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

Corey watched the bartender fill Ian’s glass again and waited for Ian to make his way back to where he stood, holding up the wall. Raising his glass, Ian asked, “You sure you don’t want any?”


“What I want isn’t in any of their bottles,” Corey answered, but he took the glass and sipped.


The rum burned a path down his throat and seemed to dissolve his stomach as it dispersed throughout his body. The ache in his groin flared as Ian pressed against him, moving aside to let a few people pass. When Corey handed the glass back, Ian’s fingers closed over his and he felt a silly grin split his face at the touch. “Do you know how much I want you right this second?” He was more than a little breathless from the alcohol and Ian’s nearness and the hip grinding into his crotch.


Leaning into Corey, Ian laughed, a merry sound loosened by the alcohol. “I can feel it.” He winked at Corey as he drank from his glass.


Corey loved that wink. Maybe this party wouldn’t be all that bad.   22


Chapter 32