CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
Connor
A small partof me felt guilty for lying to my parents about my whereabouts, but a bigger part of me knew Ineededa weekend to myself with Dare. It wasn’t in my nature to be selfish, but when it came to Dare…I couldn’t seem to help it.
I wanted to be selfish with him, just this once. I wanted to have his undivided attention on me, and only me, for more than one stolen night of hushed kisses. One weekend of escape was all I wanted before I ripped the Band-Aid off and came clean, letting the rest of the world in on our relationship.
The world had already been knocking, what with all the blurry photographs of Dare and me together inCelebrity Hearsay. It was only a matter of time before the dots were connected, or we were spotted out in public together again. I knew the truth had to come out.
But I didn’t want to think about that, not tonight. For tonight, and maybe tomorrow night, the outside world would stay firmly on the other side of that door. This weekend would be about Dare and me, and the beautiful music we create when we’re together.
After we finished eating, we made our way into the parlor. I sat down at the Bechstein and placed my fingers on the keys. I started playing, the notes from track three filling the space around us.
Dare sat down beside me, and as I played, he moved my hair over my shoulder to kiss the nape of my neck. I smiled, trying not to let him distract me from playing. But his lips were so soft against my neck, and then he put his hand on my thigh.
A rush of need hit me when his fingers brushed against my inner thigh. He ran his finger along the seam of my jeans, still paying homage to my neck. I kept playing, my fingers never stumbling over the keys as my breath hitched.
When the final notes faded, he turned my chin, capturing my lips in a searing kiss that made me melt into him.
I kissed him back, angling my body closer to his. He let out a low growl, his fingers pressing into the denim on my thighs as if he wanted to tear these jeans off me. He brought his other hand up to hold the side of my face.
The doorbell rang. We broke away, and I sent a panicked look his way. It was nearly ten thirty at night. I stood up, motioning for Dare to stay put as I walked into the foyer.
Calum stood on the other side of the glass, his brows furrowed and his expression angry and impatient. I opened the door, and neither one of us spoke for a moment.
“I thought you were staying at Dalhousie this weekend?”
“I changed my mind…” I trailed off, uncertain.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here,” he said, his jaw clenching with tension. He looked away, in the direction of the driveway, his jaw locking with irritation.
Calum’s mood immediately put me on edge. “Is everything okay? Did you and Dad have another fight?”
Calum laughed darkly, his head swiveling back to me. “Something like that. I just need to check out something.” Calum was angry, angrier than I’d ever seen him before. “Mind if I come in for a minute, or am I interrupting something?”
He had to know Dare was here, it was obvious with Dare’s rental parked in the driveway. Was that what was making him so angry?
“Um. Sure?” I stood aside, letting him storm in. He took the stairs two at a time, thundering up them. Dare came out of the parlor, his expression wary. “Stay here,” I told him in a whisper before following Calum upstairs.
I expected to find him searching the bedrooms for Dare, but he flung open the door to the attic and charged up those stairs too. Maybe it wasn’t about Dare at all.
I followed him up the stairs and watched as he scoured the area, shoving boxes aside with his booted foot. “Where is it?” he said mostly to himself, frustration evident.
“Where’s what? What’s going on, Cal?” I asked, confused.
“The blue trunk!” he exclaimed, whirling on me. His glacier blue eyes were stormy and wild.
“What blue trunk?” I had no clue what he was rambling on about. Cal shook his head, trying to clear it.
“The blue trunk thatusedto be here in Gramps’s attic for the past three decades. Where is it? Was Michael here?”
I frowned. “I couldn’t really tell you. I’ve been at school for the past week. I just got in tonight. But Mom and Dad did say they’d be stopping by to tend to some stuff here throughout the week…”
“Fuckingasshole!” Cal roared, kicking a random box. “He’s probably got it.”
“What?”
“The proof!” Cal exclaimed, his eyes wild and angry.
