Page 51 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

Speaking of Mia and Jess…

I glanced around, expecting to see their familiar faces somewhere in the chaos around me. Pink hair should’ve been easy to spot. But there was nothing. Just strangers jumping and screaming and waving lightsticks like their lives depended on it.

Where the hell had they gone?

I craned my neck, searching the crowd methodically. They’d been right next to me when the security guard had swept Lily away. But now? Vanished. Swallowed by the surging mass of bodies like they’d never existed.

Well. That was brilliant.

I wasn’t particularly bothered, if I was being honest. Once Lily finished her moment of glory up there, she’d surf through the crowds and reunite us all.

The music exploded back to life, the bass line for what I vaguely recognised as “Thunder” doing exactly what you’d expect—thundering through the floor and up into my bones. This was one of their most intense songs, judging by the way the crowd had gone absolutely feral.

People pressed closer, jumping higher, screaming louder. The space around me compressed like a slowly closing fist.

A particularly tall bloke materialised directly in front of me, completely blocking my view of the stage. All I could see was the back of his denim jacket. I tried to wriggle left, hoping to find a gap, but then the crowd abruptly surged forward as one massive unit, carrying me with it whether I wanted to go or not.

My chest constricted. The air suddenly felt thick and used, recycled through thousands of lungs before reaching mine. People bumped into me from every direction—elbows in my ribs, shoulders knocking against mine, someone’s hair whipping across my face.

Too many people. Too close. No space to breathe properly.

Panic crept up my throat like rising water. I needed to get out. Now. But there was nowhere to go. Bodies pressed against me from every angle, an impenetrable wall of humanity that seemed to shift and move with its own terrible logic.

Without warning, an arm wrapped around mine and pulled me sideways through the crowd.

I twisted, expecting to see Mia or Jess—who’d spotted my obvious distress and come to rescue me. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with…

A complete stranger.

“You alright, man?” he shouted over the music. “Sorry, it looked like you wanted to get out of there.”

He was tall, with short brown hair and a tattoo creeping up the side of his neck. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, showing more ink on his forearms. He had a wide smile, the kind that reached his eyes and made you want to smile back even when you were drowning.

“Yeah…” I managed, nodding to show my gratitude. “Thanks.”

“No worries. You looked like you’d rather die when they picked you just now,” he said into my ear, his breath warm against my skin. “Can’t say I blame you. I’d have probably fainted, myself.”

It was completely mad, but I found myself grinning. “Right?” I shouted back. “She saved my life. I was about five seconds away from pretending to have a medical emergency.”

He laughed properly at that, throwing his head back before shouting, “I’m Mike, by the way.” He extended his hand for a shake.

“Felix.”

His grip was firm and warm, and he didn’t let go immediately. “So, is that your girlfriend?” He nodded towards the stage, where I could just make out Lily’s distinctive pink hair ribbon as she danced with the band members.

I shook my head. “Sister. She’s the proper fan.”

Mike smiled widely. He leaned even closer, ostensibly to be heard over the music, but there was something deliberately intimate about the way he moved into my space.

“Lucky me, then.”

Oh. Oh.

He was flirting. Actually flirting. With me. And not in the subtle, “maybe he’s just being friendly” way that left me second-guessing every interaction for weeks afterwards. This was unmistakable.

I could do this. I could. It was just harmless flirting at a gig. Good practice for me. And if it got weird or overwhelming, I could always claim I needed to find the others and disappear back into the crowd.

But talking—proper talking—would involve shouting directly into each other’s ears. Which meant being very, very close to this stranger.