But he’d just opened his mouth and obliterated the lock to that box beyond all repair.
The passion in his voice.
The purity of each deep, rich, soulful note.
Goddess, he was so sexy it shouldn’t be legal.
This kid was five minutes away from being a superstar. And I needed to stay a million miles away from him.
“Did you know he could do that?” Bill asked.
“Do what?” I tried to sound disinterested, but couldn’t tear my eyes from Zane.
Bill made a scoffing sound. “Now Iknowyou’re into him if you’re trying to pretend that isn’t something special.”
After the opening lines, the rest of the band joined in and they played an upbeat pop song that wildly underutilized Zane’s vocals. All five of them were good-looking young guys who could sing and the music was instantly catchy. They were going to be huge.
Before the end of the first song, Zane found me in the crowd, like he was as drawn to me as I was to him. And that was ridiculous.
I wanted my mental box back.
He looked straight into my eyes and stumbled over the words he was singing, blinking and getting back on track as he turned away.
Bill murmured, “Told you so.”
Zane played the rest of his set without so much as glancing my direction again. I was mad at how many times I held my breath, thinking he was going to, only to have him change course.
When he took a bow and left the stage, I was antsy, wondering what he was doing and if I’d ever see him again. Would he find another companion for the night since I turned him down?
When the main act had played and the show was over, I took Bill’s arm, ready to get back to the hotel and rejoin the real world, breaking the trance Zane held me in.
There was no place for that childish bullshit in my life. I knew how that story ended and was still trying to claw my way out of it.
Bill tugged me in the opposite direction of the exit.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“After-party,” he said jerking his head for me to follow. “I need to make an appearance.”
12
MAIA
Then
* * *
This is a bad idea.
I’d repeated the phrase to myself enough times that it was now basically a mantra, and that still didn’t stop me from weaving through the party looking for trouble.
One night. What harm could one night of being reckless do?
This is a bad—
I finally spotted Zane, at the edge of the party, standing a head taller than everyone around him. Two girls were pressing themselves against him, one of them stroking the design on his shirt. They were both early twenties with perfect hair and perfect tits and perfect tans, poured into dresses that revealed as much as possible without actually exposing anything illegal.
I wasn’t judging. I’d worn those outfits to many a club in my younger years before I realized you don’t have to put every last one of the goods on display to be sexy.
