We left the room, trying our best to ignore the chorus of Josh and Kellan’soohsthat followed us.
Grey turned to me in the hallway. “Last night was probably the best night of my life.”
My cheeks, already warm with embarrassment, flushed with a new wave of heat. “I bet you say that to all your dates,” I said, trying to play coy.
Grey snorted. “You’re impossible sometimes.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you like me.”
“And that you’re cute,” he said with a playful spark in his eye.
That had me leaning up to kiss him. This kiss was different from the others. It was simple. A goodbye. Something that both of us knew we couldn’t deepen no matter how much we may have wanted to. And God did I want to. But he had to go, and I could practically hear Kellan and Josh waiting by the door, salivating for details. We pulled away an instant later.
“Have a good rehearsal,” I said.
Grey gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Can’t wait to see you again.”
I smiled. “I don’t suppose you have any plans tonight?”
My roommates were indeed waitingfor me on the other side of the door. I’d barely closed it behind me when they assaulted me, grabbing me by the elbows and throwing me into the living room armchair.
“Spill,” Kellan demanded.
The only sound I could produce for a moment was a flustered squawk.
Josh jumped in. “Last night, you made it sound like he was ghosting you, and this morning he’s in your bed. What happened?”
That was enough to launch me into my story about the previous night—from the restaurant, to the ice rink, to the bedroom. I skipped the more gory and mushy details, but Josh and Kellan read between the lines. They gasped when I told them how Grey said he wanted to court me and laughed at us kissing as we danced.
“You know, I almost can’t believe it,” Kellan said. “I thought for sure you’d be at best his secret fuck. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d break up with a fake girlfriend so he could be with you in public.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I grumbled.
“Don’t take it like that,” Josh said. “Grey’s life is just way too chaotic. It’d be perfectly reasonable for him to hide parts of his life. How would being with a dude affect his rise to fame, if it happens?”
I flushed. “I guess I didn’t think about that.” And now that I was thinking about it, I worried that Grey had made a huge mistake to be with me.Shit, am I already second-guessing my relationship?It hadn’t even been twelve hours.
“He would’ve left her anyway,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “He basically said as much. He was tired of hiding.”
“Even if that’s true,” Josh said, skeptical and gentle in the same breath, “I wonder if he’s thought this through.”
I bolted to my feet, suddenly heated. “Can you guys just leave it alone for two seconds?”
“Sorry!” Kellan held up his hands at the venom in my voice. “We worry about you, but you’re right. It doesn’t help to speculate on what’s going through that gorgeous head of his.” He winked at me, and my body relaxed. I hadn’t realized how tense my back had been until then.
Josh reached out to grab my shoulder. “I’m sorry too. This is agood thing. No guy would do all this for someone unless he really cared about them.”
Their words eased the anxiety that had begun to bubble up in my chest. “Thank you,” I said, nodding.
They were right. Grey wouldn’t throw his reputation away on a whim.
“Now, go shower,” Kellan said. “I hate to say it, bud, but you smell like sex.”
It was all I could do to suppress an audible groan.
The next fewweeks with Grey passed in the most perfect montage. As the new semester began, we fell easily into the rhythm of classes, followed by one of us meeting the other when they were done, followed by naps or lunch or whatever we decided for that day. We even spent nights studying together. Outside of class or occasional rehearsals, we were always together.
I often joined Grey when he practiced with his band then at his shows when he performed. I was always given backstage access—something much less daunting when everyone knew who I was. I got to know all of Grey’s bandmates pretty well. Dae, who I’d actually had conversations with before, was the bassist. Lance was the drummer and most chaotic of the bunch. And Henry played keys. Carina was at a lot of the shows as well since she knew not just Grey but everyone else. After a few encounters with her, I had to grudgingly admit she was pretty cool when she wasn’t standing as an enormous obstacle between me and Grey.
