“I . . . I think I’m okay now. I just needed to hear your voice.” The sentiment was nice, untrue as it was.
“You really don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” she asked softly, her voice chastising but caring.
“I wish you were here.”
“So do I, but you know that’s not possible right now. If you want, I’ll stay on the phone with you all night, but I don’t think that’s what you need.”
“You’re all I need,” he breathed, hating himself for knowing it wasn’t true.
“Liar,” she retorted with a small laugh. “It’s too easy for you to get lost in your head just talking on the phone. You need someone who can see when you’re not paying attention.”
Reid knew she was right. Already he’d wondered how long it would take to find the guys the moment he hung up. He extended his leg, the folded sheet of paper that had fallen from his pocket catching his eye. “I wrote music tonight,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.
“You did what?” Jess gasped.
“Not anything new. Well, it’s new, but not mine.” Reid groaned and leaned forward to grab the paper. “We did a cover tonight. A song that Chloe added layers to. While we were playing, I had all these ideas hit me. It was a feeling I never thought I’d experience again.”
Jess pulled in a deep breath then exhaled heavily. “If you don’t want to go to Tom, why don’t you find Chloe? Maybe you two can work on the song together.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if I can now. I don’t know if my head’s in it.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Did Chloe go with Greer?”
“No,” Reid answered, his voice biting. He wasn’t sure why, but the idea of Chloe out with Greer caused Reid’s anger to surge.
Jess was silent for a moment before she sighed. “It doesn’t sound like things between them are moving in the direction you thought. I guess, in this case, that’s a good thing. If you won’t go to Tom, go find Chloe. Tell her you want to work on the song. I’ll worry about you every second if you don’t. Please, do it for me.”
Reid exhaled, and when he spoke, his voice was soft, apologetic. “You’ve always known how to get me to do what you want.”
“Not always,” Jess murmured. “But I’m getting better at it.” The smile in her voice was evident. “I have about an hour left of work then I’m heading to my parents’ for dinner. If you need to talk, please call me.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.”
“You too,” he whispered.
Chloe sighed as she flipped through the channels. She wasn’t in the mood to watch television, but she wasn’t tired either. When Inky had invited her out for drinks, she’d said no, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember why. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; she had a pretty good idea why her automatic response had been no.
Reid.
Unease gnawed at Chloe when she thought about his reaction to the girl backstage. His entire demeanor shifted, the tension radiating from him intensifying as the night wore on. When Greer and Drew left with her, Reid looked ready to snap. The guys had invited her to tag along, but after Reid’s initial reaction to the girl, Chloe thought it would be best to stay clear of that situation. The way he stormed out of the room once everyone was gone told her she’d made the right decision.
Now, however, sitting alone in her room, she felt nothing but restless. With a groan, she flipped off the television and swung her legs off the bed. If nothing else, she could work on the cover song they closed the show with tonight. Her thoughts drifted to how he’d reacted when the song ended. How he’d wrapped her in his arms and swung her in the air like she was light as a feather. The memory caused a flutter in her abdomen. She could almost feel the warmth of his body when he’d wrapped himself around her and whispered into her ear. Her eyes fell shut and goose bumps covered her arms. He’d smelled so good, like cedar and leather. Musk and man.
“Shit,” Chloe croaked, pressing her palms against her eyes in an attempt to push away the memory, to stop the very dangerous direction of her thoughts. She jumped when there was a soft knock at the door. Looking at the clock, her brows drew together in confusion. It was after one in the morning. On her tiptoes, Chloe moved to the door and peeked through the peephole. Her breath caught when she saw Reid on the other side. She spun around and pressed her body against the door as she looked around the room in a panic, searching for some physical clue that would give away the not so innocent thoughts that had been running through her mind.
There was another soft knock on the door. “Chloe? Are you okay?”
She swore under her breath and turned to open the door. “Yeah, of course. Why?”
“I heard something hit the door,” he said, his words slow and cautious.