Page 34 of Broken Butterfly
My hands touch the skin of her bare legs and she jumps; pieces of paper fly off the bed and onto the floor. “Shit, Fallon, you scared the mess out of me.”
I squint to see what she’s doing. “What time is it?”
“Past nine, last I checked.”
“We missed breakfast,” I say and scrub my hands over my face.
Fuck, Tatiána is going to be pissed we missed breakfast. I roll over to get out of bed when the rich aroma of coffee tickles my nose.
“Tatiána had it brought up. She really thinks we’re fuck buddies now after seeing you in my bed when she came up earlier. We have thoroughly confused your sister.”
“I thought I smelled coffee.” I rub my face and eyes again, then open them fully.
Elizabeth is sitting up against the headboard, one pen in her hand, another behind her ear. She’s concentrating on a piece of paper in her lap but reaches over with her free hand and rubs her fingers through my hair. My eyes almost roll to the back of my head at her touch. Jesus, this girl will be my undoing.
I sit up and rest my back against the headboard in an imitation of how she’s sitting. Our shoulders touch and I give her a slight nudge. “What are you doing?”
Elizabeth bites the end of the pen she’s holding then scribbles something down. “I got inspired,” she tells me, then scratches out what she wrote. She’s writing music: a song. I’m instantly intrigued. But coffee comes first.
I get up, not caring that my morning wood is on display, and walk over to where a rolling cart and tray have been parked next to the bed. I pour myself a cup of steaming, dark liquid and grab a pastry. There are several sheets of paper on the floor, all of them filled with hand-written musical notes along five-lined staffs.
Elizabeth puts down her pen and looks up at me with concern. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Exhausted.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“But I also feel good,” I confess. The smile she gives me almost causes my knees to give out.
I don’t know what I expected when I woke up this morning. Part of me thought Elizabeth would have packed her bags and fled into the night, wanting to get as far away from me as she possibly could; escape my dark secrets. I have plenty more to share, but not yet. She said she loved me last night. I’m not stupid enough to presume she meant it in the way where we run off into the sunset and live happily ever after. But hearing those words from her beautiful lips felt so fucking good. Will she still say it once I break her?
She pats the bed next to her. “Come here, Nutter Butter.”
“Fuck,” I grunt but I do as she says and take my place beside her on the bed. Elizabeth grabs the coffee cup from my hand, taking a sip, then passes it back.
“Listen and let me know what you think.” She picks up one sheet of her music and begins to hum while tapping her fingers on my thigh like it’s a piano. Starving, I scarf down my pastry, sip my coffee, and listen. The way her voice hums the melody is haunting, yet peaceful. It’s a beautiful piece of music.
“What do you think?” she asks me when she finishes.
“It’s really wonderful, kitten.” She fucking beams that smile at me again and I’m thankful I’m already sitting down because this time my legs really do go to jelly.
“I wrote it for you.” She bites her bottom lip, causing me to zero in on its pink, pouty fullness.
And this is when my obsessive fascination with Elizabeth turns into an all-consuming love. I told her the truth when I said I didn’t believe in love. This blond-haired, green-eyed girl just made me a liar. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? I choke down the rest of my coffee, not caring that it’s still scalding hot.
Elizabeth gathers and rearranges her sheets of music and stacks them together. She places them on the bedside table next to her. “I’ll play it for you properly on the piano later.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her to my side. She rests her head on my upper arm and we sit there in silence as an internal battle quietly rages inside me over the new and intense emotions I’m feeling for her.
“Knock, knock,” a quiet voice calls from outside the bedroom door as it cracks open. Tatiána pokes her head in. “I thought I heard voices. May I come in?”
Elizabeth waves her inside and scoots me over to make room on the bed for my sister.
“Good morning, dear brother,” Tatiána chirps and kisses me on the cheek. “I see you finally woke up. Eduardo will be here within the hour. I thought perhaps you both would like to enjoy the pool for a while before lunch. I’m not sure if you are aware of our customs here, Elizabeth, but lunch is our big meal of the day, then we settle down for a siesta. Later, Eduardo and I would like to treat you both to an afternoon in town.”
“That sounds lovely, Tatiána. Thank you,” Elizabeth tells her.
“Fallon knows where everything is. My husband and I will meet you down at the pool later.” Tatiána kisses me once more and gets up. Elizabeth gets up as well and they walk together to the door, whispering in each other’s ears like schoolgirls. I see Elizabeth blush, and Tatiána giggles as she leaves and closes the door behind her.
