Page 5 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

“What?” Conor scratched the scruff on his chin. “What are you on about, Noelle?

I ran my index finger up the bridge of my nose, but I didn’t even have my glasses for cover. “We...I believe a showmance between you and Ashley would rehabilitate her image.”

Ashley clapped her hands. “I love it. What better pairing for the pop world’s newest sweetheart than with Five2’s squeakiest clean member? No drugs. No boozing. No flings with every It Girl. No punching the paps. No weird hibernation from the world in a farmhouse. No tattoos. It’s perfect. It’s not like we haven’t played this game before, Conor.”

Bingo. Their previous relationship was fake.

“I-I’m not sure how that would help, Ashley.” Conor ran a hand through his blond locks—a darker gold from what I remembered. “Maybe if you just put on a good show with no drama and treat everyone with kindness, you can win people over.”

“Aw, what’s the fun in that?” Ashley jumped from her chair and planted herself behind Conor, rubbing his shoulders.

“I think this is the way forward.” Orlando slipped his sunglasses from the top of his head to his face. “I mean how perfect is it for the co-headliners on a tour to be hooking up? We can all see the benefit in that. Good call, Noelle. I feel comfortable leaving this tour in your hands.”

Conor’s head jerked up at the term co-headliner. He’d gone from possibly third billing to co-headlining. The implication was clear.

The other implication was clear and in case I didn’t get it, Dina, beaming like a proud mother hen, was poking me again to bring me to my senses.

“Right.” I snapped my laptop closed. “This plan has legs. The fans will love it. PopWiz will go wild, and it’ll be Conley all over again. Isn’t that what the shippers called you two.”

I batted my lashes at Conor, mostly just to dissolve the tears that threatened to flood my eyeballs. Willing him to reject the ridiculous plan.

His pale Irish cheeks reddened, and he lifted his shoulders. “If you lot want to put that out there, I guess it’s okay with me. I’m not seeing anyone right now. Nobody will get hurt.”

Except me. Right now. I folded my hands in my lap so tightly, my fingers were in danger of breaking.

“Conley it is, bitches.” Ashley raised her arms in the air and gave a whoop. “Now that all the PR is done, let’s make some music. The band is getting restless.”

As Ashley made for the stage, Dina pulled me in for a quick hug and whispered, “You did good, babe. Orlando and Ashley loved it.”

“I just threw it out there because I knew Orlando would approve, but I didn’t really think Conor would go for it.”

Dina tilted her head as she hoisted her Birkin over her shoulder. “It sounds like you’re complaining. You did a good job selling it to him. He trusts you. And you got on Orlando’s good side. You got this, sweetie.”

I stuck my finger in my mouth to pretend-gag.

“I told you before, Noelle. This tour is make or break for you. You can’t be an assistant forever. You either move ahead...or you’re done.” She winked to soften the ultimatum.

Then she left—with me in charge.

Ashley belted out some warm-up vocals, and Ji-yoon rolled her eyes at me, as she retreated to one of the trailers with a cup of tea, her phone to her ear. K-pop was no stranger to showmances, and Ji-yoon hadn’t seemed surprised by the shift in plans. If she resented Conor jumping ahead of her to co-headliner, she didn’t show it. She probably had an edict from her own manager—go along to get along.

“Do ya really think pairing me and Ashley is a good idea, Noelle?”

I spun around at the sound of Conor’s voice. I’d ached to be alone with him since he first walked onto the grounds, but now the prospect terrified me.

“Orlando seems to think it’ll work. We might as well give it a try.” I tucked an errant lock of hair behind my ear. “D-do you not like the idea?”

He tugged on his earlobe where he used to wear a gold ring. I always teased him that he wore the hoop in his ear to look badass, as unlike the other members of the group, he was afraid of needles and refused to get a tattoo.

“Does anyone ever like these kinds of games?”

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder where Ashley had gone from warming up, to some breathy rendition of one of her forgettable songs. “Ashley seemed hyped for it.”

“Ashley likes the drama, and she’ll do anything to get the good press now. She thought she could play the bad bitch, and people would still stream her music, give her awards, and invite her to all the cool places. But it didn’t work out that way.”

“And you?”

“Me?” He widened his baby blue eyes.