Page 103 of Love is a Lyric
“She thinks I’m only in love with her because her lyrics speak to me. She doesn’t understand that the day she chose me, everything changed. I only found out recently the words were hers, but I fell in love with her long before that. She doesn’t see that her kindness matters. That she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known—inside and out. Everything she does is for other people, but this time, I’m going to take care of her.”
He shifted his guitar, swinging it around to rest against his chest. “I have a song only Piper has heard. It doesn’t have words yet, but that’s the point. Piper once told me we were a song with no ending, but now it’s up to her.” His eyes found Piper. “Finish our song.”
Drew hooked Ben’s guitar into the amp as Ben started the familiar tune. The day Piper heard him writing it was the first time she’d felt the connection between her words and his music. Her entire world shifted that day.
“I finished it,” she whispered, the words she’d written filtering through her mind.
“What?” Chase leaned closer to hear her.
“We’re not just the lyrics, Chase. We’re the whole darn song.” She reached forward to grab Melanie’s arm. “I need a microphone.”
“Here.” Jo pulled the mic from her own ear. Piper hadn’t realized she was there. “I couldn’t miss this.” Had they all known?
Jo fit Piper with the mic, hooking the box to her waist and flipping it on.
Piper’s heart pounded in her chest as she took a breath and waited for the right note to enter on.
“One day,” Piper sang, stepping onto the stage.
Ben’s entire body straightened, but he didn’t stop playing.
“Forever together.” A roar erupted from the crowd as she stepped up beside Ben. “One Kiss. I’ll see you in my dreams.” Her eyes locked onto his as the world shifted into place. She’d never wanted to stand in front of thousands of fans, but for Ben she’d do anything. “We thought we’d found heaven. That this was where our story ends.”
Her lyrics fit perfectly into the rhythm of his music, and that was how she knew. She’d worried he’d only love her for the words she wrote, but he was right. Her lyrics weren’t complete without his notes. Separate, their love was just words. But if they chose each other, if they overcame everything standing in their way, they were a song.
Tears shone in her eyes as the song came to an end, and silence descended on them. Piper couldn’t see the faces in the crowd past the bright lights, but she knew they were there. And still, all she could do was stare at the man completing her music.
“You finished my song,” he whispered.
She shook her head, a smile spreading across her face. “I finished our song.”
Ben lifted the guitar strap over his head and held it out to Drew. Drew took it seconds before Ben crashed his lips into Piper’s, stealing every doubt from her mind.
This time, when she kissed him, it didn’t hold a goodbye. There was no sense of wrongdoing or betrayal.
Only Ben.
It would only ever be Ben.
Drew tapped Piper on the shoulder, and she finally pulled away, remembering the crowd was there.
“Um.” Drew suppressed a laugh. “Your mics are still on.”
Warmth flooded Piper’s cheeks, but Ben only shook his head as he took her hand and dragged her from the stage. In sync, they ripped the mics from their ears and threw them at Melanie.
Piper pulled Ben through the hall until they reached Drew’s dressing room. “We have forty-five minutes until he’s done with his set.”
Ben grinned down at her. “Perfect.”
They practically fell through the door and onto the leather couch. Ben’s touch seared into Piper through her clothes. All the weeks of pain faded away until there was only this moment.
Ben kissed her like he’d never stop. He held onto her like he’d never let go. “Piper,” he whispered against her lips.
She rested her forehead against his. “What could possibly make you stop kissing me right now?”
The intensity of his gaze should have scared her. Instead, it brought her to life.
“In case you didn’t get this by my embarrassing display, I love you. Not for the music but for you. I get why you lied to me.”
