Page 96 of Scoring Lessons

“Keep,” I whispered, remembering our conversation like it had been just yesterday.

He nodded like that settled the conversation, though the truth was, I was so out of my depth, I didn’t know how to get out of this hole we’d dug together.

“I have something else for you.” He grabbed my hand as we stepped inside the fancy tent. “It’s a late Christmas gift since you were in Oklahoma with your mom and stuff.” He opened the small closet and grabbed a gift bag.

“Oh.” I straightened my shoulders then reached for my backpack. “I got you something, too, actually.”

His eyes shone with surprise, and when he grabbed the bag, our hands grazed, and my heart stuttered like the pathetic fool it was. “Open yours first, please?”

“Well,” I sighed dramatically and got comfortable in one of the twin-sized beds. “Since you’re begging and all.”

“I know how to beg when the situation calls for it,” he replied, his tone light.

I let my head tilt. “You never miss an opportunity to flirt, do you?”

He mirrored my pose. “Open your gift, Olivia.”

I let out a small chuckle as I plucked the tissue paper.

My laugh caught in my throat. “Is this what I think it is?” When I took the items out, there were a few vinyls of all my favorite classic rock bands—Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Eagles, and The Who. You name it, it was probably there.

I flicked through them, and my eyes bulged in shock when I noticed they all had something in common. “Are they all⁠—”

“Signed?” His grin was wide, natural. He took a seat next to me with a pleased hum. “Yeah.”

“Oh, my God!” Without thinking, I threw my arms around his shoulders and straddled him in a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Contained emotions or not, this was too hard to hold back and not show my excitement.

His laugh was raspy as he wrapped his arms around my waist and embraced me without hesitation. “Do you like it?”

I gripped his jawline and shook him back and forth playfully. “Are you kidding me? This is the best thing I’ve ever gotten.”

His eyes turned a green molten, making my insides warm and gooey. “I’m glad, Livvie girl. Like I said, I like seeing you happy.”

“Here I thought you liked annoying me.”

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Can’t a guy want both?”

I thinned my lips and rolled my eyes. Of course, that had been his answer. “This is great. Seriously. Now I feel very self-conscious about my gift.” I leaned backward on my heels, giving him enough space so he could open his. “Let’s get this embarrassment done and over with.”

His smile was small as he unwrapped it then opened the box with far too much ease.

“Since you and the guys have a book club now, I thought it was time for you to own an e-reader. There are some of my favorite romances on there, but I also got some thrillers and science fiction that a guy at the store recommended to me that I think you’re going to like.” I cringed. “It’s so stupid, I know.” I tried to avoid his gaze, but he hooked his fingers under my chin and forced me to stare at him.

“I love it.” A hint of a smile passed through his lips. “This was thoughtful. Now I’ll have plenty of stuff to read when I’m on the road.”

My insides slowly melted at his words. “Cool.”

“Now, can we go back to the thing where you said a guy was recommending you books?” His voice was light, but it was hard to miss the tick of his jaw, the sudden cold in his irises.

“Yeah, I was in the thriller session trying to figure out what kind of books to download on your e-reader, and he helped me.”

“An employee?”

I tilted my head as I pondered his question. “No. He was there to get some books for himself. Very helpful.”

“I bet,” he said, his smile forced.

“What?”