“I have a surprise for you,” I told Parker as I jumped off his lap.

He’d been back in my life for two weeks and the fact that he hadn’t yet returned to music or any of the commitments that went with that life, meant that he’d spent every minute he could with me. If I wasn’t working, he was there. He’d even come onto the set of a movie with me one day – but his presence had proved to be too much of a distraction for some of the extras, so he’d had to go home early – albeit kicking and screaming.

I laughed lightly at the memory.

That’s Parker for you… always causing a stir…

I handed him the USB stick and gestured towards the stereo system in the cabinet in front of us.

“What’s this?” he asked with a frown as he turned the stick over – looking for a sign of what might be on it.

I’d held onto this thing the entire time we’d been apart. I’d considered mailing it anonymously to him, but I knew he’d never see it that way; he got more fan mail than I’d thought would have been possible.

I hadn’t even showed this to Hannah – but she was about to hear what her boyfriend was capable of.

I glanced nervously over at Jasper and Hannah snuggled on the couch.

Let’s hope J has a good poker face…

“So… you know how we talked the other night, and you mentioned that you would have loved to be up there alongside someone when you perform? That you wished you had that duo thing going, rather than always being a solo artist…?”

He nodded, no doubt thinking back to our conversation. We’d been having some serious talks about him returning to his music career, and while he wasn’t dead set on giving it up anymore, he wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to get back into it either.

When he’d mentioned the idea to me, I’d pushed him hard for more information on what he wanted.

Parker wanted to share the spotlight. He’d decided that he was over being the centre of attention – he was tired of it all being solely focused on him. He’d expressed his disappointment at the idea probably never becoming a reality – Parker didn’t trust many people and there was no way he would bring someone into his music career that he didn’t trust.

That was where Jasper came in – he didn’t know it, but I had the perfect person in mind. This was exactly what Parker needed.

Now to let his voice do the talking.

“Yeah… what has that got to do with this?” He held up the stick in question.

“Plug it in and tell me what you think,” I instructed.

“But wh—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, rock star, just do what you’re told for once,” I snapped.

He chuckled. “Alright, legs, I’ll behave.” He held up his hands in mock surrender.

I rolled my eyes. “Like hell you will,” I muttered under my breath.

“What did you say?” he asked over his shoulder as he slid the stick into the port on the sound system in his living room.

“What did you hear?” I raised my brows at him.

He chuckled again. “Nevermind.”

He hit play and sat down on the floor in front of the speaker.

He held his hand out for mine and tugged me down to sit between his legs.

I glanced over at Hannah and Jasper again, they weren’t paying one scrap of attention to us right now, but I knew that was about to change – even the uber relaxed Jasper would struggle to stay chilled about this particular experiment.

Parker ran his hand through my hair, fiddling with the long strands.

The recording kicked in and the strum of the guitar filled the room. Parker dropped the strand of my hair and turned his attention entirely towards the music.

“You walked into the room and now my heart has been stolen. You took me back in time to when I was unbroken. Now you're all I want, and I knew it from the very first moment… 'cause a light came on when I heard that song and I want you to sing it again…”

Jasper’s raspy voice swirled around me, transporting me back to when I’d first heard him.

Goosebumps covered my skin as I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the melody.

I heard Jasper cuss and Hannah shush him.

Parker hadn’t moved an inch, and without opening my eyes to check, I guessed that he was totally enthralled with what he was hearing.

“I swear that every word you sing, you wrote them for me, like it was a private show, but I know you never saw me. When the lights come on and I'm on my own… will you be there to sing it again? Could I be the one you talk about in all your stories… can I be him?”

I’d half expected Jasper to have come over and switched it off by now, but as far as I was aware, he hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

I’ve got your back, J… just trust me.

The song finished and the recording cut off abruptly – I’d had to chop off the part where I’d busted in and yelled Jasper’s name.

Might have been a teeny tiny giveaway.

My eyes fluttered open as I peeked up to look at Parker’s face – his eyes were still shut, his expression serene.

“Well?” I prompted with a whisper.