A moment later, he and Dave appeared. AJ looked up and smiled, removing her headphones. Noah stilled in the doorway.
“Aww, look, guys, we’ve got the band back together,” said Dave. “Should we do the ‘Drive Me Crazy’ dance for old times’ sake?”
They all laughed, and AJ glanced at Noah. “Noah definitely still knows it.”
“Like you couldn’t do it in your sleep,” he said, an edge in his voice. Was he thinking about sleeping with her?
Do not go there,AJ told herself.
“Seriously, guys,” said Dave. “We could do it at the cons this summer…”
By the “cons,” Dave meant the fan convention circuit, where apparentlyInto the Bluehad some sort of presence. A bunch of their old castmates made a summer of it—notably Xiaobo, whom Dave hooked up with each year (but they “weren’t in love”), and Toni, who still hated AJ.
“I’m serious, you two,” said Dave. “They’re magic. And the more cast members, the better the fees…there’s serious money to be made!”
“Define ‘serious’ ‘money,’ ” said AJ, who couldn’t imagine anything more torturous than traveling the country chasing the memory ofInto the Blue.
“For four cons? Like, two hundred grand,” said Dave.
AJ almost dropped her MacBook on the ground but was determined not to look overly impressed in front of Noah, who, according to Perez, had been paid fourteen million dollars forTheContract.She doubted he’d be caught dead at a convention these days. Unlike backstage at Spring Con—
AJ cleared her throat. “Dave, I say this with all the love in my heart: I would rather die.”
“Same,” said Noah.
“Well, you are both snobs,” said Dave.
AJ laughed, pulling on her headphones. Dave dragged his chair out from behind his desk as Noah sat down on the couch beside AJ. She tried not to stare at his long legs unfolding. Even though she knew what they felt like, their shape, their toned strength, and—
No. Nope. You’re done.
As Noah and Dave began to laugh and ideate in hushed tones, AJ felt a deep, somnolent calm claim her. She’d read once that guilty suspects slept in jail because they knew that’s where they belonged. Perhaps this was similar. Perhaps being next to Noah was where AJ felt she belonged.
And it focused her. When she next looked up from her computer, it was past ninep.m.
Dave had stepped out without her noticing; Noah hadn’t moved. He was reclining with Dave’s computer closed on his lap, one of his enormous hands on top, his gaze adrift. When AJ reached up to take off her headphones, he blinked a few times and stirred. He had almost been asleep.
“Did Dave go out to get food?” asked AJ.
Noah nodded. “Have I ever told you how much he reminds me of your brother Mike?”
AJ laughed to hide her surprise. “They are a breed.” Noah yawned, and even that was dear to her. “You don’t have to stay here all night,” she said quickly. “I can get Valerie—” Valerie was the head of their talent department. She normally didn’t let hosts out of her sight.
“She came by an hour ago,” said Noah. “I sent her away.”
“Oh,” said AJ, blushing. It was so intimate, how easily they could sit together for hours without speaking. “Why? What have you been up to?”
Noah shrugged. “Resting,” he said. He glanced at her. “I feel like one of those guilty prisoners, the ones that sleep when they get caught.”
For a second, all AJ could do was stare into his dark eyes. Could he tell, the way she could, that their subconsciouses were still at play?
Don’t.
AJ’s gaze fell to her lap. Noah had made his feelings known. He couldn’t even be bothered to send her one email. Thinking like this would only get her hurt.
This isn’t real.
The person beside her was just an afterimage. He had appeared through a wormhole, and when the week was out, he’d disappear back through.
