“He is not my boyfriend.” Sean was cute, but he was so…vanilla. So bland. He reminded me of my high school boyfriend—nice and boring and safe.

Hector smirked. “But he’d like to be.”

We quieted down as the band took the stage. Their song got the audience going, though not as much as our performance had. Sean played guitar and had a catchy, high-pitched voice—a little nasally but in a good way.

“They’re not bad,” Hector said.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “They sound sort of like if Weezer had a love child with Daft Punk.”

“They’re really good,” I said. “And unfortunately for us, their sound is perfect for The Killers’ song.”

Jared sighed. “I wish Angel had paired us with that punk band. We’d crush them.”

“But then you wouldn’t have the chainmail bikini girl to flirt with,” Kyle said.

“Eh, she lives in Boston anyway.”

Hector snorted. “Like that matters. You’re not going to date her.”

“Hey, I already told Jared he’s not allowed to bring girls up here,” Kyle said.

“Yeah, but that means you can’t bring Alexis either,” Jared said.

“I’ll make that sacrifice to not have to deal with your women the morning after.” He made a gagging sound.

Thanks for reminding me, Kyle. And soon, Jared would have even more groupies, more screaming girls who would love to invite him to their rooms for the night. I couldn’t let myself forget the kind of guy Jared was, no matter how he made me feel. Especially since he seemed to make every girl feel that way.

The guys kept bantering until the show ended. When it was over, Hector went into the bathroom and Kyle went onto the balcony to call Alexis. Leaving me alone in a bed with Jared, our bodies much too close and my hands way too tempted to reach for him again.

“I should go,” I said, jumping off the bed. “Early morning and all that.”

“Right.” He walked me to the door. I stepped outside, and he lingered in the doorway. “Maddie,” he said, and I turned back, wanting something I wasn’t ready to name yet. But all he said was, “Goodnight.”

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning I downloaded “Somebody Told Me” and listened to it on repeat as I got ready. During my elevator ride to the lobby, I got so into picking apart the guitar chords that I nearly crashed into Jared when I stepped out.

“Hey,” Jared said, giving me a quick once-over with a smile. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” I flushed, but reminded myself that Jared always said things like that. It didn't mean anything. He was just a flirt.