Notes of the Past (Lightning Strikes Book 2)

by Jodie Larson

  He wants to take this slow. Okay, I get it. And he’s still mad. So I need to prove to him that I’m worth the fight. That we can be great again, like we once were. As I dress and pack my things away, hope blossoms in my chest.

  Four sets of eyes stare at us as Myles and I enter the bus hand in hand. Blank expressions morph to confusion then to happiness as we take a seat on the couch.

  “What? Do I have something hanging off my ear?” I brush the area with my hand, trying to smooth away anything that may be there.

  Kade laughs and finishes his text message. “Not your ear, but you seemed to have picked up a growth on your hand.”

  “Ass,” Myles says, pulling me into his lap. Everyone stares again. It’s a little unnerving, being the center of attention. It’s doing nothing for my self-conscious nature.

  “Can everyone just relax? Why is this so weird for you all?”

  Pax leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. “Because you two have been at each other’s throats the last few weeks. Just seems a bit sudden.”

  “Not sudden. Overdue.” Myles kisses my temple and I melt into his body.

  Adrienne smiles and rubs her small belly. “I think it’s sweet.” She wraps her arm around Kade’s and snuggles into his side. The bus jerks forward and we start down the road.

  “Well, now that we’re all here, we need to discuss some business.” Kade starts in about our next three stops before giving us the rundown of our two-week block. We won’t get a break until we get to L.A. for a brief stop, which the guys are all excited about. To them, it’s home. But for me, it’s another city I’m not familiar with. Sure, my mom lives somewhat close by, in Escondido, but I don’t consider it home. Never did, even though my mom tried her hardest to make me feel as if it were. She gave me everything I could want, but it wasn’t what I needed. No, my home was back in Kansas City, hurting and in pain because I had left him. Escondido only reminded me of that every day.

  Suddenly, a crazy idea hits me. I lean close and whisper in Myles’ ear. “I want to change up my set.”

  He turns his head and smiles. “Okay, so go for it.”

  “I need your help.”

  “With what?”

  A devious smile forms as I raise my hand. Kade blinks and shakes his head. “This isn’t class. You don’t have to ask for permission to talk.”

  Putting my hand down, I start, “I’m thinking of changing up my set.”

  “And?”

  “And I was thinking of getting Myles to play with me. Do a duet of some sort.”

  Myles places a kiss to my shoulder before pulling the fallen strap back into place. “I think it’s a great idea.” He runs his hands up and down my legs, leaving a wake of goosebumps.

  Kade nods. “I agree. As long as you’re up for it, go ahead. Just make sure Don gets your list in time to set everything up.”

  After a few more business items, Kade sets us free to our own devices. Myles and I slip into our room, leaving everyone in the living area to mingle. He rushes me to the bed and crawls on top of me. It’s a little claustrophobic with the top bunk being so low and Myles being so close.

  He must sense it too. “We may have to use my bed from now on.”

  “Whichever is more comfortable, but yeah, this seems a bit close. And we’d be limited on our possibilities.”

  “We can’t have that.” He trails his nose along my neck and pulls the tank strap down my shoulder with his teeth. “Exploring different positions is a must.”

  “We’ll have to get creative.” I gasp when he bites my shoulder. He starts unbuttoning my jeans, but I halt his progress.

  “Shouldn’t we wait until tonight? I mean, they’re all out there and quiet isn’t exactly in our vocabulary.”

  An impish grin greets me when I brush my fingers against the stubble on his chin. “Would you rather wake them from a dead sleep?”

  “I’d rather not wake them at all. We may need to control ourselves.”

  “Fuck that. I’ve waited too long and I’m not about to stop now that I’ve found you again.”

  The first drop of desire runs through me as he finds my clit. All caution is tossed to the side when he does it again, eliciting a moan from my lips.

  “Myles.” It’s a prayer on my tongue as he works me with his magic hands, one between my legs while the other finds my hardened nipple under my bra. Sweet torture mixes with pleasure as I climb higher into the clouds. The rock-hard erection in his pants has to be painful as he slides it against my thigh.

  This won’t do. I try my best to release him from the confines of the denim. When I finally get him in my hands, I work him slowly, his silky smooth flesh slides against my palm. He looks down at me, then between us to catch a glimpse.

  “Damn, I love it when you do that.” I run my hand up his shaft again, closing into a fist and twisting at the head. I repeat the motion again as he thrusts his hips. If we’re not careful, we’re going to pull a high school rookie mistake.

  Stripping me of my pants and panties, he reaches into the nightstand at the head of the bed. Pulling a condom from the drawer, he hands it to me. “You put it on.”

  Without wasting a second, I tear the foil packet with my teeth and sheath his cock. Moving my knees to the side, he hunches over and slides into me. Slow and steady, making sure each and every inch of him is buried deep inside. He pauses, leaving us hanging in the space between ecstasy and nirvana. Our special place.

  We start a rhythm, trying to make as little noise as possible, but every creak of the bed and gasping moan escaping us leaves little to the imagination for the people just outside our door. The claustrophobia I felt before is gone. This closeness with Myles is what I crave. He wraps me in his arms, holding me as tight as he can. Seconds turn to minutes as we lose ourselves in the moment, keeping our gazes locked onto each other.

  “So. Beautiful.”

  His staccato breaths beat against my mouth. He rolls his hips again, hitting me just right until my vision blurs and my body seizes up. And I come, gloriously, convinced we’re not close enough as I try to pull him closer. His movements stagger as he lets out a guttural growl, spilling himself into me. Myles relaxes and falls onto my chest. Our breaths go from quick to even as he rains kisses onto my face, eyes, and lips.

  A knock sounds at the door and we freeze. “If you two are done making our ears bleed, we have lunch ready.” Brecken’s unmistakable voice is heard through the door, along with his retreating footsteps.

  Myles’ contagious laugh hits me and we roll away. He gets up to dispose of the condom and I take the time to restore my clothes to their rightful positions. Once we’re put together, we casually walk to the kitchen area to grab our plates of food.

  I take a seat next to Adrienne, who blushes and quickly chuckles. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only loud one.”

  Heat crawls up my neck and face. “Was it bad?”

  She shakes her head and bites into her sandwich. “I thought Paxton was going to need a cigarette at one point.”

  “Oh God.” I place my head in my hands while she laughs. Looking back at her, mortification takes over. “You don’t understand. These guys are like my brothers. How am I going to look them in the eyes the rest of this trip?”

  “Come on, it can’t be that bad.” She stares at my wide-eyed expression. “Okay, maybe it is. But you and Myles dated previously. Didn’t you have to deal with this before?”

  I shake my head and bite into my sandwich. “No,” I say through a mouthful of food. “We never did anything public. Always in the privacy of our rooms. This is the first time I’ve ever encountered something this humiliating.”

  Adrienne slows her chewing and puts her sandwich down. “Wait, you’re saying that Myles was a gentleman?”

  “Define gentleman.”

  She laughs. “Okay, don’t really need to know.” She taps her chin. “How long were you two together?”

  “Are you talking when we started dating or how long we’d kn
own each other?”

  “Dating.”

  “Let’s see, we officially started at fifteen, I think.” Math isn’t my strong point right now, considering my brain is still scattered across the bedroom floor.

  “So, what, almost six years together?” I nod. “And never once did you two get caught?”

  “Nope.”

  I can see the moment the light goes off in her head. “You said you’ve never been caught. Including after you broke up.”

  Again, I nod. “Never.”

  “Have you…?”

  Looking over at Myles, I shake my head. “No.”

  “He’s it? The only one? I nod. Adrienne’s smile fades. ”But you know of his past?”

  A tear threatens to fall. “Yeah.”

  She places a hand on my arm and squeezes. “I don’t know what to say. Does he know?”

  “No.” My voice is quiet. “Not yet. I’m not sure if I’ll ever tell him.”

  Adrienne scoots closer to me. “You should tell him. Not that you owe it to him, but something like this is big between you two.”

  “Or he’ll feel like shit to know I waited and he didn’t. He doesn’t need that knowledge right now.”

  “So you’d rather let him believe you slept around in the time you were apart?”

  I shrug. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. Can’t change the past, only move forward. And for the first time in years, I’m happy so I don’t want to rock the boat just yet.”

  Her knowing smile eases my discomfort and we resume eating and talking. Adrienne is quickly growing into a true friend, which is something I need right now. Pax and Breck won’t want to listen to me talk about Myles and I’ll need a female to confide in when things get sticky. Because let’s face it, relationships always have their ups and downs. Sometimes we need to vent and bring us back to clarity. Who better than a girlfriend to be your voice of reason?

  Myles joins us and slides next to me. “Not sure if I like this alliance. Should I be scared?”

  We both laugh at the same time. “Only if you do something wrong. But I’d be more afraid of her than me if that’s the case,” I say, pointing my thumb to Adrienne, who narrows her eyes to him. Myles actually inches away, but I pull him back, placing a kiss on his cheek.

  Adrienne looks between us and excuses herself. “I think I need to go find my husband and see what trouble he’s creating.” She leaves with a wink.

  Alone again. I smile to myself. The past mixes with the present, but it all drops away as soon as I lock eyes with him. Now it’s just us, Myles and Tatum, two people who have an intense attraction and will always find each other after being lost. As a woman, I can appreciate his relaxed look. Something about the ease of his loose-fitting jeans and ratty old high school t-shirt makes him ten times sexier. Or it’s the backwards hat, reminding me of the days he used to play baseball. Granted, it was only one season when we were sophomores, but he was the hottest left fielder I’d ever seen.

  “So this idea you have, anything in particular you have in mind?” Myles takes my hand and plays with the rings on my fingers. Most of them he bought me in high school. There are a few I picked up during my time in Cali. He finds his favorite and spins it around. Something so sweet and innocent, reminding me of the man I fell in love with all those years ago.

  “Something with a guitar duet? I don’t know.” Actually, I do have one in mind, just not sure if he’ll agree to sing it or not.

  Myles leans forward, crowding my personal space. “You have something in mind. I can see it.”

  I bite my bottom lip and bounce my knee. “Well, I had one pop into my head when I thought of this.”

  He sits patiently, staring into my eyes. “Don’t make me force it out of you.”

  Maybe if I say it fast, he’ll think it’s a horrible idea. “What about ”Broken” by Seether?”

  It takes him a few seconds to respond. “Yeah, I could see that.” He nods his head and the smile grows on his face. “Actually, it’s great. We should start practicing, though.”

  Now I’m nervous. This song popped into my head because we found our way back to each other. The worst has happened and all we can do is move forward together.

  “When do you want to start?”

  Myles grabs my hand and pulls me from the bench, dragging me past everyone as their heads turn in our direction.

  “Do we need earplugs?” Pax yells out behind us.

  Myles laughs. “No, we’re going to work.”

  “Uh huh. Is that what you’re calling it?” Breck asks.

  No reply is needed as we shut the door behind us. Myles lets me go and walks to the closet, pulling his beautiful black acoustic guitar from its case. That guitar has played a significant role in my teens. It was the first guitar I ever attempted to play, the first used to serenade me when Myles was being romantic. I never thought he’d still have it after all this time.

  “Grab yours and we’ll work this out.” I walk to the corner and pull out my guitar, picking at the strings to give it a quick tune. Myles grabs his phone and presses a few buttons. Within seconds, the song fills the room. We sit cross-legged on the floor facing each other. I finger the chords on the neck to get the feel for the song.

  When I was deep in my depression, the only thing that helped besides the therapy was playing my guitar. Somehow it brought me back to my life back home, the life I ran from. Kate, my therapist, said music was pivotal in my life and that I needed to keep up with it. She was right. I found someone to give me guitar lessons – not nearly as fun as the ones Myles gave me – and honed my skill, becoming better than I was. Soon I was able to listen and play along like someone who had been playing all their life. The positive reinforcement is what I needed to clear my focus and work on healing myself.

  After two rounds with the music, Myles slides a sheet of paper over, marking all the chord changes. “Think you can handle it?”

  I nod. “We’ll find out I guess.”

  We start out slow, messing up a few times before finally getting it right and moving on. It takes me a little longer to get it than Myles, but just as before, he’s patient and helps me through it.

  I’ve missed this. Missed the closeness we felt through music. Most people didn’t understand our connection, thought we were a mismatched pair. They felt he was too good for me, that I would bring him down. If only they knew how he had saved me from my parents’ constant fights and their lack of a stable home. All anyone ever saw was the girl who lived how she wanted and didn’t care about anything, while Myles came from a well-loved family, attending church and volunteering at the local non-profits in town. Good boy meets bad girl. All assumptions because they didn’t know us.

  After a few hours, we stand and stretch. Our legs feel like Jell-O and we walk to the door on unsteady feet.

  “I think my heel is numb,” I say, holding onto his arm for stability. He laughs as he helps me into a chair. Everyone has retired to their rooms, leaving us alone in the living space for once. I can hear Pax and Breck watching some sort of movie in their room, while I’d rather not think about what Kade and Adrienne may be doing.

  “Hungry?” He opens the fridge and checks the contents while peeking at me over the top of the door.

  “Yeah, I could eat something.” I start to stand but he waves me off. “How am I going to know what I want if you won’t let me see what we have?”

  Several packages fall from his arms onto the counter. “Trust me. I have something in mind.” He abandons the kitchen and leans over me. Reaching into my back pocket, he pulls my phone out and plugs in the earbuds lying on the table next to me. “You’re to sit here and listen to music while I whip something up.”

  He clicks a few buttons and smiles while walking away. Ass. I look down and notice he’s selected my Random Karaoke Party playlist; the best mishmash of songs I can find. Basically, when I find a song I love, it goes there. No rhyme or reason or genre. Just songs that strike my fancy. It’ll go from oldies to r
ock to country to rap. Drives most people crazy, but I love it.

  “Gold” by Kiiara comes on and I can’t help sitting up and leaving my seat. In fact, the beat is seductive in nature, perfect for giving Myles a little performance. Who doesn’t like dinner and a show?

  Quietly, I sneak up behind him. He doesn’t jump when I run my hands up his back, tracing each muscle on the way to his shoulders. I sing along – at least to the words I can understand – and begin my dance.

  Myles tries to say something, but I point to the earbuds still lodged in place. He gives me his million dollar smile and shakes his head. Grabbing the counter, I brace myself against it, pushing my chest out before swaying down to the ground, keeping my feet and knees close together. He stops what he’s doing and keeps his eyes on mine, the lyrics leaving my mouth easily now. I let go and crawl the short distance to where he’s standing. With my back turned to him, I shimmy up his front, grabbing his legs and letting my hands run along his backside when I straighten.

  Myles is rigid, stiff – in more places than one. I wrap my arms around his neck, pushing my breasts out. They don’t go unnoticed for long as he covers them with his hands, kneading and pinching. I lose my place in the song among the gasps.

  An earbud falls and is replaced by Myles’ sexy voice. “If you keep this up, we’re not going to get anything to eat and all our rehearsal work will be delayed.”

  I wickedly smile before releasing him. “Would it be so bad?”

  He growls low, looking down my front. “No, but we need to pace ourselves. I have plans for us once we get back to L.A. and it involves being holed up in my house for the entire four days we’re there.”

  The throbbing between my legs intensifies with his promise. Four uninterrupted days of just the two of us? I’m going to assume it’ll be nothing but sex and food, more sex, and maybe sleep, once we tire ourselves out. The thought alone brings lovely fantasies of me wrapped in his sheets, breathless and panting, while he lays across my stomach in a similar condition.

  Turning to face him, I run my hand through his hair and kiss his nose. “If only you could see the images in my head right now.”