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“I know, but we’re working on building trust in this friendship, right? Well, to get it, you have to give it.”

“I’m pretty sure that that’s the line you use when you’re talking about respect.”

“Same difference. It fits the situation.”

I silently weighed my options. The thought of letting her in that deeply made me want to call it a night, drop her off at home, and continue on with my business. But I couldn’t ignore that Nyx was right.

I wanted her to trust me. Hell, it was almost a need at this point. A sign of good faith would be to show her that I’d do it for her, right? Robotically, I left the couch and grabbed the guitar I kept in my spare bedroom.

It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, almost as if I was watching myself play out the scene of the movie. Returning, I sank onto the floor and tuned the strings.

I couldn’t believe I was about to go through with it.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and began to play. I was lost from the minute the hum of the guitar reached my ears. Nyx and everything around her faded. It was just me, in a zone, doing what I loved to do.

It was freeing as fuck.

I lost track of how much time passed. I didn’t even give much thought as to what direction to take. I just allowed things to flow. By the time I was done, she had me pinned under that look of adoration, tears shining brightly in her eyes.

“Oh my GOD!” she screeched, reaching behind her to grab a pillow to fling in my direction. “You mean to tell me that all this time, you’ve been sitting on a voice like that? Are you crazy?”

Her excitement brought a smile to my face. “I take it you liked it?”

“I love it!’ Nyx gushed, clasping her hands together. “You truly have a gift. Getting to see it is a hell of an experience.”

“Now, you’re starting to sound like Ximena,” I chuckled lightly.

“The girl might be a lil’ crazy, but she’s not wrong.” Nyx grew serious, reaching out to place one of her hands over mine. “Thank you for stepping outside of your comfort zone for the second time tonight. I promise I’ll never ask you for anything else.”

“Yeah, until the next time you see me.”

“Well, duh. The game resets whenever we leave each other’s presence. That’s what makes things so fun.”

“I’m convinced that you live by your own set of rules. Completely separate from the normal.”

“I’ll tell you what, nobody’s ever accused me of being boring.”

“That, you most certainly are not.”

Chapter Thirteen

NYX

A thin layer of sweat coated my forehead as I sat across from the man who’d been hired to represent me. Since all the money I had was squandered on the property deal that never went through, I couldn’t afford as high a price for an attorney as Shane had. I did the best I could with what I had, but some days I wondered if I would have been better off with a public defender.

I’d told him several times I wasn’t interested in taking the deal, yet there we were having yet another conversation about it.

“Miss Love,” he began, pausing to release an uncomfortable cough. “I know this isn’t the most ideal solution for you.”

“It’s not. And I’m standing firm in my decision.”

Removing his glasses, he gingerly rubbed his wrinkled forehead. “I understand your resistance. And maybe under different circumstances, I wouldn’t be pushing so hard. But the prosecutor we’re going up against is a shark. They’ll show no mercy if this thing sees the inside of the courtroom.”

“The only thing I’m willing to plead guilty to is assault. They can take those other phony charges and shove them up their ass.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Miss Love. You can’t agree to part of a deal. It has to be accepted in its entirety.”

“Then I supposed we should be prepping to go to court.”