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He pulls back, releasing me, and I rub at my jaw. The beautiful ache makes me smile. He lifts me from the table and strides across the room to the couch where he sits with me on his lap, pulling a blanket over us. I let out a content smile as he kisses the top of my head, and I stare out at the water as we cut through it.
"So what else do you want to do today?" he asks with a chuckle, and I giggle in response.
"More of that?"
He smirks down at me as I snuggle into his chest. "Definitely more of that."
* * *
I'm not sure when my life became this chaotic, but I'm fairly certain that it was when I stepped off the plane from California. Everything that's happened since then has just been one ‘oh shit’ moment after the next.
Which is why, when our taxi pulls up in front of the house that I first met the guys at, I burst out laughing until I almost cry. That party feels like a lifetime ago.
"Talk about coming full circle," I manage to say between my giggle fits.
Sawyer laughs at me as they climb from the car. "Come on, Sunshine, let's go. Maybe tonight will be as much fun as the first time we met here."
So much has happened since I stepped foot in front of this house the first time. It's crazy to think that we're back here. After another week of college insanity, when the guys suggested a party at their friend's house, I figured why not.
What they failed to mention was which friend it was and where their party was taking place. And now it all kind of makes sense.
Their instruments left the house this morning when someone came to pick them up. I'd like to say that I helped with it, but really, I just watched as several guys loaded the drum kit and guitars and everything into the van that waited outside. I have no doubt that the guys are playing tonight.
It will be fun to see them back on stage because it feels like so long ago that I discovered them here, singing the song that spoke to my soul.
It'll also be fun to see them let loose and actually be the light-hearted college kids that they're supposed to be, like the people I thought they were the first night we met. The difference is that Asher is here tonight too, so they’ll be a full band this time.
We head inside where the party is already full steam ahead. Music blares through the speakers and as we walk through the rooms, I noticed the band is set up in the same place it was before.
"Are you going to be okay with being on your own while we play?" Asher asks again. He's been worried about leaving me alone tonight rather than thinking about enjoying himself. All of them have been worse since Travis told them about my panic attack earlier in the week.
I smile at him and lean in close. "I’ll be absolutely fine. I've survived worse than a rich kid party on my own. A couple of hours isn't going to be a major problem. I'll just perch back here on this couch and watch you guys work."
I wink at him and he laughs at me as the others wander off.
Truth be told, I'm really looking forward to seeing them play again. There was something so hot about it the first time, and I've barely seen them touch their instruments since that first night. I know life has been chaotic, but I get the feeling that some of the reason none of them have been playing as much is me, and I can't help but feel guilty about that.
I came into their lives like a wrecking ball and kind of blew everything to smithereens. So it will be fun to watch them get back to being who they were before I arrived.
After reassuring Asher another million times, he finally heads over to where the guys are and I get comfortable in my seat on the couch. Sawyer bounces back over with a sealed bottle of water for me.
"I figured this would be better than tequila this time," he says with a wink before bouncing back off toward the guys as they finish set-up.
I take a sip of the cold water, ignoring the couple making out on the other side of the seat, and just watch the guys as they set up. There's something mesmerizing about it, about watching them transform before my eyes from the uptight ‘dealing with everything they're dealing with’ guys to the relaxed, just-want-to-have-fun college guys that they should be.
They start playing and I swear I lose track of time and my surroundings as I lose myself in Travis’s voice. It’s only when someone knocks into me that my focus is pulled from them.
"Fancy seeing you here." I turn at the sound of my old friend's voice as shock filters over my face.
"Emerson? I didn't expect you to be here."
"Oh, I'm sure you didn't. Poor girl meets rich guys and drops off the face of the earth. It's fine. I totally get it."
I frown at her and shake my head. "I tried reaching out to you a dozen times but you never got back to me."
"Sure you did," she says, rolling her eyes. "It's fine. We were never really that tight anyway. I get it." The confrontational manner that she comes at me with throws me off-kilter. I've seen Emerson bitch plenty of times before, but it's never been directed at me. Not really. Normally I would get the passive-aggressive version of her, not this full-on version.
"I really did try to reach out to you," I say again, and she rolls her eyes once more.
