“Hey.”He took her chin between his fingers, grateful for the contact.With a light touch, he raised her gaze to his.How many times had he dreamed of being this close to her?“You are special.You change lives with your music.”
She closed her eyes but didn’t move from his touch.“Only if I finish a song.”
One of his fingers drifted along the curve of her jaw.Not for the thirty-thousandth time, he wondered what she would look like in his bed, a rainbow of her hair colors strewn across his pillow.Today’s was a light violet that made her eyes glow.“Your songs are amazing.When you play, everyone listens.”
“I hope that’s true.”
“It’s true for me.”
The air in the bar stilled, like it was waiting for something.The humidity settled over them like a warm blanket, cocooning them in the moment.
To his disappointment, she broke it by moving away from his touch and sipping her drink.He wanted nothing more than to have that moment back.
“I love this song.”He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and listened.It was one of those Southern bluesy rock songs, the kind with a deep bass drum keeping time and a rhythm made from hard labor and tears.
“Yeah, this type of music always gives me the shivers.”Ellery sipped again at her drink.She was wearing a long paisley sundress with multiple straps crisscrossing her shoulders and back.
“I didn’t know you owned a dress like that.”He gestured with his bottle, wishing he had the courage instead to run his fingers over the straps.But he was too desperate for the skin beneath.His sense of control was threadbare at the moment.“It’s really pretty.Usually you’re in camo or jeans.”
She shrugged, the compliment lightening her features.Damn it, if she hadn’t been beautiful before… “I feel different here.A little more free.Maybe it’s being with my family.”
“You’re having a good time?”He shook off the minute pang of jealousy that someone else could make her happy.
“The best.I’ve always loved them, and they mean so much to me.”She swallowed, her eyes darkening for a moment.“I’m glad they’re happy here.Even Samara.She’s been through a lot, but she’s found a job she likes and she’s making friends.Hopefully it’s a good place for them.”
There was a sadness behind her words that clicked for him.“Are you disappointed that they’re together and you’re so far away?”
She laughed, her eyes glistening.“Am I so easy to read?”
“Maybe just to me.”He wanted to hold her hand.That was it.Hold her hand.So many times they brushed against each other, then leaped apart.He didn’t want that, not tonight.
“When I was in college, I wanted to be seen apart from my family.Now that I’m older, I feel like I still don’t have my own identity, but I miss them more and I wish I could figure out how to be me and also one of them.”She finished her diet cola.“I’m not making any sense.”
“Yes, you are.But you are one of them.They’re so proud of you.”
Her eyes watered.“I hope so.My dad was a little upset when I didn’t come to him to review the initial contract with Logan.Now I won’t let him read it.”
She had moved infinitesimally closer to him, and every half inch felt like a mile.He could drink her in from here.“He trusts you, El.I know he does.Selene and Lorraine trust you.”He swallowed.Her hand was there, right there on the bar.He hesitated only for a second before giving in to temptation at long last.He traced the fine, strong knuckles of her hand with one fingertip.Good Lord and everything holy, she felt like velvet and silk.Forbidden and rich.“I trust you.”
Her gaze locked on the finger tracing her hand.“Dante…”
But he felt bolder now.He added another fingertip, then another.They’d hedged around the questions for years, and he needed things to move forward.He was so tired of waiting.“Why don’t you ever ask me about my transition?”
Anxiety gripped his spine.The only way to move forward was honesty, but damn it if it wasn’t difficult.
She turned her hand over to expose her palm to his touch.“I want to know everything about it.But it’s your story.You own it.You have the right to tell me how and when you want, if you want.No matter what, you’re always you and I’m here to listen.”She blushed a little.“Okay, I may have read the books you recommended.And gone to a few PFLAG meetings.”
“A few?”Warmth bloomed within him.It had taken his parents over two years to readWhat’s the T?
“Okay, maybe more than a few.The others really like my ambrosia salad.It’s the only thing I can cook.”She blushed, the color in her cheeks heightening her beauty.
“Thank you.”The words caught in his throat, but now they were palm to palm, skin to skin, and it felt a little like magic.
She threaded her fingers through his and tugged gently.“Come on.I’m tired of sitting.”
Helpless against the tide of attraction roiling within him, Dante followed.
“Oh my sweet heavens,they have Skeeball.”Ellery clapped her hands in glee.“We have to have a competition.”
