Her brow furrows.“What?”
“For Mina’s party.What if we threw in a surprise?”
She eyes me.“Why do I feel like you already have something in mind?”
I shrug.“Maybe I do.”
She crosses her arms.“Joel.”
I press a hand to my chest, feigning offense.“What?You don’t trust me?”
“No.”
“Harsh.”
She huffs.“What song?”
I pause, then say, “You know which one.”
Her jaw hardens and her eyebrows tug in.“No.”
I tilt my head, watching her reaction closely.The immediate no isn’t what makes me pause—it’s the way her fingers tighten around her phone, her shoulders going rigid for just a second too long.
There’s something she’s not telling me.
“You sure about that?”I ask, keeping my tone light.“Because you just made a face.”
Her lips press into a thin line before she says, “I did not make a face.”
I smirk.“You totally did.In fact, you’re still doing it.”
She exhales sharply, shifting in her seat, her gaze flicking anywhere but at me.
I let out a slow breath, dragging a hand through my hair.“I get why you don’t want to sing it.”
Anna doesn’t move, her fingers still tight around her phone.
I shift the guitar on my lap, plucking at the strings absently.“You think I don’t, but I do.”
She exhales sharply, shaking her head.“Joel?—”
“I took something from you,” I say, voice quieter now.“Back then.With the song.”
That stills her.Not a big reaction, just a flicker, the slightest hesitation.But it’s there.
I exhale through my nose.“I told myself it was just about the music.That giving you credit after the fact made it okay.”I swallow, glancing at her.“But it wasn’t just the song, was it?”
Her breath catches.It’s tiny, barely a sound, but I hear it.
I rub my thumb along the edge of my guitar.“It wasn’t just music for me, either.Youweren’t just music for me.”
She blinks, her fingers going still.
I don’t say more.I don’t need to.I just let it sit there, between us, in the heavy quiet.Besides, if I said it—actually said it—it would be real and I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.
For a moment, I think she might say something.Her mouth parts, her expression flickering with something I can’t name.
But then, she just shakes her head, like she’s trying to push it all away.