Sing For Me by Rachel Schurig
Eva
The trip back to LA is terrible—Will has barely said a word to me, beyond a clipped apology for bringing me into his family drama. When I press to know what in the hell had happened back there, he shuts down.
So I spend a very uncomfortable car ride to the airport and flight home with a sullen and silent Will Ransome. I pick up a fantasy paperback I’ve been meaning to read in the airport gift shop but even dragons can’t distract me from the pissed off, clearly hurt man beside me.
Luckily, the paparazzi interest seems to have waned in our absence. There aren’t even any photographers waiting at my house when he pulls up to the gate. Once we’re buzzed through, he puts the truck into park but he doesn’t turn off the engine, staring straight ahead.
“You don’t want to come in?”
“I’m going to be shitty company.”
I chew my lip, wondering if I should attempt to convince him or just let it go. No matter how shitty his mood might be, I hate the thought of him leaving. Hate the idea of him sitting alone in his apartment, without Rose and River, who stayed in Tennessee for the end of the vacation.
I reach over and take his hand. “When I said I wanted to be yours, I didn’t just mean on your good days, Will.”
My words seem to have some kind of effect on him, because he relaxes into his seat and his fingers tighten in mine. “Eva, I’m so sorry you had to watch me lose my shit like that.”
I study the side of his face, thinking about how I want to reply. He finally seems to have relaxed a little and I don’t want to push him. “I just wish I knew what exactly I was witnessing,” I finally say.
He sighs, but he doesn’t pull his hand away. “I have a complicated relationship with my dad and my uncles. I don’t agree with all the choices they’ve made with the record label and…some things are still pretty raw.”
I wait for more details but that’s, apparently, all the clarity I’m going to get.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, trying to push my frustration aside. I know better than anyone that it’s impossible to force someone to talk about their issues before they’re ready. I just hope he eventually gets there. “I could murder a pizza right now.”
The corner of his mouth tugs up, the first hint of a smile I’ve seen on his face since he left to take CeCe on the ATV this morning. “Pizza sounds good.”
While we eat, I tell Will about Katherine’s visit for my birthday and I can tell he’s glad for the distraction. “I would love to meet your sister,” he says. “Do you have plans for your birthday? Maybe we could do a dinner or something. I haven’t spent much time with your friends.”
For the first time since our trip was cut so disastrously short, I feel a surge of relief. Maybe everything is going to be okay here. Sure, Will is still having trouble opening up to me about certain things, but he obviously cares about me. About this relationship. Guys don’t offer to spend time with the friends and meet the family of girls they’re feeling iffy about.
“I figured we’d go out to dinner on Friday or Saturday,” I tell him. “Or maybe we could have everyone here? Your cousins, too, if you want.”
There’s the slightest flash of something dark in his eyes but he banishes it quickly. “I’ll check with River and Rose. Everly and Alex, too, if you want.” Then he grins. “You sure you just want dinner? You weren’t planning on like, a Dungeons and Dragons marathon?”
“Fuck off.”
He’s trying not to laugh now. “Or maybe some kind of cosplay party? You want me to be an elf, Eva?”
I snort. “You’d be the worst elf ever, Will.”
He does laugh at that. “I love how you throw that out like a defense. Admitting to be an expert on elves does not make you seem cooler, honey.”
We go into the kitchen to clean up our dishes and I catch sight of the second take-out box on the counter. “Guess I’m keeping these to myself, since someone doesn’t think I’m a cool person.”
He tries to reach for the box and I smack his hands away. “No way, buddy. I may have ordered cinnamon sticks just because they’re your favorite, but you’ve forfeited them now.”
He takes in a deep breath of warm dough and cinnamon and lets out a little whimper. “But they smell so good.”
“Should have been nicer to me.”
Out of nowhere, he grabs me around the waist and I squeal, trying to push him away. He ignores my efforts, pulling me close, that familiar smirk back on his face. It sends a fresh surge of relief through me. This is the Will I know—smirking and teasing and flirting. His hands drift down to my ass. “I’m sorry. Your encyclopedic knowledge of all things nerd is a total turn-on.”
I push on his chest, trying not to laugh. “You sure know how to proposition a girl.”
I love the bright twinkle in his eyes as he tightens his arms. “How about this, then—I’ll watch two whole episodes of Raider with you.”
I pretend to swoon. “Mission accomplished. I am now properly wooed.”
“Forget being wooed—do I get the cinnamon sticks or not?”
I laugh, finally succeeding in pushing him away. “You only want me for my ability to remember your dessert preferences.”
He smacks my ass. “There might be a few more reasons.”
Will stays over that night, and again the night after that. Things pretty much go right back to the way they were before the trip, when we were hiding out together to avoid the paparazzi. Except now, there’s a hell of a lot more kissing. And other fun nighttime activities that make me blush to think about. Will Ransome has very talented hands, and not just with a tattoo gun.
Everything seems so good, in fact, that I can almost forget about the fight he had with his dad and his uncles. If it wasn’t for the fact that he gets that closed off look on his face sometimes when his phone rings—and he never answers. I can only imagine those calls are from his dad. But he changes the subject whenever I bring it up and I tell myself again, over and over, that he’ll talk when he’s ready.
Kat’s flight is scheduled to arrive at six thirty on Thursday night. I had planned to arrange for my driver to bring me to LAX to meet her, but when Will finds out I’m not just going to have her picked up, he offers to drive. Which is why I’m now bouncing on my toes next to him by the baggage claim, unable to keep still.
“Did you have too much coffee today?”
“I’m just excited,” I tell him, using his arm as leverage to jump up to try and see over the crowds streaming out into the baggage claim area. “Can you see her yet?”
“Since I have no idea what she looks like, I’m going to go with no.”
I’m about to make a face at him when I see a familiar figure emerging from the secure area. Several inches taller than me, her hair a darker auburn, my little sister is recognizable to me even at this distance. Without even thinking about it, I’ve dropped Will’s hand to dart around the tired travelers.
Kat sees me right at the same time, her face lighting up with a huge, dimpled smile. She takes off running, too, meeting me in the middle, our bodies crashing together in a bone-crushing hug.
“Brat!”
“Weirdo!” she yells back, laughing.
“You’re here,” I whisper into her hair, holding her tight and trying not to cry.
“I am. So introduce me to your hot man because you know I didn’t come all this way just for you.”
I push her arm, laughing, and turn around to realize Will has joined us. “Kat, this is Will Ransome. Will, my baby sister Katherine.”
I can hear the pride ooze from my voice at the words, and I can’t help from clutching her arm while I speak, as if I’m afraid she might disappear if I let go. Until this moment, I hadn’t quite realized just how much I missed her.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” Will says, holding out his hand, but Kat ignores it, choosing instead to throw her arms around his middle. Will’s expression looks slightly bewildered over the top of her head.
“Don’t mind her,” I tell him, grinning so big my face hurts. “Kat’s a hugger.”
“Yup,” she says cheerily, releasing him. “Especially with people who make my sister so happy.”
It’s my turn to be surprised when I see a slight flush come to his cheeks—Will is blushing. “She makes me pretty happy, too,” he says, voice a shade huskier than normal.
“Aw.” Kat pats the side of his face. “She mentioned how adorable you are.”
His eyebrows go up as he focuses on me. “You’re telling people I’m adorable?”
Kat laughs. “Sorry, did I say adorable?” She lowers her voice into a pretty awful imitation of his. “I meant totally manly and cool.”
“That’s more like it.” He glances over at the luggage carousal. “Did you have another bag?”
She points out a purple suitcase just coming down the track now and Will brushes her aside when she reaches for it, grabbing it himself. He gives her a perplexed look as he hoists it in the air. “Is there even anything in here? This thing weighs nothing.”
“It’s mostly empty,” she explains. “But it will be full on the way home.”
“Shopping,” I explain, when he still looks confused. “We’re going to be doing a lot of shopping.”
“I can hardly wait,” he says drily.
I link arms with Kat as we make our way through the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a few people with their phones out, taking pictures. Apparently, we’ve been recognized, but I can’t bring myself to care all that much. Not when my little sister is finally here, close enough to touch.
“Tell me about school. How are your classes? Still liking the dorm? What about your roommate?”
She laughs and I see Will grinning to himself. “You would think we don’t talk on the phone literally every other day,” she says to him, and I flick her arm, the way I used to do when we were little and she was bugging me.
“Excuse me for missing you.”
We find Will’s truck in short term parking and I insist on climbing into the backseat with her. Will just rolls his eyes and mumbles something about being a chauffeur. But he winks at me in the rearview mirror and I know he isn’t actually annoyed.
“Seriously,” I tell Kat. “Tell me about things. You had class this morning, right? Organic chem?”
“Yeah—we’re working on a lab that’s pretty fun.” Only my sister would describe a chemistry lab as pretty fun. “But I don’t want to talk about that. I want to hear more about your hot man.”
“You do realize that I’m sitting right here,” Will says, pulling out into traffic.
Kat waves his complaint away. “You may as well get used to girl talk now, Will. That’s pretty much how the weekend is going to go.”
I don’t think I stop smiling the entire hour-long trip back to my house. It’s just so damn good to have her here. She eventually concedes and tells me about her classes and what she’s been up to lately. I demand she give me updates on all the New York restaurants she’s been to in the past month, whimpering a little in jealousy.
“God, I miss New York.”
We’re in Malibu now, winding our way up the Pacific Coast Highway towards my house, the setting sun lighting the ocean up in shades of pink and gold. “Yeah, you’re so deprived out here,” she mutters. “Do you know it snowed two weeks ago in New York? In April! What kind of bullshit is that?”
Marissa meets us in the driveway, pulling Kat into a hug before she’s even fully out of the truck and squealing nearly as loudly as I had. “You look gorgeous!” she says.
Kat laughs. “I’ve been on a plane for six hours, I definitely don’t think gorgeous is the right word.”
Marissa ignores her, pulling her towards the house. “I ordered tacos,” she says. “Should be here in about ten minutes.”
Kat groans. “Good, I’m freaking starving.”
“I can see the family resemblance,” Will teases me, hauling her suitcase out of the truck bed. “You both have the appetite.” I just grin up at him, giddy, and something in his eyes softens. “You’re all lit up, Eva.”
“I’m happy.”
He kisses my forehead. “I’m glad.”
There’s a wolf whistle from the front porch and I look up to see the girls watching us, Kat smirking. “They’re always like this,” Marissa tells her in a loud stage-whisper. “It’s pretty gross.”
I flip her off but Will just grins, wrapping an arm around my waist as we head inside.
We eat tacos out on the back deck, Marissa asking Kat all the same questions I already did. I don’t mind the repetition though—I’m happy to just sit here and listen to her talk. Will clears our plates when we’re done, bringing out a fresh bottle of wine and it occurs to me that he hasn’t said more than a few words the entire meal. He doesn’t seem to mind though—in fact, he seems pretty amused as he watches the three of us chatter.
After dinner, Marissa says her goodbyes, promising to join us for Happy Cake pancakes in the morning before she heads down to her apartment. I help Kat get settled in the guest room, showing her the bath supplies I bought especially for her visit.
“You didn’t need to do all this.”
“You don’t have a bathtub in the dorm,” I argue. “I wanted you to be able to relax here.”
She kisses my cheek. “Such a sweet big sister.”
I turn my head and kiss her cheek—then stick out my tongue against her skin, just to be obnoxious and she squeals loudly, pushing me away while we both giggle like idiots.
It pretty much continues like that for the next half hour or so. Kat and I stretch out on her bed, talking about complete nonsense, giggling like school girls. It’s always like this when we first get together—hell, it’s pretty much like this the entire time we’re together.
I do feel a little bad for Will, who we left in the living room, so I finally pull myself together and herd Kat out of the room so we can all watch a movie or something.
We both stop short at the entrance to the room, staring wide-eyed at the sight in front of us. Will is sitting on the couch, a sketchbook in his hand, a pair of black rimmed reading glasses on his face. There’s something insanely sexy about the image he presents—his grey t-shirt stretched tight over that broad chest, huge inked up biceps in full display, one hand mindlessly stroking his beard. And then to add the glasses to his sharp, rugged features, and the fact that he’s drawing. I actually feel a little weak in the knees.
Next to me, Kat lets out a little squeak. Then, without saying a word, she raises her phone and snaps a picture. Will looks up at the noise, a confused expression on his face, and she snaps another picture.
“Are you taking a picture of me?” he asks, bemused.
“Yup,” she says, zero shame as she taps at her screen.
“Why? And who are you sending it to?”
“The girls. And Geoff.”
Immediately my own phone starts to ding with incoming messages, and I pull it out, laughing when I see the series of gifs coming in from my friends.
Marissa:*face fanning gif*
Sosie:Hoooooooly shit, girl
Geoff:*fainting gif*
“Either of you care to fill me in?” Will asks.
“Not particularly,” Kat says, typing a response to my friends.
Katherine:RIGHT??? What are we even supposed to *do* with that?
Geoff:Lock it down. Right now. I’m talking sex dungeon in the basement.
We both collapse into giggles, holding onto each other, not even noticing when Will climbs off the couch. He plucks the phone from my hand, reading the text thread.
“I don’t get it.”
I pat his arm. “You look hot, babe.”
“Because I’m sketching?”
“It’s this whole thing.” I wave a hand around him, as if to encompass his entire being. “The giant, bearded, tattooed man with reading glasses thing.”
“That’s hot to you?”
“Crazy hot,” Kat agrees.
His gaze flickers over the messages. “What’s this one? From Geoff?”
I peek over his shoulder to read my friend’s last response.
Geoff:Kat, tell your sister to jump up on that D, girl.
I crack up again, finding it difficult to breathe now. “He thinks Eva should molest you,” Kat explains between giggles.
Will’s eyebrow arches up. “Have I told you how smart Geoff is? Definitely my favorite of your friends.”
That sends Kat and I into fresh rounds of giggles and Will shakes his head, grinning at us now. “This is going to be an interesting weekend.”