The next day when lunch comes around I want to be left alone. When I woke up in the morning I found Celine right where I left her with a huge hangover and no memory of her night. I told her about her friend leaving and she yelled at me for making him go.
Excuse me for not being comfortable with a strange naked guy twice my age sleeping in the same house as me.
Celine kept yelling and I kept tuning her out while I prepared her my special hangover remedy, one I've perfected before I even knew my fractions.
When I arrived at the mansion Ms. Nancy could tell I wasn't my usual self but didn't say anything and when I told Ms. Victoria I was going out to get food instead eating in with everyone else she didn't stop me.
I never had time to explore the beach since my job was maintaining the inside of the house, but with a few minutes left to myself before my lunch break was over I decide to take a walk.
It's early afternoon, the sun is out and the wind blows in my hair as I walk along the shore. It's quiet, peaceful even, and I thought about what it would feel like to stay out here forever.
On the other end of the beach I can just make out a figure jogging in my direction. I have a good guess on who it is and it's confirmed when he gets close enough for me to see those mesmerizing brown eyes.
"You know this a private beach right? There's no girls to impress." I say teasingly to a shirtless Drew. From the picture in his bedroom I knew he had an amazing body, but it was nothing like seeing it in person.
He had the body of a God. Expansive shoulders, sun-kissed skin, and a tapered waist, I could see why millions of girls drooled over him and that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. Abs. They were taunt and well defined. And forget six pack, he had an eight pack that stopped into a delicious V-line that disappeared into his dark board shorts.
"Well there is one girl here..." He pauses. "Is she impressed?"
I am, but there's no way in hell I'm letting him know that.
"Sorry." I shake my head. "I think you need to lay off of Ms. Victoria's pasta."
Drew laughs, breaking out that beautiful smile of his. "Ouch." He laughs softly. "What are you doing out here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."
"I had a few minutes before my lunch break is over." I answer, shrugging.
"Mind if I keep you company?"
"It's your beach." I answer, before continuing my walk.
"Are you okay? It seemed like you had something on your mind before." Drew comments as he walks alongside of me.
"I could say the same about you." I say, deflecting his question, and hope doesn't realize it.
"Yeah." He sighs loudly then becomes quiet and I don't think he's going to comment any further. "I got into an argument with my manager." He adds after a moment.
"Evan? What did you guys argue about, if you don't mind me asking?"
"The same thing we've been arguing about for a while now," He replies. "My new album."
"What about it?"
"He wants me to keep the same sound, you know the cookie cutter teen pop stuff."
"And you want to change it?" I ask and Drew nods his head.
"Yeah. I want to make music that I would actually listen to, not music my record label thinks will sell." He confides.
"Wow." I say out loud, not bothering to hide the attitude in my voice.
"What?" Drew stops walking to give me his full attention so I stop too.
"Nothing. I just... I just think you need to man up." I tell him.
"Excuse me?" He raises one of his thick dark brows in my direction.
"I mean no offense Mr. Lyons, but you need to put your foot down. Evan works for you and not the other way around. It's your life, your career- so the choice of music you make is up to you. And who cares if the label doesn't think it will sell? What matters is that you're doing what you're passionate about. It doesn't matter if one person buys the album or if a billion does. The only thing that matters is that you're happy with the end product... Everyone else can go screw themselves."
The puzzled look on Drew's face made me think maybe I should've kept my opinion to myself.
"You don't hold back do you?" He asks, sounding amused.
"It depends." I shrug.
"Come with me." He holds out his hand for me to take. "I'd like to show you something."
I look down at the watch on my wrist. There's only five minutes left before I have to report back to work.
"I only have five minutes." I tell him.
"I won't tell the boss if you're a little late." He gives me a boyish smile that I can't say no to. Sighing, I place my hand in his and let him lead the way, all the while ignoring how much I like the feel of his hand in mine.
Drew leads us off the beach and back inside the house. Ms. Nancy sees us and raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't say anything. I feel like a child who just got caught stealing from their mom's purse, so I try to pull my hand out of Drew's but he just tightens his grasp.
Finally he stops just outside a door that I instantly recognize as his music room. He opens the door wide and takes a step back so I can enter and he follows after, shutting the door behind us.
"What are we doing in here?" I ask, staring around wide eyed at his huge CD collection. It still amazed me how many CDs he owned, some of which I owned myself.
"I wanted to play you something I've been working on." He tells me before going over to the grand piano, tugging me along with him since he never released my hand. He sits down on the black bench and I slide in easily next to him before he finally lets my hand go and places both of his on the ivory keys. "Tell me what you think."
He presses down on the first key then the next and then a melody forms. In seconds, I can tell Drew forgets I'm in the room, let alone sitting right next to him as he fell in love with the sound he's creating. It's a beautiful, haunting sound and as I watch his face, watching him lose himself to the music I see a part of him the world doesn't get to see. He was stripped, completely vulnerable and I can't deny in that moment that I was starting to feel something.
The realization scared me but I banked it away. I'd deal with it later. Right now, I just want to keep hearing this beautiful sound coming from the beautiful boy.
The song finishes and a quite falls over us.
I didn't know what to say.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know if I should clap, scream, cry or do all three. So I said nothing, trying to find words that would come close enough to describe how beautiful that was.
"It's not finished and I still need to write lyrics for it but-" He started to say but I cut him off. I wasn't going to let him say one bad thing about what he just created.
"But nothing," I stop him. "That was perfect."
"You think so?" His smile is unsure. How could he possibly not agree? And even more importantly how could the label not like this sound?
"Yeah," I nod my head. "It was beautiful."
The look Drew is giving me feels like he can see into my soul. I feel vulnerable and I don't like it. It's a feeling I'm not used to. Even so, I can't find the strength to look away. His eyes bore into mines making the hairs on my arm prick and I can hear my heart pumping in my chest. It gets louder and beats faster as I watch Drew lean in, his eyes never leaving mine as his lips get closer and closer.
I'm attracted to him, that much I can admit. And I want this, more than I thought I would but I can't have him.
"I have to get back to work." I tell him just before his lips can brush against mine. My voice is barely above a whisper as I speak.
Drew stares at me with hooded eyes but leans back, putting space between us that I'm thankful for.
"Okay," I start to stand to leave when Drew stops me. "It's my birthday tomorrow."
"Happy early birthday."
"Let me try again." He chuckles. "It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm throwing a party... I want you to come."
"Are you inviting the rest of the staff?"
I caught him off guard. "N-no."
"Then what makes me so special?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Drew stands up. "You don't have to come. I'm not forcing you or anything but," He pauses dramatically. "It would make me really happy if you came." He smile at me with his boyish grin and I can feel my insides melting.
"I'll think about it." I tell him truthfully before I let myself out of the room without a backward glance.
Ms. Nancy is waiting for me with a raised brow and a scowl on her face.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Nancy!" I rush to apologize. "Time just-" I begin to explain until she raised her hand, stopping me mid-sentence.
"I don't want any explanation. I know you were with Mr. Lyons." She's upset and she has every right to be. I shouldn't have let Drew talk me into going over my lunch break.
"I was but I can explain." I tried again, not wanting her to think I wasn't taking the job seriously anymore.
"Save it." She states firmly. "The both of you are grown so I can't stop you. But what I will say is this, be careful. That boy has a reputation for breaking girls hearts and I'd hate for you to be one of them." The sincerity in her voice makes me pause but I nod my head anyways. "Get back to work." She orders me before walking away.
***
For the rest of the day I keep to myself, throwing myself into my work until it's time for me to go home. I didn't see Drew after I left his music room which made focusing on my tasks a lot easier. I could still feel the warmth of his skin when our thighs touched as we sat on the bench. I could still feel the softness of his palm when he held my hand. And I could still smell his minty breath blowing in my face as he leaned in to kiss me. If I saw him I wasn't sure I'd be able to get any work done.
I'm glad he stayed his distance though. It gave me time to realize that a relationship was something I wanted. I didn't think I did but my time with Drew made me realize that I want love. That I want someone who makes mornings like the ones I had with Celine today seem like a distant memory.
The way Drew had.
I curse underneath my breath as I pull my t-shirt over my head and finish dressing to leave. Once I'm dressed I head to the front door where Cade is waiting for me.
"Hey, are you ready?" He asks, his green eyes lighting up like they always do when he sees me.
Cade is attractive. Short blonde hair, strong jaw, and dreamy green eyes. So why don't I feel anything when he looks at me?
Why was I wishing that those warm, kind eyes were dark and belonged to a certain teen heart throb?
Gosh. I was starting to sound hopeless. I need to get a grip.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I finally answer, and smile so he wouldn't ask what was wrong. Cade opens the door for me to walk out first and the two of us walk to his car.
"Are you okay? You seem kind of off today?" Cade says as he pulls away from the Lyon Mansion.
I turn to him and give a soft smile. I appreciate that he worries about me. "Yeah I'm fine. My morning could've been a little better though." I admit.
"What happened?"
"It's nothing. I'm over it now." I say, waving him off. I didn't want to talk about Celine right now.
"Then smile." Cade says, only it sounds like an order.
I turn my head from the window to look at him, one brow raised. "What?"
He's smiling, the corners of his lips curving up but he isn't looking at me though. Both hands are still on the wheel and his eyes are focused on the road.
"You heard me. Smile." He repeats.
"I'm not gonna smile because you tell me to, that's strange." I giggle.
"I see a smile!" Cade says in a sing-song voice which only makes me laugh harder.
"You're so strange." I giggle, hitting his shoulder at the same time.
"Do you mean awesome? Thanks."
"No I was right the first time. You're strange."
"Careful Mia. You're starting to hurt my feelings." Cade makes a show of wiping his non-existent tears with his right hand.
I shake my head laughing. "Okay I'll stop."
"Good."
"Thanks." I tell him after a minute. "You always know how to make me laugh."