Five long minutes after Eli climbed into a cab, I remained standing in the exact spot he’d left me. As I tended to do, I’d already analyzed and deconstructed the date in a million ways, thinking way too hard about how I was feeling. It was borderline pathetic.

“Well, I guess the date didn’t go so hot?” Said a too-perky voice behind me.

I turned to find my roomie, Delayne, approaching me on four-inch stilettos gingerly. I smiled as she tip-toed closer. I couldn’t help it, really. For someone so hippy-dippy and naive, she had a way of pulling off the unexpected. At the moment, for instance, she wore a lime green halter top, a black leather and lace tutu, white and black striped thigh-high tights and finished the outfit off with a sparkly set of ruby-red F-Me heels.

“No, it went fine. He had to catch a plane.” I explained, giving her a quick hug. “Where are you off to wearing that get-up, a costume party?

She stuck her tongue out at me. “No, Cruella da Vile. I’m here for the band.”

She waved in the direction of the nearby club, Sin & City, and I looked up to its retro marquee. Tonight’s feature was Firedrake, a band I’d not heard of before. Not that it was any surprise. My music repertoire consisted of whatever the radio played while I was getting ready for work. That, and the occasional music appreciation lecture offered up by Delayne. I had a feeling I was about to get schooled again.

“Come on, it’s barely eleven. I need a wing-man and you’ve got nothing better to do. And besides, I’d never forgive myself if you didn’t hear them in person before they hit it big. It would be a crime.” Delayne snagged my hand and pulled me into the club, which was quickly reaching capacity.

“Fine, but can we at least find a quiet corner? I want to tell you all about Eli.” I fake-whined as she led me through the crowds. I took an elbow to the back, had my toes stepped on and I’m pretty sure someone splashed their drink down my back. None of that could wipe the smile from my face though.

I really didn’t want to go inside and deal with all of the people, the loud music and the combined smell of liquor, sweat and smoke. If she’d given me a choice I would have gone home, curled up in my comfy chair by my bedroom window and replayed my date with Eli over and over again in my mind. As it was, I didn’t have a say in the matter. And that was the second pivotal moment of the night, and perhaps my life.

We found a quiet, standing-only pub table by the side of the venue, on the opposite side of the room from the bar. From there we had a perfect view of the stage, even if we had to slog through a sea of bodies for a drink refill. I held the table while Delayne went in search of the drinks.

“Do you smoke?” said a husky voice to my left.

I turned to find a random guy staring at me expectantly. He was taller than me by only a few inches, but he was built like a freaking gladiator. I could almost picture him in a toga, seriously. Close cropped, dark hair with a faint scar running over his forehead and into his hair line. Amber-green eyes that sparkled in the stage lights. Muscles too big for the shirt that was trying to contain them. The man held an unlit cigarette between his pointer-finger and thumb, and he waggled it in my direction.

I fanned myself, suddenly hot. “No, sorry I don’t smoke.”

“Right. Okay.” He turned to go.

“Wait! Do you need a light?” I asked, hoping to keep him around long enough for Delayne to return. He would be right up her alley. Or mine, if things with Eli didn’t pan out.

He looked from his cigarette to me, and then back to his hand again. Something sarcastic was about to come out of his mouth, I could tell by the gleam in his eyes. I didn’t want to blush and ruin the streak I had going for the night. Confident Me doesn’t make an appearance all too often. I hurried to speak again before he settled on a zinger.

“You asked the wrong question. You should have started with if I have a lighter.” I dug into my purse and pulled out a Bic, reaching it out to the brawler in the tight blue jeans.

He smiled wide, flashing a crooked smile. “Always come prepared, huh?”

“Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.” I countered.

He regarded me oddly for a split-second, while lighting his cigarette. Handing me back the lighter, he spoke in a lower tone. “Girl scout? Don’t suppose you still have the uniform?”

Whether it was his words, or the gruff tone in which he said them, I’m not sure. All I know is that my body reacted in a way that surprised me. It wasn’t a bad reaction—I’d have to be dead not to respond in some way—he was that confident, that smooth. I just didn’t expect for someone to turn my head so quickly after how I’d felt in Eli’s arms only a few minutes before.

“Seriously though, you can’t prepare for everything.” His gaze cut me in two.

Goosebumps traveled up my spine. “Of course I can, don’t underestimate me. You don’t even know me.”

“True. I meant it more in a statistical anomaly sort of way.” His smile cracked wider as my jaw dropped open.

Whatever I’d expected the hot stranger to say, I wasn’t prepared for him to talk nerdy to me. I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I bet I looked like a fish out of water.

He stepped closer, completely blocking the stage lights and throwing my body into a dark shadow. He was close enough to touch if I hadn’t been frozen on the spot. He was the lion and I was his prey—and right then, I wanted nothing more than to be devoured by him.

“I can think of something that you are absolutely not prepared for.” He ran a light fingertip down over my bare arm, then leaned in closer. His face brushed the side of my hair. He whispered in my ear, his breath warm on my neck, “You are not prepared for me, little Tiger.”

My mind scrambled to come up with an appropriate response. Something that would put him in his place without sounding too slutty. Of course, I didn’t want to scare him completely away either. Or sound like a dork. Or a socially-awkward mess.

Thankfully, I was saved from embarrassing myself when he turned to some un-heard call behind him, dropped his cigarette on the floor and ground it out with the heel of his black boots.

He looked me up and down slowly, “Duty calls… I didn’t get your name?”

“Karlyn.” I said.

“I’m Asher, everyone calls me Ash. Later.” He flashed another million-watt smile and walked away. I dropped my gaze to avoid noticing his grab-able ass as he disappeared into the crowd.

I felt like I’d been involved in a drive-by-flirting. Or I’d fallen down the rabbit hole. What a weird, fabulous night. I might have to see if I could buy those fortune cookies by the five-gallon bucket, I thought.

“Dang. Where’d he go?” Delayne set three drinks down on the table, splashing the honey-colored liquor all over the place. I guess she’d noticed the hunk of man-meat after all.

She pouted and I laughed. “No idea. The music changed and he said he was out of time.”

“Well that sucks. What was his name? And if your date went so well, then why are you bogarting all the hot guys?” She tossed back the first drink like it was a shot.

“Relax… his name is Asher. And if you want him, you can have him.” I put up my hands in mock-surrender. “You’ll just have to find him first.”

She shot me a sour look. I smiled sweetly, grabbed one of the drinks and sipped it slowly. Delayne had a tendency to ask for doubles and I would end up seeing double if I didn’t take it slow.

“My date went great, thanks for asking. We have so much in common and the conversation wasn’t awkward at all. We danced… kissed. It was… nice.” I felt the blush creep over my face. Dammit, I’d almost made it.

The lights dimmed just a bit and the sound of a guitar being tuned up made the crowd fall silent. The band must already have a following, because I’d never heard a club go that quiet, that quickly.

“Found him,” Delayne nodded to the stage.

Well, hell. It wasn’t enough that the mystery man looked good enough to eat with a spoon, but he was a musician. A bass guitarist, to be specific. Of course he was. A fucking rock star.

The irony was not lost on me. I’d been slogging through a two-year dry spell and in the span of a few hours I’d found two men that cranked my motor. Weirder still, was that they couldn’t be more different from each other. And the fact that I was even comparing them was insane.

I’d actually had a date with Eli—a good one—with plans to see him again. I’d lent a lighter to Asher and exchanged a few awkward words. It wasn’t like he was into me anyway. I’m sure he hit on anything with cleavage on a nightly basis. And I wasn’t about to become a groupie. Delayne, on the other hand, I couldn’t speak for.

After we’d sat quietly though the first few songs, Delayne turned to me with distant eyes. “Don’t you just love them?” she asked. “They’re like Maroon Five and Volbeat all rolled into one.”

Uh, huh. I had no idea what that meant, so I just nodded. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Delayne that she had my blessing to chase after the hot guitarist. Girl-code dictated that I saw him first, so technically I had dibs. Something held me back, though.

“Ugh, I’d give my right eye to hook up with the lead singer.” She purred, not taking her eyes off the stage.

I was both pleased to hear her say that and slightly anxious. My eyes drifted to Asher, noting the way he cradled the guitar. The way his hips flexed when he played a particularly difficult riff. The way his biceps bulged under the hot lights. I peeled my gaze from him, picking at my fingernail polish.

What the hell was wrong with me? I really liked Eli. We were perfect for each other. Complimentary in every way that mattered. And we had chemistry—oodles of it—that smoldered like a well-tended fire. I knew next-to-nothing about Asher, but what could we possible have in common other than a few physical sparks?

If Eli was Mr. Right, then Asher was just Mr. Right-Now, or Mr. Make-You-Walk-Funny. What concerned me most was that I wasn’t sure if that even mattered to me at the moment. Every girl deserves to walk funny at least once in her life.

The last song ended and the lead singer thanked the crowd for coming to see them. He turned and began to walk away from the mic, only to stop and lean back to say, “Before we go, we’ve got a special treat for you. This doesn’t happen often guys, so consider yourselves lucky.”

The band left the stage to deafening applause and cheers—all but Asher. He remained, pulled up a stool to the microphone and perched himself on it, with one foot on the stage and the other folded up onto the lowest rung of the stool. He fiddled with the acoustic guitar for a moment while the noise died down. When he did look up, his eyes swept the room and found me staring back at him. He smiled, crooked and sinful.

My heart did a tiny flip. Delayne elbowed me and giggled. I blushed, again.

“I wanted to give you all one last parting shot,” Asher grinned, winking at the crowd as it pushed against the edge of the stage. “I’m sure you’ll recognize this song— I heard it playing earlier tonight and felt inspired to make it my own.”

His voice dropped an octave at that last part, penetrating me with his eyes. He strummed the guitar, stripping apart the song, slowing it down for effect. Make it my own, he’d said.

Ed fucking Sheeran.

Of course, I knew what song he was going to play, even before he struck the first chord. What I didn’t know was what he meant by it. I had a sneaking suspicion that he’d seen me dancing with Eli earlier in the evening… but if anything, that should have scared him off, not encouraged him. Unless he was one of those guys that liked the challenge of besting another guy?

I started to leave, I wasn’t into whatever games the rock god wanted to play. As I stood, I froze. He’d changed the words to the song. Not much, just enough that I’d not caught it at first. His voice gravelly and deep, he sang “The Shape of You” as “The Shape of Us.”

Needless to say, I stuck around. I don’t know why, but I’ll be forever grateful that I did. If I hadn’t, well, I didn’t want to think about that—it would be too depressing.