He pushed his empty mug away. “I’ll walk you out.”
At the door, I got unaccountably nervous reaching for my coat and ended up fumbling a bit.
“Here.” He wrapped me up in my jacket and I liked the way it felt to be buttoned up.
“Thanks.” I blinked up at him.
“It was pretty cold when my parents left.” His hands remained gripped in the collar of my coat, fussing with it to keep it closed.
“It was supposed to storm,” I responded. Were we talking about the weather or was he stalling? Maybe I just hoped he was.
He finally broke away to open the door. Without warning the wind pushed the door all the way open and out of his hands. A punch of frozen air sucked the breath from my lungs.
“Whoa,” I said.
We stared out the door. The tall pines surrounding the house swayed back and forth in the icy sheets of rain falling sideways from the sky. Cold drops of water pelted my face, stinging my cheek and exposed hands. The porch and steps were covered in what looked frighteningly like black ice.
My palms instantly started to sweat. My hands shook as I pulled out my phone to check the roads.
“Thanks again for dinner and everything.” I took one step forward, and in a flash, I was going down.
My foot shot forward as my upper body fell back. Turns out, black ice did line the steps. Before I could even think about the sound of my head hitting the slate stones, strong arms caught me from behind.
“I got ya,” he said.
I looked up into his face and his surprised eyes stared back. He held me like a soldier kissing his bride before going off to war. His gaze moved over my face.
“I guess you’re staying here tonight.” His words warmed me from the inside out despite the assaulting rain.
I gulped.
* * *
Sleeping had never been easy for me. Actually, I slept fine if I wasn’t alone. Up until an embarrassingly late age in life I’d sneak into my parent’s room almost every night. Many mornings they’d find me curled up in a ball by the foot of their bed. After that last year at camp, it had gotten worse.
By the time the phone alarm went off the next morning, I’d gotten maybe three hours of turbulent sleep. I brushed my teeth and checked in with my parents. I got ready for my next lesson with Devlin in a fog. I missed my early morning workout, but from the scent filling my nose, I would at least get coffee before we got to work.
I had a few missed texts from Gretchen and Blithe. I quickly replied to our group chat:Can’t talk now, but have I got a story for y’all.
The texts back were not sympathetic, as expected. Patience had never been Gretchen’s strong suite.
Obviously, Roddy and I weren’t able to meet up. The roads were still iced over and Green Valley just wasn’t equipped with enough trucks to salt the roads very quickly. No one would be leaving their homes today unless it was absolutely necessary. He wasn’t surprised but sounded convincingly disappointed, nonetheless. He wanted to know if I wanted to meet up another time to discuss a business plan. I felt a little less fluttery by his texts than I’d expected. Maybe because I couldn’t tell if was interested in being my business partner or being my kissing partner. I put a proverbial pin in that, so I could come back to it later.
For now, practice.
Forty minutes later, and any warm fuzzies the coffee had fostered were burned to ashes by the total assholeness that was Devlin during practice. No, he wasn’t Devlin. He was the Devil of the Symphony now.
His fingers slammed the same chord six times on the piano. “Listen to what I’m playing.”
“I’m trying.” Embarrassment tightened my throat. We’d only just started the second movement, and already I was failing. It was better when he wore the mask. God, I never thought I’d miss it, but at least it set clear boundaries. I saw the mask and I knew who I was dealing with. How could this same man be the one who had smiled at me over pasta?
This guy was such a dick.
“You aren’t though.” He swore.
“Maybe if you did something other than yell at me.” The words spilled out. My filter had apparently never got out of bed.
No matter that I’d spent the night, eaten dinner with his family, and seen his fantastic manhood, this dolt was my teacher. I needed to respect him. I would not lose my ever-loving mind on him.
