Page 84 of Crescendo

“Sod off,” Hannah laughed. “I tried writing lyrics and all that for our band before, but none of it really caught on. I still do it just to mess around, though.”

Judging from that wistful tone—and how little she seemed to care about half the band—it was probably less that it didn’t catch on and more that Eliza didn’t take to it. Still, I wasn’t going to push the matter. “Any duets?”

“Got a couple. One that’s sad, longing, about losing someone. One that’s horny.”

I scowled. “For a duet between her and Dodge?”

Dodge laughed. “She’ll be looking at you the whole time, relax.”

“Well.” I pulled the cello close to me, between my legs, not missing the way Ella’s eyes followed the movement, a slight hitch in her breath. “If she’s looking at me while singing horny lyrics, actually, maybe I’m good with it.”

Hannah scoffed, shoving the papers in front of Ella to hand to me and Dodge. “Fuck’s sake. Just try not to start fucking mid-song.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, and it was an understatement to say Ilovedthe way Ella was so transfixed on me with the cello, holding eye contact with her, that she didn’t notice Hannah handing her the papers until Hannah waved them around, and she jerked back red-faced to take them.

“We won’t,” she said, taking the papers and passing some of them along to us. I took one, speaking casually.

“We’ll wait until we’re out of here.”

Ella ran with it, which was unbelievably sexy. “Or until you two are out of here.”

“Don’t stop on my behalf,” Dodge said. Ella wrinkled her nose.

“Thanks… for the offer.”

Ella seemed intent to prove a point, because when Hannah put on a pared-back backing track and Ella and Dodge started to sing, one could be forgiven for thinking Ella hadn’t sung a day in her life. Her voice came out shaky and thin, reedy, and she winced at it, but the rest of us kept playing, and Dodge kept going with his smoky, dark vocals that sounded like a wannabe Nashville country star, eventually Ella got through to the other side of self-conscious. And when she got to the chorus ofI wanna have you on a string and feel you move,her eyes found mine, and my stomach dropped out at the way her voice rounded out into that rich, heavy voice thick with feeling like it had the other day.

It went without saying that I also got badly turned on. Playing alongside Ella was already erotic enough. Making loaded eye contact, playing the cello of all instruments, while she was singing not-so-subtly about making me see stars—

It was just a pity Dodge was singing with her. I needed to have a while with just her after this and make sure to stake my claim.

“It’s not terrible, actually,” Hannah said once we finished, still letting the last note ring out on her bass.

“I told you she could sing,” I said, and Ella huffed, folding her hands on the piano, putting her nose up a little, the cute little blush giving away her pretend annoyance.

“I said I was going to come towatch,” she said.

Dodge said my favorite thing I’d heard him say, which was, “Oh, you were watching, all right.”

I’d have high-fived him if he were closer. Ella went bright red, clearing her throat, looking away. “Lydia’s just a tour de force. It’s hard not to watch her play.”

I smiled. “I’m very good with the fingerboard, I know.”

Ella huffed, turning back to the piano, somehow redder now. “Okay, all right. Let’s do another piece. My god.”

We did quite a few, with me switching instruments constantly to bring out different feelings—a soaring violin that danced in countermelodies under vocal lines, playing piano alongside Ella, and I even risked the oboe once it seemed like Ella was more comfortable, even knowing she was tender around woodwinds. How she and Callum had played clarinet together. And even though she tensed up the littlest bit, she relaxed into the music in no time.

Of course, my favorite was when I took over the piano and sent Ella to play the cello. She’d been practicing it a little bit. Hopefully as turned on every time as I was when I played it. Judging by the way her breath hitched when I guided her hand on the fingerboard to the right notes for the chord progression we were doing, how she looked at me with that desperate look in her eyes somewhere betweenwe can’t do this hereandplease fuck me now—she probably was.

Hannah scoffed once we finished that song, slinging her bass off and hanging it up. “All right, I’ve had enough of you two making bedroom eyes at each other,” she said, standing up. “I’m going to grab some scran. You lot want anything?”

Dodge stood up. “I’ll come with. I’m apparently not allowed to watch.”

“We’re not—” Ella protested, face red, and I gave her an inquisitive look.

“Practicing the pieces we’ve been working on together?” I said. “Of course we are. I’m not letting Dodge see those.”

Ella huffed, folding her arms, looking away. “Yes. That’s what we all meant.”

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