Page 82 of Rebooting Conor Flynn

“A couple of hours.” I mopped up the coffee. “Have you seen anyone else this morning?”

“Just Jermaine arguing with some hotel staff. I guess they didn’t reserve the entire hotel for us, and there are guests milling about.” Rhys cranked his head back and forth. “I don’t see any.”

“I’m sure we’ll survive a few guests sharing our space.”

“I might...” Rhys took a slug of his drink “...but you might get mobbed and beaten.”

Running a hand over my face, I said, “You saw that, huh? It’s all bollocks. I can’t be cheating on Ashley—we’re not even a thing.”

“We all know that, but the people in the Five2 fandom don’t.” Rhys put his hands under his chin. “You were always the sweet one, Con. You’ve destroyed their world with your fuckboy behavior.”

I shot my rolled-up napkin at him. “Piss off.”

“Heard a reunion tour is in the works. Is that true.” He sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, his eyes glowing like a Christmas tree.

That energy drink was kicking in.

“Between you and me...and a few thousand other people, the lads and I are discussing it seriously for the first time. Ian’s sober, Charlie’s settled, Sam’s between big projects—it’s time.”

“You doing it without Jay? That’s not gonna work, bro. There’s no Five2Go without all five of you.” He winked. “Your fans would hate you even more if you tried that.”

“Yeah, no. I’m aware. We’re gonna work on Jay. He put out some bangers last year. His voice is better than ever.”

“His voice, but what about his state of mind. Is he still hibernating on his farm.”

“Farm. You make him sound like Old MacDonald or something. Have you seen the place? It’s massive. I mean, he has his little lot near his house with chickens and horses and a pet cow, but the rest of it is a huge operation.”

Rhys’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve been there?”

“You know how it is, Rhys. Press makes it seem like we hate each other and are in constant competition, but we’re brothers. Always will be. Of course, I’ve been to Jay’s farm. The trick is getting him to commit to the tour.”

“Maybe Noelle could help. I mean, after she loses her current job.” Rhys squeezed his can with one hand—powerful drummer forearms.

“That bad, is it?” I sawed my bottom lip with my teeth. I’d been more concerned about anonymous than this social media nonsense, but it seemed Noelle had reason to be worried.

“It’s all bollocks, ain’t it? But Noelle always had a way with Jay...all of you. In fact, she should be the one running your comeback tour.”

Rhys had just verbalized what had been stewing in the back of my brain for a while, and I snapped my fingers. “She’d be brilliant, wouldn’t she?”

“And she may need the job. I know you don’t pay much attention to gossip and the socials, but you do know that Ashley is behind the new narrative. She’s the wronged party, and she’s gonna milk it to get sympathy and change her image from bitchy diva to sweet victim.”

I ran a hand through my hair. I hated this shite. “That didn’t work for her last time. Somehow when her husband cheated on her publicly, people blamed her and sided with him.”

“Ah, that’s because Nico played the game better...or his management did.”

Not hyped enough, Rhys tipped a few drops of liquid from the smashed can into his mouth. “Right after the hookups came out, Nico checked himself into rehab for his sex addiction. When Ashley didn’t stand beside him through his recovery, fans labeled her the bad guy. PR is complicated. You should know that by now.”

“It’s ridiculous.” I scratched my chin. “I feel a little sorry for Ashley now. Imagine getting the blame when your partner’s the one fucking around. Doesn’t surprise me that she’s grabbing hold of the opportunity Noelle and I handed to her.”

“Yeah, that’s big of you, Con, but she’s trashing your rep in the process.”

“I’m sure I’ll survive.”

“But will Noelle? Does a publicist really want to be the story instead of the client?” Rhys rubbed his hands together. “Seems to me like you need to stop Ashley in her tracks. Reclaim the narrative.”

“I suppose the best way to do that is to stop interacting with Noelle completely—even in private—because someone on the inside is taking pictures behind the scenes.” I pinged my coffee cup. “It’s gonna be hard to do that...now that I have her back.”

“Do you? Are you guys really a thing again?”