Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
My gaze trailed him as my heart raced, skipping at random intervals. I craved the opportunity to get to know him better. Evidently, he worked at the ranch the summer after I left for New York. Ryder said that he came from the city, but his life was complicated. He didn’t speak about it much.
I sat next to him, our knees brushing.
“You work fast,” I said. We had all been spending a lot of time together in the studio, building the song layer by layer. I wasn’t used to working with so many different minds, but we all let each other’s voices be heard. The best idea was voted on and implemented.
Wyatt clicked around as he chuckled.
“I can come up with drum parts all day. Coming up with the right one is the tricky part,” he told me as he grabbed a pair of studio headphones. “But I have a good feeling about this one.”
“I believe in you,” I said, sharing a smile with him. It was nice to hear him laugh. He was definitely the most serious one in the band, but his dedication to his craft was alluring. Inspiring.
Wyatt placed the headphones over my ears, our faces lingering only a few inches away. There was something so intimate about such a simple motion. Maybe I was overthinking it, but having his eyes on mine as he moved so carefully made my breath hitch.
These guys were killing me.
Wyatt peered at me for a moment, his eyes threatening to slip down. Before they could reach my lips, he turned away and hit play, the sound of his drumming filling my ears as it complimented the guitar part that Ryder also recorded.
I found myself subtly nodding my head to the beat, enjoying the rhythmic thumping and light clashing of the snare. I noticed his foot tapping as he waited, his hand lightly patting his knee. Restless. Like he made me.
“It’s amazing. That’s the one,” I said once the track ended. I placed the headphones down and nudged his thigh. “I’ve never had a drum-heavy song before.”
Wyatt leaned forward slightly, cocking his eyebrow.
“Have I converted you?” he asked.
A faint blush crossed my cheeks as he gazed at me so intently.
“Absolutely,” I replied.
Studio time reached a close soon after that. I said goodbye to the guys before they went off to live the other side of their lives. My eyes hooked onto Ryder’s for a tense second, but his phone suddenly rang.
“Oh, hey, Kerrie,” he answered as he tore his eyes away from mine and hurried out of the studio.
I sighed as I brushed a loose strand of my hair away from my face. I wanted to get close to him, to pick up where we left off, but there was still a divide between us that I couldn’t cross just yet.
“I’m starving. What about you?”
I turned to see Carson behind me as he tucked away his acoustic guitar into its case. He was trouble for me, but I just couldn’t drag myself away from these guys. This was supposed to be a professional trip, not a lust fest.
But was it really just lust if I cared about them too?
“I could eat,” I said, my chest tightening a degree as he walked over to me. My eyes swept over his short sleeved, gray button-down shirt and dark jeans, and I couldn’t help but want to see what was underneath.
Carson tilted his head at me.
“What are you hungry for?” he asked, his eyebrow quirking up.
Why did that feel like a loaded question?
“Whatever you’re hungry for,” I told him, trying to keep my voice even.
Carson cracked an amused grin and motioned for me to follow him out of the studio and to his sleek black sedan, opening the door for me.
“I know a place,” he said before shutting the door and getting in on his side. He gunned the engine and headed into town, our gazes clashing every so often as tension filled the car.
I smoothed my hands down my tights that I wore beneath my casual, black skater dress. Even in this tiny town, I still wanted to keep up my appearance, and maybe that also had something to do with the ridiculously hot band members I worked with every day. In a way that I hadn’t experienced before, it felt like eyes were on me here. People finally understood what I was about and what I could accomplish. I never thought I’d feel that way here.
“How have you been doing? Hanging in okay?” Carson asked.
I could’ve sworn he was smirking. He was testing me, which should’ve gotten me heated with annoyance, but I felt hot all over for another reason.
“I’m fine,” I replied. “Just focusing on the song.”
Carson chuckled as he parked in the asphalt lot next to a busy steakhouse. It was the nicest restaurant in the entire town, so every event and special dinner was held there.