Page 46 of #Moonstruck

“Shall we?” He gestured with his arm, and I joined him in the hallway. I noticed Fox and said hi to him, but he just nodded. It wasn’t going to be easy to get him to fall in love with Angie if he didn’t ever talk to me.

We rode the elevator in silence, and I tried not to stare at Ryan. Which wasn’t easy.

“We’re going out the front,” he said when the doors opened. “We want them to get pictures. I hope you’re ready for this.”

I wasn’t ready. When we walked through the doors, a crowd of teenagers erupted in hysterical screams around us. Only the security holding them back kept us safe. The constant flashes of light were blinding. Ryan put his arm around me and let Fox lead us to a waiting SUV. Ryan helped me climb into the back and then followed me in. The car door shut, and Fox got into the passenger seat in the front. I heard him say, “Drive.”

“That was insane,” I said, watching some of the girls chase us as the SUV pulled away quickly from the curb.

“Welcome to my life.” He said it in a mocking way, but I could hear the unspoken exhaustion in his tone.

“Where are we going?”

“I asked the concierge for a recommendation. Someplace where we could eat and listen to live music. No smoking allowed.”

It touched me that he remembered my preference. It struck me how closed-in the back seat felt. How much room he took up. I scooted closer to my door and looked out the window. Not that it did me any good. It was like Ryan had infected every molecule in the air with his yummy scent and overwhelming maleness.

“You’re sitting over there like you think I’m going to pounce on you.”

I was practically hugging the door. But I couldn’t tell him that the opposite was true—I was afraid I would pounce on him.

“I’m not the kind of guy who would take you out if I wasn’t willing to respect the boundaries you’ve set. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m very disciplined.”

That much I had noticed. “Anybody who could ignore that chocolate cake last night has to be disciplined.”

“I’ve never really been into chocolate.”

I blinked a few times, not certain I’d heard him correctly. “I’m not sure we can even be friends now.”

He laughed, and the sound loosened my limbs, allowing me to relax.

“I’ve found that I don’t really miss it.”

“Is that part of your clean-living thing?” Because if the price of remaining healthy was no more chocolate, you could count me out.

“It’s a lot of work to run around that stage night after night. If I don’t eat right and take care of myself, it takes too much out of me to perform. Trust me, I know.”

That reminded me of something Ashley had said. “I heard you used to be kind of a punk and into partying.”

And women. Lots and lots and lots of women.

A strobe light outside hit his window, outlining his strong profile. “Yeah. I was really selfish. I was late to shows and cared only about having a good time. I wasn’t an addict or anything, but I probably took things too far.”

“So what changed?”

“I wish I could say maturity, but I was at South by Southwest a few years ago. I was so late they brought out the next performer. I threw an absolute fit backstage when I finally showed up, furious that they’d bump someone of my status. Rick Jovan was standing there.”

That would be Rick Jovan, lead singer and guitarist for the rock band Jovanni.

“He told me to stop being disrespectful to my fans, who had given me their time and money. He said I was a cliché and a jerk and that I needed to grow up and act like a man. For some reason, that just clicked. It made something change inside me. Do you know what it’s like to find out that you’ve basically been a huge tool?”

“If it helps at all, I’ve known you were a huge tool for a long time.”

Ryan laughed at my teasing. “I decided not to take my life for granted. I love singing. I love performing. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it.”

“I get that.” I was in that very boat. Only the thing that could jeopardize my future was this man, who I felt a strong, unsettling connection to. He knew things about me that I didn’t want anyone to know.

“We’re here,” Fox announced. We had pulled into an alley, and a man in a white button-up shirt and black pants held a door open.

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