Sing For Me (5 page)

“Are we going out?”

She shrugged. “If you want to.”

He watched her for a moment, trying to determine if he were dreaming. They didn’t end things well yesterday. It didn’t make sense that she was here, smiling at him and waiting for him to head out and spend the day with her.

“Did you fall asleep while standing?”

He shook his head.

“So? Do you want to join me for a walk?”

A walk. She probably just had some things to tell him.

“I’ll grab my coat.” He went back to his room, got his coat, and hurried back down.

Chloe opened the door and headed out. “I much prefer your clean-shaven face.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “I’m curious about the house,” she said when he got next to her. “Will you show me the place?”

“Yeah.”

“What?” she asked. “I can tell you want to ask me something.”

“I thought you were … angry with me.”

“I was.”

“And now you’re not?”

She stopped walking and turned to him. “It’s been eight years.” She shook her head and laughed softly. “Even Josh is all grown up. I think I’ve been angry long enough.”

“You saw Josh.”

“He’s the reason I’m here.”

Christopher could almost taste the sourness in his mouth as he nodded and continued walking.

“I know you didn’t see the letters, but I did write to you. When you didn’t reply, I just thought …” She sighed and shrugged. “I don’t have any proof that I left a letter for you. You just have to take my word for it.”

He grinned. “Okay.”

“So we’re no longer angry with each other?”

“The … first thing I did … after winning was to … look for you.”

She pursed and released her lips. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay to watch the results. I promise it’ll be the first thing I do once the plane lands. But even without watching, I know in my heart that you’ll win. I’m proud to have you as a friend. Lots of love, Chloe.” She grinned when he did. “I can’t remember exactly, but I think that was what I wrote.”

His grin broadened as he shook his head.

He couldn’t believe he’d allowed his petty anger to keep him from contacting Chloe for eight years. Eight years!

“But you still could’ve contacted me.”

He gave her a wry smile. “I guess I was … angry. That whole day, I couldn’t wait … for the competition to be over. And when it was … you weren’t there.”

“Couldn’t wait for it to be over? Why?”

He closed the distance between them. “Because I wanted to do this.” He raised his hand and cupped it against her cheek.

She tilted her head slightly, leaning into his hand.

With a soft tug, he pulled her face close to his. He took a deep breath and bent over her as his heart pounded away.

When his lips touched hers, a wave of energy exploded within him. He weaved his hand into her hair and pulled her closer. She tasted like strawberry and sunlight. He had waited eight years to do this, and he couldn’t have enough of her.

Chloe’s hands moved up his arms, and he kneaded her neck as his thumb rubbed against her lower jaw.

She moaned softly, and that sound took his breath away. He tightened his hand around her waist, but she suddenly broke from the kiss and pushed him away.

She held her hands out as if she were afraid of him while her chest rose and fell rapidly. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Right.” Of course she did.

She was now the most sought-after songwriter. Everyone wanted to work with her. Having a song written by her was considered a guaranteed success.

He was nothing now. How could he even think she’d consider being with him?

“Right.”

“Yeah,” she said and turned away from him. “Let’s head to the river.”

Chloe placed her hands by the sides of her face and pressed against the glass window. She closed her eyes and licked her lips.

When Christopher’s warm hand cupped against her face, she couldn’t think of anything else. His touch was so soothing, so familiar. When his lips touched hers, the kiss that melted all the tension and space they’d put between them.

She pursed her lips and her chest rose when she remembered the moment he deepened the kiss, the pressure of his hand against the back of her head while she laid her hand on his chest and felt the same wild thump of his heart.

How could one kiss be so sweet, alluring, and passionate?

Regardless, she shouldn’t have kissed him back, and she certainly shouldn’t have pushed him away and made her declaration of having a boyfriend; a boyfriend whom she remembered only when she racked her brain for a justification for pushing Christopher away.

For the first few minutes after that, they strolled along in a rather awkward silence. Thankfully, they had always been comfortable with silence and with each other.

She stepped back from the glass when she heard the click of a door’s lock.

“Here.” He pushed the door open and cocked his head to the side.

She entered the house and looked around. “It’s beautiful.” She walked over to the long windows facing the river. “It’s gorgeous; it’s just like I imagined.” She turned and found him watching her with a grin. “What?”
 

He walked over and dropped the key onto her hand. “It’s yours.”

“What? You can’t be serious.” She stared at the intense and steadfast color of the slow moving words that Christopher had just spoken. “You’re serious.”

“Everything’s fully paid.”

She slipped her finger through the key ring and stared at the dangling key. “We used to tell each other everything. Can we still do that?”

He nodded.

“I heard the record company dropped you.”

“It hasn’t been officially … announced, but I … believe the news will be … out any time.” His pinkish-yellow words were tainted with an undertone of olive green.

“And I heard you lost your voice.”

“Josh told you that?”

She shrugged. “Is that true?”

“I can’t … sing anymore.”

“Then what are you going to do for money?”

“I still have some.”

“But you’ll run out sooner or later.” She looked around before turning to him. “Why don’t you sell the house to me instead?”

“No, it’s yours.”

She almost rolled her eyes.

“You’re the reason … I won … the competition and had a … bestselling album.”

She frowned. “Is that what you think? Is that why you want to give me this house?”

“I want to … give you this house because … I want to. I built it … for you.”

“You built it for me?”

“I know you can pro … probably afford your own … place now. But … at that time I … had the childish thought … that with this house, you … don’t have to stay with your parents … anymore.”

She grinned when the olive green disappeared from his words.

“What …” His chin jerked uncontrollably.

“Thank you.” She hated it whenever she saw him struggling with his words. “You don’t have to rush your words with me. I’ll wait for you to speak, you know that, right?”

He looked right into her eyes without a word, and for a moment she felt herself getting pulled toward him.

She took a deep breath and blinked as she turned from him.

You have a boyfriend, she reminded herself.

“I’ll show you the … rest of the house.”

With another glance at the key, she stuffed it into her pocket and followed him upstairs.

She looked down at the spacious living room as she made her way up. She loved the large light gray couch sitting in the middle of the room. She wasn’t someone who held gatherings or parties, but she couldn’t wait to laze an afternoon away on that couch.

He paused outside a room and opened the door. “Your office.”

He ushered her into the room.

She stepped toward the long wooden table with a light birch top with dark walnut frame. “I want a long table that will have nothing on it besides my pencil and paper,” she said while she ran her fingers across the surface of the table.

“Your chair is … facing the river so you can write while … staring at it.”

She leaned closer to the glass. “It’s soundproof.”

“So are the walls and door.”

She looked out at the river rushing by, but there weren’t any colors.

He stood beside her and stared out of the window. “The colors are soothing, but they can be distracting.”

“You remembered everything I said.”

He grinned and placed his hand on her back.

The warmth from his hand radiated across the surface of her skin. She didn’t remember being this sensitive to his touch, and she shouldn’t be.

“Your home studio,” he said, leading her to another room. “A place for you to … work. This room is soundproofed as well.”

“And there’s all the equipment I need.” She went over to the microphone and switched it on, trying to distract herself from thoughts of his hand on her back. “It’s connected to that, right?” She pointed to the earphones.

Christopher nodded.

She went over and sat on the chair while putting the earphones in place. “Sing for me.”

His brows drew closer as his head tilted slightly to the side. “I can’t. You … know I can’t.”

Again with the olive green.

“That’s because you were drunk.”

“I’m not anymore … but I still … can’t sing.”

“Will you try? Please?” She blinked twice and flashed her sweetest smile.

“It’s not going to work.”

“What isn’t going to work?”

“You begging me to … do things for you,” he said. “You did this when you … wanted me to join the … competition.”

“And you joined, and you won. I knew you’d win right from the start.” Just as she knew he couldn’t have lost his voice. She pointed to the microphone. “Please?”

“What if I can’t … can’t sing anymore?”

She pulled off her earphones. “Do you remember the first time we met?”

He nodded, but he didn’t say anything.

“You saw my mother berating me in front of the whole neighborhood for being a crybaby.” She had told her mother that she needed a signature on a consent form. Her mother proceeded to go crazy on her for being rude and inconsiderate and for not having the basic manners of waiting until she was in a better mood.

Technically, her mother said she should have waited for her to be free.

Chloe always did that. She had already peeked into the room, and her mother was sitting in front of her dresser, not doing anything.

When her mother started shouting, Chloe escaped out of the house, thinking that getting out of her mother’s sight would resolve the situation.

It did not, of course.

Her mother went after her, shouting at her all the way.

“Then you came over and shouted at my mom to stop.” She grinned. “No one ever stood up for me that way. I still remember how bad I felt when your mom came over and made you apologize.”

“My mom only pretended … to be angry with me. I actually … got ice cream for standing up for … you.”

“Aah.” That explained why the colors were so weird. “Why did she pretend to be angry with you?”

One of his shoulders twitched upwards.

She squinted and leaned forward. “Why did your mom make you apologize?”

He sighed softly. “Because she was afraid I’d … made things worse for you.”

She swallowed as her tears welled.

“Don’t cry.” He went over and knelt in front of her.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not going to cry.” She gave him a hug, leaning her head against his shoulder.

His shoulder was broader and a lot stronger than she remembered.

When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head and straightened. “Thank you,” she said. “And I’ve always loved you for who you are, not because of your voice.”

She sniffed. “So Chris, whether you choose to sing or not, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“It isn’t about choice.”

She shrugged, took his hand, and pulled him back to the microphone. “Please.”

His eyes slitted.

Please, she mouthed. She wasn’t sure if she should be pushing him like this. She wouldn’t mind if he never sang again, but Christopher had always been proud of his voice. She didn’t want him to lose something he was proud of. “Please.”

He cracked a small smile, and she grinned and returned to her seat.

Christopher couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe’s smile. There had always been something about her, and he’d always loved her, too. He only wished she loved him the way he loved her.

He knew it was impossible. He was eight years too late, and she was with someone now.

Even if there was a chance, he had no right to pursue it, not anymore.

He wished the kiss hadn’t ended; he wished it could go on forever, but he shouldn’t have kissed her.

He cleared his throat before he lost himself in a daydream.

“I’ll try … but I can’t promise anything.” He moved behind the microphone.

“You can do it.”

He believed her whenever she said he could do anything. When she told him she was confident he would win the competition, he believed her. There was no reason to, but he did.

His mom had always told him that he sang well, but all mothers thought the best of their children, except Chloe’s.

“All I’m asking is for you to try.” She put the earphones back in place and gestured for him to go ahead.

He inhaled deeply through his nose and opened his mouth. A sound came out, but it was nowhere near a note.

He shook his head, then turned and walked out of the room without looking at Chloe.

His throat burnt, and thoughts of how drinking would remove all his problems surfaced. The thoughts were wrong, of course. He was in this position because of alcohol, but still, that knowledge didn’t help.

“Chris, wait.”

“I … I told you … I can’t.”

The corners of her lips twitched. “And that’s okay.”

He looked at her for a moment.

“You’ll get your voice back. Maybe not now, but you will.” She widened her grin.

“Why are you so … sure?”

She shrugged. “I just believe you will, and Josh seems to think so as well.”

“Is that why … you’re here? Because of … Josh?”

Her eyes slitted.