SOBER FEELINGS - Joonas Porko

14 - acting weird

"Yes, it's me Poodle. Who would have thought." I was a little bit nervous since there were now six pairs of eyes resting on me when I walked up to the man with tousled blonde hair.

"I swear to god Lyra, stop calling me that name." Joonas tried to sound bothered but his lips were formed to a bright grin, his blue eyes glistening. The blonde one pulled me into a long, tight hug. His blonde curls were tickling the skin of my neck and his skilled hands were placed on my waist, pulling me close to him.

"Or what, poodle?" I asked in a low voice, placing my chin on his shoulder. Closing my eyes, I focused on his hypnotizing scent consisting of black leather, nicotine and something my nose couldn't quite define.

His hands were barely moving on my waist but the slight movements of his fingertips against the fabric of my shirt were enough to awake that warm, familiar feeling in my lower stomach. That feeling that only came to light when I was with him.

"Or I am going to make you regret it." He whispered back. I felt how his fingers were slightly digging into my skin while he let out a small chuckle because he noticed how I winced as a reaction to his physical touch.

"So you are the infamous Lyra, huh?" I heard one of the guys comment and quickly freed myself from the guitarist's grip. For a moment I had totally forgotten that Joonas and I were not alone backstage and that he had been deepened in a conversation with five to me completely unfamiliar men before I had decided to approach him.

"Yes, I guess that's me." I akwardly shifted from one foot to another as I had no idea who these men were and what Joonas had told them about me.

"Lyra, meet the crew. These are Mikko, Santeri, Miki, Joona and our photographer Kiril." Joonas did his best to introduce me to their crew but as much as I tried to pay attention and pair the faces to the names that were leaving the blonde one's mouth, I didn't succeed.

"Hi, nice to meet you guys." That was really all I could come up with at the moment. The boys seemed really genuine but Joonas' presence distracted me. Even when one of the crew members made a joke about how Joel's tanktops were occasionally longer than a girl's dress, my laughter set in way too late. Of course my delayed reaction didn't slip the guitarist's attention.

"Is something bothering you?" The blonde one casually layed his arm around my shoulder. He slighty tilted his head downwards, the intruiging look in his bright eyes downright burning it's way through my bare skin.

"N-no, this is just all... a little bit too much to take in at once." I wildly gestured with my hands and pointed at the stage. Under no circumstances I would admit that it was the blonde one's presence which forced me to behave the way I did.

"Too much to take in? Love, you haven't even seen the show." I had been already distracted by Joonas' arm that was resting on my shoulders but once the word love left his lips the hope in me of returning to thinking straight diminished in a blink.

Maybe him calling me love was Joonas' revenge for me calling him poodle but that didn't mean it was in any mean fair.

"Lyra, you made it!" I suddenly heard Aleksi's pleasant voice yell from a distance. Apparently him, Joel and Niko had finished their souncheck. The three boys were now entering the backstage tent, each of them with a content smile on their faces.

"What, you really think I would miss this?" Once again I was wildly gesturing around with my hands until the dark-haired one greeted me with a warm hug.

"Hey there." Now it was Joel who closed his long, slender arms around me. Right next to the blonde vocalist I must have looked extremely small since my head was barely reaching the man's chest.