my chest hurt.” I cringed at how stupid that sounded.
He nodded like that made perfect sense. “I feel that. I like it so much it doesn’t want to stay inside my body.”
It was that exactly. I tumbled even further toward loving him in a way that I couldn’t come back from. I should get up and leave for self-protection, the only tool I’d had over the last month to keep me safe. But I didn’t. I stayed where I was. It felt too good to sit next to him. He smelled like soap, and the short sleeve of his soft blue shirt brushed my arm, sending tiny sparks down my spine.
He rested his fingers on the keys and made a small throat-clearing sound before playing.
“We were so young when our paths first crossed
I was too immature and the moment was lost
Now we’re grown and together again
With a chance to make it what it should have been.”
I went totally still. This song was about me. There was no way it wasn’t. He did a chord change, and my heart rate accelerated because it meant he was leading to the chorus, and the chorus of a song always told the truth. It was always the bottom line.
“We can write our own brand-new beginning
Scenes still waiting for us to write the ending
Let me show you how this story could unfold now
I can be your hero, baby, let me show you how”
I tumbled all the way down. I could not fall any farther, and I did not care.
He let the last note die out. “That’s all I have so far.”
I kept my eyes on the keys, afraid of what they would show if I met his.
“Did you like it?” he asked.
“Was that about me?” I asked. It was barely more than a whisper, hope almost squeezing my throat tight.
He turned his head, and I could feel his eyes on me. “Ellie.” I turned my head too but couldn’t lift my eyes above his chest. “Elle, I don’t...” He sighed and seemed to gather himself. “I know I hurt you back then, but I’ve changed, and I’ve been trying to show you how much almost since we met.”
“Why?” I asked, finally meeting his eyes. “Why does that matter? Do you need me to think you’re a good guy? I do.”
“No. It’s because the words in my song, they’re true. I fell for you when you laughed at me for getting powdered sugar on my shirt. And I’ve been trying to figure out how to show you that I’m not the sixteen-year-old jerk who shot his mouth off about you on TV. I didn’t know you. But I do now, and I...” He trailed off and searched my eyes.
“You what?”
He swallowed hard, and I was mesmerized by his Adam’s apple moving up and down. “The song you were singing before. Is there any chance it’s about me?”
I met his eyes again. “What do you think?”
His eyes darkened. “I think I’m going to kiss you right now, Ellie Jones, so if that’s not what you want, say so.”
I didn’t say a word.
He slid a hand around my neck and pulled me toward him, brushing his lips against mine. His were warm and soft, and I loved the way his callused guitar fingers felt against my skin. I kissed him back and whispered, “Is that all you got?”
His laugh was a soft puff of breath against my cheek that I barely had a second to register before he was kissing me again. This time it was hungry, his mouth pressing against mine, his free hand moving to my back to hold me closer. A streak of heat like nothing I’d ever experienced shot through me, and I shifted, trying to find a better angle to explore him.
He gave a small growl of frustration and leaned away. I gave a wordless protest, but he was only shifting to straddle the piano bench before he drew me back for a deeper kiss, a slow exploration that turned me boneless.
I wanted the same kind of access to him, so I twisted and resettled myself on the bench, but I didn’t kiss him again. Instead, I traced the outline of his lips with my thumb and searched his eyes. “Say the part from the chorus again. I want to feel you say it.”
“I can be your hero, baby, let me show you how.”
I stole the last word with a kiss, and he sucked in a sharp breath. I wondered if I’d gone