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“Oh, shit,” I heard Lexi mutter beside me; apparently I wasn’t alone in my appreciation of the band, and my slow perusal hadn’t even reached his face yet. With that thought, I stopped blatantly ogling his shoulder muscles and moved my gaze higher.

I stopped breathing.

Yes, it was certainly an attractive face – more than simply attractive, if I were honest with myself. He was beautiful, with dark eyes, a chiseled jawline, and a wickedly sexy smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

The same mouth that had insulted me less than 24 hours ago.

Because I was looking up at Finn. And Finn was staring straight back at me.

He mostly looked surprised, but undercurrents of amusement and smug satisfaction played out across his face as he recognized me and my palpable discomfort. The * had obviously just caught me in the process of slowly undressing his body with my eyes, and he couldn't be happier about it.

Crap.

I’m sure he registered my look of shock and confusion before I managed to break away from his smug gaze, turning to glare at Lexi. She looked just as blindsided as I felt.

“I swear I had no idea he was in the band, Brooklyn! I never would’ve made you come if I’d known.” I’d filled Lexi in earlier while she applied my makeup, rehashing all the patronizing remarks he’d made and ultimately concluding that he was a condescending jerk who didn’t deserve any more of my time.

“Maybe he won’t notice us,” I lied futilely, knowing he’d spotted me immediately.

Finn’s voice crackled over the microphone, startling my attention back to the stage.

“Hey everyone, welcome to Styx. We’re Apiphobic Treason, and we’re here to liven up your Monday. Make some noise, people!”

The crowd roared back at him.

“I SAID MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE!”

The cheers that erupted were even louder than before. His presence alone seemed to make most of the girls in the audience go into heat; they were elbowing closer to the stage, pushing out their cleavage, and screaming Finn’s name like he was Tom Cruise or something. And I don’t mean that because I think Tom Cruise is attractive – more so because he’s a crazy religious zealot, and these girls were acting like a hoard of cult-like Scientologist worshippers.

I rolled my eyes at their pathetically transparent ploys for attention.

“Before we begin our set tonight, I just want to issue a little public service announcement on behalf of our beloved university,” he drawled sarcastically into the mic. Then, looking down directly at me, he continued, “Apparently the fire hydrants have been really acting up today, so watch where you step as you stumble home tonight.”

The audience laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. I’m not sure why they did, since it wouldn’t have made sense to anyone in the club except Lexi and me. Half of them were probably too drunk to notice, and the other half were undoubtedly too busy picturing Finn naked to comprehend his words.

As Finn laughed into the mic at his own joke, I glared up at him. He sent an infuriating wink back at me before turning to the crowd and launching into an incredibly energetic set.

“Well,” Lexi said, gulping. “He definitely noticed us.”

“Crap.”

“Do you want to leave?”

Yes, I desperately wanted to leave. I had no desire to stay here and be mocked, for the second time today, by an egotistical jackass. But I was sure that was exactly what he was expecting me to do – run home, too embarrassed by his comments to stay at Styx.

Well, I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of being right, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to let him chase me away. Plus, if I left, Lexi’s night would be ruined too. I just wouldn’t make eye contact with him again, I resolved. It would be fine.

“No. Screw him, we’re staying. Maybe just not, um, so close to the stage,” I responded, bracing my shoulders and quickly downing the remainder of my drink. “And I’m definitely going to need another round.”

“That can be arranged,” Lexi smirked, grabbing my hand and tugging me in the direction of the bar.

We maneuvered our way out of the crowd, which was now writhing along in harmony with Finn’s voice. To my surprise, he actually sounded great covering one of my favorite Dave Matthews songs, his raspy voice complementing the lyrics perfectly.

“Tyler looks so cute back there behind his drums. And there’s nothing bad about a man who knows how to use his hands like that,” Lexi sighed in adoration as we reached the bar, angling her body to look back at the stage. “Such dexterity.”

“This morning you were desperately in love with Finn,” I reminded her, ordering us another round.

“Ugh, lead singers are so egotistical. They just want to talk about themselves all the time. Who does that?” she wondered.

“Oh, I can think of a few people,” I laughed, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Shut up! I do not talk about myself all the time. And that’s beside the point! This morning he was beyond rude to me. He actually snatched my phone right out of my hand!”

I continued to chuckle, turning to accept our drinks from the bartender. Holding out a ten, I looked at him questioningly when he didn’t take it from my hand.

“These are on the house,” he said, smiling at me.

“Oh, thanks,” I replied, surprised at the gesture. I took the drinks and passed one to Lexi. “You didn’t have to do that.”