Page 45 of Pink and Country

I snickered and hurried to my studio to pick up my Taylor, one of my acoustic guitars. I put the risotto on the back burner and led April to a chair. She wasn’t just my neighbor anymore. She was becoming so much more. I ignored what exactly that was.

Music would ease the tension in me. It always soothed my nerves. My roommate stared at me, leaning against the countertop, her eyes wide and filled with questions. The heaviness of our conversation spread goosebumps all over my skin. Time to lighten the atmosphere and present my guest with a happier side of me. Her tongue darted out her mouth and wet her lower lip as she watched the guitar in my hands. Did I make her nervous?

A smile broke free.

Fairy scrunched up her nose. “Don’t get your hopes too high, HN.”

My hand gripped hers, and the pounding of my heart decreased at the touch of her skin.

“Don’t be too harsh on yourself, woman.” Pixie hissed a warm laugh. Oxygen came in and out of my lungs easier around her. “Come on. Let me give you your first lesson.”

11

April

I sucked in a breath and dug up some courage from deep inside me. Maybe I could do this. How hard could it be? HN squatted in front of me and placed the guitar in my hands. A drift of his scent washed through me. Did HN taste as good as he smelled? The temptation to find out was growing on me each time we were together. Shut down your crazy, needy hormones, girl. I closed my eyes and evened my breathing. There. Better.

“Place your fingers right here. No, this one needs to be higher. Yes. Perfect.” Our eyes met, and all the air in my lungs left me. I could do this. All I needed was to focus. HN’s fingers brushed mine, and I combusted from my core to my skin. “Ready for your first chord? I’ll show you an Em.” HN replaced my fingers on the cords. “Try this.” I glided my thumb against the cords. “Not bad,” he said, grinning. Pride shot through my bloodstream. “Now let’s try a C.” Once again, HN repositioned my fingers, and I strummed the guitar’s cords the same way he showed me.

HN taught me three more chords before we started from the beginning as I tried to remember all five of them. I wasn’t the most promising student, but HN didn’t seem fazed by my lack of musical talent. My fingers tingled each time he repositioned them, and a few times, I faked not remembering a chord so he’d touch my hands again. My eyes traveled all too often to his lips. I wanted to feel them on mine once more. To savor their warmth.

When I stopped obsessing over his mouth, I listened to him—for real this time— and enjoyed the lesson. The best part? HN’s smile lighting up his face throughout the hour-long private guitar lesson. At some point, HN placed himself behind me and leaned forward, pressing his chest to my back. My breathing caught in my lungs. My entire body pulsated in his presence. I coughed and shifted in my seat.

During dinner, the tension between us faded a little.

“Are you living here full-time?” I asked.

“No. Sometimes, I think I should move here for good, though.”

“You own the cabin?”

HN nodded. “And yours. I own a few in the neighborhood. My dad always told me real estate was a good investment, so—” He shrugged and took a sip of his sparkling water.

“Now I get why you acted like you own the place every time you came over. It makes more sense. It wasn’t an act.” HN smirked at me from behind his glass.

Later, I went to bed with a throbbing heart and a permanent grin on my face.

His brother’s story broke my heart. It rang too close to home. It sent shivers up and down my spinal cord. I didn’t open up about Travis. I couldn’t. Sorrow and pain swam in HN’s stormy irises. I fought the urge to hug him and tell him everything would be fine. HN was still struggling with his grief. Not trusting myself to not kiss him to soothe his pain, I kept a safe distance between us.

Dahlia and Jack were his brother’s family. Not his. I breathed out a sigh of relief even if I already knew they weren’t.

HN caring about them was such a selfless and loving act. Warmth ran through me. Tonight, every time he said their names, his eyes glowed, and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, making him look way younger, giving me an insight into the boy he must have been. No wonder I thought the redhead was his wife that day through my bathroom window. They had this strong bond that couldn’t be faked. It showed even from a distance. Was he still in love with her after everything they went through? After all this time? Plenty of questions swam in my head for which I had not enough answers. The only thing I knew for sure was that Jack was HN’s lookalike. So much that I found it unnerving. A knot fastened inside me.

HN’s confessions, the vulnerability in his eyes—in his words—made him even more handsome. I needed to move back to my cabin. For my mental health. And my sanity. This roommate thing would be too hard on me. HN was trouble.

I woke up and stretched before grabbing my phone to look at the clock. Eight fifty-eight . Best sleep ever. I gulped down a breath when I scrolled through my notifications and realized I had two missed calls and four text messages from Saunders. I frowned. What did she get herself into this time?

OMG April, WTF?

Call me. NOW.

Blimey! Call me already, girl.

CALL. ME. BACK. ASAP *9-1-1*

Saunders and I only ever used the nine-one-one code in case of extreme emergencies. Breakups, Travis’s death, walk of shame, broken condoms, or dates gone wrong. Those types of situations.

I got dressed and hurried downstairs. HN left a note on the kitchen counter next to a cup of tea. It was still warm.