Page 189 of Composed
Axel hooks the girl onto his waist, but she pushes her arms out and waves grabby hands at me.
I scan the room, noting Carter, Saint, and Cole watching me.
I catch my lip stud between my teeth, flexing my fingers at my side.
Are they waiting for me to hold her? Or silently asking me to turn her down gently?
I feel a light press on my fingers.
I tip my head down as the second twin holds the back of her palm to mine.
“Hi, Auntie Rixie,” she says quietly, twirling a curl around her index finger.
Definitely Melody.
“Hi,” I breathe. My chest cracks open as the corner of her lips tugs up. I drop to my haunches, keeping my voice low as I ask her, “What do I do here?”
She bounces a sparkly shoe off the floor. “I don’t know. Whatever you want.”
“Is that so?” A soft smile curls my lips, as I watch the little girl. She reminds me of Riley in her quietness. “Well, what do you do in here?”
She suckles on her thumb as she trains her gaze on the double-silver ring looping my nose. “We play music.”
I glance at Lyric then, who still waits with outstretched arms. Before I can overthink it again, I reach out for her.
Axel hands her over without fanfare, before stepping back.
I plant myself on the floor and cross my legs.
Lyric nestles into the gap, head dropping against my chest, caramel curls tickling my nose, while Melody drops to the floor and mirrors my position.
“Can I play music with you?” I keep my voice low, for the two little humans only. “Would that be okay, do you think?”
Melody bobs her head while Lyric speaks. “You play guitar.”
I grin. “I do.”
“Better than Uncle Saint.” Lyric says.
I chuckle at her statement, the knots in my gut easing. “I don’t know if I’d say that. Your uncle Saint is one the greatest guitarist’s I’ve ever known.”
“You know a lot of them?” Melody asks, shuffling until her little thigh is pressed against mine.
“A few, yeah. I work with a ton of musicians.” I smile down at her. “And I’ve been playing a pretty long, so I know a thing or two about it.”
“Can you teach us?” Melody slurs around her thumb.
“To play the guitar?” I twist to face her as Lyric curls her arms around my neck and squeezes. Melody nods. I tap my fingers on my thigh. “I can try, maybe. I’m pretty rusty these days, not sure I have much to offer you.”
Saint scoffs as he slides along the floor and sits next to Melody. “Auntie Rix is being silly. She’s still the single greatest guitarist I’ve ever known.”
My chest thumps at his words.
“You always say that,” Lyric says.
“Because it’s true,” Axel pipes up, lifting her off and swinging her onto his shoulders.
He digs his fingers into her waist, pulling squeaky, breathless giggles from her. Saint tugs free one of Melody’s messy braids and retwists it. Carter watches from his perch on the wall, a smile curving his lips.
