Grinning, I give him a quick kiss before backing up to finish getting ready.
He doesn’t appear to like the answer, standing back, watching while I snag the top I was looking for from the hanger. Tossing the tank top over my head, he moans, watching me change in front of him while muttering something about forcing me to stay in.
He leaves me to run to his room, wanting to change his clothes after band practice, promising me he’ll come with me and even agreeing to drive. When I protest, he assures me if he decides to take off, he’ll come back and pick me up when I’m off work.
My shift is low key in comparison to my usual nights at Whiskey Barrel, but it flies by. Brix hangs out at the bar for most of the night, leaving for a bit when things pick up. It’s after midnight when I punch out and walk outside, finding Brix parked near the front. He’s leaning against his tailgate looking mighty sexy with his arms and feet crossed in front of him.
The exhaustion setting in a moment ago is replaced with a spike of adrenaline when I see him push off his truck to approach me. Any reluctance I once feared is gone when I watch him stalk toward me with purpose, wrapping his hands on both sides of my face, leaning in to kiss me. Hard.
“Thank God you’re off,” he whispers, pulling back for a moment. “Do you know how hard it was not to kiss you when you were standing behind the bar? What is it about watching you work that drives me so fucking wild?”
Pulling me closer to him, he moans then slips his hand into mine, leading me over to the passenger side. He opens the door, waiting for me to climb in before he jogs around sliding in next to me.
Glancing over to where I’m sitting on the other end of the bench seat, his eyes dart between me and the empty space, then back to me. I’m damn near ready to crawl on top of him when he adjusts his hat backward, looking deliciously handsome.
Sliding across the seat closer to him, he turns on his truck, settling his hand on my inner thigh, holding me. The warmth in the pickup, combined with the darkness, brings back the fatigue I felt earlier as I lean my head against his shoulder.
We make small conversation about how the rest of my night went as he drives us back to our house. AC/DC plays on low as I peer up at him, mesmerized at the way his long eyelashes fan across the apples of his cheeks every time he blinks beneath the soft light of the streetlights shining above.
“How old were you when you got into singing?”
The question takes him by surprise as he looks down at me before adjusting his gaze back on the road. His hand finds its way back to mine, rubbing his thumb over my skin.
His eyes grow distant, he’s lost in thought before he begins. “Around six or seven. I don’t remember a lot from then, but I remember singing all the time. I was always the center of attention and loved performing. When I started to get older, and things with my parents weren’t going well, and my mom was drinking heavily, I have memories of sitting with her when she was passed out or hungover, singing to her.”
My heart aches thinking about a young Brix in those moments.
“I used it to distract me from what was going on around me. I started getting into it seriously when my parents were going through their divorce. The band, the guys, it was the only thing that helped. Without it, I don’t know where I would be.”
“I think this is what you were meant to be doing.”
Lifting my hand to his mouth, he feathers a soft kiss against the back before relaxing it on his lap.
“How is she doing?”
He wavers again for a second before answering. I’ve noticed the emotion he carries around, seeing what his mom has been going through.
“She’s doing good. I got to talk to her for a little bit yesterday, and she seemed happy. Better. She’s becoming more and more of the mom I remember every day.”
Pulling the car into the driveway, he sits back against the seat, his eyes finding mine in the dark moonlight. Running my hand along his jaw, I pull him closer to me, kissing his lips softly. His hand clenches my thigh as if he’s holding on for dear life. When he leans his head back, breaking our connection, I see the emotion dancing in his eyes.
“I think you were meant to come into my life,” he whispers, but the words hit me with impact. “I’m more myself with you than I’ve ever been.”
Sliding my fingers in his, I kiss him with every ounce of love and passion I feel in me, but I can’t find the words to say.
Nineteen
Ivy
My mom and Jasper haven’t come around often despite flying home a week ago. Although the feeling around the house has shifted knowing any moment they could show up, nothing between Brix and me has changed.
If anything, our connection to each other only seems to grow more, regardless of feeling my guilt over what we are doing settling in more.
It’s inevitable, our parents will find out about us eventually, but it makes me feel better every time Brix assures me it isn’t going to change anything. Even on the nights when they stayed here instead of the loft, we still ended up sneaking into the other’s bed.
I had grown accustomed to sleeping with Brix’s strong arm banded around me every night. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I went back to school and things shifted between us.
I hoped we would be able to make the long-distance thing work, but I also knew who Brix was. He had never been serious about anything in his life, except his music. The likelihood he’d continue to be interested in me when I was three hours away at school was something I thought about often.