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“Wow,” I say on a breath, sinking back into the cushion beside him, looking up at his face. “It’s one thing to know you’ve done it—made a name for yourself. But it’s an entirely different experience to witness it firsthand.” His eyes meet mine. “It’s amazing, Greyson,” I continue. “You’re absolutely amazing.”

“Thank you,” he blushes the tiniest bit and clears his throat, “but nothing feels as amazing as this right here,” he says, lifting my chin in his fingers. His lips land on mine, and the entire night’s worth of excitement buzzes through our lips, through my fingertips grasping his shirt, through his tongue stroking mine.

He breaks our kiss a few minutes, or hours, or days too short.Would it be rude to ask if it’s time to go now?Back to his house, or mine, I don’t really care.

“You know…tonight’s the first time I’ve truly felt like it’s all come full circle for me,” he says quietly, redirecting my attention entirely.

“Yeah?” I say, looking up into his eyes.

He nods. “I know I wasn’t the best at articulating my feelings back then,” he continues, “but it meant the world to me that you were there for that first performance.”

I swallow, sliding my fingers through his as I push back a swell of emotions.

“Made me nervous as hell,” he laughs, and I smile at his words, looking down at our hands, “but you just sat there beside me, this calm force that settled most of those nerves back down.” He swallows, too, before saying, “I think that’s when I knew that I was falling for you…

“It scared the shit out of me more than anything.”

I squeeze his hand tighter between my fingers, my gaze sinking back into his. “Honestly, Greyson, I think I’ve loved you since the first second I saw you.”

His lips tilt into a smile. Captivating, shy.

“In fact, I think one of my first thoughts about you was something along the lines of:I want to marry him and beg him to let me have his babies someday,” I add.

He laughs, shaking his head. His laughter rumbles through my shoulder and into my chest, squeezing at my heart, constricting my airways.

My eyes are still glued to his as something hits me with overwhelming surety. I ignore the nerves swirling in my stomach and fluttering in my chest and quietly say, “I’m not sure I’ve ever stopped loving you, Greyson.”

“No?” he says, just as quiet.

“No.” I shake my head. “Not even a little bit.”

His lips slam down on mine between one breath and the next. He kisses me harder, deeper, than before. I get lost in it, in him. As far as I’m concerned, we’re still alone on an island of Jess and Greyson—just him, and me, and a blur of sounds that don’t even register.

His tongue grazes my bottom lip, and I sigh into his mouth.

“TheJessica Martinez!” someone says, but I don’t want to take my lips off of Greyson’s to see who.

But also, I’m a mature adult, so I force myself to do it anyway, breathing heavily as I tear my mouth from his.

“It is a pleasure,” the voice continues, and I look up at a tall, dark, and handsome man—the bassist, I’m pretty sure. “Ah, there she is! I didn’t recognize you with your face attached to my man’s there,” he extends his hand out to me, “Seriously, it’s a pleasure.”

I bite down on my smile and slide my hand into his. “Jess.”

“Trey.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, too,” I say.

My hand slips out of his as he brings his hand to his chest. “First off, thank you for fueling ninety percent of G-man’s songs and helping make us famous.”

Greyson kicks his leg out and it hits Trey in the shin.

He rubs out the pain with a mock scowl. “Right, right. Breaking bro-code. Anyway.” He straightens. “Second, where are we all heading to after this? Because I’ve got a shit-ton of questions.”

I laugh. I like him already. I like him a lot.

“You up for going out?” Greyson asks, his mouth an inch away from my ear, sending chills up and down my spine, down my arms.

“Yeah.” I smile, my bottom lip caught between my teeth. “I’m totally up for going out.”