Page 18 of Hittin' the Right Note
What are we doing, then?He almost asks. He hates the uncertainty, but he has a feeling it’s not a good idea to push Mikey.
For now.
For now, he loves the way the sunlight catches in Mikey’s eyes, the way a stray curl falls in his face. He wants to reach out and touch it, to know what it’s like to run Mikey’s hair through his fingers. He isn’t sure Mikey wants him to do so, though, and he doesn’t. He just stands there, waiting for Mikey to make another move.
Mikey doesn’t hold back. He leans in and presses another kiss on Luke’s lips. It lasts longer and when he draws back, he actually looks regretful.
Suddenly they hear voices coming toward them, and they both jump apart, each giving the other a nervous, bashful smile.
The next moment a group of their fellow NACA students appears. Luke’s a little terrified they’ll know exactly what’s been going on, but they don’t seem to notice anything, and it’s not long before they’re all joking and giving each other shit, just like they always do.
All the time they’re talking, though, he can’t keep himself from imagining what it would be like to kiss Mikey again, and maybe to do something more. The two of them catch each other’s eyes more than once, and each time they do Mikey gives him a sly smile.
“What are you smiling about?” asks Kevin. He’s from the southern part of West Virginia, and he has a bit of a twang Luke has always found charming and even a little sexy. However, there’s an edge to his question.
Mikey, though, manages to deflect any hint of suspicion.
“I was just thinkin’ about my girl back home,” he says. “I’ve been missing her a lot lately.”
Luke feels a bit of heartbreak at the words, though he’s pretty sure Mikey is just bullshitting Kevin to throw him off the scent.
Kevin looks skeptical, but he doesn’t push it.
The conversation ebbs and flows a bit more, and then it’s time for them to go back to NACA for their afternoon lessons. The new arrivals leave first and, as they turn their backs, Mikey quickly takes Luke’s hand in his own and plants another kiss on it.
“We’ll have to meet back here again,” Mikey whispers. “Or maybe even somewhere more private. And, just so you know, there’s no girlfriend back home.”
Before Luke can say anything he’s jogging to catch up with the other guys, and he’s left standing there, wondering just what in the hell he’s supposed to do about Mikey Smiles.
CHAPTER 7
MIKEY—2015
Man, Luke really hates me,Mikey thought as he walked back to the gang.I mean, I guess I can see why, but jeez. This concert is going to be a nightmare.
He sighed. He was starting to regret agreeing to do the damn thing in the first place, but he’d meant what he said when he told Luke he really did care about NACA. Seeing it in that shape had been shocking. Tricia had told him the full purpose of the concert after his interview with Gina, but nothing could’ve prepared him for just how dilapidated it looked.
Seeing and hearing Luke’s dislike had been almost as distressing.
Whatever hope he’d had Luke might be willing to let bygones be bygones had flown right out the window the moment the two of them came back together. It wasveryclear Luke wanted as little to do with him as possible.
And yet.
As Mikey thought about how well Luke had aged–and as he thought about the way his jeans hugged his hips and the way his plain white T-shirt threatened to burst from the bulge of his biceps and the way his scruff accentuated his sharp jawline–the more he realized he had itbad. It was going to take a lot of charm, but Mikey thought he might just manage to get past those walls Luke had thrown up and get back in touch with the sensitive young man he’d been all those years ago.
And, oncethathappened, he knew it would only be a matter of time before the two of them were on the road back to romantic happiness. Mikey could get away from his fast-paced life and just embrace a quieter, softer existence with Luke. If all went as planned, they could make up for lost time and then some.
It was a pleasant fantasy, and Mikey knew it was one worth fighting for.
As soon as he was back in his hotel room, though, he had to contend with Tricia and Damian, both of whom had definite thoughts about Luke and, well, everything else.
“He’s sohandsome,” sighed Tricia, who was positively swooning. “You didn’t tell me he was so hot. He definitelylookslike a country music star, even if he hasn’t put out an album since…”
“Since 2013,” Damian said in the lazy drawl he seemed to think was a mark of sophistication but which Mikey always saw as pretentious. “The year before he got outed and then disappeared.” He snorted. “Honestly, Mikey, I don’t know why you’re going through with the concert. You should just cut your losses, say goodbye to this shithole of a state, and forget about it. No one would hold it against you, you know.”
Mikey, of course, had absolutely no intention of doing any of that.
He knew Damian wouldn’t understand. He had a rather…fixed way of looking at things, particularly things he didn’t like. And, as he’d made clear on any number of occasions, he simply didn’t like West Virginia, he didn’t like Luke Carter, and hedefinitelydidn’t like Mikey having anything to do with either.
