Rockstar Rivals: First Time Gay Romance Read Free

naked.
    It was the whole package with him.  He had it all.  Mark watched as Gavin held the crowd effortlessly, and growled softly.  That really didn't make him like the young man better.
    Just then, to make things that much better, Gavin started to sing a Crossroads song.  The same Crossroads song that Mark had watched him win the competition with.  The one that everyone in the world, apparently, had said that Gavin did far better than Mark.
    Complicated things happened inside of Mark.  Lust surged, and so, at the same time, did his hatred.  What would it be like to hold this young man down?  To kiss him until he submitted?  Or was he a good little Southern boy who would never even consider being a with a man?
    His drummer, Drake, who was waiting to go on, just like Mark was, smirked and nudged him with his shoulder.  Mark looked over to see what he wanted, only to be further annoyed by the smirk he was getting.
    “Someone's got a crush,” Drake teased.  It was part of being in a band.  These guys were like his brothers.  They teased each other, but Mark was most definitely not in the mood.
    “No fucking way,” he growled, and Drake's grin faded.  He gave him a more stern look.
    “Remember, man, the kid didn't do anything to you.  Stop being such a jackass.”
    Oh, good.  Everyone was on Gavin's side, even Mark's own band.  Poor, innocent little Gavin, being picked on by big mean Mark.  Clearly, that's how people saw it.
    “We're on,” was all he said to Drake, and to the rest of the band, before striding out on stage.  He even shook the kid's hand, and for some reason, the crowd seemed to eat that up.  Mark sighed, but soon enough, he was completely lost in his music, in the bright lights, the screams of the crowd, the throbbing bass and wailing guitar, the beat of the drums and the low, husky growl of his own voice.
    Gavin was still there, and, high on the experience, high on the concert and on music and on life, Mark draped his arm around the younger man, tugging him close.  Mostly trying to make him uncomfortable, honestly.  He still hated this guy, no matter who was standing up for him.  Maybe he couldn't show it as blatantly as he might like to, but there were things he could, and would, do to make the younger man miserable.
    Besides, it wasn't exactly some sort of hardship to stand close to him, and no one else would think it was weird.  It was normal for band mates to be close, and for the next two months, he and Gavin might as well be in the same band.
    Just to prove his point, Drake came up, tossing a casual arm around Gavin as well.  For some reason, it pissed Mark off that Gavin seemed far more comfortable with the drummer than he was with Mark, even though he logically knew it made sense.  Drake hadn't been hostile, and Mark had.
    “Party?”  Drake asked hopefully, and Mark smirked.  He pulled Gavin just a little big closer to him.
    “Hell yeah, party,” he growled, gazing down at the smaller man.  “What do you say, kid?  You ready to see what it's like to party like a real rock star?”  His gaze held a challenge, and he knew it. 
    He could see that Gavin was going to refuse, and he was opening his mouth to tease him more when the rest of Star Crossed came up.
    “Well, what about you guys?  You wanna go to a real party?” Mark asked, and smirked when they all responded enthusiastically. 
    “Looks like there's gonna be a party,” Mark said, and turned to look at Gavin again.  He was surprised by the look of longing he saw on his face, on how open and emotional those big brown eyes could be.  And they were fixed on him.  No one had ever looked at him with quite that much adoration in their eyes, particularly not when Mark knew how horrible he'd been.
    Huh.  Maybe there would be a chance to get Gavin alone at the party.  Maybe he could show the poor little Southern boy that it really would be a good idea for him to stay the hell away from Mark.  One kiss would