Noah didn’t smile, but his entire face lit up, and AJ knew she’d made him happy.
“And we should ask them to join,” she said, nodding toward their castmates.
Noah glared. “Why?”
AJ gave him a small smile. “It’s what Ana Tar would do.”
That weekend, after the panel and another signing, AJ walked away with twenty-seven thousand dollars.
Florida Supercon
June 30, 2012
They were the hot newact on the convention circuit, and Florida Supercon rolled out the red carpet accordingly. When AJ arrived at the Miami Airport Convention Center roughly an hour before their panel, a staff member was waiting to greet her. “Ms. Graves,” he said, escorting her into a labyrinth of industrial corridors away from the crowd.
Noah’s presence had elevated theInto the Blueevents to the point of a sensation. Rarely did an actor at the top of their Hollywood game make themselves available on behalf of a long-dead show, and the Blue Coats were accordingly stoked.
Blue Coats Society: Arho\\Summer Cons\\2012
CraleQuest314:Mom and Dad are back, y’all!!
SpaceNTimer87:VINDICATION. SNL was a hint.
AnaTardis9!:There’s no way this would be happening if they weren’t talking reboot.
AJ knew it was lucky that Noah’s PR efforts were overlapping with her familial fundraising drive. Molly Magnusson had already leveraged his presence, raising AJ’s fee for Supercon by 150 percent.
On a personal level, though, it was hell.
For three days after Albuquerque, AJ had felt lifeless. She and Noah had sat together for only a few hours, but they had been the best few hours of AJ’s entire year.
On the fourth day, she began to reason with herself. These events were necessary, and Noah’s attendance was a boon. If she had to budget for an emotional hangover after each one, so be it.
Honestly, she was golden as long as they didn’t touch.
Noah had barely grasped her shoulder in New Mexico, but it hadn’t mattered. AJ had thought of it for days. Which wasn’t fair—to her or Brian. They were engaged now. AJ wanted to be good.
So moving forward, no touching.
AJ reminded herself of this as the staffer showed her into a spacious greenroom, where she was immediately assaulted by the sight of Noah’s sculpted shoulder blades in a black long-sleeved shirt. He was standing in the far corner, speaking with Risa and a man AJ didn’t know.
“Age,” called Dave, always the statesman. He motioned for her to join him, Xiaobo, and Toni in the other corner, where his Android was in a cup playing “Hold It Against Me.”
AJ felt Noah tracking her as she hugged Dave and Xiaobo, and then, very stiffly, Toni.
“Come here often?” said Toni.
“Right? Of all the gin joints,” said AJ, nervously overdoing it.
Toni gave her a small smile. After AJ insisted they all be included in the Comic Expo panel, Toni was making more of an effort to be cordial.
Truly, Toni and the others had done AJ and Noah the favor. Neither she nor Noah would have made it through a single question on their own. Meanwhile, their castmates were fully steeped in the show’s lore, easily fielding topics from episode-by-episode trivia to fan conspiracy theories.
“Did you hear we’re completely sold out?” asked Dave excitedly.
“I heard we outsold the event forThe Hobbit,” said Xiaobo. Toni raised an eyebrow. “What? The staff guy is cute and loves to gossip.”
Dave turned an ill shade at this, but AJ felt sicker. She knew she should be happy—more ticket sales meant more money. But having to walk onstage in front of all those people was terrifying.
