“What did you expect?” She laughed. “It’s Willow Creek. This town pulls out the big guns for them.”

“Obviously.”

We ducked out of the crowd and headed back into the tent.

The guys joined us a few minutes later. All of them were sweaty, their faces flushed from the heat. Hayes grabbed a bottle of water, drinking at it greedily. The other guys grabbed waters as well.

Maddox stripped off his shirt, giving everyone an eyeful of his abs. One of the women working in the tent sighed happily and Emma glared at her.

“Put your shirt back on before you get mauled.” She demanded.

Maddox grinned, wiping a dribble of water off his chin. “Aw, babe, are you jealous?” He glanced in the direction of the woman who was trying to busy herself by restocking the refrigerator, but kept stealing glances at the half-naked drummer.

“Of course not.” Emma scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I think it’s hot when you get jealous,” he told her, striding over. “But the shirt is staying off for now. I’m too hot.” He fanned himself. “This heat is ridiculous. Are you sure you want us to vacation at a beach? Because right about now, escaping to some place cold sounds like a mighty fine idea, don’t you want to see my epic snowboarding skills?”

“Don’t go changing plans now,” she warned him, “you’ll confuse everyone.”

“When are we supposed to leave for this vacation?” Mathias asked, sinking down into a chair. He said the word vacation like it left a sour taste in his mouth. I figured after being on tour for so long he didn’t want to travel, but Emma was adamant that she wanted all of us to go, and I knew all of the guys would do anything to make her happy.

“Next Friday, and we’ll be gone for a week,” Emma replied.

“When does the meet and greet start?” Hayes interrupted, running his fingers through his damp hair.

“Thirty minutes,” Maddox said, looking at the watch on his wrist.

“Good. I’m starving, so that gives me a chance to stuff my face.”

“Didn’t you eat before you guys went on stage?” I asked.

He shrugged, grabbing a plate and piling food on it. “I’m already hungry.”

“Hayes is always hungry.” Mathias rolled his eyes. “He’s a bottomless fucking pit.”

“When you have a kid are you still going to use the word fuck in every sentence?” Maddox glared at his brother.

“Hey, I’m working on it,” Mathias growled, “it’s pretty fucking hard to stop using a word you’ve said all of your life.”

Maddox sighed. “My nephew is going to have a potty mouth.” He tossed his hands up, like he was already resigned to this fact. “He’s going to end up calling me Uncle Fucking Maddox.”

“Sounds good to me.” Mathias grinned. Actually grinned—like his lips lifted and he showed his teeth and everything.

Maddox laughed and so did Mathias. They looked more like twins to me in that moment than they ever had. Despite being identical, it was always easy to tell them apart. Maddox had an easy smile, while Mathias’ face was usually pinched with irritation.

Ezra came over to stand beside me, his fingers purposefully grazing my arm.

A small gasp escaped between my lips and I forced myself to remain still. I didn’t want him to know how much his touch affected me. But based on the way his lips danced, he was very aware of what he was doing to me.

With the remaining free time we all ate the food provided and the guys attempted to regale their appearances so they didn’t look so sweaty and dirty. I didn’t think the fans would mind, though.

For the meet and greet more chairs were brought in and the guys sat down. I noticed they did that a lot and I figured it was to seem more approachable. When you had four giant rock stars staring down at you it could be intimidating.

“Are you excited for your little friends to joins us?” I joked, looking at Ezra.

He shrugged. “You betcha.”

“Friends?” Maddox leaned around his twin to look at Ezra. “Honey, are you cheating on me? I thought our friendship was real.”

Ezra laughed. “Yeah, sorry dude, you just don’t do it for me.”

“I feel like everything I’ve known to be true is now a lie.” Maddox gasped, putting a hand over his heart. “What a cruel, cruel world we live in.”

Ezra shook his head. “It’s just a few fans that were at the circus and I told them they could come.” He grinned suddenly, no doubt remembering the girl with a clear crush on Maddox. “I think you’re really going to like them.”

“Hey,” Emma interrupted, snapping her fingers, “what are you up to?” She narrowed her eyes on Ezra.

“Nothing.” He raised his hands innocently.

“We’re going to start letting them in.” One of the festival workers, who I had learned was named Hannah, stood by the tent entrance.

“Bring it on,” Maddox clapped his hands together, “I’m ready for battle.”

At his words Hannah opened the tent flap and she started letting people in.

The guys graciously doled out hugs and posed for pictures and signed whatever was tossed their way. I knew they had to be exhausted from their set, but they all kept smiles on their faces. Even Mathias.

I spotted the girls from the circus and the one with the drummer shirt looked like she was ready to pass out.

When she saw Maddox she lost all control and ran right at him.

Maddox was quick and caught her in a hug before they could fall to the ground.

He placed her down gently, but was obviously rattled.

“Hi,” she peered up at him with wide eyes, “I’m Taylor and I’m your biggest fan ever. Like ever. Wow, I can’t believe I’m meeting you. You’re even hotter in person.” She reached out to touch his jaw and he flinched away as she stared at him in awe. “Your jawline is more structured than my life.”

Maddox’s lips pressed together and the other guys dissolved into laughter.

The other girls—and reluctant parent’s—gathered for the meet and greet watched the exchange.

“Uh…thanks?” Maddox said. I’d never seen him so unsure before. Normally you could count on Maddox to have some sort of witty comeback.

“I’m sorry,” the girl put a hand to her forehead, “you probably think I’m so weird.”

Maddox grinned, his charm slipping into place. “Weird is beautiful.”

She giggled, her cheeks flaming red.

Beside me Emma laughed, shaking her head. We’d moved to the back corner to be out of the way. “I’m so afraid that poor girl is going to pee her pants.”

“It’s a possibility,” I agreed.

Another hour passed while the guys conversed with the meet and greet attendees and I lost count of how many pictures they continued to pose for.

Finally everyone was cleared out of the room and we were free to go.

It was getting late now, and darkness had settled into the summer sky.

Mathias grabbed his cardigan and hauled ass out of there before any of us could tell him goodbye. I knew he was probably worried about Remy. Those two were almost as bad as Maddox and Emma.

Maddox and Emma headed out next, leaving Ezra and I alone with Hayes.

Hayes paused by the tent entrance and looked back at us. “I’m hanging out here for a while longer, y’all wanna come?”

Ezra was quick to shake his head. “No, I have to get Toby home.”

“Toby?” Hayes asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

“The goldfish.” Ezra pointed at the lazily swimming fish.

“Oh, right.” Hayes raised two fingers in a salute. “I’ll see you later then.”

Ezra lifted his chin in goodbye and waved.

Once he was gone Ezra admitted that he was tired.

“Me too,” I agreed, and I hadn’t even been the one performing.

We gathered up our stuff, including Toby, and met his bodyguards outside the tent so they could escort us back to his car.

The festival was still raging and seemed even more crowded than it had been earlier.

Luckily, most people seemed too drunk to recognize Ezra so we made it to his car without incident.