I heard her voice catch, and it was a moment before she said anything. “Now I really wish our bed was smaller,” she murmured. I smiled at her and was about to tell her I wished that too, when she started gushing. “It’s the same for me, Kellan. I never knew love could be like this. It’s overwhelming what I feel for you. Almost…”

“Painful?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh.

“I know…I feel it too.” Heaven and hell, torture and bliss, one extreme followed by the other. Did everyone in love feel this way? Both completely content and utterly terrified?

Kiera was silent a moment, then she yawned again. She was more tired than she was letting on. Feeling bad that my hectic life was intruding on hers, I said, “Do you want me to sing you back to sleep?”

“I don’t think I can sleep, but I would love to hear your voice.”

I smiled, then started singing her a song. And because I knew she was a fan, I sang her one of Justin’s songs. She laughed at first, then grew quiet as she listened. By the end of it, she was exceedingly quiet. “Kiera? Did I lose you?”

I glanced at the phone, but we were still connected. I really had sung her back to sleep. That made me deliriously happy. Grinning, I brought the phone back to my ear. “Sweet dreams, sweetheart.” A swell of love and loneliness swept over me as I disconnected the call. God, I missed her.

I ended up doing laundry at a nearby laundromat while Evan slept. And because I was an awesome friend and roommate, I did his too. When he finally woke up, we debated how to spend our free time. Our show wasn’t until tomorrow night, so we had the evening to ourselves. After checking in with Matt and Griffin, we decided to go exploring. Matt and Griffin joined us downstairs in the lobby, where we spotted Justin drinking alone in the hotel bar.

“Hey, Justin,” I said, poking my head into the bar. “We’re gonna go exploring. Want to come?”

Griffin bounced on his toes beside me. “I’m gonna find a Great Lake and skinny-dip in it, dude!”

Shaking my head, I mouthed, No, to Justin.

He laughed, then nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Finishing his drink, he paid his tab then joined us in the lobby.