Page 74 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Drawing in a slow breath, I gave him a nod. That should give me enough time to get my head into a better space. I hoped.

As we went through the process of security stops and checks, we eventually drove through to where the private plane was waiting to take us to LA, Daniel and the other guys in the rental behind us. Without waiting for the driver to open my door, I climbed from the limo and turned to the crowd of screaming fans beyond the fence. Giving them a wave, I strode forward, determined to put this mood behind me.

The screams grew louder the second they realized I was coming to see them. I smiled at their enthusiasm. “Hey, girls. How are you all today?” I said, taking a pen through the chain link fence and scrawling a signature on a piece of paper through the gap. When I finished, I studied the fluffy pink marker closely. It looked like a sharpie that had been hand crafted. Meeting the owner’s gaze, I held the pen up. “Did you make this?”

She was almost crying, she was that excited. “Yes!”

The girls around her screamed and pushed, trying to get closer. I grinned at the girl. “This is pretty cool. I like it. What’s your name?”

“Sally Miller,” she said, bouncing as much as she could with the shoving that was going on.

“Do you mind if I keep it, Sally Miller?”

Surprise made her eyes enormous. “Oh my God, no. You can keep it!”

“Awesome. Have you got a cell, Sally?”

Confusion made her brow crease, but she pulled out her cell and showed me anyway. I put my fingers through the gap in the fence, trying to avoid the dozens of hands attempting to grab at me, and waited for her to pass it to me. It always amused me how willing people were to just hand over their phones to me, but they did.

Opening the camera, I turned and took a selfie, making sure the girl was clearly in the shot over my shoulder. Then I took another one, holding up the pen I was stealing from her. Then I got Corey to take another one on his cell. It would make for a good Instagram shot later.

Passing her cell back to her, I gave her a wink. “Do you mind if I put that on my Instagram, Sally?”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “No.”

I was sure I just made her day. “Thank you.”

Knowing time was slipping away, I turned my attention to the next girl. She had a promo picture for Willow’s Way pressed up against the fence. I liked it when they made my life easier like that. Scrawling my signature over it, I quickly moved to the next and the next, signing whatever was easy to get to.

“Is it true, Joshua?” one girl asked, sobbing. “Did you and Hannah Bryant get married?”

I laughed. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read, girls,” I said, continuing to scrawl. “Hannah and I tied knots in pieces of rope. We didn’t tie the matrimonial knot.” Squeals and cries almost deafened me. “You should follow me on Twitter instead of reading that crap.”

“I do!” another girl cried. “I follow you on Twitter, Joshua!”

“Then you would’ve seen the awesome knot I made,” I yelled, chuckling at the memory of my pathetic attempt.

“I love you, Joshua!” a young, dark-haired girl sobbed.

“I love you too,” I said, trying to sign a T-shirt without much success.

Corey stepped up beside me and coughed. “We need to go, man.”

I sighed. I hadn’t even gotten to a tenth of them. “Sorry, Ladies. The plane’s waiting. If you can come back tomorrow, I’ll try to stay a little longer,” I said, meaning it. They were all a key to my success, after all.

Tucking my new pen into my pocket, I let Corey usher me away, giving them another wave before boarding the plane. The stewardess smiled at me and fluttered her eyelashes as soon as I stepped inside. “Good afternoon, Mr. Emerson. Welcome aboard. Is there anything I can get you before we depart?”

My gaze flashed to her name badge politely. What I wanted was to sit down and relax. I was tired of being Joshua Emerson, the movie star. I missed being me. I missed Liv.

Putting on my best smile, I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “Thanks, Melanie, but I’m fine for now.”

Taking a seat, I clicked my seat belt into place and closed my eyes. It was time to get my shit together and get on with life.

Chapter 45

Olivia

Standing back, I looked up at the massive bunch of oversize balloons and bit my lip. “Just a little to the left and it’ll be perfect,” I called up to Sam.

---