Sound of Heartache ("Sound of" Book 2) (2 page)

Brent’s head dropped into his hands. The joy he should have felt over the two lower division music classes on his schedule was completely overshadowed by his concern about this biology class. Music was his life, and given the amount of time he knew he’d need to study for biology just to try to pass it meant music would be put on the backburner this semester. He wasn’t a science geek for a reason.

“
Dude, I’m sure they have tutors for the class.” His best friend and roommate, Eric, told him. Brent raised his head to look at Eric. Eric didn’t have a class schedule because Eric wasn’t in school. Further, Eric had no plans to go to school and Brent envied the fact that Eric was doing whatever the hell he wanted with his life.

“
You think they have tutors? I’m sure as shit going to need one.” He wasn’t ashamed to admit to his lack of ability when it came to science. He also wasn’t modest about the fact he was extraordinarily gifted when it came to composing music. He figured one traded off for the other and provided a little balance in his life.

“
I know they have tutors. There’s always guys like you who don’t know shit about shit,” Eric teased.

Brent socked Eric’s arm. In truth, Eric was one of his biggest champions. He and Eric loved to jam in their apartment, he with his guitar and Eric on the drums. Any time Brent struggled with composition, Eric waited him out patiently and was always up for trying new things. They were hoping to find a couple other guys locally to start up a band with but hadn’t found anyone they could stand to be around for more than a few minutes. Most of the guys out there in the local music scene were complete douches.

“
I’ll make sure I sign up right away. Not that I care so much about my grade in that class, I just don’t want it to fuck up my music program. And I definitely don’t want to have to repeat the damn class.” Brent shuddered. Taking biology twice would be awful.

CHAPTER TWO

Amazingly, even though Eric had never attended a single day of college, he was spot on with the fact that there would be a list of people who needed help to pass basic biology. Unfortunately for Brent, many of them had already signed up for help. There were equally as many people in his boat who were stuck without a college-provided tutor because every single one of the available campus bio tutors were already booked.

When Brent sat down on his first day of class he wasn’t feeling very hopeful. He opened up his laptop and fired up his music program. He could at least do something while he waited for class to begin. He didn’t bother looking up when he heard someone move into the seat next to his. When a soft feminine voice said, “hello”, he didn’t respond other than to lift a hand in a brief wave.

“
Well aren’t you just a charmer,” she said. Brent sighed heavily. Apparently his neighbor was chatty and wasn’t put off by his attitude.

“
I’m sitting in a class I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail so I’m not feeling too chatty.” Brent muttered. He saved his projected and closed the lid to his laptop.

“
Why didn’t you sign up for a tutor?” He was asked. Brent sighed again, knowing he was being a complete prick to the girl and it wasn’t like him at all. He was usually so full of charm girls fell all over him trying to get his attention. And it really wasn’t her fault that he was in a shitty mood.

“
They were all taken, that’s why.” He said, and he finally turned to look at the girl sitting next to him.

“
It’s your lucky day, then.” She told him with a wide smile on a face that Brent would describe as classically pretty. He found himself staring directly into her eyes. He’d never seen such a warm chocolatey brown before.

“
Why’s that?” He asked, moderately interested. He changed his tone up a little and tried to apply his normal charm. He noticed a slight pink flush creep across her cheeks.

“
I’m a bio-chem major, that’s why. Pre-med. This stuff is cake for me. We’ll buddy up and I’ll help get you through it. But only if you promise to keep being so charming.” Brent felt a slow smile curve his lips upward. This girl was cute and she had brains. Life could definitely be worse.

“
You’ve got yourself a deal. I’m your slave for the next eighteen weeks if you can get me through bio with a passing grade.” The girl laughed out loud and held out her hand.

“
Aimee Lansing. Aka your savior for the next eighteen weeks and I promise you’ll pass this class.” Brent shook her hand slowly, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. He notice how long and limber her hands and fingers were. The musician in him was very appreciative of their graceful appearance.

“
You could be a musician with these hands. You ever tried?” He asked her intently. Her warm hand rested in his and she made no move to withdraw it.

“
Future surgeon here. They’ll be used for something equally good.” Aimee didn’t seem concerned that he was a virtual stranger as he sat and studied each of her fingers. He noticed small nicks and cuts that had long since scarred over and added to the overall beauty of her hands instead of detracting from it. This was a girl who got out and lived life.

“
Athlete?” He guessed. He could tell a lot about a person by their hands and he was the type of guy to pay attention.

“
Extreme sports. Hiking, rock climbing, that sort of thing. Doesn’t give me pretty hands but I love it.” Aimee finally pulled her hand from his and began tugging out her book and laptop.

“
Nice laptop,” he commented inanely.

“
It’s great,” she enthused. “Being pre-med means I’m going to need this baby a lot.” She eyed his laptop as if wondering why it was sitting there. He took no offense to her comment because he knew exactly the image he presented to people. His longer sideburns, Elvis pomp, belt chains and Chucks gave off a less-than-serious vibe.

“
I don’t know what I’d do without mine,” he told her. “I’ve got tons of different music programs loaded on here and it’s so much easier to work on composition this way.”

Aimee smiled over at him and Brent liked the fact that her look was friendly rather than appraising. Most girls he met looked at him as their potential next hookup and, although it was great most of the time, sometimes it was nice to just be himself.

“
So, since I’m your official savior, am I worthy of knowing your name?” She teased. Brent grinned, enjoying her easy humor.

“
Brent Pearson, future rocker to your future surgeon. Nice to meet you, Aimee.”

CHAPTER THREE

Two weeks into the biology class had Brent giving enormous thanks to karma for sending him Aimee. It turned out she really did know her shit and he really didn’t have a clue what was going on. He was continuously taking notes on his computer and when he was able to, he’d ask Aimee to explain the things he didn’t understand. Which happened to be a lot.

Aimee was always unfailingly patient with him while she explained things in terms he could easily understand. He was also developing a grudging respect for their professor. She was hard, there was no doubt about it, but she wasn’t a bad professor. Bad professors didn’t care about their students, or didn’t care about the material, and that wasn’t the case here. This professor just demanded a lot from her students.

Brent idly wondered if Aimee had any kind of social life. She seemed available to meet with him whenever he needed it, which was a whole damn lot. He couldn’t deny he liked spending time with her. She was funny and smart as hell and they had a good time together. She could dish it just as well as take it, and from his experience it was rare to find a girl like that.

As he sat waiting for her in the coffeehouse just down the street from the campus, he felt a little bad for monopolizing so much of her time. The only plans he’d been aware of over the last two weeks was a scuba diving trip she’d taken off the coast.

He’d arrived a little early and knew he looked like an eager boy waiting for his date to arrive. He smoothed his pomp in an attempt to calm himself down. He knew he looked vain doing it but it helped put his nerves in place. He wasn’t so sure why today was different, or why he felt so nervous. They had a good rapport.

Brent breathed a sigh of relief as Aimee breezed into the store, her backpack looking like it weighed nothing even though he knew it had to be heavy as hell. Her face lit up when she spotted him sitting there on one of the sofas with an iced latte.

“
Irish cream?” She asked him breathlessly, as she gently eased her backpack to the floor. She plopped into the plush velour seat next to him after grabbing her drink and blew out a breath.

“
Would I get you anything else?” He asked her drily. She grinned at him, her brown eyes sparkling. He felt his gut clench and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Brent had known from day one how pretty Aimee was and it had never bothered him before. He was pretty sure he was slowly being hooked by her personality, which was a first for him. The last thing he needed to do was ruin a good thing by putting the moves on someone who was ensuring he’d pass a class. If they slept together, chances were he’d screw everything up royally, she’d end up hating him, and he could kiss his passing grade goodbye.

“
Well I would hope not!” She joked, and took a long draw from the icy drink. She exhaled and slumped back against the sofa. Her eyes were closed and Brent took the rare opportunity to examine her unobserved.

Aimee was without doubt one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen. There were gorgeous girls and sexy girls; girls who were cute, and girls who just rocked it. Brent didn’t discriminate, he’d been with girls of all types. Aimee, with her delicately proportioned features, was classically pretty. She was a face you’d see memorialized by a famous painter or gracing the big screen as one of the great beauties of their time. Her lack of awareness of her appeal made her that much more beautiful. She was just Aimee, with no artifice or pretense, making her personality the most attractive thing about her.

“
Why do you put up with my sorry ass?” Brent muttered, more to himself than anything else. He still couldn’t believe Aimee was willingly taking the time to tutor him in a subject that was clearly remedial to her. She cracked open an eye and grinned at him.

“
For free Irish cream lattes, of course,” she quipped, taking another long and purposely noisy draw from her drink. She giggled at the disgruntled face Brent made.

“
I’ll owe you lattes for eternity then, if that’s your only requirement of payment,” he responded. She could seriously charge money for her help and in some ways he wished she would. He’d offered it to her more than once but she kept shooting him down. If he paid her, he wouldn’t feel like he was so much in her debt. The way he saw it, their relationship was unequal and that made him extremely uncomfortable.

“
And I’ll keep collecting them from you as long as you’re willing to buy them for me.” Aimee’s smile softened as she looked at him and Brent’s heart gave a quick thump.

Her words didn’t really mean anything, he was sure of it, but they were both talking about something long-term. He was also pretty sure Aimee was looking at him a little differently, but that could just be wishful thinking. Brent slowly blinked his eyes and looked at Aimee again. Whatever he’d seen there had been erased and Aimee was smiling her normal, friendly smile at him. He sighed, hating the conflicting feelings she inspired yet wanting to delve a little deeper.

“
You ready to get started?” He asked, and flipped open his book. She bumped his shoulder against her own, her silky hair brushing against his back. A tingle ran up his spine and he had to repress a groan. Aimee was too damn appealing for her own good.

“
For you?” She responded saucily, “I’m always ready.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Aimee raced toward the coffeehouse, her long, dark hair flying behind her. She wished she’d had time to pull it back because the wind was blowing something fierce and strands kept whipping into her eyes. She was late to meet Brent to study for their midterm and being late was a pet peeve of hers. She especially hated to be late when she knew she’d be seeing Brent.

Distracted, her foot slipped on a wet spot on the sidewalk and Aimee could feel herself start to tip over. Her arms windmilled before she was yanked upright from behind. Her breath came in gasps as she tried to steady herself. The hands holding her up let go, and she swung around to thank her rescuer. Brent stood behind her grinning, his hands tucked into his back pockets. Her eyes slid closed in utter humiliation at her clumsiness. Of course it would be him.

“
You okay there? Something on fire? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you move that fast.” Brent’s voice was gently teasing, and Aimee knew he’d never say anything mean to her or make fun of her. He just wasn’t built like that. She sighed and opened her eyes.

“
I didn’t want to keep you waiting,” she admitted. “Aside from the fact that it’s terribly rude, we have a lot of material to review tonight.” Their midterm was worth thirty percent of their overall grade, so they had to do well. Aimee had no concerns over her own grade but she did worry about Brent being ready. He was incredibly smart but science bored him to death.