He ground into Tyson, because it felt good. He closed his eyes and pretended Tyson was Trey and that felt even better. Pretended Trey was rubbing against him, dancing with him, making him hard. Hands on his lower back dropped to squeeze his ass. Felt nice.
It took his phone vibrating in his back pocket to bring Dom back to his senses. He blinked Tyson into focus, slightly alarmed by the lusty way Tyson was grinning at him. But that wasn’t what made Dom’s heart slam into his ribs—Trey did.
Trey was in the crowd, dancing not too far away and staring directly at him with a strange expression. Not anger, exactly, but close. He turned away and wrapped his arms around some gyrating chick.
Shame and annoyance burst inside of Dom. Shame at having his arms all over another guy—friend-zoned or not—and annoyance at Trey for having his arms all over a girl. Keeping up appearances was one thing, but Trey was fuckinggrindingon her.
Just like he’d been grinding on Tyson.
Dom untangled himself from Tyson with a curt “Sorry, dude, need something to drink.”
“Want company?” Tyson asked.
“Nah, I’m good. You party.”
Trey’s face haunted Dom on his way over to one of the tents selling bottled water. His head was still a little fuzzy, and he was sweating like crazy. The water went down good, cooling his insides but doing nothing for his twisted thoughts. Seeing someone on the sly was a pain in the ass when they both had to act single in public—worse, Trey had to act straight.
The straight thing never really bothered Dom until that moment. Did Trey and Danielle shine together onstage? Fuck yes. Did that mean Dom liked seeing them like other people saw them—as some kind of secret couple? No. He didn’t. He wantedto march back into that crowd of bodies, tug Trey into his arms, and land a hard kiss on him that would tell everyone who Trey belonged to. He wanted to but he wouldn’t, because that might push Trey away. It wasn’t Dom’s job to out someone else, and he wouldn’t do that to Trey.
“Excuse me?”
Dom turned. A guy about his age with shaggy blond hair and horn-rimmed glasses was smiling shyly, hands shoved into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “Yeah?”
“Are you Dominic B?”
He blinked. Dominic B was the name he used on his YouTube channel, and despite having about four thousand subscribers, he only very rarely encountered a real person who recognized him from it. “I am.”
“Oh wow, dude, it’s really cool to meet you. I’ve seen all of your uploads. You’re an amazing violinist.”
“Thank you.” Dom gave the guy a genuine smile. He’d started the channel a few years ago, partly for fun, and partly as therapy. He’d wanted to play his violin again, and he had. In the privacy of his own room. But he also wanted to play for people, and he still had a lingering association from orchestra nationals that kept him away from real stages and live performances. Recording videos of himself playing his violin and uploading them to an anonymous, digital audience had been his middle ground.
He had cultivated a small, devoted audience over the years, and once in a while he met an actual fan of Dominic B’s channel.
“I kind of wanted to say thank you,” the blond said. “In your third video when you played ‘My Immortal’ and explained that the channel was therapy for you, it really hit home. I’ve, ah, been through some stuff, and you inspired me to take up an instrument in order to channel my emotions.”
Dom’s throat closed on a wave of emotion. Never in his life had he imagined that his own therapeutic expressions would inspire someone else in need of the same thing. “What’s your name?”
“Justin.”
He held out his hand. “I’m glad I was able to help. I mean that.”
Justin’s shy smile brightened, and he clasped Dom’s hand. “Me too. Anyway, I won’t monopolize your time. I just needed to say thank you in person.”
“Thank you for telling me. And you’re welcome.”
Dom watched Justin disappear into the flowing crowd, insanely pleased at having touched someone’s life through his videos. He also realized he’d never checked the earlier text that had jolted him out of his dancing stupor.
Trey:Enjoying yourself?
He knew Trey well enough to hear the sarcasm in those two words. Sarcasm that could easily mean Trey was jealous. Dom liked the idea of jealous Trey. It meant that Trey valued what they had together the same way Dom did.
Dom:I’d have enjoyed it more if I was dancing with you.
A little passive-aggressive, maybe, but whatever. He meant it. He wanted to be out there dancing with Trey, rubbing their dicks together, showing off for the world to see. He also wanted to be naked with Trey right the hell now, and that wasn’t going to happen. Privacy didn’t exist in a festival as big as Unbound. One Vine of them together and Trey’s secret was blown.
As the alcohol in his system burned away, it left fatigue in its place. The Red Bull tent was still open, but he’d rather turn in early than wear himself out. They had to play tomorrow, and Dom didn’t wear exhaustion well. He headed for the talent gate, unsurprised to see a steady flow of people in that direction. Thegeneral-admission folks could party all night long, but Unbound officially began at nine thirty in the morning.
Dom’s category started at one in the afternoon, and XYZ was slotted for two thirty. Fading Daze went on at one thirty, and they already had a huge advantage after playing tonight. It was an uphill battle for the other nine indie rock groups, who only had twenty minutes each to rock the crowd in their favor. While the actual winner in each category was chosen by a panel of judges, a combination of the judges and popular vote sent a runner-up to nationals to play in a showcase that would open the final round of competition.
