“Well, this is one of those times.”
Kyle lifted both his hands in surrender and backed away, laughing. I looked around the place and was struck by the paintings on the wall. They were dark and haunting but strangely beautiful. Kyle followed my gaze.
“Jake painted those.”
“No, he didn’t,” I gasped.
He nodded. “I have no idea what they mean.”
“They’re such soulful paintings.”
“You think?” Kyle said, looking surprised. “I don’t know anything about art. They look like a bunch of blobs of paint to me.”
“He never told you what they meant?”
“Jake’s a private person.” Kyle shrugged, disappointment clouding his features. “He doesn’t talk to me about stuff like that.”
“Huh.” I tore my eyes away from the paintings and glanced around the room. One thing struck me as peculiar. “You know what’s weird? A musician lives here, but I haven’t seen one instrument.”
Kyle reached his hand out to me. “Come.”
I let him pull me to my feet and lead me over to a door, which I assumed led to the other townhome attached to his. But I was wrong. On the other side of the door was a full music studio, chock full of every instrument you could imagine.
“This once belonged to another musician. The townhome was converted into one unit a long time ago so the guy could put the studio in. It’s totally soundproof. That’s why Jake bought this place.”
“Wow. This is hella cool.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “And there’s that word again.”
“What?Hellais a cool word.”
“No. I live in the cool part of California, and I can assure you, it isn’t.”
I stuck out my tongue at him.
“Careful, Kenzie, or I’ll take that as an invitation.” He sidled up to me and wrapped his hand around me, pulling me up tight against him. I groaned as he leaned in and nibbled at my neck. “Damn,” Kyle complained. “I wish we could be together all day, but I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”
“I figured. When do you need to go?”
“Now.”
“When can I see you again?”
Kyle winced. “I feel bad, but I probably won’t be able to see you again until tomorrow. Jake has a test today and…”
“Hey. Stop,” I interrupted. “You don’t have to explain yourself.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“At least you’ll be happy to know that I decided to go to the show’s final taping.”
“You are? That’s smart. What changed your mind?”
“You. The Sunset. Sex. Oh… and the fact that I don’t want to get sued.”
37
