*****
It was after 10:00 before Micah called an end to the rehearsal. I’d begun fantasizing about my mom’s recliner at home because the plastic chair I was sitting in had only been comfortable for the first hour or so. I’d actually managed to get my physics homework done, though I glanced up from it pretty often to check Colby out. I’d started to wonder if I should have gone home with Olivia after all because it was getting so late, but when Colby walked over to me, his guitar case in one hand and the other held out to help me up, I was glad I hadn’t.
It took me a minute to put all my stuff back in my backpack, and when my back was turned to Colby, I heard him punch out a few notes on the piano. Then he sat down on the bench and played the melody to “Moon River.”
I turned around and smiled at him, remembering the night we’d sung it together to put Abby to sleep. “Do you play the piano too?” I asked, not knowing how else to respond to the message in the notes.
“Nah. Not really. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Definitely,” I said.
I must have sounded a little too relieved because Colby immediately began apologizing. “Yeah, sorry about that. I had no idea it was going to take so long or I never would have asked you to stay.”
Wanting to reassure him, I said, “Well, I’m glad you did - even though my butt’s sore from that plastic chair.”
He burst out laughing and reached out to take my hand. He laced his fingers through mine and said, “Well, the seat in my car will be a lot softer, so let’s get out of here.” As we headed to the door, Colby called out over his shoulder, “Goodnight. I’ll see you guys later.”
There was a general chorus of goodnights in response, but Micah called out, “Kiss her for me, Colby.”
Wow. Micah was definitely annoying me.
What if Colby felt pressured to kiss me now? Not that I didn’t want him to kiss me. If only Micah would keep his big mouth shut, this would be a lot easier.
Colby held the main door to the parking lot open for me so I slipped past him, feeling bad since he was still carrying his guitar. Plus, he’d had to let go of my hand and that didn’t sit well with me either. When the door was shut behind us though, Colby reclaimed my hand and even gave it a gentle squeeze as he said, “Ignore Micah the best you can. He’s pretty obnoxious, but he’s got a great voice so I put up with him. A band isn’t worth much without a lead vocalist.”
“Why don’t you sing lead? I think you have a better voice than he does.”
“Maybe. I don’t know though. I’m more of a backup singer. Besides, he likes it and I don’t so much.”
“Well, I think the duet you sang with Olivia was the best thing I heard all night.”
“Yeah. I’m really excited about that one,” he said, his face lighting up with enthusiasm as he led me over to his car. “Of course, there are other things I’m more excited about right now.”
He was now holding open the passenger door for me to get in, so I slipped into the seat and asked, “Like what?”
Before he shut the door, he leaned over it and asked, “What do you think?”
As he got in and put the keys in the ignition, I said, “You know, you have a habit of asking leading questions like that. What are you excited about? Tell me.”
“Well, that you’re in my car, and that I’m finally going to be able to say what I’ve been wanting to say for a long time.”
“You mean you’re actually going to say something this time, and not just give me a confusing, half-done kiss as your only explanation?” My voice was teasing but I really wanted to know.
“You didn’t like that kiss much, huh? Were you wanting something more like this?”
Colby leaned across the seat towards me and I was glad it was dark, because otherwise I’m sure he would have seen a fiery blush sweep across my face. I met his lips eagerly and surrendered to the pull of our attraction.
The sensitive mouth that I’d watched as he’d sung all night moved surely over mine, tasting and exploring while allowing me to do the same. One of his strong hands circled my waist and I ran my hand up his arm until my fingers brushed across his shoulder and around his neck.
At this rate, we weren’t going to do much talking, but we were certainly communicating. The only thing distracting me was a familiar song that played over and over again. I chose to ignore it, because there was no way I was breaking away from this kiss before he did.
“Is that your phone?” Colby asked, murmuring against my lips, teasing them still further.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Do you need to answer it?”
I sighed. “Probably.”
Colby pressed another kiss on my cheek and sat back in his seat. I fished my phone out of the black hole at the bottom of my backpack and checked the missed calls. Several were from Olivia, but those weren’t the ones I was worried about. “Oh, dang. It’s my mom. Sorry, but I’ve got to call her back.”
“Of course. Hey, I’m going to drive around while you’re talking, ok? The rest of the guys are coming out to their cars now and I don’t want them to give us a hard time.”
I nodded absently. My mom picked up after the first ring.
“Rylie, where are you? I’ve called you I-don’t-know-how-many-times. It’s past your curfew.”
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “What? My curfew isn’t till 11:00.”
“Not on weeknights.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m never out on weeknights so I forgot.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I guess I didn’t hear it over the band. My ringer wasn’t turned up very loud.”
“Well, where are you? And don’t tell me you’re with Olivia, because she just called the house wanting to talk to you.”
I closed my eyes in frustration. Thanks Olivia. “No, I was with her, but I’m with Colby Adams now -you know, Marcy Adam’s stepson. He asked if I wanted to stay for the rest of rehearsal, so I did. He’s driving me home right now.”
I glanced over at Colby and saw the disappointment on his face. I tried to apologize with my expression as I listened to my mom, but I was as bummed as he was. I was so not ready to go home.
“Well, we’ll talk about your punishment when you get here. I don’t appreciate you changing your plans and going off with other people without even telling me – even if it is Marcy Adam’s stepson.”
From the hint of sarcasm in her voice, I could tell she wasn’t falling for my attempt to make her feel better about this. “Sorry, Mom. I messed up. I just wasn’t thinking and I didn’t hear the phone.”
When I was finally able to hang up by assuring her that Colby was driving me straight home, I hung up and glared at the phone. Then I looked over at Colby. “Just for the record, that’s the last time I’m checking my phone when you’re kissing me.”
His laugh lightened the expression that had settled on his face. “So, I guess that’s it for tonight. Where do you live?”
I told him and he headed in that direction. “So, do you still want to talk?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I’d like to do it when we have some time. Plus I’d like to be able to look at you.”
“Well, I guess choir is out. What do you suggest?”
“How would you feel about a date?”
“A date?”
Colby chuckled, but there was a nervous quiver in it. “Why do you sound so surprised? After what just happened, I thought you might be willing to give it a try.”
“Yeah. I’d love to. I guess my mind hadn’t gone that far. I mean, it wasn’t too long ago I thought you hated me.”
“It also wasn’t too long ago that you went all dreamy eyed every time you saw Brian Gibbons.”
He had a point. “Well, that’s over. I can’t believe it was just, like, a week ago that I was crazy excited to be going to prom with him, and now I’m racking my brain trying to think of a way to get out of it. I can’t do that to him though. It’s too last minute.”
> Colby sighed. “Yeah, I guess you can’t. There’s no reason we can’t go out before then though.”
“Nope. No reason at all.”
“Friday won’t work though. I have rehearsal. How about Saturday?”
“Sure, if I’m not grounded. I’ve never broken curfew before, and my mom sounded pretty upset. I don’t know what she’s going to do. ”
“Well, maybe I can get out of practice early on Friday night, and we can have some time alone before Marcy and my dad get back.”
“If I can get Abby to go to sleep.”
“Well, I can help you if she isn’t. We make a good lullaby team, remember? Do I turn left here?”
I sat up and looked around because I hadn’t been paying attention. “No, it’s the next one.
In less than a minute, he pulled into my driveway and we looked at each other across the dark car. “Think your mom is watching for you?” he asked.
“Probably.”
“So, I guess you’d rather I didn’t kiss you goodnight, huh?”
“Where’d you get that idea?” I asked as I leaned towards him.
*****
“I just can’t get away from them, can I?”
Abby and I were both lying on the plush carpet in her room staring under her frilly bed. When I spoke, she looked at me solemnly and pointed at the enormous spider she’d found next to her teddy bear behind the dust ruffle. I’d tucked the dust ruffle up under the mattress and tried to summon courage and a game plan to get rid of the spider so she could go to sleep. She was wearing a pretty little purple nightgown, we’d read a few bed time stories, and I was ready to tuck her in for the night. But there was no way I was leaving her alone in here with this monster.
I had a ladle and a paper cup from the kitchen. Surely I could do this. I reached out and tried to scoop up the spider with the ladle, but I accidentally brushed one of its legs. In a flash, it pulled its eight long legs in close to its body. Abby and I both screamed and I pulled my arm back like it was about to bite me or something.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “I can do this. It sure is a big spider though.”
“Big pidur!” Abby repeated after me, stretching out her arm to point at it again. The spider moved away and she screamed again, pulling her arm back.
“Ok, here we go.”
I reached further in this time so I could come up behind it and held the cup sideways on the carpet ready to receive it. With one quick motion, I pulled the ladle forward and scooped the spider into the cup. I held the ladle over it as I stood up and ran downstairs.
I saw little legs poke out from under the ladle where it didn’t hit the side of the cup and I almost had a heart attack. I sprinted to the front door, anxious to hurl this thing outside where it belonged. There was no way I was going to squish this giant thing.
When I got to the door, I had no choice but to put the ladle down so I could open the door, and as soon as I moved it, the spider began crawling over the edge of the cup. Panicking, I flung the door upon and hurled the spider, cup and all, as far away as I could.
Which happened to be right at Colby as he stepped onto the porch.
“What the ...” he began as the paper cup bounced off his chest.
“It’s on you!” I squealed.
“What’s on me?”
“A spider!”
“Where?” he asked. But he didn’t wait for me to tell him before he began brushing and shaking his clothes to get rid of it.
A few seconds later, I saw the big brown monster fall onto the porch. It was as stunned as we were, but it collected itself faster and scurried into the flower bed. Colby and I were both staring at the spot where it had disappeared until he said, “Well, that wasn’t the greeting I was expecting.”
“What? Don’t girls always throw spiders at you?”
“No. This was a first.” Then a teasing light flashed in his eyes and he said, “I was hoping you’d throw your arms around me instead.”
“I think I can manage that.” I smiled, completely entranced by the devilish smile on his lips as he came towards me. My heart thundered even as the tension I’d been enduring all week relaxed. I’d been so frustrated having only a few minutes to see him in choir every day or catch him in the hall. My mom had grounded me for breaking curfew, saying she wanted to make sure I remembered from now on. So, this was the first time I’d been alone with him since our epic goodnight kiss on Monday when he’d taken me home.
Colby’s arms came around me and he held me like he asked nothing more from life. I was almost startled by how right it felt to have my head pressed into his shoulder, his warmth and scent surrounding me, the rise and fall of his chest as he took a deep, satisfied breath.
“Co-yeee!”
Abby jumped around our legs and pulled at Colby’s shirt. He let his arms drop away, his fingers sliding down my arms as if he was reluctant to let go. But he smiled at his little sister and lifted her up in his arms like she didn’t weigh anything. After lugging her around all night, I knew differently.
We went inside and I closed the door behind us as Colby went towards the stairs with her. He was tickling her and teasing her, saying, “You’re supposed to be in bed so I can have some alone time with your beautiful babysitter.”
I blushed and felt a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth as he looked back at me over his shoulder. “The spider was under her bed so we had to get rid of it first,” I explained.
“Pidur,” Abby told him. She continued to say it as we went upstairs, her voice almost shrill with excitement. When Colby put her down she ran over and lay down on the floor to look under the bed like she expected it to still be there.
“Was there a spider under your bed? Well, it’s a good thing Rylie got rid of it for you. Now you can go right to sleep like a good girl.”
I stood in the doorway as Colby scooped her up and dumped her on her bed, making her giggle as she bounced on her mattress. Then he pulled her covers up, gave her Teddy, and ruffled her golden curls before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Now, you wait right there while I go get my guitar, ok?”
“K!” she said in a happy little voice, sounding anything but sleepy.
Colby, paused on the way to his room to say, “I’ll put her to sleep. It’ll be faster that way. I don’t know how much time we’ve got before my dad and Marcy get home.”
With a thrill of excitement, I said, “I’ll go pick up then so I don’t have anything else to do. And, um, I’ll put this away while I’m at it.” I waved the ladle I was still carrying around and started downstairs.
I washed the ladle, wiped down Abby’s high chair, and swept up the animal crackers she’d thrown on the floor earlier. Everything in good shape there, I turned out the light and went to wait in the living room. There were only a few toys to pick up and put away in the ottoman that opened up for storage before I was able to sit and wait for Colby to come down. The only lights on in the house were the lamp on the table next to the couch and the light over the stairs that cast a faint, romantic glow over everything.
I could see the darkened doorway to Abby’s room from where I sat, and in the quiet house, I could just catch the song Colby was playing for Abby. The distant strains drifted down to me, and I couldn’t stand not hearing it better. I tiptoed up the stairs and hovered next to the door where Abby wouldn’t see me, but where I could easily hear Colby’s voice. He was singing “Love Me Tender,” which surprised me until I listened to the words and realized how perfect it was as a lullaby.
Colby’s voice was so pure, even singing as soft as he was, that I was entranced and strained to catch every quiet note and gentle inflection. It was so achingly perfect and sincere that I closed my eyes and pretended he was singing it to me.
A few minutes later, he stopped singing and let the guitar strings hum into stillness. I barely had time to realize that Abby must be asleep before Colby emerged from her room and bumped into me as he turned the corner into the hall.
There was a sudden firing of happiness in his eyes, and something warmer that was impossible not to recognize for what it was.
“How long have you been there?”
“Only a few minutes. It was long enough, though, to be amazed all over again at how talented you are.”
It was impossible to be certain in the dim light, but I swear he blushed. His eyes never wavered from mine though.
“Thanks,” he replied simply. “Want to go down stairs?”
I glanced at his guitar. “Sure. Will you sing to me?”
“If you want. I don’t want to put you asleep too, though.”
“Don’t worry. Your voice has a completely different effect on me than it has on Abby,” I assured him as I started downstairs.
He caught up to me and his free arm came around my waist as I hit the bottom step. “Well, that’s an interesting statement I don’t mind exploring. It’s kind of ironic that I skipped out on rehearsal tonight, but I can’t seem to escape the music.”
We were in the living room now, and I stopped before I sat on the couch to say, “Oh, I thought you must have just gotten done early.”
“No, there was no way that was happening so I had to bail.” He kissed me briefly and gently encouraged me to sit down with faint pressure on my shoulder. He sat across from me on the coffee table and began fiddling with the strings on his guitar. I caught my breath at how gorgeous he looked in the faint but warm circle of light from the lamp. “I’m joking around about the music though. I wasn’t trying to get away from playing or singing – I just wanted to be with you.”
“Was Micah mad?”
“He wasn’t thrilled since I’m sure he could guess what I was up to. I don’t care though. He needs me in the band, and he knows it. He didn’t give me too hard a time except to warn me we’d be practicing every night next week since prom is Friday.”
“So, I’m guessing that means we won’t see much of each other again.”
His eyes met mine and he nodded as his shoulders sagged a little. Taking a deep breath, he muttered as he fiddled with the tuning on his guitar, “I can’t wait till this whole prom crap is over.”
Sing to Me Page 4
