Fandom (Famous #3) - Eden Finley Page 0,8
I take a large gulp and then hand it to Harley, who takes out a glass and pours himself some with Diet Coke.
He offers some to Brix, but Brix shakes his head. “I have a feeling I’ll be needing to look after you two tonight.”
Even though it’s Harley’s boyfriend, the mere thought of having someone look after me makes my chest ache. “Yeah, I’m gonna need more alcohol.”
“Want a glass this time?” Harley asks.
“Fine. Make me use my manners and shit.”
By the time we land at a private airfield outside Vegas, I’m a little tipsy and buzzing happily. We go straight from the plane and are ushered through the private terminal and into an awaiting stretch Hummer.
I stare at Harley, like, really?
“I figured we’d do this trip in style,” Harley says.
“Mmhmm, style. This would have nothing to do with drawing attention to the three members of Eleven hanging out so the tabloids catch wind of a reunion and having the fans beg for it until we all relent?”
“I am a pillar of innocence,” Harley says.
I have to admit, his passion for us getting back together is alluring. He doesn’t need the publicity like the rest of us, so I don’t get the impression he’s using us for a PR grab. He genuinely wants it to happen.
“Where to now? Driving to the middle of nowhere?” I ask.
“Yep. Then we’re gonna kidnap him from the set and go to a late dinner at the Catalina Casino.”
“Wait, does he know we’re coming?”
Harley grins. That motherfucker.
“You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?” I turn to Brix. “Isn’t this the type of thing you’re supposed to rein in?”
“Hell no,” Brix says immediately. “I’m assuming you know how he is when he gets something in his head.”
“Definitely.”
“Oh, look! Minibar.” Harley pulls out a bottle of champagne and hands it to me. “Keep drinking. If you have liquid in your mouth, you can’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
“I’m not really a wine kind of person.” I pop the cork anyway and take a sip straight from the bottle. “On second thought. This isn’t too bad.”
“All the whiskey probably helps,” Brix mutters.
Harley and I drink, we ask the driver for some music, and when an Eleven song comes on, we can’t help laughing and reminiscing.
“Remember when Blake’s clumsy ass fell off the stage because he was too busy trying to read a fan’s sign and kind of just kept walking to get closer?” I howl.
“Hey, how many times have you fallen over in public?” Harley argues.
“I never fell off the stage. And mine was never from being clumsy. It was pure drunkenness.”
We bring up story after story from our touring days, but I’m conscious of bringing up Mason. I’ve always been scared to talk about him to anyone because I’m paranoid about people seeing right through me.
The drive out to the desert feels way shorter than it should.
When we pull up to a gated area, Harley stands and pops his head through the sunroof. “Harley Valentine to see Blake Monroe.”
Unsurprisingly, we’re let right on set. Oh, to have the powerful name of Harley Valentine. Not that my own name doesn’t come with perks. Denver Smith will get me into clubs and some paparazzi interested, but it doesn’t have the same pull as Harley’s. The name I grew up with—Denny Mariano—will get me nowhere. No one even knows it. Unlike Harley, where a quick Google search will tell you he changed his name, the label wanted to bury my past. Well, more specifically, my birth parents’ past. When the guys from Eleven call me Denny, people think it’s a nickname. It’s not.
The driver pulls the monstrosity of this tank up to a row of trailers much like they have on the set of Fandom.
A production assistant approaches with his finger to his headset. “Come this way. We’ll take you to where you can watch. We’re almost wrapped for the day.”
I’m delightfully wobbly as we follow the dude to a fake eight-story building with scaffolding all around it. The whole set is lit up with industrial lights, and it’s hard to make out what it’s going to look like postproduction. Are we supposed to be in a city? Is that a high-rise? Or is it supposed to look like a construction site?
“They only have one take of the action sequence, so we need quiet on the set,” the PA tells us. He ushers us closer to some more crew who are watching. There are screens showing multiple camera