Brains and a good heart made a man even cuter. Damn him for having it all. The muscles in his arms flexed as he strummed the guitar. He played like a devil. I could see the sheen of it on his skin, giving his tan a bronze glow. The way he hit the chords, made the guitar scream in perfect tone, vibrated through me. Each abrupt change of chords, his fingers deftly adjusting to each in seconds, quickened not only the beat of the song, but my heart as well.
I couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that I knew him from somewhere. Ridiculous. I wished. I’d have remembered that face, that body. I knew I’d never forget it now. I trusted my instincts, the majority of the time, but my knowing him fit in the preposterous category. No one could forget his voice either.
By the third song, my drink gone and replaced with another, I started to comprehend the words to his songs a little more easily. I was in the zone, focused on each syllable and the words of wisdom they contained, no matter how trivial. I had to know if he’d written such strings of words himself. Not only did he play like he’d been born with a guitar in his hands, but his words, the profound understanding of life he had, awakened my eyes to things I’d never contemplated before. He had to be wise beyond his years if he were indeed the composer. He would have to be centuries old, I thought, to have that kind of talent and understanding of life combined.
Sarah’s giggle, high pitched like a woman on the make, interrupted my musings. She flirted with a guy I hadn’t even realized had approached our table. Chloe rolled her eyes at me, and then moved right to wide-eyed. Combined with the slight tilt of her head, I knew she was asking me if I were alright again. I nodded with a smile, one not forced or fake this time, and looked back at the stage. I made an honest attempt to not to be irritated by the conversation going on beside me. Instead, I paid more attention, if possible, to the guy singing on stage.
In between songs, he’d take a sip of the beer a waiter had placed beside him, and then move right on to the next song. Luckily, by then, Sarah had taken off with the guy who’d approached her, and moved to another table. At least she was out of the imaginary running for this guy’s affections that I had going in my head. An odd sense of relief filled me.
For the first time all week, my body hung lose and my breathing stabilized, even if my heart still did double time. It wasn’t until Chloe asked me what was wrong that I realized my mouth had fallen into a frown after the band had stopped playing.
“Nothing, why do you ask?” I pretended to have no idea what she was going on about.
“You’re frowning, scowling even,” she accused with a coy smile on her own face.
“Oh, hadn’t realized. Guess I was just really enjoying the music. The songs are amazing, the depth of meaning, the deep male voices,” I mused.
“Not to mention the sexy lead singer,” she teased.
“Well, there is that, but ugly as a dog, he would be an amazing singer,” I countered.
“Sure. Sure,” she giggled. “The looks help, though, right?”
“Of course,” I agreed, rolling my own eyes in an exaggerated fashion. “I wonder if he wrote those songs too?”
“I’ve no idea. He was looking at you as he played,” she stated, looking at her nails to feign indifference before letting her smile take over her face.
“Yeah, right?” I grunted.
I’d thought the same a few times, that our eyes had met, but assumed I’d just been imagining things in my sudden, passionate fixation with the man. Surely he hadn’t been looking at me. As proof, I scanned the room to count all the women I thought more his type, ones that would gather his attention before I would. Not that I found myself unattractive or boring, but in my experience, the other girls, the skinnier and more flamboyant ones, always went home with the guys. I didn’t factor in my shyness, but deep down, I knew a few times I’d been the cause of myself going home alone.
In my musing, I hadn’t noticed the lead singer walk my way. So, I gasped when he said hello.
“Sorry, you startled me,” I stammered as my face burned crimson. “Ah, hi.”
“We thought you played amazingly,” Chloe intervened, on my behalf obviously, as she’d used my word.