Page 102 of Fresh Tracks
Do you need me too?
I still don’t know how he thinks he needs to ask me that. What started weeks ago as me being clearly into him, but also curious to explore that connection has turned into so much more.Right now, that string of tension between us tightens and tugs on my heart and nothing else in the room exists anymore.
Just us. Just that bond we’ve never been able to ignore even if we tried to pretend we could. Ever since that morning on the river in Bend, it’s just inevitable — like it was meant to be.
On stage, he drags out one final distorted note. He finally drops his head, swiping his hair away from his eyes. I see his shoulders rise and fall with labored breaths from exerting himself on stage. He turns back to the members of the band, fist bumping each of them before handing the guitar back to its owner.
I watch in awe, seeing a smile plastered on his face, one so electric and full of energy it makes my stomach flip and butterflies fill my chest. He looks so happy, so at ease, so alive that it’s hard to picture him giving this up for so many years. I know it may only be an impromptu one song performance at a tiny bar in a ski town, but it looks like this was the world to him.
He hops off the stage in one smooth leap, striding past the people that had gathered in front of the small stage. His eyes meet mine and he wastes no time in navigating through the tables and crowd until he’s right in front of me. His hands find my waist, holding me in that possessive way that makes my body mold to his without a second thought. I hold the beers in both hands against my chest, staring back into his hungry eyes for what feels like forever.
Josie’s hand finds my shoulder and she gives it a squeeze, snapping me out of that trance. “I’m going to leave you two alone I think.”
She tosses me a playful wink before finding our friends out in the now crowded, boisterous bar.
“Thank you.” His voice is low and rough, still strained from singing his heart and soul out to me.
“For what?”
He raises a hand to my neck, his thumb tracing lazy circlesover my hammering pulse point. I lean into the touch and whimper. The corner of his mouth tugs up into a smile, revealing that delicious dimple that I’m half-tempted to lick.
“Reminding me that music can just be for me. That it can be mine.” He leans forward, kissing me in a way that’s both long and far too short. My eyes shut, savoring every second. When he pulls away, my lips follow his, wishing it would go on forever, like everything with him. “And for making me feel something again. Feel something so strongly that it brought me back to the only other thing I’ve loved. Writing and playing music.”
I set my beer down and drape my arms around his neck. The way he rolls his neck into my arms, craving my touch the way I do his, brings a smile to my lips. He gives me the same focused, lingering gaze he gave me while he spilled his soul — our story — out on stage.
“I do.” I nod, playing with the ends of his hair in my fingers. “The answer is yes, Tommy. It’ll always be, yes.”
He lets out one long, relived sigh. “Good.”
He looks back at the center of the room in front of the stage where Josie has found our friends. They seem to be paying no attention to us at this point, as the local band starts to play a new song. “Do you want to get out of here?”
I can hardly contain my smile. “Yes. I know just the place.”
CHAPTER 43
TJ
MY HEART WALKS AWAY
One Month Later
“Relax.I will see you at Gloria’s tonight.” Grace straddles me in bed, while the sun, just creeping over the horizon to the east, rises behind her. She looks heavenly like this — my perfect fucking angel, sent here just for me.
My hands glide over the smooth skin of her lower back, playing with the hem of her cropped cami, and pulling her tighter to my lap. If it was up to me, I’d already have my boxer briefs and her flannel sleep shorts off. “You could let Kayleigh and Josie go out backcountry skiing on their own today.”
She quirks her brow. “Nope. Kayleigh's turned me down forever. I’m not going to miss making her hike up to Cody Peak. She’s so spoiled. She needs to earn some turns.”
“I could just take back your vacation day. Not let you have the day off and keep you here.”
She hums in amusement. “You could, except you’re not my boss anymore. We’re partners in this now, remember? And what happened to casual work environment?”
My heart wells with pride. For the past month, we’ve workedtogether, hand in hand, to start setting up the foundation she envisioned. It’s already been the most rewarding thing I’ve been involved in and it’s barely even gotten started.
“Fair enough.” My lips pull into a crooked grin, and I thrust my hips up in a way I know puts pressure on her clit piercing.
She shudders and her eyes roll back, letting me know we both felt that burst of pressure. “Fair? You know that’s not playing fair.”
I grin up at her. “I never said I played fair. Are you still sure you don’t want to stay?”
