Chapter 30
NOAH
It wasn’t funny. It really wasn’t. Literally nothing about my current predicament was funny in the slightest, and yet somehow Ace’s solemn declaration that he was going to kill Rich sent me into a fit of giggles that I couldn’t even begin to explain.
“I need to call Jared,” I managed to get out between chuckles, shaking my head as I peeled my hand free of Ace’s. “I need the lawyers to handle this. Where’d I leave my phone?” It was a rhetorical question because obviously Ace wouldn’t know.
“What’s funny? I’m serious,” Ace protested as I patted my pockets, trying to think where I last used my phone.
“I know you are,” I replied with a shrug as I got to my feet, “but fucking hell, Ace, you were ready to kill me two weeks ago. I just need to handle this myself. I don’t need you jumping in, all macho man, and threatening to kill anyone.
I’m a big girl and can deal with this alone, just like I did last time. ”
“I’m aware that you can deal with it, Noah. I never questioned that fact. But you don’t have to. You’re a part of our team now, and that means that you have support. If you don’t want the other guys to know, that’s your call, but at least let me help you. It’s the least I can do.”
He stood up as well, grabbing his phone from where I’d tossed it and holding it out to me. “Call Jared, but I’m not leaving you to deal with it alone.”
I bit my lip as I met his steady gaze, appreciating the fact that he wasn’t being stubborn for any reason other than that he cared. And that honestly meant a lot after the way he’d treated me when I got home from the hospital.
“Fine,” I said on a heavy exhale, taking his phone from his hand with a scowl. “Let me guess, you have my manager’s number saved?”
Ace just shrugged, so I opened his contacts, and sure enough, there was Jared’s number saved under Eight’s Manager. Curiously, he also had my number still saved as Eight despite the fact that he’d barely called me that at all since finding out I’d lied.
For a moment, I wondered if Jared would even answer a call from Ace’s number, but the call barely rang twice before it connected.
“Hart, what’s wrong?” Jared demanded in lieu of a greeting.
I quirked a curious brow at Ace, but his expression remained impassive and impossible to read. “It’s me,” I said after a short beat. “I don’t know where I left my phone and this is…kinda urgent.”
“Kinda urgent?” Jared repeated with an edge of concern. “Talk to me, kid. What’s happened?”
I drew a deep breath, ducking my eyes away from Ace with embarrassment as I answered. “Rich reactivated the Peaches account.”
Something crashed in the background of the call as Jared barked a curse, echoing my own feelings on the matter.
“Are you okay?” he asked a second later. “I take it you’re with Ace right now; where’s Skye? How’d you find out about this?”
“Skye’s on his way to Hawaii,” I said, my gut wrenching with sadness, remembering that he would be gone for a whole week so the only person in the house who knew what I was dealing with…was Ace.
The weight of all the months of heartbreak and stress with Rich hit me again like a bullet in the chest, and I sat heavily on the edge of my bed. I felt like I’d barely made it through the legal battle last time. I wasn’t so sure I could do it all over again.
“That’s shitty timing,” Jared sighed. “Okay, I need to call Kel and get her started on the paperwork to take Rich back to court. You are going to need to—-”
“I know,” I cut him off with a choked sob, dreading that I would need to log into the platform again. Just thinking about it made my skin crawl.
Jared gave a frustrated sound. “If it’s too much, we can—-”
“No, it’s fine. We’ve been over this. Just…”—I chewed the edge of my thumbnail nervously—“just call Kel and see what she says? Maybe there’s been a mistake and… and… I don’t know. I really don’t want to do this again, Jared.”
Fuck’s sake, my eyes were leaking again. This sucked.
“I know, kid, I know. Maybe it won’t come to that. Let me work on it, okay? But in the meantime, do you want to come stay with us? I don’t like the idea of you being alone right now.”
“She’s not alone,” Ace said firmly.
There was a pointed pause on Jared’s end before he replied. “I guess you’re better than no one, Hart, but, Noah, you can come here anytime you need to. I promise, Isla only wakes up five times a night maximum; otherwise it’s very peaceful.”
I huffed a laugh, wiping my eyes on Minnie’s hoodie sleeves once more. “I’ll be fine here, but thank you. Just see if Kelly can put the fear of God into Rich so he deletes the fucking profile again without taking him to court.”
Not that we’d actually gone to court last time, but there had been a hell of a lot of lawyers and uncomfortable meetings which I’d prefer not to repeat. Maybe that was what he was banking on?
“I’m on it, kid. Hart, I swear to fuck if you don’t take good care of her, I will personally nail you to a tree naked and covered in honey during bear season.”
“Understood, sir,” Ace quickly replied before Jared could get any more descriptive in his threats.
I ended the call, then flopped backward with my hands over my face. I’d cried way too fucking much already, and I despised the fact that Ace had witnessed it. It made me feel weak, and that feeling sat uncomfortably under my skin.
“So, what do you need to do?” Ace’s question accompanied the mattress dip as he sat beside me, close enough that our thighs touched. “I get the feeling it’s something unpleasant.”
I gave a bitter, humorless laugh. “Yeah, you could say that. I need to gather evidence and verify that it is actually me in the content, not some lookalike actress.”
“What?” he exclaimed, sounding as horrified as I would expect. “Surely that’s not your job.”
I sighed heavily, my eyes still shut with dread. “Gathering evidence? No. But who the fuck else is going to verify that is indeed my tits getting jizzed all over, or my asshole being railed by my scumbag ex?”
Ace gave a gasp of shock, and I couldn’t help stealing a glance his way.
He looked…upset. Good. “Sorry, that was crass,” I murmured.
“My nerves are fucked right now, so manners went the way of the dinosaurs. Rich was big on ass content, hence the nickname.” Somehow I thought that explaining would make it less abrasive, but it was just becoming more awkward by the second.
“Peaches,” Ace said in a thoughtful voice. “I’m going to assume you’re hiding that asset under the baggy cargo pants. Anyway, does this Rich have a surname? And an address?”
“You’re not smooth, Ace Hart,” I said with a grin, shaking my head as I sat back up and rubbed my eyes.
“And I know I’m going to regret this question for so many reasons, but Skye isn’t here to ask, so…
if I do need to view the content, can you stay with me while I do?
I don’t mean watch it, just…be here? Panic attacks like earlier are a new development for me, and I don’t really handle them well. ”
His brows rose in surprise, but he held my gaze as he nodded. “Of course. I meant what I said, Eight. You’re part of a team now, so we’re in this together, whether you like it or not.”
I liked that more than I wanted to admit, and I found it hard to tear my gaze away from his.
He didn’t blink for the longest time, holding me captive until I realized I wasn’t breathing.
Then he broke the spell with a single blink and ruffled my hair in the kind of affectionate way he would have before.
Before he knew I was a woman.
Before he broke into my apartment with the intent to fire me from the team.
Before he wrapped his hand around my throat and made me come all over his hand, then fled into the night like he’d made the worst mistake of his entire life.
Maybe he had. Maybe he wanted to pretend none of that had happened. Part of me was kind of sad about that, because he was right when he’d said I liked it.
Shit, maybe that was the trauma talking.
“Do you want to skip out on the skateboard training tonight?” he asked in a smooth change of subject as he got up and grabbed a T--shirt out of his closet.
The man had his clothes all perfectly pressed and color--coordinated in there, which terrified me a little.
That was a sign of a serial killer, wasn’t it?
I blew out a long sigh and finger--combed my hair off my face. “No, I need to see how bad you all are to gauge how fucked we are for this challenge.”
Ace snorted a laugh, pulling on a pair of designer distressed jeans.
“We’re not as bad as Skye made out. Xavier is very good, as you can probably guess, and the rest of us are not terrible.
But you’re right, I don’t want you here alone, so you’d better come.
Is that Min’s hoodie, though? You might want to change that in case we get snapped by fans at the skate center. ”
I glanced down at the embroidered Portia Levigne hoodie I’d stolen from the dance studio earlier. It felt like forever ago that Minnie and I had stolen a quick make--out sesh in the dance studio before one of the helpful producers came to help us film. Total cock--blocker.
“Yeah, good point,” I murmured with a sigh, tugging it off.
Ace tossed me one of his army green sweatshirts from a hanger. “You can wear this. I heard Deity had revised their sponsor contract offer and sent it to Jared for review.”
I hummed an affirmation, putting the designer branded hoodie on without another thought.
“They did. Is that your influence, getting Olympus Corp to revise their rules around new brand deals?” Because I had to admit, I was pleasantly shocked to hear they’d agreed to remove their commission clause from future brand deals.
Ace just shrugged, sitting down to pull on some socks. “It wasn’t fair in the first place. None of the rest of us have to pay a percentage to anyone other than our own teams. And Deity would be a really great career step for you as they move more into the fashion space.”
“I guess. Kelly said she’d look it all over and let me know her thoughts.
I actually had another meeting a couple days ago that I’m really excited about, if it works out.
” I hadn’t told anyone other than Skye about the Boba--Kitty deal, because I was half scared it would fall through.
But seeing as Ace and I were making amends…
He stood up, giving me a curious head tilt. “Is this when you missed the Hot Falcon meeting? It must be something pretty big.”
I shrugged, weirdly excited and nervous all over again. “I mean, yeah, for me it is. You guys will probably think it’s dumb, but Boba--Kitty asked me to be an ambassador for their global launch.”
Ace’s lips widened with a huge smile, and he came toward me with his arms out. “That’s fantastic!” He wrapped me in a strong hug that made me stiffen in surprise. “That’s a perfect role for you, with how much you love their product.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled against his chest, peering up at him when his hug loosened. My hands rested lightly on his waist, and all of a sudden I found myself locked in his pale--blue gaze all over again, my pulse racing with the way he stared down at me.
That wasn’t the ice cold of his anger or the cool calm of his leadership. It was something more. The longer we held eye contact, the hotter it got, until I wondered if he was seriously about to kiss me.
Did I want him to kiss me?
“We should go,” he said with a lopsided smile, breaking the moment and stepping away from me, which was like a splash of cold water to my face.
Idiot. Of course he wasn’t going to kiss me. Like I’d said to him, my nerves were fucked, and so too, apparently, was my sense of judgment.
Still, when I followed him down the stairs to meet up with the other guys, it was with a definite warmth in my chest that hadn’t been there before. It was a warmth I definitely didn’t expect after such a harsh relapse into my trauma, so for that I was incredibly grateful to him.
Ace was no Skye, but maybe he’d be an okay stand--in emotional support human this week.