Page 122 of Resist Me

“I’ll stay tonight.”

“You know, Sen and Kai decided to move in together after, like, two months.”

“That’s absolutely not happening, but you’re welcome to stay at my house three days each week.”

“Six.”

I laughed. “I like you, but I still enjoy my alone time, you know.”

“Unacceptable. If you’re gonna be with me, I demand all of your attention at all times, whenever I need it.”

When I turned around, he immediately smashed his mouth against mine. He licked the roof of my mouth like a weirdo and all but devoured me.

“Four,” I said.

“Five.”

With a sigh, I shrugged. “Fine, but I reserve the right to claim a mental health day once in a while.”

“Ugh. Whatever. You might as well admit that you hate me. It’s fine. I feel the same way.”

“Hate? Baby, we’ve already established that you don’t get to use that word anymore. You can’t resist me.”

He smiled against my mouth. “Watch me.”

He took a step back, then winked before he went back inside.

Fine. If he wanted me to chase him, I guess I had no choice. Maybe I didn’t mind all that much.

Chapter 41

West

When Linc’s grandma, Mary, took my hand, I felt a flutter in my stomach. From the moment I met them, they’d acted like they accepted me. We’d known each other for one day and I felt close to them already. Like Kai, Linc had some amazing people in his life. Even though his parents weren’t around anymore, he had support, and it was beautiful.

“I brought tomatoes,” I said, holding up the small bag.

She put a hand over her mouth and snickered. Was I going to actually throw them at the stage? It was entirely possible. It might be a good test for our relationship. How far could I push him before he bailed?

I tried to shake the toxicity away. He wasn’t going anywhere. He kept saying it- when we laid down together last night, before we fell asleep, when we woke up this morning.

Willow dropped into the seat on my other side and took the bag from me. After she peered inside, she cackled, drawing the attention of the panel that was going to listen to Linc play. I shushed her but struggled not to laugh with her.

Rick had come with her, which actually didn’t annoy me. He did try to take care of her last night, even though he easily could’ve bailed. A lot of guys wouldn’t want to deal with all of that. Maybe he could stick around. Maybe.

Once Linc came out, everything around me stopped. He already appeared so focused. He sat down and looked directly at me before he turned to the professors. After he took a noticeably large breath, he settled his hands over the keys.

He thought I was going to be bored. Obviously, he was insane. What flowed from beneath his fingers was the definition of art. It was beautiful and pure, a piece of his soul. It was a thread that connected him to his mom and dad. The way he played it made you feel that, even if you didn’t know what it meant.

I may have been biased, but it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. And he… God damnit, he was the most beautiful man. If I thought he was impressive on the field, I hadn’t seen anything. When he played, he got lost in it. His passion for this was inspiring and I could suddenly picture him teaching others the way he planned to after he graduated.

Mary squeezed my hand tightly. I looked over at her and saw tears falling from her eyes. Ah, fuck me. It almost made me cry too. Linc’s mom, Mary’s daughter, wrote this song. I could imagine how it felt to hear it being played by her grandson now.

I’d seen him play it many times but right now, there was more emotion in it. His eyes were closed and his brows were slightly pinched. Everyone in this room felt it, just like I told him they would. I felt proud that I’d been the one who gave him the idea to playElysium at Midnight.

When he finished, I jumped up. I didn’t give a single shit if it was acceptable to clap and yell. I did it anyway. Willow joined me, followed by Linc’s grandparents. I swore I could see him blushing from here. He gave me a stern look after a moment, so I decided to give him a break and shut up.

The professors apparently needed a minute to talk to him. That or we’d pissed them off. Regardless, we all filed out and waited in the hallway. I didn’t feel the slightest bit nervous for him. He was everything they needed in the program.

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