Page 7 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

Motherfucker. I wasn’t supposed to like her. I wasn’t supposed to want her like this, especially when the others clearly wanted her in the same way.

This couldn’t end well for any of us.

Chapter Four – Angel

I sat in the middle of the large sectional, Priest on my left and Bishop on my right. That left Deacon to sit either beside Priest or Bishop, and he chose the latter. We were all seated and ready by the time Ramona arrived, although I’d be lying if I said I was totally in the moment. No, my mind was still caught up in what Deacon and I had done in his room.

I’d now kissed all three of these guys, and each time, it had felt like the entire world had shifted. I didn’t know what to think.

Ramona stood in front of us, her phone in her hand, as always. Her long, thick black hair was down, falling over her shoulders, and her black eyes surveyed us on the couch. Theexpression her face wore was not what I was expecting. She didn’t appear upset.

Then again, Ramona was hard to read.

“All I can say is, you’re lucky,” she started off with. “I thought we’d have to do damage control after your little stunt at the show last night, but…” Ramona trailed off, something that wasn’t like her.

Priest leaned forward. “But what?” He was acting remarkably normal, considering he’d just caught Deacon and I making out while Deacon was still naked. Not at all how he’d acted last night after seeing Bishop kiss me.

“Have you looked through Black Sacrament tags today?” When none of us said a word, Ramona went on, “Well, something changed overnight. I wish I knew what it was, but… you’ve gone viral. You’re trending.” She gagged at that. “I hate that clock app, but we all know it can be good for starting careers, ending them, or boosting. You guys are definitely seeing a boost.”

Bishop shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why’d we go viral?”

“It’s not so much your return show that’s gone viral as it is the kiss,” Ramona bit out the words, like she didn’t want to say them aloud. “People who’ve never even heard of Black Sacrament are seeing the video where Priest kissed Angel at the end of the show. You’re being shipped heavily with each other now.”

“Shipped,” I repeated. The word sounded familiar in that context, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It sounded like something Cleo would say.

“Yeah, they’re shipping you because they want you two together.” Ramona pointed between Priest and me. “It seems that your little stunt, Priest, might’ve been the right call after all. We won’t be able to see the numbers yet, but new and old fans alike are clamoring for your album together. We need to capitalize on this and release a single to keep the buzz going, hold everyone over until you release your next album.”

Bishop glanced at me. “So, what does this mean? Since everyone is shipping Priest and Angel, they have to keep doing it? Pretend they’re together?” I could hear the doubt in his voice, and I knew he wasn’t too thrilled with this turn of events.

“That means we need to be smart about this. Draw it out. Don’t come out and say anything about the relationship between the two. Tease the fans. Build it up. Let them keep shipping Priest and Angel together for a while.” Ramona pursed her lips as she stared at each of us. “I don’t have to remind you of how important this comeback is. Not only for you, but for me as well. We have to do this right.”

Priest grinned. “It sounds like you don’t have faith in us, Ramona.”

“Considering I warned all of you to not stick your tongues down Angel’s throat and you did it anyway, yeah, my faith in you is very small right now. Like immeasurablysmall,” she replied. “But we can work with this. You got lucky. This means that, even if you aren’t feeling it anymore, you’ll have to fake it in the limelight.”

Saluting her, Priest said, “Aye-aye, sir. But you don’t have to worry about faking it. It’s real.”

Ramona frowned. “That’s what I’m worried about.” Her phone rang right then, and she glanced down at the screen and sighed. “Duty calls.” She said not a word more as she hurried to the door and left.

It was only after she was gone that I asked, “What do you think she meant by that?” I was mostly asking so I wouldn’t have to think about what Priest had said before that.

It’s real.He didn’t mean that he really liked me, did he?

Ugh. There I went thinking about it anyways.

“I think she meant she got a call from someone that she had to answer because it’s something to do with work,” Priest deadpanned, earning himself a glare from both Bishop and Deacon. I, on the other hand, was too busy replaying what he’d said before in my head.

“I think,” Bishop spoke slowly as he leaned forward on the couch, “she meant that if it’s real, it’s worse. If it’s real, people can get hurt, relationships can blow up and end…” His eyebrows came together.

“We’re good,” Priest said. “Trust me. We got this. Nothing’s going to blow up in our faces. I walked in on Deacon making out with Angel while he was naked and I didn’t freak out. I was totally fine with it.”

Bishop’s mouth fell open. “What?”

Priest seemed to recall Bishop had no idea about that whole thing, and he quickly said, “Oh, yeah. I walked in on Deacon making out with Angel while he was naked. And I didn’t freak. Isn’t that amazing? The not freaking out part, not the make-out part.”

Bishop’s head whipped in Deacon’s direction, and all Deacon did was shrug. He was back to scowling, but his hands fidgeted on his lap, which made me wonder if he was thinking back to that kiss and how those hands had been wrapped around my neck so snugly.

I felt immensely awkward right then, so I got up and said, “I should… go do something somewhere else.”Smooth one, Mags. Very smooth.

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