Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

NOAH

G emma was really fucking fun to hang out with. I loved that she didn’t take herself too seriously, and as an added bonus, it helped that she looked so damn hot no matter what she was doing. I was having the best night with her, and I nodded immediately when she asked me back to her place.

That pole dance might’ve had me rolling with laughter, but it had also done a lot of other things to me. While I wasn’t going to be a dick who assumed the invitation meant we’d for sure be hooking up, I wouldn’t deny I was hoping it went that way.

As I nodded, she smiled and took my hand, dragging me with her to the exit doors. We stepped into the cool night air outside.

“Wow,” she said with a slightly hushed quality to her voice. “That was amazing, but it’s way too loud and way too hot in there.”

I tightened my grip on her hand as I led her to the curb to hail a cab. Behind us, I could hear the murmurs starting up from those in line who had recognized me, but mercifully, there had been drivers waiting outside and one rolled forward as soon as my arm shot up.

Gemma and I bundled into the backseat and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer. For some reason, I couldn’t bear the idea of not touching her right then. “If you think that was loud, you might not ever want to come to one of my shows. At least no one was constantly screaming in there, but there tends to be a lot of screaming once we’re onstage.”

She chuckled. “I’ve been to one of your shows, remember? It wasn’t that loud.”

“Yeah, but the show you came to had an audience of industry professionals. They’re not really the screaming type.”

She shrugged before she shot me a playful smile. “Or maybe they just don’t love you that much.”

“Ouch.” I pretended to wince as I chuckled. “Fair enough, though. That might’ve been it. What did you think?”

“Of?”

“The show,” I said, really curious about her answer for some reason I couldn’t quite fathom. “Did you like it?”

“Are you fishing for compliments?”

I fought a smile. “Maybe. Is that so wrong? Guys happen to like getting compliments from pretty girls.”

Gemma’s cheeks warmed, glowing with a faintly rosy hue in the dimly lit cab. “Well, since you snuck in a compliment there, I suppose I’d better return the favor. For what it’s worth, you’re pretty too, but I enjoyed the show. I’ve been listening to some of your music lately and I’m enjoying it.”

When the cab driver glanced curiously into his rearview mirror, obviously trying to see who I was, I ducked my head and fell silent—but I agreed to sign an old receipt for him when he was dropping us off. Gemma looked at me over her shoulder as we walked into her house.

“That must get really old,” she said. “Autographing things for people and taking selfies all the time. Wine?”

“Yes, please.” I followed her to her kitchen, remembering which cabinet she’d gotten the glasses from the other night and pulling some out while she went to her fridge to grab the wine.

As she turned, she smiled happily when she saw the glasses, glancing at me. “I’m glad you’re getting comfortable here.”

“So am I,” I agreed honestly. Once my glass was full, I gratefully accepted it from her. None of that pretentious half-glass BS some people believed in, which I appreciated about her. “As for whether it gets old, it does, but it’s also an honor. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so.” She took a sip of her wine, her eyes narrowing in thought before she finally nodded. “It’s an invasion of your personal space and your time, but those are also the people who buy your albums and your concert tickets. They adore you, and if they didn’t, you’d be out of a job.”

I inclined my chin. “Exactly. It’s a bit of a mindfuck that there are so many people out there now who want my attention, but the other guys feel the same way. None of us can really believe how big City Lights has gotten, and we owe it all to the fans. Sacrificing some space and some time is hardly anything in comparison to what they’ve given us.”

“Well said.” She smiled, regarding me with soft but curious eyes before she jerked her head toward her living room. “Should we go sit down?”

“Sure.” I took my wine with me as she led the way, and we both took in the same positions on her couch as we’d had the other night. I looked around the room, noticing the overflowing bookshelves and the colorful, quirky knick-knacks and touches scattered around it. “I really like your place. It’s so homey.”

“Thanks.” Her gaze followed mine around the room. “It’s taken some time to really make it mine, but it’s finally starting to feel like it’s coming together.”

“Did you move in recently?”

“Oh, no.” Her eyes widened slightly. “No, I’ve lived here for years. Mariam used to live with me, but she moved out a little while ago. Once all her stuff was gone, the place was just so empty and different. I hated it, so I decided it was time to think about what I really wanted and to do that.”

“Ah, I see.” I paused for a beat, seeing something that looked a lot like sadness in her eyes. “You must miss her. I mean, if you guys lived and worked together, she must’ve been a really big part of your life.”

“She still is.” Gemma finally mustered another smile. “It’s been one big adjustment after another, but I really am happy for her. Besides, after she gave up her place when she decided to move to Sun Valley, she asked if she could have her old room back for when she’s in town. At least that means that when she does come to Austin, she’ll be living here again. I like that we’ll have those bursts of time when things will go back to the way they were.”

“All while moving forward,” I said, and she nodded.

As she sipped her wine, her eyes searched mine and I tilted my head at her, chuckling when I could practically see the gears in her head turning. “What?”

“How did you get into the music industry?” she asked suddenly, blurting it out before looking like she wished she could stuff it back in. “I know I could probably Google it, but I’d prefer to hear it from you if that’s okay.”

I laughed. “It’s better than okay. As it happens, I prefer to tell my own story rather than to have the internet tell it for me. It’s still weird that there’s even so much on there about me at all, so I always get kind of surprised when people tell me things about my own life I didn’t even realize was part of the public domain.”

She frowned. “How is it out there without you realizing it?”

I shrugged. “People talk. People from my past. My childhood. Teachers. Friends. Even extended family members. Then there are people I’ve never even met who pretend that they knew me way back when. They make up all this shit that some reporters just accept as truth and publish. Some of it has been pretty close to the truth, though.”

“That’s…” She breathed in deep and shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“It’s not, but it’s all part of the deal, I suppose.” I felt a smile creeping onto my lips at the prospect of finally being able to tell my own story again. “You really don’t know how I got started?”

“Well, I do know that you went viral on TikTok, but that’s about it.”

I chuckled. “I’m not surprised you know that part. Everyone seems to remember when it happened.”

“It wasn’t that long ago.”

“That’s fair.” I took a sip of my wine, trying to decide where to begin as I swallowed it. “The backstory isn’t as interesting as going viral or what happened after. I feel like I should warn you that it’s actually pretty boring.”

“I still want to hear it,” she said without hesitating. “Bore me, Noah Parks. I can’t wait.”

A strange but almost overwhelming desire to blurt out my entire life story overcame me, but I pushed it back. She knew the highlights already and the details were too depressing to put into words, so I stuck to the basics.

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I said lightly despite the strength of the emotions at war within. “I’ve always loved to sing. I’ve noticed that we have that in common, but yeah. Growing up, it was kind of an escape for me, you know? Whenever I needed to block out the world, I put on my headphones and cranked the volume. I did it at school one day and I wasn’t even aware that I’d started singing along. Louder than I should probably be proud of.”

She laughed. “Been there, done that.”

I raised my glass to her. “Cheers to being a pair of weirdos.”

“I thought we’d already established that.” She clinked her glass against mine and took a sip before making a rolling motion with her finger for me to continue.

“Anyway, one of the teachers heard me and cast me as the lead in that year’s musical. It wasn’t really my thing, but I did it because it would give me an excuse to stay away from home a lot more for the next few months.”

She grimaced. “I’m so sorry that’s part of this memory.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is. Besides, if I hadn’t taken that role, I might not have started busking for extra cash too, but I did. I found an old guitar in a thrift shop and decided to see if I could make some money, and it worked. That got me a spot at a popular open-mic thing, and from there, I was asked to do a paid gig at a Christmas party, which is where someone took that video of me that they later posted.”

Her eyes were wide. “The video that went viral?”

I nodded. “That’s the one. Things just kind of took off from there.”

She gaped at me. “Your definition of boring differs vastly from mine.”

I chuckled. “Well, at least I didn’t put you to sleep.”

“Sing for me,” she said suddenly, sounding like she was joking, but she still leaned forward as excitement sparked to life in her eyes. “Please? Just one song.”

“What song?”

“Any song.”

I debated it for a moment, but then I decided what the hell. I liked this girl. If she wanted me to serenade her, I’d do it.

I smiled as I realized I knew the perfect song, especially since she’d just invited me back to her place, right to my face, without even flinching. I launched into Slow Hands by Niall Horan, laughing as she pressed her hands to her chest and pretended to swoon.

Or maybe she wasn’t pretending. Either way, it was pretty obvious that she liked me too.

“I love your voice,” she gushed once I stopped singing.

It took everything in me not to reply with, Yeah? Well, I love you .

I paused at the thought. I didn’t know if I was all the way there yet, but I was certainly falling for this woman who came out of nowhere. When she sat next to me on that plane, I hadn’t been looking for anything deep or serious, but I had found it anyway.

Instead of declaring my affections, I just bent at the waist into a low bow and took another sip of my wine when I straightened up. She clapped lightly and giggled. “Bravo!”

We stayed up late talking again, just going from one conversation to the next seamlessly and without any weird or awkward pauses. Eventually though, Gemma yawned and set her empty wine glass down on the coffee table in front of us.

“I think that’s enough for me for one day,” she said, eyeing the empty bottle next to the glass. “I might even be ready to go to bed.”

Disappointment raced through me until she added, “Would you like to stay with me tonight? No pressure. It’s just really late and I’m a pretty good cuddler. If you’re interested.”

Was I interested? Shit, that was potentially the best offer I’d ever received. There was absolutely no way I was turning her down, even if I could see the sudden vulnerability shimmering in her eyes.

It looked like Gemma still didn’t know how incredibly into her I was, and there was no time like the present to show her.