Kissing The Hero (The Dangers of Dating a Diva Book 2)

by Christina Benjamin

  Wyatt barked one of those rare deep laughs I loved. “Go Gram-cracker.”

  Gramps wheezed a laugh, too. “Nothing was more important to her than family.”

  “I wish I remembered her better,” Wyatt said softly as he looked over at his grandmother.

  Gramps took Wyatt’s hand in his and squeezed. “Don’t worry, I remember her for the both of us.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Layne

  I felt strangely numb as I followed Wyatt out into the sunny parking lot.

  We’d spent the rest of the hour listening to Gramps tell tales about Wyatt’s grandmother and their epic love story. My heart had broken and mended itself so many times it left me feeling wrung dry. But when Wyatt turned to me, a new wave of emotions crashed over me. I was so incredibly grateful he’d allowed me to see this side of him.

  I’d not only learned a lot of life lessons today, but I learned there was much more to Wyatt Nash, than anyone knew.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” he said as we walked to his car.

  My eyes brimmed with tears. “I should be the one thanking you.”

  Wyatt took my hand, his eyes full of confusion as he assessed my trembling expression. “Layne . . . I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to make you sad.”

  “I know,” I said quickly, wiping away my stupid tears. I hated that I cried more when I was happy than sad. My heart was so full of gratitude that the last thing I wanted to do was waste time crying, but apparently my tear ducts had other plans.

  “I get it now,” I whispered.

  “You do?” he asked, looking slightly hopeful.

  “Yes. Time is a precious gift. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed. None of us know how long we have to follow our dreams. I know that. I guess I always have, but this was a good reminder, so thank you.”

  He nodded, his eyes still searching mine. “It’s why I’m pushing you so hard to do this. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up.” He moved closer, his hand coming up to gently push my hair away from my face. “The world needs to hear your voice.”

  Gramps’s words floated back to me and I smiled up at Wyatt. “Did you really say that about me? That my voice sounded like sandpaper and honey?”

  Wyatt almost blushed as his jaw muscles ticked with amusement, his lips quirking to the side. “Note to self, Gramps is a terrible secret keeper.” He looked at me with sincerity. “I meant it as a compliment.”

  “I know,” I replied. “I think it may’ve been the best one I’ve ever gotten.”

  He grinned. “Well, it’s the truth.”

  “Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”

  Wyatt gave me a cynical look. “Since when do you listen to anything I say?”

  “Well, maybe I will now.”

  The strength in my voice made Wyatt’s dark eyebrows shoot up. “So, you’ll do it? You’ll sing on the track?”

  “Yes. But next time don’t use your adorable grandparents to guilt me into it.”

  He smirked. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I actually like when you tell me what’s going on in here,” I said placing my hand over his heart.

  Wyatt flinched under my sudden boldness, the startled pleasure in his green eyes making my blood sing as I ached to slide my hand up his chest and pull him into another kiss. My body went tingly at the thought.

  It wouldn’t be that unexpected, would it?

  We’d kissed last night, and he hadn’t seemed to mind. But if I did it now, there would be no excuses. I couldn’t claim it was for research or because I was wild with victorious excitement having just conquered a fear. No, if I kissed him now it would be for no other reason than the fact that I wanted to.

  As if reading my mind, Wyatt’s lips parted and he leaned in, his alluring cologne making me dizzy. “Okay,” he said softly, his hands coming to rest on my waist. “I think I can get on board with that.”

  “With what?” I asked, my head still in a daze.

  “Telling you how I feel.”

  “Really?”

  “Anything you want, Penny Layne, all you have to do is ask.” His thumb lazily grazed the sliver of bare skin between my jeans and my t-shirt, making electricity spark through my whole body.

  My heart sped up, my blood sang, my muscles tightened, all from his touch. I got it now, why Wyatt had his bad boy reputation. Because how could anyone resist this feeling, this spell he had me under? I wanted him. There was no denying it. But I wanted something else more.

  I swallowed as I watched Wyatt lick his delicious lips. He was waiting for me to make the next move. So, I did.

  “Time’s a wasting,” I said, quoting Gramps as I took a quick step away from Wyatt’s touch, breaking the spell. “Let’s go record some music.”

  A slow grin carved his gorgeous face. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Wyatt

  The girl in the sound booth barely resembled the girl I thought I knew. The changes in Layne were staggering. She blew me away with not only her voice, but her renewed confidence.

  I’d expected her to have a reaction after meeting my grandparents, but nothing quite like this. She was tearing through her songbook like she had something to prove.

  It was a sight to see. And it made me even more determined than ever to make her dreams come true.

  “What do you think?” Layne asked when we finished singing her newest song.

  “I think we have a problem.”

  Her delicate brows furrowed. “What?”

  “We’re not going to be able to decide which song to submit. They’re all incredible.”

  She laughed my compliment away. “For real, though. What did you think? I really liked the way our voices came together on that last one. And that thing you did with the bass line was genius.”

  I smirked. “Well, as you know, I am a genius. At least, according to my grandparents,” I added, so she’d know I was only joking.

  “I know you’re being facetious, but I think Gramps is right. You’re seriously talented on the piano.”

  “That’s only because I have a talented partner.”

  Layne grinned. “Now who can’t take a compliment?”

  “Okay, okay, we’re both bloody brilliant. But what are we going to do about our problem?”

  Layne thought on it for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe we should let Gramps decide what song we submit.”

  I barked a laugh. “I love the guy, but you heard him. He’s tone deaf.”

  She giggled. “I think he’s adorable.”’

  “That’s not a reason to let him pick the song that will decide your future.”

  “Fair enough,” Layne said. “But can we still let him hear the songs?”

  I smiled, my heart feeling suddenly too large for my chest. “He would like that very much.”

  I didn’t tell her about the other reasons I’d brought her to meet my grandparents. But I was more than a little excited about her enthusiasm to visit them again. Gramps had always told me I’d know when I’d found ‘the one’ because I would be excited to spend time with her no matter what we were doing. I felt that with Layne.

  Whether we were singing karaoke, making music, visiting nursing homes, eating pizza or just driving around in my car, she made me happy.

  Honestly, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a streak of exhilaration in my life. I was starting to wonder if maybe Gramps was right. I sort of hoped he was.

  As I looked over at Layne holding her guitar as she thumbed through her songbook, my heart squeezed in my chest. Could she be the one? Was I ready for that?

  I was getting way ahead of myself. One step at a time. First, we needed to get through this competition. Then we could see if there was more to explore.

  I forced myself to stop looking at Layne’s kissable lips and cleared my throat. “Well, I’d say that’s a wrap for tonight. Why don’t we narrow it down to our top few and I’ll remaster them tonight?”


  “Okay. I’ll finish setting up my profile so we can upload the song we decide on to the competition site.”

  “Are you ready for this?” I asked.

  “For what?”

  “For the world to meet the next diva they’re going to fall in love with.”

  She laughed. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Layne

  After twenty minutes of panicking over not remembering my password, I finally logged on to Facebook and finished setting up my profile on the Northeast Regional Scholarship for the Dramatic Arts page.

  I hadn’t been on here since last fall, right after I registered for the competition. A little stab of guilt hit me when I saw all the missed notifications I had in the Diva Squad group.

  Rose Parson had started the private IM group shortly after we all met at registration. At first, I really enjoyed chatting with her, Lillian and Lola. But when Jenna joined the Diva Squad I felt completely out of my depth. All the other girls were so talented and confident, and that only made me feel worse about my own chances.

  The more I checked in with the group the more my nerves grew, until I stopped checking all together. I’d never been big on social media and since Lola was my partner, I figured it was okay to let her be my voice in the group. She always filled me in on any of the important gossip anyway. But now that she was out, I figured it was time I put on my big girl panties and step out of the shadows.

  Besides, thanks to Wyatt and his sweet grandparents, I’d decided I was no longer going to waste time being a wallflower. I was taking control of my destiny. So, without hesitation, I clicked on the Diva Squad group and read through all the messages.

  By the end of the thread, I was more invigorated than I’d expected. I felt like I knew each of the girls a little better and was surprised to find I wasn’t the only one battling insecurities.

  Rose’s posts really hit home. I felt a connection with her and wished she was a student at Northwood. I could see myself being friends with her. I decided to post a quick message of encouragement and wished her and the other divas good luck. Then I clicked back onto the scholarship page to scope out my competition.

  There was a total of six songwriters in the competition. I could see all of them had their songs uploaded already but couldn’t see whose was whose. The mp3 files were ghosted out since the voting wouldn’t go live until tomorrow night, but my nerves prickled with anticipation.

  I was all for being confident, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to psych myself out by listening to their songs before the actual competition. This whole owning my inner diva thing was new for me. Maybe I should take baby steps.

  I stared at my boring old screen name and decided maybe that would be a good place to start . . .

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Wyatt

  “For what it’s worth, I think we should go with Bent. The song is incredible and it’s the most you.”

  Layne sat in my car, chewing her lip as we drove to school Monday morning. The confident girl who’d left my house last night was nowhere to be found.

  “Yeah. I think that’s my favorite song, too. I guess I’d be okay with using that track for the popular vote, but I like the version where we’re both singing.”

  I sighed, hoping we were past this. “I respectfully disagree.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of everything I just said. The song is about you. It resonates more with just your voice.”

  “Last week you argued it needed to be a duet.”

  “That’s because I was trying to get you to sing. But after hearing you belt it out last night, there’s no going back. That’s how that song is meant to be sung.”

  Layne rolled her eyes. “Well, I guess we’re just going to have to agree to disagree.”

  “We have to come to some sort of decision. You have to upload a song to the voting site today.”

  “I have until five o’clock,” she argued, like we’d somehow come to an agreement by then.

  In the short time I’d known her, I’d learned that Layne was every bit as stubborn as I was, so I didn’t see either of us changing our minds. Short of dragging her back to see my grandparents again, I didn’t know how I could convince her that she needed to do this, but I was certainly going to try. “The song is just so much more vulnerable when you sing it by yourself.”

  “That’s the problem,” she muttered.

  Okay, I could see her point. Telling someone who was scared to expose their soul to the world that they’re more vulnerable singing alone wasn’t going to win her over. I needed a new strategy. “Think of it like this. It’s like having a favorite song, then all of a sudden learning the version you’d been listening to your whole life was a cover. And the original artists are The Beatles.”

  She glared at me. “Are you seriously comparing me to The Beatles?”

  “I’m just making a point.”

  “Not a very good one, because I’m definitely not even in the same arena as them.”

  I pulled into the school lot and parked my car, not turning it off right away. I could feel the frustration and fear building in Layne as she stared ahead through the windshield. Her big brown eyes were as thoughtful as ever, and she wrapped her arms tighter around her, crushing my leather jacket to her like it was protective armor.

  I was grateful that spring was slow to come this year because I loved seeing her wear it. It reminded me what was at stake. I wanted to see if there was a future with this girl. And to do that, I needed to protect her heart, while still finding a way to help her succeed.

  There had to be a way to do both.

  I reached over and turned the music down on my stereo, letting my hand rest on the volume dial for a moment before gathering the courage to reach across and take Layne’s hand in mine. I always felt like she took me more seriously when we were physically connected, but each time I touched her it made it harder for me to remember my boundaries.

  I threaded my fingers through hers, noting how perfectly her small hand fit in mine. I let my thumb brush a slow circle over the back of her hand before forcing myself to stop.

  Man, it wasn’t easy to be a good guy.

  I exhaled slowly, then met Layne’s hesitant gaze. “Tell me the real reason you don’t want to submit the solo track.”

  She released a shaky breath. “I’m still afraid I’m not good enough.”

  How could I make her see what I saw?

  I turned to look out the windshield, staring at the brick building that was Northwood High, as the soft music from my stereo played out the soundtrack to this dilemma. That’s when the idea hit me. My eyes brightened and I turned back to Layne with renewed hope. “What if I could prove it to you, that you are good enough?”

  “How?”

  “Never mind how. Just tell me that if I prove it, you’ll submit the solo version.”

  “And if you can’t?”

  “Then I’ll drop it and you can submit whatever you want.”

  She laughed but then seemed to notice how serious I was. Layne swallowed thickly, then let her head rest back against the seat. “Sure, fine. Whatever.”

  I beamed as I turned off my car and rushed around to the passenger side to open her door. “After you,” I said, ushering her toward the school

  She rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was a tiny bit intrigued in my plan to prove her wrong.

  I grinned. This could work!

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Layne

  I sat in my first period class, reading through my notes to see where I’d left off last week when the morning announcements crackled to life. I sighed, standing for the pledge of allegiance, then busied myself reading over my notes again as Miss Maybel droned on about this week’s sporting events and so on.

  Normally, I just tuned her nasally voice out, but something she said caught my attention. My focus flipped back to the announcements. I heard the words, scholarship for the dramatic arts and my heart le
apt to my throat.

  Oh no! What did Wyatt do?

  Miss Maybel’s voice drove my heart into a gallop as I listened on in horror. “We are honored to have one of Northwood’s own representing us at the competition. We encourage you to support this great cause by logging on to the NRSDA website and casting a vote for your favorite artists. The voting starts tonight at five o’clock and is open until Friday morning. The popular vote counts for a percentage of each competitor’s score. We hope you’ll show your school spirit and participate.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, that wasn’t the nightmare I’d expected. I wasn’t mentioned by name or anything. It must’ve just been a coincidence that Wyatt was scheming a way to prove me wrong today. His mother had probably scheduled the announcement. She was the Special Resource Director.

  But just as my heart was settling back to its regular speed, Miss Maybel threw me a curveball. “And this year, we get to be part of the process. For the next few hours students are encouraged to vote to help select the song that our Northwood High competitor will enter into the contest.”

  Then, as if I didn’t already want to crawl under my desk, my song blared to life over the speakers. It was the version with just me singing. Thankfully, Wyatt had cut it after the first verse chorus. But then I groaned as it started over again, this time with the other version that included his voice.

  My classmates all began murmuring to each other, already trying to figure out who the singers were. I heard cellphones begin to ding and my teacher called for everyone to settle down as Miss Maybel concluded the announcements telling everyone to go to our school radio station’s page to vote.

  This was so much worse than I’d expected. How on earth did Wyatt think this was going to prove anything other than the fact that I now wanted to kill him?

  By the time I made it to my lunch period I thought I was going to throw up. My music was all anyone was talking about. It was even on the Trojan Tattler!