Page 99 of Lyric Squared

At the thirty-minute mark, my leg was bouncing up and down while I rotated my cell between my sweaty palms. For thelast twenty-nine minutes, I’d been ready to leave Luca’s home but without drawing suspicion. Keanu had just left.

“Ok, I think my time has come,” I announced as I stood to my feet.

“You leaving?” Luca asked, turning all the way around in his seat.

“Yes. You guys have been letting San do my job on Sunday nights when we’re having dinner so now there’s no use for me here.” I sighed, forging my sadness.

“I’ll relieve her early on Sundays if it’s bothering you but somehow, I think you’re lying.”

“She is,” Ever interjected.

“Figured.”

“Pops, y’all ready to roll?”

“Yeah,” my dad replied, laying his hand on the table. They’d just started a new game but hadn’t began playing yet.

“It’s about time for me to get in bed, too. I have to open in the morning.” Baisleigh yawned.

“I’ll walk you out,” Laike quickly insisted.

“Or I could just walk out with everyone else,” she suggested with a shrug.

“I’m part of everyone else, B, so I’ll walk you out,” Laike reiterated, obviously working Baisleigh’s nerves.

As much as I wanted to laugh, I didn’t. According to Laike and Baisleigh, they were past each other. But I didn’t know a man on earth that was casually purchasing a seventy thousand dollar watch for an ex that he hadn’t touched in years. It didn’t matter how much either of them tried to bury their past, it was evident that their feelings for one another had the ability to withstand the test of time. Even if they never explored them, they weren't easily hidden. Even a blind man could see right through them.

We piled into our car, everyone on their way to their respectable dwellings. My mother and father were the last to leave, Baisleigh being the first with Laike and I behind her. When I pulled to the end of Luca’s street, I contemplated making the left turn instead of the right one that would lead me to Keanu’s place. With my father at the wheel behind me, I was certain he was paying close attention to every move I made. With good faith that my mom would keep him off my trail, I made the right turn with shaking hands and raised bumps on my skin.

Six minutes later, I pulled into Keanu’s driveway with a galloping heart of glee. Aside from dinner, I hadn’t seen him since the early morning. Missing him was an understatement, and being underneath him wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be in his skin. But, first, I needed to pull my car into his garage just in case one of my brothers decided to come by. I had no intention of going anywhere for at least the next forty-eight hours, so it would be there for a while.

My car filled the second stall of the four car garage. Keanu’s old Camaro that he’d given Kale was in the first. I smiled as I exited my truck, remembering the day that Keanu had gotten that car. I thought that he was the sexiest thing on earth behind the wheel.

“Still is,” I whispered, shutting the door behind me.

I entered Keanu’s home, which was now considered our shared living space, through the garage. It was quickly becoming my only entrance being that I needed my car there for concealment. There had been a few times I’d been bold enough to leave my car in the driveway and come through the front door, but I always knew that Keanu would move it for me, eventually.

“Babe?” I called out through the house the second my feet hit the floor.

“Ba—” I cut off after noticing the familiar tone in the background.

Too busy making sure that I locked the door behind me, I hadn’t realized there was music playing in the distance. There was no way Keanu would hear me. He was famous for blasting his beats so loud that the music felt more like it was in his head than coming through his eardrums.

I stepped deeper into his kitchen, where the garage entrance was, immediately irritated with whatever I’d stepped in on the way inside. I could feel the imbalance as I took a step, alerting me that something was underneath my shoe. I leaned over and rested my weight on the wall as I pulled a red petal from my shoe. I held it closer to my face to examine it a bit more before concluding that it was indeed from a red rose.

I could hear my curls as they slid across the back of my coat when I turned my head. The display of red rose petals was only a few steps away from the door which I was still posted by. I took a few more steps, rounding the kitchen island and then the kitchen exit before the full bed of petals began to lead me up the stairs.

“Keanu.” I smiled. “What do you have up your sleeve?”

My mouth felt like it would split in two at any second. I felt like one of the girls in the fairytales that had impossible things happen to them on their quest for love. Keanu wasn’t exactly over the top yet because we were still working on publicizing our thing, but I had a feeling he’d do the impossible the minute we came clean about our dealings. Lavish trips, surprises, shopping sprees, private dinners, private flights, private yachts, extravagant celebrations, and more. He was that guy. Though I’d never seen that side of him, for me, I knew what was possible.

When the first set of roses ended, I stood in front of the bed of the master suite. On top of it, there was a lace teddy and a pair of boots that I was certain stopped somewhere on my thighs. They were both black in color and accompanied by a black blindfold.

“I guess it’s not bedtime,” I whispered, following the second trail where the first trail of roses left off.

When I entered the enormous bathroom, there stood Keanu next to the tub of running water. His pearly white teeth sparkled behind his smile. I couldn’t help but wonder why looking so fucking good hadn’t been made illegal because it was a damn shame.

“What are you doing, baby? What’s all this for?”