Twenty year old Corey Evans is one-half of 2ICE, the biggest duo on the radio at the moment. Pronounced twice, they're number one on the Billboard charts this week with their latest single. And number one in download sales, with two albums that have already gone platinum, to hear their manager tell it. And currently on their second U.S. tour, which has sold out stadiums across the nation. Despite this, there's an emptiness inside him which Corey can't seem to fill, no matter how many groupies he takes to his bed. He sees this same emptiness mirrored in the eyes of his band-mate, Ian Coltraine, who drowns his evenings after each show with a bottle of whiskey. Ian's the one Corey turns to when he wakes beside an unknown fan, still asleep in his bed and needs help evicting her. He's Corey best friend, the only person on the tour he can confide in, who he really trusts ... The one, Corey finally realizes, with whom he is madly, deeply, terribly in love. And he suspects Ian might feel the same. But his recent string of one-night stands makes Ian cautious about Corey's true feelings. He's wanted Corey for so long, and has watched him go through countless fans in search of ... what? Ian doesn't know. And he doesn't yet believe Corey when he says Ian might be it. Ian hopes so, but can't bring himself to believe Corey's fickle desire won't be gone in the morning. Can these two young men somehow move beyond Corey's past and Ian's pain to embrace a love they both so desperately desire?

Beautiful Disaster

But when the others returned, they’d want to know why he wouldn’t let Corey in. They’d want answers. And Ian wasn’t ready for that.


So he stayed where he was and left the door unlocked, and when Corey returned, he was still by the window, staring at the small imperfections he saw in the glass, the city a blur beyond his focus. “I hope you changed,” Ian said without turning around, “because I don’t want you to undress in front of me.” If he had to see that, Ian didn’t think he could keep his hands to himself.


“I did,” Corey said. Ian heard a quiet thump as Corey dropped his bag to the floor, followed by the rustle of the bedcovers being turned down. “Come talk to me, Ian.”


“I’m…” Ian sighed. “I can’t, Corey. I’ve just got to think this through first, okay?”


In his mind’s eye he could see his friend’s pout. “You don’t mind me being here while you think?”


Chapter 20