Page 24 of Talk Nerdy To Me
His eyes widen, and he clears his throat as his cheeks go red. “There are three inside. All of them are easy to find,” he says as he darts away.
And that’s why Tria told me to word it differently.
I’ve yet to discover a way that doesn’t get me that same reaction with every male stranger with whom this topic has come up.
Walking inside, I try not to glance around, worried I’ll see Base with another girl or hear him with one. But finding a bathroom is not as easy as Taylor said it would be.
I’m not sure why I care if Base is with another girl. I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I’ve learned from everyone around me how this needs to go in order to achieve optimal relationship bliss.
I finally push open one door, spotting a bathroom in the back corner, but I stumble to a halt when I see that I’m in a bedroom that is attached to that bathroom.
Judging by the deep, soulful voice permeating the air, and soft guitar music that I couldn’t hear over the party music, I come to the conclusion I’m in Base’s room.
It’s also obvious because Base is shirtless and lying on his bed while strumming an acoustic guitar and singing.
If I’m rambling this bad in my head, I definitely should not open my mouth.
Just as I start to run or something—my cognitive functions are suffering that glitch again—his eyes land on me and widen in clear surprise.
A slow smile crawls over his lips, and his eyes relax as his gaze sweeps over me. When he sits up, I remain rooted to my spot. I feel physically frozen in place.
Idly, I find myself wondering if this is one of the things I can blame my menstrual cycle for.
“Sorry!” I finally blurt out with zero finesse.
I realize why people sometimes cringe around me.
I’ve never gotten embarrassed before, and there’s no reason for me to be embarrassed right now. But my cheeks are hot, and I’m definitely cringing. It’s the one expression I am well versed with.
“I’ve literally been looking for your number for half the day,” he says, his voice normal and not squeaky and ridiculous like mine. “I’m glad you came by.”
I’m trying to figure out if that means he told Krysta to bring me, or if he didn’t know I was coming…
I really wish people would just state things the exact way they mean them.
Life would be simpler.
“Why?” I elect to ask, deciding that’s the best course of action.
His grin only grows, and he gestures to a wall that has numerous gossip columns about me pinned there. Also, there are a lot of pictures with my face or eyes cut out.
I dart my gaze away, since I promised Dane I’d never read any of those columns. Then I frown as Krysta’s mention about Fatal Attraction pops into my mind.
“Why are you—”
“Yeah, I know…it’s totally creepy,” he interrupts, laughing under his breath, “but when I get inspiration for a song, it’s usually a person that strikes it. I’ve written my own story a thousand times. To keep the music fresh, I look at other people.”
He puts the guitar aside, and stands, moving toward me with what I can only assume is well-deserved confidence. I don’t even realize I’ve fully moved inside the room until he pushes the door shut behind me, bringing his body really close to mine as he stares down at me.
“It’s the eyes every time,” he says, moving impossibly closer as he tilts my chin up with the tip of his finger. “I always want to write the stories that could tell me why that look is in their eyes. A girl with sad eyes while wearing a practiced smile has definitely intrigued me. Music is all about emotion, and yours had the right emotion to draw me in.”
He gestures to the wall again. “I only pinned up the ones with your picture, because I wanted to capture more emotions.”
As he moves to study one picture, I shift uncomfortably.
“And there’re so many emotions in all of them, sometimes just enough subtle difference to change the entire story like a ripple effect. I’ve been writing all afternoon, and I haven’t written anything solid in months,” he adds.
He walks back, still grinning as he props against a wall.
