The Singles (65 page)

“And then,” he tells me coolly, “We’ll meet again on Thursday because Cameron asked me to add in an extra day of lessons with you.”

Crap. I had hoped to get ahold of him before she did. “Oh, wow ... she works fast.”

Confused, he narrows his eyes. “She asked me yesterday.”

I give myself a chance to process the fact that my advisor went to him well before talking to me about an extra day of lessons, and then I accept defeat and nod. “Rhys? Why did you tell her I’ve been coming to practice? I mean, what do you gain from it?”

Shaking his head, he laughs as he goes back behind the piano to grab his laptop bag. He strides back over to me wearing a sardonic grin. “This is my job. Nobody wants to admit to screwing up when they don’t even know why it’s happening. So that’s why I want
this
from you: If there’s something about me that has you doubting my abilities, or doubting your future here, get it the hell out right now.”

Tearing my gaze from his, I stare at a mismatched tile on the floor right at the corner of the piano. “There’s nothing,” I lie.

He cocks an eyebrow. “Of course there isn’t,” he drawls. “But in case there is, let me get this out there for you. If you don’t show on Tuesday, I won’t come back. Like I said, I’m not going to beg you to come to me.”

Inadvertently, he’s giving me a chance to get all my baggage out in the open, but I still hold on to the idea that I’ll be able to handle my personal issues without involving him. He has yet to figure out who I am thus far so there’s no reason in making him uncomfortable too, is there?

“What are you thinking?” he murmurs, twisting his head a little so he can get a good look into my eyes.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out what your problem is, and it’s killing me not knowing.”

He’s spent his precious time trying to figure me out? The mere thought of him doing that sends a trill of electricity coursing through me. “And you have theories?” I whisper.

“Besides you doubting me? The only other one I could think of is—” When he cuts himself off, sliding the tip of his tongue over the corner of his full lips and then shooting me a cocky grin, I suddenly have to know the rest. There’s no way I’m leaving this room without him coming out with it. I gesture for him to continue and under his breath he mutters that I asked for it before saying, “I thought you might be afraid to be around me because you couldn’t resist ... my natural charms.”

His natural charms.

Dear lord. Did he really just say that? Giving him a tight smile, I shake my head. “Fortunately for you I’m very much immune to your natural charms, so I think we’re good for Tuesday.”

Looking unconvinced, he points out, “You asked me to tell you.”

“And now that you have, and I’ve told you that’s the least of your worries, we can get through this semester.”

He motions for me to move away from the door, and as he exits, his body skims mine, waking every nerve ending, every pulse point, in the process. From the way his gaze lowers to my face, I have a feeling the touch was intentional just to test me.

“Trust me, it makes things so much easier,” he says. “I’ll see you Tuesday at four. And, Evelyn?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget what I said. I’m not going to beg you to work with me. It has to be something you want for yourself or we’re not going to get anywhere.”

“Noted.” I nod. “I’ll be there.”

As I walk back to my dorm to meet my roommate, and probably Hollister too, for dinner, I do my best to ignore the fact that the right side of my body is still tingling from rubbing up against Rhys.

––––––––

“Y
ou know, you’ve never mentioned where home is,” Nathan says from his perch on my computer chair late Friday morning as I pack a few pairs of shorts in a tiny duffle bag.

After Ensemble Choir—which is the only class either of us has on Fridays—we ate a late breakfast together along with my suitemate Lara, who’s also in choir, before she took off for her next class. I’d invited him back to my room to help me pack.

Nathan is officially the first guy I’ve personally invited inside my room here—another record for me compared to last year after my breakup with James—but there’s also not an ounce of attraction between us. While I have no intention of prancing around in my bra and panties in front of him, I also know he has no ulterior motives. I can always appreciate that in a guy,
especially
one with a longtime girlfriend.

“Can you hand me that?” I gesture to the straw hat sitting beside his bottle of green tea. He tosses it to me like a Frisbee where it lands on the top of my bag. “And I know I haven’t mentioned where home is.”

“I can’t even find you on Facebook. Or Instagram. Would it offend you if I ask you if you’re from one of those
The Hills Have Eyes
type of places?”

I grin and toss my toothbrush in the front pocket of the bag. “No, but only because I’ve never seen the movie.” Pulling each zipper closed, I push myself to my feet and stretch my arms and legs. “I live on the border.”

Nathan lifts both his reddish-blond eyebrows. “There are five borders.” This isn’t the first time he’s rattled off geographical info at the drop of a hat, and I shake my head incredulously.

“God, it’s like you’re a walking, talking map.”

“We’ve gone over this, my father teaches Geography—I have no choice. It was either conform or be cast out,” he teases, rolling the chair over to the wastebasket to throw away his now empty bottle.

“Alright, let’s lock this place up. If I don’t get out of here now, I’ll probably hit traffic and won’t get there until after dinner.” Hoisting my duffle bag on my shoulder, I start for the door with Nathan right behind me. As I lock my room from the outside, I swear I can see the wheels in his brain turning while he tries to calculate distance and times to various border locations.

Although he doesn’t have to, he insists on walking the mile to the off-campus freshman parking lot with me because he wants to check out the music store right across the street. When I hit the unlock button on my key fob, and the front lights flash on my car, Nathan releases a low whistle. Abandoning the subject of tests, he walks in a slow circle around my black Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

“You take the bus everywhere and you have this sitting out here?” he laughs.

“Richmond traffic scares me,” I admit, tossing my duffle bag in the tiny backseat and my purse in the front floorboard. “It’s much calmer in Bristol.”

Lifting his gaze from the rear spoiler at the mention of my hometown, Nathan grins. “Bristol, huh?”

“Uh huh, though I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that to yourself,” I say seriously, and when he nods, I relax my shoulders. Once I’m inside the car with my seatbelt secured and the ignition started, he comes around to the partially open window. Disheveled red hair falls over his eyes when he leans over. “See you on Monday, friend. And please don’t get into too much trouble this weekend.”

Shoving his hands in his pocket, he rocks back forward on the balls of his feet, laughing. “I’ve got too much to do to have time for trouble. If you need me, I’ll be making practice room three my bitch for that sight singing test next Wednesday.”

Ugh, I’d almost forgotten about that. Giving Nathan a grateful smile, I wave goodbye and pull out of the jam-packed parking area, watching in the rearview mirror as he jogs across the street and disappears through the double door of the music shop.

As soon as I stop at a gas station and fuel up, I plug in my iPod, singing along with everyone from Civil Twilight to Pink Floyd to Sia all the way home. Luckily, I miss the bulk of the traffic, and it’s a few minutes before five when I pull into my parents’ circular driveway.

There’s a white Infiniti SUV boasting a thirty-day tag parked in Mom’s usual spot, which is right in front of the triple garage. After walking around it a few times just like Nathan had done to my car several hours ago, I finally go inside the house.

I find my mom in the living room. She’s vacuuming, with her back turned to me.

Since she’s not expecting me, I quickly announce my presence, but I still startle her because she spins around to face me, her hazel eyes wide.

She shuts off the vacuum cleaner, nearly knocking it over in the process. “Jesus, Evie, you scared me!” Holding her hand over her chest to still her racing heartbeat, she eases down on the couch. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?”

“It was kind of last minute.” Shifting uncomfortably, I drop my bag behind me in the foyer. “Sorry.”

“Why on Earth are you saying sorry?” Mom laughs a little too hysterically, motioning for me to come and sit beside her. “This is your house, too. I just figured that since you didn’t come home last Labor Day that ...” Her voice trails off and she smooths her small hands down the front of her khaki Bermuda shorts. “I’m
glad
you’re here.”

I believe her, but it’s the edge and hesitation in her voice that gives me cause to worry. Drawing my eyebrows together, I walk all the way into the living room and take a seat on the opposite side of the couch. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s—” She struggles to find the right word, and I notice her fingers are taut as she taps them against her slim legs. “It’s fine. Everything is great, in fact. I’m guessing you saw the gift from your dad out front.”

My mother’s birthday isn’t until January and their anniversary was a couple months ago, so I can easily guess that the brand spanking new SUV must be some type of reconciliation gift. A very extravagant reconciliation gift. I guess Dad really is trying to move back in.

I try not to show any type of emotion—surprise or bitterness or anger—when I say, “It’s gorgeous.” Mom and I have enough issues, like the fact that she still has a hard time looking me in the eye, for me to go and offend her minutes after coming home.

The sound of “Crazy Kids”—the ringtone I’d assigned to Kendra just this past week after she called me crazy in a text message—starts to play, and I give my mother an apologetic look before excusing myself to the kitchen.

“I’m running late,” Kendra complains as soon as I say hello. “My brother didn’t get here to get me until an hour ago, so I’ll be there around—oh, I don’t know—seven thirty or so?”

I grab a Coke from the fridge, biting the inside of my cheek at the full shelf of Dad’s favorite beer. “Sounds good,” I tell Kendra. Even though we haven’t made any concrete plans for the night, the fact that she’d changed her mind late in the week to come to Bristol this weekend had been the driving force behind my decision to come home. “Just text me when you get here?”

After we hang up and I finish my drink, I go back to the living room to find my mom finishing up her housework. After Lily died, Dad had hired a housekeeper to come in three times a week, but my mother wasn’t having it because she hated the thought of someone else cleaning the house, even if she and my father did have the means. As she adjusts a turquoise and mustard yellow throw pillow on the couch, she lifts her head a little until her gaze meets my lips.

I sigh, but say nothing as I support my back against the doorway.

“Do you have any special plans this weekend?” Once again, there’s a note of hesitation in her voice.

“Kendra and I are probably going to catch a movie, but tomorrow I’m all yours. Maybe we can do a movie, or—”

Standing upright, she chews nervously on her bottom lip. “You didn’t tell your dad you were coming, did you?” she questions softly.

“No, why?”

A slow, deep flush creeps up her neck and face as she informs me, “We actually made weekend plans to head to Myrtle Beach tonight. Well, your dad made them and surprised me with the news two days ago. I’m supposed to be picking him up from the dealership at seven.”

Apparently my dad has been just full of surprises lately.

When I open my mouth to speak, she rushes forward and for the briefest moment, we lock stares. There’s a momentary flash of longing and regret in her eyes, but then it’s quickly replaced by genuine concern. “I promise it’s not going to be a problem to cancel. Or you can come with us. Just let me call Matthew and—”

“No!” I shout. She stops in her tracks on her way to the phone in the foyer. Once again, she’s staring directly into my eyes, unblinking as she waits for me to say something. As unforgivable as I think some of my dad’s actions have been, the fact that my mom looks so thrilled about taking a getaway with him is something I can’t overlook. “Seriously, there’s no need to do that. You go on to the beach, I promise I’m fine here.”

“Are you sure, I really don’t—”

I reach her in three long strides and pull her to me. At five-foot-four, she’s shorter than me by four inches, so her head lies awkwardly on my neck for a moment before I release her. “Mom.
Go
.”

When she leaves the house an hour and a half later, I casually ask her not to mention to my father that I’m here in town. She’s so eager to get on the road, she doesn’t even see through my request.

I don’t want to have a run in with him that leaves my mother upset.

With Kendra still not quite in town, and the house so empty I can’t quite stand being alone, I grab my purse intent on getting some food. Even though Friday night is always its busiest time, I can’t resist heading to my favorite restaurant—a throwback 1950’s style diner that’s a mile and a half from the high school I attended.

But the moment I walk inside and spot James on the other side of the restaurant with two of his friends, I consider walking out. Unfortunately, the bell at the top of the door has already announced my arrival, and he’s looking right at me. He dips his chin in recognition, so I push forward and take a seat in an empty booth as far away from him as I can. I pretend to study the menu that I already know by heart. When another body scoots into the booth across from me, I smell the familiar sent of the Fahrenheit cologne I bought him two years ago for Christmas. I press my lips together.

“Can I help you?”

“I haven’t heard a word from you in months and you wouldn’t answer your door all summer. How do you think you can help me?”