Rory waited patiently for an answer, but it was worth the wait if for no other reason than to watch her contemplate his question. It was like she was contorting her mind into a pretzel as she tried to find a way to say no.

Only she didn’t say no.

She said, “Fine.”

“See. That was easy.”

“Shut up.” She pressed one hand against his chest. “Just accept that we’re going to dance and don’t make it weird.”

Rory led her toward the center of the ballroom floor where couples had gathered around to dance in slow circles. He wasn’t a great dancer, but he knew how to hold a woman, so he dropped a hand to her waist.

Her dress was silky smooth against his rough palms, but as they turned in slow circles to the beat of some song he had never heard before, he fought the urge to slide his hand up underneath her dress.

He wouldn’t. Not in public, but if he had anything to say about it later…

First, to clear the air, though.

Gina had been jealous. He never would’ve thought it, but once Hayden had said it, her crimson cheeks had confirmed the story. Now to get her to admit why so they could end this charade and get back to what they should be doing with every second of their free time.

Fucking each other blind.

The thought had his cock rising to attention again. He cleared his throat, breaking through the thick wall of silence in the very short distance between the two of them. “How was your night?”

“My night was great,” she said with a flat smile, “until you scared my sweetie pie away.”

Rory frowned. “Are we still going to keep playing this game?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shrugged. “I don’t play games. I play business-professional.”

“Right.” He nodded and curled his fingers around hers. “And somehow I missed that you’ve been dating that douchebag for the past two months?”

“Maybe you just weren’t paying attention.”

He came to a stop, and by proxy she did too. Though he still held her by the waist and hand, things had changed in an instant. “Cut the shit, Gina.”

“Can we not do this here?” she hissed.

“Do what?”

“This.” She gritted out and tried to move again, but he was like a stone, holding her in place.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you and I want to be with you again. You can pretend whatever you want, but I know you feel the same.”

“It’s not going to happen.” She cocked her head sideways and glared at Star and Hayden laughing at the bar.

Rory looked to the bar and then back to Gina. He lowered his hand from hers and dropped it to her chin to turn her back to face him. “Why are you being so stubborn?”

“It’s just not an option.” She wiggled free from his grip and took a step backward. “Whatever that was, it can’t happen again.”

“Fine.” He towered over her, demanding her attention as she gazed up at him. “But at least tell me why.”

“Because,” she stammered, and then pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re not a good fit, Rory. I don’t want to date a rock star. I can’t do it again. And, more importantly, the band has to be our number one p—”

“Gina,” Cheri yelled as she grabbed Gina by the arm and pulled her backward. “We have an emergency.”

“Can it wait?” Rory snapped as his sister impatiently.

“It’s a girl thing.” Cheri shrugged and began to drag Gina away.

Gina craned her head over her shoulder and glared at Rory with a shrug before turning back around and following Cheri out of the double doors of the ballroom.

Rory cursed under his breath. He tapped his feet, standing alone in the center of the room.

He needed a drink—or two, or ten—so he made a beeline for the long bar on the opposite end of the ballroom. His fingers tapped against the wood top of the bar as he waited for the bartender to approach. In his head, he was writing a new song for the band, though he’d need to disguise who the song was actually about if he ever brought up the idea to the band. Because it, like everything else lately, was all about Gina.

A shadow passed over his shoulder and when he turned around, he found Dev dropping onto the stool beside him.

“Jesus, Rory,” he said. “You look like hell.”

“The same could be said for you.” He circled his finger at his best friend, whose face was covered in a thin veneer of sweat. “It’s not even hot in here.”

“Right.” He raised his eyebrows knowingly. “But it’s hot in other places.”

Rory ordered a whiskey neat while Dev climbed out of his suit jacket and draped it over the back of his stool. “I’m going to down this drink in record time.”

“Something’s up,” Dev said, not asking a question but making a statement. He dropped his hand onto Rory’s shoulder. “And you’re going to tell me what it is.”

“Nothing is up.” Rory shrugged as the bartender slid him the glass of liquor. “Why would you think that?”

“For one…” Dev pointed down the length of the bar at Star, who was now hanging off the edge of Hayden’s lap, laughing and twirling her hair in circles. “How did you let that newbie steal your date?”

“It’s a long story,” Rory grumbled before taking a short sip of the whiskey. He grimaced. “That’s some cheap shit. I should’ve specified a brand.”

“Rory, we’re musicians. We’re very talented at making long stories short. So spill.”

Dev had a point, so Rory took a deep breath and prepared himself for the fallout.

“I fucked Gina.”

Dev did a double take and then tipped his head in a clipped nod.

“Okay. See? Case in point. That’s a two word story that tells the whole tale.” Dev reached past Rory and stole his drink from him to take a short sip and then held it in one hand as he continued. “So you crossed that line and now what? You’re feeling like you want something more? She’s wanting more?”

“Me. Her too, maybe? But she doesn’t want to want to.” Rory shrugged. He was torn between relief that he didn’t need to explain the entire story and shame because he was obviously easier to read than a children’s picture book. “I’m going to bypass the whole issue where you don’t even seem shocked by my admission and skip straight to the point. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Dev grabbed on to the collar of his shirt and shook it furiously, exhaled sharply before taking another long drink and then slamming it down on the counter. He jumped to his feet and swung his jacket over his shoulder. “Let’s talk about this outside.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to cool the hell down.”

The two boys pushed through the double glass doors of the hotel lobby and exited into the cool night air. There was a steady stream of stragglers late to the party and revelers leaving early for various reasons.

Dev speared a hand through his hair, enjoying the breeze as he parked his back against the exterior of the hotel right off the side of the city sidewalk.

Rory leaned against the wall beside him and both men stared out into the busy street where a line of yellow taxis were stuck in traffic.

“Back to your…issues.” Dev elbowed Rory in the side and bowed his head. “It’s not even an issue, at least not in my eyes.”

“See, you’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“Not at all. If you want Gina, then you need to go for her, you know?”

Rory cocked his head to the other man. “It’s a little more complicated than that.” He exhaled sharply. “I mean, yeah, we had sex and it was great but I don’t know, it’s like I’m having actual real human feelings for her.”

“I know.” Dev chuckled, threw an arm around Rory’s neck and pulled him close. “Everyone knows.”

“Bullshit,” Rory scowled and pushed his friend away.

“Yeah, no. The way you guys needle each other all the time and then stand across the room mooning at each other like ten minutes later? It’s so obvious. If you find yourself feeling a certain type of way about someone, Gina included, then you need to listen to those voices in your head.”

“I don’t know, man…”

“Okay, I’m obviously going to have to give you one of those really long, heartfelt speeches, aren’t I?” Dev broke away from the wall to stand in front of his friend. With one hand leveled on one shoulder, he began. “Love, and life for that matter, is about risks. Everything you do in this life is going to be a gamble, and you can win or you can lose, but you automatically lose by default if you never try.”

Rory rolled his eyes and scrubbed at his jaw. He wasn’t the most open person in the world or most vulnerable. He was a man. Men didn’t talk about feelings.

His brain instantly reeled back to a time when he was five and had tripped over a toy and fell down the stairs. He’d wailed so loud, his father had come running. Even now, the memory made his stomach turn.

If he’d thought the fall had hurt, the ass whooping he took for crying about it and leaving the toy out in the first place had made it pale in comparison. He could still hear the snap of his collar bone reverberating in his head more than twenty years later.

“I’ll give you something to cry about.”

He swallowed back to oil slick of nausea that rose with the memory and focused on the now, ignoring the throb in his collar bone.

“I’m not great at the whole sharing feelings thing, bro. I think I’m better off suffering in silence and waiting to see if she comes around or another opportunity arises.”

Dev shook his head dubiously. “You gotta do you, man, but I will leave you with this one nugget of advice. If Bug hadn’t been willing to convince me to take a risk, then I’d still be a no-good womanizer sleeping with a different girl every night, all the while still feeling fucking lonely inside.” He took a step back and shrugged. “And now look at me. What do you see?”

“Sweat,” Rory deadpanned.

“Other than that,” Dev said with a short laugh. “I’ll tell you what you see. You see a guy who’s the happiest he’s ever been. So go for it. Take that risk. Maybe it goes nowhere. But just maybe it goes somewhere special. And don’t worry about us. Don’t worry about the band. We’ve always been fine and we will continue to be fine so long as the five of us remain close and good with each other.”

“But Ava—”

“Fuck Ava, dude.” Dev reached forward and tapped against the left side of Rory’s chest, somewhere around where his heart should have been. “Our music is climbing the charts and Sub-Zero is popular because we have great stage chemistry and write kickass songs, not because women want to fuck us. I’m sure that helps to some degree, but despite what the label says, they don’t know us like we do. And I’m telling you they can go to hell if they’d rather you be unhappy.”

Rory looked up to Dev with a smile and a gentle shake of his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but realized it was exactly what he needed.

“You’re my best friend, you know that, right?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.” Dev stepped forward to throw his arm around Rory’s head and pulled him into a quick guy-hug. “Now, I’m sorry for sweating all over you, but get your ass back inside and go get that damn girl.”

Once he was back inside, Rory searched the crowded ballroom. The party was winding down and he hadn’t seen Gina since he went back inside to find her. He still had no idea what he was going to do when he found her, but leaving without saying…something, wasn’t an option.

A second later, he spotted her exiting through the double doors of the ballroom.

He gave chase and began to prowl through the thinning crowd, brushing right up against Star and Hayden on his way out.

He craned his head both directions, looking for her. He spotted her stepping into the elevator and quickened his pace.

So what if he shot himself in the foot? Dev was right. His gut had gotten him this far in life. Great band, great friends, fairytale lifestyle. It was time to roll the dice and see where this thing with Gina could take him.