Page 114 of Meet Me at the Metro

“Bye,umm—Evie, was it?”

She flips him the bird before we all part ways. “See you at the flat, Ellie. That is unless you had other plans than sleeping inyourbed tonight.”

I shrug. “We’ll just have to see!”

“You horny bastard!”

Getting to the music room across campus is not a long walk. The strumming of piano keys rings through the air as I push through the building doors. Theo’s sitting at the antique grand piano situated at the front of the room as I step inside.

I watch him quietly for a moment as I walk toward him, admiring how his fingers glide smoothly over the ivory and black keys—as if playing this instrument was second nature for him. A warm melody echoes through the room as he plays the final line of the music sheets strewn out in front of him, and I wait until the ending chord dims to silence before I introduce my presence.

“So beautiful, Theo.”

He looks back with a handsomegrin—so soft compared to the sharpness of his nose and jawline.

“There’s still a few fucked up chords here and there, but—”

“It’s getting there. It’s sounding really good.”

Theo humbly bites back his smile as he kicks his legs over the piano bench to face me. “Come here, you pretty thing.”

He opens his arms wide, and how quickly it feels like my limbs turn to gelatin is pathetic. It’s even more pathetic how eagerly I obey.

Theo’s fingers grasp onto my waist as I plop onto his lap, melting into the warmth of his body. I glance at the sheets of music on the piano’s music rack.

“Is this what you’re performing for your senior critique?”

He nods. “Yeah, it’s his—Dad’s.”

“Oh wow.He wrote that?It sounds like something you’d hear on a score to a movie soundtrack.”

His chest shakes with a laugh. “He’d have definitely loved you after hearing you say that.”

“Good to know I’d have his approval. And this is his, too, right? His piano, you were telling me about?”

“It is.” Theo’s expression so quickly turns solemn. “All I have left of him… this and his music.”

“How come you keep it here? Why not keep it at your apartment?”

“You think this massive thing could fit through my front door?”

I nudge his forehead with my own. “Don’t be a smart ass.”

“I do plan on getting it out of this shitty music room when I get a bigger space, and I want to get his name engraved on it somewhere.You know?Just a staple to always remind me that it’s his.”

“That’d be beautiful.” I adore the admiration he has for his dad. As my eyes inspect the weathered stain on the piano’s wood, I’m prompted to ask, “How old is it? It looks like an antique—it looks expensive.”

He nods. “It was made in the 1960s. It’s aSteinway & Sons,too, so it’s got to be worth at least several thousand quid. I’ve never really looked into its price, to be honest. Someone would have to pry this thing out of my cold, dead hands before I would eventhinkabout selling it.”

“I wouldn’t sell it either.”

After that statement, there’s so much warmth in his eyes as he looks at me. There is always so much his gaze says without him having to speak a word.

It’s like Theo and I have our own silent language.

The pads of his fingers trace the ridge of my jaw, trailing along my skin until they reach my lips. His stare lingers on my mouth for several seconds, and a familiar rush of longing tingles down my legs.

“You drive me mad, Nora.”

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