“I know the one.” ‘Found in You’ had held me hostage for damned near a year. At seventeen, I’d jerked off to it more times than I could count. I knew it was fanciful to think Dante had written that song for me, but my heart didn’t care. The claim had been laid the first time I held the single in my hands and saw the photo I’d given him on the cover. ‘Found in You’ was my song. It belonged to me.
“Here’s the thing,” Gabi continued, “a lot of people are assuming Grey must be a woman. An old girlfriend or something, but…” she held up one dramatic finger, “my sister’s best friend is dating this guy who works at the concert venue, right? He was there after last night’s concert and he heard Dante arguing with Roger Sinclair about the tweet. Roger referred to Grey as ‘that boy’ and said Dante probably wouldn’t even recognise him if he did show up because they only met once.” Her mouth dropped open, as though in shock at her own revelation. “Don’t you see how perfect this is?”
I did not. The word complicated came to mind, perfect didn’t even get a look-in. And she still hadn’t gotten to the sneaking part yet. My mind raced at the thought Dante and his father had been arguing about me, just last night. I snatched the phone out of Gabi’s hands and stared at the screen.Meet me backstage…
I’d promised myself long ago, I would never make any attempt to meet up with Dante. I could buy his albums. I could fantasise about him occasionally. I could even send him a gift once a year, for his birthday, signing the card with the name he’d bestowed upon me. I’d decided it was nostalgic, rather than creepy. But nothing else. Under no circumstances would I spend my life acting like some love-sick fanboy and hanging on to the every word of a spoiled rock star. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I was the first boy the young Dante had dragged into his dressing room for a quick snog. There was no doubt in my mind Grey had become nothing more than a faceless blur in a long line of faceless blurs, if he remembered me at all.
Except he did remember me.
He knew I’d sent him two more birthday presents after that first one.
And he wanted to see me again.
Meet me backstage…
Gritting my teeth together, I put the phone down in front of Gabi. My left leg bounced up and down under the table, but above it I stayed completely still. “What’s this grand plan of yours?”
Gabi straightened in her seat, an excited grin on her face. “Ditch Paul and take me to the concert. We’ll take Dante a birthday present, casually go up to the stage door after it’s over and introduce you as Grey.”
“That’s the grand plan?” I asked, my shoulders drooping. “Walk up to the door and claim to be Grey? Because no one else will think to try that.”
My scepticism did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm. “But remember, we know something no one else knows. Grey is actually a guy and Dante may not recognise him. As far as anyone knows, you could be Grey.” She waved a hand at my face. “You even have grey eyes, which could totally help us.”
I couldn’t help but huff out a laugh at her statement. Of course, my eyes could help us, because that’s where the name had come from in the first place. Because I was Grey! I didn’t want to share that information though, not even with my best friend. In three years, I’d never once told anyone about that night. It was too private, too intimate. My first kiss with my very own rock star.
“I never would have picked Dante as gay,” Gabi mused, no longer looking at me. “Would you?”
I shook my head. “He’s not gay.” I said the words for my own benefit as much as hers.
“That we know of,” she insisted. “Who’s to say he’s not?”
“The bevy of women he constantly has hanging off his every limb.” Everyone knew Dante was a player. He dated a new woman every other month and he had no qualms about being public with his displays of affection. The raunchy behaviour fed into his bad boy image, making him seem almost attainable to any young beauty with a pulse, as long as they didn’t mind sacrificing themselves on his alter of broken hearts.
Gabi smiled at me knowingly. “I thought you said you didn’t follow him online?”
“I don’t,” I insisted. “But it’s kind of hard not to notice someone that famous. You can’t get away from him even if you want to. With his perfect hair, and the muscles, and the fuck me attitude. He’s freaking everywhere, all the damned time, but never close enough to—” I shut the hell up when I noticed Gabi staring at me. Silence fell, and I dropped my head onto the table with a thud. Stupid, stupid mouth.
“You know you’re a little deranged, right?”
With a heavy sigh, I lifted my head. “Yeah, I know.”
She shrugged. “Which means you’ll do it, and with me instead of Paul. I’m so much more fun than Paul.” I gave a low groan and she laughed at me. “Come on, there’s no harm in trying and the worst that can happen is we get turned away at the door. On the other hand, we could get to meet one of your favourite musicians.” She clamped her hands over mine as she grinned at me. “What do you say? Do you want meet Dante Sinclair?”
This was a terrible idea. But I was only human, and the memory of Dante’s kiss was still tattooed upon my lips. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
