I let out a long, slow breath as his picture came up, and there he was, just like that. It had been twenty-four hours since I’d met him, but I felt the same rush of attraction that I had as I drove him to the Gold Coast. Only this time, I didn’t feel so bad. He was a celebrity, not just a random guy I’d picked up in the middle of the night. Keith and I spoke frequently about our celebrity crushes (more often, I told him about mine and grilled him on which ones he found attractive).

This was okay.

This was allowed.

Ryan Allen Hooks.

Born December 7, 1979, in Los Angeles. He was the son of a movie producer and an actress, which seemed fitting. As I scrolled through his Wikipedia page and a handful of news articles, he stared at me with the piercing eyes and jawline that could cut glass.

I navigated to his official webpage next, and that’s when the pieces of the puzzle started coming together. He was in town for his “Love or Lust” concert tour, performing at the Chicago Theatre, only ten minutes or so from where I’d dropped him off. He was also doing a show down at a stadium in a town twenty miles outside the city. He only had two shows left, and then he’d be in Dallas a week after that. I wondered if he was staying in Chicago until then or if he was going somewhere in between.

Then I wondered why I wondered that.

I also wondered if I was losing my mind.

Go to bed, Paula.

Instead, I hit the blogs.

Very quickly, I learned two things. One, his fans called themselves Hookers, which was horrible and hilarious at the same time, and two, people would say almost anything under the shroud of anonymity. The comments on the blogs were, at best, amazingly supportive; at worst, they were downright creepy. I wondered if I’d had access to sites like these when I was a teenager if I’d be as open about my unabashed obsession with my favorite artists.

I met Ryan Hooks tonight, y’all, and now I can die. Srsly, that’s it for me.

I would leave my husband, my job, my kids, and my dignity behind for just one night. Just one night.

On one blog, I found a thread called “Chicago-August,” and I clicked on it. It was filled with accounts from fans who’d seen him in different locations around town. The last one was posted at 3:30 p.m., two days ago.

Saw RyHo at the W Hotel in downtown. Pretty sure that’s where he’s staying during his time here. I’ll be camping outside in my car to catch a picture. Wish me luck, Hookers!