Page 25 of Love is a Lyric
Piper hugged her knees to her chest. “I… no. You know Quinn. She’s not really into sharing.”
An idea came to him, and he tested it out on the guitar, reveling in the way Piper’s eyes lit up. “That’s perfect.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “Keep going. Please.”
He didn’t let himself think as he played a riff, winging it through part of the song and watching Piper’s face for guidance. When she frowned, he changed what he was doing.
But when she smiled… he believed. In the song. In the music. That maybe the world they’d crafted, just the four of them, didn’t have to break after all.
She started to hum but stopped herself with a sheepish look.
“No.” He kept playing. “Go on.”
Piper shook her head. “I’m not a singer, Ben.”
“You can be whatever you want, Pipes.”
“Okay, well, I don’twantto be a singer.”
He laughed and started singing the chorus, rasping through words full of longing and despair. As his voice dropped away, he caught Piper staring at him, an indecipherable expression on her face. “Was that, uh, okay?”
“Perfect.” She choked out the word. “It was perfect.” A tear tracked down her cheek, and he leaned forward to wipe it away but stopped himself. This was Piper, not some fan who’d scream for him to touch her. He couldn’t remember seeing her cry since she was a kid.
She scooted back and wiped her face. “Why do you love her, Ben?”
He jerked back like he’d been slapped. “Piper… random…”
“You’re right. Forget about it.” She got to her feet.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m still not feeling well. I need to lie down.”
He didn’t know what he’d said to make her lie to him again, but there went that lip into her mouth. “Why are you asking this?” He needed to know where her head was at.
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Quinn is… she’s difficult, Ben. You know that as well as I. Yet people love her. You, one of the best guys I know, are hopelessly in love with her. Is it because she’s beautiful?”
“What? No. Piper, where is this coming from? Is it about Drew? Did he do something to you?”
“Drew? No. Why would you…” Her eyes widened. “How the heck do you know I was with him? You know what? Forget I asked my question, and I’ll forget you asked yours.” She turned to lift her beach bag.
“No.” He shoved the guitar aside and scrambled up. “I won’t forget. I can’t. Drew can’t be trusted, Piper. You have to see that from the way he goes from woman to woman. And I hate to break it to you, but none of them are like you.”
“Like me?” Her eyes blazed as she turned. “Right. Thanks for the reminder Quinn gives me every day that I’m not good enough for someone like Drew Stone.”
“No,” he yelled. “Drew isn’t good enough for you.”
Her chest heaved as she stared at him. “Drew and I weren’t on a date.”
“Then…” He shook his head. There was only one other reason she’d have met with him. “Does Quinn know?”
“Know what?”
“Don’t play dumb. You’re the smartest woman I know.” Piper Hayes was considering a new job, one that had nothing to do withFateor the band members she’d spent the last few years with.
“I can’t…” She clutched her stomach. “I can’t talk about this with you. Not you, Ben.”
“Why not me?”
“Because you’re the only member of this band who ever made me feel like my contributions mattered, like I had a place here. And the thought of leaving you…”
“Then don’t. Stay with us. We can’t function without you.”
