Page 41 of The Music of Us
Frowning, I asked, “Something wrong?”
“No.” Jake shook his head. “It’s just... the key chain.”
Oh.
It’s funny how something can become such an everyday part of your life and so distinctlyyoursthat you forget to stop and think about where—or who—you got it from.
“You still use it?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, the key chain’s with me all the time. I never took it off,” I confessed. “You remember giving it to me?”
“Of course. I remember seeing it at the airport kiosk and thinking I had to get it for you.” He stared down at it, a fond and almost embarrassed, lopsided grin crossing his face. “It took every single penny I had left and almost made me miss my boarding call.”
“What?” Jake had never told me that before. Back then, money had been really tight for him too—tighter than it was for the café now. And he spent it all on a present forme? “I— Why?”
Jake looked back up at me, gaze open and honest. “Because I thought you’d like it.”
Short. Simple. No dancing around the topic or lengthy explanation. For once, the dreamy songwriter dove straight for the point.
I didn’t know what to do.
“Besides, you deserved it, since I ditched you for an audition,” Jake added. “We had plans to go to the summer carnival for weeks, but I went down to LA to audition for some musical on streaming at the last minute instead and didn’t make it back in time.” He shrugged self-consciously. “I let you down and I didn’t even get the part. I couldn’t ride the Ferris wheel with you, so it seemed right that I get you your own to make up for it.”
He dropped his gaze. I didn’t look away, though. Right then, he seemed like the old Jake again, the one who said sorry too much before he became the rebel who never apologized at all.
Something in my chest squeezed.
“I was never mad at you for accidentally missing it. I knew you were trying to make it back to me,” I told him.
Jake’s eyes met mine, and I held his gaze steadily. The carnival happened years ago, but he still needed to know I understood. The gentleness that crept into my tone was for the younger Jake, the one whose laughter rang out in half my favorite memories.
“I understood why you had to go to that audition—I wouldn’t have wanted you to skip what could’ve been your big break,” I said firmly. “I knew how much singing meant to you. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Yeah, I did.”
Jake smiled, his features all going soft and stealing my breath.There—there it was: the kindness I knew from him. Despite being rough around the edges now, his gaze still looked soft.
But then Jake cleared his throat and looked away, breaking the spell.
“I texted the guys that I had a favor to ask before I got distracted by Rumple,” he told me. “Phillip and Aspen haven’t replied, but Leon asked what I wanted. Hopefully, he’ll read my reply soon, so we can talk about it between ten and ten.”
“Ten and ten?” I questioned. “You mean like a.m. and p.m.?”
“Yeah. It’s better that way.” Jake grimaced. “You donotwant to catch him before or after those times. Just trust me.”
Before I could ask any more questions, Rumple padded over to me. Standing on his hind legs, he peered into my hand and began pawing at it in an attempt to steal my keys.
“Enough criminal activity for today, buddy,” I said, moving my hand out of reach before looking down at the Ferris wheel key fob again. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known the full story behind it. “I feel bad you spent everything you had to get this for me.”
“Don’t. Look at it this way; if I hadn’t spent my money on that, I probably would’ve done something stupid like buy a bunch of candy that made me barf before auditions. But this? You?” Jake tapped my fingers twice where they curled around the keys. “You’re still keeping it safe.”
Jake had a way of looking at me that made me feel like we were the only two people around, like nothing and no one else mattered, not when he was focused solely onme.
It felt familiar.
Dangerous.
“Right,” I said, forcing myself to look away.
