Page 26 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Clapping sounded behind her, and Lyric figured one of the others had arrived, but her cheeks flushed when she turned and found both Desi and Adra waiting inside the door. They were both beaming, standing silently as they’d watched them play.

“This is gonna be a kick ass show if you guys can sound like that,” Desi gushed.

“Hey, guys, good morning,” Lyric greeted them, excitement brewing in her chest. “Thanks, uhm, you guys can warm up and then we’ll get right into it?”

Desi slapped her hands together before pulling a pair of sticks out of her back pocket. “Sounds great! Oh, look at it. It’s beautiful.” She sighed dreamily before rushing past Lyric to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over the drum set, inspecting every inch of it.

Lyric chuckled at her before turning to Adra and leading him to the right near the piano and the synth. “Is this okay? I know it’s different from your setup, but you can play with it and make it work, or we can take your equipment. Whatever you prefer.”

His fingers drifted gently over the keys, the contrast between the pearl keys and his ebony skin striking in the prettiest way.

“This is perfect. I’ll learn it,” he said, determination in his voice but awe painted on his face.

“Okay… if you’re sure. I want you to feel comfortable. You’re the one playing, after all.”

“Trust me,” he murmured, and she swallowed a gasp as his dark stare leapt to hers. “This is perfect.”

“Okay,” she almost whispered. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Escaping the intensity of his gaze, she slid to the left and read the excitement on Desi’s face. She would’ve asked if she was happy with the setup, but she pulled out her sticks and began testing each drum—loudly—before arching one brow at Lyric.

Lifting her hands, she grinned and stepped away, taking her place at the mic. The enthusiasm Desi sprouted was contagious, and Lyric found herself almost wishing Emerson would hurry the hell up and get there.

As Adra towered over the keyboard, he began playing different notes, warming up, and testing the synth functions.

“Starting without me, roomie?” a deep, gravelly voice said from the front of the room.

And just like that, her wish was granted. The excitement in her stomach went flat as she faced forward and Emerson’s tall, broad frame filled the doorway. It shut with a soft snick behind him, and Lyric swallowed roughly before swigging from her bottle of water.

“Morning,” she said politely. When his gaze locked on her, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

He offered an equally polite, fake smile and a nod. “Morning. Quite the setup we have here,” he murmured, glancing around the room slowly growing brighter as the morning dragged on.

“Let’s put it to use,” Lyric suggested.

But it was no use, because the best rehearsal of the entire day was the one she’d had with Nohen in the quiet hours of the morning.

By the time they broke apart at the end of the day, she could tell they were all frustrated.

They played the notes, they knew the songs, but something just wasn’t… meshing.

Lyric glanced at their reflections in the glass, growing clearer as darkness descended outside.

Or someone.

By the end of the third day, Lyric walked out of the practice room with the rest of them, grabbed some food from town, and turned right back around.

She shoveled her face with a drive through taco—with extra hot sauce—while sitting in her car, and then she steeled herself.

Grumbling to herself about the three versions of performances Nohen had told her about, she was completely oblivious to the other car in the parking lot.

It wasn’t until she opened the door to the practice room that she heard it. But by then, it was too late to turn and avoid the one person she really didn’t want to see.

Emerson. Sitting in the floor, facing the trees, he strummed his bass with an absent look on his face. But once her reflection registered in the window, he turned around and she was met with that ever present nonchalance.

“Hi,” she said dumbly and backed away. “I can—”

“No, it’s okay. This is your space, after all,” he interjected dryly and stood.