Chapter 33
NOAH
Elbow me one more time and I will stab this pen right through your hand to pin you down like a butterfly,” I growled through my teeth.
Outwardly, I kept my expression soft and calm.
Happy. But internally I was wound so tight it hurt.
Xavier seemed to be going out of his way to elbow me every three seconds, and it was tipping me over the edge.
“Sorry for being left-handed, Little Dude,” he muttered back, flashing a bright smile to the fans waiting their turn to get photocards signed. “But I don’t want to hear about your fantasies of pinning me down. Keep it professional, could you?”
I choked on my breath, coughing a little and cursing my own cheeks for heating. Because shit, now I had the mental image of pinning Xavier down in that way, and it was a disturbingly detailed picture.
“What are you guys whispering about?” a young fan asked breathlessly as she moved along the signing line from August to me and presented her photocard for signing.
I forced a smile, scribbling my NoFear tag across her photo with a silver marker. I decided to ignore her question and focus on the reason she’d come out. “Hi, what’s your name?”
She blinked a couple times. “Louise. You can call me LouLou, though.” Her gaze shifted to my wrist where I wore a black cord bracelet.
One of the stylists had put it on me right before we started, and I’d thought nothing of it until I realized Xavier wore a matching one in white on his opposite wrist.
Sure enough, the girl then zeroed in on Xavi’s bracelet, and her smile brightened even more. “You guys are really cute together,” she gushed, and I handed the photocard back to her.
Neither Xavier, or I commented on that because, as Sally had lectured us all morning, we were not to confirm or deny any rumors. Just let them breathe and grow organically.
Xavier chatted more comfortably with the girl, directing the conversation to ask her about herself as he signed her photocard and elbowed me again. This time I lashed out under the table, stomping on his foot with my boot, and was rewarded by his slight grunt and flinch.
Stupidly, I didn’t remove my foot fast enough and he somehow trapped my chunky men’s boot between his own to prevent me doing it again. Asshole. I huffed with frustration, but refocused on the next fan while assuming he’d release me once his point was made.
“Hi, what’s your name?” I asked the next person in line, extending my hand to take the photocard for signing.
“Joshua,” the guy replied, eyeing me with a slight frown set on his face. He was maybe a little older than me, with bleached hair and blue contact lenses. Definitely an Ace Hart fan. “You look really familiar, Noah.”
I glanced up from the photocard, my pen paused as I noted his narrowed, suspicious eyes.
“Uh, from Clik Games?” Because it seemed like an odd statement for someone attending a fan meeting to make.
Of course I looked familiar, I was all over the internet as a part of Team Olympus now, and he’d literally handed me a photo of myself to sign.
The fan shook his head. “No, not like that. There’s something else.”
My smile froze, and I quickly handed the photocard back to him. “Thanks for coming out. Have you met Xavier?” Now that I remembered, I tried to tug my foot free, but he wasn’t letting up. Childish shithead.
Thankfully the fan moved along the line, and I released the breath I’d been holding.
It wasn’t entirely paranoia at play, because sooner or later someone would connect the dots.
I hadn’t altered my appearance with surgery, only removed the heavily feminine cosmetics and clothing of Norah Sparkle, so it was only a matter of time.
“Let go,” I hissed when the Ace-lookalike fan moved along.
“Not a chance,” he whispered back. “You’ll just stomp on me again, and I like my toes intact, thank you.”
I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. “Only if you elbow me again.”
“I’m hurt that you think that’s deliberate, Little Dude. We’re just seated too closely together, that’s all.”
“Dude, quit being an asshole,” Torin scolded quietly from Xavier’s other side. “You have plenty of space without elbowing Noah every time you sign.”
“Cut it out, all of you,” one of the producers muttered from behind us. “You’re here to meet fans, not bicker with each other.”
Xavier and I exchanged a long look at that, and the corner of his mouth ticked up. “Agree to disagree,” he whispered under his breath, referring to the producer’s scolding, and I snorted a quick laugh despite myself.
Luckily, the next fan had arrived and I put my focus on her, pretending I didn’t notice how warm Xavier’s leg was against mine under the table. He was being an asshole, not flirting, but my body didn’t seem to know the difference. So stupid.
He somehow managed to keep my foot clamped between his for the remainder of the signing, but thankfully eased up on the elbows, because I could already feel a bruise forming and I’d started flinching when he moved to sign.
Once we got to the end of the signing line, we had to take some photos, so Xavier finally released my foot, acting like nothing had happened when he pushed his chair back to stand for the photos. Dick.
“Are you good?” Ace asked quietly, placing his hand on my shoulder as we posed for the group picture. The gentle squeeze he gave me was comforting, and I breathed out a small sigh.
“Yep,” I replied, because in the grand scheme of things, we’d been practically besties for this event. He hadn’t thrown me in the pool or dropped me off a high wire, so there was nothing to complain about, right? “Am I okay to run to the restroom? I drank too much water while we were signing.”
“Yeah, of course, go.” Ace pointed me in the direction of the bathrooms, and I hurried away from the crowd before hesitating. I should be using the men’s room, but what if they only had a urinal? How would I fake that? Shit, how the hell had I never thought of this before?
No, surely the men’s room had stalls as well. How else would dudes poop? Okay, so I would just use the stall. Easy.
Decided, I bit the inside of my lip and pushed open the men’s room door. Thankfully, it was empty and there were several stalls. What a relief. I hurried into one and locked the door, peeing as fast as humanly possible in an effort to get out without running into anyone.
Frustratingly, though, someone else came in right as I was finishing up and I quickly fixed my jeans, flushed, and exited the stall, only to stop dead in my tracks when I spotted Z standing at the urinal.
“Rocky, do not tell me you just took a shit in public at a fan event,” he teased, looking at me over his shoulder when I hurried to the basin to wash my hands, determined not to look anywhere else. “That’s bold, dude.”
My face flamed hot. “I didn’t. I just wanted privacy.”
Z chuckled, zipping his pants back up. “Sure, whatever you say. Your secret is safe with me, public-pooper.”
“I didn’t!” I protested, grabbing some paper towel to dry my hands. “Some people just prefer privacy.”
“Uh-huh, I believe you,” he laughed, clearly not believing me as he dried his own hands. “Come on, let’s finish these photos so we can go home.”
He left the restroom ahead of me, leaving me glaring at his cocky swagger while I followed, almost running into Minho when we rounded the corner.
“Hey, dude,” Z said, smacking Minho on the ass as he passed by, not glancing back and therefore not seeing the way Minnie grabbed my arm and dragged me back around the corner with him.
I drew a breath to ask what was wrong, but his mouth was on mine before I could get the words out.
For a moment, time seemed to stop. Everything around us faded away, and all that mattered was the perfect curve of his full lips caressing mine and the desperate way his fingers dug into the back of my neck.
“I’ve never hated Xavi more than I do today,” he told me in a husky whisper, then as fast as he’d grabbed me, he disappeared into the bathroom and left me standing there with my pulse racing and my lips tingling.
I really, really needed to come clean with him…but selfishly, I didn’t want to lose what we now had. I was so screwed. Drawing a steadying breath, I returned to the group—and fans—and pasted on my best happy-to-be-here smile.
Torin seemed to see right through me, grabbing my hand and pulling me over to his side as we headed back to the interview area where we’d do five back-to-back question sessions with various magazines and online publications.
“You okay, Short Stack?” he asked quietly, draping his arm over my shoulders in an affectionate gesture. I appreciated that move, because the more other guys did it, the less suspicious it was when Minnie did it.
I mustered up a genuine smile for him. “Of course. I’m not fragile, you know? You’re all acting like I can’t handle Xavier’s mood swings and snide remarks, but I’m more than capable. I’ve dealt with a lot worse.”
Torin frowned. “That makes me sad, Short Stack.” But before we could dive any further into that, our producers arranged everyone into seats where they wanted us, landing me right beside Xavier again. Kill me now.
Thankfully a lot of the interview questions were aimed at Ace and Xavier, with just the occasional one tossed to the rest of us, meaning for the most part we could just nod and smile.
There was only one really uncomfortable moment when Minho—who was sitting on a taller seat behind me—had casually rested his hands on my shoulders, and Sally frantically gestured from behind the camera to take them off me.
Minnie must have seen her, she was basically flapping directly in front of us, but he took his sweet fucking time before letting go.
Even then, he trailed a finger down the back of my neck out of view of the camera, and I shivered with arousal.
Not cool at all. Especially when Sally then made forceful gestures toward Xavier and he dropped a hand onto my knee.
Super uncomfortable, but at the same time I sort of didn’t hate having his hand on my leg. Like my seventeen-year-old self was getting to play out her dreams of dating Xavier Stone and nothing could convince her it wasn’t real. Probably should have smothered seventeen-year-old me with a pillow.
The rest of the interviews went smoothly, and once the cameras turned off, Xavier snatched his hand away like I’d just bitten him. So fucking dramatic.
Torin immediately grabbed me in a side hug when we got up from our seats, muttering a creative insult about Xavier under his breath and making me snicker before Ace shot us a warning glance.
Torin sighed and dropped his arm off my shoulders before we reached the main signing room again, as there would likely still be fans out there.
“You know,” Xavier muttered, falling into step with me as August and Skye waved to the lingering fans ahead of us, “this bullshit Leight wants us to insinuate only helps your Clik rates. It wouldn’t hurt for you to participate so it’s not entirely on me.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “Are you fucking serious?” I kept my voice low, barely a whisper.
“I’ve done everything Sally asked: sat beside you, wore the dumb matching bracelets, smiled sweetly even when you’re being an asshole.
What more do you want me to do, drop to my knees and suck your dick in front of the fans? ”
Xavier flinched like I’d slapped him, a twist of confusion crossing his gorgeous face as he looked down at me from his stupidly tall height.
Somehow he managed not to scowl, but the daggers in his eyes were unmistakable.
“Don’t get carried away, Little Dude. This is for Cliks and nothing else.
I’d hate for you to catch feelings because you can’t separate fiction from reality. ”
This time I couldn’t stifle my laugh of contempt, tossing my head back.
“Calm your tits, Godzilla. We’re in no danger of that happening.
I’d rather sit naked in a fire-ant nest than let you touch me off camera.
” Then, because I was anxious, stressed, nervous, embarrassed, and honestly far too aroused for my own good, I gave in to my childish, petty desire.
I put my foot out right as he took a step and tripped him.
That saying about the bigger they are, the harder they fall came to mind as Xavier came crashing down to his knees, and my reactive gasp wasn’t even faked. I’d thought he’d just stumble and continue on, not topple like a felled tree, and yet—
“Look out!” someone screamed, and I glanced up just in time to see one of the temporary media walls toppling over toward us. They weren’t crazy heavy, but they also weren’t made of tissue paper, so if they fell on a person, it’d hurt.
Luckily, the falling wall stopped just inches away from smacking me in the head while I stood there frozen in shock.
“Are you okay, Eight?” Ace asked in a rush, adjusting his hand placement on the wall which he’d just caught before it could knock me out. “What happened?”
“Um…” I looked down at Xavier, who was still on his knees, and offered him my hand up. “Xavi tripped and must have knocked one of the supports?”
Ace shot us both a suspicious look, like he knew we’d been bickering. “Don’t forget, there are still a lot of eyes on us right now.”
With that warning, he turned to the venue staff, who were frantically trying to stabilize the wall, and Xavier reluctantly took my offered hand.
He then refused to let it go, going so far as intertwining our fingers like how Minho usually did…
except Xavier used it to squeeze my hand to the point I squeaked in pain before he eased up.
Such a dickhead! He actually seemed to be enjoying himself as we posed for a few final pictures before staff ushered us out to the waiting cars.