Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
RYDER
Holding Elizabeth’s hand as we walk, I’m inundated with a hefty dose of irrational paranoia, half expecting Jay to jump out from behind a hedgerow of bushes and kick my ass, then grab Elizabeth and run off with her.
“Do I get a hint about where we’re going?” she asks.
I quickly scan around before pulling her inside one of the concrete buildings. Air conditioning blasts us as we enter, and it feels wonderful, a stark contrast to the stifling humid air outside.
“We’re here,” I announce and lead Elizabeth down a long hallway.
“And where is here? Wait.”
Elizabeth cocks her head when she hears music. A lilt of a saxophone, the deep keys of a piano, the thumping of a drum set, and the reverberating sound of a woman’s voice going up and down a scale. Elizabeth’s face lights up.
“Is this the music hall?”
I don’t think she even notices that she’s been bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet since the moment we stepped inside.
“Follow me.”
I check a few doors until I find one that’s unlocked and open it. We’re really not supposed to be here without reserving a room and getting a key, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take. We’ve got about forty minutes before she has to get to her next class, and I’m going to make the most of it.
The music room we enter has several different instruments placed along the walls and a piano in the middle. Elizabeth approaches the piano and runs her fingers across the white and black keys, tinkling out a simple four-note tune. I walk over to where an acoustic guitar sits in its cradle and pick it up. Taking a seat on a nearby stool, I prop one foot on the bottom rung and situate the guitar until it feels comfortable in my hands.
Elizabeth sits on the piano bench. “I didn’t know you played. Why didn’t you say something that day in the quad?”
“Your dad gave me lessons growing up.” I try a few chords to the song I want to play for her. “I’m not half as good as you are.”
The prettiest blush tints her cheeks, and she gives me a demure smile.
“You are so beautiful, Elizabeth.”
She shyly dips her head. “Thank you.”
I strum a few measures, warming up my fingers, the notes causing emotion to clog my throat. “I’ve missed the hell out of you.”
She drags the bench closer, her rapt attention on my face.
As my fingers brush softly over the strings, I continue talking. My voice melds with the melody, as if my words are the song’s unspoken lyrics, weaving a story that draws Elizabeth’s gaze to me. The intensity of her focus sends a rush through my blood. It’s the same feeling I had when she used to watch me race at the Fields.
“This song is one that you wrote for me. I’ve played it and practiced it over and over the past year, putting it to memory, hoping that one day I would see you again and play it for you.”
Elizabeth’s breath hitches, her chest rising and falling with effort. Her eyes glimmer, darkened with an emotion I’ve longed to see. Desire.
“I wrote this?”
My fingers glide effortlessly over the guitar strings, each note carrying the ache I hold inside, the yearning for her that never abates.
“You gave it to me the night of our senior prom.”
The song she wrote for me is heartbreaking in its melody. The ebb and flow of the musical notes are filled with longing. She wrote it about us. The music is our story.
As I continue to play, her eyes flutter closed, and she hums along, the sound low and intimate. Does she remember? Is the music transporting her back to that night when we danced, her cheek pressed against mine, longing and love coursing between us?
She has her hair up today in a loose bun, delicate strands escaping to frame her face and brush against the curve of her neck. I want to hold this moment, freeze it in time. I wish I had my camera—to capture her like this, in the soft light, eyes closed. God, she’s beautiful.
As the last note fades into silence, her humming softens and dies away, leaving the room thick with an electric stillness. I can feel it vibrating in the air, pressing against my skin.
Her misty-green eyes open, and her voice comes out in a breathless whisper. “I really need you to kiss me right now , Ryder.”
I’m off the stool and kneeling in front of her before she can enunciate another syllable. My hands go to her hips, and she uncrosses her legs and slides off the bench to straddle my lap.
I curl my fingers around the back of her neck just as she grabs hold of mine, and our lips meet in a kiss that holds no patience. It’s not just a meeting of lips—it’s the unraveling of my soul. It’s a kiss that holds not only desire, but a decade of unexpressed feelings, quiet longing, and the simple, undeniable truth that I am still completely in love with her. Elizabeth forever holds my heart in ways no other woman ever would.
I’m rock-hard in an instant, and Elizabeth doesn’t help matters when she grinds down on me, a whimper escaping past our ravenous kiss. She tugs the hair on the back of my head, and I return the favor, loving the sexy gasp she makes at the gentle pull.
It’ll never be enough. I’ll never get enough of her kisses. Her taste. The way she presses her soft curves against my body. The way her sighs of pleasure turn me on like no other sound has.
Elizabeth pushes my shirt up at the waist, her hands exploring my abdominals, my chest. I angle her head to lay siege to her mouth, deepening the kiss, and she moans.
“Ryder, touch me,” she whimpers, and I almost lose control.
How many times had I fantasized about touching her? Too damn many.
I cup her breast, my thumb slowly tracing across her erect nipple through her tank top. I know I shouldn’t be doing this here where anyone can walk in and discover us, but I can’t stop. My need to feel her come undone in my arms is overtaking my common sense.
“Ryder,” she pants, her back arching beautifully in my arms as she rides my erection, chasing her pleasure.
Fuck, yes.
She throws her head back, and I lick a path up the smooth column of skin until I get to the pressure point where her shoulder meets her neck. Feeling feral, I lightly bite down with my teeth. Elizabeth full-body shudders, and she lets out the sexiest moan. It’s every fantasy I ever had of her come to life.
I soothe the sting with brushstrokes of my tongue, and she tips her head down to look at me, her eyes completely glazed over and dilated, her breath coming in jagged pants. I smile and place a tender kiss to the tip of her nose.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Elizabeth exhales a shaky, shuddering breath. “ Jesus , Ryder.”
The door to the music room opens.
A thin, tall guy holding a trumpet case steps inside and halts when he sees us, eyes bugging out of his head when he notices Elizabeth wrapped around me, her hand up my shirt, and my hand covering her breast.
“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. I, um…this room. Booked it for the next hour, I mean. I’ll just step outside.”
As soon as the door closes, we burst into laughter.
Elizabeth drops her head to my shoulder. “I think he meant to say he has this room booked,” she tries to get out between giggles.
I lift myself up while still holding her in my arms.
“How the hell do you guys do that?”
“Do what?” I kiss her one last time before releasing her.
“Never mind. It must be a guy thing.”
She straightens her top, then smooths my shirt back into place. I discreetly adjust myself in my shorts.
“Thank you for the song,” she says.
“Thank you for the kiss.”
The biggest smile spreads across her face. “It was an amazing kiss.”
“So amazing, we’ll need to do it again.”
“Absolutely,” she replies.
We open the door to see trumpet guy waiting outside, looking at the floor because he’s not able to look at us when we come out.
“Sorry if we wasted any of your practice time,” Elizabeth apologizes to him.
He squeezes past and into the room with a “not a problem” before shutting the door.
Carrying our bags in one hand, I lead Elizabeth outside. She takes our joined hands and pulls them behind her so that she can press up against my side.
“I think we scandalized that guy for life.”
It’s difficult getting back to a sense of normalcy after she completely destroyed me in the best way possible with that kiss.
“He’ll live. Let’s get you to your next class. I’m at the track tonight. Heading out after my last class. Are we doing breakfast tomorrow morning?”
“If I survive Julien’s grueling ten-mile torture run.”
“I’ll call you tonight if I’m not too late. Otherwise, I’ll text you. And send me your MRI appointment info.”
Elizabeth peers up at me. “You really don’t have to do that.”
She’ll soon learn that I’m going to be there for her, no matter what or when or where.
“I’m going with you, so no more arguing.”
We arrive at the building for her next class. After a quick look around to make sure the coast is clear, she rises on her tiptoes and places a soft kiss on my lips.
I’m still in disbelief that I get to kiss her like this. If this is a dream, I hope that I never wake up.
“Thank you, Ryder.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”
Before she disappears among the crowd of students inside the building, she turns at the top of the steps and gifts me with such a luminous smile, it takes my breath away.