Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
A smirk lifted one corner of my mouth. “I have trouble imagining this for you.”
“Imagining what?”
“You at plays. At the symphony. At…at anything that wasn’t a rock concert or contained explosions.”
Rome rolled his eyes and moved his head from side to side. “Yeah, I bitched a lot about that stuff as a kid.”
That was an understatement. It had felt like Rome’s parents had dragged him and his cousins off to some performance every other weekend. Art galleries, the ballet, the symphony. Even the opera. Each time Rome had dressed up and attended these things, he’d bitched and moaned for days about how much he hated it and how boring they all were. Of course, I’d accompanied Rome a few times. My first ballet was thanks to his mother. My favorite, though, was the time we’d gotten to see a performance of the orchestra in the park covering popular movie scores. At least that was something Rome and I could wrap our brains around.
“Well, my mom normalized this kind of thing for me. Showed me it was just as important to support this kind of art. Plenty of people were giving money to Hollywood, but how much were people supporting the ballet or the symphony?” Rome reached out and poked me in the arm. “Plus, I might have developed a taste for it.”
I snorted. “You mean you developed taste.”
Rome opened his mouth to deliver undoubtedly more of his nonsense but stopped as the musicians filed onto the stage. He turned his attention forward and sat up a little taller in his chair. Once all the musicians were seated, the conductor came out. The orchestra performed a very short piece as an intro, and then a young man with blond hair and a somber expression walked from the wings to join them.
“That’s Simon,” Rome whispered, his voice practically vibrating with excitement. “I went to college with his older brother.”
His excitement for his friend couldn’t be more adorable or sweeter. Everything about him shouted his joy for Simon and his impressive accomplishment. It wasn’t every day that a person was selected to be a guest soloist for an orchestra.
I wanted to ask about this elusive brother. Why wasn’t he here? Did he live in another city? Or was there some kind of rift that had formed between the college friends and this brother? But I held my tongue. There was a hint of melancholy that came with the mention of this missing brother, and it seemed best not to dig into it now.
It was all forgotten as Simon started to play. He stood apart from the rest of the orchestra and performed a haunting solo that gripped me by the throat and refused to release me until he lifted the bow from the strings. The last note hung in the air for an extra second, like a moan that echoed through my soul.
I’d heard that concerto played a hundred times before, but this was the first time I’d felt it. Simon was definitely gifted.
From that moment on, the world fell away. Simon bowed to the applause and took his seat to play with the rest of the orchestra for the remainder of the evening. I got lost in the music, letting the melodies wrap around me and then soar up into the heavens.
I was so swept up in the performance that it might have taken me a minute to realize Rome’s hand was resting on my knee. When the fuck had that happened? My muscles tensed again, and I froze. My gaze darted to him to find his eyes closed and his expression one of peace. It appeared as if he weren’t even aware that he’d done it. Or maybe it was something he was accustomed to doing with his dates, and he thought he was on a normal date with someone he wanted to be with.
Swallowing hard, I willed myself to relax. This was not a big deal. Completely innocent. There was no reason for my heart to speed up or goose bumps to form on my arms. Rome had always been a touchy-feely guy. It was one of the ways he conveyed himself. He meant no harm by it. So there was no reason for my body to be reacting in the slightest.
Carefully, I moved my leg, trying to make it look perfectly natural. I just needed to stretch. That was all. The entire time, I kept my eyes locked on the stage, but I watched Rome from my peripheral vision.
Rome ripped his hand from my knee. It seemed as if he looked at me, a sheepish grin on his face. The rest of the evening, Rome kept his hands resting in his lap, and for some reason, I felt bad because of it.
13
ROME ASHBRIDGE
Fresh air!
Oh, thank God.
The performance was amazing, and Liam was a great companion the entire time. It was nice to have all my friends there to enjoy Simon’s official debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.