He halted, fists clenched at his side, and I caught up to him. His face was a blank mask, but pain flickered through the eyes I knew so well. I couldn’t stand to see him like this, but there were too many people around to talk safely. I took his elbow and led him through the back of the theater to the out-of-the-way women’s bathroom no one used, where I’d had my glasses stolen. We slipped inside, and I checked under the stalls to make sure they were empty and then locked the door.

Jared leaned over the sink, his head dipped down as he stared into the mirror. Under the dim fluorescent lights, he looked like a black-and-white photo—dark hair and smoldering eyes, white shirt and fair skin, black jacket and tie. I wished he would say something. I smoothed my hands down my dress to stop myself from reaching for him, fighting the invisible tether pulling me to him at all times.

“He kissed me against my will, I swear,” I finally said to break the silence. “We went out last night, but I told him from the beginning it wasn’t a date. Nothing happened.”

He closed his eyes and drew a long breath but still didn’t answer me, and a flicker of frustration made me continue.

“I don’t know why I’m even explaining this to you. You’re the one who wanted to cool things off until the show ended. You told me to go out with him. You flirt with other girls every single day. You have no right to be upset!”

He spun around to face me. “What do you want me to say, Maddie? That hearing you went out together makes me want to strangle him? That it nearly killed me to watch him kiss you? That every time I see you, I want to fuck you until you forget all other guys?” He spread his arms wide. “There, are you happy now?”

The passion behind his words nearly undid me. I slipped my fingers around his black tie to pull him to me. “Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Our mouths and bodies crashed together, and after being denied Jared for days, his kiss started a riot within me. I dragged my teeth along his bottom lip and scraped them across his neck, making him gasp. His fingers tightened in my hair, tugging my head back so he could return the favor. The other night we’d taken our time together, discovering and savoring each other’s bodies, but not now. We only had a few stolen minutes before we had to perform again, and our kisses had a frenzied, reckless edge, two addicts desperate for their next hit after going through days of withdrawal.

I gripped the lapel of his suit and searched his eyes. “You said we should take a break.”