And there was the snarky reply he had expected. He nudged her with his elbow. “No.”
“Then I’ll stick with the couch in Tessa’s room. It’s not a giant cloud like this beauty, but it’s soft and cozy.”
“If you stayed here with me, I could teach you guitar riffs any time,” He sat up and pulled her into his lap. “Like this.” He straightened her left arm so it was parallel to the bed and pressed a chord into her forearm. “That’s an A. Do you feel it?”
She laughed a little and looked at her arm. “Yes.”
He continued to press chords into her arm, while his other hand circled her waist and his fingers strummed her belly. “A. G. F sharp. Do you feel it?”
“Yes, I feel it.” She wiggled, ticklish as his fingers ran over her stomach.
“Pay attention to my hands. Watch them. A. G. F sharp. A. G. F sharp. E. D. C sharp. E. D. C sharp. What am I playing?” It may have started out as a game, but he was seriously teaching her a song and this new method was sexy as fuck.
Her brows pinched together as she concentrated on his fingers and the chords he pressed into her forearm. She started to bob her head, and a smile of recognition appeared on her face. She sang with excitement. “Welcome to the Jungle. We got fun and games. We got everything you want. Honey, we know their names.” Giddy, she threw her had back and laughed, almost breaking Lucas’ nose with the back of her head. “Oh my God!” She swung around and grabbed his face between her palms. “I’m so sorry. Are you OK?”
Even though his ears were ringing and he was seeing spots, genuine laughter floated from his mouth as he covered his nose with his hand and checked for blood. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him before planting a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll live.”
She hugged him apologetically and smiled up at him. “That was really cool.”
“Almost giving me a nose bleed?”
“I’m sorry! It was an accident.”
He chuckled. “It’s OK.”
“I meant the way you played Guns N’ Roses on my arm was really cool.”
She had a happy smile on her face. No animosity or ambiguous feelings clouding her eyes. He loved this side of her. He also loved the competitive and combative side of her, but this was Sindy without the walls around her heart. He’d finally broken through.
She leaned up and kissed him again. “If you’re OK, I have to go. I have a bunch of songs to listen to on my new laptop.”
Reluctantly, he let her out of his embrace, and they both dressed. He walked with her into the other room and was about to hand her the laptop when a knock startled them.
“Lucas? Can I come in?”
A smile split Lucas’ face in half at the sound of his dad’s voice, but Sindy’s eyes went wide, and she paled. She put her finger to her lips, fled to the bedroom and shut the door before Lucas had a chance to protest.
He still didn’t understand why she fought so hard to deny that they had feelings for one another. He couldn’t force her to tell people they were . . . screwing around? Maybe she hesitated because she didn’t know how to explain their relationship either. His eyes went from his closed bedroom door to the door to his suite and back again, wondering which to choose. He couldn’t force Sindy to admit that there was something going on between them when he didn’t know what it was himself. So he opened the door to his suite. “Hey, Dad.”
“Can I come in and talk to you about something?”
“Sure. Come—” The expression on his father’s face cut off his words. He’d never seen such heaviness in his dad’s shoulders. The crease in his dad’s forehead and the way his mouth drooped alarmed Lucas. “What’s wrong?”
His dad let out an exasperated sigh as he walked into the room. He turned and looked at Lucas, shaking his head and holding his arms out to the side. “I tried to give you everything and pass on the things I’ve learned. I wanted to give you every advantage and all the breaks I never had.”
Lucas’ brow furrowed, still trying to figure out what had his father so upset. “I know. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
“I’ll never forget the day you were born.” His father’s voice wavered and cracked. “The day you came into this world was the happiest day of my life. I cried so hard I couldn’t see. From the moment that test strip read positive, I loved you with all my heart. I tried to make the right decisions. I’m sorry if I put too much pressure on you or pushed you too hard. Please don’t hate me.”
Lucas practically recoiled at the statement while confusion swirled through his head. “I don’t hate you, Dad. Why would you say that?”
“Because I saw your face downstairs when Audra suggested Prodigy open for Immortal Angel.”
Lucas felt like the floor opened up underneath him and his heart plummeted into it. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I’ve been listening. I hear what you’ve been saying about why you didn’t want to sign with Falcon Records.”
“Dad, it’s not like that.”
