A Beautiful Instrument

28: Contents May Explode Under Pressure

I wake up the next morning to an empty bed, but I hear the faint sounds of Jeremy playing. I pull on his dress shirt and tiptoe down the hallway. I recognize the melody from the night we played together. He's expanded it and I hear some of my artistic contributions.

"I better get credited on the album." I interupt.

"Hey, you. I didn't wake you, did I?" He greets me.

"Not in the slightest, but I wish you would have. I never sleep this late." I share.

"Maybe I just wore you out last night." He suggests, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Maybe." I bend down to kiss his lips. He tastes like cinnamon. He uses the bow to lift the edge of the shirt I'm wearing. "Looking for something?"

"Checking to see if you were being extra naughty this morning, but I see you put on underwear. Shame..." He muses.

"You've demonstrated you are more than capable of getting them off me. Now tell me why do you taste like cinnamon? As if your lips weren't tempting enough..." I flatter him.

"I may have made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but back to getting you out of these underwear..." He kisses me with feverish intention, sliding the wood of the bow along the curve of my ass.

I smile against his lips. "Mind if we postpone my buns until I've had your buns? I'm actually starving. Dinner was cut short last night." I say.

"Oh? Come on. Let's get you fed and you can tell me about it." As soon as I exit the practice room I'm hit with the smell of cinnamon rolls. I stop in the doorway and Jeremy comes up behind me. "Honey, you okay?"

"I'm contemplating whether I should forego my needs long enough to show you how much I appreciate you. You let me sleep in. You made a ridiculously good-smelling breakfast. You want to talk about my night. Are you even real?" I ask.

He chuckles in my ear and wraps his arms around my neck. "I promise I'm as real as they get. You feel that?" His hand rests flat over my heart which picks up in pace.

"I do."

"That's how you know I'm real."

I twist my body in his arms. I need to kiss him. I've never felt a need like this before. He meets my need and then some. When I pull away breathless, I slowly open my eyes and see him staring back at me with so much love and admiration.

"I love you." Those words are so easy to dispense to him.

"I love you too. Now let's go." He shoos me down the hallway, tapping my ass when I turn around. I laugh.

I hop up on the counter stool and watch him dreamily as he moves about the kitchen. He sets a cup of coffee, cinnamon rolls, and small fruit salad in front of me. "Thank you, baby."

"So what happened last night?" He prompts, leaning against the counter in front of me.

"Oh, that. It was just a weird night. Things felt weird with Marcus after the previous night so we had to find our vibe again. And then Keith showed up." I start prattling.

"Whoa. One thing at a time. What do you mean things were weird with Marcus?" Jeremy asks explicitly.

"It just felt awkward. He went to kiss me when I showed up and..." I start to explain.

"Wait, what?!"

I cringe and hurry to clarify "On the cheek. To greet me. But I freaked out because it felt more intimate after the previous night. He clarified his intentions. We got over it, but then Keith showed up."