We were a storm destined to collide
You were a story I had to write
Between the pages filled with ink, and the wild skies
filled with thunder
You became my safe place to hide, so way up high,
Because we simply existed under the same sky
But I was so wrong to believe
That you’d stay and never leave
And I was so wrong to believe
That you’d always be there for me
It’s been a few years now, and I’ve wondered where you are
Thought about the moments and the laughter
we shared under the stars
I wanted to see it all through your eyes,
see the world from way up high
Until I remembered that you’d left me behind
But I was so wrong to believe
That you’d stay and never leave
And I was so wrong to believe
That you’d always be there for me
Time has passed, and we’re strangers now
I made it without you, somehow
And now I see the storm we were meant to be,
Why you meant so much to me
Because when two stars collide, so way up high,
They always crash and burn and fall in love,
When they’re under the same sky
The words blend with each lick, each melody, bringing a part of me back to life that I’d shut off years ago. Everyone else falls away, and I lose myself to the moment, wholly aware that I’m vulnerable, but enjoying the feel of the music dancing through my hands too much to really care. When I’m done, I find six sets of eyes on me, and five mouths agape. Thorin gives nothing away, but I see it in his eyes. There’s no mistaking the song is about him, but he shouldn’t get it confused with it being for him. I wrote it for me, and I’m actually surprised it’s the first song that popped into my head. I can’t even remember writing it, just that it was cathartic at the time.
“Uh,” Carson looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “What the hell, Reese?”
“What the hell is right,” Fletch adds. “That was…” He shakes his head, almost as if he can’t believe it’s me.
“Fucking awesome,” Benji finishes, his toothy grin wide. “You write that?”
I nod. “I did, when I was in college.”
“Dude,” Fletch slaps Thorin’s chest, “we need to her in the studio with us. She has that fucking rasp, man.”
I giggle, feeling my cheeks warm from something other than the flames that lick the air in front of me. I desperately want to know what Thorin is thinking, but instead, I pass the guitar on to Benji.
“You ever think about recording?” He asks, touching the guitar with as much reverence as I had.
“Nope.” I pop the ‘p’ and dip my head towards Thorin. “Singing was his thing, we just wrote some stuff together as kids.”
“Well, that was pretty fucking impressive,” he replies. “You should think about it. Recording with us, I mean.”
I shake my head. “Like I said, singing isn’t my jam.”
Alex regards me, his gaze assessing. “Have you written more songs?”
“A few, but I think it was a fad.” Lie. “Kind of outgrew it in high school—” truth —“and then dabbled with it for a bit in college as a creative outlet.”
“That’s it,” Fletch throws his hands up. “You’re helping us with our next album.”
I look between him and Thorin.“Uh, what?”
“You’re helping us with your next album,” Fletch says simply. “Thorin said its cool.”
“No, I didn’t.” He’s still staring at me. To anyone else, his expression would be considered aloof, perhaps even indifferent, but his eyes show me just how pissed he is. Granted, the song could have been misconstrued as a personal jab at him, but I didn’t intend for it to come out that way. At least, not intentionally. I can see now where I might have misstepped in my song choice, but hey, it was the first song that popped into my head—and maybe that’s saying something too? Ugh. This is not the time or the place to probe my subconscious.
Fletch, on the other hand, is like a dog with a bone. “Let’s vote.”
Uh, no. Not happening.
Not that it stops him. “All in favor of Reese helping us with the next album, raise your right hand and swear on the Bible.”
Penelope snickers, Benji shakes his head. “Man, can’t you see she’s green just thinking about it?”
“I’m with Benji on this one,” Carson adds. “Looks like you lose, Fletch.”
Fletch looks at Thorin. “Help me out, Thor, God of Thunder. Bang that hammer.”
God, where does he come up with this shit? It’s funny, but seriously?
“Fine,” Thorin grunts, and I realize I’m holding my breath. He looks straight at me. “Reese isn’t helping us with our next album.” Is it just me, or does he sound mad? And why do I feel a stab of a disappointment at his answer?
Huh.
Figure that one out.
Fletch deflates, and Carson claps his hands. “There you have it, the mighty Thor has spoken,” — he casts a quick glance at me — “no offense, Reese.”
“None taken,” I reply quietly, keeping my eyes locked on Thorin. “Like I said, songs are Thorin’s thing, not mine, and that part of my life was over before it really began.”
Now that? That was a direct hit, and Thorin knows it too. Why I decided to throw that in there is beyond me. God, this man makes me bananas in all the ways, and now we’ll be raising a kid together. If I can just figure out how to keep our ugly past from rearing its head, Thorin and I should be able to learn to get along, right? And maybe save Eli from a lifetime of emotional scarring in the process? Please and thank you, baby Jesus, forever and ever, amen. I stand and walk towards the cooler. Grabbing a Pampelonne Rosé Lime Sparkling Wine Spritzer, I pop the cap and am about to take a healthy sip—especially after what just happened—when Thorin steps up beside me. His ice blue eyes bore into me, his face marred by a deep groove between his drawn brows. “What the hell was that?” He asks. The low timbre of his voice is nothing short of a warning, but for what exactly I’m not sure. I’m not aware I’ve done anything wrong.
“What was what, Thor?”
His frown deepens. Guess only his friends get to call him that. Okay then. Noted.
“The guitar, that song?”
I take healthy gulp of my drink before I answer him. Liquid courage and all that. “I’m sorry if keeping the guitar pisses you off, but I couldn’t get rid of it, and as for the song, they’re just words, Thorin. Nothing more.”
“I looked for that thing for almost a year, and it’s been with you this entire time?”
“Ryan told me you left it here, and asked if I wanted to keep it, so I did. Had I known it would bother you so much, I would have had him ship it to you.”
Thorin grimaces, brushing his dark hair behind his ear. “And the song?”
“What about it?” I knew playing it was gonna bite me in the ass, in retrospect.
“Under the same sky? Really? Was that your way of getting back at me or something?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, it’s just a damn song, okay?” And a promise you broke years ago. “It’s not a big deal, so why not let it go.”
“You know it’s not just a song, Reese. Why’d you sing it? Why tonight?”
“Je-zus,” I sigh. “They’re words, empty and meaningless words that I wrote when I was in college. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Thorin lowers his head, bringing his mouth to my ear and damn if his hot breath doesn’t make me shiver. “They’re not empty or meaningless, and we both know it.”
Before I can offer a rebuttal, he’s stomping his way back to where the guys are singing, and fooling around with anything that can be a make-shift instrument. And suddenly, I don’t feel like celebrating anymore. Because he’s wrong. Maybe once upon a time those words, under the same
sky, held meaning, but life robbed me of that, and now they mean nothing.
Chapter Ten
Reese
Dressed in my parka, I bounce on the balls of my feet with Eli in a baby wrap close to my chest. I don’t want to wake him, but I’m too excited to stand still. After an emotional goodbye to Maggie, and promises that we’ll visit her in Florida soon, Thorin and I walked from departures to arrivals. Mya’s flight landed thirty minutes after Maggie’s took off and she should be coming through the doors any minute. Of course, I keep my eyes on anything but Thorin. It’s been a frosty week since I played at the bonfire, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the weather. He’s been avoiding me all week, and to his credit, quite skillfully. If I walked into the kitchen of the main house, he’d leave, even if it was mid-conversation with Maggie, and on the nights he didn’t have Eli, he was with his band at their rental house. I wanted to ask him why he was behaving like such an ass, but decided to let him stew and come to me if he wanted to talk. Or maybe even apologize for how he spoke to me. I’m many things, but an ass-kisser isn’t one of them. His aviators are in place, and his stance is somewhat menacing—arms crossed over his broad chest, legs slightly parted. When a group of young girls pass him, they giggle, and with shy smiles ask him for an autograph. He rewards them with a megawatt smile, and I have to fight an eye roll. Not because of the girls, but because he’s smiling, and making a few jokes with them, and yet, he’s treated me like a nanny-slash-stranger all damn week. Jerk. The girls mumble giggled thanks you’s, and as soon as they’re gone, he’s back to his surly self. We’re lucky he hasn’t been mobbed, but then again, both Maggie and Mya’s flights were after peak times, so the airport isn’t awfully busy after eight-thirty p.m. Thorin stares ahead, and I sigh. Pick your battles, Reese. There’s a commotion ahead of us, and I hear Mya before I see her. “Listen here you brainless fuckwit, you can give me back my luggage…oh really? How the fuck do you confuse a Louis Vuitton rolling suitcase with a fucking duffel bag…Riiiight….uh-huh…Well, I suggest you take your piece of shit bag, and walk in the other direction before I’m arrested by airport security for assault!…Is that so? Why don’t you try me, redneck!”
I take a few steps closer, but Thorin’s paw lands on my shoulder. It’s the first contact we’ve had in days, and when he lifts his glasses, I find his brows are creased. Well then, looks like someone can show something other than irritation.
“I know her,” I tell him. “Relax.”
A dark head of hair—or rather, a messy top knot—bobbles through the throng of passengers coming in from the arrival’s carousels, and the minute Mya’s eyes land on me, she let’s out an exasperated sigh. And then she’s all but running at me, stopping short when she realizes I have a tiny human cradled to my chest.
“Ohhmigod,” she breathes, blowing a loose strand of raven hair from her face. “I thought that flight would never end. I had a toddler behind me who kept screaming and kicking my fucking chair, little shit.”
I laugh, and give her a side-hug. “I’m so glad you’re finally here!”
Mya drops her luggage—all five bags—beside her rolling suitcase, and leans down to look at Eli. “He’s so small,” she whispers. “And so damn cute.”
A throat clears, and we glance at Thorin. In all my excitement, I momentarily forgot he was there. Strange, considering he’s not the unnoticeable type, but hey, I guess I’m a little pissed at him for treating me like a damn menace. Mya lifts a brow, and pops her hip, but it’s in no way flirtatious. She knows Thorin has been the king of all asses lately. “And you are?” She asks. Her lack of interest makes me hide a smile behind my hand. Of course, she knows who he is, and listens to his bands’ music—she’s how I know their first album went platinum—but right now, she’s the president of the ‘Thorin is an ass’ club.
“Uh, I’m Thorin,” He replies. Poor guy looks confused.
“Uh-huh.” Mya grabs her luggage and shoves it at him. “Well, Thorin, these bags ain’t gonna get themselves to the car.” I smother another laugh at his shocked expression, and then Mya has her arm around me, leading me to the exit. “God, I’ve missed you, bestie.”
“I’ve missed you too. It’ll be nice to have some real company for a change.” Thorin grumbles something behind me, but I ignore it. When we get to my truck, Thorin tosses Mya’s luggage in the trunk while I get Eli settled in his car seat, and Mya climbs in the back. Thorin walks around, and tosses me the keys. “Drop me off at the guys’ house.”
No please. Just a command. He stomps to the passenger side and gets in, and luckily, Mya is behind him so he’s not privy to her death glare.
“Okay then,” I murmur, getting myself situated in the driver seat. Since Thorin drove us to the airport I have to move the seat waaaay forward, because you know, he has legs for days. I drive out of the lot, and ease onto the freeway, we’re a good hour from Horseshoe Bay. Glancing at Thorin’s profile, I sigh, resigned to the fact that it’s going to be a long drive if there’s nothing but silence. Fortunately, Mya comes to the rescue. Although, from the glance she spares me in the rearview mirror, I know the word ‘rescue’ isn’t going to be applicable.
“So, Thorin,” she starts. “Reese tells me you’re in a boy band.”
Oh, dear Lord, have mercy.
Thorin glares at me, and then resumes staring straight ahead. “Something like that,” he murmurs, visibly agitated.
“Is it like OneDirection, or more Backstreet Boys? I mean, they’re both cool, and all, but their voices are a bit too whiney for me, and their lyrics are have all the teen angst feels. Not really my vibe, you know?”
God, now I know she’s trying to poke the grizzly bear sitting next to me. I totally should have seen it coming, it’s something Mya would absolutely do after I told her how he’s been behaving since the bonfire. When he doesn’t answer her, she takes that as her cue to continue prodding, no doubt hoping for a reaction. I should put an end to it, but I quite like seeing the big guy squirm.
“What’re you guys called, anyway?” She asks, leaning between the two front seats.
“Eighteendust,” he replies, his jaw rigid.
“Huh,” she muses, tapping her chin. “Never heard of it. You guys new?”
Thorin shakes his head, and huffs out a breath.
“Okay, Mya,” I shoot her a quick look over my shoulder, “That’s enough.”
She gives me a smirk, and leans back in her seat, cooing at Eli as if she didn’t just piss Thorin off. I should have known better, but you know what? Right now I’m fighting a smile because a seriously pissed Thorin is a sight to behold. And the douche had it coming, if you ask me. Thorin meet Mya, Karma’s right hand.
“Home sweet home,” I sigh. I have Eli in his car seat in one hand, and Mya’s roller suitcase in the other. After we dropped Thorin off down the road, I drove us home.
“It’s good to be back.” Mya carries the rest of her luggage through my front door, and starts flicking on lights. “Is it weird to feel like I never should have left?” Mya drops her bags in the guest bedroom, and then joins me in the living room while I take Eli from his car seat. “No,” I tell her. “I always knew you loved it here, and how much you hated having to leave.” Eli puckers his lips, and I kiss his cheeks. “You hungry, little man?” With him in one arm, I take a prepped bottle from the fridge, and put it in the bottle warmer. When it’s ready, I flop down on the couch, tired to the bone, and press the bottle to his mouth. He sucks with gusto, and it makes me smile. His schedule is a little out of sync today. It’s almost ten p.m and he should technically be sleeping now.
“You’re a natural,” Mya says next to me, her curious gaze in Eli.
“Ha, I’m winging it so hard right now. Maggie was a Godsend this last week, and Thorin is pretty good with him too. If you can believe that.” And I’m not lying. Thorin has connected with Eli, I see it in the way they stare at each other, and in the way Eli’s eyes light up at the sound of Thorin's voice. “The only pers
on he seems to have an aversion to is me.”
“I beg to differ,” Mya replies casually. I frown, but before I can ask her to elaborate, Eli finishes his formula. I burp him, and lull him to sleep. “Let me put him down, and then we can talk,” I tell Mya. “Wine’s in the fridge if you want some.” I change Eli’s diaper, get him comfortable in his crib, give him another kiss—it’s one of my favorite things to do, okay!—and grab the baby monitor before walking back into the living room. I strip out of my parka, and slip my boots from my feet. Mya has poured two glasses of white wine—she knows I hate red—and passes a glass to me as I drop onto the couch like a dead weight. I really am tired, but I’ve been so excited to have Mya with me that going straight to bed without the mandatory catch-up would be anti-climactic.
“So,” I start. “You going to tell me what has you moving here permanently? Not that I’m complaining.”
Mya sips her wine, rolls it around her tongue, and swallows. “Who said anything about staying here permanently?” I quirk a brow. “Oh, fine,” she huffs. “I knew this was coming, so might as well get it over with.” This time she takes a bigger sip of wine. “Kyle was cheating on me with one of his rich financier co-workers.” She turns her gaze to me. “I never thought I’d become the fucking cliche, but here I am. It’s the opening line to every romance novel ever written, girl walks in on her boyfriend balls deep in another woman.”
“I’m sorry, Mya,” I squeeze her hand. “You deserve better.”
“Meh.” She waves her hand in the air. “The guy couldn’t even be creative about it, you know? Then again, the fact that he always wanted sex in the missionary position, on the same night of the week, should have been an indication. Jokes on me, I guess.”
“What did he say when you caught him?”
“Oh you know, more of the cliched shit, baby it’s not what it looks like, she came on to me, you’ve been so distant and I’ve been lonely.”
Under The Same Sky (Horseshoe Bay Book 1) Page 10
