Chapter 60
CHAPTER SIXTY
Cleo
On Thursday afternoon, I was cleaning up my mess in the studio so the guys could use it to rehearse when I heard Otis scratching at the door.
The breeze must have blown it shut.
I swung the door open, and Otis bounded in with an extra little spring in his step.
His fur was damp and smelled like the organic dog shampoo Gabriel bought for him. Gabriel spent more on Otis’ shampoo than on his own.
“Did you just get a bath?” I asked after Otis got done rolling around on the floor and lay down in a patch of sunlight.
I was becoming like Gabriel, talking to Otis as if he were a human.
Gabriel told me that when he first brought Otis home, he cried because he already loved that dog so damn much. He called Otis his therapy dog.
“He’s done more for my mental health than any of the therapists I’ve gone to see,” Gabriel said. “I spill my guts and Otis listens without judgment.”
That made me laugh.
Gabriel had Otis and he had his music. According to him, that was all the therapy he needed. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but okay.
“You’re so lucky you found each other,” I told Otis as I packed my supplies in a box and stowed it in the corner next to the easel then shoved the drafting table under the window and slid the stool under it.
After covering my art with a sheet, I swept the floors. There. Done. All my stuff was neatly contained along the wall across from the guitars, keyboards, and drum kit.
I’d made a lot of progress with my art piece. Enough to feel comfortable taking the next few days off.
Gabriel and I had been working around the clock, me in the studio, and him on the front porch or in the living room. If inspiration struck in the middle of the night now, he came out here so he wouldn’t disturb my sleep.
Yesterday morning when I came to the studio, I found a bag of Doritos and a pack of Twizzlers from the night before. I kept hoping to find Gabriel’s notebook filled with lyrics, but he took it everywhere with him and guarded it like it was a big secret.
So far, I’d only heard two of his new songs. I was worried he wouldn’t finish in time, but he assured me that he would.
“Knock knock.” I looked over at the door and smiled at the familiar face. Eddie strode in with a case of beer and set it in front of the mini fridge. “You don’t write. You don’t call. What am I, chopped liver?” He held out his arms.
“Hey, Eddie.” I walked into his open arms and hugged him tight then pulled back, searching for changes. He looked the same. Long hair, wild. Cocky grin. “It’s great to see you.”
“You too.” He gave me an appraising look. “You look great. You’re doing better?”
“A lot better than the last time I saw you.” I chewed on my lip.
“I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch. I just…
I guess I needed to make a clean break.” I winced at how that sounded but after I’d packed up Gabriel’s things, I drew a line between our friend groups and split them down the middle. My friends. His friends. Boundaries.
“Nah, I get it,” Eddie said. “You had to do what was best for you.”
“I’m glad you were there for him though. It sounds like you and Dev really helped him a lot.”
He shrugged. “We came out here whenever we could.” His gaze drifted to the guitars hanging on the wall, some of which had belonged to my dad.
“He was fucking lost until he started playing again. It was weird. He’d call me up and he’d go, ‘Hey, Eddie, I just discovered Robert Johnson!’ Or Jimmy Page.
Or any of the other guitar heroes he’d already discovered back in high school.
And he’d be so jazzed up about it that I didn’t have the heart to break it to him.
Like, dude, you’ve been here before. Because for him, it was all new. ” Eddie shook his head. “Freaky shit.”
“You know what’s freaky? He’s still so Gabriel .”
“Tell me about it,” Eddie laughed. “Oh man, get this. He went through this stage where he was walking around with this weird-ass scarf wrapped around his head and he wore this big woolly blanket with fringes. Like a poncho or some shit. He looked like he should have been herding fucking llamas. I guess he was still trying to find himself, but we were like, nah, bro, keep trying because that ain’t it. ”
I couldn’t stop laughing. I could picture it so clearly.
“He’s so eccentric,” I said in the most loving way.
“Yeah. This album should be interesting.”
“In what way?”
Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know. He played something for me on the phone last week.
It had a lot of dissonance. Just all this tension.
Pretty dark. More complex. And he sang the whole song in a low register.
Like, why man? Your vocals are so powerful.
Use them. I found it a little bit jarring, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good but you know Gabriel. He doesn’t want to be put in a box.”
“Cleo!”
I spun around. “Dev!” I gave him a big smile. Blond-haired and blue-eyed and still cute but his hair was shorter now. He set down the amps he was carrying, and we hugged.
“You cut your hair,” I said.
“My summer style.”
Right behind him was Tyler who looked exactly the same with shaggy brown hair and a bashful smile. He was so quiet that I’d never heard him say more than a few words at a time. In lieu of a hug, he dipped his chin in greeting. “Cleo,” he said solemnly.
Once the greetings were out of the way, I shouldered my tote bag, already packed for a day at the beach, and said goodbye.
“I’ll see you guys at dinner,” I called over the sound of them tuning their instruments, and Eddie pounding out a beat on the drums.
They were all ready to go. No idea where their fearless leader was though.
As I was rounding the side of the house, I ran into him. Mystery solved. He was coming out of the outdoor shower in nothing but a towel slung around his narrow hips.
“Oh! Hi.” I gave him a dorky little wave as my gaze roamed down his bare chest. Beads of water dripped from his shower-damp hair, and it was all I could do to stop myself from running my tongue over his sun-kissed skin.
I took a step back. He grinned like he knew what I was thinking.
“Uh, the guys are here.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder.
He nodded. “I know.” No explanation for why he was taking a shower when he was supposed to be in the studio with his friends.
“Okay, well, I’ll see you later.”
His gaze dipped to my tote bag. “You don’t have to leave.”
“I’m taking a few days off,” I reminded him.
We’d already discussed this last night. He’d insisted that they could rehearse in the living room but that was ridiculous.
It was his studio. “I haven’t spent much time at the beach.
When I get back, I’ll run to the store and buy some food.
So if there’s anything you need just leave a list on the kitchen counter with your car keys. ”
His brow furrowed. I wasn’t sure if he was concerned about me getting behind the wheel of his Wrangler (valid) or something else. “You don’t have to do all that.”
“I want to. Besides, we need to eat. And you need to focus.” I stabbed my finger at his bare chest then realized my error when he grabbed it and guided it to his lips, sucking on it before releasing it with an impish grin.
I lowered my arm to my side and cleared my throat. “So, uh, get to work. No slacking.”
I started walking away, but he called my name. I looked over my shoulder, brows raised.
“Give me your sunscreen. I’ll do your back.” He held out his hand.
I hesitated before fishing it out of my bag and handing it over then set down my tote bag and took off my tank top, giving him my back. My eyes drifted shut as he massaged the lotion into my skin.
Goose bumps raised the hairs on my arms and scattered across my stomach as his rough, calloused hands glided over my lower back, dipping under the string of my bikini before retreating. Another squeeze of the bottle and his magic hands moved to my upper back and shoulders.
An involuntary sigh escaped my lips. His hands really were magic, and I’d fight anyone who said otherwise. Firm but gentle. Dextrous and veiny. Strong and warm.
His hands created magic whenever he played a guitar…and whenever he touched me. All he had to do was rub sunscreen into my back and I felt like I might spontaneously combust into flames.
“They’re your hands. All of them,” I said, without giving him any context. But this was Gabriel. He didn’t need an explanation.
“I know.” He kissed the side of my neck and tucked the sunscreen into my bag. “Have a good day,” he said, his voice low.
With a slight nod, which was all I could manage, I hurried down the driveway, beach-bound, with my stomach doing somersaults and my limbs made of liquid.
Oh my God. It was happening all over again.
I stopped abruptly on the dirt path to the beach as the realization slammed into me.
I was falling in love with my ex.