Page 64 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

They did Ashley so dirty fr

My finger, hovering over my screen, trembled as I paused. What the hell just happened? My eyes widened as I saw the next comment. My stomach dropped, and I had to read it five times to verify I hadn’t imagined it. Then I read it aloud once.

“Seriously fuck Conor Flynn and that Noelle girl.”

Chapter 16

NOELLE

I walked out to the pool, my flip flops smacking against the cement like they were announcing my doom.

Shame. Slap. Shame. Slap. Shame. Slap.

Had Ashley seen those comments? She couldn’t have. She’d been pleasant and upbeat—or at least pleasant and upbeat for her. She’d sent out a warning shot already that she wouldn’t allow this stunt to humiliate her.

Now it was humiliating all three of us.

Celebrities and their managers pulled PR dating schemes all the time. Why did this one have to be so difficult?

Because the PR person and one of the celebrities have history.

The hotel staff mingled with the talent and crew, offering pre-made prickly pear margaritas, tequila sunrises, and palomas. I needed to be prickly to break the bad news to Ashley, so I grabbed a margarita from a tray, doing a doubletake at the bronzed pool boy in a pair of board shorts clinging on to his slim hips for dear life. These guys had to be Ashley’s idea.

I liked it. Anything to get her in a good mood before I told her about the new social media bombshell.

I spotted her, margarita in hand, flirting with one of the wait staff over the rim. She definitely knew nothing about those poor Ashley comments.

Conor waved me over to his chaise lounge, and I avoided him, making a sharp turn toward Jade dangling her feet in the pool.

I kicked off my flip flops and sank beside her. “Has Jermaine given a reason for the meeting yet?”

“Not yet. I think it’s just a peptalk and team building party. But Phoenix, summer, pool—perfect.” She raised her tequila sunrise and tipped it back and forth, causing the orange and yellow liquids to merge into fire in a glass. “Just hope none of the dancers gets too tipsy to perform, or someone might bring down the set...again.”

I clinked my glass with hers. “And I wasn’t even tipsy.”

“You and Conor seemed to be having a serious discussion last night on the bus.” Jade flicked a spray of water into the air with her toes.

“There’s always some business to discuss. You and Rhys were hitting it off.”

She wrinkled her nose. “He’s hot, but he’s the type to have a groupie in every city. You know what I mean?”

“I do. Yeah.” I thought Conor had had a groupie in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. And all that time, he was Conor the Goner.

Did we really have a chance to rekindle what we had together, or was this fake dating plan with Ashley going to blow us up?

Jermaine tapped on his glass with a fork, as if he were the best man at a wedding. His slightly drunken smile matched the vibe. He must’ve gotten an early start on his day-drinking too.

I took another gulp of my margarita to catch up.

“Wanted to celebrate the tour getting off to a great start. Sold out in San Diego. Sold out tonight in Phoenix. Third show in Albuquerque sold out.” Jermaine lifted up his phone. “Can’t discount the power of social media. The tour is creating a buzz—on and off the stage. Thank you, Noelle, for more than just your PR savvy.”

My drink sloshed mid-sip, and I inhaled some salt from the rim of my glass. I dragged my hand across my nose. “Excuse me?”

“The fans are speculating about Conley and thinking maybe Conor Flynn isn’t the good guy after all, as he seems very interested in the tour’s publicist. Brilliant. They can’t stop floating theories. We like it.” Jermaine clapped. “Now onto the transition between Ji-yoon’s set and Conor’s. Too clumsy right now.”

As Jermaine droned on about some technical crap, I snuck a peek at Ashley. I hoped to break this latest glitch to her privately, not have Jermaine do it in front of everyone.

My mouth hung open when I caught Ashley giggling with one of the dancers—not even Tomo. Had she heard Jermaine’s speech?