Page 95 of Siren's Game

"Thank you," I tell him, so softly that I doubt he can hear me over the commotion going on.

He immediately snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him as we start to make our way to the red carpet, his thumb stroking my hip as he leans over to answer.

"You're more than welcome, Sweetheart." And then he presses his lips against my hair, and I laugh when that leads to a barrage of camera flashes and squealing.

The fans waiting at the sides of the red carpet start chanting our names and we give them a little wave as we walk over to where the press photos are happening.

This whole label conflict is annoying as hell, but watching our fans’ faces light up when they see me reminds me of why I’m doing this. All I want is release new music and have fun live shows with Millie and our fans.

It doesn’t make me any less nervous, but I can sit through annoying negotiations for that.

"You good?" Asher asks me as we find our mark on the red carpet. I look down to situate my dress and get into a proper pose before I dare lift my eyes from the ground, which is usually the sign for photographers to start.

"I'm alright," I let him know while looking straight ahead and lean against him. "You're a good boyfriend, you know that?" I say through gritted teeth as I keep the smile on my face for the cameras.

"Well, a worse boyfriend wouldn't have let you go out like that." From the corner of my eyes, I can see that he's trying not to move his lips as well. Then he leans closer, shielding his mouth with his hand as he whispers. "A worse boyfriend wouldn't have let you out of the apartment looking this amazing. Or he would have fucked you against the wall in that dress before going out with you. I kind of wish I was a worse boyfriend now."

I nudge him with my elbow and now the smile on my face is genuine when he straightens his back again and moves his hand on my hip just above where the high slit of my dress starts, his thumb gently stroking the fabric.

Good thing I'm wearing high-coverage foundation today because my face is fucking burning.

"Don't be so crass in public," I scold him and look down to the ground to change my pose. Again, as soon as I lift my head again, the camera flashes go off. "How long do we need to stand here?"

"Until that nice lady in green waves for us to leave."

My eyes dart around until I find the nice lady wearing a green blazer, clipboard in her hand and a fancy earpiece to communicate partially hidden by her copper her. I keep watching her from the corner of my eyes as we change poses a few more times, Asher’s hand a steady presence on my hip, or my waist.

Finally, she waves us over and I clutch Asher's arm as I take the first step because my leg is all stiff after staying in the same position for several minutes.

After a few steps my leg is back in its full function and I let go of him, only for him to immediately reach for my hand.

"Asher, interviews for you are lined up to the right," the woman says and gestures towards a group of reporters and camera operators behind a barrier. "And you . . . " She looks at me, really confused, looking through the papers on her clipboard. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea where you're supposed to go."

"How about I sign a few autographs and take a few pictures until Asher is done?" I ask her with a friendly smile, and she nods eagerly, waving at one of the security men to have him go with me.

"Be good," I tell Asher and pat his arm. He shakes his head at me with a fond smile before I walk off to hang out with the fans.

All of them are super sweet. God, after the shit show that Millie had to go through recently, I've grown a bit apprehensive, but all of the fans here today couldn't be any kinder.

We chat a bit and I sign notebooks, even a pair of boobs, and take a lot of selfies. Which is really challenging over the barrier, but we somehow manage.

When Asher comes over to give a few autographs himself, I even feel a bit sad that we'll have to leave to get into the theatre soon.

But I guess it's time to sit in a stuffy room and watch his newest movie.

"Do you have any sex scenes in it?" I ask him with a giggle as we walk up the stairs to the event, my eyes carefully glued to the ground as I climb them with my high heels.

"Nope, I was third-wheeling on this one," he assures me quickly. From the corner of my eyes, I see his jaw set and that little muscle just in front of his ear twitching. "There's no way I'd take you to a movie where you'd have to watch me be intimate with someone else."

"It's acting." I roll my eyes at him. "It's not like I'd be watching you cheat. Millie and Luca watched one of his movies with a sex scene while ago and Millie said she had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, because Luca was embarrassed as fuck when she pointed out every little thing he does differently on screen," Asher mentions with a chuckle and I shake my head at him. “I’m not putting myself through that.”

"Sounds like fun to me." I shrug, exhaling a thankful sigh when we finally reach the top of the stairs. God, my calves are going to kill me tomorrow. "We could do a drinking game. One shot each time you cringe."

"You're trouble, you know that?"

Instead of answering, I shoot him a wink as we walk inside the fancy cinema. Immediately, a loud background murmur fills my ears as I watch hundreds of industry professionals network while Asher leads us over to where the cast sits.

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