Fame

Chapter Eleven

His 'condo' was actually more like a mansion but since it was in the same complex as other mansions of the same size, one could call it a condo.

The glossy white theme of more modern homes carried throughout the home and I was positive that it cost at least triple my entire tuition for four years at the biggest university in the state of Arizona.

He keyed in the code on the outside wall of the condo and we all slipped inside. I was desperate for any bed as I was so mentally and physically exhausted it felt like I would fall out at any second.

I slugged my bag from Daphne's over my shoulder and pointed a stare towards Sawyer who was busy showing Amy the entire contents of his freakishly large refrigerator.

"Ahem. I just need to find a bed and I'll be good..." I trailed off, obviously intruding on their bonding time with food.

"Yeah. Let me show you my guest room. I was going to have Amy take my bed and I'll take the couch in the upstairs living room."

He had an up and downstairs living room? I shouldn't have been surprised. He was freakishly rich.

We were on the first level and passed the large entertaining room that held a glossy black grand piano as the focal point of the room.

Shivers ran down my spine as I imagined how the cool keys would feel underneath my fingertips as the music flowed through my body and into my instrument. I missed the feeling of being able to use the piano as an extension of myself, of being able to express my emotions through some other outlet, but I gave it all up just in order to torture myself more, to make myself feel that damned pain that caressed my mind like an old, toxic friend that I couldn't rid myself of. Music was my reprieve, and I had deprived myself of it for far too long, and I itched to get my hands on his piano.

I averted my eyes from the musical masterpiece and followed Sawyer's retreating figure throughout his massive house while Amy stayed at the fridge looking for midnight snacks.

I matched his pace step by step on the matte grey hardwood underfoot and felt the atmosphere in the home shift as he brought me to the last door down the dimly lit hallway.

"Here's the guest room." He paused, the muscles in his jaw twitching as if he wanted to say more.

"Look, I just wanted to say thanks for helping Amy tonight."

I looked up at him and felt a tingle coursing through my body everywhere that his eyes touched. At first, he wouldn't meet my eyes, looking only at my arm, the floor, the side of my face...

When he did finally meet my eyes, there was a burning in them that I had never seen before, and it was almost as if he was angry with himself.

"She's okay, that's all that matters. Plus, Amy's pretty strong on her own, so even without me and those guys intervening, I think she would have been able to take care of herself."

I might have been over-exaggerating just a tad, but he didn't need to know that. It would make him feel better about Amy still going back to school and he probably wouldn't worry as much.

Wait. Since when did it matter to me if Sawyer was worried? I was supposed to hate his guts...but standing there in front of him watching him beat himself up for not being there for his little sister in her time of need, it was getting harder and harder to convince myself of that fact.

I still remembered every awful thing he had said and done to me, but for some reason, my body couldn't catch up to the logic of my brain.

It was like he had lit me on fire and I needed his nearness in order to extinguish it...or to keep it roaring on the inside.