The Ice Cream Pact

Chapter Seven

C O N N O R
• • •

      "Do you want to learn on acoustic or electric?" Lucas asked as I joined him on the stage in the same place as usual.

"Whichever," I replied, actively trying not to stare at him for too long. The top few buttons of his loose, button-up black shirt were undone, which partially revealed the very top of his smooth chest- and which also was a bit too tempting to stare at. So, I forced myself to maintain eye contact, even as my face burned.

"We'll just use this one then I guess, since it's right here," he said, grabbing the acoustic guitar next to him and standing up to walk over to me. I was sitting down on the floor, and he sat right next to me. My breath caught slightly as his leg lightly rested against mine, and he reached slightly across me to place the guitar on my lap. I looked up at him, but his attention was down at the guitar as he began speaking again.

"Okay so, for now just strum down on 1, rest on 2, down on 3, and up on 4... like this," he reached over again and took my hand in his, guiding me through the strumming pattern. I tried my hardest to cool my face down, but there was no way I was successful as the smell of his subtle cologne was enveloping me and his fingers were wrapped around mine. His hands were soft, but his fingers were also a bit rough from all his guitar-playing.

Once I had the strumming down, he took his hand off of mine, and I kept it going as he moved his fingers to the end of the neck, casually moving around different chords as I strummed. I watched his hand as he did this, slightly mesmerized at both the ease he was doing it with, and the fact that we were currently making music together.

When my gaze snapped up to look over his features, my face heated up again when he looked at me, as well. My strumming slowed down slightly as a got a bit lost in his eyes, but he just went with the new time, slowing down the chord changes on his end as well. Time seemed to simultaneously get heavier and lighter all around us.

"Have you picked a nickname for me yet?" He asked, his voice smooth and low.

"I couldn't think of one," I admitted, but he just shrugged it off casually.

"I'm sure you'll think of one eventually," he responded, and I swallowed as I took note of just how close we currently were. My breath slowed even more as my eyes flickered around his face yet again, quickly scanning over his dark features and the warm skin that was only inches from my own.

A small grin worked its way onto his lips as his eyes looked over my face, as well. Feeling pretty flustered, I went to say something else, but the bell rang, cutting off both my strumming and my thoughts.

"You said your family wasn't very musical," he said, ignoring the bell. I nodded. "Why are you different, then?" He asked, and I looked sideways momentarily in thought before meeting his deep eyes again.

"It's how I cope with everything, I guess," I shrugged. "It's how I keep my soul intact. I probably rely on it a bit too much, if I'm being honest."

He didn't reply, only looked over my face again as if in thought. I had answered him pretty casually, but he looked to be really contemplating what I said.

"I can hear that when you play," he told me, and my heart fluttered a little bit at it. "You wear your heart on your sleeve," he added, and I smiled a little.