READ AN EXCERPT BELOW
Geeky, quiet Nico never expected to become a rock star. And he definitely never expected to fall for the mysterious, tattooed bad boy he meets one rainy night. But when love comes for Nico and his man, not even secret identities, celebrity hijinks, and a massive rock band rivalry can keep these two apart.
~ check prices before you buy ~
Across from us, the water stretches out in one direction, and hillsides rise up in the distance. Gray clouds pass over the setting sun, casting shadows, and the trees around us are bare.
It’s striking and moody and beautiful, like him.
“You’re cute,” the stranger says.
“Oh.” I’m surprised. “Thank you.”
We look at each other. The trees are shadowy around us, and the rest of the world has disappeared.
I haven’t done something like this… ever, actually. And now that I’m here, locking eyes with a stranger while the sun sinks toward the horizon, it’s hard to believe this is real.
“Well, you’re obviously very attractive yourself,” I tell him.
The man laughs and gives me a cocky smile. “Is it obvious? I’d never heard,” he says without a drip of irony, and I chuckle.
“If it helps, I don’t tell anyone about my project.” I become aware that my hands are awkward and shove them in my jacket pockets. “I do usually tell people about my job.”
“Spacesuit designer?”
“Not even close. Tattoo artist?”
“Nope.” He pulls off his leather jacket, revealing his inked-up arms, bright colors that swirl together. “I keep a guy in business, though.”
He stands there without his jacket, modeling for me.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Should I do the chivalrous thing and offer you my jacket? It’s big enough I could probably slide it over yours.”
I laugh. “No, because I’ll spend every second worrying about you getting sick, and then I’ll stop having fun.”
He slips his jacket back on. “We are having fun,” he agrees.
My heart kicks. I’m still half-hard, wildly uncertain how to flirt.
“Can I at least get your name?”
He laughs and scratches his jaw. “Honestly, you wouldn’t believe me.” I open my mouth to object, but he cuts me off. “How about this. I’ll give you a secret if you give me one.”
I fidget. “A secret?”
“Who better than someone totally anonymous to tell your secrets to?”
I laugh. “Yes, the smooth-talking man who lured me into a park at dusk is totally the most logical person to trust.”
He grins. “I’m glad you think so.”
My mouth is dry. If I were a different kind of person, I would kiss him right now. His lips are so round and soft, naturally pursed.
Fuck, I really want to suck his lip stud. What the hell?
“Okay, a secret,” I say. “But you first.”
The man tilts his eyes up to the sky, then back down at me. “I obsessively fantasize about abandoning my life. My job especially, but all of it.”
“Just walking out the door and never performing another root canal?”
He lets out a rough laugh, and I feel pleased, impressed with myself that I earned it.
“Why don’t you quit, if you hate it that much?” I ask.
“I don’t hate it. There’s plenty I like, in fact. But I have to pretend that I love it all the time. I have to make believe like everything is perfect, when the truth is I feel trapped.”
“Trapped?”
“Like everything good is just a cage. Like I’m pretending to be someone else. Like I don’t have control of my own life.” He shrugs. “Thus the abandonment fantasies.”
Our eyes are locked, and I’m still swirling in the mystery. But somehow, I see in his gaze that he’s telling the truth. He’s showing me something that he always hides, and I wonder how he’s strong enough to be that vulnerable.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I know how it feels, losing control over your life, and it’s awful.”
“I’m sorry you know,” he says, voice rough, but then he shrugs and the brief, raw moment passes. “I can’t complain. I’ve got an easy ride, even if I do want to walk away from it all. But there you go. One secret.”
He blows it off, but I want to cling to that connection. I lost control of the life I knew when I was thirteen, and in some ways, I feel like I’ve always been fighting to get it back.
Questions burn through me, the urge to comfort him on my lips. But the stranger flutters his eyelashes again, and when he takes a step forward, closing the distance between us, Seattle turns upside down.
“Your turn, sad eyes,” he says. “Tell me your secret. I’ll see if I can make you smile again.”
