Page 55 of Hypothetical Heart
Unlike most piano books, where they only show the notes, this one actually showed a picture of which keys you need to press.
“Just try to play the notes one at a time first, then you can work on putting them together,” I advise, my finger tracing the page.
“Okay,” she says.
“You might need to stop sitting on your hands first.” A grin crosses my face, and she blushes, retrieving her hands and placing them on the keys. I put my hands over hers, positioning her fingers correctly. “Now, push the first key.”
I put a little more pressure on the fingers she’s supposed to press down with, but I’m not doing it for her.
She flinches back when the keys sound, and it doesn’t sound very good. Looking back at me, she says, “I’m not very good at this.”
“It takes time,” I answer honestly. “Try again, and this time, make sure you're hitting all the keys at the same time.”
She repeats the motion, this time the note sounding more cohesive. I point to the next one in the book, and she tries that one.
I’m not sure how long we spend sitting at the piano, Winnie playing a single note at a time while I rest my hands over hers, but it’s long enough for Winnie to have a good grasp on every note in the song.
“So, now, how am I supposed to put all of those together?” She sighs.
“Let’s work on that next time.” I laugh, grabbing her and pulling her to stand from the piano.
“No, I was just getting good!” She laughs.
“Not to burst your bubble, Win, but we’d be here all night if I taught you to play the whole song in one go.”
“Can I come back tomorrow?” She asks, following me down the hall and into my bedroom.
It’s not weird for her to be in here, not like most people would assume. She knows she is always welcome.
“You can come over anytime you want, Win. You know that already.”
She takes a seat at my desk, mindlessly sorting through the papers sprawled everywhere. Her eyes glaze over the area when she sees her book sitting on my nightstand.
Reaching over to grab it, she asks, “How far through it are you?”
“Oh, you can have it back. I finished it.” I fall back onto my bed, resting my hands behind my head. “It was actually pretty good.”
“You liked it?” she asks, my admission clearly catching her off guard.
“Was I not supposed to?” I counter.
“I just wasn’t expecting you to, that’s all...” she trails off.
“Well, I did. I might want to read another one, actually.” This would be the third book I borrow from her.
“Seriously?” She’s looking at me like I’m full of shit.
“Yeah, maybe I’ll come over and pick another one off your shelves,” I say. “You seem to have lots to spare.”
She laughs, and the way I feel her pulse radiating through my hand sends a spark of electricity through me.
“You haven’t even seen the worst of it,” she teases, picking upBillionaire Bossand hitting me in the head with it.
“What do you mean I haven’t seen the worst of it?” My face morphs into a look of confusion. “They fucked in the bathroom of a restaurant, Winnie.”And it was actually really hot.
She shrugs, removing her wrist from my grasp so she can reach up and zip her lips shut dramatically.
“Oh, I am so going through your bookshelves the next time I’m in your room.” I grin.
