AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zeke
I got home from Minneapolis late but couldn’t sleep. The last five days had changed almost everything I thought I knew about myself. Jeremy had become an integral part of my life, and leaving had been torture. Being there and seeing how much Presley hated me had been hard too. I’d had no idea how much our night together had impacted her life, and there had to be a way to show her I never would have left her to deal with it on her own. Yes, I’d been pissed when I heard her on the phone that morning, but I wasn’t such a heartless ass that I would’ve gotten a young woman fired.
A good journalist did what she had to do to get a story, and while in retrospect it turned out that hadn’t been the case, she still had to eat. I’d known about Aunt Meg and her MS, so as angry as I was, I wouldn’t have said anything to management. And I sure as fuck wouldn’t have let her struggle while pregnant with my kid.
That was Aurora’s fault, and I got pissed off at her all over again. Of course, being mad wouldn’t fix anything. I had to man the fuck up and make things right with Presley.
I just didn’t know how I would do that from a couple of thousand miles away.
Somehow, I had to convince her to come to California.
And I needed help to do it.
I poured a couple of fingers of scotch and let the liquid burn its way down my throat. Then I sank into a chair and moodily stared at the now dark gas fireplace.
My mother had turned this empty room in my house into a library, with walls of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a gorgeous fireplace built into the wall, and pricey lighting. There were Persian rugs and expensive but comfortable seating, and it had turned into my favorite room in the house. I’d given her shit about it at the time, but now I really liked it in here. I liked writing music when I was here too, and I was suddenly inspired.
I dug around in a cabinet by the wall until I found a yellow pad and a pen and started to scribble lyrics that had been nagging me for days.
Innocent love
Innocent soul.
Innocent heart.
That was the one.
Hard to damage.
Damaging.
Damaging touch.
There it was.
Innocent heart, damaging touch, I need to hold you…
Oh, hell.
This was going to be about my sunshine. The Sunny I’d spent the night with, not the furious Presley who hated my guts. Every word pouring out of me was for her. That sweet, innocent girl whose life I’d made a mess of.
For the next forty minutes or so, I drank scotch and wrote a song, scribbling the lyrics faster than I could stop them. I wished I had my guitar, but I was too lazy to go get one. Besides, I didn’t want to make noise because everyone was asleep.
I wasn’t sure if this would be a ballad or something faster, but a melody was taking root in my brain as well, and I itched to call Carter. Back when we were getting started, he and I wrote together like this all the time. Not so much anymore.
Innocent heart
Damaging touch
I need to hold you
Too damn much
You’re not the one
Who stole my heart
But something’s been there
