Our Song

by Morse, Jody

  To my surprise, our initials were still there.

  Skylar followed my gaze to the wall. “Wow. They never painted over them.”

  “Yeah, I’m sort of surprised.” As I took a sip of soda, I thought about how much the two of us had changed since then. Not only had we fallen out of touch, but I’d gone on to be this famous musician and Skylar…well, I didn’t really know what she’d been up to since then. The only thing I did know was that she’d changed.

  Her brown eyes no longer gleamed with happiness the way they once had, and she seemed a lot more reserved—a stark difference from her naturally bubbly self. I didn’t know what had happened while she was there, but I had a feeling that, whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good.

  I glanced over at her. “So, I know you said you didn’t want to talk about Nashville, but I feel like there has to be something you can catch me up on. I mean, you were gone for three years. That’s like the equivalent of a lifetime or something.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She sighed and glanced out the window, avoiding my gaze. “I met a guy out there. It didn’t work out. That’s pretty much it.”

  “Well, what happened?” I pressed. Even though I didn’t want to push her, there was a part of me that was hoping she’d share so we could somehow relate. It was obvious we’d both gone through painful breakups. We clearly had more in common than she realized.

  Skylar met my gaze firmly. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

  “Okay,” I replied. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” She shrugged it off. “So, tell me more about your music career.”

  “It’s not going so great,” I quietly admitted, glancing down at my recently manicured nails.

  Her eyes widened. “Really? But I hear your songs on the radio all the time!”

  “Yeah, I guess my fans think I’m whiney and stuff. That’s why I’m pretty much being forced to work with Colton on this next album,” I explained.

  She just stared back at me in awe. “Wow. I figured the two of you actually wanted to work together.”

  “Why would I want to work with the guy who I had a drunken one night stand with?” I asked with a raised brow.

  She shrugged. “Who wouldn’t?”

  “I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

  “You say that now, but I bet you won’t be able to keep the two separate.”

  “How much do you wanna bet? I have willpower,” I insisted.

  Skylar rolled her eyes. “Well, if you want my honest opinion, I think you’re crazy. I, for one, would not mind mixing business and pleasure if business and pleasure involved Colton King.”

  “Yeah, you made that pretty clear earlier today.” I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, I thought you were just going to drop your towel and give him a show.”

  She laughed. “I totally would have if it weren’t for the fact that my best friend was with him first. That’s just weird.”

  I breathed a slight sigh of relief, glad we were on the same page about that. I wasn’t going to lie; the idea of Skylar and Colton together wasn’t just weird—it actually made me jealous. And what I couldn’t figure out was why. Why did the idea of him with Skylar—or anyone else, for that matter—make me feel sick to my stomach?

  As the waitress brought our pizza over to our table, I tried to push the thought away. I wasn’t really jealous of the idea of Colton being with someone else. My emotions were just all over the place, which was to be expected after everything I’d been through over the past few days.

  Yeah, I was just emotional. That had to be it… didn’t it?

  *

  After Skylar had gone to bed later that night, I went to my room and turned my laptop on. I plugged in a pair of headphones and downloaded Colton’s entire album. I was determined to learn more about him through his music. I had a feeling that his songs were going to give even more clues to what an asshole he was.

  Even though I’d heard quite a few of his songs already, this would be the first time I would ever really listen to them. It was strange, considering I was a songwriter and all, but I had this habit of zoning out when it came to paying attention to the true meaning behind other musicians’ songs. I usually just lost myself in the beat of the music.

  I decided to listen to “Fly Away With Me” first, since it was Colton’s biggest hit. The catchy, upbeat tempo began to play. It was followed by the sound of that sexy voice of his as he began to sing:

  In a sky full of stars

  You’re the only one I see

  You outshine all the rest

  ‘Cause, girl, you’re the best

  You’re the only one I need

  Baby, I don’t want to be a pest

  But I need you to come away with me

  Girl, fly away with me

  Let’s get out of here

  Let’s be shooting stars

  Together, we can go far

  We’ll light up the night sky together

  One planet at a time

  If you just fly away with me

  There are thousands of stars in the night sky

  But none of them shine as bright as you

  Girl, you’re the only one I see

  For the first time in my life

  It’s not all about me

  Let’s be shooting stars

  Together, we can go far

  We’ll light up the night sky together

  We’ll conquer the world

  One planet at a time

  If you just fly away with me

  When the song stopped playing, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. It probably sounded crazy, but just knowing Colton had written these lyrics about someone else bothered me. Knowing he’d actually felt that way about her made me jealous. I wondered who the song was about and if she was still a part of his life.

  Maybe he planned to write song lyrics about her for my album, and that was why he’d made a point of letting me know that nothing he wrote would be about me. And that thought drove me crazy. It was one thing for us to agree not to write about each other, but if he thought he was going to put all of his love songs about some other chick on my album, he was sadly mistaken.

  Ugh.

  I wondered if trying to get to know him through his music was a bad idea, but that didn’t stop me from listening to the rest of his album. I skipped to the next song.

  When you walk into the room

  All eyes are on you

  You can pretend like you don’t notice

  But we both know it’s true

  Every guy wants you

  And I bet you want them too

  But if I had it my way,

  If you’d give me the time of day

  I’d make you all mine

  ‘Cause, baby, you’re so fine

  You’re dead sexy, girl

  You rock my whole world

  You got my head spinning

  Just like I’m on a Tilt-a-Whirl

  Girl, you can have your pick

  From all the fish in the sea

  And it makes me sick

  How much I want you, baby

  Oh, yeah, I need you baby

  You’re dead sexy, girl

  You rock my whole world

  You got my head spinning

  Just like I’m on a Tilt-a-Whirl

  Listening to the song brought me to one very big realization. If Colton was telling the truth and he really did only write songs that came from his heart, he was in love with someone. Or, at least, he had been in love with someone when he’d written these songs. I wasn’t sure if he still felt that way now. There was always a chance that it could’ve been Clingy Girl, but I somehow doubted it. I was pretty certain these songs were about someone else...someone more important.

  If he was still in love with her, it made no sense why he’d had a one night stand with me just this week…unless he was a player. Those lyrics didn’t sound like they’d been written by someone who would cheat on someone he loved, but I couldn’t
fool myself, either. This was Colton King. He was notorious for being a manwhore. If anyone was going to cheat, it was probably him.

  That thought made me realize that I needed to make an appointment to get STD-tested. The last thing I needed was for him to give me gonoherpasyphilaids. I didn’t even know if we’d used a condom that night! I always used protection, but this wasn’t me we were talking about. It was drunken me. And there was a good chance that drunken me might’ve chosen to skip the Trojan. Ugh.

  Sighing, I skipped to the next song on the album and mentally prepared myself to hear more lyrics written about Mystery Girl, but this time, a softer, less upbeat melody filled my ears. As Colton’s voice began to pour out of my headphones, I instantly found myself paying close attention to his every word.

  When I asked you to jump

  You asked me how high

  You always took the plunge

  Without even thinking twice

  You protected me, sheltered me

  From all the evil in the world

  You were my best friend

  My hero

  You’ll always be my hero

  Even when you were sad

  You forced yourself to laugh

  Just to put a smile on my face

  You would have saved me

  You sheltered me and protected me

  From all the demons in the world

  You were my Superman

  Without the blue suit and red cloak

  You took on the world for me

  You conquered it all for me

  You were my hero

  You protected me, sheltered me

  From all the evil in the world

  You lived for me, cried for me, shined for me

  And in the end, you died for me

  You’ll always be my hero

  By the time the song had ended, I found myself blinking back tears. I wondered who he’d written this song about. It was obviously someone very close to his heart… and that someone had apparently died for him.

  Suddenly, this whole idea just felt wrong. Even though I’d wanted to learn more about Colton as a person, I also couldn’t help but feel like I’d crossed into some personal territory—the type of barrier that shouldn’t be crossed.

  Then again, Colton had put this song out there for a reason, hadn’t he? If he didn’t want anyone to hear it—or analyze it—he wouldn’t have put it out there for the world to hear. It wouldn’t have spent so many weeks on the Billboard Top 100. If he didn’t want people to know, he would’ve just kept it to himself—the same way I kept the song I’d written about my mom to myself.

  I had a feeling that if I wanted to know who the song was about, all I needed to do was Google and I’d probably find the answer. But for some reason, a part of me didn’t want to do that.

  If Colton wanted me to know who the song was about, he would just tell me. And even though our songwriting hadn’t gone too bad today, I somehow doubted the two of us would ever be that close.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, I heard my cell phone vibrating. I groaned. Sure, I set my alarm to wake me up early, but it was too freaking early.

  I grabbed it from my nightstand, determined to silence it for at least ten more minutes.

  Forcing my eyes open, I glanced at the caller ID and realized it wasn’t my alarm at all. Mads was calling.

  Ugh. Just the person I really wanted to be woken up by.

  I swiped my finger across the touch screen anyway and pressed the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?” I asked groggily.

  “Morning sunshine,” she chirped into the phone.

  “Ugh, what do you want?” I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. To say I was not a morning person would’ve been a total understatement. I was like Oscar the freaking Grouch.

  “There are three important things I need to discuss with you,” she replied, her voice suddenly taking on its usual business-like tone. “The first thing is time sensitive. Cosmo wants to do a monthly feature on you for the July edition. We need to let them know by tomorrow if you’re willing to do it.”

  “Okay, sure. I’ll do it.” I would take any magazine willing to do a feature on me, let alone a magazine as big as Cosmopolitan. Plus, I knew if Jimmy Jones heard about me turning down this interview, he would’ve been livid.

  “Awesome. Secondly, your statement about Jake Palmer and Alyssa Morgan was wonderful,” she went on. “All of the news outlets are applauding you for being such a big person about it. So, I just wanted to give you major props.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, deciding not to confess that I still had no idea what it even said. Apparently it must not have been too bad. Major props to Natalie.

  “You’re welcome. The third thing actually has to do with you and Colton. His assistant contacted me last night to let me know that Spin or Sin Radio wants to do an interview with the two of you. They’ve already gotten wind of the fact that the two of you are going to be collaborating together and have requested your first interview as a duo.”

  “How did they find out about it? Did we release any statements?” I asked, glancing at the time. It was almost nine o’clock. I needed to get my ass up and moving if there was any chance of me not looking like a train wreck by the time Colton got here.

  “No, we didn’t release anything about it. Neither did anyone from his team. It’s a mystery, but somehow, the cat’s already out of the bag. Are you willing to do it?” Mads asked.

  “I have no problem with it, as long as Colton’s willing,” I said, pulling a pair of shorts and a tank top out to wear.

  “According to his assistant, he is willing,” she said. “So, what I’ll do is get a list of the questions they’re planning to ask so the two of you will have a chance to go over them together. Then, we’ll schedule a three-way call between the two of you and the radio station.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. I was still having a hard time getting used working with someone else. I’d always been alone. I knew how I got things done. Now I needed to worry about factoring other people into the situation, too, and it was just weird.

  At that moment, I heard the doorbell ring. “Hey, Mads? I gotta go. I think Colton’s here.”

  “Okay, no problem. I’ll talk to you later,” she said. “Have a good time working.”

  “Thanks.” Hanging up the phone, I breathed a slight sigh of relief. The nice thing about Mads being so business-oriented was that she never would’ve been the type to suggest that anything more than work should be involved when it came to the Colton situation. Meanwhile, if Natalie knew the two of us were getting ready to start working, she would’ve asked me to give her all the “deets” later on.

  I frantically peeled off my pajamas and then pulled on shorts and a tank top. I glanced at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look too bad. Thankfully, I hadn’t bothered to wash my makeup off from the night before, so most of it was still perfectly intact.

  Pulling my hair into a big, messy bun on top of my head, I stepped out of my room and headed for the front door.

  I took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob, just as the doorbell rang again.

  When I opened the door, I found an impatient-looking Colton standing on the other side. He had his guitar case over one shoulder and was balancing a bag in one hand and a drink holder with two cups in the other hand.

  My eyes widened. “You went to Giorgi’s again?”

  “Yeah, I figured I would get bitched at otherwise.”

  “I wouldn’t bitch at you.” I folded my arms over my chest in annoyance.

  “Oh, no...never,” he said as he stepped inside. “And since I hate working on an empty stomach, I got some bagels, donuts… oh, and a veggie omelet for you.”

  “Why would you get yourself all the good stuff and make me eat a veggie omelet?” I wrinkled my nose.

  “Because I assumed you don’t eat carbs,” Colton replied with a shrug.

  “Why would you assume that?” Was he trying to drop hints t
hat I needed to lose weight?”

  He shrugged. “Most girls in the industry don’t.”

  “Well, I do.” I supposed that might’ve explained my “chunkiness.”

  His blue eyes met mine. “Good. Girls who don’t eat carbs freak me out a little, if I’m being honest.”

  “Why do they freak you out?” I wondered if that meant Mystery Girl ate carbs and wasn’t a size 0. It made me question if she was a part of the music industry, too.

  Ugh, not knowing what she looked like was killing me.

  “Have you ever gotten bitched at for taking your date to a restaurant that’s not on a pre-approved list?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Nope, can’t say I have.”

  “Probably because you’d be the one doing the bitching,” he reminded himself aloud.

  “What makes you think I bitch so much?”

  “You just give off those vibes.” Colton shrugged.

  “You know what kind of vibes you give off?”

  “No, why don’t you enlighten me?” His eyes danced with amusement.

  “You seem like the type of person who’s really fun and easy to work with,” I said before I could say what I really wanted to tell him: that he regularly shoved corncobs up his ass.

  “That’s because I am.” He shot me a cocky grin. “You, on the other hand…”

  I rolled my eyes, glancing down at the coffee cups as he set them on the dining room table. “I need caffeine.”

  He motioned to the one on the left. “That one’s yours.”

  I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

  As I took a sip from it, I nearly gagged. “That is not a French vanilla signature latte.”

  “I thought you could use a change. Green tea, it is.” His lips twitched, and I could tell he was trying to suppress a smile. “Just because I went to Giorgi’s again doesn’t mean I got you what you wanted.”

  “How thoughtful of you.”

  He laughed. “I’m actually kidding. Yours was the other cup. That’s my green tea.”

  I swapped cups and cautiously took a sip. It tasted right this time.