15. Jude
15
JUDE
On Saturday, I returned to the suite around noon. Mason and Parker were nowhere to be found, but Kylie was perched at her usual spot at the table, books spread in front of her, her gaze elsewhere.
“If I could only find a woman who looks at me the way you look at those mountains,” I said when she finally looked away from them.
Kylie grinned. “Something tells me that you wouldn’t have much trouble finding female company if you wanted to.”
I shrugged. “I have my moments, but I’m no match for a mountain range. Have you had lunch yet?”
“No.” She uncurled her legs from her chair and stood up, stretching as she did so. She had on what I was beginning to think of as her usual outfit—shorts, a tank top, and an oversized sweatshirt on top of it. It suited her. Casual but also kind of sexy. She had amazing legs, and her collection of short shorts showcased them quite well. I wondered what she’d wear when the weather got colder. Hopefully she’d still wear shorts around the suite. I wasn’t the only one who would be disappointed if she didn’t.
Kylie slipped her feet into her sandals and then grinned. “I still can’t believe this place has a dining room where you actually want to eat the food.”
“It’s much better here than where we were last year.” I couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm for the food. She didn’t eat out often—I got the impression that she didn’t have much extra cash for that, so it was perfect that her scholarship covered her room and board. My assistantship did too, in exchange for giving lessons and teaching the occasional class.
We got our food and then settled at a table for two by the edge of the large dining room. It wasn’t too crowded. Some students were probably sleeping in. Others might’ve taken advantage of the nice weather and gone somewhere off campus.
“I forgot to ask you how your test was yesterday,” I said.
Kylie had just taken a bite of her BLT, so I waited until she finished. “Not too bad.” She wiped her cute pink lips with a napkin. “At least I didn’t end up curled in a ball, rocking back and forth in a corner afterwards.”
“That’s always a good thing.”
“Did you teach lessons this morning?”
I nodded. “Two.”
“How’d they go?”
Hmm… I never liked speaking badly of my students. “One guy shows promise on the guitar. The other… let’s just assume that he has many talents in other fields.” Kylie grinned. “Oh, but yesterday afternoon I worked with one of my best piano students. She’s getting really good—she’ll be the one giving me lessons soon.”
“I’d like to hear you play piano sometime.”
That reminded me of something. “I’m playing with my band tonight. Do you want to come?”
Her eyes widened. “You play in a band?”
I laughed. “I’m a musician. Is that so surprising?”
“Yeah, kind of. I thought you studied music theory and classical stuff.”
“Sometimes. But playing in a band’s the fun part.”
Kylie swiped open her phone. “Where are you playing?”
“At a bar called the Dancing Horse. Don’t expect much from it,” I warned. Kylie started to look up the address, but I told her not to bother. “Mason’s going, he can drive you.”
She closed her phone. “That’s good. I don’t really know my way around yet. What’s he up to today?”
“Probably playing tennis.”
“Mason plays tennis?”
“Yeah, why?”
Kylie’s face scrunched up in a cute as hell way while she thought about it. “I don’t know, it just seems like… too conventional for him.”
“He plays a mean game of tennis. Always goes in for the kill.”
“Now that I can believe.” Kylie snatched a French fry from my tray. “I keep learning new and surprising things about you guys.”
I pushed my tray toward her so she could have some more. “You haven’t known us that long. We’re still learning about you, too. So far, I like what I know. And what I’ve heard.”
That made her blush. It looked good on her peaches-and-cream skin. And as always, her eyes were mesmerizing. In certain lights, they looked almost the same, but other times, it was more than obvious they were different. And both gorgeous.
I lowered my voice and leaned forward. “I know I shouldn’t tease you about that, but it was fucking hot.”
“Yeah, it was,” she admitted, not looking at me.
“Are you up for trying it again sometime?”
“Maybe,” she said. Her body language was pointing toward yes, though. I could tell by the quick breath she took, and the way her chest pushed forward. Plus, there was a hunger in her eyes that didn’t have much to do with my fries.
“I liked listening to you. Everyone sounds different—it’s like with musical instruments. I like hearing the gasps and moans and groans that can only be made by you.”
Her face was still flushed, but a mischievous glint came into her eyes. “So you like listening to me more than Mason?”
I laughed. “Definitely. To be fair, though, we’ve been roommates many times over, so the sounds he makes are old news. Much more fun to listen to a cute blonde gasping and moaning on the bed beneath me.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I thought you men were supposed to be all about the visual.”
I shrugged. “I’m a musician, remember?”
After that, we talked about more neutral topics, such as our plans after graduate school. On the way back to the suite, however, I asked her for a favor. “See if you can get Parker to come with you to the bar tonight. He needs to get out more.”
“No argument there,” she said. “Has he come to your shows in the past?”
“ Show might be a little strong for what you’re going to see,” I said with a wince. “Might be best to keep your expectations low.”
She gave me a bright smile that made my blood speed up—and head south. “I’m expecting to see my friend play music. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Good. And yeah, Parker’s come before. So remind him of that and drag his ass there if you have to.”
“Will do.”
She headed back to her study spot, and I took a moment to watch her go. She had such a damn pretty smile.
As I watched, she kicked off her sandals, and I admitted it to myself. Every part of her was pretty.
Pretty and then some.
It felt good to be on stage. Even a small, no-thrills stage in a dive bar. But this was where I could be myself. Not a student. Not a teacher. Just myself, or sometimes even a wilder, freer version of myself.
The crowd was the usual for Saturday night. A lot of drunk students, most of them old enough to be here, but the staff at the Dancing Horse wasn’t exactly known for adherence to ID checks. Or adherence to any sound practices for bars. Some townies came, too. One woman, obviously too old to be a student, had already sauntered up and hit on me while we were warming up. When she didn’t get the attention she wanted, she moved on to Dave, the base player. Then Frank, the keyboardist. Only Mimi was spared her drunken flirtations.
We were halfway through our first set which was mostly covers of eighties hits when I spotted Mason at the back of the joint. The music was loud and not half bad, if I did say so myself. We were loosening up. Shaking off the week. Getting into it.
Kylie was by his side, or I assumed she was. There was a space next to him, but she was too short to be seen over the crowd. I’d reserved a table for them, and by some miracle, people had actually left it alone.
Mason barged through the crowd, and I could see now that he had a firm grip on Kylie’s wrist so that she didn’t get lost in the crowd. Parker followed along behind them—I suspected that was Kylie’s doing.
Speaking of Kylie, as she got closer, I could see how great she looked. She had on a sleeveless shirt that had wide straps at her shoulders and then flared out at her hips. In between, there was a generous scoop neck that showed a tantalizing amount of cleavage. And for once, she hadn’t buried her shirt under a sweater the size of Detroit. The shirt was some kind of bronze, shimmery material. Her skinny jeans were ripped at the knee. I couldn’t see her feet from my position, but my guess was she was wearing heels. She looked a few inches taller than usual.
Contentment filled me as my friends sat down. I’d spent most of my life traveling. My parents had been a combination of nomads and hippies. We never stayed in one place very long, and I’d lived in a dozen countries by the time I was a teen. Consequently, I hadn’t had a lot of lasting friendships. That all changed when Mason was assigned my roommate in college. I valued my friendship with him more than pretty much anything else in my life. We didn’t meet Parker until last year, but he fit in well with us, and he was an important part of my life, whether he was the man he was last year or the shadow he was this year.
I hadn’t expected our new roommate to be another good fit, and I sure as hell hadn’t expected her to be female, but Kylie was already dear to me. They all were. I wished I could buy them a round of drinks, but it looked like Mason had already taken care of that.
My eyes scanned the enthusiastic crowd—the drink consumption played a part in that—but kept returning to my friends as I played. I was making music, letting off steam, and having fun. Soon, I’d share a drink with my friends between sets.
Life was pretty damn good at the moment.