"Jake, you made it. The party's over." she says in the most condescending manner possible, but I'm not even focused on her anymore.

I'm giddy at the sight of the only person who could possibly put me in contact with Aden Arrington. I quickly try to come up with a way to bring up the topic and the favour I want to ask of him. Meanwhile, he's shrugging off Tonya's snarky comment.

"I know. I was busy. I actually only swung by to give you this chocolate bar as an apology."

"You owe me the entire fucking chocolate factory."

"I saw you guys in VIP, so it couldn't have been that bad. My tickets would have put you at the very edge of the stadium."

"That was luck and nothing else."

I cough sweetly, which makes Tonya roll her eyes.

"Luck and McKay over here."

"McKay?"

"Yes, pleasure to finally meet you, Jake."

I shake his hand, trembling and sweating.

"McKay McKenzie?"

"Yes?"

Tonya and I exchange confused glances.

"The famous McKay? Aden will not shut up about you. Did you guys fuck or something?"

Holy shit! He's been thinking and more importantly, talking about me? I can't bring myself to believe it.

"No, we didn't."

"Oh, so you're texting then?"

"No, I never even got his number."

I laugh nervously, hoping he'll catch on to where I'm directing the conversation.

"I kid you not; he never stops talking about you."

Okay, it's now or never.

"Do you think you could give me his number?"

"Oh, no..." My stomach drops. "I'll do you one better. I'm crossing states to go deliver a contract. You want me to take you to the house they're staying in for their Detroit concert?"

"What? That would be insane!"

"Relax. It's only one night and I drive you back tomorrow."

I'm laughing with him when my thoughts give me pause. I unconsciously mutter my worries out loud.

"Shit, my parents are going to kill me first."

"How would they know? You can tell them you're sleeping here at Tonya's. Oh, wanna come?" he asks her.

"No, but I'll cover for you as an apology." She offers, briefly frowning.

It's bizarrely kind of her to do this for me.

"Please, McKay! I'll score major brownie points for this. Come with."

"I..." I hesitate. "Okay, but I don't want to go alone. Please come with, Tonya."

"I can't. I still need to talk to London."

She lowers her eyes and it's my turn to frown. Tonya had been avoiding her lifelong crush, London, for years. I was so happy for her when they finally got together last summer and, from what I could tell, everything has been going great.

But why would Tonya's face fall like that if they're okay? I have no clue what changed that even topped going to see Lune Quartz. I can't ask now, but I know that if it's about London, Tonya won't be going anywhere.

"But-"

"Ask Danatha, okay?"

"Hold on a minute; Danatha is your friend too?! What the hell happened at that damn concert? She is literally the talk of the band." Jake says, beside himself. "I need her to come with. I think Jude wants to impregnate her; that's how horny he is for her. All the guys would die to see her. Antonietta, I don't know where you get these friends of yours but keep them coming please."

I'm already cringing at his crassness in mentioning my best friend.

"Firstly, if you want Danatha to come, don't insinuate things about her and Jude; she'll be put off, and secondly, since when do the other boys know Danatha?"

"Instagram, girl; keep up."

He snaps his fingers in my face, then heads to his car waving me over.

"Antonietta, you know I love you but work calls. Oh, and thanks for having friends who my clients care about. See you!"

My stomach flutters as I step into Jake's Sudan. I can't fucking believe I'm going to see Aden Arrington in person for the second time. When we get to Danatha's house she's in disbelief. She packs a small bag and spends the whole ride asking about how each member of

Lune Quartz reacted to very specific Instagram posts she made recently. I politely ask Jake to leave out Aden's reactions to any photos of Danatha. Jake laughs and informs me that Aden only salivated a healthy amount.

I don't let it bother me, and once I've made that decision, it's so easy to hear about the guys lusting after her. The current running between me and Aden is more important than any physical desire he could have felt for Danatha. I can't even envision him looking at her the way he had looked at me the day of the concert. It seems impossible for any human being to pull that off twice.

Besides, it's not like it matters. I only want to get close to him to see if he can help me win one of their scholarships. In fact, if Aden really is attracted to me as he suggested two weeks ago, then maybe I could seduce it out of him. I could use some of Danatha's tactics. They work beautifully on most guys and confidence is the secret ingredient.

I shut off the tiny part of me that questions my motives and denounces my deception of a guy who has generally been nothing but good to me.

I call my mother and let her know I'll be staying with Tonya, Danatha and Sybil in an extraordinary sleepover for the weekend. She, of course, grumbles because she wants to go out and now will have to take Olive; but apart from that, she's fine with it. I can't believe how easy it is to skip town. I could go to another country and she probably would never find out.

At around nine thirty, we get to a humongous mansion that Jake says is being rented out since the guys have many gigs here in Detroit. He introduces us to some of the staff and eventually pawns us off to a woman named Trudy to feed us.

Trudy shows us where we're meant to sleep in the house (the maids' quarters) but she makes sure to emphasize that no one would check to see if we really slept there. Danatha and I cringe simultaneously, giggling once she turns her back. I can only deduce that they regularly bring groupies and yet, I don't know how I feel about that.

We're subsequently dumped in the TV room and both of us doze off until we hear distant honking. Danatha immediately jumps up, fixing herself up then offering to run her fingers through my hair before we go outside.
The crew is already unloading things when we get to the buses and many of them are heading straight into their respective rooms, holding McDonald's.

The guys arrive last and when the van door opens, it's as if they all fall under a spell at the same time. All of them have hazy stares; Nathan even has his mouth open.

Jude is the first to jump out and whirl Danatha around in his arms. I move a little to the right, amused, hoping to miss any flailing limbs. When the fana Aden, politely greet me as an afterthought, they usher Danatha into the mansion.

I wait patiently as Aden hovers by the van, until finally, he approaches me.