Page 53 of Crescendo

She waited, watching me with interest.

I licked my lips and determinedly met her gaze. “I think I need to… not think right now.”

She raised her eyebrows, completely understanding what I was getting at. “Is that so?”

I hummed. “Here.”

She took the bag, setting her cup down on the small table, and pulled the box out excitedly, yanking the lid off with far more abandon than I had.

She laughed. “Sian bought you this?”

“Mm. I told you she suspected, but she’s also just… like that.” I shook my head. “Well, she thinks you’re hot, so, you know, that’s probably part of it too.”

“Is that what you want to forget about?” she asked carefully.

I shook my head. “Sorry. I know it’s not fair to—”

“It’s okay. Whatever you need. And, if you need to not think, I’m there.” She held up the box. “Do you suppose this might help?”

I bit my lip and nodded, holding her gaze and unable to stop myself from spreading my legs. “Would you wear it and fuck me?”

She smirked. “Oh, I think you can try it a little more bossy than that.”

I laughed but nodded, and my voice dropped when I looked her up and down. “Lydia, wear that strap and fuck me, hard, into this couch.”

Chapter 13

Lydia

Hannah looked at me like either she was insane or I was, and she couldn’t tell which.

“You’re trying to start something with me,” she said incredulously, lingering at the edge of the room, the Crescendo building quiet right now, Sunday morning after breakfast—I’d told Ella I wanted a little walk for some inspiration, and Ididwalk somewhere that I hoped would inspire me, but I’d left out the part about how I’d texted Hannah and Dodge asking if they wanted to meet and talk music.

Dodge had given a non-answer in a way that oh-so-subtly said he was busy with a girl this morning. Apparently the one-week mark was when the Crescendo hookups really got started. Hannah, though, apparently was single on a Sunday morning, and so here we were for what felt like an illicit liaison, neither of us letting our roommates know what we were doing.

It wasn’t like I was trying to keep it secret from Ella, just… I wanted to give it a second first, see if it could become real. This idea lived in the tenuous space where I wasn’t sure if it was even worth considering, and I couldn’t bear the thought of seeminglike a failure in front of Ella,I think I’ve found my answerand then it not panning out any more than any of my work did.

“Yes,” I said, stepping into the building and shutting the doors behind me. “I’m here to start a fistfight. You know how violent Americans are.”

She gave me a skeptical look. “You’re on some bullshit.”

“I was born on some bullshit. Let’s get to a practice room.”

“You haven’t even said what you’re after. You know Eliza and I are sound.”

I suppressed a smile. “Mm-hm… very. That’s why you had to come to me and Ella for musical feedback instead of asking her.”

She scowled. “It isn’t like that. I just didn’t want to be going to her with something half-baked.”

“And I’m coming to you for the same thing.” I relaxed my posture. “I’m after some advice. How you did what you did with your song—I want to try some of it for my own composition.”

She gave me a wild-eyed look. “Youwantmeto help?”

I smiled wider. “Shocked that Lydia Howard Fox herself might come to you for advice?”

She scrunched up her face. “Uh—that’s not what I’m saying. Just… what’s to stop me from giving you bad advice on purpose?”

“I’m not stupid. I’ll know if you do. So? A little alliance? I think we could both work on this little… stylistic quest.”

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