was about to fall into the pool , and I caught it. If it meant so much to you , why did you throw it away ? There was no name
on it, nothing—”
“So you stole it?”
I shake my head, completely thrown off
balance. “No. I didn’t steal anything.
Didn’t you hear me out there? We want to offer whoever wrote it a deal.”
She laughs, a sarcastic laugh as if I’m
insane. This is not the reaction I expected from the owner of those lyrics.
Then again, I didn’t expect the owner’s name to be Lyric. Th ere ’s a coincidence for you.
“Some things can’t be bought, Wolf.”
“I know that.” I do. I absolutely know
that. Shit. “Honestly, we thought we
were doing a good thing.”
“You didn’t know it was my song?”
“No, I swear.”
“You liked it?”
That stops me in my tracks. I want to
take her face into my palms and lay one on her. Is this insecurity coming from
Ms. Feisty herself? “I love it, Lyric. The band loves it. Our manager loves it.
The crowd fucking ate that shit up. We want it to be our next hit, and with the
publicity we’ve brought to it tonight, we’re well on our way.”
Her eyes glaze over and shift away from me. “Look at me, Lyric.” She does. “I’m
not just saying this . . . it’s yours.
If you want me to put a stop to it all, I will. If you want me to let the world
know you wrote it, I can do that , too.
Anything you want. Totally your call.”
She looks at me , and by the way her eyes are scanning mine, I swear she’s seeing me for the
first time. It’s possible. People get closed off when they’ve been burned, I
know from experience. Lyric’s charcoaled skin was still hot when I met her. She
couldn’t see past the smoke, but something is changing. Maybe she isn’t ready
to believe me , but she wants to.
There’s a bang on the bedroom door , and Crawley’s voice is low but clear. “We’re taking off. Lyric, Wolf, you two in there? I need
to see your faces before this bus leaves. Sorry.”
I roll my eyes and move to the door before
Lyric can get to it. When the door is open,
Crawley and Rex are standing there. Rex gives me a nod and walks off. Crawley
lingers longer than he should, glances between us both, and then nods. “Thanks.
See you in the morning.”
“Wait,” Lyric calls and steps forward. I
slam the door before she can leave. “What are you doing? I need to claim my
bunk—”
“Not until we’re done talking.”
She shoves my chest , and I want to lift her, making it easy for her to
wrap her legs around my waist. Resistance makes for hot sex when it’s
consensual. “You can’t imprison me.”
“You can’t kick girls out of my room.”
“You can’t steal song lyrics from
innocent people.”
“Then you shouldn’t throw them away like
they’re nothing to you.”
We’re only a couple of inches apart. My hands are itching to grip her
waist and slam my mouth onto hers . Shut her the hell up, at least for a few
hours. It might r elieve some of the tension
between us because while it may have been questionable when we met, it’s now
painfully obvious. I want Lyric beneath me, wrapped around me, slipping and
sliding with me until her moans turn to screams. I fucking want her. And I want
her words , too. Her angry lyrics, her
vulnerable confessions. I want it all.
“I don’t want anyone to know I wrote it,”
she whispers but doesn’t back away.
“What?”
“You can have it. You’re right. I threw
it away. It was too—”
“Real? Lyric, those make for the best
songs. You should know this. It is real , and
that’s why I love it. That’s why I became obsessed with it for over a week . I can’t write that shit. Not for lack of
trying, but it taps into a part of me that I can’t get to.”
The softness that caresses her features
tells me she understands. “You can. You’re just afraid. Please just don’t tell
anyone it was me. It’s yours. No money. Just take it. I’ll sign it over to you.
Okay?”
“Okay.”
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