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As soon as we stepped inside, warm air wiped away the cold.
And an ambush of business people wiped away the calm.
“Gabriel Stryker, I can’t believe you came,” one man said.
“You’ve been out enjoying the slopes I see,” another said with a chuckle. “Need to get out of those snow clothes and into something more fitting?”
“I don’t—” Gabriel started.
“What are you talking about?” said another. “He looks a helluva lot less stuck up with snow in his hair.”
I could feel him retreating into himself. I could feel my fury rising—it was not okay for these strangers to treat Gabriel like this.
This was what I was here for. I could be his shield, his buffer to this level of scrutiny, and I could buff like a pro.
“What is the proper term for a bunch of half-drunk middle-aged men in semi-formal dress?” I asked.
All eyes turned to me.
I just needed to remember to keep my temper in check. I needed to be the social sweetheart tiger warrior and charm their stupid faces off.
I slipped on my peopling smile. It was easy. Practiced.
“A horde? A gaggle? I can never remember.”
One of the dudes burst out laughing. Then another.
That was easy.
“Hey, you’re the…What’s Up With Itshow star, right?” Another man was waving as a teenage girl and a middle-aged woman pulled him toward us.
The girl had on all black, a number of facial piercings, and a wild look in her eye. She whisper-yelled at him through gritted teeth.“What the What?Dad. I swear, you’re so embarrassing.”
“Hey, Gabriel, so glad you could make it,” the man said, seemingly deflated as the two women assailed me with a barrage of questions.
From the corner of my eye, it looked to me like Gabriel had gone completely still.
“I totally love you,” the girl said. “You should have won.”
“We,both of us do,” the woman, who guessing by the resemblance was her mother, added. “Glitter Galore isn’t?—”
“Glitter’s amazing,” I said. “Totally deserved to win. She’s even sweeter than she appears on camera.”
“You’re just the sweetest, too, aren’t you?” the woman said.
The business men looked amused by the whole scene, except for the guy the two women had pulled over here. Good, let me command the attention. I slowly inched myself in front of Gabriel, physically shielding him from everyone else.
“I’m Layana Hartley,” I said to the girl. “What’s your name?”
She giggled, a soft and high-pitched noise that didn’t look like she could produce. Celebrities did that to people, and I kind of was a celebrity, if only a D-list one since the show. Juno a.k.a. Glitter got it much worse than I did.
“Pom. Pom Daniels.”
“Nice to meet you, Pom,” I said.
“Is Morgan really as mean as she seems?” Pom asked.
“I’m Gloria,” the mom said.
