“‘Tennessee Whiskey’ is the first song I learned on guitar.”
“Was it hard?”
“For me, learning anything on this thing was hard, but this particular song felt easier because I loved it so much I think.” I laugh and stretch my back, turning my body to face hers.
“Can you teach me?”
My mouth opens to protest. To tell her I think we should call it a night before I let myself mess up again and fall into her lips. Fuck, I want to. But I was clear about where we stood and if I kiss her again, what the hell does that say?
“Not the whole song, just like, a little bit.” She shrugs and sits up closer to me.
“Ah, I don’t know, Kincaid. It’s getting late and I…”
“Don’t trust yourself?”
“Something like that,” I confess.
“Trust me, then. Kissing you is the last thing on my mind. Bleh.” She sticks her tongue out playfully. I know she’s not telling the truth. I know I should still decline and not allow myself to be around her much longer. The temptation I’ve had over the last couple of weeks with her has been an actual nightmare in some cases. Jolting me out of sleep and withholding it all together.
But being around her is starting to feel like aneed. Her presence has become a change in my life that I’ve been craving. I didn’t realize how starved I was until I tasted her. And now, she’s all I want.
“Just a few chords,” I say, picking up the guitar.
Her smile widens and she pulls her hair back into a ponytail. I watch her tongue wet her full lips and I feel myself getting flustered already.
When she pulls her feet from under her and sits on the bed, I hand her the guitar, letting her get it in a comfortable position.
“Okay, I’m ready. Teach me how to be a rockstar,” she jokes as I get up. “What are you doing?” she asks when I take a seat behind her.
“You wanted to learn. This is the best way.”
I hear her swallow as I wrap my arms around her, holding her hands as they’re delicately placed on the guitar strings.
“This is A,” I whisper into her ear, guiding her fingers along the frets. “You’ll do this one twice, count to six in between.”
She strums once, and I silently count to six before taking her hand and repeating the same chord.
I’m making every effort not to breathe directly onto her skin, but with the close proximity it’s hard to avoid. Every time I do, I watch her squirm a little. Her breathing picks up and she wiggles a little bit on the bed.
“Then B minor…” I begin to say, and she waits for my hand to reconnect with hers before she moves it again.
Her coconut scent is all I can focus on and it shows when I wait too long to tell her the next chord.
“What’s next?” she whispers, but I don’t answer.
She tilts her head up at me and I’m caught up in her stare entirely. Her lips part and I feel her warm breath on my cheek.
My heart is pounding, throbbing out of my chest and I can’t fucking stand to sit here much longer with her like this.
Summer’s eyes are pleading. I can hear her words even when nothing comes from her lips. She’s telling me to fucking kiss her. To take her. To drop all the rules and boundaries I put up and just give in.
“I—um…” A hand runs down my face and I pull back slightly from her, creating some separation between our bodies. Touching her—in any way—seems to be a recipe for disaster.
Something is changing with me when it comes to Summer and I don’t have any fucking clue how it happened or when or what the fuck to do with it. I know she’s waiting for me to act on it. She’s waiting on me to say something, to do something, but my body stills and I can’t articulate a sentence. There’s this foreign feeling stirring inside of me.
I’m suddenlynervousaround her.
“Sorry,” I say with a shake of my head. “It’s another B minor.”
