She shook her head and winked. “Nope.”

She slid past me and walked out of the aisle.

Jen moved closer to me. “She’s trying to get us backstage, you know,” she said.

I smiled and nodded.

Jen shrugged. “Hope it works.”

I smiled again, surprised at how perceptive and composed Jen was for her age.

As Ryan Hooks continued to belt out song after song, I felt that he was looking through the crowds directly at me. I knew that it was impossible, but I watched him from our balcony and imagined that he could see me, swaying along in the background.

What the hell are you doing here, Paula?

As I listened to the next couple of songs, I stepped outside of myself and watched me, standing there swaying back and forth with Ryan’s cell phone in my purse.

Like a creep. I’d officially crossed the line of pathetic. I’d once read a story about a fan who’d stolen a celebrity’s burger off his plate at a restaurant, right after he’d taken a bite, and I remembered thinking it was an incredibly low moment for that fan.

I was just a step or two above the burger thief.

I’d take the phone back home and sell it online like I’d planned to. Ryan probably had another one by now anyway. The phone would be wiped clean and sold again. I would make a few bucks and treat the whole experience as a fun dinner party story to tell when the mood hit me.

That’s what I would do.

But then, as if she could sense what I was thinking, Vanessa was back at my side, placing her hand on my back as she slid into the aisle next to her daughter. Even with the loud music and cheering fans, I heard Jen’s squeal as her mother said something to her and then turned back to me.

“Wow, that’s still as fun as it used to be,” she said.

“What did you do?”

She winked and looked back at the stage for a moment, then lifted her hands high above her head and screamed.

“We love you, Ryan!”

It was drowned out in the roar of the crowd. She turned and smiled.

“We’re in. After the show, we’re going to see a cutie named Brien, with an e, and he’s going to let us backstage.”

“What?” I asked as a drumbeat started up for one of the final songs. “How did you—”

Vanessa shook her head and raised a hand.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to,” she said, then she took a peek over her shoulder. “But no, really, I’ll tell you later.”

• • •

When the lights finally came on, the massive crowds began to stream out of the auditorium. We grabbed our things and followed Vanessa as she moved out of the aisle and toward the exits.