Meet Me Backstage

2. Somebody's Baby

JACKS

I'm insane.

Completely, unquestionably insane.

I have officially lost it.

I've only just met this girl. I hardly know her. And she's taken.

Not just taken—very taken. Engaged.

I rub a hand over my face as I step out of the elevator and into the hallway.

So why can't I stop thinking about her?

She's just a girl. Just a cute little rambling blonde with freckled cheeks and terrible dance moves and a gorgeous laugh.

I sigh as I reach my apartment door and slip my key into the lock.

"Where have you been?" Dre asks as I enter the apartment and close the door behind me. "That was the longest coffee run you've ever been on. Did you run into paparazzi or something?"

"No, just stayed a little longer at the cafe."

"Uh huh," he says with his brow furrowed. "Okay, man, spill. Why are you smiling like a kid on Christmas?"

Dré has always seen right through my bullshit.

"It's nothing. I just... sort of... met someone." I shrug and walk past him into the living room and sit on the couch.

"For real? At Starbucks?" His voice raises in pitch slightly. "That's great. Who is it?"

"It's a girl. She's a photographer." I can feel the smile stretch across my face. "She's got that classic, effortless, California-girl cool. She's whip-smart and knows music like you wouldn't believe. She's carefree and funny and pretty as hell. I'm telling you, I could spend all day talking with this girl and never get bored. She's... something special."

"Wow, you seem smitten already." He sits beside me on the couch and gives me a slightly concerned look. "You sure you're not a little too invested here? You know how you can be."

He has no idea.

My mind runs through the images again.

Skye dancing to the music with abandon as the light through the windows hit her sun-kissed skin. Her tousled blond hair sweeping across her shoulders as she looked my way.

Yep. Definitely too invested.

"I know, I know." I shake my head.

"I don't mean to give you shit, man," he says, patting me on the shoulder. "It's a good thing—you're a dreamer. Hell, a lot of people said you couldn't do all the things you've done so far. You just have that look you get in your eyes when you want something really bad. I just want to make sure you're not getting your hopes up here. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I know but I just... I feel it in my bones, you know? Like this girl is the one for me."

He sighs and scratches his eyebrow.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Jacks. You want something and you don't see any other way. You get this tunnel vision and that's part of what makes you so successful, but one of these days you're not gonna get what you want. You don't even know this girl. She could be a psycho. She could be a lesbian. She could be-"

"Engaged?" I mumble.

"Exactly," he says, pausing as his eyes meet mine and widen slightly. "Oh god, she's not actually... She's engaged?? How do you know?"

"I met him."

"Shit, man..." he says, kneading his brow in his hands. "Only you would meet a girl and her fiancé at the same time and not see that as a major roadblock."