It wouldn’t be that unexpected, would it?
We’d kissed last night, and he hadn’t seemed to mind. But if I did it now, there would be no excuses. I couldn’t claim it was for research or because I was wild with victorious excitement having just conquered a fear. No, if I kissed him now it would be for no other reason than the fact that I wanted to.
As if reading my mind, Wyatt’s lips parted and he leaned in, his alluring cologne making me dizzy. “Okay,” he said softly, his hands coming to rest on my waist. “I think I can get on board with that.”
“With what?” I asked, my head still in a daze.
“Telling you how I feel.”
“Really?”
“Anything you want, Penny Layne, all you have to do is ask.” His thumb lazily grazed the sliver of bare skin between my jeans and my t-shirt, making electricity spark through my whole body.
My heart sped up, my blood sang, my muscles tightened, all from his touch. I got it now, why Wyatt had his bad boy reputation. Because how could anyone resist this feeling, this spell he had me under? I wanted him. There was no denying it. But I wanted something else more.
I swallowed as I watched Wyatt lick his delicious lips. He was waiting for me to make the next move. So, I did.
“Time’s a wasting,” I said, quoting Gramps as I took a quick step away from Wyatt’s touch, breaking the spell. “Let’s go record some music.”
A slow grin carved his gorgeous face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Wyatt
The girl in the sound booth barely resembled the girl I thought I knew. The changes in Layne were staggering. She blew me away with not only her voice, but her renewed confidence.
I’d expected her to have a reaction after meeting my grandparents, but nothing quite like this. She was tearing through her songbook like she had something to prove.
It was a sight to see. And it made me even more determined than ever to make her dreams come true.
“What do you think?” Layne asked when we finished singing her newest song.
“I think we have a problem.”
Her delicate brows furrowed. “What?”
“We’re not going to be able to decide which song to submit. They’re all incredible.”
She laughed my compliment away. “For real, though. What did you think? I really liked the way our voices came together on that last one. And that thing you did with the bass line was genius.”
I smirked. “Well, as you know, I am a genius. At least, according to my grandparents,” I added, so she’d know I was only joking.
“I know you’re being facetious, but I think Gramps is right. You’re seriously talented on the piano.”
“That’s only because I have a talented partner.”
Layne grinned. “Now who can’t take a compliment?”
“Okay, okay, we’re both bloody brilliant. But what are we going to do about our problem?”
Layne thought on it for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe we should let Gramps decide what song we submit.”
I barked a laugh. “I love the guy, but you heard him. He’s tone deaf.”
She giggled. “I think he’s adorable.”’
“That’s not a reason to let him pick the song that will decide your future.”
“Fair enough,” Layne said. “But can we still let him hear the songs?”
I smiled, my heart feeling suddenly too large for my chest. “He would like that very much.”
I didn’t tell her about the other reasons I’d brought her to meet my grandparents. But I was more than a little excited about her enthusiasm to visit them again. Gramps had always told me I’d know when I’d found ‘the one’ because I would be excited to spend time with her no matter what we were doing. I felt that with Layne.
Whether we were singing karaoke, making music, visiting nursing homes, eating pizza or just driving around in my car, she made me happy.
Honestly, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a streak of exhilaration in my life. I was starting to wonder if maybe Gramps was right. I sort of hoped he was.
As I looked over at Layne holding her guitar as she thumbed through her songbook, my heart squeezed in my chest. Could she be the one? Was I ready for that?
I was getting way ahead of myself. One step at a time. First, we needed to get through this competition. Then we could see if there was more to explore.
I forced myself to stop looking at Layne’s kissable lips and cleared my throat. “Well, I’d say that’s a wrap for tonight. Why don’t we narrow it down to our top few and I’ll remaster them tonight?”
“Okay. I’ll finish setting up my profile so we can upload the song we decide on to the competition site.”
“Are you ready for this?” I asked.
“For what?”
“For the world to meet the next diva they’re going to fall in love with.”
She laughed. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Layne
After twenty minutes of panicking over not remembering my password, I finally logged on to Facebook and finished setting up my profile on the Northeast Regional Scholarship for the Dramatic Arts page.
I hadn’t been on here since last fall, right after I registered for the competition. A little stab of guilt hit me when I saw all the missed notifications I had in the Diva Squad group.
Rose Parson had started the private IM group shortly after we all met at registration. At first, I really enjoyed chatting with her, Lillian and Lola. But when Jenna joined the Diva Squad I felt completely out of my depth. All the other girls were so talented and confident, and that only made me feel worse about my own chances.
The more I checked in with the group the more my nerves grew, until I stopped checking all together. I’d never been big on social media and since Lola was my partner, I figured it was okay to let her be my voice in the group. She always filled me in on any of the important gossip anyway. But now that she was out, I figured it was time I put on my big girl panties and step out of the shadows.
Besides, thanks to Wyatt and his sweet grandparents, I’d decided I was no longer going to waste time being a wallflower. I was taking control of my destiny. So, without hesitation, I clicked on the Diva Squad group and read through all the messages.
By the end of the thread, I was more invigorated than I’d expected. I felt like I knew each of the girls a little better and was surprised to find I wasn’t the only one battling insecurities.
Rose’s posts really hit home. I felt a connection with her and wished she was a student at Northwood. I could see myself being friends with her. I decided to post a quick message of encouragement and wished her and the other divas good luck. Then I clicked back onto the scholarship page to scope out my competition.
There was a total of six songwriters in the competition. I could see all of them had their songs uploaded already but couldn’t see whose was whose. The mp3 files were ghosted out since the voting wouldn’t go live until tomorrow night, but my nerves prickled with anticipation.