Clearly confused, Grey shook Frankie’s hand. “I’m Grey. How do you two know each other?”
“We don’t.” Frankie was clearly the only one at ease.
I got the vague sense that he often found himself in similar situations.Does he hit on other people’s boyfriends often?
“We were just killing time until our respective parties showed up. Speaking of which”—he gestured toward the door where two people had just walked in—“I see my friends.” Frankie stood and placed a couple of bills on the counter. “Thanks for the chat, Ethan. Nice to meet you, Grey. I’ll see you onstage tonight.” With a twinkle in his eye, Frankie went to meet his friends.
“Interesting character,” Grey said.
“You have no idea,” I said with a strained laugh, attempting to shove aside feelings of violation. “Tell me about that manager.”
Any lingering confusion vanished from Grey’s face as his excitement from before returned in full force. He took the stool Frankie had just vacated. “His name is Martin, and he manages a bunch of the up-and-coming bands in the area…”
Chapter 32
The Manager
After a couple of hours and a few more beers, Grey and I made our way back to the little backstage area. Dreamscape would be going on shortly, and I could tell the anticipation was making Grey giddy. Backstage was much busier than I’d left it. At least two more bands milled around beside their gear along with several other people who I didn’t recognize and couldn’t immediately place as staff for the event.
“That’s Martin,” Grey said in my ear, pointing out a slender man with graying hair and steely eyes.
He was dressed professionally—much nicer than the surroundings required.
Before I could do much more than nod in understanding, the rest of Dreamscape swarmed us, chattering excitedly about the set. Lance was nervous about his drum solo in one of the newer songs. Henry was trying to calm him down while simultaneously air-playing an imaginary keyboard with his left hand. Dae was the only one keeping his cool, running down the cues the band would need for their transitions. The performance would be the biggest of their careers, and they needed it to go perfectly.
Grey smiled an apology at me, and I replied with a shrug. I knew how the band got right before performances. I’d been to enough at this point.
After a whirlwind of energy, a frazzled-looking stage technician approached. “You’re on in five.” The lanky man pointed to the right side of the stage. “You’ll enter from there.” Before anyone could pester him with further questions, he bustled off to another group huddled in the back of the space.
Dae, Henry, and Lance hurried off to where the stage tech had pointed while Grey hung back for a second. “Sorry things have been so chaotic today.”
“It’s fine.” I grinned. “Break a leg out there.”
Grey returned my smile then leaned toward me. His lips brushed mine for an instant before he pulled away again. Despite the kiss being so short, it was still enough to make my head spin. Though, maybe the few drinks I’d had were to blame.
He turned on his heels and joined the rest of Dreamscape. I decided I should reposition myself so I could actually see the performance. It was then that I made eye contact with Martin. He stared at me with an expression somewhere between contempt and curiosity.
Did he see us kiss?Despite knowing nothing about the man, I suddenly felt self-conscious.
But Dreamscape was onstage, and Martin quickly became less interested in me, turning his attention and clinical eyes fully to the band. I followed suit, choosing to block the strange look from my mind. I did it so well, I’d completely forgotten about Martin and his weird look by the time Grey introduced himself and the band.
“We’re going to start off tonight with one of my personal favorites. It’s about love being a game.”
The intro notes of “The Game of Love” began to play. It was a song I’d heard them perform many times in the past. While it wasn’t my personal favorite, it was definitely a crowd pleaser.
“Kiss me. I’m feeling reckless.
The fever of the moment will leave you breathless.
You taste so good, got me wondering
What’s coming next?”
Suddenly, it felt like my first time hearing the song. I felt the lyrics in my bones. Every word about hardening his heart was a new knife in my chest, where my heart was slamming as dread pooled in my stomach.Why can’t I shake the feeling that I’m setting myself up to be hurt?The realization of my love for Grey felt more like a life sentence and less like anything that could end well.
Grey kept singing:
“You’ll be the one crying when this is over.
