He pressed his forehead against mine while we tried to regain control of our breathing. “Trust me, I want to. God, you have no idea.”

“Oh, I have some idea,” I said with a slight smile. “But you’re right. And we have that interview with that website tonight, too.”

He groaned. “Yay, another interview.”

“You know you love them.”

“Maybe a little.” He gave me one last lingering kiss. “But I’d rather be alone with you.”

We reluctantly broke apart, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go slow with Jared any longer.

The show really was trying to starve us. By the time we finished the interview, it was close to midnight, and no one had fed us since lunch. Once we got back to the hotel, the four of us immediately piled into the band’s van and headed out to find a late-night drive-thru. We ate burgers in the backseat, shoving food in our faces and laughing at the stupid questions we’d been asked earlier. “Which mentor would you want to date?” (Dan, obviously) and “what color would your music be?” (duh, black) were our favorites.

Once we were stuffed, we drove to the nearest supermarket, since we’d been living in a hotel for weeks and needed to stock up on basic things like toothpaste and deodorant. We stepped into the harsh fluorescent lights and I reached for a shopping basket, but Kyle stopped me.

“You’ll need a cart for this,” he said with a devilish grin. Wait—how much stuff were we getting?

“All right,” Jared said, rubbing his hands together. “Time for another round of Supermarket Treasure Hunt.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Only the greatest game ever,” Kyle said. Hector nodded solemnly, like this was serious business.

“Since Maddie’s new, I’ll go over the rules,” Jared continued. “We each grab a cart and split up. You have ten minutes to find three bizarre items anywhere in the store, and bonus points if they all follow a theme. The person with the most ridiculous treasures wins.”

“What do we win?” I asked.

“Bragging rights, of course,” Hector said.

“Um, yay?”

“Meet in front of the bananas in ten minutes,” Jared said. “Okay, go!”

The guys all shoved each other out of the way as they grabbed their carts. I followed behind them at a slower pace, laughing as they rammed their carts into each other’s and made race car sounds before darting down the aisles. I studied the signs and chose the pet supply section, figuring this downtown supermarket probably catered to all sorts of rich people living in lofts with their pampered pets. Luckily, the place didn’t let me down. I grabbed the three oddest things I could find and rushed back to the produce section.