He texted Danielle that he was on his way back. She replied that they were over by the barbecue tent. Trey guzzled his water while he walked the distance. His friends were hanging around with paper trays of food and drinks. Trey bought a pulled-pork sandwich and another water, and they all settled at one of the dozens of picnic tables set up behind the food tents.
“This place is so killer,” Andy said. He had a starstruck expression even while digging into barbecue ribs.
“The crowd is already huge,” Danielle said. “I mean, look at all of the people and opening ceremonies aren’t for another three hours.”
“Trey! Hey!”
He turned toward the sound of his name being called. The two girls with the pot brownies plunked themselves down at their table, each with a giant plastic container of what looked like salad. He introduced Rose and Lauren to his bandmates. Bobby and Lauren launched into a conversation about banjos versusguitars, while Rose started lecturing them about cow farms and red meat production.
The entire meal was kind of fun, and the new friends ended up spending the rest of the afternoon together, poking in and out of the booths and chatting with the occasional fan. Trey spotted Dominic and his crew a few times. He used a run to the public bathrooms to send Dominic a text message.
You are the hottest thing in this entire festival.
And he was Trey’s. They’d never discussed labels, and they hadn’t promised to be exclusive to each other, but at the moment Trey didn’t want anyone else. And he had a good feeling that Dominic didn’t, either.
Not that they both wouldn’t have plenty of opportunities at the festival to get laid, if they wanted. Well, maybe not Trey because that could mess with his image, but once Dominic got up on that stage, men and women would be throwing themselves at him. The idea of Dominic taking a groupie up on an offer made his skin prickle with irritation.
Maybe they should have had a talk about boundaries.
His phone buzzed.Nah, that would be you, Hot Stuff.
He laughed, then exited the stifling toilet.You’re sexy and you know it.
Dominic sent back a smiling emoji with hearts in its eyes.
Trey pocketed his phone and rejoined his friends. They walked through the grandstand building to the field where a crowd was gathering in front of the stage. Amps, mikes, and other equipment were being tested by the tech crew. Anthony Kross was scheduled to open the event, and then he had a special guest band booked to finish out the night.
Another text:Wait a few seconds, then look behind you.
He counted to ten, then casually looked around. Dominic and his friends were about twenty feet behind them. He caught Dominic’s gaze and winked. Dominic chewed on the straw ofwhatever he was drinking, and Trey wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything sexier.
They had to find a way to get together during the festival.
Trey glanced at his new girl friends. They seemed open-minded enough. Maybe they’d be up for helping him arrange a clandestine rendezvous.
It was worth a try.
TEN
Dom hada hell of a time paying attention to anything except the back of Trey’s head, which only incited dirty thoughts of finger-fucking Trey on his hands and knees. He fought a hard-on for the entire opening by Anthony Kross, mixing images of Trey with the awesome music getting the audience revved up for the rest of the festival. He cheered and shouted with his friends, occasionally singing along to a song he knew.
As Anthony Kross wound down on his final song for the night, the crowd roared. Lincoln let out a piercing wolf whistle.
“Thank you very much,” Anthony said into the mike. “Thank you. You guys are what made this entire competition possible, because you participated. You engaged on the website, and you voted for the amazing performers that we’ll see on this stage for the next three days. So give yourself a big round of applause.”
Dom nearly plugged his ears for the rise of cheers and celebrations. For the first time since he’d arrived at the fairgrounds, a cold block of anxiety settled in his stomach. He hadn’t played in front of a crowd this huge since high school. Since orchestra nationals in New York City.
Everything dimmed slightly, and the crowd tilted.
Someone wrapped a sturdy arm around his waist. “Dom, you okay?”
Lincoln. Lincoln was there. He’d make it not so bad.
“Look at me.” Lincoln grabbed his chin and held tight.
Dom blinked his best friend into focus. He stared into concerned blue eyes. “Had a moment. The crowd.”
“You want to go back to the tent?”
