CHAPTER 2
~MARI~
“Yeah, you better go.” My voice was soft. It was everything I could do to keep it from shaking. Trystan Scott loves me. He said it. He wrote a freaking song about it. A song that went viral. A song everyone knew. My heart lurched in my chest as he pulled away from me and turned to walk up the aisle.
He looked over his shoulder at me, those brilliant blue eyes gleaming. “The view’s good coming and going, I hear.”
At that point, the smile on my face increased to mega-wattage. I glanced down at the floor and back up at him, feeling the blush spreading across my face. Looking up at him from under my lashes, I nodded once and said, “Only you would say that.”
“Only you would pretend you weren’t looking.” Trystan walked backwards up the aisle, one sneaker squeaking as he clutched his books tightly to his chest. The way he looked at me made everything else melt away. I didn’t remember where I was or what I had to do next. The only thing that mattered in that moment was Trystan. He was like a beautiful black hole, and he absorbed every piece of me.
I teased, “I’ll make a note to ogle you more openly next time.”
He held out his arms, his books extended away from his body and balanced on the top of his palm. “Why wait?” Trystan was standing right in front of the door. I could hear kids moving through the halls, heading to their next class. Trystan turned in a circle slowly, keeping his gaze on me the whole time.
I laughed. Closing my eyes slowly, I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say. I wanted to look at him. I wanted him to see me do it. I don’t know why, but the moment felt charged. Every spot on my skin was hypersensitive, and when his eyes passed over me, I flushed harder. I’ve never blushed so much in my life.
Breathing raggedly, I folded my arms over my chest to try and hide it. “Very pretty,” came out when I finally spoke.
Trystan’s arms fell to his sides, and his books slapped against his leg. He ran back down the aisle to me asking, “Pretty? Seriously?” His brows disappeared under his hairline, as his soft lips hung opened waiting for me to respond.
I grabbed his shoulders and twisted him around, pushing back up the aisle, shoving him toward the door. “You’re such a drama queen. Get to class already!” Trystan allowed me to push him up the aisle. I could see the laugher in his eyes as he looked over his shoulder at me. When we were standing before the door, he dug in his heels and turned suddenly, which resulted in me smacking into his chest. It would have been sexy if I didn’t have that just-walked-into-a-pole expression on my face.
Trystan wrapped his arms around me for half a second, and whispered in my ear, “There are so many words to describe you. I plan on telling you all of them later.” He pulled back and kissed my temple before releasing me. His eyes met mine and held. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I,” I replied softly. We stood a step apart, not touching, just gazing at each other. The bell rang again, but he didn’t move. “You’re late.”
“So are you,” there was no more laughter in his voice. Those radiant eyes bore into me, cutting past every defense mechanism I had. That gaze stripped me, causing me to feel everything at once, making me realize exactly how much Trystan affected me. My heart pounded harder in my chest, as a shiver worked its way down my spine.
After a second, I knew why he didn’t want to leave. This felt surreal, like everything would vanish like smoke in the wind when he left. I didn’t want to say it, but it was the only way to vanish the fear. “Everything will still be the same after class. Go. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”
Reluctantly, Trystan turned and put his hand on the door. He looked back at me, like he was going to say something else, but he turned and pushed through the door instead. I watched the door slowly close, until I couldn’t see Trystan anymore.
When he was gone, I sucked in a sharp breath of air. It felt like I didn’t breathe the entire time he was here. The tension flowed out of my body, and I threw myself into the nearest chair. The theater was dark, save for the safety lights spilling off the stage.
I sat there, alone, in the darkness wondering what just happened. Staring at the empty stage, I felt like my life just took a turn. It was one of those moments that mattered, where I could feel it and I knew this incident was important. This wasn’t a fling. No, it was more than that. Trystan loved me. Somehow, we finally came together.
Maybe living like a lunatic wasn’t a bad idea. I would have never done anything like that a year ago. Crossing a room and throwing my lips on a guy seemed like something someone else would do, but I did it—and it worked out. It made my life better, it dramatically changed everything.
I stared at the spot where we stood, where Trystan told me that I was the girl in the Day Jones song. My gaze fell to the floor. A scrap of white poked out from under the chair. Rising slowly, I walked toward that piece of paper like it was my destiny. Those words were Trystan’s heart poured onto paper. There was no mask, nothing hiding any part of him. That was what drew me to the song in the first place.
Reaching down, I picked up the paper and held it in my hands. The entire song covered the front and back of the page. Trystan’s familiar handwriting lined the margins, along with codas and breath marks mingled amongst the lyrics.
Grasping the page in my hands, I looked down at the last line. Mari. My name was there, written in thick dark lines. Pressing my eyes closed, I shuddered and pressed the page to my heart. I was the girl who brought Trystan Scott to his knees. I was the girl he fell in love with.