Page 39 of Love Off Course

“My mom loved playing piano,” she reveals, her voice a whisper. “She taught me to play. Made me promise to play after she died.”

“Did you?” My fingers stroke up her spine. The urge to offer her comfort is overwhelming.

“I did.” She presses down on the keys softly. “I miss her.”

The pain in her voice is familiar. I recognize that same pain when I think about my dad stuck in a nursing home, a shell of the strong man he once was. I’m still thinking about his mischievous grin when I start to recognize the beginning of a familiar song.

She plays the intro to “Rocket Man” by Elton John damn near flawlessly. I’m not surprised considering she’s an apparent perfectionist in everything she does. But this…this isn’t mastery of a skill, it’s emotions and feeling bleeding into the music she’s playing. As soon as the others recognize it, they start singing along. But it’s Estefania’s voice that carries above the rest. Damn that girl can sing.

Frowning, Sheridan stops to look at me in shock, as though she’s just realizing not only does she has an audience, but they’re participating as well.

“Don’t stop, Sherrie,” Carson calls out. “You were just getting to the good part.”

She laughs—oh, such a sweet sound—and then bangs down harder on the keys as she launches into the chorus of the song. I sing along with my family and friends—new and old. There’s a hurricane on top of us, and we’re in our little world.

Here.

Right here.

Not up there.

For once, I’m glad to be here at home rather than coasting along the skies. I feel tethered in a strange way.

She plays several more Elton John songs, much to myabuela’s glee. When I can tell she’s done being the center of attention, I bring my mouth to her ear.

“Want to take a walk?”

She laughs. “There’s a hurricane outside.”

“Guess we’ll have to take a walk inside then.”

“It won’t be a very fun walk because it’s so short,” she sasses.

I nip at her earlobe. “The destination is all that matters. And I can assure you, Sher, there is nothing short about it when we get there.”

“Oh, you dog,” she breathes.

“And look at you pretending to be scandalized, pretty girl. Let’s get out of here.”

Damian has Estefania singing some of her songs now. Sheridan tries to stay, but I tug her along while we have the distraction. The hallway is dark without the glow of the candles and I have to blindly make my way toward Eduardo’s office. I pull Sheridan into the room and shut the door.

“This has been a long time coming,” I murmur before capturing her mouth with mine.

She moans as she kisses me back, her fingers grabbing blindly at my shirt. “A long time, huh? All forty-eight hours give or take?”

“Every single long one of them.” I pull her sweater up over her head. “This has to go. Fuck, I wish I could see you right now.”

“If you borrowed some of Damian’s dick glitter, maybe we’d have a magical moment in the dark here.”

I growl as I fumble for her bra. She squeals when I tug it away and then moans when my mouth finds her neck. I caress her perfect tits, thumbing the pert nipples, as I suck a mark on herpretty neck. “Feels pretty magical already without stupid glitter shit.”

She laughs. “It’d feel really magical if your shirt were gone.”

“Your wish is my command,” I tease, reaching behind me at my neck to pull my shirt off my head. It gets tossed away and then I press my naked chest against hers as we kiss.

It would be great to have privacy and a bed right about now.

I could spend hours worshiping this woman.

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