When the Lights Come On

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice-Paige Rivera doesn't need to know the rest; she doesn't intend to end up among the twice-fooled. It's been six years since Youssef Salah let her down, and not even the shock of his reappearance is enough to make her consider letting him do it again. She learned a lot from that first fall: how to pick herself up, brush herself off, and push away anyone with the ability to knock her off her feet. He's no longer the teenage boy she knew, but Youssef still possess the powers of a gravitational force, so Paige employs her failsafe strategy: head down, eyes on the prize. The prize in this case is her burgeoning career as a music producer and one-to-watch in the Montreal DJ scene. Unfortunately, that's the prize Youssef has always had his eyes on too. As the city's sweaty clubs and neon-lit bars throw them together again and again, Paige can't help getting caught in the pull of the boy she used to know and the man he's now become-a man who's not afraid to hide that he's just as drawn to her. Passing words turn into late-night conversations that force them both to realize their past was never as simple it seemed, and neither was their goodbye. There's a future waiting for them, as ready as an empty stage under the lights, but fools have a way of showing up in the spotlight-especially if they've been there twice. When the Lights Come On is part of the Barflies series, a set of standalone romantic comedies that chronicle the lives and loves of the staff at a Montreal dive bar.