Sing to Me (8 page)

It was impossible to be certain in the dim light, but I swear he blushed. His eyes never wavered from mine though.

“Thanks,” he replied simply. “Want to go down stairs?”

I glanced at his guitar.
“
Sure.
Will you sing to me?”

“If you want.
I don’t want to put you asleep too, though.
”

“Don’t worry. Your voice has a comple
tely different effect on me than
it has on Abby,
”
I assured him as I started downstairs.

He c
aught up to me and hi
s free arm came around my waist
as I hit the bottom step. “
Well, that’s an interesting statement I don’t mind exploring. It’s kind of ironic that I skipped out on rehearsal tonight, but I can’t seem to escape the music.”

We were in the living room now, and I stopped before I sat on the couch to say, “Oh, I
thought you must have just gotten done early.
”

“No, there was no way that was happening so I had to bail.”
He kissed me briefly and gently encouraged me to sit down with faint pressure on my shoulder. He sat across from me on the coffee table and
began fiddling with the strings on his guitar
.
I caught my breath at how gorgeous he looked in the faint but war
m circle of light from the lamp. “
I’m
joking around
about the music though
. I wasn’t trying to get away from playing or singing – I just wanted to be with you.”

“Was Micah mad?”

“He wasn’t thrilled since I’
m sure he could guess what
I was up to.
I don’t care though. He needs me in the band, and he knows it.
He didn’t give me too hard a ti
me
except to
warn me
we’d be practicing every night next week since prom is Friday.
”

“So, I’m guessing that means we won’t see much of each other again.”

His
eyes met mine and he nodded as
his shoulders sagged a little. Taking a deep breath, he muttered as he fiddled with the tuning on his guitar, “I can’t wait till this whole prom crap is over.”

“Aren’t you excited to perform?”

“Yeah, but I can’t say I’m excited to be up on stage watching you dance with someone else, knowing there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Somehow, my mind hadn’t really gotten as far as that. I’d only been thinking about my dress, and my hair and everything. I’d vaguely realized that I’d be taking pictures with Brian and doing whatever
else I needed to do as his date, but Colby was right. I’d have to dance with him and hang out with him, at
least for a while. “Maybe he won’t want to dance much.”

“I doubt that, not when it will be a good excuse to hang all over you. Are you going to leave with him too, go somewhere afterwards?”
Colby’s
jaw was stiff and I could see a storm brewing in his eyes
as they bore into mine.

“What? No. I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it that far. Why are you so angry all of a sudden?”

He stood up and laid his guitar on the table before going to stare
through
the blinds at the window. “I’m sorry. I’m not angry. It
’
s just really eating at me
to
think
about you going out with Brian. I watched you drool over him for too long for it not to bother me. You know?”

I went to stand beside him. “Look,
I never
drooled
over him
and I had no idea you liked me.
Maybe if you’d acted like any normal guy and been nice or even flirted with me a little, I would have gotten over Brian sooner and we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Yeah, well, it’s never been easy for me to talk to girls – and it’s even worse with you. If you’ll notice, I still haven’t told you anything I was going to
say
Monday night before you’re mom called. I want to, but I don’t know if I can get it out the way I want.”

“Why don’t you try?”

He turned towards
me and framed my face with his hands. His eyes were dark with shadows, but I could sense the emotions burning inside him. “Some things just go too deep for words you know?”

I nodded slightly, recognizing the struggle that was going on inside him.
I knew then that
Colby
was such a good musician because he felt things so deeply. And he
seemed more keyed up than usual tonight.
Maybe if I could get him to relax, he’d be able to tell me.

I smiled as I said, “Here, let me help you start
-
‘
Rylie
, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known and you sing like an angel.’”

He gave a surprised chuckle, and I could hear the humor
return to
his voice as he responded, “Well, so far you’ve got it right.” His arms came down and wrapped around my waist. “What else
am I thinking
?”

“
How about – ‘Even though it’s going to drive me crazy to see you with someone else at prom, I admire you for being the kind of girl who respects her commitments.’”

Colby groaned. “Fine. I wasn’t going to say that, but I see your point. What else?”

“Um… ‘I feel amazing when I’m with you and lonely when I’m not. I feel like we’re
connected somehow,
but
there’s so much I don’t know about you yet. I want to know what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, what you’re doing when I’m not with you – mostly what you think of me, what you feel for me,
and
if you wish you were with me when you’re not. And…
’
Colby
,
I can’t breathe when you look at me like that
…”

Colby’s voice
was rough as he said, “How could you possibly know that I’m thinking all of that?”

“I didn’t. That’s what
I’m
thinking.” My voice was a whisper, but I knew he heard me. My fingers trembled as I put them around his neck. From the look on his face, I was going to need to hold on for what was coming next.

He kissed me then and my
world narrowed to the perfection of the moment. His lips
were firm and possessive
,
his breath sweet and warm as it mingled with mine
.
His strong arms pulled me against him like he couldn’t bring me close enough, and I was lost to everything but the feel and smell and taste of him.

It was a miracle either of us heard the
front
door opening.

I jerke
d my h
ead in surprise as Colby groaned. He was facing the doorway, and he could see what I couldn’t. I turned and looked over my shoulders to see Marcy staring at us, her mouth open. As she closed it, it hardened into a grim line and her eyes narrowed at us.

Colby slowly released me and I turned around, my heart pounding. I felt like an animal caught in a trap with an angry predator looming over me. I’d never seen such anger consume an expression before.

When Marcy finally spoke, her voice sent ice
through my veins. “Would you two
mind
explaining what’s going on?
”

Colby’s voice was equally cold as he answered. “I’m pretty sure you’
ve got it figured out, Marcy. It’s called kissing, and as I’ve
been
forced to notice, you seem to enjoy it too.”

Marcy’s eyes flashed at him, but she focused on me. “
Rylie
, I expect this kind of behavior from Colby, but I thought I could trust you.”

My mind raced and floundered at the same time, trying to figure out exactly why she was so angry. I could see her being a little annoyed, but since Abby was obviously already in bed, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Naturally, I’d rather they hadn’t walked in on us, but Marcy’s reaction seemed … crazy.

Before I could answer, Colby’s dad came in. I heard him saying, “Here, Marcy. You left your phone in the car.” Then, sensing the atmosphere, his voice turned all business as he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“These two have been here
,
making out
, while our precious baby is alone and neglected.”

“Oh good grief!”
Colby, sounding angry, but not really surprised.

His dad studied us, weighing the situation. Then he asked me, “Where’s Abby.”

“She’s sound asleep upstairs in her room.”

“How long has Colby been here?”

I could only guess, though I knew it hadn’t been long. I looked at him to see if he knew.

Colby answered for me, sounding as firm and confident as his dad. “Maybe twenty minutes, thirty tops. I helped get Abby to sleep while
Rylie
straightened up. We’ve only been alone down here for about five minutes.”

His dad turned back to Marcy and said, “I really don’t see the problem. “

I thought her head was going to explode. “Are you serious
?
We are paying her to babysit Abby, not make out with your son. The last thing I want is our daughter’s safety in the hands of a couple of horny teenagers.”

I wanted to die.

Co
lby
’s
eyes were
scorching as he looked at Marcy.
“Wow.
That’s over the line.”

“Marcy,” Colby’s dad said, as if trying to calm the situation down. “Look, they’re both responsible kids and it’s not like we told them they couldn’t spend time together while we were gone.”

“If I’d known they’d be up to this, believe me, I would have.”

I felt sick to my stomach, and the only thing that kept me together was Colby
’s hand holding mine
. I cleared my throat and said, “We weren’t even friends at first. It’s kind of developed since then. I’m sorry, Mrs. Adams. I should have known better.”

“Yes, you should have,” she agreed, sounding only marginally appeased. “I never would have hired you if your mom hadn’t assured me that I could trust you.”

Apparently, this was too much for Colby. “What’s she supposed to do?
Stand over Abby and count every breath she takes?”

“Of course not,
but I want to know that if anything goes wrong or Abby needs something,
Rylie
will be paying attention. I doubt she can do that if she’s sucking face with you.”

My eyebrows went up. My mom never would have used that phrase and it reminded me how close Marcy was to my own age. Too bad she was in another universe sanity-wise.

Colby’s
dad broken in to say,
“Well, let’s just make
it a rule from now on and no harms done.”

“No, she’s right, Dad,” Colby said, sarcasm dripping from every word. “
You shouldn’t trust us. Teenagers are completely unreliable when their hormones are involved. I mean, she remembers that better than you,
right? S
he was one herself just a few years ago.”

Marcy gasped, Colby’s dad closed his eyes with a pained expression, and I winced. It was going to be full-out war between Colby and his step-mom now, and it was all over me.
I gripped his hand in support, but it he seemed ready to take his stepmom on.

She put her hands up
like she was pushing back on him and said,
“Look, I know you have a problem with how young I am, but I’m still Abby’s mother and I get to decide what’s best for her.”

“You mean, my dad doesn’t have any say in it? She is his daughter too, you know, and he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

“He’s
too lenient when he’s dealing with you.”

“Yeah, because I get in
so
much trouble.”

“You’re never around enough for us to know what you’re doing. Who knows what you ge
t up to with that band of yours - o
r how many other girls you’re stringing around
?
”

Colby
stared at her, his eyes scathing. “I’m glad you know me so well, Marcy. Let’s get out
of her
e
,
Rylie
.”

I was desperate to get away, so I let him pull me towards the door. As I went, I heard Marcy speak behind me. “Wait,
Rylie
. I haven’t paid you yet.”

I stopped and Colby waited impatiently in the open doorway, the porch light streaming in around him. Marcy fumbled around in her purse for a second and held some bills out to me.

When I didn’t take them immediately, she said, “I’m sorry things didn’t work out. Here’s a little extra to make up for next week.”