CHAPTER THREE
Ian couldn't allow himself to get distracted by watching the concert from backstage, so he focused on scanning the area over and over again in a familiar fashion.
Even casually observing Sasha deliver her performance made Ian appreciate her more.
Out there, she was every bit the professional she was not when she'd made everyone's day unnecessarily stressful.
The choreography, the costume changes, the back and forth with the audience—all of that, coupled with her vocals, made for a nice show even for someone like him, who wasn't familiar with her songs aside from a few he'd heard on the radio over the last couple of years.
Still, there was only one person who could totally command Ian's attention while on stage and it wasn't Sasha X.
The moment Alex walked up to the roaring applause of the crowd, something in Ian's chest tightened and released, another breath stuck in there until the song started and Ian forgot about anything else.
Fuck, if he hadn't already agreed to meet with Alex later tonight, he would have been ready to storm onto the stage and take him away until they were alone somewhere, tucked away in their little world and pressed together as their heartbeats slowly fell into a matching rhythm.
It reminded him of their first kiss, Alex hesitating after Ian walked him up to his hotel room and then inviting him only to crowd him against the door and whisper a question that left Ian completely undone.
"Can I?"
Yes. Yes. Anything.
If only it had lasted for longer than a single night.
Now, up on the stage, the longing in Alex's voice felt visceral, as if he was exposing something true and precious and didn't know if he should. He was laying his heart wide open for everyone to see—and Ian counted himself lucky to witness it, especially live.
Especially tonight.
He was sure there would be dozens upon dozens of videos of this performance on the internet in no time, and he was probably going to watch them in the solace of his own home later, but there was no way any recording would match the intensity of here and now.
Alex's singing unearthed the same aching longing inside Ian, the one he'd tried so hard to suppress ever since those first weeks after their last meeting, when he'd waited for a message that had never come.
His heart felt raw and yet, there was something hopeful there now, too. A connection.
Ian had never been a fan of concerts as a whole, and he considered Alex's to be the exception because of the man himself, but he might finally understand the draw after tonight. Moments like this just might be worth the discomfort of everything else.
But then the song was over and Alex was walking off the stage to another round of thunderous applause, and Ian let out a shaky breath.
Soon.
Once the concert was over and Ian was free, they would get their moment alone.
All he could do now was wait.