Chapter Nine
Nick
“Who’s that?” Michael asks, taking my spot at my keyboard.
Sean slumps into my beanbag chair across the room, sighing in annoyance. “Nick’s new girl. Carrie thinks she’s kinda weird.”
“Weird how?” I ask, wondering why they would discuss her behind my back.
Sean shrugs. “Weird as in what just happened. She’s all quiet and standoffish. Now she’s covered in bruises. It’s weird.”
Michael, the one who’s usually the asshole, scoffs at Sean. “She can’t control if she has bruises, dude.”
Sean puts his hands up in defense, eyes wide. “I’m just saying.” He turns his attention to me. “She’s pretty and all, and I’m not saying don’t be her friend or don’t help her but think about who you’re starting a romantic relationship with. What kind of drama is she going to be bringing into your life?”
“Quit being an asshole,” Michael barks back at him, escalating an argument between them as I sigh and ignore them, wondering if Leah really is weird. Am I being blinded by love? This wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.
Sean might be right. I want to help Leah, I really do, but I still don’t know anything about her personal life. The more I do get to know her, the more questions I have and the less she wants to answer. I’m too much of a pussy to push and ask for more. What if I freak her out and push her away. If she came to trust me, she’d tell me what’s wrong, right?
Leah and Carrie return once Michael and Sean have calmed down. Carrie somehow worked her magic and brought Leah back, smiling, from whatever the hell happened. I wanted to know what triggered her. Who hurt her? My hands are balled into fists at my side as the thought of someone out there making her that terrified rushes through my mind.
Her forest-green eyes lock with mine, and I force myself to smile. Hers falters a smidge before she looks away, sitting in her old spot by my side, snuggling up to me without words. My palm smoothes across her face as I cup her cheek. She looks up at me with those sparkling eyes, and I lay a gentle kiss on her forehead as she tucks her head away again, wrapping her arms tighter around me.
"Okay, planning, planning, planning," Carrie barks, plopping down on the ottoman. She has a notebook in hand as she twirls her pencil with the other. "We leave next Friday morning. Early. We gotta hit Houston, then Beaumont. We'll cross over into Louisiana for the night."
Michael groans. "That's a lot of gigs in one day, Carrie."
She waves her hand dismissively. "They're all like thirty-minute spots. We'll be in Louisiana by midnight." Her eyes narrow at him. "Gotta learn how to hang, bud."
He shakes his head as his arms cross over his chest. "That's too much set up for the three of us."
"Four," she corrects with a raised eyebrow.
He blinks at her, gesturing to me as he says, "Nick can't do shit."
"That's why Leah's coming," she explains.
A silence falls over the room as I glance down at the beautiful girl in my arms, who smiles. Shit. I guess she’s coming then.
Carrie continues, "She can help set up and breakdown. She's not gonna be as tired as us after each show, so it'll be useful to have her around."
"Oh, no," Michael starts up again as Sean growls in his direction, ready to defend Carrie like he always does. Michael chooses to ignore the warning. "She's tiny and won't be able to lift shit. I'm not sharing tips with road help that won't really help."
Before I can respond in Leah’s honor, Carrie is already biting back. "Good thing you're not in charge of that, Mikey. Leah comes. She does work. She gets paid. She needs it as much as we need her, so zip it."
He does zip it as he huffs before turning his attention to my keyboard. He starts playing instead of continuing to participate in our conversation. We talk over him, discussing the rest of the trip and what each day entails. Leah would grip me every time she got excited. I'd look down at her, and she'd have a dopey smile on her face, like earlier never even happened. I want to keep her smiling and keep whoever is scaring her far away forever.
The five of us are exhausted by the time Carrie finally calls meeting adjourned. Leah’s asleep, perched underneath my arm. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I do know she probably had a very long and emotional day. I’m glad I can give her a safe place to rest. Glad she chose me over anyone else.
"She's really pretty, Nick," Carrie whispers to me as the other two members of our band had already walked out the door. She touches my forearm, looking serious as she tells me, "Be careful with her. She has issues, and I don’t want to see you in another Katie situation."
My eyebrows draw together in offense as I scoff, shaking my head. "You don't know Leah. She’s not like Katie at all."
My sister sighs, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, bro. I'm just trying to look out for you. I know Leah isn't Katie, but I don't want to see you get attached for the wrong reasons. Again."
"There’s no point in comparing them. I haven't thought about Katie a single time since I've been with Leah. Not once."
She rolls her eyes again. "Right. Whatever. See you tomorrow then. Have fun." She playfully punches my shoulder too hard before leaving my apartment.
I look down at Leah's sleeping face and try to find the resemblance between her and Katie. There isn’t much besides that they were both blondes. Katie had blue eyes, not green, and she always kept her hair short. Her hair wasn't platinum-blonde either, more of a yellowy type. Leah has these beautiful freckles all along her cheeks that Katie didn't.
They’re nothing alike. Maybe both have emotional baggage, but everyone has baggage. We all have a past we don’t want people to know. We all have demons and skeletons. I’m sure Leah will let me in when she’s ready.
Leah stirs, her eyes blinking open, a sweet smile spreading across her face when she realizes where she is. "Time for bed, sleepy head," I tell her, brushing some of her hair behind her ear.
She yawns as she nods. “Time for bed.” She helps me from the couch this time, so I can lean on her as we go to the bedroom. We fall in the bed with a thud, and she undresses, borrowing a shirt from me. I catch her sneak a whiff before climbing back into bed.
We cuddle together, and I kiss her forehead. She feels so safe in my arms. She kisses my neck, playfully biting, and I let her. I don’t push anything more, and she doesn’t go much further than that before we’re sleeping again.
✵ ✵ ✵
The shower is running when my eyes open the next morning. Leah's spot of the bed is empty. Her humming filters through the closed bathroom door, and the sound warms my heart. A beautiful woman I have the biggest crush on is ten feet away from me, naked, and humming. She has a beautiful voice too. I know for a fact now that she was the one singing as I dreamed at the hospital. I'd recognize that harmonization anywhere.
Instead of continuing to lay here, waiting for her to come back, I shuffle out of bed and into the kitchen to make her breakfast.
What does she like? Is she an eggs and toast type of person? Does she like pancakes? Chocolate chip pancakes?
Is she one of those weird girls who eats fruit for breakfast? Does she usually eat cereal or grab a granola bar? She seems similar to that type of girl, the one who wakes up early to get some cardio in with a smoothie. I laugh at myself for conjuring the silly image. She probably doesn’t do things like that at all.
I open the fridge and check what options I have. Eggs. Bacon. Milk. Bread. Sandwiches? Breakfast sandwiches? She'll like that, right?
I take out the needed ingredients, assuming she'll be grateful for anything in her current state. I don’t think she had anything to eat for dinner last night, so who knows when her last meal was.
And don't get me wrong, I’m happy she wants to stay with me, but I still have to remember the way this relationship is going at the moment isn’t stable or good for her. Relationships that start off dependent on one another aren’t meant to last.
During our tour I won’t pressure her to stay with me. She needs the money. We need the extra hands. Even if our relationship doesn’t work out, I'd never want her to feel alone. She’s obviously going through something, and she needs all the support she can get.
Should I make that clear to her? I wonder before shaking my head. No. I don’t want her to think I’m rejecting her or anything. She's vulnerable right now. She's putting herself out there to go on the road with us after knowing me for only…three weeks? Shit. Our relationship defies logic but looking into her eyes and feeling her lips against mine is just too right to ignore.
My bedroom door opens, and a fresh-looking Leah stands in the doorway. Her hair is down and still wet but combed. She seems to have borrowed another one of my white t-shirts and put back on the jean shorts she wore the night before. She grins as she stalks across the room then into my arms for one hell of a good morning kiss. My hands find their way to her ass cheeks for a hard squeeze, and she giggles against my lips.
She asks what I’m making, and I tell her. She grins this cheesy-ass grin before covering my mouth with hers again. "What are your plans today?" I ask as her hands roam up and down my torso.
She shrugs. "Work. Gotta get my last paycheck, then I'm done."
I blink. "Done?"
With a nod, she sighs. "Yeah. It's too risky to keep working there right now."
I know it’s futile, but I ask anyway. "Who are you running from?"
She shakes her head, then backs away. At the mention of anything related to her past she still shrinks. She still doesn’t trust me, and I don’t want to push. I don’t want to lose her.
"Hey," I call to her. She catches my eyes again. Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, I force myself to smile. "Don't feel pressured to do anything with me. Really. Tell me when you're ready." She blinks a few times before nodding with a small smile. "Hungry?"
"Starving."
"Then have a seat, because I make the best breakfast sandwiches in the world."
Her eyebrow quirks as she sits in one of my stools. "The world, huh?"
"You bet,” I say with a wink.
She laughs. "Yeah, alright, MasterChef."