“They’re two top engineers for McCoy. I met one of them at a press conference my dad was talking in. They’re sweet, I swear. Cross my heart.” She drags her index finger in an X motion.
I nod along, agreeing to the plan because of Sophie’s good intentions.
“Yay. You won’t regret it! They even got us reservations at the nicest restaurant in Milan. Because nothing says a good date like pasta!” She claps her hands and drags us to my hotel room to pick our outfits. For someone who loves sneakers and T-shirts, she sure enjoys getting dressed up.
Here we are on a date the night before a qualifier round, sitting across from two good-looking guys. Sophie shoots me a grin when they look at their menus.
I agreed to this date for her because she’s seemed to struggle with Liam ever since they went to Canada. Not that she opens up about it.
The man Sophie set me up with has a head of blonde hair that curls at the ends. He looks kind of cute in a sweet way, and he even has a hint of an accent I can’t place. Candlelight dances off his brown eyes as he stares into mine.
“What’s it like to be a vlogger for Bandini? At McCoy we always watch them, hoping you’ll drop trade secrets.” My date, Daniel, smiles wide.
I shake my head. “I’m careful to make sure that doesn’t happen. I think they would flag my videos and not allow me to film anymore.” I make a zipping motion with my fingers and throw the invisible key over my shoulder.
“Which videos have you seen?” Sophie jumps in, her blonde space buns bobbing.
“We watch a lot of them and they look pretty well done. Do you edit them yourself?” Her date, John, asks.
“I’ve learned how to edit better as I continue to make more videos. I’m sure I could upgrade my equipment once it takes off because nice cameras are worth thousands of dollars.”
“By taking off, she means more than a million followers. She’s close to 800,000 already.” Sophie beams like a proud mom.
“How much did you pay Noah to do those videos? Especially the question ones because he never does stuff like that. He even declined Sports Daily when they asked for a similar one.”
My eyes burn at the memory. Nothing like bringing up Noah to dampen my mood, except my date has no idea about Noah and me, let alone how the industry works.
“I paid him nothing since he volunteered, and I didn’t exactly strong-arm him into it. Plus, we don’t really pay for things like that in this kind of work. Famous people usually do it if they want to. If not, they say no.” I scrunch my nose at Daniel’s misunderstanding.
“Doubt anyone could say no to you, not even the great Noah Slade.” Daniel’s smile doesn’t fill me with warmth like Noah’s did. I give a weak smile back, not exactly enjoying how he brings up Noah and Bandini.
Sophie gives my knee a squeeze under the table, finding the perfectly painful pressure point. I force the idea of him out of my head. Her new project includes conditioning me into not thinking about Noah anymore, going as far as watching videos on Pavlov’s dog.
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back. I need to use the restroom.” I push my chair out with more force than I’d intended. It knocks into the back of another person’s seat, causing the occupant to glare at me.
“I’m so sorry.” I speed walk out of there and dart into the dark hallway near the bathrooms.
I pull out my phone to distract myself while keeping track of time. Scrolling through Instagram’s feed comforts me.
The screen shuts off.
I breathe in a smell that’s distinctly Noah.
Oh God, why does my luck suck so bad lately?
“Date going that terrible?” His hoarse voice grabs my attention, and my heart rate picks up. Calloused fingers lift my chin, making my body respond to him instantaneously like we haven’t spent a month apart. Poor lighting in the hall doesn’t give me much to look at. I breathe in the smell of him because I’m a glutton for punishment. His textured thumb drags across my lips.
“What are you doing here?” Did my voice sound husky? I can’t hear it over the blood rushing through my ears.
“I’m out at dinner with friends. It’s a popular restaurant.”
Okay, so at least he doesn’t follow me around. That would be a bit concerning.
Noah’s dark silhouette blocks any light, making it difficult to distinguish his features in the dim hall. His lips brush against mine. My lips tingle from the barest touch, a mere caress I feel guilty enjoying. I tilt my neck to the side to evade his lips.