He shrugs, but he seems pretty pleased with himself. “Otherwise you would have wanted me to play them for you in the car.”
“Uh, yeah! It’s a little rude that you didn’t.” I nudge him in the side.
“I know, but it’s so much nicer here.” He points to the sea in front of us. The waves are higher this time, and I can’t tell if thetide is coming in or going out. “After all, this is where we wrote the song.” He rubs his nose and suddenly looks so embarrassed that I have to laugh.
“I guess that makes sense, even if it is a little cheesy.”
“Good cheesy or stupid cheesy?”
I wrap both arms around his neck and beam at him. “Good cheesy. Actually, it’s extremely sweet.”
“That’s just how I am.”
“You are.” I brush a strand of hair from his forehead. “But please tell me you’ve listened to the songs already.”
“I have. The guys came to the store. They were too impatient.”
“Understandable. I would have been too.”
“I wanted you to be there too, but I think if I’d made them wait, Colin and Jax would have killed me. And besides...”
“You wanted to be a little romantic,” I tease him, stretching and kissing him on the tip of his nose.
“That too.”
“Are you happy with them?” My stomach starts to flutter with excitement. The songs are finished. They’re finished, and they have to be good.Please.
“Yes.” The single word comes out of Easton’s mouth as a sigh of relief. “They’re absolutely amazing. They don’t sound like us at all. Well, they do, but the recordings turned out so well, the whole thing is pretty surreal.”
“The songs are good.You guysare good. And that’s why every single song sounds like you.” I kiss him again. I can’t help it.
“Do you really not mind that we already listened? I wanted to wait for you and I figured you wouldn’t mind, but—”
He stops when I put my hand over his mouth. “Easton, this isyour thing, not mine. You guys wrote and recorded these songs. You’re the band.”
He breathes a sigh of relief, and I realize that he was probably a little unsure. “Okay.”
“It’s really okay,” I reassure him.
He pulls his headphones out of his pocket, opens the case, and hands them to me. “Ready?”
I put the buds into my ears and nod. “Go.”
For a couple of seconds there’s complete silence, then he pulls his phone out of his pocket, and the first notes of our song begin to play. Soft but somehow stormy. Between Easton’s voice, our words, and the guys’ instruments, the song is everything, everything I could have imagined.
The lyrics feel familiar, but somehow new. Even though it’s not the first time I’ve heard Easton sing our song, this is different. It does something to me. I can only look at him while I hear his voice in my ears. His words and mine, our thoughts. Darkness and fear, hope, courage, and everything in between. This song is as muchusas it can be.
I won’t turn back
I won’t give up
I’ll make it fucking right
Get lost in music
Lost in you
And dance with you ’til midnight
