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

It had been four days since their first kiss, and Corey’s lips still tingled with the soft feel of his friend’s mouth, the tender kisses they had shared the past few nights, the quick pecks they managed to steal when the others weren’t around. His arms, now curled beneath his chest, ached to hold Ian again; his hands wanted to touch those curls, that skin. He wanted to stare into those bottomless eyes and never look away. Tonight as they had left the arena, Ian in front of him, Corey smiled at the fans and waved and shook hands and winked, but it meant nothing to him anymore. In the elevator Dean had laughed, asking Corey where his lady of the evening was, but Corey ignored him. He didn’t need the girls; he didn’t want them. He wanted Ian.


Chapter 25