“At first, all right? I talk to her fine now. Let it go, guys,” Ezreal growled. “Darius, Rafe’s heading to London, and Kayn’s in New York again, so no gaming night this weekend.” With his Friday evening now open, maybe it’d be a good night to show Sara how to play REKD. If she was interested.
“I was thinking about heading up to Boston this weekend to see my folks.” Darius sent Ezreal an appraising look that filled him with a sense of dread. Until both of the other men burst out laughing.
Ezreal really needed to stop falling for that. They got him every time.
“Don't worry,” Darius said. “I’m not going anywhere this weekend.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
“Rafe, I’ve got a question for you,” Darius said, and they turned back toward the offices.
Ezreal pulled out his phone to send Sara a text. He wondered if she liked pizza.
* * *
Sara’s phonepinged with a text message. She was in the middle of a piano lesson, so she ignored it. When Ryan had finished the piece, she made some recommendations and had the teen try it again.
“Much better. Now, for next week, I’d like you to work on this.” She handed over the sheet music and ignored the eye roll. “Take a minute to glance through it in case you have any questions.”
They discussed it, and they did a rough run-through a couple of times. She was trying to decide if she should switch out the piece, when a car drove up to the house. A quick glance at the time showed it shouldn’t be Ryan’s mother.
With Sara’s heart in her throat, she flew to the window. She stood to the side of the curtain so that whoever was out there wouldn’t be able to see her, but the glare of the sunshine on the windshield almost blinded her. The door opened and a tall form stepped out.
She squinted to see better. For a second, the memory of her dream the night before flashed through her mind. Sara blinked and saw Landon’s face staring back at her, that ugly glint in his eyes and a cruel twist to his mouth. Her blood ran cold. He’d found them. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she fumbled to pull her phone from her pocket. She had to call Francie to warn her to keep the children safe.
“Hey, my dad pointed that car out,” Ryan said from behind her, sounding excited. “Doesn’t that belong to one of the REKD founders?
“What?” Sara’s voice was as shaky as her hands, and she dropped her phone.
Ryan picked it up and handed it to her.
As the form moved out of the glare, she recognized Ezreal. She thought she might faint. Glancing at her phone, she saw the text had been from him.
I hope you and the kids like pizza.
“He’s helping me with my music room.” She had to struggle to sound calm.
“Are you all right?” Ryan asked, concerned.
“Yes. I just thought it was someone else for a second.” Sara let out a breath. “It’s all good.”
Had Ezreal come to check on the music room? No. He’d brought pizza. How sweet was that? Sara went to the screen door still feeling a little unsettled but agitated too, but this time in a good way.
“I’m still with a student,” she called to Ezreal. “Come in and make yourself comfortable.”
When he nodded, Sara returned to the living room. She was losing it if she were imagining Landon. How bizarre that she’d dreamed he’d driven up to her house just like that.
“Let’s hear that number.”
“Do I really have to play this? It’s boring.” Ryan heaved out a breath.
He was fifteen and a gifted pianist. His family had recently moved to Boone from New York, and she was a little intimidated to be teaching him. She knew that students this age, especially boys, frequently stopped their lessons. He had so much talent, she wanted to find music that made him want to continue with his lessons but hadn’t hit on anything yet to inspire him to practice. Every week she expected a call telling her that he wouldn’t be coming anymore.
With the sound of the squeaking screen door opening came the smell of pizza. Her stomach growled.
“That smells good.” Ryan turned toward the kitchen, stretching to look.
“I’ll check if he has enough to share.” Sara went to her kitchen where Ezreal was putting a large pizza box on the table.
