Page 21 of Siren's Game

And fuck, all of it felt really nice. Who would have thought that this evening would become a bonding experience?

What’s not so nice is knowing what’s coming.

Him holding my hand will be all over the news outlets tomorrow, if not today. I know this as surely as that the sky is blue. I cannot see a single way that Naroa would be able to stop it.

Paparazzi? They can be paid off by the label if they really didn’t want the story to break.

But fans taking pictures? They might as well have livestreamed it. There's no coming back from that once those pictures hit social media.

"Is everything alright?" Millie's worried tone tears me away from my anxious thoughts and I release my lip I’ve been biting from my teeth.

"I'm not so sure," I tell her quietly. Huh. At one point a salad made its way in front of me and I'm currently digging my fork into it, pushing a small piece of tomato around the plate. "The paparazzi got pictures of Asher and me walking inside, so I'm kind of expecting Naroa to blow up my phone any moment now."

The fact that my phone has only been buzzing is my only indicator that Naroa hasn't tried to contact me yet. They’re probably social media notifications or friends checking in.

If Naroa would be calling me, the whole restaurant would be able to hear the siren alarm I assigned to her number. That makes it even more scary.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Millie tries to calm me down and pats my arm. "Maybe the two of us should just leave together. We could paint it like a coincidence that you two arrived here at the same time.

"I don't think that will work." A grin tugs at my lips. It's cute that she thinks it will, though. Our fans might be easy to mislead in certain cases, but they're not dumb. “They saw us get out of the same car and when they started crowding us, Asher took my hand. It’s one hundred percent going to make the news. Social media is probably freaking out already.”

"I'm sure Naroa's got it," Millie assures me and pats my hand, but I have my doubts. She might have heard of it. She might be pulling a few strings before calling me. But I doubt she’s going to do anything I’m too thrilled about.

And the only alternative I know they got to distract from the pictures? Blasting Millie and Luca all over the news instead and hope everyone would forget about Asher and me.

That's absolutely not happening. Not this time.

I eye Asher as he jokes around with Luca and mumble some half-assed input to the conversation taking place until the next food course arrives at our table.

I keep looking at Millie and Luca. They’re relaxed with each other now, a bit awkward with Asher and me being here. I just knew we should have left them alone.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk. All that matters is that the two of them are talking and shooting each other smiles when they think Asher and I aren’t looking.

And the way he eyes her like he's just happy she's gracing him with her presence? The way she giggles at almost everything that comes out of Luca's mouth?

Those two could be the end-game. Theyshouldbe end-game. They fit together like two sides of a damned locket. I can almost picture Millie walking down the aisle in a wedding dress already.

There is no way I could put the two on blast just to not deal with the media for fucking holding Asher's hand.

But what other choice do I have?

Asher bursts into laughter at something Luca said, and it doesn't grate my nerves the way I thought it would.

I need to make a plan. And I need to make it quickly, before we leave this restaurant.

All of us cheer when Logan, our waiter, announces that we've finally reached the last course. I can't believe I even made it this far.

My belly is so abnormally full, if I were wearing jeans I'd be afraid of the button popping off. Thank God my skirt is high rise and covers my stomach. God beware pregnancy rumors come up additionally to the handholding pictures.

Millie is also fighting, but like the warrior she is, she puts her fork up in the air as though she's saying a toast. "To finishing this wonderful and very extensive meal."

"To that," all of us say and raise our forks in the same way.

Just like all the other courses before, this last piece of dessert is delicious. I kind of hate how full I am, because if I had the capacity, I'd definitely order like ten more of these. Now that one single bite brings me so close to having the rest of the meal try to say ‘hi’ to me again that I’ll never be able to eat it again without remembering that nausea.

Which means that finally, the time has come where I can’t continue to ignore Naroa anymore.

At one point, my phone had started chiming with her ringtone, but I quickly set the device to do not disturb, hoping she'd take a few deep breaths and have calmed down some until I call her back.

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