The tour bus was parked in an almost empty theatre parking lot. Crow looked out at the window, watching the security guards Angela hired turn away a few disappointed looking fans. He wished he could run out and gave them a surprise appearance, but Angela had them currently meeting for something she said was ‘incredibly important’. She had texted the entire crew about fifteen minutes ago, asking for them all to gather at the table. Crow stayed on the couch until he saw Ethan come out from the bathroom and take a seat at the table. That was Crow’s cue. He got up and grabbed the empty seat next to Ethan.

It had been an excruciatingly long three days, prior. Every waking second, Crow felt like he spent thinking about Ethan’s body under his. He couldn’t get the thought of them together out of his head. He walked around with a permanent chub between his legs, which had to be taken care of multiple times a day, triggered by rampant fantasies of the two men rolling around naked with each other. Crow would have considered trying something again, but they had checked out of the hotel that same day and were on the road a few hours later, making it harder to find alone time together. Crow felt awkward asking Ethan to his room while everyone sat around on the bus, knowing exactly what was going on. If something was more established between them, he wouldn’t have really given a fuck, but since this still was all really new and vulnerable, Crow held off on the bedroom invites.

“Alright, is everyone here?” Angela said, looking around. Ethan was sitting by the window, Crow across from him at the table. Troy was sitting cross-legged on the couch nearby, Caeri playfully resting on his chest, her legs crossed up on the couch. She wasn’t opening for Crow at every location since she couldn’t travel with them, but she was able to make it to a few and Denver was one of those. Her and Troy having an open relationship seemed to have helped them with their time apart.

“Pretty much,” Frankie said, leaning on the marble counter, biting into a bright green apple.

“So what’s going on?” Crow asked, getting impatient. Angela never called group meetings like this. The afternoon sun was shining in from between the half-closed window blinds, causing Crow to squint in Angela’s direction.

“We have to cancel tonight’s show.”

An immediate uproar from the group. No one understood where this was suddenly coming from.

“What do you mean we have to cancel the show tonight?” Crow was angry. He could already see the faces of all his disappointed fans, finding out that the show they were all looking forward to was cancelled at the last minute. And they were supposed to leave the next day to make their next stop, so it wasn’t like they could rain check the performance. Once it was cancelled, it was done. People were going to be sad and pissed and they were going to blame Crow.

“I’m sorry, Crow, but it’s for your own safety.” Angela spoke in a tone that told Crow there was no room for negotiations. This was serious. “It was the venue. They called me and told me they had received a threat. Multiple threats.”

Crow felt a cold chill crawl down his neck. He shivered it off. “What kind of threats?”

Angela chewed her lips, clearly debating whether it was worth sharing or not. “I don’t want to freak you out, Crow. The police are already looking into it, that’s what’s important.”

“Why didn’t anyone ask me?” Crow shook his head. “This is my show. My fans. They’re going to be crushed. Tonight was sold out. A thousand tickets, all of them worthless.”

Angela ran a hand through her shoulder-length brown hair. “I wish there was another option. I really do. But it’s out of our hands now.”

“The threats. What were they?”

Angela looked out the window. “The venue said they received two calls. The first was to verify you were playing tonight, and the second was to say that no one else except you and them were walking out of there alive.”

“Shit,” Frankie said, chomping into the crisp green skin.

* * *

A few hours had passed since the bad news broke, and the toxic mood still hung in the air, making the tour bus feel more like a swampy prison than the lux travel home it was, the smog of fear and disappointment dimming the overhead lights and stainless steel accents. Crow was bummed, and he was scared, and he was pissed. He felt like so many people were robbed of a good time all because of one unhinged loon. He understood that it was for the safety of everyone else around, but it still sucked and it made Crow feel real shitty.

He was laying down on the couch in his gray sweats and an old college t-shirt, the back of his arm thrown over his eyes, when he felt the other end of the couch sink. He moved his arm and looked to see Ethan sitting there, smiling.

“You’re beaming,” Crow said, a little sarcastically. In truth, Ethan’s wide smile was contagious. It helped put a smile on Crow’s face, who moved to sit up on the couch so that Ethan had more room. Ethan was looking much more put together, in a navy shirt and white shorts.

“I am,” he said, “and now you are too.”

“It’s hard not to match that smile of yours.” Crow felt his cheeks grow warm. There weren’t many people who had the power to make him blush, even if he was in a crummy mood. “What’s going on?” Crow asked.

“Well, I know how shitty things have been so I hopped on the internet and found something cool I wanted to do with you today.”

Crow arched a playful eyebrow. “The internet?” he asked.

Ethan gave him a look and ignored his comment, continuing to talk with that devastating smile of his. “So I need you to get ready You’ve got five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Crow got up from the couch, looking down at what he was wearing.

“Fine, I’ll give you ten.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Give me a hint!” Crow called as he ran to the bedroom for some jeans.

“I think you’ll like it.”

“That’s not a hint.”

Ethan laughed from the other room. “It’s all you’re getting.”

Crow tossed off his sweats and hopped into a pair of light jeans. He kept his orange and blue university shirt and grabbed a blue LA Dodgers cap that was hanging off a hook on the wall. As he was exiting the bedroom, Angela was walking in from a smoke break.

“What’s going on?” she asked, sensing the flurry of activity.

“Ethan’s surprising me. Either that or abducting me.”

Ethan chuckled and said, “Too soon.” Angela didn’t seem to find the humor. She crossed her arms, her face flushed from being outside.

“I don’t know, Crow,” she said, her tone beginning to sound more like an overbearing mother. “With what happened at the ven—“

“That’s the thing, Angela, nothing happened at the venue. I get it, the threat was bad and obviously someone wants to freak me out, but I can’t let that stop me from actually living my life. Being scared of my own shadow isn’t the way to handle this. That just ensures that whoever is sending those weird notes ends up winning in the end, and I don’t want that.” Crow felt bad. He hadn’t raised his voice, but it was clear that he was done talking about the threats. At least for the day. He was going to try and enjoy the rest of his time in Denver, especially since it was Ethan who seemed to be the most excited he’d been in a while. Crow knew it wasn’t because the show had been cancelled, so what could he have been so happy about?

Could it be just because we’re doing something alone together?

Is this a date?

Holy shit, I think this is a date.

Realization was dawning on him as Angela was shaking her head. She seemed disappointed but what was Crow going to do, especially now that he realized what this was? No way in hell was he going to tell Ethan no.

“Fine, I can’t stop you.” She stepped aside. Ethan looked between her and Crow. “I’m sending the security with you though.”

“Sounds good,” Crow said as he walked past. He didn’t really care if he had an entire entourage following them. He knew his world was about to funnel in on one person, and one person only.

Ethan Winter.