I am that I’m dreaming. Her voice is a little husky, but I’d say that’s more to do with nerves than anything else. It matches the sweetness of her face while giving her still-girlish looks a touch of sophistication. It’s perfect, and it will have me smiling long after I wake up.
As my fingers plait through the dirty blonde waves pinned off Melody’s face, the reason for her newfound hearing is exposed. The faintest slither of coolness breaks through the heat teeming between us when my fingertips brace a speech processor behind her right ear.
“You got them done.” My words are barely whispers and more a confirmation than a question, but Melody has no trouble picking them up.
After nodding, she places her hands over mine so she can gently float them over each processor. Once my fingertips have traced the processors and transmitters responsible for her hearing, she glides my hands down her ears and across her wet cheeks before stopping them within a millimeter of her lips. Our odd display of public affection has gained us many eyes, but not even being scrutinized by a million people could dampen the intensity brewing between us. It is as if we’re in a room full of mute, tone-deaf people.
It’s just us.
“Hi, BJ,” Melody whispers a short time later, allowing me to feel the vibrations of her lips as she speaks my name for the second time. It’s just as good as it was the first time around, if not better from the memories it floods my head with. I often murmured her name on sensitive regions of her body to enhance our sexual connections whenever we slept together. This seems innocent to anyone outside of our little bubble, but to me, it’s just as provocative.
“Hi,” I reply, still too shocked to articulate any of the millions of thoughts in my head. Only one will come through, which isn’t surprising considering it’s the most important of them all. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” she replies as she throws her arms around my neck to hug me tight. “So very much.”
19
Melody
A blistering smile stretches across my face when Brandon mutters, “I’m sorry. I’m still having a hard time processing everything.” He pinches himself for the third time the past ten minutes before he continues guiding us to the side of the room so we don’t get trampled by the partygoers eager to enter the main part of the ballroom since the doors were recently opened for guests. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?”
“If you were dreaming, wouldn’t you have your hands down my pants by now?” My words flutter at the end, staggered by the heat creeping across Brandon’s cheeks. He was a blusher when we were kids, but it seems to have grown worse as he progressed into adulthood.
The redness of his cheeks jumps onto mine when he replies, “Most likely. It’s how most of my dreams end up.”
When I slap his chest, the most beautiful noise in the world is exposed. His laugh… kill me now. I’ve never heard something so seductively enticing. I thought his voice was perfect when he called me a smart-ass all those weeks ago, but nothing compares to hearing it in real life. It’s strong, clear, and mannish but with a smoothness that would have you nodding off like a baby if he read to you while holding you in his arms—that’s, of course, if the book had a PG rating. If it wasn’t, you’ll be in for a very long and entertaining night.
“How long ago did you get the implants done? From the quality of your speech, I’m assuming it was a couple of years ago.”
“Nearly three years,” I reply, grateful he doesn’t sound pissed. “I wanted to tell you when we were texting earlier this week, but I held back when a little birdie told me your name was on the guest list for this event.” If the proud gleam in my eyes doesn’t disclose to him who the little birdie was, I’m sure my quick wave to his mother gawking at us from afar will expose the truth. “I wanted to see your reaction firsthand.” My teeth graze my bottom lip as I struggle to hold back my smile. “The wait was worth the torture. You looked a cross between wanting to chop off my head to make sure I wasn’t a robot to fainting.”
Brandon laughs again, still incapable of denying the truth. “I’m glad you waited. I don’t think it would