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"Is that what this is?"
I shrugged. “I don't know. Let's see what happens?"
She nodded, taking the hand I extended without objection, curling her fingers around mine.
A blinding flash went off in my face, and I blinked, feeling, rather like a fish in a fishbowl, unsure what happened on the other side. "The fuck?"
"Oh."
My visioned clear to find a plastic version of Chloe still clinging to me, staring off to one side, a fake as fuck smile fixed on her face I recognise from her socials, and when she dealt with any threatening situations, like with her sister.
This wasn’t anything so simple.
Then the lightbulb–flash–went off in my head and it all clicked.Shit.Media. I hadn't even thought of that, and from the look of the girl with more cameras hung around her body than one person should ever possess, this wasn't the local school paper level feature we were talking.
Fortunately, she wasn’t the only celebrity in the house, and we had processes in place.
"Kingsman rules." I stepped in front of Chloe, sliding a hand around her waist and holding her to my back. Trembling palms pressed to my shoulder blades, the heat of her searing me through the fine cotton. "No paparazzi. No media. Get the fuck out of here and don't come back."
The girl with the cameras tried to dodge around me. "Beau said–"
I shook my head and barred my teeth. "I don't give a fuck what Bennett said. Get the fuck out, or I'll throw you out on your ass." I pointed at a sign tacked to the house’s front door with exactly those rules listed verbatim.No media at parties.Feeling rather like Bilbo Baggins, I found Barclay, and gave him a side glance. "We have an insurgent."
Barclay grinned. "My favourite sort." We grabbed an arm making sure not to leave marks – more Kingsman rules, and ones we were all well trained in – escorted the girl out the door.
Another flash went off behind me.
Barclay glanced over his shoulder and froze. "Fuck. She's claustrophobic."
I twisted back to see Chloe pinned against the wall by either three fans or more media, all jabbering in her face. One scribbled everything in a cheap notebook writing down everything she said or tried to say in a frantic bid to escape, another recording on her phone.
Wide eyes met mine, and her panic transferred across the ten feet distance between us that may as well have been a world ending chasm.
"Shit. I didn't know that." I had no idea what anything about Chloe's life was like, apart from what I gleaned from my research and this morning.
No wonder she fucking stays at home if this is what happens.
"You got this?" I threw the comment at Barclay, not waiting for his answer before I took off back across the room, barreling my way through to Chloe and wrapping my body protectively around her. "You can all fuck off. And feel free to quote me any time." I scanned the room for frat pledges, and jerked my shoulder towards the door. "Follow Barclay with these guys. He knows what to do."
Three eager heads nodded as one, herding Chloe's aggressive little fanclub out the door.
Relacing a little as the threat dispersed, I loosened my papa-bear stance over her and wound an arm around her waist. A pledge got me two beers from the nearest bar fridge, leaving my hands free for a second to pull her close.
"That’s not what I meant to give you as an intro to a Kingsman party, Princess.” I nuzzled her hair, breathing her in.Fuck, I’ll never forget what she feels like in my arms right now.All sweet curves, feminine scents and a sharp tang of tequila and lime. A dumbass grin worked its way along my face until I realized she was still frozen. Not ever shaking.Double fuck.“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?"
Chloe started and looked up at me. "Will we be alone?" she whispered.
It wasn’t what I’d had in mind, encouraging her to hang out at a frat party, but hell, any port in a storm, because the rules changed.
"Only if you want to be."
She shrugged, accepting the beer a pledge put into her hand, the star-struck idiot almost bowing at the waist as he presented her drink. She took it with a bemused expression, leaning a little more into me. "Lead on."
“That's my girl." I kissed her temple, inhaling the sunlight and salty scent of her that wound its way through my mind like a drug.
Dropping her waist in favour of claiming her hand, I led Chloe through the kitchen and up the back stairs that were already cluttered with people making out and more. She let out a soft gasp as we passed a girl coming on one of the pledge’s fingers, her moans filling the hall above.
I pulled her a little closer. "Stick with me, honey." I didn't hear her whispered reply but she gave me no resistance as I turned left up the stairs, and along the row of bedrooms, pushing open the door to the first one. "Here."
