Seduction by Song by Alexis Summers

smile creeping back onto his face. I could tell that he wasn’t taking me very seriously, that he found all this hilarious . And maybe he was right to—I could feel my resolve shaking more with every passing second.
    “I don’t,” I say, as though I need to hear it myself. “I don’t think I should be there.”
    Romeo hums thoughtfully, reaching up to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. The smallest gesture that would have set me off days ago sends a pleasant shiver down my spine down.
    “I think you will be there,” he says. “I think you’re dying for another chance up on the stage with me, another chance to do it right.”
    I shiver again, just from the words this time. The thought of being up there with him again, maybe more receptive to his overtures, was—well, it wasn’t entirely a horrifying thought.
    No , I tell myself. Then, out loud, I say, “No.”
    Romeo still looks skeptical.
    “Look, Romeo,” I start, struggling to find the right words and hesitating in pushing them out.
    “It’s my last show in Florida for a while,” he says. “The first in a worldwide tour.”
    I freeze, then relax. Of course. I should have expected that. He was a famous rock star, after all. He couldn’t keep chasing me, couldn’t keep existing in this small bubble of comfort that I’ve developed around him. I smile, then, because it’s suddenly so much easier to make my decision.
    “ Definitely no, then,” I say, voice more firm and steady. “Romeo, this has been nice. It really has. You’ve shared a side of yourself that I’m sure you don’t share with many people, and I’m flattered that it was to me. If you’d like to keep in touch, I think we can be friends, but—but I just don’t think we can be more. I said before that you’re just not the kind of guy I’m interested in, and that’s—.”
    I pause, hesitating. That’s not necessarily true anymore, really, because I do think I’d like to get to know him better and maybe even come to be interested in him, but even if I did want that, and even if I was ready to admit to myself that I wanted that, he was going away on his tour and we wouldn’t exactly have time to do that.
    “You’re still the same cocky rock star I met at that first concert,” I say, steeling my heart against any other feelings I might have. “Maybe if I got to know you—but there’s no time for that, now is there? I can’t do this unless I know you’ll be putting me first, and—.”
    “And I will,” Romeo interrupts. He shrugs, like it’s just that simple. “I’ll cancel the tour. Or reschedule it, whatever. You can’t possibly think it’s more important than you.”
    I feel my jaw dropping again as I stare at him, my eyes going wider and wider until I have to squeeze them shut and shake my head.
    “You’re kidding ,” I say, hearing my voice waver a little as I peek out at him. “Right?”
    The look on his face says wrong . The look on his face says he’s dead serious about this, about me, and I can’t help but just stare until the impact of that hits home.
    “Oh, God,” I say, breathing the words out under my breath. “You’re—you’re serious. You’d do that for me?”
    He nods, the barest tip of his head as he brings his hands up to curl his fingers at my cheeks, tilting my face up towards his.
    Warmth floods my chest as I’m guided to stare straight into his eyes, straight into the passion that’s there. Passion from him, to me— for me. I hear myself gasp, sharp and breathless like I’m a teenager and falling in love for the first time all over again.
    “Don’t,” I whisper, shaking my head as much as I can without shaking his hands loose. “You don’t have to do that for me. I’ll be at your show. I promise. I’ll—I’ll be there, for you.”
    The as yours goes unspoken, but I think he might know it because he smiles, warm and genuine.
    His lips part as he slowly bridges the distance before us, our lips moving closer and closer