I gave him a suspicious look. “I don’t know. I think your idea of exciting is a lot more extreme than mine.”

He came around to stand in front of me and I stopped in place. “What if I promise not to make you do anything you don’t want to? Come on, Reyrey, have an adventure with me. You know you won’t regret it.”

I wasn’t too sure about that. Still, after only a few moments of hesitation I gave in, unable to resist that boyish grin of his, especially when he called me Reyrey. I hated it, but also secretly kind of loved it. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Yes! Okay, now all you have to do is suck on the lollipop to make it official,” he held it out to me in challenge, then winked. “It’s strawberry. Your favourite.”

I knew he thought I wouldn’t do it, which kind of made me want to prove him wrong. Instead of pushing the proffered lolly out of the way, I plucked it from his fingers, stuck it in my mouth and took a long suck.

When I popped it from my lips I shot him a cheeky grin. “Mmm, delicious.”

Trev’s mouth fell open and I delighted in the fact that I’d surprised him. I arched a brow in challenge, waiting for him to comment, but all he did was stare at my mouth like he never noticed how fascinating it was before. Shivers ran up my arms and I started to regret my gutsy move.

He took a step closer, his eyelids hooded, and asked quietly, “I know I’m probably gonna get a slap for this, but would you consider sucking my cock like you just sucked that lolly as one of the things you’ve never done before?”

Now it was my turn to be surprised. And turn bright red. And get goosebumps over every inch of my body. I mean, he’d said stuff like this to me in the past, but it had always been in jest. Today I wasn’t so sure. It felt like if I said yes, he’d actually go ahead with it. And it was difficult to breathe normally when the image of giving my best friend a blowjob was etched in my mind. Swallowing hard, I shook my head and plastered on a breezy expression, “Nice try, but I think I’ll pass.”

Trev threw his arm around my shoulders then bent to whisper in my ear, “Spoilsport.”

I tried to ignore how his breath hit my skin, and how his voice gave me tingles.

When we arrived at my building, I stepped ahead of him to swipe my fob over the door entry system. Living in a three-hundred square foot studio apartment could be stifling and demoralising at times, but it was the only thing that was within my budget. When I was in college I lived in a house share, and believe it or not, this was actually a step up.

I wanted to sing for a living, and I knew I’d be miserable doing anything else, so for that reason I had to make sacrifices.

At first I’d been too embarrassed to bring Trev here, because the building was old and a little musty, and when you lived in such a small place all of your possessions were sort of on show. It was like bringing people right inside your bedroom. Awkward. Too close.

Keeping Trev away was a losing battle though, and eventually he wore me down. He actually liked the place, thought it was cosy. But that was probably because he’d grown up in a tiny council house with his three brothers all sleeping in one room. Hell, he probably considered my place spacious in comparison.

Anyway, I tried to keep the place nice and take pride in it, even though it wasn’t much. At least I could hold my head high and be proud of my little home.

As soon as we got in Trev flopped down onto my bed. He pulled his phone from his pocket, probably to check Facebook or something, while I went to put my things away and freshen up in the bathroom. When I returned he was still on his phone. I took a moment to soak him in, because the visual of him lying so casually on my bed was always…interesting.

Sure, I’d made my peace with the fact that he didn’t fancy me, but I couldn’t help finding him attractive. He just was. He was pretty, too, for a bloke. His lips were full and red, his lashes long and dark, and his skin pale and flawless. Being of Spanish descent, I was his opposite: dark eyed and tan. Perhaps that was why I’d always been so taken with his looks.

I dropped down beside him and asked, “What are you looking at?”

He turned the screen so I could see and I scrunched up my face. “An underground rave? Not sure that’s my thing.”

“But it’s held in an old abandoned tube station. Neither one of us has been to a rave in a tube station before. We should do it.”

I shrugged and gave it some thought. I wasn’t a big fan of rave music, but I did like to dance. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. “Okay, then. We’ll go, but you have to stick with me. I hate being left alone at those things.”

Trev shot me a serious look. “Of course I’ll stick with you. I wouldn’t leave you on your own. It’s not safe.”

His sincerity made me feel a little less wary and I gave him a grateful smile. This close I could smell him, and involuntarily I leaned in to sniff his neck.

“Did you just smell me?” he asked with amusement.

I blinked, realising how odd that was. “Um, yeah, sorry. Is that new cologne?”

“Acqua di Gio. You like it?”

“I really do.”

He grinned. “Good.” Leaning in, he brought his nose to my neck and inhaled deeply. The action caused my stomach to clench and my chest to flutter. I thought I even felt his lips touch my skin for a second.

“You don’t smell so bad yourself.”

“Thanks.”

He winked. “I’m all about returning the favour. Do you need to do anything else before we leave?”

I shook my head and he pulled me up from the bed. Before I knew it we were on the tube, heading for destinations unknown.

“It’s too early for the rave, so I thought we’d go get something to eat first.”

“Good idea. I’m starving.”

Trev grinned devilishly and I knew it meant all was not as it seemed, but I decided not to question him. For some reason I felt like truly embracing his idea of throwing caution to the wind. I did need material for some new songs, after all. Maybe this night of new experiences would be the perfect inspiration.

Yes, God help me, for the next couple of hours I was going to let Trevor Cross be my guide. I almost regretted the decision when twenty minutes later he led me inside a restaurant where apparently people paid to eat in the dark.

“Why would anyone want to do this? I like to be able to see my food, not have it fall all over my lap because I’ve been rendered blind.”