Page 52 of Silver Edge
I heard Drake’s footsteps sound outside the door. “Thanks, Ton. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Scarlet. Take care.”
I hit end and eyed the mound of work in front of me.
Drake leaned against the doorjamb. “Go get some sleep.”
I shook my head and ripped open the next envelope. “If you’re staying up, I can, too.”
He sighed. “No. I’ll come to bed soon. You go ahead.”
“What? Like three nights ago when I woke up and you weren’t there? No thanks. I’m fine. That bed is too big to be in alone.” I returned to ripping envelopes open until Drake’s hand appeared in front of me.
“We’ll go together. I think we’re both tired enough we can behave ourselves.”
I stood but didn’t take his hand. The thought of touching him then letting him go angered me, so I sauntered past him. I removed my bra and jeans and sank into the bed, curling into a fetal position on the edge of the mattress.
The light flicked off and the bed dipped under his weight. Drake wrapped his arm around me. I stiffened. After several heartbeats, I relaxed, allowing him to gently tug me to the center of the bed. His arms wrapped tighter around me and I returned to the safe cocoon from the first night we slept in his room.
“Try to sleep. We have to get up in the morning and hit the road.”
“To where?” I asked, curiosity breaking my will not to speak to him.
“To visit my grandmother.”
My body tensed. “I’ll stay and work. You go visit your grandmother.”
Drake sat up on his elbow and brushed the hair from my forehead. “Scarlet, I want you to go with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to spend time with you, get to know you better. When the Battle of the Bands is over, I want to go on dates and have a relationship. I want you to be as much a part of my life as my grandmother is.”
I thought about his words for a moment; all we’d done was ignore each other the last week. I didn’t want another afternoon of awkward silence. “I’ve got all those CDs to listen to so I can finish the lineup.”
“We’ll take them with us and listen in the car. I’d like to hear some of them, too. I’ll make sure we go early and come back early, okay? Please say you’ll go with me. Grandmother asked specifically if you’d be going.”
“She did? Why?”
Drake tucked a stray hair behind my ear then cuddled into my side again. “Because she knows you’re important to me and she said I haven’t shut up about you since we met.”
“Drake?”
“Yes?”
I wanted to ask him if he felt different yet, but it didn’t seem right. Asking someone if they were ready to sleep with you. “Never mind.”
Drake squeezed me tighter against him. “Talk to me. I know I screwed up, but I want to fix this. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want to be hurt, but most of all I don’t want to lose you.”
I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what to say or what to ask without sounding like a child. I had no real knowledge of trying to date someone, so I couldn’t grasp anything. “You said you didn’t want to be with me because you didn’t want to rush me, but really you don’t want to be with me because you’re scared I can’t handle it?”
“Yes, and no. I know you can handle it. When the time is right, when you trust me, and you are ready and I am ready.”
I feathered my fingers over his shoulder, longing to feel close to him again. “When will that be?”
He sighed. “I don’t know.”
“I wish I understood.”
