A Beautiful Instrument

9: Spoiled Appetite

Jeremy has just revealed that the woman I just accused him of having a past with, caring for, and making plans with is none other than his sister. I'm trying to figure out whether to believe him.

"Why didn't she introduce herself as your sister?" I ask suspiciously.

"She tried. I cut her off. I didn't want you knowing that I was using my family connections to impress you." He sounds ashamed as he says this.

I'm still processing. He's furiously scrolling through his phone and hands it to me. I see a photo of Monica on Jeremy's back, choking him around the neck. It is captioned - Mom said she wanted a picture of us getting along. This is the best we could come up with. It's on Monica's Instagram feed.

I feel myself deflate, guilty that I was just a raging bitch towards him because I misinterpreted his affection. He takes his phone from me and slips it back into his pocket. He lifts my chin as he did in the car. "I think you owe me two personal questions after that little display."

"Let's go to the lake." I mutter, ashamed of myself.

"I know just the place." He replies.

We are at the Solstice Steps in Lakewood within 15 minutes. We walk along the water's edge and then sit and watch the water.

"In the three days I've known you, you've had two spectacular outbursts when you thought I wasn't into you. Care to explain?" He asks.

"Are you using one of your free passes?" I question. He nods.

I smile smugly. "No, I don't care to explain."

He stares at me for a second, realizing that him asking if I wanted to talk about it technically was a question in it's own right. He rubs his chin and huffs.

"Fine, I'll give you that one for free." I concede. "When I broke up with Keith, it was really hard to walk away from the future everyone expected for us. There hasn't been anyone since Keith because I scrutinize any hint of a problem. Technically I am three for three days with you although you didn't experience the negative spiral on night one."

He takes my hand as if letting me know it's okay to continue. "I convinced myself I already knew our future. As competitors. We want the same position. I was convinced it could never work out for us romantically in the long term because that would always be the case. So I planned to walk away before it even started. And then after the audition, after playing with you, I revised that opinion."

He stares at my hand. "Can I ask a follow-up and not have it count against me?"

I curl my fingers causing him to glance at me. "You're pushing the boundaries, Connors."

"Indulge me. Why did you break up with Keith? I mean I met him so I can see why, but..." He jokes.

"Yeah, there is that and it was his undoing. He is stifling. He always wanted to do for me." I explain as best I can.

"Well, that doesn't sound terrible. I've only known you three days and I'd go pretty far out of my way to make you happy. I mean, I cashed in a whole host of favors so I could do just that for you today." He admits.

I blush and shiver, realizing that in the lowering sun and breeze off the lake, I'm getting chilled. "Are you cold? Do you want to go?"

I shake my head. "No. But let me explain how you and Keith are different. Keith's solutions were always to just throw money at the problem. He never understood me working hard and earning something because he never had to sacrifice for anything in his life. He thought he could buy me and my happiness, just like eveything else."