A Sweet Mess - Jayci Lee Page 0,57

at a mezzo’s range, but I love to sing it.”

Landon caught Aubrey’s hand in his and smiled. “Now let’s enjoy the fruit of our efforts.”

12

The fruit of their efforts was breathtaking.

At first, Aubrey was too distracted by the warmth of Landon’s hand holding her own, but soon, the performance sucked her in whole. The vivacious woman disappeared, and sorrow bled into Aria’s rich, velvety voice, and the soulful music pulsed in Aubrey’s heart and seeped into her veins. When the last note faded, the air vibrated with energy and then stilled into a silence so clear and pure that Aubrey was afraid to break it. She was awed and humbled by the beauty of the music, and helpless tears streamed down her face.

“You’re beautiful, Aubrey Choi,” Landon whispered, smoothing his thumb across her wet cheek.

With her heart brimming with joy and vulnerability, Aubrey’s feelings for him broke through the surface and shone on her face. She should look away. Hide. But his dark, heated gaze drew her in deeper and deeper until everything else fell away, leaving the two of them in their own world.

She jolted out of the trance when she heard Aria shuffling about, haphazardly piling her purse and cardigan into her arms. Tears trailed her cheeks as well. Maybe she was overwhelmed from putting so much of herself into the song. The longing in her voice had felt so real. As though she truly waited for the day when her lover would return to her.

“Are you leaving?” Aubrey placed her hand on Aria’s arm. Aria nodded without meeting Aubrey’s eyes as she stirred the contents of her purse. “Thank you so much. It was beautiful. I’ll never forget it.”

Aria managed a wan smile, but it disappeared in an instant when she saw Lucien approaching her with his hand outstretched. Her graceful features contorted with pain and fury.

“Aria,” Lucien said, dropping his hand to his side. “Please don’t.”

“Please don’t what?” She glared at his distraught expression and laughed bitterly. “You can take your sorry excuses and take a flying leap into hell.”

With angry steps, Aria sped out the door. With distracted nods to Aubrey and Landon, Lucien ran after her shivering figure as it faded into darkness.

Aria and Lucien? Aubrey didn’t want to speculate, especially since Aria was so unhappy. She just hoped they could work things out. They were both such amazing people. Landon heaved a sigh beside her as he watched his friends leave. Then he closed the door with a soft click and faced her.

Aubrey’s throat worked to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. Okay. So where were we? They’d been burning off the oxygen in the room with sexual tension. Right. Something seemed to have shifted in him this evening. All through dinner, Landon had found ways to touch her—their shoulders brushed, their elbows rested side by side, and their knees pressed together under the table. Even now, his expression was hungry and unapologetic. Operation Friendship was in trouble. Big fucking trouble.

Run.

“Good night,” she said, much louder than necessary.

When Landon’s eyebrows drew together, Aubrey ran for her room without a backward glance. Then she locked the door behind her and fell face-first into bed with her limbs sprawled inelegantly. Aria’s singing had stripped her bare, and the scared, insecure girl inside her had stood shivering in front of Landon. That girl would’ve begged. For love. For forever.

While her defenses were down, a breath of freedom had enticed her with glimpses of hope, but her survival instincts kicked in and yanked her back to reality. Love ends. Then what? You’ll be cast aside. Forgotten and alone. Don’t you remember how much it hurts? Please, you must never risk your heart.

Using the words imprinted on her soul, Aubrey cajoled the lonely little girl back into her fortress. But the woman who remained needed something. She didn’t want love and forever. But she wanted the right-out-of-the-oven, burn-your-fingers hot man downstairs, who looked at her like he wanted to eat her up. The man she had feelings for. Yes, I have feelings for him. Shit. I have feelings for him. This was not good, but she couldn’t hide from it anymore. Aubrey had more-than-friends, more-than-sex feelings for Landon.

She reached for her phone and emergency texted Tara.

Aubrey: Code Shit Fuckity Shit.

Tara: I thought our emergency code was Shit Shit Shit.

Aubrey: No, we decided to use this one.

Tara: Fine. Not important. What’s going on?

Aubrey: Help.

Tara: Do I need to load Jack and Alex in the car and head on