I nod. “Let’s go inside. After all, you still have a song or two to record.”
“I guess I do.” He smiles again, and it’s the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.
***
It’s late when we finally drive back to the house. Easton doesn’t even ask me if he should bring me back to school or if I want to stay over. He just looks at me and knows the answer.
We spent the whole day in the studio, much longer thanplanned, but the guys were too good to just stop after the second song. In the end, they recorded four absolutely brilliant songs that I hope will help them reach the stars.
“Do you know when we’ll get the final mixes?” Jax asks, leaning forward between the seats so he’s close to my ear. “I wanted to ask Phil before, but I forgot.”
“Probably in a few days,” I say, not admitting that I promised Phil and Miller I’d give them a little extra for a rush order.
“Does that leave you enough time to create your choreography?” Easton asks, turning the van into the driveway.
My shoulders tense. I haven’t thought once all day about using “Dance with You ’Til Midnight” for contemporary dance class. Today was just about the song, and that was a very good feeling.
“What choreography?” Beck asks.
“It’s nothing,” I say. I try to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach because I don’t want to think about it right now. Not about contemporary dance, and not about ballet. Not about school or college. That all feels like it’s a lifetime away right now. It’s been less than a day since I left campus, but something’s been different since we got to the studio. Not just between Easton and me. I can’t quite figure out what it is.
The engine cuts out with a quiet stutter. I open the door and get out quickly, but Beck isn’t so easily put off.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“It’s really not important. I just have a course where we have to choose a song to choreograph a dance to, and I wanted to use ‘Dance with You ’Til Midnight.’ That’s all.”
“You want to dance to one of our songs?” Jax catches up with us and looks at me curiously.
“It’s her song too,” Easton reminds his friend. He shoves himself between Jax and me and takes my hand. I have to smile in spite of the feeling in my stomach, because he says it so casually, and he intertwines his fingers with mine as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Yeah, I know. But that’s not what this is about.”
“It kind of is,” Easton replies.
Jax groans in annoyance. “No, it’s about the choreography. Do you have any ideas yet?”
“No, not really.” I don’t. I just know that it has to be our song. That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.
“Let’s order something to eat, I’m starving.” Colin is already walking up the steps to the front door.
“Me too.” Jax picks up his pace but turns back to me as he continues walking backward. “You have to tell me your ideas later.”
“But I don’t have any,” I try to object. But he’s already turned around again and disappears into the house after Colin.
“You’re committed,” Beck says with a grin. “You’re one of us now.”
It’s just a few words, but they’re enough to make a lump in my throat. Beck sounded so sincere, like he really meant it. As if all at once, I actually belong.
“Hey.” Easton’s quiet voice makes me turn. His gaze is curious and a little worried. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, I...” I swallow hard. “I just didn’t expect that.” I stop again, not knowing how to put what I’m feeling into words. But I guess Easton understands what’s going on in my head, because the corners of his mouth twitch and he smiles before stopping and pulling me in for a tender kiss. It’s different from the kiss weshared earlier in the little alley behind the studio. Different from our first kiss in his room. Much shorter, less hungry, less desperate, but no less intense.
“Beck is right, for once,” he says and looks down at me. “You belong here.”
You belong with me.
He doesn’t say it, but I can see what he’s thinking.
