Sound of Heartache ("Sound of" Book 2) (3 page)

“
Yeah. About that…” Brent shifted on his feet and looked uncomfortable for a minute. Aimee was surprised because Brent always seemed really sure of himself. He was the kind of guy who planned for everything but could roll with whatever surprises came his way.

“
Yes?” Aimee prompted, when Brent seemed disinclined to continue. Her hair blew around her face and she grabbed the mass with her hand before quickly tying it into a loose knot at the nape of her neck. The air was unusually chilly for October and Aimee shivered.

“
I was thinking we could study at my place.” Brent finally said in a rush. Aimee’s eyes widened in surprise. He cleared his throat. “Look, you’re doing me a huge favor by helping me study and if we’re at my house we can get comfortable. I’ll order in dinner and feed you.”

Aimee hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go to Brent’s house. She did, more than almost anything. She had wondered more than once about the space he lived in and what his life outside of class was like. She just knew boundaries were already blurred pretty badly from her perspective. She had developed a massive crush on Brent and hanging out with him in his home would only make it worse.

“
I…” Aimee stalled, her common sense warring with her heart.

“
Please?” He asked her, his green eyes imploring her. “I’ll order whatever you want. Even sushi.” Aimee smiled at him, knowing what a concession that was for him. She loved sushi and he hated it. Her eyes took in his styled black hair and his long sideburns. She glanced quickly at his full lips before looking back into his eyes. She was so stupid.

“
Okay,” she agreed, “But I won’t make you buy me sushi.” Brent smiled hugely at her and Aimee’s breath caught. She knew Brent was always very careful not to be flirtatious with her but that didn’t stop him from being naturally attractive. She cursed herself for falling for him when she knew nothing would ever come of it.

“
You won’t regret this,” he promised. Aimee’s gaze dropped and she frowned to herself. Somehow she doubted that.

CHAPTER FIVE

Brent walked alongside Aimee. She had gone uncharacteristically quiet after he invited her over and that worried him. Maybe he’d made the wrong decision to invite her over to his and Eric’s apartment, but he didn’t think so. With the amount of studying they needed to get done tonight, being able to sprawl out and get comfortable was a necessity. He also couldn’t deny he wanted to see Aimee in his space and hoped she meshed as well with Eric as he suspected she would. He grinned.

“
I’d be a bad host if I didn’t warn you about my roommate, Eric,” he said as they climbed the steps to his second-story apartment. The stairs were narrow and their shoulders brushed as they climbed.

“
Oh? Is he a Neanderthal or something?” Aimee joked. Brent laughed.

“
Not quite that bad. He’s more like an overgrown puppy whose main goal in life is to be petted and stroked.” Aimee gave a deep belly laugh and with chagrin, Brent realized how his words came out. “Okay, perv, not like that.” He had to chuckle as Aimee had a hard time catching her breath from the giggles she couldn’t contain.

“
How then?” She finally managed without laughing.

“
He’s just this really
nice
guy, you know? He likes to be around people and isn’t afraid to get in your space to get what he wants.” Brent didn’t know how else to explain Eric to Aimee. They stood outside Brent’s door while he searched for his keys. Finding them, he made a big show of holding them up and jingling them so Aimee would smile again. It worked, and she did. Before he could unlock the door, though, it was pulled open and Eric stood there grinning at them.

“
Hey kids,” he said. He leaned against the door and smiled. His body completely blocked their entrance into the apartment. Brent glanced over at Aimee and watched her eyes widen a little. Brent felt a stab of jealousy at the appreciative look on Aimee’s face. He’d never seen Aimee look at him like that.

“
Brent said you were a really
nice
guy,” Aimee said flirtatiously. “Surely a
nice
guy wouldn’t make a girl stand outside in the cold.” She smiled winningly at him and Brent almost growled as Eric flushed before stammering out an apology. He opened the door wider to let them in.

“
Back off,” he muttered to Eric quietly as he walked by. Eric socked him in the arm and Brent grimaced. Eric was lean but the dude packed a punch.

Brent was so distracted by Eric’s unusual reaction to Aimee that he didn’t notice Aimee had come to a dead stop in the middle of the living room. He plowed into her, knocking her off balance. For the second time that day, his arms reached out to catch her before she tumbled to the ground. Unfortunately, their momentum didn’t stabilize and they teetered for a second before going down. Brent twisted his body so he took the brunt of the fall, and Aimee landed atop him with a grunt. He winced as all fifty pounds of her backpack slammed into his thigh.

“
Oh, God!” She wailed. “I’m so sorry!” She lifted her head off Brent’s chest and looked at him. He huffed out a laugh. Her dark hair was wild around them and he could faintly smell her shampoo.

“
That was completely my fault. Although, if you wanted to get me horizontal, all you have to do is ask. I’m easy that way.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, trying to joke off his reaction to her. She flushed scarlet, which he hadn’t expected at all, and then tried to get up. Her backpack and their position made it difficult and when her elbow crashed into his nuts, his eyes watered. He couldn’t help groaning as a wave of nausea rolled through him. He could hear Eric laughing hysterically from near the doorway and pried his eyes open to see the fucker bent over, gasping for air as he laughed.

“
Jesus, Brent, I’m so sorry!” Aimee stopped struggling to get up and lay still on his chest. She looked at him with misery on her beautiful face. Brent felt a reluctant grin tug his lips, despite the fact his balls felt like they were going to shrivel up and die. Aimee looked so upset that he couldn’t stop himself from bringing his arms around her and tugging her up into a hug. She relaxed into his shoulder and Brent exhaled softly. As much as he hadn’t wanted to admit it, he was craving this kind of closeness with her and he would take what he could get.

“
How about I try to help you up?” He suggested. “And God forbid Eric stop laughing long enough to actually help either of us.”

“
What fun would that be?” Eric asked. “You guys are like watching a live comedy performance.” Aimee’s face burrowed deeper into his neck, probably trying to escape the entire situation and Brent shot Eric his middle finger behind Aimee’s back. Nothing was going like he planned.

CHAPTER SIX

Aimee let Brent help her to her feet. Her backpack dropped to the carpet and she busied herself with looking at his apartment. Brent was amazingly kind and patient with her, even after crashing into his man parts. She winced. That was so not how she wanted Brent to think of her in relation to his dick.

Truly taking in Brent’s apartment, she was amazed to see instruments on the wall, old records, and concert posters. Some of them even had signatures on them. They were arranged artfully along the walls and not at all what she expected from a bachelor pad.

“
You guys are really serious about music,” she observed out loud. She jumped when Eric slung his arm around her shoulder and smiled down at her. Even though she had an enormous crush on Brent, she wasn’t blind to Eric’s stunning looks. He was tall and lanky with shoulder-length golden hair shot through with streaks of light blond. His features were refined and elegant and his smile open and honest.

“
Just this guy,” he waved toward Brent. “I just beat on the drums.” He smiled charmingly and Aimee looked over toward Brent, who was frowning at them. Aimee perked up a little. If Brent didn’t like seeing Eric’s arm around her, maybe he thought of her as more than just a tutor.

“
Oh?” She asked, hungry for insight into Brent. She’d gotten to know him some during the hours they spent studying but she felt like there was so much more missing from the picture.

“
He can play just about any instrument he picks up. His real talent is writing his own music.” Aimee wasn’t surprised to hear Brent was incredibly talented. He gave off the ultra-confident vibe of someone who knew what they were doing. Aimee was pretty sure it extended past music and into his social life. She was completely unequipped to deal with someone like him on that level and felt a little disgruntled at her own lack of experience.

“
Are you guys in a band?” She asked curiously. Brent had never talked much about activities outside of school. Brent and Eric both shook their heads.

“
Nah. We’re looking though. We scope out clubs and stuff, hoping to find guys who think like we do. We just haven’t found anyone yet.” Brent answered her instead of Eric.

“
I’d love to hear you guys sometime,” Aimee told them sincerely. She secretly hoped she would be spending a lot more time at Brent’s now that the ice was broken and she’d met his roommate.

“
First we have to get through this midterm,” Brent said. He looked at Eric, who still had his arm around her. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” He asked, a little unkindly in Aimee’s opinion. Eric just laughed and kissed Aimee’s temple before moving away to grab keys and wallet from an entry table. Brent had been right, Eric was an in-your-space kind of guy but not in a bad way. He was too handsome and charming for it to ever feel creepy.

“
Don’t you kids do anything I wouldn’t do!” He advised, before heading out the door. Aimee glanced over at Brent who was still frowning.

“
There’s a lot that asshole will do, so that wasn’t exactly good advice.” He told her wryly. Aimee smiled and knelt down to her backpack. She rooted around until she had her laptop and biology book pulled out and spread open on the coffee table.

“
You ready to get started?” She asked, carefully keeping any innuendo from her voice. They’d already gone into deeply uncharted waters today and Aimee was pretty sure she should quit while she was ahead. She’d already embarrassed herself enough for one day.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Brent left the biology classroom feeling elated. He never dreamed he would feel good about his results on a biology exam, but Aimee’s help last night had cinched it for him. She had finished her exam a good twenty minutes ahead of him, so he was sure she was long gone. He was disappointed because he wanted to share his good news with her. He pulled out his phone and sent her a text.

“
Up 4 a latte?” He asked her, hoping she had turned her phone back on after the exam.

“
Now?” Came her immediate response. Brent smiled as he walked out of the science building.

“
Now.” He responded. He tucked the phone back in his pocket as he loped down the steps.

“
Okay.” Aimee’s voice came from directly behind him and he spun around, startled. She stood leaning up against the side of the building, smiling at him. Brent felt a wide smile stretch over his face at the sight of her. She had tied her long hair back with a bandana for the exam and was wearing a hoodie and jeans with flip flops. She looked adorable and Brent couldn’t get enough of her. He was tired of fighting his reaction to her but he was trying to be good.

“
You waited for me?” He asked stupidly. She nodded as she walked toward him. Brent wished she would keep walking right into his arms so he could kiss her until she couldn’t think.

“
Your fate was in my hands so it was the least I could do,” she teased. He smiled down at her, liking that she was tall enough so that the top of her head came up to his shoulder.

They began walking toward the coffeehouse together and Brent had to stop himself from taking her hand in his. He glanced down at her when she rubbed her hands together.

“
Cold?” He asked. He’d be surprised if she wasn’t. The class was an early morning one, and the breeze coming in from the ocean was brisk. Brent knew Aimee had dressed comfortably for the exam, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable now. Her dark head bobbed as she nodded.

Brent’s heart raced a little in his chest before he reached down and took Aimee’s hand in his. Screw it, if she was cold he’d be a good friend and keep her warm. Or at least that’s what he’d tell her if she asked. He held her much smaller hand snugly in his own and tried to keep his expression nonchalant when she glanced up at him.

“
Thanks,” she said, and her voice sounded odd to Brent. Maybe he’d screwed up and made her uncomfortable. That was the last thing he ever wanted to do. He started to release her hand but to his surprise she gripped on tightly. She was looking at the sidewalk in front of them so he wasn’t able to get a read on her expression. He relaxed a little, comforted by the simple act of holding her hand.

When they got to the coffeehouse it was crowded with other students who had just finished finals. The noise was jarring after the peaceful walk and it irritated Brent. He placed their orders, getting Aimee a hot drink instead of her normal iced latte. He squeezed up next to her as they waited for their order. Making a quick decision when someone bumped into him for the second time, he leaned down so she could hear him.