Chloe rolled her eyes. Of course he heard her body hit the door. She waved her hand in the air and stepped to the side. “It was nothing. Do you want to come in?”
Reid nodded and walked inside. Chloe closed the door and followed him over to the small table off to the side of the room. She flipped on another lamp and motioned for him to sit. Chloe waited for him to speak, but he remained silent, his eyes fixed on the table. When awkwardness started to settle over them, she cleared her throat.
“So, what’s going on? Not that you’re not welcome to come see me whenever you want, but I assume since it’s the middle of the night, this isn’t a social call.”
Reid’s eyes widened. “Shit, Chloe. I’m sorry. I knew it was late. I should have called. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No. You didn’t wake me. I was actually contemplating knocking off a bank to escape my boredom.”
Reid grinned and relaxed back in his chair. “That’s not very Jedi of you.”
Chloe shrugged. “Eh, we can’t be good all the time. What fun is that?”
Reid pursed his lips. “It’s no fun at all.”
Chloe noticed his change in demeanor immediately. It was like before with the girl backstage. She had a feeling they were thinking about two very different kinds of fun. The reason for Reid’s late-night visit started to become clear.
“What’s going on up there?” she asked, tapping her finger against her temple.
Reid exhaled, his expression a mixture of shame and disgust. “I don’t think either of us is ready for that conversation.”
“Okay. How about we start with something simple? What did you come to talk to me about?”
With a frustrated groan, Reid gripped his hair and propped his elbows on the table. “I don’t know if I should talk about it now. I was so excited earlier and then . . . I feel like if I talk about it now, it’ll be tainted somehow.”
Chloe reached across the table and wrapped her hand around his wrist. When he met her gaze, the conflict and uncertainty that clouded his hazel eyes caused Chloe’s chest to tighten. “Hey,” she whispered. “I won’t let it. Whatever it is, I won’t let it be tainted. I promise.”
Reid dropped his hands to the table. When Chloe moved to pull away, Reid grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Is it weird that I actually believe you could?”
Chloe grinned. “Nope. It’s all part of Jedi Training 101. The Master must earn the trust of her Padawan.”
Reid laughed. “If your Star Wars obsession wasn’t so cute, I’d be concerned.”
“Whatever,” Chloe giggled. “Now, tell me about what had you so excited earlier.”
With a deep breath, Reid released Chloe’s hand and reached for the paper in his pocket. “Tonight, while we were playing the CCR cover, I had a breakthrough.”
Chloe sat up straighter and leaned forward. “Yeah? What happened?”
Reid unfolded the sheet of paper and pressed his hands against the creases before sliding it toward Chloe. “This.”
Wide-eyed, Chloe scanned the page. She knew exactly what it was, and now she understood why he’d thanked her at the end of the show. He’d finally broken down a wall. “Reid, this is amazing. I love what you’ve added. Do you have more?”
Reid mimicked her position. It was evident that her excitement was catching by the spark of energy that brightened Reid’s eyes. “Not on paper. I was hoping maybe we could work on this together. Unless you’re tired. But even if you are tired, I really don’t want to be alone, so we could do something else. Watch television or—”
Chloe jumped from her seat and grabbed her notebook before dropping it on the table and falling back into her chair. “Shut up and grab a pen. We have work to do.” When Reid didn’t move, she looked up to find him gaping at her. Without saying a word, she extended her arm and dropped a pen in front of him.
Reid cocked his brow and grabbed the pen. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“Did you just quote Anchorman?”
“I did. Please don’t judge me.”
Chloe laughed and flipped open her notebook. “I can’t make any promises.”
For the next couple of hours, Chloe and Reid worked side by side. It wasn’t until the lines began to blur that Chloe dropped her pen and rubbed her dry eyes. As her vision came back into focus, she was amazed at the number of pages littering the tabletop, each one covered in lines of music for different instruments.
“Holy shit,” Chloe said with a small laugh.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Wanna call it a night?” Chloe asked, groaning as she stood to stretch her stiff muscles.
“Sure.” Reid gathered the pages into a pile, but he made no move to stand. His shoulders drooped and the energy seemed to leak from his body. Chloe eased back into her chair and waited for Reid to speak. When he did, his voice was unsteady, but resolved.
“You said that if I ever needed to talk, you’d listen. Is that offer still on the table?”
Chloe’s heart started to beat a little faster, the sudden rush burning away the fatigue she’d felt just seconds earlier.