Page 18 of Twisted Promise

She squirmed as her face scrunched up adorably. He’d cocooned her too tightly, so there was no way she could free herself without his help.

“Your fans are asking why you went into her room,” Meryl inquired, her eyes straying from her phone to raise a gloating brow.

Anya would’ve slept through the cold if she wanted, but he knew she would feel under the weather sooner or later. He didn’t want her sick. It’d meant she had to rest and quarantine away from others, which was not why he joined this dreadful show.

“Were you going to carry her?” Alessio went with that instead.

She scoffed and switched to lean on the other side’s armrest. “Now, they’re demanding to know what she is to you.”

“And that’s not their business.”

The squirming had stopped, and he looked down to see uncertainty prancing in Anya’s eyes.

“Of all the people they could stan, they pick the most cynical and unlikeable one,” Meryl needled as she laughed rowdily at the comments on her screen. “I feel bad for the fans.”

“Don’t be.” His back cushioned nicely on the couch as he peered from the corner of his eyes to watch Anya secretly try to sink into the crevice of the plush. “I have no use for them.”

“Are they masochists?” Meryl snorted with disbelief. “Because they’re swooning over you.”

Anya managed to free one arm before she hurriedly did the rest. She threw the blanket down to her knees and wheezed, face red and chest heaving, and then a distrustful side-eye was thrown at him.

He blinked and deftly feigned ignorance.

“Why am I out here?” she asked.

“Sleepwalked,” Alessio and Meryl replied in chorus without an ounce of hesitation or guilt from lying.

“I was awake when you were talking, right?” Anya baited lightly.

“Didn’t notice,” Alessio taunted.

“Didn’t realize.” And that was Meryl’s coyness.

At that moment, the trio burst out from behind the hallway wall and stumbled into the common area. They were frazzled, dressed in clothes that weren’t theirs, and had starkly red marks on their calves.

They looked like hickeys.

Strange place for them, but that wasn’t Alessio’s concern.

“You guys are fast!” Cosmo laughed, scratching the back of his head.

His champagne silk top rose embarrassingly high, barely reaching his mid-stomach as it was several sizes too small.

Clara fiddled with her hair, attempting to tame it, while another man assisted, focusing on strands she missed. The unnecessarily strong urge to follow that arm up to a crooked wig on top of the man’s bald scalp was compelling.

“Viewers want to know if it wascosplay,” Meryl interrupted with her usual candor to slap the intense elephant in the room.

“That’ll get the live banned,” Cosmo admitted sheepishly, his cheeks tinged pink. “Consensual, nonetheless.”

What had he done to understand the insinuation? Alessio did not deserve this.

Chapter Five

__________

Anya

“Tell us about your first love.”

---