Breaking news: Hard partying rock star Harry Styles continues his downward spiral. Can new tour manager Niall Horan help him save his career? My sources inside Harry's camp think he's beyond help. Follow me for all the latest news on this tragic...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Arriving at the venue, Harry's managers put the word out there'll be a brief team meeting at 12:00 in catering before lunch is served. Niall is led down a corridor to a dressing room designated as Harry's. It's opened by a brick wall of a man whom Reece addresses as Carl.
"He sober?"
"I heard that!" The voice comes from the bathroom to the right. When Niall looks in that direction he has to cough to hide the sharp intake of breath he's sure everyone hears when Harry walks through the doorway. Wild, dark locks frame a beautiful face atop a long, lean tattooed body that Niall would like to sink his teeth into. He's wrapped in a towel at his waist and swaggers into the room like a man who's never heard the word no. Niall's seen pictures of him online, of course, but they failed to capture the raw sexuality that emanates from him in person.
"Harry," his manager starts to explain but is cut off.
"Reece stop, it's early yet, I've only just woken up. Plenty of time for your reprimands later." He stops, giving Niall a long, head-to-toe look. "Who's this handsome devil you brought me? You a fan come to say hello?" Harry asks, grinning lasciviously at Niall. "Come have a seat love, tell me your name."
Niall sizes him up in that moment. He's a good judge of character and rarely do people surprise him. He's trying to make me uncomfortable, Niall thinks as he studies the man before him. He already knows who you are, Horan, don't give him the satisfaction. Leave the conversation to Reece and Michael. This one's full of bravado but it's covering something. What that is Niall doesn't know yet, but he'll find out.
"We're making an announcement at noon. Tim's leaving the tour, an emergency at home he has to deal with. This is Niall Horan, he's taking Tim's place to get us to LA then we'll regroup and figure out what we want to do for the next leg of the tour." Turning in Niall's direction Reece nods, "Niall, this is Harry Styles."
"An emergency, huh?" It's clear he doesn't believe the story and why they aren't being straight with their client, Niall has no idea. "Who was Tim again?"
Reece sighs, clearly exhausted with the antics already. "Your tour manager. You know that."
Niall reaches out to shake Harry's hand but as he stands and steps forward, he allows his towel to drop and gives Niall another sheepish grin, as if it was an accident and not entirely on purpose. His tongue just peeks through his teeth betraying his game.
Niall grasps his hand in a firm handshake, never breaking eye contact. Okay little devil, he thinks, you wanna play games? I've played with better men than you, bring on your A game.
"Alright then, rock star? Look forward t'workin with ya, mate." Only his iron will keeps his focus on Harry's face and not straying to the naked body before him. He holds Harry's hand just a moment longer than necessary, feeling the electric current passing between them, before dropping it and stepping back. Niall watches Harry's eyes narrow and the smile that plays at the corner of his lips as he clenches and unclenches his hand. It's clear to him that Harry felt it too.
