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Noah jumps
up from his lounged position.
    “Where the hell are you going?” Noah
asks.
    “Not after Benji,” Nat says from the doorway.
“But definitely away from you.”
    Nat slams the door for dramatic effect, and
Noah twists his fist into his other hand. His eyes simmer, like a
pine tree on fire, trying to decide if it’ll contain itself for the
forest crew or spread like wildfire.
    Fortunately, Noah resumes his place on his
bed, allowing the fiery anger to die. I toss the magazine aside and
wait for answers or explanations or something.
    “I’m sorry you had to be here for that,” he
says, shaking his head. “Nat graduated early so he could come on
tour with us. He’s part of our entourage, I guess you could say.
And he’s got a rock solid boner for Benji and doesn’t bother to
hide it.”
    Well, obviously. I toy around with the idea
of Benji and Nat, but I don’t know any of these guys well enough to
contemplate their sexual choices. Then again, you don’t have to
know the first thing about Nat to know which way he swings. He
broadcasts it.
    But I decide to question it anyway. “Is
Benji…? You know, available?” I ask, leaving it open-ended.
    Noah cracks a smile. “He’s single, and I
don’t think he’s interested in my brother, or any other guy for
that matter,” he says. “He’s not allowed to date anyone anyway.
Management’s rule.”
    “So the whole boyband persona is true then?”
I ask. I take interest in my chipped nail polish so I won’t have to
actually look at him while I speak. “No girlfriends, staying single
so your fans think they stand a chance? The whole thing?”
    “Oh, no,” Noah says. “Just Benji. He’s the
heart-throb, the face of the band, the symbol of all things Saturn.
He has to stay single. The rest of us have a little more wiggle
room.”
    Since I’ve apparently been living in the
Earth’s core – because even people under rocks know more about
Spaceships Around Saturn than I do – Noah gives me a crash course.
Tank is head of their security. Axel, Cannon, and Big Tony are the
other SAS bodyguards, each assigned to their own guy. Tank,
however, watches over Benji and Milo because he’s employed by the
Branson family as well as SAS.
    The Branson family is another story in
itself. How did I miss the whole “someone shot at the famous
boyband and they had to go into hiding for three weeks” episode
last summer? Maybe it happened while I was perfecting my technique
at making dresses out of Skittles packages. That was my masterpiece
last summer. While I was stitching candy packages, the Saturn guys
were hanging out with the Branson family on a top secret lockdown
that shook the world of the Saturnites – aka their fandom.
    “Sounds like some sort of reality TV show,” I
say. “Band is threatened. Band goes into hiding with family who has
teenage daughters. Romance ensues. Someone should write a book
about it.”
    “Do not put ideas in Chloe’s head,” he says,
pointing at me. “I mean it. Some things just need to stay on
lockdown.”
    “Ohhh, tell me more,” I say. I lean forward,
raise my eyebrows, and attempt seductive eyes. “Are you afraid all
your dirty little lockdown secrets might get leaked? Like what
you’re really like before you’ve had your strawberry milk in
the mornings?”
    He counters my movements, leaning in toward
me. “Are you trying to provoke me?” he asks.
    I can’t believe I’m flirting with a guy in a
BOYBAND. Or that I’m thinking in all caps. Before this morning, he
was just the awesome, hot tattooed guy from the elevator who had
equally hot friends. Now he’s one of the richest people in the
world with a fan base that could easily make my brain explode.
Earth is hard enough. I’m not sure I can do this whole Saturn
thing.
    “Well, you know what?” Noah asks. “You can
provoke me tonight. Or you know, give it your best shot. We’re
going to this club, Lights Out, and you’ll get to meet everyone,
except Darby