Page 99 of Ravaged For You

It had felt right. It still feels right.

Have I gone over the edge?

Like I’ve said, I still haven’t had time to even think through it all. We have to be at the airport incredibly early to board the private jet for the next stop of the tour. We were both too bleary-eyed this morning to even talk to each other when our alarm went off, let alone sit down and deeply discuss what the hell we’ve just done.

And what we do from here…

“Holy shit, there’s a lot of people,” I remark in the back of the limo as we pull up to the airport. I quickly grasp that this must be the first thing I’ve actually said to Axel all morning.

He leans past me to look out my window. He’s so close. I could pucker my lips and kiss his neck if I wanted to.

Where do we stand with each other? Was last night a fatal mistake? Are we no longer fake boyfriend and fake girlfriend?

“Those are fans,” Axel replies. He betrays nothing in his voice.

I wish that man could lower his cool guard down for a minute.

I follow his sight out the window at the waiting crowd. He’s right, they are fans. They line up at the fence that forms the perimeter of the airport with signs for each of the members of Ravaged. There’s a lot of cheering as our limo approaches. The driver is wary of accidentally running over some excited fangirl, so he creeps up to the gate leading onto the runway.

I try to duck from the attention that the fans are giving us. And I’m also so worried about making eye contact with Axel and betraying my burgeoning feelings for him. I look down at my phone and scroll aimlessly through social media instead. My Instagram has gone insane the last few days – ever since my “relationship” with Axel went public – that I have no choice but to see everyone’s opinion of me and to see all the people try to send messages my way.

But the photo from last night – the one where Axel has me lifted in his arms as he kisses me – has gone up to another whole level entirely. It’s fair to say that the photo is a hit. Looking through my social media, I can see that people’s responses to it have been out of this world. There’s fan fiction about the moment. I’m getting messages from everyone I know. Marie from work has even sent me more messages proclaiming her complete disbelief in the whole thing. She’s practically drooling over it.

I don’t know how to even think about it all. I wish it all could just disappear, but that’s the job I’ve signed up for. This is my fifteen minutes of fame.

“I need to sign some things for the fans,” Axel explains to me before he asks the driver to pull up in front of the adoring crowd. “It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Okay.”

His words hit me in a way I do not anticipate. I feel kinda sad that I might have to board the plane by myself. It somehow feels like Axel is abandoning me. After last night, I just want to hold on to the man and never let go.

“I want you to come along,” Axel continues, and it’s like sunshine piercing through the crowds.

He doesn’t want me to leave his side. This must mean good things.

We get out of the limo, and the fan screaming immediately intensifies. They’re calling Axel’s name over and over. It’s like he’s some cult leader or something.

But then I hear something else.

They’re also calling my name.

Holy shit. No freaking way.

Of course, I’m famous as well. I’ve not really thought about things that way. That people see me as famous as Axel now. We come as a combined package. What was that nickname Lucas said we have now?

Wow, this is really something.

I want to tell them that they shouldn’t be calling my name. That just a few days ago I was broke and in tears. That I’ve been a nobody all my life and actually prefer it that way.

Just like the charity function, Axel silently reaches for my hand and holds me tight. Helping me. He brings us over to the crowd and starts signing posters of his face like it’s the most normal thing to do.

“I love you.”

“You’re the best, Axel.”

The fans all repeat how much they adore the man I’ve come to know. He takes it all with an easy smile and thanks. Meanwhile, I am overwhelmed. Of course I am. I’m a normal human being in this crazy situation.

A girl, seemingly my age, tries to say something directly to me. Seems like a question, but I can’t make it out, so I lean close. She repeats.