Lucas sat in the studio strumming on his Les Paul as he looked through his notes while he waited for Sindy. He purposely told Tessa and Mason not to show up for another hour so Sindy could concentrate on her lesson, but he really just wanted to be alone with her. She drove him crazy on so many levels. It baffled him. He reminded himself that they were here to work, and he couldn’t let his erratic emotions derail the plan.
The heavy notebook in his hand, filled with page after page of concepts and rules and how and why harmonies fit together, seemed overbearing. This had been his bible in college. It contained material that served him every day. Theory excited him, but he often forgot that not everyone loved it as much as he did and decided to ease up on Sindy. He’d back off and stick to only teaching her how to read music, unless she asked to learn more.
Sindy’s footsteps tapped on the stairs, and Lucas looked up just as she came into view. She immediately looked around the studio, her smirk indicating her annoyance that they were alone.
“It’s just you and me, hon.”
She tensed.
“It’s just a term of endearment. It doesn’t mean we’re engaged. Yet.” He gave her a broad smile, and she actually laughed a little which lightened the tension in her jaw.
She rested her guitar case against her leg and stood near the couch. “I just got back from seeing my new apartment. It’s not far. Just 20 minutes away. It’s beautiful.” Her face brightened as she spoke. “I chose the one-bedroom instead of the studio, since . . .” She hesitated, as if embarrassed about spending her advance. “It’s not that much more money. I can still afford it.”
“Relax, Sindy. I’m not judging you. You deserve it. And I know you can afford it. Prodigy is gonna blow up the charts. That’s why I’m waiting to buy my own house, although I’m getting really antsy now that everything is so close and ready to explode.” He looked at the stairs that led to the rest of the house, torn between leaving the only home he’s ever known and buying his own place. “I love it here, but it’s time. I don’t want to move far. I just want something that’s mine.” His gaze lingered on Sindy, and he saw the same spark in her eyes about moving into her new apartment. “When are you moving out?”
“Two weeks.”
Although happy for her, he wished she would stay longer. “I’m going to miss having you down the hall from me.”
The corner of her mouth drew back into a tiny smile. Was it because she felt the same way, or because she doubted his sincerity? He didn’t know how to read her sometimes. Ice cold walls guarded her reactions most of the time, but he’d broken through them on several occasions. Their verbal combat and test of wills seem to do two things. One, it created a burning passion between them. It heightened how much he wanted her. She wasn’t a conquest. She was an obsession, and he wanted to possess her. Break her. He wanted to claim her as his own, which seemed like an impossible feat. She was so stubborn and independent, and that’s what turned him on. She was a powerful woman. She didn’t stand down. She didn’t break. She stood tall and fought no matter what the hell happened to her. She bounced back and landed on her feet. Nothing could keep her down. She lived in a fucking storage unit, and still had the determination to get by and prevail. It would have broken a lesser person. Not Sindy. She faced challenges head on and never accepted defeat. He admired her. She worked hard in the studio, proving her work ethic and dedication to the band. She was learning to read music and starting over like a beginner, when she was already a phenomenal guitar player.
The second thing their sparring did was enlighten his mind. Sindy was smart, and she sparked his intelligence.
“Are you spacing out?” Sindy asked.
Her voice broke his trance and he blinked. “Yeah. I was.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“You.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Not here.”
He smiled, mischievously. “That’s not what I was thinking about. But it’s obviously what you’re thinking about.” He loved to tease her. “I was just thinking about how remarkable you are. Nothing gets you down. And how smart you are.”
She placed her hand on her hip and raised her brows. “You’re calling me smart, Mr. 4.0 GPA?”
“How do you know I had a 4.0 GPA?”
“I just assumed you did by the way you break down music theory and explain why it’s so important to learn what melodies match with which beats and how they interact. How they make love to one another.” She over emphasized her words, openly mocking him as she spoke.
“I can’t help it. Music is one of my great loves. Knowledge is another. And you, Sindy Cavanaugh, may turn out to be a third.”
The muscles in her face went slack, and she looked as if she just saw an apparition.
Lucas let out a hearty laugh. “I’m just kidding. But you should see your face right now. It was so worth it!”
She pursed her lips together and playfully socked him in the shoulder. “Are you going to impart some of your wisdom on me or are you going to make fun of me?”
“I’m just teasing. Because you’re so much fun to tease.”
They sat there and shared a smile without saying anything, and it sent a tingle up Lucas’ spine and a flutter through his chest. He wanted to take hold of her and kiss her, but worried it wouldn’t stop there and Tessa and Mason would walk in and catch them. Then he realized there was absolutely no reason to put off telling them that something was going on between him and Sindy, except he had no idea what there was to tell. He knew how he felt. Sindy stirred his insides like a tornado and scrambled his better judgment. He constantly wanted to be around her. It didn’t matter if she was across the studio or in another part of the house. He just wanted to know she was there. He wished he knew exactly how Sindy felt about him, but now wasn’t the time to get into it, and he shifted his thoughts back to today’s lesson.
Lucas picked up his notebook and flipped through the pages before deciding to cast it aside. They ran through two songs, and then took a break. “As soon as Tessa and Mason get here we can rehearse them again and hopefully get these two songs recorded in the next few days. I also have a playlist of all 16 songs that we picked to potentially add to our debut album. I want you to listen to them. Really listen to them. I want you to know them inside out. I want to know which you think are the best ones.”
Mason and Tessa entered the studio, followed by Lucas’ dad and Papi, along with Mason’s parents. Sindy’s hand flew to her mouth and she let out a tiny gasp as soon as she saw Jimmy Wilder, Immortal Angel’s iconic drummer.
“I brought my parents to meet you, Sindy,” Mason said.
