A little knot of emotion formed in my chest. “Yeah?”
He took a seat at the drum set, then rolled up his sleeves while he talked, revealing the dark ink of his arm tattoos. “I could only see that little blurry cloud in the sky when I went looking for Andromeda on my own. But, well, it was enough for this.”
Without saying another word, Cass turned to the drum set. He tapped his stick on the edge of a snare a few times, then drew out a gentle, rolling rhythm. His face turned peaceful as he followed the beat, tapping out a groove that I easily slipped into, too. With a graceful drop of his arm, he grabbed a soft-ended brush and whisked it across the drums, whispering along with the song that emerged.
I lost myself in the solo. The sound was deep and quiet, and it grabbed me at my core. As the rhythm built louder and faster, I studied the choreography of Cass’s movement, like a dancer flying across the stage.
Whispering rhythms, steady percussion. Like heartbeats and starlight.
It felt like being with him felt, like we had found something calm in the middle of a chaotic world. And as I sat there watching, hope bloomed inside of me.
Cass had written a song for me. For us. And somehow, the music of it told me everything I need to know.
He danced the drumsticks lightly across the set, ending on the cymbals. When the night finally fell silent again, I leapt from my seat. “Cass, I love it,” I said, my voice trembling with emotion. “Thank you. I love it.”
He dropped the drumsticks and crossed over to meet me. “I called it ‘Andromeda.’ I wanted you to know…” He trailed off as I fell into his arms, greeting him with a kiss. “I want you to know that I love you.”
The world froze. I could still feel the rhythm of his song, like a pulse at my core. I pressed my hand across Cass’s cheek, his stubble rough on my fingers. “I love you too, Cass.”
We kissed again. Little explosions shot off, igniting my body. I pulled my lips back and took a deep inhale of his scent, flooding me through. “I love you,” I said again, tears leaking out the corners of my eyes. “I love you, Cass.”
“Fuck,” he gasped. He held me tight against his chest, rising and falling with each breath. “I want to be with you, Shawn.” Cass pulled back, looking me in the eye. “I want you to be my boyfriend. I don’t need to wait around and reconcile my sexuality or any of that bullshit. I just want you to be my boyfriend, okay?”
I nodded, words escaping me as I held his eye. I’d probably imagined him saying words like that a million times, but I never dared believe they would actually pass his lips. “I want to be your boyfriend,” I finally managed. “I love you.”
Cass narrowed his brow, a determined look on his face. “I’m going to do right by you, Shawn. I called Leo and got the agent’s number. I can pick up touring gigs that last a couple months each and pocket all the money so you can just focus on your book. Okay?”
“You called the agent?” I blinked, surprised. “Cass, you said you would hate touring like that.”
“It’s really good money. And I’d be happy shoveling shit if it meant I could take care of you.”
I laughed softly. “That’s sweet. But you don’t have to take some job you don’t want so I can write, Cass. I don’t want you to do that.”
He pulled me close, his whole face open with a smile. “We can talk about it later. Right now, I just really need some time with my boyfriend’s body.”
A moan trembled through me as we kissed. Every touch was another confirmation that this was real. We were in love, and the future had opened up before us, just like that.
And now, I was ready to show him exactly how good that love felt.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cass
For two days,I’d been planning that night. Anytime I wasn’t working on the song, I busied myself tidying up around the studio and practicing what I wanted to say to Shawn. I drove to town for a nice bottle of wine, set up a little playlist on my phone, and spent way too many hours squinting at the computer, trying to figure out where that galaxy was in the sky.
But anything would have been worth it. As soon as I realized I was in love with him, all I wanted to do was to treat him right. A call to Leo’s agent took care of the immediate future, but the rest was in my hands.
Warm and quivering, right where I liked him.
I tore my eyes away from Shawn’s and opened the studio. I had set supplies in there earlier, and I dragged out the cushy sleeping pad I used when I went camping, wrapped tight in a clean blue sheet and covered with throw pillows and some wildflowers I’d picked on a walk that morning.
“Cass,” Shawn said, his face lighting up all over again. “You’re too much.”
I smoothed the pad against the deck, leaving it out under the open sky, and turned to him. I was so happy I felt like a kid at his birthday party. Shawn was practically dripping with desire for me, sucking in shaky breaths and pouting his lips. He was just so fucking cute. I could barely handle his smile.
“You’re delightful,” I said.
Shawn pursed his lips. “Delightful,” he repeated softly.
