Page 136 of Next to Everything We Wanted
“He knows me so well.” I beamed. “So, you’ve been talking to him?”
“He texted me a long list of foods to bring to the picnic, but my basket can only hold so much.”
“That sounds like him.” I opened my basket to show her the desserts. “He gave me these since I can’t make desserts to save my life.”
“That’s sweet of him.” She smiled. “I think your bandmates are starting to like me. Everett still isn’t my biggest fan, and I don’t really interact with Celia, though I have Eli and Nick sold.”
“You do.” My insides warmed as I thought about how supportive Phoenix and Ellis were of our relationship now that Sienna knew the truth. “Everett actually has said a few nice things about you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
I nodded. “He thinks you’re a real one just like the rest do.”
“I-Is Celia okay with us being together? I mean, I’m still going to date you anyway, but is she . . . okay?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “She’s doing good. We’ve been getting along.” Celeste and I hadn’t talked about our relationship since last Wednesday, but I assumed we were on a better path. “I don’t want you to worry about her, okay? We shouldn’t compare our relationship to one that didn’t work.”
Sienna gave me a peck on the lips. “Good.” She gestured to her acoustic guitar and a pink sketchbook. “While you eat, I can play my song for you.”
“No, I want to hear the song first.”
“Alright.” She opened her pink sketchbook, one with the Eiffel Tower on it, to a page with neat handwriting and strapped her guitar over herself. “You ready?”
I nodded, sitting up straight.
Smiling, Sienna started singing. In an instant, her soft voice pulled me in. It was like listening to a lullaby, only more enchanting. By the chorus, I was a goner.
“The world stops
With your lips on mine
But then the clock strikes twelve
Am I out of time?
Because I don’t want this night to end
Kiss me again so we can pretend
That the world isn’t spinning
Because everything stops spinning
With your lips on mine.”
The world had stopped spinning, alright. Sienna and I were the only people who existed, nothing surrounding us but her lulling words. I wondered if she felt this way when she heard my voice.
When she finished singing, she grinned. “How was that?”
“Are you sure that’s the first song you’ve written?” I asked. How could she write something like that with no priorexperience? It took forever for me to learn how to write a song that didn’t sound amateur.
“It’s the first one I’ve written from start to finish.”
“That just proves how amazing you are.” I smiled before pressing my lips to hers. Her mouth was warm and soft as usual, sending a wave of heat through my body. I cupped her head in my hands as she wrapped her arms around my back, pulling me closer.
It stunned me how breathless I could get just from a few kisses, and I craved the feeling. I craved the way my pulse went crazy as her mouth synced with mine, a song we knew too well. If the aroma of the food around us hadn’t been so delicious, I could’ve kept up with this forever.
“Okay, we need to eat,” I said, pulling away from her. “The smell is tempting me.”
