li

t think

r my recital piece propped in front of me. I did not think about broad shoulders or cold eyes or a voice flat enough to cut

. On the third try I realized I had been staring at the same four bars f

s," I muttered, se

zzed on the

I need d

t trust myself alone in a practice room with my brain circling the same square inch of memory over and o

"he watched you leave. He stood outside in the cold and

I spilled his drink on myself and want

ing on yourself.

tai

e kind that said she was not buying a single wor

npleasant and small. "I di

down, clearly pleased with herself. "Michael said Drake does not come to those parties. Ever. He show

eans no

stands in a corner with his team and answers questions in one sentence and

a small strip off the corner without mean

, leaning forward, "y

d him in front of half the room. That is not the

late, entirely unrepentant. "Men like that get told yes their entir

s part of me was still thinking about the way his jaw had tightened right before I walked

t part of m

hird movement and forget the entire conversation had happened. I made it as far as the front hallway b

on?" I asked,

th excitement. "They are renovating the west wing. New practice rooms

ed by

tilt slightly under my feet before I even read the name printed a

cou

and my music, now had his name stitched into its foundation. I stood there staring at the flyer until someone bum

ut loud, alone in the elevator. "It is a bus

t belie

eaving late, running the same passages until my fingers ached and my mind finally, blessedly, went quiet. I did not think about him. I told

most

an email notification lighting up the screen. I almost ignored it, assuming it

ead Apex Racing,

still on the c

ed me that a representative from the conservatory board had recommended me, along with two other students, to perform at a private fundraising event for Apex Rac

ard to heari

thing I was simply being informed of rather than asked about, and I sat there staring at his name signed neatly beneath those final words with my h