The next few days went by in a blur of practice, and Dan actually showed up for every single one of them for at least an hour while the camera crews filmed from the sidelines. We’d been working on everything he’d told us, and I could already tell we were improving a lot. One day Dan even had us switch instruments to try and give us a better understanding of each other. Turns out, I was terrible at drums (though they were fun), not too awful at bass (maybe I’d learn it next, once this was all over), and playing keyboard was as easy as guitar for me, even if I wasn’t familiar with Kyle’s setup. Hector was a disaster with anything other than the drums, while Kyle could scrape by on every instrument, even if he obviously never practiced them. Jared was good at everything, of course. It shouldn’t surprise me, since he wrote most of the band’s music, but it’d be nice if he were bad at something for once.

Our rehearsals were interspersed with photo shoots and interviews about what it was like to work with Dan now that we were on his team, along with questions like why we chose this song and why we wanted to win The Sound. Dan had coached us each on what to say, and we repeated his sound bites until they lost all meaning. The show especially loved to ask me and Jared about our relationship status. We both chimed in that we were single and, yes, we would definitely date a fan. Those lines sounded fake when I said them, but Jared was much better at pulling them off than I was. I avoided him entirely outside of rehearsal, which was easy since I kept to my room a lot…until Kyle insisted I come to their room to work on my stage presence.

Jared opened their door, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His wet hair hung in his face, and water dripped down his long, toned chest. I’d always wondered if Jared’s tattoos continued under his shirt, and the answer was no, except for the word “VILLAIN” inked across his chest, just below his collarbone.

“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Um…Kyle told me to stop by.” Damn, it was really hard not to stare at him. My eyes followed the dark hair that trailed down his stomach and under the towel. Please let that towel fall, I thought. I’d never wished for something so hard in my life.

“Ugh, go put some clothes on,” Kyle said from behind him.

Jared stood back to let me in, and I was careful not to get too close to his steaming, naked body as I walked past. He disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door, and I remembered how to breathe again.