused because Noah is a girl… Nope, he just thought I was a scrawny fifteen-year-old boy. Perfect.
“If you don’t want me here,” I said with as much steel as I could muster up, “I can go. Your management blackmailed me into this agreement in the first fucking place, so by all means, Ace, say the word and I’ll dip.
” My voice was naturally pitched low for a woman, so I didn’t need to go putting on a fake one.
His glacial gaze had swung back my way, and I forced myself to hold eye contact without flinching. Jared was right, confidence was the only way to sell this farce, and I wasn’t bluffing. Ace had final say over his team, so if he didn’t want me, then he could overrule the management’s scheming.
Right when I thought he was going to agree and send me home, his lips curled into a cool smile.
“All right, I guess you’ve got balls, even if you haven’t hit puberty yet.
” He appraised me again, then shook his head with a sigh.
“Come on inside and meet the team before we get called. This is going to be nuts.”
As he turned away to allow us entry into the green room, I met Jared’s eyes and gave him a small nod of reassurance. The first test had been passed with Ace, so surely it was smooth sailing from here…surely.
The green room was pure chaos. Aside from Ace, there were six more members of Team Olympus, and all of them had managers and publicists, not to mention the hair and makeup crew working diligently to ensure everyone was flawless for the camera.
For the first time since this stupid fucking ruse had been forced on me, I was kind of glad to be masquerading as a man.
Makeup was still expected, sure, but nothing compared to what I was used to.
Ace’s sharp whistle silenced the buzz of chatter, and suddenly every eye in the room was focused my way.
Sweat beaded on my spine, and I fought the urge to back out of the room once more. I was no stranger to the spotlight…but this was different.
“This is him?” one of the guys asked from where he slouched on a sofa with a guitar in hand.
I recognized him as Xavier Stone, a lethally handsome man whom I’d once been utterly infatuated with.
Fucking hell, this was going to be harder than I’d imagined, considering how my heart raced when he met my gaze.
Xavier Stone. Twenty-four. Six foot four. Dark brown hair. Hazel eyes. Attended Riverstone Academy for Boys with both Ace and Miles. Also sponsored by Hot Falcon energy drinks for his motocross.
“Where’s the rest of him?”
Huh. That fixed that problem. I narrowed my eyes and offered a sarcastic smile. “Hilarious.” And honestly, it sort of was. At five foot eight, I’d never been called short in my life…as a girl. But now that I was presenting as a guy? Yeah, I guess I should get used to short jokes.
Xavier just grinned back, no real malice behind his comment. “Just teasing. We’re stoked you’re here, right?” He smacked the other guy on the sofa with him, who’d been staring at me with a worrying edge of confusion.
Ever so slowly, the staring guy with unnaturally deep-red hair nodded. “Right,” he murmured, lips pursed. “Have we met before, Noah? You seem weirdly familiar.”
I swallowed hard. Technically, yes. I’d met him—Zeth Briggs—years ago, when he, Xavier, and Ace went to school with Miles. But I was all of eleven or twelve at the time, and there was no way he remembered me from then. Everything I knew of him now came from my research.
Zeth “Z” Briggs. Twenty-two. Six foot two.
Brown hair—scratch that, now wine red—and mossy-green eyes.
Son of Zeth Briggs Sr., lead singer of Seventeen Daggers and grandson of Atticus Briggs, CEO of Atticus Records.
Insanely talented musician and composer but stubbornly refuses to sign a record deal.
Instead, seems comfortable with ClikByte fame. Very odd.
Also feels…strangely familiar.
“Nope, I tend to steer clear of…” I trailed off and let my gaze sweep over the room. “All of this.”
“We noticed,” Ace said with a grunt, then checked the time on his stupidly expensive watch. “How long have we got, Sammy?”
“Uh, couple of minutes. They just started introducing the members of GeeGee now.” The producer had a handheld device which showed him the live feed from the production stage.
I cringed internally at the mention of GeeGee—an all-women team that was the epitome of girly-girl—since they’d made an offer to recruit me, too.
Only they had wanted Norah Sparkle, while the boys of Team Olympus wanted NoFear. Thank fuck.