Chapter 11 #2
I ducked in front of the mini fridge and got a bottle of water for Rhys and a Diet Coke for myself.
On my way to the lounge area, I noticed Rhys sitting next to Conor and some empty space on the other side of Rhys.
But when I got to the sofa, Rhys scooted over into the free space, leaving the seat next to Conor open.
If I made a big deal out of being squished next to Conor, I’d only draw attention to the situation. I gave Rhys the evil eye as I handed him the water. Either he hadn’t done it on purpose, or he had a really good poker face because he didn’t bat an eyelash.
I sat between him and Conor, giving my thighs a difficult choice—either I shifted toward Rhys, touching legs with him or I wriggled a little close to Conor, sealing my denim-clad thigh against his.
At least I’d known Conor longer than a week, so I created a little space between me and Rhys, leaving none between me and Conor.
I aimed my can at the TVs blaring in front of us, competing for attention. “Which are you watching, the game or the music videos?”
“Kinda going back and forth between the two to be honest. I haven’t played Fornite in about a fortnight.”
“Ha, ha. How long exactly is a fortnight?”
“Noelle Martine, you’ve forgotten your British roots.”
“I don’t know how long fourscore and seven years is either.”
“A fortnight is two weeks, and I was lying just to make the joke. I haven’t played Fornite in almost a year.” He touched my nose with his finger. “You also lost that slight English accent you used to have.”
“That came from hanging around you lot.”
“Ah-ha! You said you lot, which is distinctly British.”
“I also say taking the piss with alarming frequency.”
“That always was one of your favorites, even though you used it incorrectly half the time.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
I smacked away his hand as he reached in to pinch my nose. “Don’t try that again. I can’t even flick your earring anymore. You stopped wearing it.”
“Eh, it was a bad boy affectation to try to keep up with the other lads’ tattoos.”
Rhys had been listening to our exchange and piped up, “But you...”
Conor reached behind me and smacked the back of Rhys’s head. “Shut your gob, mate and stop eavesdropping.”
My laugh died on my lips when I saw that everyone in the entire lounge area had heard our back and forth.
Jade wedged a bare foot on the table next to the empty chip bags. “You two are so cute.”
I felt the color climb from my chest to my cheeks and took a swig of soda to hide behind my can.
“Yeah, haven’t you heard. They’re like brother and sister.” Rhys smirked, and I jerked my leg away from Conor’s, practically landing in Rhys’s lap.
At least neither Ashley nor the public was around to witness our...camaraderie that might be mistaken for something else. It didn’t really matter what the band and dancers thought. None of them was going to run to Ashley with tour bus gossip.
After a few hours, one of the guys at the end of the sofa finally gave up his seat and game controller to take a nap upstairs, everyone spread out, and I scooted about a foot away from Conor.
He took the hint and pushed to his feet. “I’m going up to do some work on my laptop.”
I waved as if I hadn’t been sitting here holding my breath, not daring to move a muscle in case it brought us close again. “Have fun.”
Conor hadn’t been faking that almost kiss by Charlie’s pool. He’d fallen right back into our teasing habits that had gotten us into trouble the previous time we shared a bus.
I was a convenient diversion. Maybe that’s what I’d been the first time. Saving me from stage falls, tending to me on the bus, bringing me wine. All these acts allowed Conor to play the good guy—a role in the band he’d taken very seriously.
Conor Flynn—the unproblematic one. The Teflon boybander—no scandal ever stuck to him. His stans excused or brushed off any whiff of wrongdoing on his part.
That’s why Ashley’s connection to him would help polish her own image. Numbers didn’t lie. Ticket sales for the tour had been building steadily. We’d be walking into a sold-out venue tomorrow night in San Diego.
That’s all that mattered right now. Sold out shows brought me closer to a promotion...and further from a pink slip.
Jade stepped over the little table littered with snack bags and crumbs and plopped onto Conor’s vacated cushion. “You and Conor are like a romcom couple. You knew him from before, right?”
Oh boy. At least Jade had given me an opportunity to set the record straight. “Yeah, we did. I worked for Baker Street, Gordon Cooper’s management company that he formed from the Star Machine show. Baker Street managed Five2Go right from the start.”
“How’d you get that job?” She plumped the pillow behind her as if she were here for the long haul. “I mean, you’re American, right?”
“My dad is a diplomat. Our family moved to England when I was a child. I heard about the job through a school friend at Oxford. Her mother grew up with Gordon, and my friend told me about the position because I was really into music. I still had to apply and interview, so it wasn’t a sure thing.
I followed all the new bands and went to all the grungy clubs to see them.
I even played guitar and was trying to form a band myself.
Wanted to major in music theory, but my parents were dead set against it. ”
“Same over here.” Jade raised her hand. “I wanted to major in dance at UCLA, and my parents told me they’d stop paying for school if I didn’t stick with computer science. Can you imagine me studying computers?”
“You seem to be pretty techie with your phone.”
“Completely different.” She clasped her phone to her chest.
“So, did your parents stop paying for college?”
“They didn’t have to.” Jade snapped her fingers. “I dropped out when I landed a gig on one of J-Lo’s shows. And you? Did you ever change your major to music?”
I imitated her snap. “Didn’t need to. I dropped out of Oxford when I got the job with Baker Street—and my first assignment was Five2Go.”
“Girl!” Jade screamed, and we high-fived. “Oh my God. So lucky. I crushed on them hard when I was a kid.”
“It was pretty wild. They’d just come off the Star Machine TV show, but they already had a huge following. We didn’t have any idea how big they’d get.” I stared out the window of the bus as the freeway wound toward the coast, and flashes of the ocean appeared.
Big enough to lay waste to the fledgling relationship between me and Conor.
“But you got to know all the boys.” Jade’s wide, shining eyes encouraged confidences I was not willing to share.