Page 56 of Love is a Lyric
16
Ben
Piper sings.
Piper Hayes was a singer.
Ben had known this girl for a long time, but everything about her was new. She wasn’t the kid who’d lost her parents, the one hiding from the world.
She wasn’t the assistant letting Quinn nag her into submission.
No, she was the girl sitting frozen as a room full of people chanted her name.
Ben was accustomed to crowds—thousands—calling for him, paying to see him and doing crazy things to get near him. That was the job.
But this was different. These people didn’t know Piper. They hadn’t listened to her on the radio or seen one of the ads the big machine that was a label pushed out to the masses. There was nothing manufactured, nothing false.
They only wanted music, and someone they trusted told them Piper could give it to them.
“They’re chanting your name, Pipes.” Chase grinned as he nudged Piper to the end of the booth. “You can’t let them down.”
At first, Ben wanted to reach across the table and tell Piper she didn’t have to do this. Then, he met her gaze, not seeing the fear he expected. Instead, her eyes shone with something else, some kind of strength.
She wanted to do this.
So, he didn’t give her an out. He didn’t let her slink back into the shadows that made her so comfortable. He brushed her hand with his, and her lips parted. “You’ve got this, Piper.”
More than anything, in that moment, he wanted to see her on stage, to hear her in a way he never had before, to let her music pull him in further until he no longer remembered why they were in Ohio, or why he wasn’t allowed to acknowledge the feelings swirling in his chest.
With a small nod, she made her decision. As people continued chanting her name—led by Tommy—Piper stood, holding her head high, and walked to the stage. She climbed the steps with confidence, and the sounds died down until all Ben heard was the thrumming of his pulse.
Piper stepped forward and gripped the microphone stand. “I, um, don’t have a guitar.”
“She knows how to play guitar?” Ben asked.
Chase gave him a strange look. “Wow, you really don’t know anything about her.”
Piper continued. “I have a song I wrote yesterday, but I haven’t worked it out on piano yet, so it’ll have to be acappella, if that’s okay.”
Ben shook his head, and Chase shot him a glare. “Let me guess, you didn’t know she played piano either.”
“I…” He sighed. “I left home about the time she moved in.”
“And for the last two years, she’s been on tour with you or living in L.A. with Quinn. Did you ignore her the entire time?”
He had. Not all the time and not all of her. He’d gone to her when he needed help with songs or needed to know schedules she kept for the band. His stomach sank as he realized he’d been no better than Quinn.
All thoughts froze in his mind as the first words left Piper’s mouth.
When I was an Ohio girl.
Living in the big wide world.
* * *
Ben couldn’t take his eyes from her or her imperfect voice. She missed occasional notes and lacked the polish he’d grown accustomed to in the business, but if someone buffed the roughness out of Piper, they’d steal away something important.
Soul.
