Read Online Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) by Lisa N. Paul - Free Book Online

sexual
frustration kept her hands still, even while her inner thoughts ran wild.
     
    Dyin’
just to settle in and hold you
    a
little closer
    Dyin’
just to sip your lips
    Dyin’
for your deep dark kiss
     
    He’d been unusually quiet that afternoon, reflective even.
Thinking back, Ashley now knew that his mood was the result of his inner
conflict—wanting to finally share his feelings for her, but his loyalty to Leo
had held him back.
    While the melody had come relatively easy, the lyrics kept
evading them. Finally allowing herself to pen the thoughts from her mind onto
the paper, she hadn’t dared to turn to face him. She hadn’t needed to move to
hear his breath stick in his chest. There’d been one beat of silence, and then
another while she’d mentally berated herself for exposing her cards to a guy
who meant the world to her. Worse still, her brother’s best friend.
    In an almost unrecognizably hoarse voice, Ryan had exhaled
and said with a moan, “Ashley, my God.” She’d heard the scrub of his hands over
his face, and watched from the corner of her eye as he stood from the chair.
He’d leaned down and kissed her cheek before quickly exiting her room.
    Repeatedly thumping her head against the desk she’d chided
herself for allowing him to see into her thoughts, into her heart. The guys had
left the next morning for the summer tour, their departure placing an icy
feeling in the pit of her belly.
    The lyrics to the ballad had sat, unfinished, in her
notebook—a direct imitation of the way her feelings for Ryan sat unrequited in
her mind. It wasn’t until the night in the pool, when Ryan had kissed her for
the first time—the night he’d confessed his true feelings for her—that the
remaining words to the forgotten song had bubbled out of her like champagne.
That night, Deep Dark Kiss was completed and to date it remained her
favorite Storm Front song.
     

     
    “Dude, what’d that phone ever do to you?” Leo pried the
defenseless cell phone from Ryan’s white-knuckled grip.
    “What? Oh, nothing. I was just talking with your sister.”
Leo laughed at Ryan’s clipped tone and pinched expression.
    “So, what’d she do to piss you off? I mean, Ashley can be
stubborn as hell, but she usually doesn’t get to you like this. Christ, you
usually act like she walks on water.”
    The two friends started walking from the bus to the small
stage they would be playing on later that evening. Ryan watched as Leo climbed
behind his drum kit and yanked out a pair of sticks from his back pocket. He
loved watching his boy play the drums. Leo made it look so damn easy. Playing
was like breathing to him, which is why the two of them had connected so well
in the first place—they each saw their instruments as an extension of
themselves.
    Leo started tapping lightly on his middle tom, leveling his
eyes to Ryan and waiting for his friend to talk. The rasping sound of the drum
was hypnotic—designed to coax an answer out of him. But Ryan was wise to his
friend’s tactics and remained stoic, lightly tapping his foot in time with the
beat. Leo added the deep melodic sound of the bass drum into the mix.
    “So, we’re gonna play it this way? Cool. I can hammer out
the new song while you play the silent, broody guy.” Leo laughed and began to
go full throttle into his groove giving his arms a full-fledged workout, all
the while, keeping his eyes locked firmly on Ryan.
    Ryan shook his head. He knew stubbornness wasn’t a trait
only found in the female Kynde sibling. Leo could wait forever, if that’s what
it took.
    “Grrr, fine, I’ll talk. Just stop with the stare. It’s
fucking creepy, man. Jesus, you and your sister are stubborn as hell when you
want something.”
    “That’s true brother but remember what I’ve told you,
stubborn works both ways. We use it to get what we want and we use it to give what we want. Giving up is never an option for Ash and me. Now
spill.”
    His arms crossed firmly over his