AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Since when do you play?” I asked, genuinely baffled. In all the months we’d known each other, it seemed like an odd detail to omit, especially considering I played religiously, dedicating every spare moment to it.
“Um, I don’t. Not exactly. But I have a confession. I may have stolen a page out of your notebook,” he admitted, looking at me sheepishly.
“You what?” I exclaimed. Oh, that fucker. That was such an invasion of privacy.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, I promise. It’s just that I hear you playing in your room, and it’s incredible. But anytime I ask you to play for me, you brush me off. You say that your work isn’t good enough yet to play for others. So I wanted to prove you wrong.”
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” I gritted out, still pissed.
He was right, though. I adamantly refused to play in front of anyone other than Kyle and Jed, because they understood the musical process. My work wasn’t ready, and it might never be. My writing focused more on evoking feelings than on how it sounded.
“By playing it to you.”
“But you can’t play. You can’t even read music.”
“No I can’t. But I may have bribed Kyle into teaching me this one song. And then I practiced it over and over until I had it memorized.”
Ok, wow. I didn’t have words. Part of me still felt like Gray had overstepped, but on the other hand, no one had ever done something like this for me. Gray had invested serious time and effort into this surprise, and what’s more, his motives were purely selfless. He wanted to encourage me, to help me have faith in myself.
It was so incredibly romantic.
And I was so fucked.
Then, Gray began to play. It quickly became apparent that he was a novice. The rhythm and flow of the piece were noticeably absent. However, he had diligently learned the notes and chord progression with the same focus and precision he used on the football field.
It was beautiful. Once again, Gray had been right. Listening to the piece through a fresh lens, it sounded haunting, but in a way that reached deep into your soul.
Instinctively, I joined in with his tentative strumming. Then, for the first time in my life, I sang my own lyrics to another person. I laid bare my pain and hurt for Gray to see, knowing that he, of all people, wouldn’t see me any differently after knowing the real me.
13. “Because You Live”
Grayson
Everything changed after our day at the spring. We stopped tiptoeing around our connection and fully embraced our blossoming relationship, to the point where we became almost inseparable. Although, he still easily got embarrassed whenever the guys commented on how close we had become.
After I halted our kiss from progressing further, I feared that Colt might retreat into his shell once again, hiding behind that armor of sarcasm and indifference.
Instead, on the drive home, he kept sneaking glances at me while I drove, with unmistakable heat in his eyes. Then, as the gentle swaying of my truck on the dirt road lulled him to sleep, I took my turn to steal glimpses of him.
A lightness I hadn’t experienced in weeks settled over me. I knew outwardly I projected an image of perpetual optimism, as if carefree was my default setting. It wasn’t a facade per se, but merely an incomplete portrayal that left me emotionally drained at times.
I hadn’t lied to Colt. The moment our eyes first locked, an instinctive knowing surged through me that our fates were intricately entwined. Grandma Betty might have whimsically suggested our souls had forged a connection in a past life. Call it love at first sight, fate, or any label that fits your fancy, but I firmly believed Colt was my destiny.
However, that certainty didn’t translate into confidence that he returned the sentiment. The more time I had shared with him, the more had grappled with the knowledge that our feelings might not align at all. The gnawing fear of rejection had consumed me entirely, leaving no space to contemplate the prospect of things actually falling into place. Then Colt kissed me. With each ardent sweep of his lips, a new surge of hope unfurled within me.
Perhaps he, too, sensed the profound connection that bound us together. Maybe he only struggled to articulate those feelings, just as words often failed me in the face of overwhelming emotion.
So, it shouldn’t have taken me entirely by surprise when, cradling his peacefully sleeping form in my arms during the transition from the truck to his bedroom, Colt gently extended a hand, signaling a pause as we reached his bedroom door. A subtle shake of his head accompanied by a delicate blush tinting his cheeks, and he offered the shyest smile I’d ever witnessed. “Can we go to your room?” he asked, almost in a whisper.
It shouldn’t have taken me aback, but it did. I understood that he simply sought closeness and the comfort of cuddling, nothing beyond what we’d shared on nights plagued by his nightmares. His longing for that embrace became palpable during those vulnerable moments, emphasizing just how much solace he found in my touch. I just hadn’t anticipated him to explicitly ask for it.
The warmth that surged through my chest at his request underscored how deeply I had fallen for Colt. In that moment, I acknowledged that he wielded the power to destroy me, and yet I couldn’t find it in me to care. I’d willingly brave the risk for even a fleeting minute of happiness with him.
I settled us onto the plush mattress in my bedroom, cradling him in my arms. Assuming Colt would promptly drift back to sleep, it took me a while to register the intensity of his gaze, those immense brown eyes fixed on me.
“What’s on your mind, baby?” I murmured.
“I just wanted to thank you for today,” his voice wavered midway through the sentence. The emotion reflected in his irises tugged at my heartstrings, and the instinct to comfort him kicked in, my palms gliding along his spine almost involuntarily.
