Chapter 1

Melody

Two-minute costume changes are my least favorite part of every concert.

Honestly, I don't know why I have to do a costume change between the last set and the encore, but someone thought it was a good idea, so here I am: my plus-sized body half-naked and being crammed into the fifth skimpy outfit of the night while someone touches up my makeup. Making me look like someone I barely recognize.

Am I still me when I'm out there? Yes, and no. My lead-singer persona is definitely more confident than I am in my regular life.

The crowd is on their feet. The collective roar of twenty thousand fans stomping and screaming our names swirls around us. One more swipe across my face with the powder brush and I'm thrust back on stage, the rest of Velvet Vibe walking behind me.

Such is the glamorous and beautiful life of a pop star.

My eyes find Hayes McEntire immediately. Standing sentry; sexy as hell, dressed head-to-toe in black, staring right back at me. Seeing him looking up at me, almost makes all the costume changes worth it. Not that he notices me beyond me behind his client. He's my personal protection detail. We have a whole team, but Hayes rarely disappears from my sight.

Muscle memory takes over and we launch into our encore set. It'll just be two songs, and they're two of our most popular so it always makes the crowds even wilder.

As much as I want to keep staring at—and singing directly to—Hayes, I force myself to look away. While we are very good friends, I know he doesn't have feelings for me the way I do him.

As I sway on my feet to the opening cords of the song, I think about the moment this afternoon that drove home his lack of interest in me.

Up until today, I'd never even given much thought to his life outside of his time with me. We're together so often that it never occurred to me that he might date other people. Not that we're dating. We're not.

Yes, we share meals and even hotel suites, though there is always more than one bedroom. In any case, we're together so often that him dating hadn't been on my radar. Until I'd seen him standing very close to Samantha, another guard on our detail, their heads practically touching they were leaning so close.

Seeing them had jarred me so much that I'd come to an abrupt stop and Gia, our guitarist had run right into me.

"Mel, what are you doing?" Gia's one of those statuesque women who is tall and beautiful with curves in all the right places. No doubt her posters decorate many lockers and walls. And I know for a fact that her social media is full of men—and women—clamoring for her attention.

She'd reached an arm out to steady me. "Sheesh, I could've knocked you to the ground. You okay?"

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from stuttering, something I'd struggled with since childhood. It tends to rear its ugly head whenever I get flustered. Never affected me when I was singing, which is actually how I got into music in the first place.

Gia followed my gaze, then she looked back at me.

"Do you think they're dating?" I asked.

"Girl, you're the only person he spends any considerable time with so I have no clue about his love life." Then she frowned. "Besides, we'd all assumed y'all were hooking up."

"Wh-wh-what? Me and Hayes?"

Gia smirked. "Yeah. I mean y'all share hotel suites. And eat all your meals together. You're practically married."

"We are friends," I'd said.