Page 118 of The Music of Us
“Is that what you ask every guy who tries to break into your café?”
“Nah, just the really cute ones.”
“Ugh,” came a familiar voice behind Jake. “Gross. Barf.”
“Move, Jake. If you can stop your obnoxious heart eyes for two seconds,wewant to say hi to Lucy,” Leon’s voice chimed in. “Sneaking out may have beenyourplan, but we wanted to come too. Lucy’s mom said we’re all welcome here anytime.”
As if he needed to remind us. The boys had figured out ways to take Mom up on her offer a surprising number of times in a single year.
“Yeah, budge up,” a British voice requested.
Laughing, I opened the door wider to reveal Phillip, Aspen, and Leon.
“Hi, boys.” I took in their sleek, stylish suits, each one more fashionable than the last. “You guys were amazing up there tonight.” They beamed as I shook my head in delighted disbelief. “But how did you get here so fast?”
“We booked tickets ahead of time and took off as soon as we got offstage,” Jake told me. “Then we let Aspen drive here from the airport.”
Leon clutched his middle and made a face at Aspen. “Which you willnotbe doing again, Sir Hamilton Jr., no matter how much I want to visit.” He turned to me, perking up. “Maybe one of your mochas and a bear claw would help calm me down.”
“Caffeine? At midnight? To calm you down?” I asked, my eyebrows inching higher with each question.
“Lucy,” Leon protested, eyes widening innocently. “I stayed up extra late just foryou.”
“Don’t worry, Lucy,” Phillip said, rolling his eyes. “We’ll take care of the gremlin.”
Snickering, Phillip and Aspen hauled a grumbling Leon farther inside, leaving Jake and me alone in the quiet.
“So,” I said, shutting the door and sending soft shadows dancing around us with the movement, “I’mthe reason you snuck out?”
Jake shrugged, like their departure hadn’t made#wheresUStrend for an hour before everyone got bored. “I’d much rather be here with you.”
I smiled at how he made my heart flutter just like he first did eight years ago, and how he probably would till the end of time.
I once said life’s not a song. But I’d been wrong. There was music between Jake and me in the measure of our words and the cadence of our laughter, and the way we could be on opposite sides of the globe but know we were still singing in the same key.
“I brought you something from the show,” Jake said, reaching into his suit pocket and taking out a small present wrapped in silvery tissue.
We exchanged mementos a lot. It was one of our ways of being with each other even when we were not by each other’s side in person. The gifts weren’t anything fancy, just something fun that said,You were there with me. I mailed Jake pressed gold-and-red autumn leaves from campus last time. While on tour, he’d mentioned that he was either always inside his hotel or performing in a concert venue, and he missed going out to see the trees change color. So I sent him autumn in an envelope.
“I saw this and thought of—” Out of nowhere, a furry black paw shot up and snatched the tissue paper out of Jake’s hand. “Rumple!”
A peal of laughter escaped me as the thieving cat ran off.Jake’s laughter mingled with mine, the sound better than any song on the radio, because it was the music of us.
“It’s okay,” I told Jake, winding my arms around him as he pulled me in against his heartbeat. “All I need is you.”
