19
Jayce and I were trying to be cool in public even though all we wanted to do was put our hands all over each other. I thought we’d managed to do a fairly good job of it until Kell suggested another night of drinking.
“And don’t wear that same red dress,” he told me. “Find something hotter.”
“I’m sorry my clothes don’t meet your requirements on the hotness meter.”
Gabriella, the make-up girl I’d become friends with, took pity on me and loaned me something she called abodycondress. I took it to mean body conforming, because damn, did it hug my every curve in just the right places.
It took some courage to leave my hotel room, and I had to run to catch the taxi before the guys left without me.
I thought Jayce’s eyes were going to pop out of his head when I climbed in, the hem of my dress riding up my thighs much higher than I was comfortable with. He coughed and turned his head before he could be caught.
Kell had no such problem, staring at me with his tongue practically hanging out.
“Damn, internet girl, you pull off that sexy look real well. I’m going to be beating guys off with sticks all night.”
I couldn’t help but preen at the compliment, though a blush still rose in my cheeks. I’d rarely been called sexy before. Cute, sure, and pretty sometimes, but rarely sexy.
“You look very nice, Ailey,” Ren said with a smile. “If this deviant gives you any problems tonight,” he jerked his thumb toward Kell, “I’ll put a fist through his skull.”
“Get in line,” Jayce muttered.
We arrived at the club, a different one in a different city, but had no problems getting waved through the red velvet rope and being seated at another private booth.
Once we all had drinks in our hands, the conversation turned to my work.
“How are the fan reactions so far?” Ren asked. “Are they liking our behind-the-scenes stuff?”
The guys rarely asked about what I did, and aside from Jayce, I didn’t think they even checked their social media accounts to see what I’d posted. They answered questions and posed for pictures, but that seemed to be the extent of their interest.
“Everyone’s eating it up. Fans can’t enough of you guys. They all want to know more about you. In fact,” I said thoughtfully, “a few people have even sent nasty messages my way. They don’t even know who I am, but they’re dying of jealousy. People would kill for the kind of access I have.”
“So that’s how you got the job,” Ren said with a grin. “Who’d you kill? Come on, you can tell us.”
I laughed. “No killing involved. I just happen to live on the internet and have no real life. Apparently that’s the kind of thing Deena was looking for in a social media intern.”
“You’ve got a life!” Kell protested. “You’ve got the best life. You get to follow me around.”
Ren snickered. “And by best, you mean worst, right? After all, who’d want to stick around you if they didn’t have to?”
“You guys do,” Kell pointed out.
“Yeah, but we’re used to you. I’m surprised you even have fans.”
“Actually, Kell has tons of fans,” I said. “Some people really appreciate his… outgoing nature.”
“How diplomatic,” Morris drawled.
“There’s a whole continent of bloggers who’ve made it their mission to capture every self-absorbed Kell quote and turn it into a meme.”
“Meme?” Ren asked.
“It’s a…” I thought about how to answer and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to explain images with funny captions without making it sound lame. “Never mind. It’s an internet thing.”
“Are there bloggers who even care about the stuff we do and say?” Ren asked.
“Yeah, there are tons. I’ve actually got some friends who blog about music. One in particular is going to beso madI didn’t tell her what I’m doing. If Emily could follow you around, she’d probably end up writing ten blog posts a day.”
