A loud laugh escaped her, right as the two guys from the band turned to face us. The guys gave her a funny look, and I could tell by the way she clenched my hand that she was mortified. Oops. But so cute.

Dropping my bag, I held out my hand to a member of the band that I recognized from some concert footage Matt had shown me. This was Justin, the lead singer; his signature choppy, layered blond hair and the long, scripted tattoo across his collarbones were pretty distinctive. “Kellan Kyle, D-Bag. I wanted to thank you for inviting us to this.”

Justin’s pale eyes seemed genuinely pleased as he shook my hand. “Yeah, man, we’re honored to have you. You guys rocked the festival.”

Justin’s band was really good, so I sincerely appreciated that. “Thanks.” Kiera was trying to hide behind my shoulder, trying to melt into the background, unnoticed. I wasn’t about to let her. Like it or not, this was part of my world, and so was she. And she didn’t need to be afraid of this. She should stand beside me, confident and comfortable. Looking down, I bumped her shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Kiera.” She instantly gave me evil eyes. Chuckling at the look on her face, I told Justin, “She’s a huge fan of yours…more so than she is of me, I think.”

I could almost see all of the blood rushing to Kiera’s feet as Justin turned his full attention to her, and I knew, in her head, right now, she was murdering me. Justin had to notice that she was losing it, but he didn’t make a big deal about it, just smiled politely and extended his hand to her. Yeah, I can hang with this guy.

As Kiera reluctantly reached for his hand, Justin said, “It’s always nice to meet a fan. What’s your favorite song?”

She connected with his palm and as I watched, all cognitive thought left her eyes. It was like she was mentally stuck, and could barely process what he’d asked, forget about actually answering him. Her cheeks flushed as she fumbled for words, and I had to frown at her reaction to him. Really?

Finally, she mumbled, “I like them all…” and I had to laugh at her adorableness. God…she killed me. She’d been shaking Justin’s hand the entire time she’d been thinking of a song. She immediately dropped it when she realized that and attached herself to my side like glue. Good.

I saw Justin laugh a little, but he quickly hid it with a smile. Looking back at me, he clapped my shoulder. “Well, we’re just about ready to roll. We’ll see you later.”