Did I really just agree to that? To going back with a perfect stranger, a musician none the less in a hotel in some town I probably wouldn't remember if you asked me tomorrow but something made me say yes. I don't know exactly what it was but wondering is the last thing on my mind right now. I went back to the cafe, and by Justin's insistence got a table right up front with the perfect view and the only thing meeting my brain right now is the most beautiful sound coming out of his mouth. I've said it before, I've always had this thing for music. Like I've always been really into it but theres been times where it goes deeper than that. It's almost like I fall into the lyrics and feel them as much as possible. I can hear a melody and it's enough to give me chills. It's just-- we'll say it's bigger than just something I like. Music and me go together like Romeo and Juliette, peanut butter and jelly, cereal and milk, you name it. Lame analogies but whatever.

I'm sitting here, completly mesmerized, listening to him sing and I try to ignore the little smirks he sends in my direction every now and then. I'm also trying not to count the number of times this man licks his lips and how it stirs something deep inside of me. Whatever it is, they can't be feelings. I'm pretty sure my ex-boyfriend made me completely void of the word 'feeling.' I'm not going to analyze this. I'm on my way to California to start my life over and I happened to stop at a hotel and ended up bumping into some music. No big deal.

Another half an hour passes by and Justin finally announces that the next song they're about to sing will be the last for the evening. A little piece of me dies because I've just come to the conclusion that I could sit and listen to this man sing for the rest of my life and never get bored. I don't know what it is about him, sitting there on a stool, guitar in his lap, strumming along, singing his heart out. It just hits something in me, mesmerizes, draws me in. I've listened to his lyrics, watched him pour out his heart and soul and you can tell that this man, and or his band mates perhaps have written each word from personal experience. I know some of them have to be his. Just the way talent pours off this man tells me that I'm right.

The twangy sounds of his guitar finally fade out as he bows his head in gratitude as the cafe fills will applause. I cautiously join in, not wanting to draw attention to myself. It's not long after when he finally exits the small stage and disappears in what I can only guess is the "back stage" area of the small cafe. I mentally go back and forth with myself, wondering if I should sit here and wait or if I should go back to my hotel room. I don't have to look at a clock to know that it's getting late and I should be sleeping, knowing I have another million hours of driving to do tomorrow but something, I'm not sure what makes me stay. I don't even want to think about this, to over analyze any of this. I just know I'm here right now and right this second, I'm not going anywhere.

I take a seat, mindlessly looking around me, hoping that people arn't staring at me because I for some reason feel like I'm on display. I hope all of the little looks he's sent me wern't obvious to others in the room. Not that I care really, but I just have a weird feeling about this. Almost like a groupie of some sort. Does he do this often or at every stop they go to? Hell, I don't even know how popular they are or if they have 'stops.' I just know that I'm not what you'd define as a groupie. This was strictly my admiration for music. Plain and simple. So what if I've got butterflies in my stomach? So what if I haven't had that feeling in forever. Ugh, here I go over thinking way too much and I'm once again asking myself what the hell I'm doing here. I should leave. Seriously. Okay, I'm really going now. I hesitate for about ten seconds, looking at other people around me, some staying and sipping their drinks, others scattered around the room. I finally get up, actually leaving my chair this time and I turn to leave before I hear someone call my name. It's him.

"Baya.."

I turn around and I'd be lying if I said this didn't take willpower not to remain standing upright. "Yeah?" I rush out. Seriously, how does one man make it hard to breath by wearing jeans and what can only be described as the white wife beater he had on under his flannel shirt? I can tell he's a little sweaty by the way it's molded to his defined chest but as he gets a little closer, I forget my own name as some spicy but light and flowery smell meets my senses. God, he smells do damn good. Breath Baya, breath.

"You weren't leaving were you?" He asks, his face a half smile as he cocks his head in question.

I blink, trying to form words. "I um, I thought about it."

His face instantly falls and it's instantly got me second guessing. "Oh.."

"I can stay if you want."

His face instantly lights up as he steps closer. "I want you to stay. I was going to buy you a drink."

"Alright.." I regain my composure as he smiles at me and then winks and it's all I can do to not melt into a puddle of goo. I've got a bad feeling about this.

We walk to the bar, arms brushing against each other in the process as we take a seat on the metal stools. The cafe is now dimly lit, creating an 'after hours' type of vibe and for some reason it instantly relaxes me. He turns to me, taking my drink order before he tells the bartender and I remind myself to keep it light and end up something girly and fruity as I watch them set a beer in front of him.

I take a sip, instantly tasting the alcohol and I remind myself to drink this slowly. This could easily end in disaster. I watch him take a drink from the long neck of his beer bottle and have to stop myself when I sit there, imagining the path it takes past his lips, over his tongue, down his throat and yeah, shit. Snap of it Baya!

Justin takes this moment to break me from my reverie. "So where are you from?"

"Pennsylvania." I answer, not missing the place just yet.

"Cool." He smiles.

I raise an eyebrow. "And you?"

"Memphis. Born and raised."

I nod. "So have been singing for long?"

He licks his lips again and I've come to the terms that it's just some type of habit of his. "Yeah, my best friend Trace and I have been performing ever since high school. We usually perform locally around here but we're branching out more. Trying to make a bigger name for ourselves. I'm kinda dertermined to make it one day."

"Define make it?" I ask coyly.

He laughs using air quotes. "You know.. 'make it.' Record deal, tour, fans, the whole deal."

"Oh so you want to be a rockstar, huh?" I joke. Seriously, he doesn't seem the type.

He instantly shakes his head. "No. It's not even like that. I honestly do it for the music. I've been playing for so long. Don't laugh but when I was younger, I'd sit in my room and mess around with this guitar my grandpa gave me. He actually helped me learn. The rest I pretty much taught myself. Me and music, well, it's weird. You'll laugh."

"I will not." I say, urging him on.

"I have this thing with music. Like it's bigger to me than any words can describe. I love it. Everything about it. How it sounds, the way it makes me feel, how it reaches to like the deepest places inside of me and does something I can't put into words."

I stop, stunned, feeling like he just read a short story from inside my brain. "Seriously, I can't believe you just said that."

"What?"

"I thought I was the only person that's ever described music like that. I pretty much feel the say way."

He instantly smiles, licking his lips again. "Really?"

I nod, taking a sip of my drink and then tucking my hair behind my ears. "Really. Half the time I can't find the words to explain how much I love it. I think you just took the words right from my brain."

"We're awesome." He smirks and I almost melt.

I laugh. "We are."

I watch as his finger traces the moisture from his beer around the smooth surface of the bar table, concentration written all over his mind. "So what are you doing in Tennessee?"

I sigh, annoyed and excited at the same time. "Moving to California."

His eyes get bigger and I can tell he's surprised. "Really?" His face softens as I nod. "Gonna make it big?"

I shake my head. Yeah right. If only I had a clue. "Nope. More like to find myself. Reinvent myself. Get away from all of the bullshit."

"I hear you there." He says, his face falling. "You sure your not moving for a boyfriend?"

I scoff. "Hell no."

He holds his hands up in defense, his blue eyes sparkling. "Sorry. Did I hit a sore note?"

I nod, downing the rest of my drink. "Slightly. But it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I take it he was an asshole?"

I nod. "A big one."

I don't know what happened next but it was something close to a soft brush of his elbow against my arm where skin met skin. I didn't get chills from the contact. Not at all.

"He doesn't know what he lost." He says in concession, smiling before winking at me. I swear I might fall off this barstool and I'm not even drunk. Why the hell does every little thing this man do affect me? Maybe he put something in my drink. Shit, what if it's his plan to drug me and then... shit, I need to calm down.

I try to focus on my breathing. "Thanks." I smile.

"So when you get to California, then what?" He asks.

I start folding the napkin that was under my drink. "I'm not sure. I worked at a job I hated for too damn long. I'd eventually like to go back to college once I figure out what for."

"You'll figure it out. I've just got a feeling about you."

I laugh. He's always so confident. "Thanks Justin."

He finishes his beer and sets it down the the bar with soft 'clink' and turns and gives me that bone melting smile again. "Your welcome, Baya."

***
I stop laughing long enough to pull my phone from my jeans pocket and check the time. I know it's late but right now I don't even care. I'm fully sober and have been having the best time of my life. I cringe when I see it's almost two in the morning. I figured this place would have closed by now but it didn't and surprisingly, we weren't the only fools here. We've been talking for what seems like forever and I have to say, Justin is a good listener. No topic stuck as we seemed to jump from subject to subject. He finally learned about my asshole ex-boyfriend that cheated on me and broke my heart. I told him all about my life back at home in my PA and how I needed to get out of there. He shared with me stories about living in Memphis all his life and how he put everything into his music and the band and I was none other than interested.

The vibe was winding down and the topics were becoming a little more intimate and I found it hard to believe I was sitting here sharing this information with a stranger.

Justin saw me looking at my phone. "Am I keeping you?"

"Nope." I say, trying to hide my yawn but it breaks through with me laughing.

He smiles softly at me, standing up and holding out a hand. "You're a bad liar, Baya."

I take his hand, not even thinking about it. "I know I am."

"Come on. Let me walk you back to your room."

I nod sleepily, too tired to care. The walk is short to the elevator and as we wait for the doors to open, I don't even realize that I'm leaning into him, his arm around my shoulders. The door finally opens about a minute later I feel myself gently tugged along with him. Seriously, I'm so vulnerable when I'm tired. It's just not right.

"What floor?" He asks.

"Huh?" I ask, then realize what he just asked. "Oh 19."

I watched as he presses the buttons an I lean against the back of the elevator. He turns around, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans and the smile on his face just might be the death of me. He looks contemplating, kind of shy and seriously sexy. It's pretty much the most brilliant mixture I've seen in a while. Suddenly, I'm curious as to what's going on in his head.

"What are you thinking?" I ask.

"Nothing." His reply came way to quickly. Guilty.

"Okay." I smirk.

He takes a step closer, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I was just thinking."

Seriously, I may never find out. Elevator rides lasted like what? 70 seconds max?

"Thinking huh? Don't hurt yourself Timberlake." I laugh. Oh yeah, when I'm tired, I don't give a shit what I say either.

He scoffs, taking a step closer. "Oh it's like that huh? Gonna make fun of me now?" He asks, and he's close enough that I can smell the scent of him again and the faint smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Never." I grin and the closer he gets, the more my heart beats faster. He's not going to kiss me, he's not going to kiss me.

His head leans forward, so it's leaning against mine, his breath fanning over my face. "Good."

I swallow thickly, my hearth still thundering and I can see this is going to become some kind of came. He's smooth. He's got all of this down but I decide to play along. Our personalities, I've learned, are kind of similar. This could be fun.

I arch a brow, leaning forward just a little bit, our arms now touching. "What if i did make fun of you?"

He laughs, licking his lips and he's leaning down by my ear now. "I'd have to think about it. But i'd probably do something like this..."

Right as he said that, I didn't even try to prevent the chills that ran up and down my neck but the door opened and inside, I mentally screamed. I wasn't the type that did this type of thing, in fact, this-as in spending an evening talking to a stranger-slash-musician is the most out of the box thing I've done. Seriously, my town is small. I still wanted to know what he was going to say.

I heard him chuckle for a second, almost as if he heard my groan of disappointed. "Like what?" I whisper.

"I probably shouldn't." He says pulling back.

I hang my head low, pulling away from him and make a quick escape from the elevator. I'm walking down the hall towards my door only to find Justin hot on my heels.

"Baya, wait."

Stopping in front of my door, I turn to him, arms crossed. "What?"

He laughs a little, mimiking my stance. "Don't be mad."

I shrug, pretending that I'm not curious as to what he was about to do. It's probably for the better. I don't go around kissing people I've met for less than twenty-four hours. It's just not my thing.

"I'm not."

He chuckles out loud, moving forward and grabbing my crossed arms. "You are too."

"You think you can read my thoughts after knowing me for a couple of hours?"

He bites his lip. "I'd say I know a great deal of it. Like what spots make you shiver."

I look up, wide eyed as my cheeks get warm, turning a bright crimson color. I curse myself for letting him affect me like that. "I didn't- I just-.." I stutter for a second before I feel his hand cup the side of my face forcing me to look at him.

"It's okay, Baya. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I don't normally do this."

He looks around before turning back to me, his long fingers caressing my skin and i'd be lying if I said it didn't feel amazing. Something about him was comforting, but dangerous and sexy at the same time.

"We haven't done anything." He says before his forhead comes down to meet mine, pressing me back against my door. "Yet." He finishes in a whisper and my heart skips a beat right before I feel his lips, softer than ever brush mine.

I'm surprised, to say the least but I can't even think right now. I respond fully, keeping it slow as he's just merely caressing, smudging his lips to mine. He's taking his time, doing his best not to come off as rushing this, whatever it may be. It's not long before his tongue, soft and wet is tracing the seam of my lips, begging for permission. I readily agree, accepting his sweet invasion as he teases his tongue with mine. He swallows my gasp of surprise and I don't even feel my hands reach up into the tight curls of his hair but their in there, twisting and tangling, relishing in the soft feel of it. When he we finally pull apart, his eyes are looking down at me, heavy and hazy.

My hands slide from his hair, as I turn around reaching in my pocket for my key and placing it in the lock of my door before it clicks, allowing me entry. I don't walk in right away, keep it crack, my foot preventing it from closing. His hands are in his pocket again and he's shuffling his feet nervously. I know what he wants to hear and I don't even think the words are able to form on my tongue. I don't do this sort of thing and hadn't really planned on tonight being the night to start. I'd just met this man and even though I knew a lot about him in a short amount of time, it still didn't justify what he wanted to do.

"So, tonight was fun." He says, looking at the floor. "I'm glad we met."

"Justin." I say reaching my hand out, a wave of braveness coming over me. Breath Baya, breath. "I'm not promising you anything but would you like to come in?"

He gives me a half smile, laying his hand in mine and it's that one word that has my mind racing. "Yes."