His mouth is dangerously close to mine. I can feel his breath fluttering over my lips. My brain scrambles as the desire to pull him down overwhelms me. I lick my lips wondering if he’s about to kiss me.
“Melody, you know that you’re worth more than how he treated you. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now get some rest.”
He moves back and gets off my bed. I immediately miss his touch and then mentally slap myself for even entertaining the idea of kissing him. It’s the trauma and nothing else. I’m vulnerable and shaken up, just looking for comfort. There’s no way I’m attracted to my stepbrother.No way in hell, I tell myself, even though it tastes like a lie.
* * *
After my nightmare,I tossed and turned until I only ended getting maybe another hour of sleep before I had to get up for my first class of the day. The lack of sleep follows me around like a shadow, digging into my muscles and making me lose focus.
“You good? You look…like you had a rough night,” Rhonda asks.
“Yeah, I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
Maestro Van Gogel hasn’t shown up yet, so we have some time to kill before class starts.
“What’s that been like anyways? Living with Chase?” She drops her voice, so he doesn’t overhear since he’s sitting just a few rows ahead.
“Ugh.” I groan.
She laughs. “Yeah, I can’t imagine it’s been easy. He has quite the reputation.”
“He’s confusing as hell. One minute he’s making my life difficult, and the next he’s… comforting me after a nightmare.”
Her dark eyebrows raise in surprise. “Chase? Comforting?”
“I know.”
We both look over in his direction. He’s focused on his phone, scrolling aimlessly as videos fill his screen. Instead of seeing hot girls dancing like I would expect, a lot of his algorithm seems to be focused on music.
Huh. I swear, the more I’m around Chase, the more of an enigma he becomes. As soon as I think I have a handle on his character, he goes and does something that flips it all on its head.
“What’s up with his reputation anyways?” I ask.
Rhonda leans in close, “Well, all the girls freshman year had a huge thing for him. I don’t know anyone except myself that wasn’t interested in his particular allure. But sometime last year, it must have been after his mom passed that he lost his shit. If he wasn’t fucking someone, he was fucking someone up. It’s a miracle he didn’t get expelled with how many fights he got in.”
I watch Chase as her words ruminate in my mind. His so-called reputation seems more like he’s stuck in grief, without a healthy outlet or understanding of his pain.
“Hello, class.” Maestro Van Gogel announces as he shakes off a thin layer of snow that clings to his tweed jacket. “I hope everyone’s started on their projects by now.”
Chase turns and catches me looking at him. I quickly avert my eyes. Jesus, how long was I sitting here staring at him?
The class murmurs a bunch of yeses at him, to which he nods his head to. “Good. I love to hear it.” He claps his hands together and pulls out a violin from a cabinet. I shift in my seat wondering what he’s planning to do.
“Chase, would you mind coming up here please?” The Maestro asks. He obliges, and I watch with rapt attention.
Chase cradles the instrument like it’s an extension of his own body. It fits so naturally against him. I try not to notice how good he looks, but it’s impossible. Objectively, Chase is hot. Anyone with eyes could agree to that. He tucks the violin under his chin and angles the bow against the strings.
“Can you play some Rachmaninov for me please?”
I feel like I’m holding my breath as I watch Chase’s eyes close, and his hair fall across his brow as he pulls the bow across the strings. A sad, hauntingly beautiful melody floats through the air as Chase loses himself to the music. He transforms before my eyes, pouring every ounce of passion into the piece. He picks up the pace and morphs into something wild and unbridled. He’s an untamable force of nature that wields the notes beneath those long fingers of his. I find myself clenching my thighs together as I watch him, unable to look away as if he’s put me under a trance or cast some spell over me that inhibits me to do anything but watch him. The way his fingers work the neck of the violin has me picturing how he could use those hands of his in other ways.
As the song comes to an end, I sit, mouth opened in awe of his pure talent. No wonder why this asshole won a Grammy. I make a mental note to look that up later because I’m curious as hell, but don’t want to outright ask him. Then he’d know I’m interested in knowing more about him.
Chase opens his eyes and immediately finds mine. A moment passes between us, and it takes me a minute to remember we’re in the middle of class and we’re surrounded by a whole room of people. People, who seem overly interested in our little moment.
