I’d taken my hair down, so it slipped in my face while I was looking down. I looked up when I felt his fingers sifting through my hair as he tucked it behind my ear. He met my stare before quickly looking away. It was then I realized that I didn’t turn away from his touch. I didn’t even jerk. It was a revelation for me.

He ran his finger across the guitar.

“All these are quotes my mother wrote on my guitar when she was sick. Things that she thought were insightful. See right here…” He pointed to a different spot. “That’s her signature.”

There was softness in his voice that I’d never heard before. Not that we were together all the time or anything, but Zeke was just naturally a hard guy. Hearing him speak so softly was kind of strange. Somehow, I knew I was getting another rare glimpse and I soaked it up.

“So this guitar means a lot to you, then? I mean, more than the one you play with the band?” I asked.

“This guitar is my most prized possession,” he said as he ran his finger down the length of it. He shook off his emotional moment. “So if you break it, I might have to kill you,” he joked.

“Thanks for the warning.” I laughed.

“I always give fair warning to my females.” He winked.

“Your females? I’m not your female.”

“No, but you want to be.” He lifted a challenging brow.

In the back of my head I feared Megan had already opened her big mouth. I didn’t respond. Instead, I placed my fingers on the strings and strummed it. Again, it sounded awful, and again, he touched my fingers to position them. This time I didn’t freak out inside. This time I didn’t want to run away. Instead, I enjoyed the feel of another person’s hands on mine. It was nice to be touched by someone other than my mom or Syd.

I liked it when he touched me and I didn’t want him to stop. The strangest part was I felt guilty for liking it. It was like I was dishonoring the broken parts of myself for enjoying being touched when, after so many years of my life, being touched by a male was a bad thing. There were still alarms going off in different parts of my body, but Zeke made me ignore those alarms. No, Zeke made me run through and smash all the alarms with a baseball bat.

After our hour was up, we left the gym and walked into the evening breeze. I stopped at the edge of the curb and he continued to walk to his car. When he realized I wasn’t walking with him, he turned around with a confused look on his face and came back over to me.

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

“Oh, no. Megan’s car is back on the road and she should be here any minute to pick me up.”

His expression seemed to drop a bit and I relished in the fact that he might want me in his car as bad as I wanted to be there.

“Are you sure? I’m already here and I don’t mind. Just text Megan and tell her I got you.”

“Are you sure? It’s way out of your way,” I asked as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

I hoped he was sure. I wanted him to take me home so badly. I enjoyed that twenty minutes of being alone with him.

“How else am I going to get you alone?” He grinned.

“Do you want to get me alone?” The minute the words left my mouth, I wished I could reel them back in.

Was I flirting? It surely sounded like flirting when I played it back in my head, but I didn’t flirt… like, ever.

“I most definitely want to get you alone,” he said as he reached up and ran a finger down my cheek.

I knew in the back of my head I shouldn’t put much stock into his words. I’d heard the stories about the kind of guy Zeke was, but it was so hard not melt when he seemed so convincing.

“Then let’s go.” I shyly smiled back at him.

I texted Megan as I walked behind him to his car. Once we were in, he started the loud engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

“So, how about we go somewhere fun?” he asked.

It was unexpected and since I didn’t want to go straight home, I was ecstatic when he said those words.

“Um… hold that thought.” I pulled out my phone again.

I sent Syd a text making sure she wasn’t alone. Once she texted back and confirmed that Lynn and Patricia were still around, I felt better about staying out later than usual. I knew there’d be hell to pay when I got home, but there was always hell to pay. I might as well enjoy myself while I was free.

“Okay, I’m all yours.” I smiled up at him.

“I like the sound of that,” he said. The side of his mouth tilted up in a sexy grin.