Page 95 of More To Us

She rolls her eyes, smiling. "Yeah, I guess it does. Congratulations."

"I'm kidding. I don't know if I'm good at it, but I try."

"Trust me. You're good at it. Even if I had more experience, I'm sure that would've been the best sex I've ever had."

I'm wondering exactly how much experience she's had. She said it wasn't much so does that mean she's only had sex a few times? Or with only one guy? I don't want to think about it. I don't want my mind even going there. I don't want to imagine her with anyone but me.

A flash of lightning fills the room, followed by a boom of thunder. Kira grabs onto me.

"You scared?" I ask.

"No." She relaxes her grip on my shoulders. "That was just really loud."

"I like thunderstorms. I like listening to the rain."

"Me too."

I kiss her. "I'll be right back." I leave her room and go across the hall to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When I get back, she's lying on her side, gazing out at the storm. I sneak in behind her, wrapping my arm around her.

"I think the storm is passing," she says. "At least the lightning part. It's still raining."

It's now a steady rain, pelting the windows.

"I used to think rain was music," I tell her.

"You did?" I hear the smile in her voice.

"Yeah. Back when I was like three or four I used to get scared during bad storms so my mom made up this story. She said storms are God's band. That the rain is the keyboard and the thunder is the drums. She said that sometimes when God's bored, he puts on a concert for all of us, and sometimes he even adds a light show which is the lightning. After she told me that, I wasn't scared anymore. I actually believed her."

I've never told anyone that story. It's too personal. A memory of my mom and me. Something only my family knows. And yet for some reason I told Kira.

"Is that when you got interested in music?" she asks.

"It was even before that. When I was like two, my mom took me to a music class for toddlers. She noticed I was always banging on stuff with spoons, which I'm sure a lot of toddlers do, but my mom thought I was trying to make music. So she took me to this music class and apparently I got really into it."

"You did?" She laughs. "Like how?"

"My mom said I'd run in the room as soon as I got there and start playing the instruments. And when the class was over, I didn't want to leave. So my parents bought me some kid instruments to play at home. That's when my music career started. Well, I guess it's not really my career but you know what I mean."

"Why don't you make it your career?"

"What? Music?"

"Yeah. If it's what you love doing, then maybe you should be doing that instead of construction."

"I've thought about it, but I don't know how I'd make a living. The band barely gets paid enough to cover our expenses."

"Maybe if you talked to that guy in the music industry, he could help you out."

"I'm not sure what he could do for me, but I guess I could give him a call. The thing is, I'm not really sure what I want to do. I know I should have it all figured out by now but I don't."

"I'm the same way. I feel like there's all this pressure on me to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I don't feel ready to decide. It's a big decision, you know?"

"Yeah. Although I don't have to pick a major so it's easier for me. I never even considered going to college. It was always either construction or play music."

"Do you like working construction?"

"Yeah, I do. I like building things. And I like doing the renovation stuff, making something look new again. So if I had to do that for the rest of my life, I wouldn't mind. I just don't want to do the business side of it. My brothers are starting to do all that shit and now my dad wants me to, but I want to stay out of it. For me, the best part of my job is the creating and building part."

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