Light Unshaken (Unveiled #2) (4 page)

Trey’s gray-peppered eyebrows reached above the top of his square glasses. “Mm hmm,” he grunted again. “Is he going home for a week or something?”

Trey could give Trevor a run for his money in the patronizing department.

“I wish. No, he’s moving to Nashville.” My voice fell. It was one thing to know he was leaving. It was another thing to say it out loud.

“Nashville?” His chair sprang forward. “The record deal finally came through? Aw, man, this is the break he’s been waiting for, right?”

The tangled mess of computer cords kept my gaze locked beneath my desk, unspoken questions coiling into a knot in my throat. “Yeah.”

“Don’t sound too enthused or anything.”

“No, no, I’m excited for him,” I backpedaled. “Just not looking forward to saying goodbye.” How was I supposed to go from spending every part of the day with my best friend to not seeing him for months?

A hoarse chuckle followed Trey’s intuitive stare. “Don’t worry, dear. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Don’t tell me he subscribed to the same maxim calendar Austin did. “Thanks for the pep talk. My heart’s plenty fond already.”

The corners of his mouth curved under his scruffy mustache and barely held back whatever he was thinking.

Did I dare ask? Caving, I tossed my pen in my drawer and faced him head on. “Okay, fine. What is it?”

Shifting positions, he switched over to counselor-mode. “Long distance has a way of testing relationships. It can make the bond that much stronger or—”

I flung my hand up. “Let’s leave it at the first part.”

His laughter mushroomed. “You worry too much, kid.”

“I’m not worried.” I patted some papers into a neat stack, dodged his stare. “I’m just gonna miss him. That’s all.”

“Maybe I should have a little guy-to-guy chat with him.”

My head shot up. “You wouldn’t.” The last thing Riley needed was to think I was wavering. It was bad enough I panicked when he first told me.

Trey’s burly laugh vibrated across the compact room. “You sure?” He pointed past me to the window overlooking the main street. “’Cause now might be the perfect time.”

One glance out the window, and I flew through the door to meet Riley before Trey could corner him inside.

chapter Five

One Condition

Riley strolled up the narrow walkway. It wasn’t right for someone to make a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a rust-colored button-down look that attractive.

His grin toppled sideways. “You guys have surveillance cameras out front?”

After as long as we’d been together, he shouldn’t still be able to make me blush.

I stashed my hands in my pockets and dragged my sneaker over a dandelion poking through the sidewalk divider. “I’ve sort of been on the lookout for you for the last half hour.”

“Guess I better make sure the wait was worth it.”

His eyes found my lips. Even a foot away, my pulse accelerated, already sensing his touch. He kissed me as though he’d been staring out his own window all day too.

He leaned back. “Did I pass?”

I clenched his forearm to keep from melting into the crack alongside the weed. “My Jell-O legs aren’t answer enough for you?”

“Just checking.” His smile might as well have been another kiss.

And I was supposed to go without seeing that same smile for four months?

He reached for the doorknob. “Let me stop in to see Trey before we go.”

Teetering on my heels, I tried to tow him in the opposite direction. “Trey’s busy, and we want to beat rush hour traffic.”

“At seven o’clock?”

Okay, bad excuse.

He opened the door. “It’ll just take a sec.”

Head hanging, I shuffled behind him into the office and shot Trey a look of warning.

“Riley, my man.” Trey winked at me while giving Riley one of those half-hug-half-handshake guy hellos. “Congratulations. Heard you got a sweet deal in Nashville.” Trey boxed the air and nudged him in the shoulder. “Big dog now, eh?”

Riley rubbed his jaw line. “Yeah, guess I got pretty lucky.”

It had nothing to do with luck. Would he ever recognize his own talent? Beside him, I threaded my fingers through his.

He looked from me to Trey. “Listen, I wanted to ask if you’d mind keeping an eye out for Emma while I’m gone. I’ll be away for a few months. Might be gone until January.”

So, that’s what this is about.

Trey sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his ankles. “Don’t worry, bro. I got your back.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “But I gotta be honest. Your girl’s kinda stubborn.”

Riley laughed. “So I’ve noticed. Which is why it’ll give me some peace of mind if you could see her in and out when she’s here.”

I butted between them, arms pinned over my shirt. “I hate to break up the little bromance you’ve got going on, but you guys realize it’s rude to refer to me in the third person when I’m standing in the same room as you, right?”

The desk shook with Trey’s laughter. “Like I said.”

Riley curved his hand around my shoulder and pressed me into his side. “I really appreciate it. Means the world.”

“You got it.” He fake-punched Riley’s arm again. “Hey, live it up in Nashville for me, huh?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

The skin on my arm burned against Riley’s cool fingers once we stepped back outside.

“I’m glad he’s around to keep an eye on you.”

“I can take care of myself.” I spun to face him head on, but he caught my lips before I got another word out.
Cheater
.

It took the entire walk to his Civic to remember what I was going to say.

“I’m not a child, Riley.”

“Exactly. You’re a very attractive young woman.”

My lashes fluttered away his exaggeration.

He angled his head. “Are you forgetting Jack Peters?”

Wished I could. His slimy hands had burned flesh memories into the tops of my thighs that day in the parking lot.

Riley took my hand, voice softening. “I’m not saying you need a babysitter. I just need you to promise me you’ll be careful while I’m gone.” He lowered his face beneath mine. “Please.”

I swallowed the response I wanted to give. It wasn’t worth fighting over. Not when we were nearing the end of another day.

He lifted my chin. “Would a peace offering help?”

With one look, his eyes drained every bit of fight from me.

He set an MP3 player in my hand and folded his fingers over mine. “A little music to listen to while I’m away.”

I flaunted a replica of his usual grin. “You mean I won’t have to wait to buy the album online?”

He scratched his cheek with his key. “That sounds weird, doesn’t it?”

“Not to me. I always knew you would do it.”

His brow furrowed.

Did he still doubt himself? “What?”

“It doesn’t seem right. You not being there with me. None of this would be happening if it weren’t for you.”

“There you go, giving me too much credit again.” I inched closer. “You’ll just have to relay every detail, play-by-play, over the phone.”

He grinned, already two steps ahead of me. “As long as you get on Instagram every day.”

I brandished the lawyer-look we always teased each other with. “On one condition.”

He dished it right back. “Which is?”

“You have to promise to test out your new music with me before you record it.”

Leaning against the car, Riley cocked his head to the side and squinted. “Deal. But only if you promise to give me an honest critique.”

“Always.” Would listening to his music over the phone change the way it sounded?

He toyed with his keys, sobering. “I’m gonna leave my car for you to drive.”

I scooted backward. “Riley, I—”

“I’m not taking it all the way out to Nashville.” He pushed off the fender and straightened out his shorts. “If you have a car, I won’t feel like I’m abandoning you as much. And at least you’ll be able to get around without needing A. J.’s
eager
assistance.”

Seriously?
“Okay, first of all, you’re not abandoning me. And second of all, I doubt you need to worry about A. J. Trust me. He isn’t eager to give me a ride.” Or to be near me at all. His guarded eyes from the morning had made that clear enough. “It’s like it pains him to look at me or something.”

Riley drew me to him, my face inches below his. “Because he’s trying not to feel anything for you. I’ve been there, remember? Not an easy task. It’d pain me to look at you too if I knew you’d given your heart to someone else.”

A. J. was probably doing what he felt he needed to. I just hated that it had to be this way.

Riley shook his head. “I should probably cut the guy some slack for hanging out with us still. I wouldn’t have been nearly as noble.”

I lifted my hand to his neck. “Good thing you’ll never have to find out.”

“Promise?”

I let my eyes eliminate any doubt. Riley was, and always would be, the sole possessor of my heart. Did he honestly question that? Is that why he’d kissed me the way he had when he picked me up today?

Tucking my shoulder under his, I faced the sky and clung to the only thing I wanted to think about. “Can we stay right here?”

He clicked his key fob. “I have a better idea.”

chapter six

Unraveled

I don’t know what time Riley walked me home from the sports field last night. Only that it was too soon. I wasn’t ready for today.

Even my muscles seemed to be hunkered down in some kind of defense mode. Thirty minutes on the elliptical hadn’t broken through the stiffness I woke up with this morning.

I shook out my arms, turned up the volume on my MP3 player, and kept pushing. My legs circled in a fury, but my mind was somewhere else. Somewhere that, for the moment, belonged only to me. With my eyes closed and headphones on, I drifted into Riley’s songs and the reminder that his music was worth any sacrifice.

“Excuse me. May I ask what you’re listening to?”

I looked up to find a witty version of my favorite half-smile.

Riley leaned against the front of the machine. “I couldn’t help noticing you seem like you’re enjoying your music.”

I tugged my ear buds free. “Oh, it’s this great new artist. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Riley Preston?”

He rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. “He’s pretty good, huh?”

“Mm.” I slanted a brow. “Not bad on the eyes either.”

“Is that right?”

“Mm hmm. But . . .” I scanned from side to side and lowered my voice to a whisper. “I hear he’s engaged.” I clicked my tongue. “Lucky girl. Looks like I’ll just have to settle for listening to his CDs. You know, not many people are fortunate enough to have his pre-debut record.”

“Well, then, you must be pretty special.” He tucked his hands in his jean pockets and raised his shoulders. “Listen, I know I might be way out of my league, but, um, maybe we can go out on a date some time.”

I hopped off the elliptical and advanced until I was only an inch away from him. “How about tonight?”

He returned my sassy grin. “You read my mind.”

With his arm around my back, he led me toward the exit. “I was thinking I could make you dinner after we finish the last of the packing.” A slow smile tugged at his lips. “Not that I’d want to deprive you of your usual frozen-meal-in-a-bag or anything, but it might be a nice change of pace.”

“Hey, don’t knock my stash of frozen dinners. Living off them and ramen noodles is like a college student rite of passage.”

“You must be head of the tribe.”

I swatted him with my sweatshirt and tied the sleeves at my waist.

His laughter faded behind a look of sobriety as he tucked a loose strand of hair back into my ponytail.

A prominent drop in my stomach followed his touch. I didn’t think I’d ever taken my time with him for granted. But now that it was our last night together, I wasn’t so sure. I studied his face, trying to capture a pristine copy in my memory.

My stomach sank a second time. What if he was capturing memories of his own? I looked down at my sweat-dampened shirt. “Do you mind if I shower first?”

“I actually have to drop something off in the mail, so I’ll meet you back at your place.” He kissed my cheek and headed in the opposite direction toward the campus center.

I jogged to my apartment and got ready in a whirlwind. Too bad a shower couldn’t remove my tension as easily as it had the residue from my workout. How was I supposed to find courage to begin an evening I’d give anything to keep from ending?

Hold it together. For him. You can do this.

My internal pep talk held up on the drive to his apartment and kept me from caving when Riley’s chocolate Lab let out a series of welcome-home barks from the window.

It even carried me through an hour of packing what could’ve been the aftermath of a detonated landmine. Not that packing made the night easier, but at least it was movement. If I sat still for too long, I started to come undone.

In the living room, I scooched to the nearest stack of what looked like sheet music, and fanned through the pages. Some had so many eraser marks, the paper had almost worn through. Others had lyrics crossed out and new lines written above them. All his songs. All a part of him. I held them to my stomach, arms around pages from a chapter in my life I wasn’t ready to close.

Jake belly-crawled his way out of a hiding spot between the couch and a pile of clutter beside the coffee table. He set his chin over the box and looked up at me with his empathetic puppy eyes. I scratched him behind the ears. “I know the feeling.”

Across the room, Riley sat back on his heels and lifted up a flap on another box. “I’m gonna move all these into the study so they’re out of Jackson’s way. I want him to be able to put out his own things. Make the place his own while he’s subleasing for me.”

“That’s great.” Everything was coming together, as it should have. This was the right choice. Why couldn’t I shake the uneasiness spiraling in my stomach?

A timer beeped from the kitchen. Riley’s grin led him up off the floor. “Pot roast time.”

Somehow, we’d made it through the last half hour evading the savory scents filling the apartment. Distraction at its best. But once at the kitchen table across from Riley, time stilled again. No more outlet. The unrest churning inside me had no escape except through my lips. Riley’s amused grin hung on to every nonstop word spewing out.

“I gotta hand it to Trev,” I mumbled between bites. “The boy’s earning some serious pre-wedding bonus points for whisking Jae away to work on their vows.”

I swirled a carrot in the juices left on my empty plate and rubbed my feet on Jake’s back beneath my chair. My talented cook studied my every move as though savoring me more than the home-cooked meal we shared. What was he thinking about? I pulled my hair over my shoulder and twisted it into a tight swirl that unraveled the second I let go.

He walked around the table, his gaze never leaving mine, and extended his hand in front of my seat. “Dance with me.”

I bumped my fork off the table. “What? Here?” A glance at my shoeless feet and dusty jeans trailed over to the collection of boxes around the perimeter of the living room.

Riley’s smile left no room for resistance. Despite my lack of confidence in dancing, I slipped my hand into his and followed him onto our imaginary dance floor.

“Come on, Barefoot Beauty.” He closed me in his arms and in the sound of instrumental music playing from the stereo. “Just you and me.”

Jake pawed at my leg. “And apparently Jake. Think he might want to cut in.”

“I think you’re right.” Riley motioned for him to lie down. “It’s a good thing he’s coming with me. He’d definitely try to steal your heart if I left him.” He twirled me around and drew me in even closer. “Not that I blame him. I told you, you’re irresistible. Seems like a line’s starting to form behind me.”

I set my chin on his shoulder. “You’re really absurd sometimes, you know that?”

“And you’re still too modest.”

“Only when you’re exaggerating.”

He sighed against my hair. “One day you’ll believe me.”

We slowed with the music until our feet barely grazed the carpet. Riley rested the side of his face against mine. “This is what I’ll be thinking about while I’m gone. The scent of your hair after a shower, the warmth of your ear next to my cheek.” His gentle laughter shook against my chest. “The way you cling to me so you won’t fall.”

I started to pull away to prove him wrong, but he kept me close.

“Not a chance,” he whispered.

My body melded with his, my heart already lost. I balled his Henley in my fingers, not ready to let go.

His lips moved over the top of my ear. “When I’m listening to your voice over the phone, I’ll remember the way you feel in my arms right now.”

Would memories be enough? Lifting on my toes, I nestled my face under his chin and clung to the strength that always accompanied his embrace.

Amidst an undertow of unanswered questions, this much I knew beyond any doubt—the love I shared with Riley had forever ruined my heart for anything less.

He might’ve been leaving his apartment, but not his home. He’d given his heart to me, and it was the only home I needed—the one I had to find a way to hold on to.

The waning hours of our last night together dissolved too quickly. I fled to his bedroom before he saw the sense of loss fighting for control over my eyes.
Not yet.

“We still have to go through your dresser, right?”

“It’s late, Em. I should get you home. Five o’clock is going to come sooner than you think. You need to get some sleep.”

“Like
that’s
gonna happen,” I mumbled.

Already at my side, Riley tipped my chin. All he’d have to do is say one word, and the veneer of composure I’d feigned all evening would crack. “Fifteen more minutes, ‘kay? But promise me you’ll try to get some rest tonight.”

“I’ll try.”

While he cleared the kitchen table, I meandered around the small space that had been his home for the last four years. Even though most of his things were staying, the apartment felt hollow now, barren. I traced the zipper of the suitcase lying beside his guitar.

“Ready?” he called from the living room.

Nowhere close.

We’d driven the same route from his place to the campus countless times. Just like he’d stayed with me until I’d fallen asleep almost every night this summer. But knowing this would be the last one for at least the next four months brought the unknown crashing into the familiar.

His Civic idled alongside the curb. Words felt miles away. I stared out my window, fingers whitening around my door handle. The distance to my apartment closed in on me.

My heart beat against my chest like wings against a cage. “Stay.” I forced back the million exclamation points punctuating the simple word.

Riley’s head sagged. He ran his hand along the bottom of the steering wheel, taking too long to respond. He swallowed. “Not tonight.”

His lashes dropped and lifted slowly. The streetlight caught a look in his eyes that almost singlehandedly dismantled my resolve not to cry in front of him. “It would be too hard.” His fingers skimmed my cheek and disappeared into my hair. “For both of us.”

My mind raced, scrambling for something to say—anything to prolong our time together.

He brushed his thumb to my lips with a caress as tender as the kiss that followed. Fear fed into longing. His touch a tonic, I drank deeply. Each heart flutter. Each sensation. He withdrew slightly and then kissed me once more, making it clear why tonight would be too much, even for him.

He rested his forehead to mine. “I love you, Emma.”

Short, level breaths steadied my heart. I couldn’t let him see me fall apart. He needed me to be strong, not broken.

With his face in my hands, I drew from the last recesses of courage I had left. “I love you too.” I crawled out of the car, steeled myself before turning around, and leaned through the passenger window.

He stretched across the seat. “See you in the morning.”

“Bright and early.” I held my weak smile in place until the dim glow from the streetlight fell behind me. I pushed up the walkway toward the glass door blurring ahead of me. The stairs to the second floor apartment multiplied with each step.

My keys trembled in the lock. The tremor followed me inside and backed me against the cool door. And there, hidden in the shadows of my apartment, I gave in to the tears that now came without restraint.