Ezrin strummed a soft melody on his guitar, half-listening to the chatter. Six girls had been ushered backstage for the meet-and-greet, all swarming around Kai, the frontman. It was always like this—girls falling over the singer while the rest of the band faded into the background. Ezrin smirked bitterly. What happened to girls finding guitar players hot? Wasn’t that a thing anymore?

He leaned back against the leather couch, toying with his pick as he tried to block out their laughter. Kai was eating up the attention, flashing that million-dollar grin that made girls melt.

Ezrin muttered something under his breath as he bent his head lower, plucking at a complicated riff, hoping to drown out the noise.

Bored, he glanced up at the clock on the wall, his jaw tightening. Ten more minutes of this. Ten more minutes of Kai’s voice and those girls laughing like they’d never heard anything funnier.

His gaze drifted back to the group, and that’s when he noticed her.

She stood on the edge of the cluster, not laughing like the others. Her eyes weren’t on their singer—they were on him. No, not him exactly—his hands, his guitar. She was watching the way his fingers moved, her expression curious, her head tilted slightly.

She was beautiful. Not in the loud, look-at-me way her friends were, but in a quiet way that caught him off guard.

While her friends were all wearing short, tight dresses, their faces plastered with makeup, like they'd rolled off an assembly line.

She was different. Her dress was different-a soft, flowing black sundress that fell just above her knees.

There was something so natural, so innocent about her. No heavy makeup, no flashy high heels. She simply looked like she belonged in a field, surrounded by flowers.

His fingers stilled. She noticed. Her gaze flickered up to meet his. Time froze. For a moment, neither of them moved.

She was beautiful in a girl-next-door kind of way. The type you could take home to your mother.

Without thinking, he let a faint smile tug at his lips.