Musically in Love

Chapter 2

McKinley's POV

He never called. Day after day, I kept checking my phone, waiting in hopeful anticipation. By the end of the week, I had lost all hope that Mr. Sexy was going to call me.

Ben took every opportunity to tease me about it, though. "Hey McKinley, Mr. Sexy call you yet?" "Hear from your super hot boy toy?" "When's your date with that sex god?" It was getting really annoying.

I walked into the kitchen, getting ready to leave for work. Ben was at the stove, cooking himself some breakfast even though it was almost one in the afternoon. As soon as I walked in, I could tell he was about to say something about it again.

"Don't even start," I said before he opened his mouth. "I don't want to hear it."

Ben held his hands - including the spatula he was holding - up in mock surrender. "What? I didn't say anything."

I just shook my head, grabbing my keys off the counter. "I'll see you later." Then I pulled open the door, ready to leave.

"If your super hot boyfriend visits you at work again today, tell him I said hi!" Ben called over his shoulder.

I slammed the door without answering. He didn't deserve an answer to that.

When I entered the small music shop that I called a place of work, Emma was behind the counter, phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, and she was jotting something down on a piece of paper in front of her. Curious, I walked up to her, trying to see what she was writing.

I only noticed the name 'Christopher' before Emma was talking, having dropped the pen across the rest of it. "Okay, great. We'll see you at two thirty!" With that, she hung up the phone and looked at me. "You got a lesson coming in this afternoon. Guitar."

That peaked my interest. I didn't have a regular named Christopher, so I grabbed the paper, hoping it could tell me if it was Mr. Sexy or not. Unfortunately, Sexy was not Christopher's last name, not that I expected it to be or anything. But Navarre sounded kinda sexy. Maybe it was him after all.

"Awesome. Thanks, Em."

Emma and I weren't exactly friends, per se, but we got along well as coworkers. She and I met here, having both been hired around the same time two years ago. She was more of an orchestral-type musician than me, focusing on instruments like piano or violin and other big string instruments. Me, on the other hand, did a lot on guitar and woodwind instruments like saxophones, clarinets, and even flutes. There was another guy who worked here a few days a week who did most of the brass instruments. It was a pretty good balance.

As far as friendship levels go, it was strictly professional. Sure, we liked to joke around with each other, but we never shared our deepest secrets or anything like that. We didn't even talk once we left this place every day.

When two thirty started getting closer, I started getting antsy. More than likely, this wasn't him at all. There's plenty of other people who could have decided to want to learn how to play guitar today. But, for some reason, the hope of seeing Mr. Sexy again was back full force today.

I was setting up the practice room when I heard the faint jingling of the bell above the front door. He's here. It's got to be him. Christopher. Who may or may not be Mr. Sexy.

"McKinley!" Emma called into the back. "Get up here!"

I took a deep breath. I could do this. I gave lessons all the time. Christopher was most likely some kid. I could do this. Why was I so nervous?

When I walked back to the front, however, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a second when Mr. Sexy was standing in front of the counter looking through some of the CDs we had there, a guitar case in hand.

"Mr. Sexy?" I definitely did not mean to say that out loud. And I definitely didn't need him to hear it and look up at me.

"Hey," he said. "My name's actually AJ, but Mr. Sexy works too. Has a nice ring to it."

I'm sure my face was bright red by now. "I'm sorry. AJ. That just slipped out. Ignore me. Please. Um... Wait. Who's Christopher then? Or are you not the one here for a lesson...?"

AJ let out a soft chuckle. "My little brother, remember? He's the one learning." Then he turned around. "Chris? Come on."

A second later, a small boy, probably about eight years old, appeared next to AJ. He looked like a mini version of his brother. There really was a brother. Shit.

I put on my best smile for the kid. "Hi Chris," I said. "I'm McKinley. I'm going to be teaching you today. Are you excited?"

The kid shrugged, looking up at his brother.

"Of course he is," AJ said. "Now go, have fun." AJ handed me Chris's guitar. "I'll be back in half an hour. Got a few errands to run."

I was actually kind of disappointed that he wasn't going to stick around. I didn't want to teach this kid, who seemed so disinterested in learning. If this kid didn't even want to talk to me, then teaching him was going to be almost impossible.

Leading him to the practice room, our lesson had begun. During our little half-hour session, I taught Chris how to properly hold the guitar, the names of all the parts, and how to strum with both his fingers and a pick. It was basically just me talking at him the whole time, but he seemed to be a pretty good listener. He even seemed pretty good for having just started out today.

It was just before our time was up that Chris actually spoke to me. He stopped strumming, staring up at me with his big brown eyes. "My brother likes you," he stated.

I think I might have blushed. "Yeah? Well I kinda like your brother too."

"He only made me take a lesson with you so he could see you again. I never actually wanted to learn."

Well that would explain his attitude earlier. "Well, your time is up for today. Let's go talk to AJ, huh?"

AJ was waiting for us, standing over by the guitars. He had his back to us when we walked up, but turned as soon as Chris said his name.

"Hey, Chris, how was it?"

Chris shrugged, handed off his guitar to AJ, then immediately left the store. I was then stuck with AJ, neither of us exactly knowing what to say.

"He's not doing too bad, to start," I said. "Although, he kinda mentioned that he didn't want lessons?" I didn't know how else to bring it up. As much as I'd love to see Mr. Sexy for a few minutes every week, I didn't want them spending money if they didn't have to.

AJ chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... About that... Honestly, it was my idea."

"'Cause you like me."

AJ's cheeks turned red and he stared at the carpet. "Did Chris tell you that? You really shouldn't listen to him, he's only a kid."

I took a step closer to him, so I was standing right in his gaze. Being this close to him made me realize just how much taller than me he was. "There's a reason your name in my head for the last week was Mr. Sexy."

I couldn't believe I actually said those words, so, before he could reply, I kissed him. It was a short kiss, just barely a peck, but a kiss nonetheless.

"What time do you get off tonight?" he asked.

I smiled. "Nine. Maybe we can... I don't know... Go back to my place for the night?" I knew I was rushing things, but this moment felt right being rushed like this. I honestly needed to get laid and he seemed to need it too.

"I'll be waiting." With that, AJ turned and followed his little brother out of the store and into the parking lot.