Love at First Note by Jenny Proctor Read Free Book Online

“What do you play?”
    He shot me a quizzical look. “Piano.”
    “Are you any good?”
    He had to know I was feigning ignorance , but I didn’t back down. It wasn’t like I could make things worse. He narrowed his eyes. “Good enough to pay the bills.”
    Yeah, and then some, I’m sure. There was something in his voice that turned me off. It wasn’t pride, really, not blatant pride anyway. But he sounded snobby, and it grated on my nerves. I thought about my own tight budget—the weeks between performances and gigs when my lessons brought in just enough to scrape by. I had made more money when I’d played in Cleveland, even more when I’d been on tour, but in Asheville I joined the ranks of musicians who were constantly juggling, playing in multiple symphonies throughout the region and working day jobs they didn’t love because there was no way music alone could pay the bills. It wasn’t easy, certainly not as easy as racking up the cash from a million views on YouTube.
    “That’s all, huh?” In my mind’s eye, I watched the shine of Elliott’s halo dim. I didn’t begrudge him his success, but I did resent him taking his success for granted. Enough to pay his bills? He’d been famous since he was seventeen. He had no idea what it felt like to really truly only have enough to pay the bills. But that was a conversation for another time. I needed to get out of there before I said anything else incriminating and really did make things worse.
    “Okay, so . . . thanks for stopping by.” He closed the door a couple of inches.
    “Oh, sure.” I took a step backward. “I guess I’ll see you around. Maybe I could hear you play sometime?” I regretted the words the moment I said them. What was I thinking? That he’d invite me in for a private concert?
    “Or maybe you could just look up a video on YouTube.”
    Ouch. “YouTube?”
    “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. I’m gonna call it a night.”
    At least he paused long enough for me to nod a farewell before shutting the door in my face. I turned and slipped into my apartment, where I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.
    “So . . . you don’t look like that went well.”
    I turned my head and looked at Lilly. “It was awful. I don’t even know what happened. First I forgot how to talk, and then when I did talk, everything that came out of my mouth was completely stupid. I’m pretty sure I told him I was in love with him, which didn’t make any sense since twenty seconds later I pretended like I didn’t know who he was and asked him what instrument he played. Then he got all smug and acted like I
should
know who he is ’cause he’s just
so
famous, and it just . . . I don’t know. It was bad. Worse-than-tenth-grade-debate-team bad.”
    “Way to hit a home run.” Trav spoke without looking up, his eyes glued to his Scrabble tiles.
    “Shut up.” I went into the kitchen and glanced over his shoulder. “Helix—right there. I t’ll give you a double-word score.”
    “Ooh, good word. Thanks.” He added the tiles to the board, then counted his points. “Pretty sure that gives me the lead.” He looked at Lilly. “Want to bow out now before it really gets ugly?”
    “It totally doesn’t count. You can’t use Emma’s word and then rub it in my face like you’ve beaten me. You never would have come up with
helix
on your own.”
    I pulled a bowl out of the cabinet and retrieved the ice cream from the freezer. Playful bickering was the cornerstone of Trav and Lilly’s relationship. They seemed to thrive on it, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen to them squabble. I’d just ruined my one good chance to be friends with the only other single Mormon in all of Asheville. At least the only one who wasn’t an eighteen-year-old girl. Or Darren Fishbaum. Add that to my unnerving dinner with Grayson, who made me feel like my life was one giant heap of failed potential, and the only thing I wanted was a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a