The girl then dares to shrug her band tee down her shoulder and ask Sully to sign her collarbone so she can have his autograph tattooed. He signs her skin with a quick signature and pays more attention putting the cap on the marker than he did her plunging neckline. She asks for a selfie. She makes a kissy face and he looks uncomfortable, mouth closed, his eyes unfocused. I notice she’s touching his back, but he’s not touchingher at all. His hand is open and he is holding it out so anyone can see his palm.
The girl thanks him and wanders off to stand under a street light to take a selfie of her autographed flesh.
Then Sully looks at me and it’s like the entire world stops. Silly I know. But honestly, did God accidentally hit the pause button? Because everything is frozen in place when Sully waves me over. My brain disconnects. I’m on system failure. My thoughts drift away, and all I can do is lift my arm to hand him my setlist and album artwork.
“Hello,” he says in a husky voice, brushing a loose piece of dark hair from his forehead before taking and signing the setlist and album artwork. His ocean eyes never leave mine.
Thankfully, my five-foot-six height gives me a perfect look at his six-foot-two body, but my eyes lock on his perfectly shaped lips.
What do they taste like?I shake off the thought. This is no place to fangirl.
“Can I have a picture too?” I find my voice. It’s hoarse, almost a whisper.
“How about a hug first?” he says in his seductive, panty-dropping foreign accent. All I can do is nod before his strong arms wrap around my waist. I was wrong before; this is what heaven feels like. I inhale his spicy scent of sweat mixed with body spray and peppermint. It’s now forever my standard of how every guy I hug needs to smell.
My arms wrap around his torso, and the heat of his body against mine sends shivers dancing along my spine. The touch of his muscles moving under my fingertips, his hard chest pressed against my breasts, it’s all too overwhelming.
What’s going on? He never hugs people. At least I’ve never heard about it, and I’m in a lot of fan groups online.
“I was staring at you all night. You had such a lovely smile when I gave you that pick,” he says into my hair as he releases his hold on me.
“Oh?” I say, losing my balance, and he saves me from falling backward and breaking my tailbone on the asphalt.
“Careful,” he says, a small grin flashing across his face. One blink, and it’s gone. “What’s your name?”
Every word I have ever known falls out of my head, leaving me dumbstruck. Starstruck.
My mouth goes bone-dry, and my tongue feels like a useless weight, heavy and uncooperative. Alice comes to my rescue, standing behind me. “She’s Veronica, and I’m Alice.”
Sully doesn’t look at her. His eyes stay only on me. The fear of something on my face crosses my mind.Do I have a zit between my eyebrows? Is my makeup messed up? Why is he staring at me like that?
I don’t know what to say or do. Honestly, I want to run away so I can scream my lungs out and do a little happy dance.Sully Graham hugged me! I saw him smile!
Then my dark thoughts flood in and ruin my joy.He probably says that to all the girls he wants to screw. A few words to make the fans blush and giggle. To keep them happy and coming back for more.
And yet…what if he doesn’t? What if he means it? After all, Sully wasn’t interested in the fangirl he met before me. And he’s never seen with anyone…publicly.
Sully’s warm hand on my arm pulls me back to reality. I can’t believe this is actually happening. “Veronica, what a gorgeousname. It suits you.” His voice is rich and velvety, its quiet warmth brushing over me like a soft caress.
Heat creeps up my neck and floods my cheeks. I lower my head, letting my hair fall like a shield. “Thanks,” I manage to say, my throat tight and uncooperative. I try to swallow my nerves, but they sit heavy in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
He reaches forward, tipping my chin with his long, slender fingers. “Don’t hide your pretty face from me. I want to see those dazzling green eyes. Let’s take that picture now.”
A spark ignites beneath my skin the moment he touches me, a heat that lingers even as his hand pulls away too soon. The loss of his touch carves deeper into the emptiness inside me, widening the hollow ache in my chest.
“Yes.” I thrust my phone at Alice, the sudden movement catching her off guard. She flinches, barely managing to catch it before it slips from her hands.
Sully drapes his arm over my shoulders, and it takes everything in me to keep from slipping back into the out-of-body experience like before during the show. I don’t want to push this feeling off as a dream. I want to remember every damn second. How the weight of his arm feels around my shoulders. The way he smells and his warmth seeps into my bloodstream. The way my heart summersaults. The way that his dimples deepen with his heart-stopping smile.
Yes, another smile! Did I win the lottery?
My usual celebrity crushes aren’t this intense. But my usual crushes don’t wrap their strong arms around me and say sweet things.
Alice snaps some pictures and hands the phone back to me. My bubble of perfect pops.
“Alright. We need to get out of here,” the stern woman who was leaning against the wall says. A black limo pulls up. Charlotte, Ben, and Lars wave their goodbyes to the remaining fans and climb into the car.
Sully steals my phone and types something into it before giving it back. “We’re staying local tonight. Text me. I’ll be up. I never sleep after a show.” He jogs to the limo before that woman snaps again.
