Page 7 of Got to be You

5

JAX

“Oh, my God.” As soon as I see her, my heart stops beating. I honestly didn’t think I would ever see her again. She’s been out of the picture for so long now that I thought she might have left campus and gone back to her own college, but here she is, staring at me with a smile on her face. “Lilly. How are you?”

“Good, thank you.” She nods slowly. “You were absolutely incredible up there. Wow. That energy.”

I can’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear. I really do feel incredible as well. As soon as Adam sent me for that musical competition, I just knew things were going to improve for me, and they really have. Unbelievably, I won the music competition, and it’s progressed my career a million percent. I’ve been playing these gigs for days and it’s lifting me up so much. My live presence has progressed so much, and now Lilly has even seen me and she’s impressed. I couldn’t be happier. It’s a distraction from college, to be honest. It isn’t exactly helping me, but my mood has lifted a whole lot.I’min a better place, anyway.

“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I reply. “I’m glad I didn’t see you in the audience, though, because that would have made me too nervous for words. I’m nervous now and it’s over.”

We stare into one another’s eyes for a few moments, reminding me of how incredible it was on that one night we hung out together. It was the best night of my life so far, aside from all the nights that I’ve spent on stage, and I haven’t forgotten her ever since. I’m shocked to see her, but pleased as well. I wasn’t done with her on that night. The rejection hurt, but I understood her reasoning. Now, though, that seems to be all out the window. I’m clearly no longer being rejected by her, which is awesome.

“Well, you were incredible. I just wanted to stick around to tell you that. You were so good. I always knew you were a rock star, but wow… you’re going to be so famous when we finish college.”

When we finish college…it’s that part which kills me. I still have to get through the rest of college before I can get to the end of my dreams. I still have that part to get through now. But I will. I can.

I cock my head to one side and eye her curiously, wondering exactly why she’s here. It can’t be just to tell me that I was good up there onstage. There has to be another reason she wants to see me, and of course, I want to see her as well. I’ve wanted that ever since I first met her. So, I need to take this advantage.

“Do you want to go out for a drink?” I ask her curiously. “There’s a nice bar just down the road.”

“Sure.” She jumps on my suggestion a little too quickly. “That sounds really nice.”

I reach out and take her hand just like I did on that very first night, as if no time has passed, and take her to the bar. Theconversation flows easily between us, like we’ve been together every single day, and I love it. Really, I want to lean in and kiss her, that would be ideal, but I don’t quite know where we stand now.

“Cocktail?” I ask with a little wink. “Anything in particular you would like? Sex on the beach?”

“I don’t mind. Whatever you decide for me. I’m going to take a seat in the corner over there.”

As I stand by the bar, waiting to be served, I find my eyes constantly drifting over to where she’s sitting. she’s in the corner of the room, sliding her jacket off carefully and leaving it beside her, flicking her hair out of the way as she does, and she makes my pulse race quicker. She really is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I can’t get enough of drinking her in. Afterthatnight, I'd tried to push her to the back of my mind. I didn’t want to think of the one woman I couldn’t have, but that doesn’t change how addicted I am to her. How addicted to her I’ve been since I first saw her, and I probably always will be now.

There’s something about her, a spark that I can’t get enough of. I’m in flames already.

Finally, I get some drinks and head over to the table with them clutched in my hands. Her eyes light up as soon as I’m near her, making me feel even more excitable about the whole thing. The heat and anticipation that come from singing my heart out to a crowd of people is the same as when I set my eyes on Lilly. The anticipation, the heat, the high is the same. She’smymusic… or she would be if she'd let me.

“So, how have things been?” I ask her with a satisfied grin as I take a seat beside her. “At college.”

“Yeah, good. Busy. It’s keeping me very busy. But I’m enjoying it. I always enjoy my course.”

“Good.” I lean back and run my eyes all over her gorgeous face once more. “Well, I guess it was the right thing to do. Not give me your number, I mean. Because I definitely would have been a big distraction.”

God, I want to be her distraction right now. I have fucking butterflies just looking at her. I never get butterflies. Desire, yes, lust, maybe, but butterflies and a pounding heart like this? No, this is something new. My fingers are itching to reach out and touch her. It’s taking all of my self-restraint to maintain a distance from her.

She coughs awkwardly and her face flames red. She can feel the heat too, I can tell. This time, it’s a million times stronger and all-consuming, though, because we don’t know how long it’ll last.

“Yeah, well maybe I’ve been regretting that just a little bit.” She drinks her cocktail, which tinges her cheeks with even more pinkness. “Because I’ve been missing you since that night. We had fun.”

Relief floods me in a deep and powerful wave. Just hearing her mentioning missing me makes me yearn for her even more. How am I so supposed to resist the incredible temptation that she is?

She isn’t going to be around for long,I remind myself, as if that’s going to make any difference.This will be hard to develop into anything real… although not impossible. No love is impossible…

“Well, we can have more fun, can’t we?” I ask her as my fingers slide toward hers. Her hand wraps over mine, and the electricity darts through me all over again. “There’s no need not to.”

She breathes in deep, giving me a tiny moment of anxiety that she’s going to tell me no, before she nods. “Yeah, I think it might be a good idea. I don’t know if I can keep being sensible forever.”

“Now, I like the sound of that.” I waggle my eyebrows at her. “Because I like being around you a lot.”

The heat and tension surrounding us intensifies. It thickens so much that I can hardly breathe. I don’t even want to breathe if I can’t inhale her. Right now, just like the last time we were together, nothing else in the world matters. Just me and her. We’re locked in our little bubble, and that’s where I want to stay.

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