“Philo.” He shook my hand. “Who are you here with?”
“Last Rites. They’re signed with Trinity at Hyperion. I’m her assistant.”
A thick brow rose. “Will you introduce us? Someone played me their stuff recently, and I thought they sounded pretty darn good.”
I beamed at him, nearly overwhelmed with joy that I could actually do something useful instead of being the fourth wheel. “Absolutely. But first, can you show me where I can find a bathroom?”
Philo pointed it out to me and waited to walk me back to the party. As we made our way back past the photos, a question popped inside my mind. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Did you always know you wanted to be a musician?”
I hadn’t expected the wry chuckle he gave me in response. “Darling, you know how old I am?”
I blushed. “Forty?”
“I’m fifty.” When he saw my eyes widen, he added, “money has a way of shaving off a decade.”
“So you got started late,” I said once I’d done some quick math.
“I was twenty-nine when my debut album came out. Before that, I worked in construction for many years, and I loved that job. I’d probably still be slinging bricks somewhere if I didn’t hurt my back. It was during my long-ass hospital stay that I began to scribble down lyrics. I was bored out of my mind, and we didn’t have smartphones back then, so I picked up a hospital branded notepad and wrote down thoughts I’d had circling inside my head for many years. I’d always been opinionated and interested in politics, but it took that accident to help me realize how I could channel all of that. When I sent my first demo out, everyone told me I was too old to make it in this industry. That I didn’t have the stamina or drive a young man does.” He grinned. “Felt damn good to prove them wrong.”
Something warm and hopeful sparked inside my heart. “I can only imagine.”
We emerged into the living room where the party raged, and it took me a few seconds to spot Mason’s blond head on the other side of the room. “They’re over there.”
Philo nodded and came around me to lead the way, the crowd parting before him as if before a god. We reached Last Rites, and the guys shot me looks of surprise as I introduced them to the famous host.
Charlotte came to my side. “I heard he’s recently divorced,” she whispered into my ear, her voice tinged with interest that rubbed me wrong. Philo was twice her age, not to mention she was here on Mason’s arm.
I gave her the side eye. “I believe you’re right.”
She adjusted her dress and fluffed her hair before noticing how I was looking at her. “What?” she demanded guiltily.
“Nothing.” Mason’s relationship wasn’t something I remotely wanted to get involved with.
Mason and Kaz were talking to Philo about something technical to do with recording, and I began to zone out. The photographs in the dance studio called to me, so after a while, I excused myself and headed out to the backyard.
The pool was lit up from the bottom and shimmered an alluring blue. A few couples splashed inside of it, most of them foregoing bathing suits and simply jumping in wearing their underwear. I watched the revelry for a while before continuing down a stone-paved path.
I passed a secluded patio at the edge of the pool house and found the modest-sized dance studio on the other side of it. A statue of a ballerina frozen in a pirouette marked the entrance to the building made entirely of some kind of tinted glass. It reflected the lights illuminating the lawn around it. I couldn’t see anything inside.
I pulled open the door and slipped inside, my eyes needing a few seconds to adjust to the near darkness. There had to be a light switch somewhere here, but as I patted down the walls, I couldn’t find it.
When I was younger, I took a lot of dance classes. Ballet, jazz, even contemporary dance. I didn’t really have a talent for it, but I enjoyed moving my body and learning the routines. My parents came to each one of my recitals, and when they passed, Ade never missed a single one, even though I kept telling her she didn’t need to waste her precious time on something so unimportant. She used to pretend to relent, say she might not be at the next one, but when my gaze scanned the crowd for her unruly dark curls, there she was.
A smile pulled at my lips at the memory as I kept patting down the walls. I hoped Ade was enjoying the last few weeks on tour, despite the non-stop schedule and being away from home for so long. Although maybe for her, home was where Ezra, Abel, Silas, and Cole were. To be doing something you love with the people you love most… It sounded like a dream come true. And if anyone deserved it, it was my sister.
Movement on the other side of the glass caught my eye. Two people were following the stone path I’d walked on minutes earlier, but instead of continuing on to the studio, they turned onto the patio across from where I stood. My ears perked up at the sound of a familiar high-pitched giggle, and then I knew who they were. Mason had his arm around Charlotte’s waist. One of her palms was squeezing his ass.
A weird sensation ran down my spine. It was strange to watch them while they couldn’t see anything on this side of the glass. Charlotte playfully pushed Mason down on an armchair and then sank to her knees before him. Her back was to me, but the hazy look of arousal on Mason’s face was more than enough to telegraph what she intended to do.
Disgust hit me like a sharp stab in the gut, but then Mason’s lips parted, his azure eyes grew hooded, and a confusing heat materialized at the bottom of my abdomen.
I swallowed hard. I didn’t need to watch this. I didn’twantto watch this.
But fascination was suddenly alive beneath my skin, surging and soaking through each one of my veins. Mason’s throat moved slightly on a moan, and his right hand gripped Charlotte’s hair. A shadow danced across his sharp cheekbones, the full swell of his lips, and it was a lethal dance partner. It carved Mason down from a man to a stunning, sinful god.
