Shelby grabs my hand and squeezes hard as Gabriel looks right at me as he sings, concert spotlights dancing over his gorgeous face, black tank top, leather pants, hot as hell boots. The band is totally into it, too, playing behind him with ecstasy on their faces. Gabriel focuses on the audience again as he leaves our side of the mosh pit and walks stage right, leaning into the mic, his deep voice sending shivers into every female here.

I lean over to whisper to Shelby, “Don’t get excited for me! He’s looking at everyone!”

With a knowing grin she cups her hand over my ear. “Take your head out of your ass.”

Security put us here when we arrived. Maggie orchestrated that, introducing me as a friend, and not ‘the contest winner,’ which I appreciated. After what she did for me last night I wouldn’t want her to suddenly go back to treating me like a stranger. She must feel bad for me, knowing that it’s not going anywhere between he and I, even though we had sex. As his publicist and friend I bet she sees a lot of casualties in his romantic life.

But when she looked at me with kindness I knew in my heart that they had talked about me, and that he’d instructed her to treat me with respect. He’s letting me down gently which I appreciate. Makes it feel less trashy what we did.

But during the show he’s locked his beautiful eyes onto me so many times it’s becoming difficult not to hope there might be more to it than that. Am I kidding myself? He’s got over two million followers on all the major social media outlets. Not combined but on each one! The number of women – and men! – offering themselves up for a night with him is extremely intimidating. Who am I to think I’m special?

God, look at him. The way he owns that stage is pure star. He works the crowd like they’re his instruments. And then out of nowhere he hits these high notes you’d think were impossible for a guy with a voice as deep as his.

He’s right.

Gabriel was born to be a superstar.

I feel dizzy watching him.

And every time it hits me that he’s leaving for Canada soon, my heart shrivels.

Shelby shouts, “Oh, I was hoping they’d be here!” as five female hip-hop dancers bounce onto the stage with practiced, sexually explicit moves. I recognize them from his videos, too. One leaves the others and goes right up to him. She’s gyrating around him as he stares into her eyes, singing like the song is now for her.

Shelby and I exchange a look as they grind. “You did this to me.”

She winces and squeezes my hand. “It’s part of the show, that’s all!”

The girl gives him the sauciest look and bounces back to rejoin her crew as they form a line behind him to enact fantastic moves that make your heart pound.

They are the music.

He makes the music.

How can I compete with that kind of connection?

Suddenly I’m very aware of the sexy dress I chose to wear. Why did I even try to be someone else? This isn’t me! I’m overselling. Shelby encouraged it when she showed up at my place to get ready. I told her about what happened and she insisted I needed to play up my best attribute – my ass – so that he would leave town thinking about me. But look at those dancers! Their butts are phenomenal, and they’ve got much bigger breasts than I have.

Shelby looks at me. “Are you comparing bodies?”

“No!”

“Yes you are, I can see it in your eyes. I’ve been there, don’t lie to me!”

“I can’t help it. Look at them!”

She and I stare at the girls as they grind on each other. She winces and cups her hand over my ear to say, “They’re probably stupid.”

It’s so funny and ridiculous that I start cracking up. She does, too.

This is why I need her. Bumping her hip I mimic what those dancers do. We do terrible renditions of their dance but have the most fun trying. Glancing to the stage my smile freezes as Gabriel and I lock eyes. He was watching us. He gives me a wink and turns to hold his right arm up as Existence comes to an end.

The dancers hit poses and the band crashes an amazing finale out. The audience goes nuts, but I’m more excited than they are.

That wink was for me.

It wasn’t in my imagination.

Shelby grins at me. “I saw!”

“He winked at me!”

“I know,” she laughs. “He really did.”