Lennox whisked the smut from her pants with her hands and stared at Paige. “What?”
“What?”
“Why are you laughing?” Lennox asked.
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Why?”
“Your guitar is girl?” Paige asked.
Lennox grabbed her instrument from Paige. “Yeah. And so is my drumset. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Paige said. “I’ll leave the garage, give you a minute, then I’ll come back and we can start again.”
“Paige, wait. You can stay. Sorry for my surliness. I’m just recuperating.”
“From what? Your acrobatics?” Paige asked.
“No. From you.”
“Huh?”
“I’m kind of mortified that you were listening,” Lennox said.
“Why? You’re a performer.”
“Yes, for people in my line of sight,” Lennox said. “You crept up on me. I’m not used to being spied on.”
“I wasn’t spying. I didn’t want to disrupt your flow,” Paige said.
“If you were checking me out, it’s alright. You don’t need an excuse.”
“You are sorta eye-catching.”
“Sorta? Burn. You do not have a flair for sweet-talk,” Lennox said.
“I object. I can assure you that my sweet-talk is premium.”
Lennox pursed her lips. “Mmm. Nope. It’s completely stale. You should freshen that up pronto.”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But in all seriousness, Lennox, the song was dynamite,” Paige said.
Lennox chuckled. “That was an awesome depiction of the point I was trying to make.”
“Hey! It’s a great word and nobody ever uses it,” Paige said.
“You do.”
“Actually, just now was my premier usage of it.”
“Really? The way in which you spoke it, I would’ve thought you were a veteran,” Lennox said.
“Thank you.” Paige trifled with her wallet chain. “So, you’re a guitarist and a drummer? Because of your dad?”
“Affirmative.”
“That’s super cool,” Paige said. “I played the tambourine once in a school recital. I sucked.”
Lennox laughed. “I’m sure you were dynamite.”
Paige pouted. “I made myself vulnerable to that, didn’t I?”
“You did.” Lennox smiled. “Well, I’m glad you liked the song because it’s yours.”
“What?” Paige asked.
“It’s your song.” Lennox sat down again and looked at Paige. “Sit.”
“Where do you want me?” Paige asked.
Lennox grinned. “Everywhere.”
Paige’s cheeks brightly rouged.
Lennox gestured to the crate across from her own. “There.”
Paige took her place on the plastic seat.
Lennox shook her head. “Mmm mmm mmm. I plummeted to the ground and you cared for the guitar instead of me. So improper.”
“Whoa! You told me to!”
Lennox laughed. “I know. It was a joke.” She plucked the instrument’s strings, tweaked its tuning pegs, and gazed at Paige. “Something’s different with you. What could it be?”
Paige shrugged. “Is it my new shirt?”
“Nope. It’s cute, though,” Lennox said. “It accentuates your…er…chin.”
Paige smirked. “My chin?”
“Yeah. You have a nice…chin,” Lennox said. “But it’s not as distracting as your sheeny lips.”
“They were chapped. They needed ointment,” Paige said.
“Bet they did. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were going on a date,” Lennox said. “But we’re only friends hanging out, and to be fair, you always look this hot.” She winked at Paige.
Paige smiled. “You should be one to talk.”
“Aha! Right there. That smile. It was devious. Yup. That’s what it is.”
“That’s what what is?” Paige asked.
“Your disposition is different. What are you keeping from me?”
“Are you insinuating that I have a secret?”
“Yes. I am,” Lennox said.
“Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“You’re not wrong. I have something for you,” Paige said.
“Can I ha—”
“Buuut it seems that you’ve got something for me, too.” Paige pointed to the guitar. “Isn’t that why you asked me to come?”
“Paige, let’s not be silly. If I want you to come, I’m not going to have to ask. Take a gander around you. I’m a music virtuoso. I have exceptional rhythm.” Lennox grinned.
“Wow.” Paige bit down on the tip of her tongue and nodded slowly. “You’re smug.”
“Please. You’re so turned on,” Lennox said.
“In your dreams.”
“Every night.”
Paige laughed. “You.”
“What about me?” Lennox asked.
“Nothing,” Paige said. “Alright. Why did you want me to meet you here?”
“As you said, I do have an offering for you.”
“And where is everyone?”
“Not sure. Marissa hustled Keira and Callie out of here at five. Callie gave me a key to lock up and Marissa told me to tell you that you’re welcome,” Lennox said. “Should I ask what you’re welcome for?”
“You should not,” Paige said.
“Then I shan’t.” Lennox shifted her hold on the instrument. “Anywho, I didn’t want you to be caught off guard at the show Friday, so I thought I’d play you a snippet of the song I wrote. It’s not done yet; Marissa and Keira are perfecting their riffs. But I can unveil to you the chorus.”
“You’re going to sing to me?” Paige asked.
“Uh huh. If that’s okay with you.”
“It’s totally okay. I would love that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve never been sung to,” Paige said.
Lennox smiled. “Prime yourself then. But because you snuck up on me and I don’t know how much you heard, some of it might sound repetitive.”
“That’s fine.”
“It’s gonna have to be since you botched my plan,” Lennox said.
“Right. Sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Lennox cleared her throat. “It’s called ‘At Bay.’”
Paige rested her elbows on her knees, propped her head up on the knuckles of both her hands, and stared at Lennox expectantly.
Lennox exhaled, strummed a chord, and sang, “There once was a girl named Paige, pained by my gender and age.” Lennox looked at Paige’s blank face and laughed. “I’m kidding,” Lennox said.
Paige frowned. “That was not humorous.”
Lennox gave in to a fit of giggles. “That was classic! Your shocked expression! Priceless!”
“You done getting your jollies on?” Paige asked.
Lennox coughed and sighed contentedly. “I’m through. Whoo. Okay. Ready?”
“I sure am.”
Lennox’s left fingers deftly worked the strings crosswise along the neck of the instrument while her right hand strummed the very same nylon cords over the guitar’s sound hole, producing a melodious tune. Lennox began humming. Her vocals followed soon after.
“I can’t be your lover, can’t take you to the highest heights, but I’ll dive into, and I’ll drown within the sea of your killer blue eyes.” Lennox’s husky singing voice covered Paige’s skin in goosebumps. Lennox played another sequence of notes before the music tapered off then stopped.
Lennox glanced at Paige, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “Uh that’s like the gist of it,” Lennox said.
Paige kept still and stared back unfalteringly at Lennox. “You composed that yourself? Lyrics and all?”
“Lyrics and all.”
“For me?” Paige asked.
“For you.” Lennox set her guitar in the case next to the cra
te she was sitting on.
“I…” Paige stood, walked to Lennox, and knelt in front of her.
Lennox searched Paige’s eyes. “What are you—”
Paige placed her palm on the side of Lennox’s face, silencing her. Lennox inhaled cuttingly.
“Paige.” Lennox spoke quietly. “We have terms.”
“No. We don’t.”
Lennox’s brow creased. “We don’t?”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
“Oh. I didn’t see that coming.”
“And I didn’t see you coming,” Paige said.
“Surprise?”
“Most definitely.”
“So, when were you going to tell me?” Lennox asked.
“I was waiting for—”
Lennox put her index finger on Paige’s lips. “Shh. Paige, the moment when you kiss me for the first time is right now.” Her finger drifted from Paige’s mouth to Paige’s chin and she raised Paige’s face just enough that it was level with her own.
Paige ran her thumb over Lennox’s cheek, then she steadily moved her hand to the back of Lennox’s neck and drew Lennox closer. Lennox closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted, and Paige breathed in the warm breath that Lennox let out. Paige’s pulse throbbed in her throat, her ears, and her wrists as her lips gently brushed across Lennox’s once, twice. Lennox gingerly slid her tongue over Paige’s top lip and into Paige’s mouth. Paige shut her eyes. Their tongues slowly circled one another’s in smooth cadence. Lennox cupped Paige’s face in her hands and pressed her mouth harder against Paige’s. Their kiss became more certain, more desperate. When there was a shortage of air, Paige gradually pulled her mouth away from Lennox’s. The girls gasped, their foreheads pressed together.
“I feel our chemistry,” Paige murmured. “I’ve never not felt it.”
Lennox smiled, her eyes staring into Paige’s. “I know.”
Paige smiled back and wrapped her hands around Lennox’s. “Ask me again what you asked me last night, because I have an answer for you.” Paige’s voice shook.
“Do you want to be with me?” Lennox asked.
“I do. I want to be with you.”
“Good.” Lennox pecked Paige on the lips. “Then we can’t kiss like that anymore. Not for a while.”
Paige’s face fell. “Why?”
“Because if we do, I’m going to wanna rip your clothes off,” Lennox said.
“I’m okay with that.”
Lennox brought their hands up to her mouth and kissed Paige’s knuckles. “And that’s the reason why we’re going to hold off on having sex.”
Paige raised her eyebrows. “We’re going to do what now?”
“Paige, I’ve read everything you’ve published online about your past relationships and how they played out. I don’t want that for us. I don’t want to be like the other girls in your life. I want to be the girl who shows you that it doesn’t have to be either ecstasy or torment. That’s not how the story has to happen. There’s an in-between and we can go there, but you have to put your trust in me. We have to take our time,” Lennox said.
Paige nodded biddably and smiled. “You have my trust. I’ll go where you go.”
Lennox grinned and kissed Paige’s cheek. “Excellent!”
“When do we begin our odyssey?” Paige asked.
“We just did.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lennox squatted before Paige, who was seated on the three-pronged, padded stool surrounded by Lennox’s drums.
“Why are we doing this again?” Paige asked Lennox.
“It’s a way for us to be close without ravishing each other,” Lennox said.
“Ah. But if you were to try to ravish me, you would not be met with resistance.”
Lennox smiled. “Paige, we have regulations. You know this.”
“Yes. I just can’t remember why I agreed to the regulations.”
“Because I’m going to make you feel things you’ve never felt before, but we have to pace ourselves or it won’t be as good,” Lennox said.
“Yeah, when you say things like THAT, my resolve completely deflates. It’s like we’re back at the beginning with my inane rules. And then I look at you and I…I can’t even.” Paige shook her head.
“You can. Where did the oodles of self-control you had go?”
“By the wayside when we kissed,” Paige said. “I thought that once I had you, I could…”
“Have me?” Lennox supplied.
“Yeeesss.”
“You do have me, in a sense. And you’ll have all of me in time.”
“Ugh. Lennox, I—”
“Hey hey. I swear you will not regret waiting,” Lennox said.
“Cross your heart?”
“I cross my heart.” Lennox engraved an illusory “X” over her chest with her forefinger. “Also, the plan we came up with together has fewer restrictions than what you had implemented.” Lennox pursed her lips. “For starters, we can touch. So there’s that.”
“What is ‘judicious touching’ anyways?” Paige asked.
Lennox smirked. “Is that really not clear-cut for you?”
“It is. Some body parts are banned, sure. But aside from the biggies, how am I gonna know if I’m encroaching on one of your…parts?”
“‘The biggies’?” Lennox laughed. “Please tell me what that means to you.”
Paige frowned. “Don’t make me say it.”
“Please.”
“Nope.”
“You’re a woman of words, Paige. Which words are less repugnant for you to hear?” Lennox asked.
“Why?”
“If I go to whisper something naughty in your ear, it’s not going to have the desired outcome if you think my word choices are foul.”
Paige gaped. “If you do what in my ear?”
Lennox shrugged. “What are your preferential words?”
Paige covered her mouth with her hand, her cheeks hot.
“C’mon,” Lennox said.
Paige moved her hand from her mouth. “Pussy doesn’t do it for me,” she mumbled.
Lennox coughed out a small chuckle. “It doesn’t?”
“No.”
“Huh. But I thought you were a lesbian.” Lennox put her head into Paige’s knee and giggled.
“Wow. That was very immature.”
Lennox stopped laughing and glanced up at Paige. “I’m sorry. You walked into that. Straight into it.”
Paige rolled her eyes but smiled. “What about you? Is that word a favorite of yours?”
“Pussy? No. But I’m not keen on that many euphemisms either.”
“Same here,” Paige said.
“And breasts?” Lennox asked.
“What of them?”
“Is that your choice word or is it something else? Baloobas?”
“Nooo!”
“Alright. Vagina and breasts it is then. No muss, no fuss,” Lennox said. “Were those the ‘biggies’?”
“Uh. Yeah.”
Lennox nodded. “Any more questions?”
“Er, what are your other parts that I’m supposed to keep away from?” Paige asked.
“Ohhh. Those. When you find one, you’ll know.” Lennox winked.
Paige rubbed her right shoulder with her left arm, eyes on the floor. “Okay.”
“And you’ll tell me when I find one of yours,” Lennox said.
“I will?”
“Yup.” Lennox got to her feet and sat on Paige’s lap.
Paige took in a breath. “Ummm.”
Lennox brought her face closer to Paige’s and kissed Paige’s forehead. “How was that?” Lennox asked.
“Good.”
“Mmm.” Lennox kissed the tip of Paige’s nose. “And that?”
Paige narrowed her gaze. “Also good.”
“And this?” Lennox asked.
“And wha—”
Lennox leisurely licked Paige’s jawline.
Paige sighed and she placed her hands on Lennox
’s hips.
“Gotcha,” Lennox mumbled against Paige’s skin. She planted a kiss below Paige’s earlobe and sat upright again. She grinned. “I think I found something.”
“Hey! No. You did not. No.”
“No?” Lennox scoffed. “What was that noise you made?”
“I didn’t make a noise,” Paige said.
Lennox nodded. “Sure you didn’t.”
“I’ll get you back for that,” Paige said.
“I’m banking on it.” Lennox rose to her feet. “But in the meantime”—she picked a pair of drumsticks from a black pouch on the ground and handed them to Paige—“I’m going to teach you percussion.”
“Aargh. Really? You were just on top of me. We had the closeness and no one was ravished. We’re already pros at the discipline thing,” Paige said.
“Paige, this is important to me. It’s about more than our nearness to each other.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Being intimate without sex,” Lennox said. “And I’ve never done this with anyone else, teach them how to play. I’ve never wanted to.” Lennox bit her bottom lip. “I let people listen to the music that I make, but the making of a beat in and of itself is something I don’t share, because it’s like giving away a very private piece of myself.”
“So, I’m privy?” Paige asked.
“You don’t even know.”
Paige took the sticks from Lennox. “Alright. Teach me.”
Lennox smiled. “Okay. First, face forward.” She turned Paige’s stool around so that Paige was overlooking the drums. Lennox stood behind Paige and put her hands over Paige’s. “Hold the sticks, palms down, and grip the stick between your thumb and your index finger. All your other fingers should be lightly resting on the sticks. How is it so far?”
Paige gave a small shiver when Lennox’s breath flicked the back of her neck. “Uh. Yeah. What next?”
Lennox moved her hands up to Paige’s forearms. “To your left there are two cymbals, one on top of the other. That’s the hi-hat. See the pedal at the bottom of the hi-hat stand?”
“Yes.”
“Put your left foot on it,” Lennox said. “By stepping on it, you can open and close the cymbals.” Lennox lifted Paige’s right hand over to the hi-hat. “Hit the cymbals with your stick repetitively and step on the pedal as you do it so you can hear the different sounds it creates.”
Paige rapped her stick against the cymbals and intermittently pressed on the pedal. “This way?”
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