The Summer I Loved You by Nicole Bea

Author:Nicole Bea [Bea, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, romance, contemporary, new adult, family-drama, demisexual, Florida, musician, songwriter, band, breakup, best friends, mother/daughter relationship
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2021-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Shae

It takes all my willpower to pull myself away from Asher. Every part of me is screaming that it wants this, wants him, but there’s one tiny corner of myself that doubts, and it’s like a single pebble disturbing the whole pond with ever-growing ripples. It’s too soon…too quick…you’re not ready.

“Ash,” I gasp his name the next time our lips part for air. “Ash, I…I need a moment.”

He stops at once, still holding me close but no longer searching for my lips. I can feel the beat of his heart and the heaving of his chest; he’s as breathless as I am.

“Too much?” He repeats his question from earlier, but grinning instead of frowning with concern, his forehead resting lightly against mine.

My laugh is shaky with adrenaline and feelings. “Yes and no. It’s just going fast again, and I don’t know which way is up or down.” I lean forward and brush my lips against his softly, so he knows I’m not sorry about what we’re doing. “Can we slow down? Just a little?”

“Always.” The word is throaty and hoarse, but I know in my soul that he means it because he lets out a comfortable sigh that resonates through my body and all the way down to my toes.

We stand there next to the piano for a little while with our arms around each other. I’m not sure how much time passes because the clock on the adjacent hallway wall ticks into the calmness of the house, making a rhythm with every pulsation of my heart.

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” I whisper into the darkness.

“Me neither. But something about it seemed right. Like all the pieces fit together at just the right time.”

I lean back a bit so that I can look into his face. “Is that not what it’s like when you write music with Gabe and Chance?”

He shakes his head. “Not like that. When you were playing it felt like…like you’d heard my song before and written your own to match it. But we wrote them before we knew anything about each other. How is that possible?”

A little shiver runs along my spine at his words. “That’s exactly what it was like for me too. I saw inside you and—and you could see inside me too. No judgement, no fear of making a mistake or sharing something I didn’t want to share. No holding back.”

“You hold yourself back?”

“Well, don’t you? With Gabe and Chance?”

“Good point,” he says with a crooked grin.

A sudden wave of exhaustion rushes over me, and my eyelids grow heavy. Apparently baring your soul to someone is a draining experience. “Any chance we could take this discussion somewhere more comfortable?”

Asher’s eyes brighten and then darken again almost at once. “You said you wanted to go slower. I don’t want to do anything you’re not okay with.”

“And that’s how I know that bringing you back to my bedroom is a good idea,” I reply, pulling out of his arms and instead taking him by the hand, “because you, Asher, are a good person.

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